Rey didn't remember having fallen asleep.

Her eyelids were too heavy to open. The last thing she remembered was falling against Ben. A Quidditch match? She was lying on something soft, so she must be in the hospital wing after falling on the pitch.

A clock ticked rather obnoxiously from somewhere on her right. She did not recall the hospital wing having any clocks, but then again, she had only ever been there a few times for a Quidditch injury and some potion for the flu.

Her eyelids opened and immediately closed. Maybe she would just rest some more. She would need it if she was going to spend her day studying. She wondered who'd won the game. The last match of the year was soon, which would decide the Quidditch Champion of the year. Usually there was someone else in the hospital wing who would be able to tell her the score.

She curled the fingers of one hand and stopped as a surge of adrenaline hit her. Ravenclaw had won that match. Several weeks ago, in fact. Ben had caught her, set her down, and then walked away with a shy smile. They hadn't even been dating then.

She forced her eyes open with all her strength, her muscles trembling from the adrenaline in her system. The odd surroundings of a small, dark room with a clutter of old couches and chairs met her eyes. Definitely not the hospital wing.

For a moment, she thought she was in the Room of Requirement until her memories finally flooded back. Ben's Disapparation with Snoke. A cursed Professor Organa in the hospital wing. Ben catching her fall, again. Han Solo.

Merlin's stars, she was going to be in so much trouble for leaving school and stealing the Millennium Falcon.

She sat up and weaved through the jumble of random furniture to the door and tried the handle. She wasn't surprised when it didn't budge, so she reached for her wand, only to groan as she realized her wand and robes were both gone. She sighed and crouched down, looking under the crack of the door.

The feet of four figures stood in the next room. One walked around a piece of furniture to another, but Rey could not hear the footsteps or any voices. She tapped lightly on the door to confirm her suspicion that a Silencing Charm was on the door. Another set of feet began toward the door, and Rey scrambled away, looking around for something to defend herself with, not that anything would be much help against a wand and the Unforgivable Curses. She grabbed an old, rusty candlestick that had tipped over onto the floor.

The door made a squelching sound as it magically unlocked, and Rey crouched behind one of the musty chairs, her heart pounding wildly on her chest. Heavy footsteps shuffled into the room, and Rey looked up to see Ben staring down at her.

His Slytherin robes had been exchanged for black ones, and his hair, usually curly and messy from flying, was carefully manicured out of his face. Rey stood quickly and started toward him before stopping. Those shy brown eyes had a strange look to them, as if they were glass. She took a step closer, studying the young man's face. "Ben? What happened? Where am I?"

Ben seemed to hesitate for several moments. His skin looked pallid, his body tense, and when he grabbed her upper arm, she felt his fingers trembling. "How long was I out? Ben, please, tell me something."

"You've been out for a while." Ben's voice was soft with an unmistakable gentleness. His voice. It didn't match the strange glassy look in his eyes. Not all of him had been erased by Snoke's potion.

He pulled her out of the room, not roughly but not with the kind hand he had once pressed against her neck during a kiss. She intentionally bumped their torsos together, hoping to feel for a wand in his black robes. She didn't feel anything, but Ben let out a small gasp and tightened his grip on her arm.

They entered what was either a drawing room or a parlour of what Rey began to realize was part of a large mansion. The house was clearly old with wooden décor she thought was from the Victorian era but with touches of magic from the same period. She remembered the ghost of Professor Yoda in History of Magic explaining how it was a fashion at the time to charm the flowers of the rugs and wallpaper to grow and move. A fire crackled in a fireplace, but instead of a merry feeling, Rey felt a cold chill settle into her stomach.

Phasma stood near the fireplace, her own black robes form-fitted to her body. Her hands were clasped in front of her with one holding her wand in a comfortable grip. Mitaka, one of the Slytherin Chasers, stood on the other side in a similar stance. Hux's frame was shadowed by the fire's light as he stood in front of it. Rey had to roll her eyes. It was as if he was copying a dramatic Muggle movie.

Hux turned away from the fire and took a few steps away from the hearth. He did not wear wizarding robes, but rather a black suit. He adjusted the cuff link of one and gave Ben a brief nod. "Leader Snoke is in the fire."

Ben let go of Rey's arm and moved to crouch in front of the fire. Rey could see just the top of Snoke's twisted forehead in the flames over a couch. She peeled her eyes away from Ben and fixed Hux with a hard stare. "What am I doing here? Where's Finn and Poe?"

"My family home." Hux adjusted the other cuff link and gave her a bored expression. "Tell me, why were you with Han Solo?"

Rey crossed her arms over her chest. "Why were you with Snoke? You're from an old family. You'd get a Ministry job and live comfortably. Why join him to start a war?"

"Leader Snoke isn't starting a war. He's fixing what's wrong with the wizarding world." Hux examined his immaculate fingernails for a moment.

Anger flared in Rey's chest at his apparent lack of disinterest in her and the coming violence. "Leader Snoke is delusional." She crossed her arms, feeling inexplicably bold despite being wandless. "The Ministry won't go along with whatever he's planning."

"Ah, but the Ministry already is." Hux tugged down his suit jacket to rid it of wrinkles and finally met her gaze. "The coup will be over before most even realize it happened." He gave a small wave of his hand, and Phasma took a few steps forward.

"Snoke believes you can help our cause with some proper persuading. I believe you're just a distraction for his 'secret weapon'." His thin fingers air quoted the last two words, and he turned to the side to watch Ben.

Snoke's face had disappeared from the fire, and Ben glanced back at them. Hux gave another nod. Ben picked up a small pot from the mantle and took a handful of powder. He threw it into the flames and stepped into them once they took on an emerald hue.

Rey heard her heart thump loudly in her chest as time seemed to slow. Hux held his left wrist with his right hand behind his back, his posture stiff as his gaze turned to watch her carefully. Phasma's arm raised to point her wand at Rey's chest. Ben's eyes were wide in horror, and his arm raised as he pulled out a wand within the green flames. Rey jumped.

Several loud crashes happened at once. The couch Rey hit toppled over, and she covered her head, seeing a green flash of light pass over her. A portrait of an older man with greying red hair crashed to the floor. Its occupant glared at Rey and shouted something indistinguishable over the sounds of Hux's yell.

Rey uncurled from the floor and felt her heart skip a beat. Ben stood over her, his wand arm raised as a translucent Shield Charm pulsed out of his wand. No, Rey did a double-take. Her wand. A small, silvery owl flew behind him, knocking Mitaka to the floor.

"The orders were not to kill her," Ben growled in a low voice.

Rey spotted Phasma motionless on the floor, and she moved slowly toward the blonde to avoid attracting Hux's attention. Hux stood with his own wand raised, his eyes narrowed at Ben. "Snoke said the potion for her was experimental. It's not like he really cared if she survived it or not."

The silver owl flew to perch on Ben's shoulder. "I care."

Rey snatched Phasma's fallen wand and shot a curse at Hux around Ben's shield. He blocked it, and Ben made a complicated motion with the wand. The Shield Charm broke, but ropes twisted out of the end of the wand and snaked across the floor to Hux. The redhead backed away and fired several curses at the wiggling ropes until they disintegrated.

Ben's Patronus faded as Rey stood next to him, both wands aimed at Hux's chest. No one moved except for Rey's wand in Ben's trembling hand.

Hux's eyes darted between them, as if he was calculating if he could win an outright fight or which curses he needed to distract them long enough to get out of the room.

Rey glanced between Hux's panting form and Ben's face. She had no idea how long it had been since he'd last taken a Pliable Draught, nor how entranced he was by Snoke, but he seemed to be on her side, at least for now.

After a long moment, Hux said, "I knew Leader Snoke was wrong to bring you on with that Draught. You never acted like a true pureblood nor were you particularly interested in the cause, especially after you caught sight of the little charity case."

Ben's eyebrows pulled together, and he looked genuinely confused. "Snoke's… just been helping me." His eyes darted to the fire, which had lost their emerald color. "We're just helping the Ministry."

Hux snorted, which Rey thought was a very undignified noise for someone who seemed to be trying to look noble. She might've snorted, too, if the confusion in Ben's voice wasn't so palpable.

"Ben, he's trying to overthrow the Ministry, not help it," Rey said in her most gentle of voices.

"Aw, Ben Solo is confused," Hux sneered. "Snoke would have been better off just giving you poisons instead of trying to influence your mind."

"What – "

The relative peace broke again as the door burst open, and spells jettisoned around the room. People in black robes like the ones Ben wore backed inside, defending themselves against an onslaught of spells. Rey nearly laughed with relief as she saw Finn and Poe accompanied by Han Solo, Chewbacca, and a small variety of students in robes from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.

Hux took advantage of the distraction to swipe his wand upwards in a harsh motion. Ben let out a horrible gasp, and Rey watched in horror as he collapsed to the floor, blood spilling out of a gash in his chest. She fired a retaliating curse at Hux and didn't bother to see if she hit him before she dropped to her knees by Ben's side.

The flying spells seemed to miss them as she pressed her hands over the awful gash. "Ben? Ben, it's going to be all right." His face was a ghastly grey color, and Rey picked up her fallen wand. She stared at the wound, her breath shallow and panicked. She couldn't recall any healing spells. "Help!"

"Ben!"

The attacking group had forced their way further inside. Rey distantly thought she saw Finn and Poe dueling Hux, but her eyes remained on Ben as someone else joined her side.

Han Solo put a hand on the side of Ben's dreadfully pale face. "Ben."

Ben's brown eyes seemed to be having trouble focusing on Han, and he croaked something unintelligible. Rey squeezed his hand tightly. Han stood and waved someone over.

Chewbacca Stunned one of the last black-robed fighters and pushed the toppled couches and chairs out of his way with magic. His brown hood flopped off his head as he knelt by Ben, and a heavily bearded face framed by long, brown hair murmured quiet charms as he ran a thick wand over the gash in Ben's chest.

The blood flow began to slow, but Rey couldn't take her eyes off Ben's face. His brown eyes had closed. Chewbacca gently pushed her out of the way as he repeated his spell. She ripped her eyes away from Ben to find Poe helping Finn stand up.

Han got to his feet and looked around the scene, his wand back in his belt loop. "Who the hell cast this spell?"

"I did," Hux's voice said from a corner. He stood from the shadow, his red hair disheveled. "Avada kedavera."

Han jumped into the flash of green light before it could hit Rey.

AN: Dear Merlin, I can't help the cliffhangers. I'm so sorry. Happy New Year, everyone?