Sunday 12th December, 1976
"Ready to go?" Lily asked when she noticed me arrive at the Great Hall.
I nodded my head and Mary, Marlene, Lily, and I all started walking to Hogsmeade together, talking animatedly about the Yule Ball and our plans for it. I wanted to tell Lily about being Regulus's date, but I decided leaving it as a surprise would be better.
We got to Hogsmeade and immediately went to the shop Violet Mapleleaf's Witchwear, a shop well known for their good dress robes. When we entered the store, we understood why. It had obviously been enchanted to be bigger on the inside, because there was no way this tiny shop could fit all these dresses. There were floors upon floors filled with racks and shelves of dresses, skirts, shirts, accessories, and anything else a witch could wear.
"Hello girls, my name is Violet Mapleleaf. How may help you today?"
Violet Mapleleaf was not what I had expected. With a store this magnificent, I'd found myself imagining the owner reflecting the beauty of it and also the severity. In reality, Violet Mapleleaf was a short, petite woman with a kind smile and playful eyes. I found I liked this version of her much better than my own imagination.
"We're here to find dress robes for the Yule Ball," Mary said.
Violet clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh, wonderful! Right this way then, I'll take you to the dress robes floor of the store."
"There's a whole floor for dress robes?" Marlene squawked.
"Of course," was all Violet said before turning around and beckoning us to follow.
She led us to the third floor of the store – there were five overall – and started asking us what ideas we had for our dresses, what colours, textures, styles.
"And what about you dear?" Violet asked me. "What colour were you thinking about?"
I shrugged. What colour did I want? I wanted to look pretty. I wanted to wear a beautiful dress. I wanted Regulus to be unable to keep his eyes off me the whole night.
What about you?
Probably green.
I should have guessed. It's the only colour you ever wear.
"Green," I decided.
Violet smiled at me. "I have the perfect dress in mind."
Once we'd all gotton our dresses, aside from Marlene who had chosen a suit instead, we went to The Three Broomsticks to get a drink and relax. Who knew dress shopping was so tiring?
We sat down once we'd gotton our drinks, all butterbeers, and the conversation turned to dates. Now that Lily had one, it was up to Marlene and Mary to find one.
"What about you Y/n?" Mary asked. "Got a date yet?"
"Maybe."
Marlene gasped. "Oh my Godric, you do. Who is it?"
I grinned, shrugging. The others complained and whined, Lily most of all, all of them begging to know who this mysterious person was that was taking me to the ball.
"He's a guy," I said. "That's all you're getting."
"Oh come on!" Mary protested. "Can't you at least tell us what house he's in?"
I shook my head. "Nope."
The others grumbled but eventually let the subject drop, focusing on Mary's date. She had approximately 6 guys on the 'waiting list' as she called it, though none of them had really sparked her interest aside from Garret Doe, the first boy that asked her out.
"The thing is," Mary said, "I'm not as interested in him as I am in his sister."
"Plot twist," I gasped.
Mary grinned, swirling her drink around. The others started hounding her, asking about his younger sister, Aurora, who was a Ravenclaw in my year, while my eyes strayed around the room, eventually landing on Selena Rowle.
She was looking beautiful, as usual, with her dark auburn hair loose around her shoulders and her skin pale while her lips were a startling red, drawing everyone's attention. I felt jealousy spike my gut, especially when I thought of how Regulus would definitely be into her. Hell, even I was a little.
I tried to lift my mood, thinking about how he and Selena couldn't possibly be together, at least not yet, because he was taking me to the ball, not her. That did lift my spirits and I smiled, feeling happy with myself as I looked away. I couldn't wait to see the marauders faces when they realised I took Regulus to the ball. It would teach them to be careful about what they said to me in the future. I could already imagine Lily's delight when she found out Regulus was my date, as we were, and I quote, "her OTP".
Eventually we finished our drinks and parted from one another as we went to do our Christmas shopping. I thought of my friends, wondering what to buy for them as I strolled through the streets of Hogsmeade aimlessly, looking through a few shops here and there. It took a while, but after a couple of hours of searching I managed to get presents for all of my friends.
For Remus, I got him an enchanted quill that made the user's handwriting perfect, because his own handwriting was truly horrifying, and a bag of chocolates. I got Peter the new Wizards Chess set that had just come out, as he'd been obsessing over it for ages. Sirius got a leather jacket that I'd caught him ogling at in one of Lily's magazines. I'd asked Lily for help with that one, unable to understand how to place an order for delivery like the magazine had suggested. Next was Marlene who I got new gloves, remembering how she'd complained that she needed new ones. Mary was to be given a very beautiful bracelet I'd spotted in one of the windows that instantly made me think of her. For Lily, I got her some new perfume as she'd been complaining she ran out of her old one. Finally, I got James a limited edition quidditch magazine, one that he'd been hinting I should get for him since it came out, and a quidditch poster to go with it.
When I was finished, I thought of my friends, wondering if I'd missed any, when my mind went to Regulus. He was my friend, right? I wasn't a hundred percent sure, so I didn't know if I should get him a gift or not. I decided I'd get him something, and if I never got the chance to give it to him I'd return it.
What to get him, though? I looked through some stores, noting a few things but not really finding anything that caught my eye until the fifth shop I searched. On one of the shelves, there laid a watch. It was silver with green outlining and looked very fancy. It seemed to scream Regulus, so naturally I had to buy it.
Once I'd finished my Christmas shopping, I met back up with the girls and all four of us headed back to the castle, talking to each other about our shopping trips and what we'd gotton for everyone, excluding the other three of us present of course.
The first thing I did when I got to the castle was hide my presents away in my dorm, careful to cast as many protection charms as I could think of in case any of my friends came snooping. I also placed my dress carefully in my wardrobe, admiring it for a while before closing the doors. Once I finished unpacking everything I bought, I went down to the Common Room where the marauders were hanging out.
"Hey Y/n," Peter greeted when I sat down. "How was Hogsmeade?"
"It was good," I answered. "I found a dress for the Yule Ball and I did my Christmas shopping, so it was a productive day."
James and Sirius's heads snapped up when I mentioned my Christmas shopping, looking from one another to me eagerly.
"So, what did you get me?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing," I replied.
Sirius snorted, but I noticed an inkling of doubt in his eyes. "You did get me something, right?'
I shrugged.
"Y/n," he whined.
Again, I just shrugged, hiding my grin as Sirius complained even more. He was interrupted, however, by an owl tapping at the window rather aggressively. A third year cautiously opened it and the owl zoomed in, landing in front of my and holding out it's leg dutifully, where a letter lay tied to it.
I untied it quickly when I noticed the Black crest on it, shoving it in my pocket as the owl flew back out the window. I wasn't quick enough, unfortunately.
"Was that my family crest?" Sirius asked incredulously as he stared at my pocket where the letter was
"What? No," I lied, my hand darting to my pocket to touch the letter with Sirius's family crest on it. "I'm going to read this in private."
I got up and went to my dorm, hurriedly opening the envelope only to be disappointed when I noticed how little was written on the letter. That disappointment disappeared when I actually read it though.
Y/n,
Meet me at our spot as soon as you are available.
- Regulus.
I frowned, wondering where 'our spot' was when I realised, a smile spreading across my face. I shoved the letter in my pocket and went back downstairs, telling the marauders that I needed to do something before leaving.
When I arrived on the seventh floor in front of the broom closet door, I opened it to find a soft melody playing. Regulus stood inside, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed as he listened to the music. He looked so peaceful I couldn't help but stare at him for a while.
"I'm here," I eventually said.
Regulus's eyes opened quickly, and he stood upright, facing me. "I thought you might want another dancing lesson."
I smiled. "How thoughtful of you."
We got into dancing position, and though we'd done it so many times, I still felt butterflies in my stomach as he danced with me, teaching me how to spin properly and some helpful tips on how to avoid stepping on my partners feet.
"You're good at dancing," I commented, the words that were supposed to stay in my mind escaping me.
Regulus smiled, and not just a half smile or a small one. His really smiled, at me, because of me. My heart was soaring, flying through the skies as I smiled back.
And then it disappeared and he seemed to shut himself off from me, pulling away as if he'd just done something terrible.
"Regulus?" I asked hesitantly.
"I need to go," was all he said before turning around and walking out the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving me alone with nothing but the slow melody as company. I frowned, confused.
What just happened?
A/N:
i'm literally in love with the idea of mary having all these guys lined up for the yule ball but only being interested in their sisters. like, slay queen.
also, i only just realised as i read over this chapter, but i accidentally made y/n a little gay for selena. did you guys notice that? like, i always describe what she looks like bc she's supposed to be this elegant goddess and yes, maybe i am attracted to her a bit, but i think i accidentally made y/n attracted to her too...
oh well.