"I think it's just about perfect now. I don't envy you that hair, girl," the face in Willow's fireplace said.
"Took long enough," Hermione agreed. Willow and Ginny had been elaborately pinning it up for longer than she could tolerate. It does look great, though, she admitted as she glanced in the mirror. "But thanks for your help, Cordy."
"No problem, kiddo. Next time I'll do it in person. Now you guys go get dressed," Cordelia Chase told the group. Willow had owled for help, and Cordelia responded with gusto. She wondered what her head looked like, sitting in the fireplace without a body. The spell instructions had been weird, but Wesley had deciphered them. She had carefully coiffed her own hair before appearing on display.
She liked the two English girls, even more so when she realized that not long before she would have looked down on them as complete dorks. Plus, she appreciated Willow asking her for help. Part of her wished they could have been closer before Cordy moved away. She also desperately hoped to get a glimpse of Willow's date, who had yet to become her man, according to Buffy, but it seemed unlikely.
Fifteen minutes later, the girls returned, looking, in Cordelia's opinion, fantastic. Hermione, dressed as Cinderella, had opted for a stunning light blue ball gown and had turned her shoes transparent. Ginny had colored her hair with a spell to match the motif.
Ginny made a lovely Tinkerbell, with a modestly short and filmy one piece white dress Hermione had transfigured. Her wand had been accessorized with white coloring and a tiny star at the tip. Willow and Cordelia were certain Ron and Harry would keel over on the spot when they saw the girls.
Willow had queried Grey about his choice, but he refused to answer. Sure it would be something blue, since he never seemed to wear another color, she had decided to go as Princess Leia, who had no specific color scheme. Cordy had tried to tempt her into the gold bikini, but Willow went for a white sleeveless gown instead. It shamelessly revealed her figure, despite hanging almost to the floor and showing little skin. The younger girls had given her hair the earmuff look to complete the costume. She figured that with Grey's love of all things Star Wars, it would be a big hit.
"You guys look fantastic!" Cordy crowed. "Smoochies all around!" All three women blushed. "No, really. Your dates are going to be blown away."
The boys were waiting outside Willow's room.
"You're sure we look okay?" Ron asked Grey for the hundredth time. The auror nodded. Harry was less worried, knowing he was going with Ginny and thus certain he could wear a sack and be admired. Ron, however, had been having fits of anxiety all day. Grey had steered their costume choices to match the girls, unbeknownst to them. Harry seemed to enjoy the Peter Pan outfit, especially with pants instead of tights.
Professor McGonagall, at Giles' urging, had conjured Ron's outfit. It was a full set of deep purple seventeenth-century muggle court regalia, covered with lace at the shoulders and cuffs. He looked very much the Prince Charming, except for his fidgeting and pulling at the high collar. He felt like that idiot Lockhart in this ridiculous get-up.
Not knowing what Willow was wearing, Grey selected a costume close to his auror roots.
The door opened at 7:30 exactly, as Willow promised. Ginny stepped out first, to compliments from her brother, who beamed with pride, and Harry, who recovered from his awe long enough to tell her how beautiful she looked and hand her lavender roses. At Willow's urging, Grey had purchased identical flowers for the boys to give their dates.
Hermione came next; Grey and Harry thought Ron's heart stopped when she emerged from the doorway. He stood, mouth gaping, at the Cinderella look-alike wearing Hermione's face.
"Hermione … wow," was all Ron could say. She curtsied.
"Thank you. You look dashing yourself." 'And he's here with me!' her heart screamed. She wanted to hug Grey for his brilliant plan, but that would spoil the whole thing. Ron offered her his arm and his own set of lavender roses. Seeing the look on her face as she took the offerings, Grey nodded as if to say 'my pleasure'.
Then Willow came out, and his mind went blank.
Willow walked through the door and saw Grey. Her mind went blank.
"Who told you…" they said at the same time. Grey had selected black pants and borrowed a shimmery black shirt from Spike. A replica lightsaber from his toy collection hung from his belt.
He recovered first. His face broke into a wide grin, shocking the two younger couples.
"Willow, I don't have the words. You're amazing." He took in her figure in the white dress, her hair in the twirls. She glowed as she walked up and put her arms around him.
"Just tryin' to push your decision along," she whispered in his ear. "You look fabulous, Dave," she said more loudly.
"How did you know? I even kept the Jedi thing secret from Ron and Harry."
"I didn't," she said with a smile. "I just knew you liked Star Wars and I thought you'd like this." She pulled back and did a little twirl.
"You have no idea how much I like it. But I like you best." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. All eyes in the hallway grew as big as dinner plates. None of the students had ever seen Grey show emotion. It was like seeing a completely different person.
"But … why … how … huh?" Willow babbled. He leaned in closer, taking her in his arms and speaking so softly that only she could hear.
"I'm not really ready yet." His tone was heavy, but his eyes were light. "But if you're still interested in a broken former geek like me, I would love to take you on a real date after this. As long as we take it slow." Then he realized something and leaned away, looking into her eyes. "You smell like cinnamon."
She grinned.
"Yup. No desire to smell like some other girl. I'm my own Willow."
"I like it." And he did. She smelled … alive. Impulsively, he kissed her again. She reached up and grabbed the back of his head, deepening the embrace. A loud cough from Ginny brought them back.
"Sorry, guys, but we have a dance to go to. Plenty of time for that later," she smirked, leading her date away. Grey took Willow's hand and led her behind the other two couples. As the six of them strolled down the hall, Grey leaned over to her.
"I bet you don't know why I'm dressed as a Jedi," he said. She looked at him askance. "Do you know what Jedi are based on?"
"Aurors?" she said, surprised.
"Uh huh." Seeing her look, he added, "What, you thought George Lucas was a muggle?" She giggled. "Seriously, though, some aurors like me – without magic – used to carry lightsabers that could block curses."
"Really?"
"Yeah. But a bunch of them went bad when Voldemort came to power, and the Ministry banned lightsabers completely. They rounded up every last one and destroyed them, supposedly." He looked wistful, something she had never seen before. "It would have been useful."
"Not to burst your how-can-I-fight-better bubble," Willow said, "but we're here." They could see the glow from the decorations and hear the loud chatter over music as the revelry spilled through the doorway. "Shall we?" she asked.
"After you," he said, gesturing grandly for her to enter first.
Neither the Jedi nor the Princess saw the pair of black eyes watching them from the shadows.