Chapter 27

“Fun idea…” Alastair said as he buttoned up a too-large set of tuxedo robes. “What if I skipped the ball?”

“You can’t skip the ball,” Eloise said, rolling her eyes. She was touching up her lipstick in a glass of water that she’d charmed into mirror-like stillness. “You’re the bloody headmaster.”

“I know. But hear me out… What if I did?”

She shrugged. “You signed up to do this job. No one forced you into it.”

That was a more-than-fair point. So, he finished getting ready in silence. When done, he looked into Eloise’s water glass.

“What’s your deal, anyway? First not wanting to dress up for All Hallows’ and now this?”

“All Hallows’ didn’t turn out so hot, did it?” Alastair quipped. “Imagine how foolish I felt, running around the castle, setting wards and giving orders while dressed like a vampire?”

Eloise snickered.

“I don’t think it’s all that funny,” Alastair said. But when Eloise laughed harder, he joined in. “Okay, fine. I guess it was a bit humorous. But these robes?”

His borrowed set of robes were cut in such a way that it didn’t matter if they were too big. Even if they were a perfect fit, he’d still look absurd.

“This looks ridiculous,” he said cautiously, trying not to sound too much like he was fishing for a compliment.

“You look great. Here…” Eloise handed him a bottle, and he reluctantly put some gel in his hair. “It’s going to be a great party. Juliana’s playing. I invited Avi and Brendan—everyone will be here.”

Alastair made a face, and she rolled her eyes again.

“Avi’s not going to come at you again, don’t worry,” she said. “I talked to him about it.”

“You did what?”

“I talked to him,” she said casually.

“I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“But I did anyway.”

“Gee, thanks, Mom.”

“It’s fine. He got it. But…”

Alastair groaned. “What?”

“Maybe you should think about what he said. He had a point.”

“Nothing better than getting teamed up on by my friends,” Alastair said.

“It’s not like that, Ally. We care about you.”

“Sure.” It was time to move on from this conversation. “Let’s go downstairs, shall we?”

She stared at him for an overlong moment, then sighed. As usual, she took his arm, and they headed out.

“My, my,” the gargoyle knocker said as they opened the office door. “Don’t you look… Hmmm. Is there a funeral?”

“It’s going to be yours soon,” Eloise threatened.

“Fiesty…”

“Shut it,” Alastair warned.

They kept walking as they door shut.

“The gargoyle’s right, you know. I look stupid.”

“You look wonderful. Now, come on.”

Eloise pulled him down the short hall that led to the headmaster’s private staircase to the Main Hall.

Already, they could hear music, holiday strings, mostly, but with an oddly familiar flair.

“Is that—”

Sure enough, Onyx Priestly and his group were playing jointly with Juliana’s chamber ensemble. The result was surprisingly catchy, breathing new life into the familiar holiday classics.

Ms. Snapdragon waved brightly up at them, then pointed at the stage, mouthing, “Aren’t they good?”

Alastair grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. She was not wrong. They were.

Delyla—the fifth-year in Onyx’s trio—smiled as Alastair passed.

They dodged a series of spinning ice trees that could have doubled as a surgeon’s tools as they made their way toward the punch bowl. Quicksilver had enchanted them to dance—perhaps as a hint to the students, who were mostly milling aimlessly around the dessert table. Though, perhaps he’d been a bit too enthusiastic with the charm. They moved fast enough to take down an unwary first-year.

“Isn’t that kind of dangerous?” Alastair asked, pressing himself flat against the punch table. “One of those icicles could take someone’s eye out!”

“It’s fun!” Eloise said. She had already drunk half of her first glass of punch. “Holidays! Woohoo! Hey, look, there’s Amaryllis over there by the tree.”

Sure enough, Ms. Shadow was repairing a minor Scrying on one of the lower branches. She wore dark burgundy robes rather than her usual black, and her hair was piled high on her head. When she glanced over, her bright blue eyes glinted behind round golden glasses in the multi-colored light.

“Go talk to her!” Eloise said. “Come on. Drink that glass of punch and go over there.”

“She looks busy. She doesn’t need me interrupting her.”

“Oh good, she’s coming over now.”

Eloise refilled her glass and high-tailed it away from the table, leaving Alastair—much to his dismay—alone with Ms. Shadow.

“All fixed?” he said, too jolly.

She gave him a strange—and well-deserved—look. “One of my third-years did that one. Supposed to turn red if your holiday wish is going to come true, but it kept getting stuck on purple.”

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Alastair’s throat was suddenly bone dry. He drained his punch, smacked his lips, and said, “And is yours?”

“My what?” She narrowed her eyes.

Feeling like an idiot now, he had no choice but to keep going, “Your… uh, holiday wish. Is it going to come true?”

“I don’t have a holiday wish,” she said, looking baffled.

“Oh. Uh. That’s too bad.”

This was going horribly.

Where was Eloise?

Alastair looked around quickly, finding her hovering by the stage, talking to Juliana on the break between songs. The only thought in his head was scheming to figure out how he could join her.

Blessedly, Ms. Shadow did not ask him if he had a holiday wish. Instead, and most surprisingly, she said, “Headmaster Meade, would you like to dance?”

“Right now?” His dry throat was now a desert.

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously not right now. When the music starts again, if the song is something you can dance to.”

What was he to do? She wanted to dance with him? When he realized the silence had gone on too long, he abruptly said, “Sure.”

“Great.”

They waited awkwardly for the next song to start, all the while looking anxiously at Juliana.

Quit talking, Eloise.

He refilled his glass, spilling a bit over the rim.

“How’s House Augury?” he said, shaking his hand free of liquid. “Learning well, and all?”