Chapter 17 - The Ball

Sebastian's letter was oddly formal, since when did he call Ominis 'Gaunt.' But it was abrupt enough to fuel my anger towards him yet again. Here I was worrying about him, and he barely cared to write more than three sentences to me. I mentioned to Ominis that Sebastian had written back and that he was fine. He didn't ask for any more details but agreed he would pass the message onto Anne so that she wouldn't worry. I decided to put Sebastian out of my mind and focus on my exams.

Not only did we have exams to contend with, but headmaster Black was so impressed with Slytherin winning the Quidditch cup this year that he announced there was to be a celebratory ball. The Great Hall hummed with excitement as he made his announcement. I could see all the girls giggling and whispering to one another, whilst the boys groaned and some even rolled their eyes. As much as I was looking forward to a ball, as I'd never been to one before, I didn't have the time or energy to go dress shopping. It was the day before the ball, and we were writing our final Transfiguration exam. My plan was to rush to Hogsmeade after the exam and pray that Augustus Hill still had a dress available for me to purchase, no doubt he would've been inundated with orders from all the Hogwarts students.

I felt a sense of relief as I put down my quill in my final paper and I could feel the stress releasing from my shoulders. In fact, most of the students looked happier than they had in weeks. I quickly made my way up to my dormitory to grab my shoulder bag before I could head off to Hogsmeade. As I entered, I noticed a very large black box on my bed wrapped in a green ribbon and there was a note attached to it.

Dear Miss Dagworth,

Would you do me the honour of attending the ball with me tomorrow evening? I know you have been overwhelmed with exams and so I took it upon myself to find an outfit for you for the evening. It's undoubtedly a perfect fit seeing as Augustus Hill designed it himself, he was most eager to make the perfect dress for you.

I look forward to seeing you in it.

Ominis

I smiled down as I read the note from Ominis. The box itself was extravagant and I was excited to see what was inside. As I untied the ribbon and lifted the lid I gasped as I saw the splendour that laid within. I lifted the floor-length formal gown and placed it on my front as I gaped at it in the mirror. It was emerald, green with a strapless bandeau neckline and a very high thigh split. The material felt soft under my fingers. It also had a draped sequin train that seemed to sparkle in the candlelight. I thought it almost a bit too revealing at first as it would show a lot of skin, but I noticed it also included some white elbow length gloves made of silk. It was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen.

²

It was the night of the ball and Imelda, and I were getting ready together. Grace and Nerida had decided to get ready in their friends' dormitory, so it was just the two of us. It was nice to spend some girl time together and I also needed help with the zipper on the back of my dress. Imelda was in awe of my dress when I put it on and for once she didn't have a snarky comment, all she said was "Wow." It was a perfect fit, it hugged my curves in all the right places, and I felt like a goddess in it. Imelda was wearing a maroon gown made of silk with black gloves. I thought it sweet that she was wearing Garreth's house colours. I originally had my hair up in a neat bun, but Imelda absolutely refused to let me wear my hair up yet again. She helped me brush it and smoothed it down with some product until it was neatly straight halfway down my back. We both put on some lipstick and simple earrings. I decided to wear some sensible black heels with the dress, knowing that we would be dancing.

Ominis and Garreth were waiting for us near the entrance to the Great Hall. I felt quite nervous, and I wasn't sure why. Imelda rushed ahead to greet Garreth, he appeared to return her favour by wearing a dark green suit in honour of Imelda's house colours. Their outfits were not coordinated at all, but it was true to them. Ominis stood with his back turned to me as I made my way down the stairs slowly, careful not to trip on my dress. He turned as I was halfway down, I could see he was wearing a black tailored suit with a bow tie that was the same colour as my dress. He looked incredibly handsome, and his green eyes glistened in the candlelight. I could see his eyes moving up and down my body and drinking in the sight of me. I felt quite embarrassed as I reached him. He had one hand behind his back, and he grabbed my one hand and planted a soft kiss on it.

"You are breathtakingly beautiful Riley Dagworth." I smiled at his compliment.

"You look very handsome Ominis. I owe you a thank you, this dress is stunning." He dropped my hand and pulled out a narrow box from behind his back.

"I have one more gift for you." He opened the box and inside it was the most ornate and beautiful necklace I had ever seen. The gems looked to be opal and it sparkled in the light.

"This opal necklace used to belong to my aunt Noctua, I want you to have it." I gaped down at the necklace in disbelief.

"Ominis this is too much. I can't accept this." He smiled at me as he spoke.

"It would mean a lot to me if you did. Besides, I had to get you a present for your seventeenth birthday." I had secretly hoped that no one would figure out it was my birthday today. I was never into my birthdays, because I wasn't even sure if today was my real birthday. It was just a day that my adoptive parents had decided to celebrate each year. For Ominis to get me such an elaborate gift made me feel slightly uncomfortable. I looked up at his beautiful face and he winked at me, and I couldn't say no. I nodded, and he gestured for me to turn. I moved my hair to one side, and I felt him place the necklace around my neck. It was quite cold and very heavy, but I did feel elegant with it resting all the way down my collar bone.

I turned to face him, and he gestured for me to take his arm as we made our way into the Great Hall. There were round tables instead of the usual long house tables scattered around the hall. They were decorated with white tablecloths, candles, and yellow flowers. The ceiling was dancing with sparkling stars and candles were floating above us. We made our way towards the table where Poppy, Oliver, Imelda and Garreth sat. Poppy was wearing a golden dress and matching earrings, she looked stunning. She greeted me as we reached them with the biggest hug.

"Riley your dress! You look wonderful."

She looked so good in her dress, but I could see that she had bags under eyes.

"You also look lovely my friend, and exams are over!" I was hoping that Poppy would start to relax now that exams were finished but she looked more tired than ever. Oliver didn't even bother standing to greet us, he just gave us a nod as we sat down. As we sipped from our goblets more students entered the Great Hall and took their seats. We had one pair of empty seats at our table and from the corner of my eye I saw Natty and Amit make their way over. Ominis gestured for them to join us, and I raised my eyes to meet Nattys'. She was in traditional Ugandan colours, and she had bright red earrings that nearly touched her neck. Amit also looked very smart in his navy-blue suit. We gave each other a curt nod and continued our conversations with the others around the table.

The food was unbelievable, the house elves had really outdone themselves tonight. Our goblets magically refilled with sweet nectar, and everyone was in good spirits. As our course came to an end the tables started to magically float to the edges of the hall and the violins were enchanted to start playing. Professor Ronan and Professor Weasley opened the dancefloor as they started their Waltz. Some of the other students started to follow suit.

"May I have this dance my lady?" Ominis bowed in front of me and held is hand out.

"You may, kind sir." I curtsied and placed my hand in his.

Ominis guided me with such ease, I could feel him leading the way with his hand on my back. We swayed to the tempo of the music and Ominis made me twirl. As I did my train on my dress started to shimmer in a silver light. Everyone was looking at us as we danced in the silver light.

"I enchanted your dress to shimmer when we danced." Ominis whispered in my ear. The gesture made my heart leap into my throat, Ominis was such a thoughtful man.

"You have made this night so special Ominis, thank you." He placed a kiss on my forehead.

"You deserve all the happiness in the world Riley, this is the least I could do."

We danced to a few more songs until my feet couldn't take much more and I asked Ominis if we could sit.

"I'll go get us some drinks." I nodded and he headed off towards the refreshments table. I made my way towards some spare chairs along the side of the hall where Poppy was sitting by herself.

"Why aren't you and Oliver dancing?" Poppy looked up in surprise like she'd been asleep.

"Oh, Oliver doesn't dance. I'm not sure where he is actually, he said he had some errands to attend to." I placed a hand on my friend's shoulder.

"Are you happy with him Poppy? I don't mean to pry I just want to make sure you're ok. You haven't been your usual self lately." She looked up at me in an almost pleading way.

"I-I'm fine thank you. If you'll excuse me, I should go find Oliver, I'm supposed to meet him now." She hurried off and left me sitting there by myself.

Ominis returned with our drinks. "Everything ok with Poppy?" he asked giving me a goblet of lemonade.

"I'm not sure, I'm worried about her Ominis. She's not been herself."

He placed a hand on my knee.

"Now that exams are over, why don't you take her into Hogsmeade for a butter beer, just the two of you?"

I took a sip of the sweet liquid and nodded. "I think I will do that."

Ominis looked out upon the dancefloor. "While we're on the topic of friends, I'm not sure why you and Natty aren't on speaking terms, but don't you think it's about time you made up?"

I glanced over to Natty on the dancefloor who was forcing a very uncomfortable Amit to dance with her. I missed my friend so much. Thinking back on it now perhaps Professor Onai was overreacting about this whole prophecy. It didn't seem right to push Natty out of my life and not even tell her why.

"Perhaps I'll need to make two visits to the Three Broomsticks before the end of the school year." Ominis smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"That's my girl." I blushed at his term of endearment.

Despite all that had happened last year, all the weirdness these past few months, these moments made me feel like a normal young woman. It was nice not to be worrying about exams, dark wizards, and mysterious voices, and it was all thanks to this wonderful man sitting next to me.

"Ominis, I just wanted to say thank you. Not only for tonight, but for this whole year, you have been there for me more than anyone and I hope you know how much I care for you." Ominis took my hand and squeezed it.

"Riley, I want you to know-" we were interrupted by a rowdy Garreth trying to get us back to the dancefloor.

"Come on you guys, get your arses back on the dancefloor."

Thankfully Imelda stepped, "Come on sweety, let's leave these two love birds. Why don't you show me your dance moves?"

I giggled as Garreth seemed excited at the challenge and dragged Imelda by the waist to the centre of the dancefloor.

"Shall we go find somewhere more private to talk?" Ominis asked as he squeezed my hand.

"I know the perfect place."