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Regulus rolled his eyes upon seeing his friends when he walked into his dorm. "What are you wearing."
"I am clearly a butterfly," Evan said, flicking his antennae, so it wobbled back and forth.
"I can see that, but why are you-"
"Hey Ev, can you help me get these wings on? Oh hey, Reg."
"You two are ridiculous," Regulus sighed, throwing himself on his bed.
"You love us, and you know it." Barty grinned at him. "Now get your costume on because the ball starts in a few minutes."
"I'm not going."
"You are" Evan stood, grabbing two costumes from his bed. "You can be a sexy little pirate or a cute little kitty cat."
"I'm not going, and I'm certainly not wearing a costume."
"Stop being a Grinch," Evan said, throwing the pirate costume at him.
"James is gonna be there," Barty sang, raising his eyebrows up and down.
"One, what is a Grinch? And two, I don't care." Regulus scowled up at Evan
"I don't know. I heard some third-year Hufflepuff saying it and thought it was funny," Evan shrugged, cupping Regulus's face, "and you definitely do care, loverboy. Now you either go get dressed, or I will imperio you and force you to get dressed, okay?" He smiled, making Regulus's mouth smile with his fingers.
Regulus shook his head, grabbed the pirate costume, and headed into the bathroom.
"I can't believe you made me come to this," Regulus grumbled, taking a sip of his drink, "and this is disgusting."
"It's better with this" Barty pulled out a flask and gave Regulus a furtive look. "Give me your cup." Pouring some of the mystery liquid into Regulus's drink.
"I see Dorcas and Marlene. Let's go" grabbing both the boy's hands, Evan pulled them through the crowd.
"How are you already sweaty?" Barty whined, wiping his hand on his pants when they stopped.
"Hey!" Marlene said, "you lot look adorable," Regulus noted she was dressed as what he could only assume was some kind of muggle healer. While Dorcas was wearing Marlene's Quidditch robes as her costume.
"Hey, what are you drinking? Please tell me it's not the punch." Dorcas grimaced.
Regulus choked on his drink.
"What's wrong with the punch?" Evan asked suspiciously.
"I don't know, but James and Sirius were talking about it in hushed voices, so it can't be anything good."
"Hello, my precious snakes," Pandora came gliding over dressed as a fairy princess. "Oh, Regulus James is looking for you." That sent Regulus into a coughing fit, causing Barty to slap his back a few times.
"You okay?" Dorcas smirked, trying not to laugh.
"Peachy," he muttered, looking around the room and taking another drink from his spiked punch. The great hall had been covered in spider webs and giant pumpkins. Some skeletons were enchanted to dance to the music played by the ghost band Nick and the Sexy Ghosts. The room had a blue tint, and the ceiling was bewitched to show shooting stars. The house elves all had costumes of their own too. One was dressed as a cupcake which made Regulus smile a little because he was the grouchiest house elf he had ever met. It was actually a nice setup.
"Well, if it isn't my baby brother and co." Regulus closed his eyes, praying to anyone listening that James was not with Sirius when he turned around. They did not get the message. Turning to face Sirius, he saw Remus, Peter, and the devil himself, James.
"Nice costumes," Evan addressed the group.
"Why, thank you, Mr. Rosier," Sirius said with a theatrical bow. He was dressed as a muggle singer that he loved and claimed was a wizard. Regulus wasn't entirely sure what his name was. Remus was dressed as some muggle spider superhero Regulus remembers hearing Sirius gush about. Peter was dressed as some kind of herbologist, and then there was James. James bloody Potter was dressed as the most beautiful merman that Regulus had ever seen. Regulus hated it so much. He wanted to tell James just how much he hated it with his mouth...pressed against James's mouth.
"You okay, Reggie? You're staring."
"No, I'm not." Regulus flushed, looking away instantly.
"Right," Sirius smirked. "Moons, do you wanna dance with me?"
"Do I really have a say?" Remus snorted.
"Nope," Sirius said, popping the p and pulling Remus onto the dance floor.
"Dancing sounds like a great idea." Evan pulled Barty with him, following Sirius and Remus. The girls and Peter followed, leaving James and a startled Regulus alone.
"Sooo," James grinned sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. Regulus said nothing, still gazing at him. "Right, okay, well, nice chat." James turned to walk out on the dance floor, but Regulus grabbed his hand, stopping him. James looked at Regulus, who had his mouth open like he was about to say something.
Then like a divine force had taken over, they started getting closer and closer until they were nose to nose, forehead to forehead. Everything started moving in slow motion. Regulus flicked his eyes up to look into James's.
"I hate you," Regulus breathed, closing the gap. The music had faded, and Regulus heard fireworks going off in the distance. It felt like they were the last two on the planet at that moment. He never wanted his moment to end.
"I know," James beamed when they broke apart, grabbing Regulus's hand. "Come on, let's go dance. This is my favorite song."
"...And that Harry is the story of how I met your father."
"What are you telling our son," James asked, walking outside, giving the five-year-old the pail he forgot.
"Nothing," Regulus smirked. "Come on, Harry, uncle Remus said Teddy is already bouncing off the walls, and I'm willing to bet so is uncle Sirius."
"It's candy time?" Harry bounced up and down, causing the head of his dragon costume to come down and cover his face.
"It's candy time," James confirmed, locking the door. Giving his husband and son a kiss on the head, the trio set off across the street to the Lupins.