(the picture up the top is what i based y/n's dress off. you can imagine something else but the descriptions will be of this dress)

Friday 24th December, 1976

I sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, curled up on the couch with a book in my hand, feeling rather peaceful. The peacefulness shattered when James clapped his hands, grabbing my attention along with the other marauders.

"Come on Y/n, time to get ready," he reminded, getting up, the other marauders following suit.

I put my book down to look at my brother. "I'm getting ready with the girls."

"But Y/n," James whined. "We're family. This is a family thing."

"Since when has getting ready for the Yule Ball ever been a family thing?"

James stomped his foot on the ground, vividly reminding me of a four-year-old. "Since now!"

"Too bad."

I got to my dorm and opened my wardrobe where my dress had been hanging for the past couple of weeks, only to find it gone. I looked through all my clothes in my wardrobe, but it wasn't there. I searched through my trunk, my drawers, anywhere my dress might be, but it was gone.

"James!" I called when I entered his dorm. "James, do you know where my dress is?"

"It's in our wardrobe," he replied from the bathroom where he seemed to be attempting to tame his hair.

"What?"

James poked his head out from the bathroom to look at me. "We're getting ready together."

I snorted "No we're not."

"Yes we are."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are."

I sighed, frustrated. "No we're not James."

"Yes, we are Y/n," James retorted. "Come on, your dress is already here, so you may as well stay."

I glared at him before turning to Remus pleadingly. "Remus, you're letting this happen?"

Remus looked down sheepishly as he answered me. "I was sort of planning on doing your hair."

"Sirius?" I asked.

"Who's going to do your makeup?"

I turned to Peter, my last hope. He just looked at me helplessly, shrugging. "...I've got your shoes?"

I groaned, stomping my foot like a child as I focused back on my brother who was smirking victoriously. I scowled.

"And you?" I prodded at him. "What are you contributing?"

"I have the fucking dress," he said, rolling his eyes at me.

I sighed, finally giving in, and the four boys gave celebratory whoops and cheers. Against my will, a smile found its way to my face, and I quickly grabbed my dress and entered the bathroom before they could see. Once I'd gotton into the dress, I exited the bathroom and found all four boys staring at me. I raised an eyebrow, smirking, and they jolted back into action. Remus motioned me towards him, and I sat in the chair as he started styling my hair.

With nothing to do, my mind strayed to the past week. For the first few days after the fight between Regulus and Sirius, Regulus had kept his distance from me. The dancing lessons had stopped, and I was afraid that meant he didn't want to go to the ball with me anymore. It had been horrible, and I hadn't even had Remus to get me through it, as he'd fallen ill a couple of days after the fight. On the fourth day after the incident, I had worked up the nerve to ask him if he still wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me, to which he had said yes, and the dancing lessons had continued. After that, our relationship had gotton steadier, and Regulus had pulled away less often.

On another note, the full moon had passed again, this time on the 19th. I had been worrying about it a lot that day, and it had been made worse because I couldn't even talk to Regulus about it. It had made me want to know more about werewolves though, and so I spent part of my break reading up on werewolves. It made my curiosity to who the werewolf was increase, now that I had a better understanding of what they were, which was basically an average human everyday of the month but one.

"Finished," Remus said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I smiled up at him. "Thank you."

"Time for makeup," Sirius sang, moving Remus out the way so he could have better access to my face. Halfway through Sirius doing my makeup, James started freaking out, grabbing all our attention.

"I can't find my tie!" he wailed, making a mess of his trunk as he searched through it.

Sirius looked down and cursed when he realised he was wearing it. "But then where's mine?"

The dorm erupted into chaos as we all tried to find Sirius's tie, excluded Remus who was in the bathroom at the time. When he exited it and found the dorm being ransacked, he sighed.

"What are we looking for?"

"My tie!" Sirius sobbed. "It's gone!"

Remus rolled his eyes and strolled to the wardrobe where the tie was neatly rolled up on the top shelf. He handed Sirius the tie, giving him a pointed look.

"Remember when I told you I put it up there so you wouldn't lose it?" he asked.

Sirius stared down at his tie sheepishly. "Maybe."

After that, getting ready went smoothly, or as smoothly as it could when you were getting ready with the marauders. Finally, I got my shoes on and turned to look in the mirror, smiling as I looked at myself.

The dress itself was beautiful. It had a dark green velvet top with spaghetti straps and a thin, see-through material for the sleeves, that started below my shoulders and cut off at my wrists. The left side of the top was covered by a large silver sequined flower that branched out along the side. The skirt of the dress went to the floor, a few shades lighter than the top, and was covered with silver sequins in the shape of flowers.

I smiled, doing a little twirl, and turned around to the marauders. All four were smiling fondly at me, and I pretended not to notice the wetness in some of their eyes, namely Sirius and James. Together, we left the dorm, though I was adamant to arrive at the ball with the girls, so they left without me. Went the girl's arrived at the Common Room we all smiled and giggled like idiots as we looked at one another.

Lily was also wearing a green dress, though this one was much lighter than mine, and had an off-shoulder neckline. Mary was wearing a heart-stopping deep red dress that went down to her knees and had a sweetheart neckline. Marlene was absolutely rocking a navy-blue blazer with matching-coloured pants and a lacey black corset.

We all walked to the Great Hall together, but as we were turning the corner I stopped walking, overcome with anxiety. Everything suddenly seemed like a really bad idea. Going the ball with Regulus? It would ruin Sirius and James's night. This dress? Outshined by every other student who made better dress choices. A romantic night with Regulus? Bound to end up in heartbreak.

I found myself missing my mum then. Euphemia always knew what to say to make you feel better. I closed my eyes, imagining her standing behind me, urging me to go and have fun. I took a deep breathe, opened my eyes, and pushed forward, turning the corner, and arriving at the Great Hall.

I felt people's eyes turn to me the moment I entered the Hall. No doubt this happened to every single person before me, everyone eager to see what other people wore, who they came with. Still, I couldn't help the anxiety building inside me as negative thoughts plagued my mind. What if I tripped and made a fool of myself? What if people were talking about me right now, criticising my dress and everything else about me? My eyes franticly searched the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face.

My gaze inevitably landed on Regulus Black, and suddenly the anxiety was forgotten. My mind was too preoccupied with trying to process how beautiful Regulus looked to worry about anything else. Unsurprisingly, he was wearing a fully black suit, with a black blazer, black shirt, and black pants. The only piece of colour on him was his green tie, a startling yet mesmerising contrast. His hands were in his pockets as he stared up at me, enthralled. His black hair was neatly brushed, but not gelled, instead letting it fall free around him, framing his face.

He was truly breathtaking. A piece of artwork I wanted to keep with me forever. Without even realising it, I had made my way over to him, not even stumbling. Regulus blinked, as if dazed, before clearing his throat as he snapped out of it.

"You look beautiful," he murmured, taking my hand in his and lifting it up to his lips.

My breath hitched as he brushed his lips across my hand and slowly let it go.

"Thanks," I said a little breathlessly. "You don't look to bad yourself."

Regulus smiled and held out his arm in invitation. I gladly linked our arms together, looking over my shoulder to see my friend's reactions. James and Sirius were staring right at us, horror and shock plastered on their faces. Remus and Lily were full on grinning, while Peter just looked confused. Marlene and Mary were sharing looks, smirks on both their faces.

Satisfied with their reactions, I turned back to face Regulus, only to find him staring at me, something like longing in his eyes. He smiled softly when we made eye-contact and I looked down, feeling my cheeks heat up at how soft Regulus was being tonight.

We started having a conversation, though often throughout it Regulus would just trail off, looking at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Like he was captivated by me, unable to look away. Like I was the most precious thing in the world, and the only thing he wanted to do with his life was to cherish me.

Obviously that wasn't what was going through his head when he kept forgetting his words, but that's how I interpreted it because I'm a hopeless romantic. When he yet again trailed off, eyes on my lips as he bit his own, I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

"Reg," I said gently. "You're staring."

Regulus blinked, coming back to reality, and blushed, looking away as he mumbled, "sorry."

"It's fine," I assured him, lightly brushing his hand with my own. "Do you want me to get us some drinks?"

Regulus nodded distractedly and I gave him one last smile before leaving, heading to the drinks table. As soon as I got there the marauders were upon me, bombarding me with questions and statements about my choice of date.

"Why did you even take him?" James asked.

"You guys told me too," I said simply.

Sirius and James shared a look of outrage. "We didn't mean literally!"

I shrugged. "Well that's your fault."

I walked back to the spot Regulus and I had been standing earlier, but Regulus was gone. I put his drink on a nearby table, assuming he'd gone to the bathroom, and started chatting with Lily. Eventually James joined the conversation as well, because there was only so much time he could go without being with Lily.

I was just saying something when the music started playing, cutting me off. I realised it was a slow dance song, signalling that it was time to find your partners and dance, but as I looked around the room my heart went heavy when I realised something.

Regulus was no-where in sight.

A/N:

hey ya'll... how we doing?

james wanting y/n to get ready with him will never not melt my heart. 

also, y/n's eyes inevitably finding regulus >>>>

updating on friday :)))