Cailin walks across the hall, knocking on Penelope's door. There are low murmurs behind it, then loud patters of frantic feet, before Penelope opens the door. Her face is tinged pink, paint across her cheeks and collarbones. She breathes heavily. "Cailin. You're early."

"I just wanted to see Finley before we left, I want to go to the gala with him…. Are you okay?"

The nanny grins. "Just fine! Finley's hair is a mess to untangle when he gets out of the shower."

"Oh…." Cailin mumbles, trying to look over the nanny's shoulder, but he cannot see his friend anywhere. "Uh, where is he?"

"Hiding. Like I said, his hair is a mess right now. He refuses to let you see it." Penelope rolls her eyes, stepping to the side to let Cailin in. "He can be a drama king sometimes. He's stated boldly that he'll take care of it."

Cailin nods with a small smile. "Yeah, that sounds like him.”

"Of course it does, it's Finley. Fin! Come on, let me help you!" Penelope yells, walking to her son’s closed door. Cailin shakes his head as he closes the front.

"I've got it! Untangutive!" A burst of gold light shines under Finley's door. A second later, he opens it, popping his head out. He smiles at his mother. "Got it."

Penelope stomps her foot on the ground in anger. "I told you not to use your magic!"

"I would've been late to the gala if I had you try to untangle it!" Finley comes out of his room, hair perfectly untangled and hanging around his shoulders. His tux also matches his wand, the night sky pressed on it.

"Well, now I need to actually style your hair! So, let's get to it, we have an hour!"

Cailin and Finley sit in front of each other in the bathroom. Finley is seated on a stool, sitting sideways towards the toilet where Cailin sits. Penelope hurries to pull her son’s hair into something fancy. Cailin is busy telling his friend all about the soccer tryouts later in the year, while playing absently with Finley's fingers. 

The blonde yelps when Penelope pulls a little too hard, earning a laugh from Cailin. “Mother! I’ve told you to be careful!”

“Yes, nanny Penelope. Fin’s delicate.”

Penelope gives Cailin a glare, before continuing her work on pulling all of Finley’s hair into a braided bun on top of his head. “And like I’ve told you before, pain is beauty. Take it like a—"

“We already went through this!”

“Oh, be quiet, I’m almost finished. Cailin, hold this please.” She hands the brunette a bobby pin, which he takes, as Penelope sticks a piece of hair in place. She then grabs the pin back, setting it in its proper position. Then, she steps back, gray eyes on the art she just finished. She nods her head. “Perfect. Now get your wand, you’re ready.”

Finley grins with relief, hopping off the stool. He turns back towards his room with Cailin following after him. “I think it was worth it,” Cailin states abruptly.

The blonde enters his room with a confused look on his face as he begins to look around for his wand. “What was worth it?”

“All the time it took to do your hair. It looks awesome.”

And Cailin really believes this. With Finley facing away from him, Penelope had a simple braid going up into the perfectly shaped bun on his head. The top braid wraps around like a crown, reminding Cailin of woven gold.

Finley finally finds his wand, turning back to his friend with a smile. “Thank you. Now let's get the worst part of this day over with.”

“Where did you put your egg?”

“In my closet, under a heating lamp.”

The brunette turns towards Finley’s closet, which has a bright source of light coming from underneath it. He grins. “Nice place to put it.”

“Are you stalling?” Finley asks randomly, setting his wand in his jacket pocket.

Cailin sighs. “I’m not really looking forward to this.”

The blonde frowns, setting his hands on his hips. He sits down on the bed. “What’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you nervous we might see our parents?”

Finley slowly grins. “Cay, we don’t know what our parents look like.”

Cailin’s cheeks burn, but he shrugs. “I know that, but…. Well, never mind.”

“No, tell me. I apologize for teasing you, it was wrong of me,” Finley pleads quickly, grabbing Cailin’s arm when he begins to turn away.

The older boy hesitates, before sighing. “We have magic, Fin. For some reason, I think we’ll know when we see them. And I don’t know if I want to see them.”

“What makes you think they’ll be coming?”

Cailin hesitates again, choosing not to speak. Finley smiles lightly, standing. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure they won’t show up. I mean, they have no reason to all of a sudden want us back, right? I’m sure they don’t have enough money to even attend as well.”

Cailin takes a breath, nodding. “Yeah, okay. Sorry, I’m just tense for some reason.”

“You’re nervous, it’s expected. Come on, the sooner we arrive, the sooner it’s over.” Finley grabs his friend’s hand as he leads him out of his room where Penelope waits in the living room.

The nanny has changed into a beautiful pink and purple ball gown, hair down, and no makeup on her face. She must have just thrown something on, for gala’s were never her style. She smiles at her son. “Ready to go?”

He nods. “Yep.”

She nods back, standing, and looping both her arms through Finley and Cailin’s elbows. Then, she begins to walk out of the dorm room. “Are you two expecting to find your soulmates tonight? This gala in particular is where the most soulmates find each other.”

Finley swallows uncomfortably. “Why is that?”

“Well, I’m not completely sure. Maybe it’s because there are a lot of changes that happen in this time to the scholars. This is the point where you two begin to really grow up. There’s always going to be another step.”

Finley and Cailin glance at each other, before looking away as they ascend the stairs to the ninth floor, where all the ballrooms are held.

Finley did not say to Cailin back in his room, but he already knows what is bound to happen during tonight’s gala. From beginning to end. In great detail.

For he had dreamed it the night before.