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Three Weeks. That was how long Regulus had to gather up the courage to ask her to go to the dance with him.
The first week did not go well. Instead of asking her to the dance, Regulus avoided even talking to her. Actually that was putting it lightly, he had made a full u-turn out of the transfiguration courtyard on Thursday when he saw her and MacDonald chatting by a tree.
The second week he wrote the letter. He had initially planned on owling it to her but there was a chance that one of her friends saw it and decided to take a peek. God-forbid they decided to read it out loud with his brother in earshot.
So the second week, Regulus tried (and failed) to give Lily the letter. He tried to find her in the library, where the two of them did most of their talking. Unfortunately for him she was studying transfiguration with Sirius’s friend Lupin. He also tried to find her on her prefect rounds to no avail.
Now, there were three days left until the dance and it was safe to say that Regulus was cutting it close when he’d finally bumped into her on the fourth floor next to an old charms classroom.
“Evans- Lily!” he called. She turned around at the sound of his voice. Her eyes widened and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her dark red hair was in two Dutch braids with white ribbons tied into the ends.
“Regulus?” She eyed him curiously.
He swallowed, “Hi.”
“Hi,” she repeated.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I meant to ask you weeks ago and now it’s totally last minute and you’ve probably already got-”
“What exactly is it that you’re talking about?” she asked. Regulus could see the amused smile growing on her face.
“Right,” he said. Regulus took a moment to regain his composure, clearing his throat before continuing. “Lily, I was wondering if you would care to accompany me to the upcoming Yule Ball.”
Lily pursed her lips, trying to hold back an even bigger grin, “Would I care to accompany you?”
Regulus felt a light blush crawl up into his cheeks. Lily must have noticed because her cheeks swelled and then she was laughing. She walked closer to him and looked at him fondly.
Regulus tried again. “Will you go to the dance with me? Please?”
She tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment and hummed. “I suppose,” she said. “But,” she added, “only if you promise to take me out next Hogsmeade weekend.”
“You want to go out with me next Hogsmeade weekend?” he asked, pleasantly taken aback by her condition.
“I’d love to,” she answered.
Regulus held his breath as Lily leaned in and placed a light kiss on his cheek. Then, she pulled away and started to walk past him down the hall.
He turned around to watch her leave and saw her spin around to yell, “My dress is white by the way.” And then she disappeared down the hall.