Chapter 17: Dancing Flames

"You're really not going to walk down with me?" Theia said to Harper through the reflection in the mirror she was sitting in front of.

"Aren't you supposed to meet your date or something?" Harper replied while fiddling with the zipper on her black sweatshirt.

"Dexter is waiting outside the Great Hall entrance with the rest of the guys."

"I thought that was only for dates that weren't in the same houses?" she muttered back.

"I mean yes, but Alina and Lottie had that clever idea, remember?" Theia pulled a face while she looked at herself one last time before standing up. "They told their dates they wanted their entrance to be more dramatic than just walking out of the dormitory hallway. And they did that in front of Dex, who agreed he would wait down there with their dates as well so I could do the same. And then they left without me." She smoothed out her dress one last time, adjusted her gold bangle bracelet, and looked up at Harper who was avoiding eye contact. "So now I guess I get to walk all the way down there in this," she gestured at her crimson red gown, "alone." She sighed for dramatic effect. She knew it worked when Harper let out a withering sigh of her own.

"Fine… I'll walk you down there. But you have to message Lily that I'll be late meeting up with her because I have to escort your needy arse."

Theia flashed a winning smile at her favorite roommate and best friend while wrapping an arm around her shoulders in thanks. She pulled out her wand to send a message to Lily that Harper would meet her on the stairs leading to Gryffindor Tower instead of at the portrait. She didn't have any place to stash her wand in this outfit and felt rather naked without it, which was another reason she wanted an escort down to the Great Hall. It was never wise to walk around unattended without your wand, regardless of where you were.

When she and Harper made it to the top of the staircase that would lead to the Great Hall, they paused behind the corner that hid them from view of the crowd.

"All good?" Theia asked in a casual tone.

Harper eyed her critically for about a second, "Okay but now I want to be down there to watch everyone actually choke on their tongues when they see you."

Theia rolled her eyes and shooed a grinning Harper away. "Have fun with Lils and be careful!"

As she stepped around the corner to the top of the staircase leading to the Great Hall entrance, she looked down at the throng of people. For a moment she was overwhelmed by just how many people were down there and the fact that she was standing up there all by herself didn't make it any easier.

Just breathe. One step at a time…


Ren was laughing again. She was constantly laughing tonight, and Sirius was starting to wonder at what point it would grate so hard on his nerves that he'd have to leave. She looked cute in her dress he'd admit, so he tried to focus on that whenever he could.

"Do you like it?" She asked him with a triumphant smile on her face. "I thought it was fitting, given your last name an' all."

Sirius stopped the groan before it crept its way up his throat and instead, plastered a broad smirk across his features.

"Very fitting, love." He reached out for her hand and kissed the back of it.

She would never have understood if he'd reacted to the fact that she had worn a black dress for him by saying he resented his last name so much that it had ruined the effect she wanted it to have. Instead, he kept that to himself. Ren was naïve to the point of absurdity sometimes, but she was sweet and was admired for her blatant honesty, so Sirius wouldn't begrudge her the faux pas of trying to play off his family name despite the fact the entire lot of them hated him, and he returned the sentiment twofold.

He glanced over at Remus who had elicited the giggles from Ren and saw him looking up at the top of the stairs with his brows climbing towards his hairline.

"What's got your attention, Moon? Did Filchy show up in a pink frock?"

The laughter died on his lips when he turned his head to look up at what was distracting his friend so thoroughly. He coughed as his throat constricted at the sight.

Theia was standing alone at the top of the stairs above them. Her hand gently smoothed down the side of her hip as she glanced down at the hem of her dress before she made to step onto the first stair. She was a vision in crimson red. He felt nearly blinded by it, dumbstruck and in awe. The reflection of the torches nearby danced across the impossibly shiny silk. As she took each step, her hips shifted with the dress, the silk sliding over her form like it was made to cling to her. It must have been, it was practically dripping off her. He wasn't sure where to look, his eyes dragged up towards the bustline draped elegantly over her gentle curves, then back down to her cinched waist, and finally cascaded over her hips down the long line of her legs beneath the fabric.

"Wow…" Marlene, who was Remus' date, whispered aloud to the group. Peter let out a low whistle.

He could feel the flitting gaze Ren was giving him as she glanced back and forth between his face and Theia, who was descending the stairs slowly and had enraptured practically the entire crowd. He knew he should look away so as not to upset his date… He should look away. But the golden light of the flames slid across her red-soaked form in a way that had him entranced. And he suspected that half of the crowd was having the same reaction as the volume level had dropped considerably since she began making her way down. Or maybe that was just the noise in his own head…

When Theia lifted her face to look at the crowd, she kept her features cool and collected, scanning for the lucky bastard waiting for her at the bottom to claim her as his date. The aforementioned prick was standing several feet over to the side of their own group, and he watched a coy smirk light up her features when she must have finally spotted him. He couldn't pry his vision away from her to look at what her stupid date must be doing in reaction to her showing up looking like that. He had spared a glance at him earlier when he'd shown up with the group of Ravenclaws Theia lived with, and he was dressed up in his best no doubt, but she had clearly put him to shame. As she made it toward the bottom of the staircase, he had a better sight of her face and hair. Her deep chocolate-colored hair was pulled back on one side with gentle waves cascading over the opposite shoulder. He could have sworn her entire face was glowing but her makeup was really just simple and elegant. She looked like a full-grown woman, not a schoolgirl at a dance. Wily, beautiful, mesmerizing, enchanting… Sirius' heart hammered against his chest as she finally reached the crowd and started to saunter closer.


"Very festive, Dex," She kept her voice low and mellow as she gestured to his kilt. "I like it, I didn't know you were that Scottish." Dexter was wearing nice dress robes on his upper half, paired with a red, green, and royal blue tartan kilt.

"Oh, aye," he grinned at her devilishly as he emphasized his usually light accent. "M'glad I opted for it, you'd have shown me up otherwise."

She cocked her hip out to one side and returned a coy smirk at him.

"Oh, you don't think I did? Such a pity." He chuckled at her teasing response and she continued, "I'm glad you like it." She purred at him, outwardly showing him the same attention she would have shown a 'real' date.

Alina and Lottie both took a moment to coo over her dress and she dropped the coy act to thank them genuinely and return the compliments. The entrance hall was thickly packed with people and Theia could feel everyone's auras buzzing around her with excitement. She tried not to be overwhelmed by it and put it on a backburner in her mind so she wouldn't go sifting through them trying to find familiar auras nearby. She was abysmal at focusing on more than one thing at once, so if she went down that rabbit hole, she wouldn't hear what her friends were saying if they spoke to her. As people in the crowd started moving into the Great Hall, she stood in front of Dexter and waited for him to finish whatever he was saying to Alina's boyfriend about their upcoming quidditch match. He glanced around quickly with his eyes landing down on her again, a mischievous smirk lighting up his face. His voice wasn't subdued when he spoke.

"I know ya warned me," his Scottish brogue was still thick as his eyes wandered down her form quickly and then shot back up to her face, "only one dress an' all… But you deserve to be thoroughly snogged showing up in a dress like tha'."

Theia chuckled lightly in response to his proclamation, feeling slightly uneasy with how boldly he declared it for the crowd around them to hear but also knowing he meant it with a certain lightheartedness. She wasn't expecting him to continue with that level of seriousness.

"If ya haven't had any luck by the end of the night, come an' find me."

She felt a wave of heat flush up her neck and face as she blushed deeply. He stepped to her side and offered the crook of his arm for her to take. When he had stepped out of the way, she locked eyes with Remus and Marlene, standing several feet back. Marlene's mouth was slightly ajar, and Theia opened her own in a silent laughing scream in reply.

Oh my god! She thought as she felt a strong impulse to fake fan herself. Marlene chuckled and wiggled her eyebrows at her while Remus lifted a single brow with a smirk plastered across his face. She didn't look around to see if the rest of their Gryffindor group was nearby to hear the exchange and instead pulled her eyes back up to glance at Dex. They walked into the beautifully decorated Great Hall and quickly reunited with the rest of their Ravenclaw group.

Once the music picked up and the dancing began, Theia had no regrets about her choice of partner. Dexter was fun and lively and took extra steps to spin her around repeatedly in what seemed to be an effort to help her show off her dress. It definitely garnered attention, but it felt easy to ignore it with Dexter's loud and boisterous conversations to keep her distracted. When a slow song came on and most of their group wanted to cuddle their dates on the dance floor, Dex led her to the side so they could sit and catch their breath before they ventured over to the punch table. He surprised her further when he flashed the corner of a flask at her. She playfully hit his arm and looked around to make sure no one had seen his little gesture.

"Hope you brought that to share, Mr. McGuire," She said under her breath.

"If ya want, I dinnae mind sharing. Hope ya like scotch though." He said and chuckled openly at the repulsed face she pulled in reaction to the thought of scotch straight up.

"Oh merlin, nevermind! It'd have to be drowned in apple cider and I trust you'd find that sacrilegious." It was her turn to chuckle at his horrified expression at the suggestion of mixing scotch with anything other than a single ice cube.

"Oh nah, now you hav'ta try it straight up. None of tha' sissy mixing shite." He laughed at her vehemently shaking her head at him. When their laughter died down, Theia was struck by an overwhelming urge to ask the question that had been nagging at her since she'd met him in the entrance hall.

"Why is your accent so thick tonight?" She quirked a brow up at him, "It's usually fairly light, as far as Scottish accents go. What made you turn it up? Or is this how you normally talk and just dumb it down for the rest of us?" He laughed with her again at the last part of the question.

"A bit of the latter, prolly," He chuckled when she playfully swatted his arm. He glanced down and she realized he looked self-conscious once again. It was a look he used to wear quite often, particularly around Sally, but one he hadn't donned even once during their night so far. She waited for him to admit what he was thinking, but he struggled to be brave in the silence she was offering him, so she threw some light encouragement his way.

"It seems to make you more confident. I think you should keep it." He glanced at her face with uncertainty clearly painted on his features. "Seriously, screw covering it up. Being simply yourself is always better than masking something as harmless as an accent. You should be as proud of your accent as you are of your kilt…"

His brows furrowed as what she said sank in. When he finally spoke, his voice was low.

"Sally overheard it one night after I'd had a couple drinks with some friends… It comes out more when I'm drinkin'… She said she liked it."

"Exactly! Sally, like most women, appreciates genuineness. And confidence can get you so much further than you probably realize. It's half the game with us." Her mischievous smirk was ruined slightly by the faint blush that crept up her cheeks when she continued. "You know that bold little proclamation you made when we met at the bottom of the stairs? I found myself genuinely considering it because you said it so boldly. You didn't care who overheard you. Don't get me wrong," she chuckled, "you caught me off guard." He laughed along with her at that. "But if you channeled that confidence into a conversation with her or any girl really, you'd be surprised how quickly you'd succeed."

He seemed to mull over what she was saying in his mind while he leaned forward over his knees. He glanced over his shoulder at her, the contemplative look morphed into one of amusement as he briefly shot a look off to one side of her.

"Thanks Theia, with a lass like you around, who needs a date?" She scoffed as he leaned closer to say something more subdued under his breath. "Looks like someone might want to talk to you," he nodded at someone standing off to the side behind her, and before she could turn her head to see who it was, he stood up and patted his front coat pocket where the flask was hidden. "I'll get us some drinks." He turned and walked off towards the refreshments.

When Theia looked to see who he'd been glancing at, she saw the Marauders standing off to the side talking quietly with one another. When Dexter had taken a few steps away, they broke off their conversation and came over to stand in front of where she was sitting. Sirius offered her his hand to help her up from her seat. She didn't need it, but she took it and let the warmth in his fingers leech into hers for the brief few seconds their touch lingered.

"You look incredible, Ethee." Peter was the first to speak.

"Yeah, bloody hell woman," James was rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at her with a certain amount of unease.

"I think what Jamesie here means to say," Remus smacked the back of James' head lightly, "is, that's a beautiful dress."

"Yeah, yeah, she knew what I meant."

She chuckled at them, finding it particularly funny how uncomfortable James was to have to acknowledge that she was a pretty girl, bordering on a beautiful young woman. Her gaze landed on Sirius' face and felt magnetized to it.

"I think the entire Great Hall knew what he meant when you showed up at the top of those stairs," Sirius said without hesitation.

Theia was finding herself grinning at him with ease, despite the bittersweet circumstance. He really looked too handsome for his own good in his sleek and elegant black dress robes. His hair was slightly tousled which added a dimension of devil-may-care to his entire look that led her heart rate to accelerate. She was determined to remain nonchalant though. He was Ren's date, she wouldn't monopolize him, however horribly tempting it was.

"D'you want a drink Ethee?" Peter asked before she could do anything but smile and shake her head at Sirius in response.

"Dex is grabbing me one I'm pretty sure."

"Are you coming back to Gryffindor Tower tonight for the after-party?" James asked. Sirius' eyes darted to hers while his expression remained cool. She let a half smile spread slowly onto her face for good measure. She could feel his anticipation picking up in his aura, the feeling was practically intoxicating.

"Mhmm," The wash of excitement and relief she felt through Sirius' aura was unmistakable, but his outward reaction was nothing more than a coy smirk. "Harper is out on rounds with Lily right now, so to give Alina and Lottie some privacy with their dates, she and I are coming back to Gryffindor Tower tonight. Is there going to be a real party?"

"As real as ever," Remus remarked, and Peter shook his head excitedly.

"I have firewhiskey," James replied, his mood intermingled with excitement and remorse at the mention of Lily being back in Gryffindor tonight.

"And I have that lovely birthday present you gave me that we can share," Sirius gave her a devilish grin that she tried not to react inwardly to.

Shit, why does he do that…

"What of your dates?" She quirked a brow at the group, having her gaze linger on each of them for a second before landing back on Sirius' grey eyes. Her chest clenched at the thought of Ren draped all over him for the remainder of the night, she had avoided the spectacle so far.

"They're planning on joining the fun too…" James scratched the back of his head.

"Who did you end up taking by the way?" She looked expectantly at him at the same time she felt an overwhelming urge to reach out to Lily through the bracelet and ask how their rounds were going. Odd… The feeling quickly subsided, and she forgot about it as she watched the reaction to her question unfold suddenly.

Sirius and Remus broke out into cackles as James hesitated to answer the question. Peter took over responding in a casual bordering on proud-sounding tone.

"James and I are here stag." He grinned at her as Remus and Sirius doubled over.

"Together!" Sirius wheezed out as he slapped James in the back.

"They really just took each other, without the corsages," Remus laughed.

Their laughter was contagious, and she joined them as James and Peter deflected and tried to knock their friends over to the floor.


Author's Note: I renamed Dexter and made him Scottish because I think kilts and the history of wearing them are so unique and fun that I just couldn't help myself. I did in fact research the kilt colors of the clan McGuire so there's a genuine nod of appreciation to that clan and their history in here. I am planning on going back and editing the ever-loving crap out of the first 14 chapters to pare down so many unnecessary things. During that massive revision, I'll fix Dexter's name. In the meantime, enjoy Dexter Reynolds/McGuire getting the hang of flirting.