Chapter 65 - The Yule Ball

                                    

                                          

December soon came around bringing lots of snow with it that covered the grounds of Hogwarts like a white blanket. Christmas was not the only thing we were all excited for, The Yule Ball had been the talk of the school for weeks and now it was the morning of. James had made me help him practice dancing in preparation. 
I was still in bed, everyone else was awake and getting dressed. No one was getting into dresses yet because the ball was later this evening. "Y/n wake up." Lily laughed poking her head through the red velvet curtains of my bed. 
"No piss off." I mumbled sleepily and pressed my face against the pillow, my bed felt too toasty and warm to get out. 
"Let her have her rest, she'll most likely be up all night if you know what I mean." Mary's voice teased me from the other side of the room by the sound of it. 
My curtains snapped open and Marlene was stood grinning down at me "Rise and Shine!" She said then jumped onto me. 
"Ow!" I laughed but tried to push her off, it was too early for this. 
After my rude awakening, I got dressed into some comfy clothes, an oversized Led Zeppelin T-shirt and some dark blue jeans. We had the day off and it was freezing outside so I planned on lounging around in the common room and probably studying before the ball. 
I walked down into the common room to see Remus already there with a book. We both had similar ideas. "Budge up." I smiled and sat down next to him opening my book. 
"Morning y/n." He smiled and I put my head on his shoulder as I began to read, it was a book on astronomy which I actually found quite interesting. I liked divination and astrology, things like that where people either believe in it or make fun of other people for believing in it. 
"Are you excited for the ball?" I asked after a little while of reading. 
"I don't know, I guess it's a good experience. Bit posh though." He chuckled "I've never been to anything like it of course." 
"Me neither, I'm excited." I smiled. 
James, Sirius and Peter burst through the common room door in their winter clothes, hats, gloves, coats, scarfs etc. The tips of their noses were red from the cold and they had melting snow all over them. "Y/n back off my man!" Sirius joked and jumped down trying to seperate us but he ended up landing on top of us making us both groan in pain. 
"Buggar off Black!" I laughed and shuffled up so he could actually fit in between us. 
"We just had a wicked snowball fight!" Peter grinned. 
"Yeah I can tell, you look freezing." I laughed a little "You lot will need to warm up and make yourselves look presentable before the ball." I teased. 
We spent the rest of the day lounging about by the fire in the Gryffindor common room until night fell and the hall was all decorated so it looked like a winter wonderland / ballroom. 
Marlene, Lily, Mary and I were all in our dorm getting ready. I had showered and styled my hair in an elegant half up half down way. Well, I got Mary to do it for me. I also got Mary to do my eye makeup, she applied some shimmering green and gold to my eyelids. She was so good at it I wasn't convinced she didn't use magic. Finally came the dress, I slipped it on along with my heels and then looked in the mirror. 
For once I didn't feel like I had to fake being confident because I truly felt it. My friends looked amazing too, not one of us looked the same yet we were all so beautiful. Mary looking like a Goddess in her gold dress reminded me why I loved women "We all look amazing." I smiled. 
"Yes we do." Lily grinned. "Here I've got an enchantment to make sure your heels don't trip you up while you dance tonight." She smiled. 
"Oh I'll definitely need that." I chuckled and let her enchant my shoes. 
"Are we ready to go?" Marlene smiled, her red dress matched her deep red lipstick. 
"I think so." Mary smiled, we all walked downstairs and the boys were waiting in the common room in dress robes looking smarter than I'd ever seen them before. 
When James saw Lily he couldn't take his eyes off her, a faint blush rising to his cheeks. "Evans." He cleared his throat hoping she didn't notice how flustered he clearly was, my idiot brother. He held out his arm and she took it with a smile. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks." Lily smiled "You look rather handsome too Potter." She grinned and kissed his cheek. 
We all walked out of the common room talking excitedly while I kept my eye out for Reg, he said to meet him by the great hall so that's what I would be doing. When I was at the top of the steps, there he was. His dark hair neatly combed and he had the smartest dress robes out of any one there, perks of being in the Black family, and he had a green tie on that matched my dress. 
He smiled when he saw me and I walked down the steps to go and great him. "Y/n you look- wow. I mean, well yeah you're really- oh fucking hell. You're beautiful." He smiled and put his arms around my waist pulling me into a kiss. 
I kissed him softly "Did you just get tongue tied?" I teased. 
"Of course not." He shook his head with a smirk because we both knew it was true. "I'm Regulus Black I don't get toungue tied."
"Well you don't look too bad yourself." I grinned up at him. "Worth the wait?" 
"Very much so." He nodded and looked me up and down. "You know because I'm a perfect we'll have to open the ball with the other prefects and their dates. You alright with that?" He asked. 
"Yeah. I'm a bit nervous though." I said honestly. 
"You'll be fine you did well when I showed you." He smiled. 
I noticed how people would look at us and then whisper, probably because we were the most unlikely couple in the whole school but here we were. 
"Oh goodness me there you are!" McGonagall exclaimed walking up to us. "We must start, you know the opening dance yes?" She asked the two of us. 
"Yes we do." Reg nodded. 
"Perfect, line up with everyone else then." McGonagall looked more than surprised to see us together but I learned to ignore it. 
We went to stand with the other prefects, James and Lily were at the front as head boy and girl. As soon as we got there Diana approached us, she had an elegant silver dress on which bought out the grey in her eyes. "Reggie! So as we're the Slytherin prefects we should open the dance together like Lily and James are. It makes sense." She smiled at him, completely ignoring me. 
I wanted to push her off the astronomy tower. 
"James and Lily are dating." Reg said calmly. "We are not and we never will so I think it doesn't make sense at all actually. I'm clearly with y/n and the less you respect that, the less I respect you. Have a good night." He responded cooly and turned back to me. "Calm thoughts darling." He smirked seeing how I was glaring at her. 
He held out his arm for me and I took it. "If I hexed her would anyone notice?" I said to him quietly. 
"Yes. But that's never stopped me." Reg smirked. The doors to the great hall opened and we had to walk in. 
Everyone was stood at either side to create a pathway for us to walk through, I spotted a few familiar faces like Chris and Freddie. I hadn't spoke  to Freddie since Reg hexed him but I wasn't worried about that, he was looking at Reg and I the whole time but I ignored it. 
The ceiling had been enchanted to make it snow in the hall, but it wasn't too cold. Huge Christmas trees stood proudly in the four corners and there were even ice statues of creatures like Hippogriffs on the tables at either side. 
We stood in our positions waiting for the music to start and I put my arms around Reg's shoulders like he taught me. "I'm so nervous." I whispered. 
He smiled and shook his head "Don't be." He whispered, his hands were holding my waist. "Just focus on me."
"Alright." I nodded and did exactly as he said as the music began and we were whisked away into the dance.