This ENORMOUS chapter had to be cut in two, otherwise it would've been unreadable. This part has more than 8000 words, so please, bear with me because I had far too much fun with all the dances.

Warning: the video above it the Romany Polka, which is the dance Regulus and Luna dance together. I'm terrible at describing it step by step and most of the books I found were in French, which did not help me because my French is absolutely terrible.

Not wearing a bra under the thin, see-through chemise with the biggest cleavage that Euphemia could find (she said it would look less scandalous with the dress and with the coverage of the corset) was more comfortable than she expected, especially because it gave her the capability of raising it above her hips to tie the petticoats around her waist with tiny bows without something digging at her shoulders.

It wasn't a pretty sight, the ends of the chemise (that reached just to the middle of her thighs) were shoved in the sewn-on pockets all around the petticoats so it wouldn't get in the way, though it was so short that it wouldn't. That meant that she could see her breasts under the too thin cover of the sheer fabric, and she could see the scars as well – the only coloured part of it was under her breast, near her ribs, that had made her slightly paler.

She was trying her best to hold the corset in place with an arm while passing the laces behind her back, but she failed.

Luna hated the corset already.

Carefully, still holding it into place, she walked to her new bedroom door and opened it just enough to put her face out. Nobody was out in the corridor, for her despair, however a door down the corridor opened just as she was about to close her own – James Potter walked out, finishing to button up his shirt and his hair a mess from his afternoon nap.

"Potter!" she called out. "Potter!"

James turned, surprised. He had forgotten that she was staying three bedrooms down the corridor from him.

"What is it?" he asked. "Alright?"

"Can you get your mum?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Maa's out," he said, frowning a bit. "She should be back soon, though. She went to Gringotts for some jewellery for you."

Luna frowned at that. She hadn't requested jewellery, but she knew that Euphemia wouldn't wait for her to request such a thing, she had every intention of going to the Ball without anything attached.

While it was an uncomfortable situation, she bit her bottom lip to keep herself focused.

"Can you get my brother, then?" she asked. "I need help."

"I can help," James said.

She held the door harshly even though he had made no attempt to open it.

"I'm having problem with my corset. Get my brother," she specified.

James' face turned so red that she almost regretted being so blunt with her explanation, but he nodded and turned on his heels, walking away before she could as much as think about apologising.

Much to her dismay, however, another door down the corridor opened as James walked down the stairs to find Remus, who had gone for a stroll with Peter around the grounds. From the new door, Sirius hesitantly walked out, looking around and meeting eyes with her.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

She started to close the door.

"Luna!" he called out.

He ran to the door as she held it in place, not closing it completely, but leaving just a sliver of it open.

"What?" she asked.

"I can help," he said. "I heard you talking to James. I can help. I have tied corsets before –"

"And untied them, I'm sure," she dismissed, trying to close the door.

"Luna, I don't want anything, I just want to help, alright?" he said, putting his hand on the door to stop her from closing it, but he didn't push it open, just held it in place. He wasn't even looking at her anymore, just stared at the ground where his bare feet were resting on. "Perhaps we could talk?"

Luna watched him for a second. He looked pitiful; eyes down, eyebrows almost touching one another, bottom lip appearing as he held back a pout like a child being scolded by its mother. She sighed loudly, opening the door at once.

"Fine," she grumbled, turning her back and walking further into the room, standing in front of the mirror. "Lace me up. Leave the door open."

Sirius hesitated.

"You're... half-dressed. The door stays open?" he asked.

"My brother is on his way, the door stays open while you're inside," she said firmly. Through the mirror, she saw Sirius hesitate again, looking at the stairs. "If you don't want to help me, you can just walk away."

Sirius turned, walking into the room.

"I want to, of course. I'm sorry," he said, walking to her and stopping right behind. He took the laces from the bed and started passing through the corset's holes. "I wanted to speak to you sooner or later, I thought this would be a good enough moment."

"What else could you have to say?" she wondered. "Was the whole situation 'beyond your control'?" she asked.

He had broken thing off by insisting that everything had been beyond his control: his feelings, his temptation, his actions. The responsibility could not be his even in his own mind or words because the blame was worse than the pain that he was infliction on someone else. Why would the moment he decided to hurt somebody else physically be any different than it was when he hurt her emotionally?

"No. I had full control over my action that day, and at the day I was so cruel to you. The only things beyond my control were my feelings for your brother, as you might as well know at this point," he admitted, eyes focused on the lacing. "I fell for him and –"

"I thought it was a rule that we did not speak of my brother when together," she said, cutting him off.

"Well, allow me, please, to break the rules today," he said, finally looking at her through the mirror. "Please."

She was the one to look away then.

"Say your piece," she dismissed.

"I fell for your brother, and I did not realise for longer than I probably should have. I did not know love; I did not know how it looked like or what it felt like or what it was expected from me once it came. My parents were not loving to one another often, and I saw love as something of children's stories, but when I came here to the Potters, I understood," he said. "But at that point, I had already... entertained the idea of you. I had kissed you, I had you," he explained, blushing in front of her for the first time in the years they knew each other. "I had already gone too far. Please, Luna – I can be a cruel person, I know that, but don't take my words back then as an attack."

"Too late."

"I know, and I'm sorry for that. Then don't take my words of now as an attack, it's just honesty," he said. "I did care for you. I do care for you, just not in the way that you wanted me to. I tried. When we were together you were understanding and sweet, so attentive. I wanted to like you. I wanted you to be the one that would make this thing inside of me stop twisting whenever I saw him with someone else. It would've been so much easier had it been you, but it wasn't. I suppose it's the best, you look happier now than I could ever make you; I could never be good enough for you."

Now that the lacings were in place, he started tightening them up slowly, fingers slipping through the laces and gently tugging, eyes flickering to the mirror to watch her face as he did it.

"Regulus is a good man," she said.

"He's barely a man yet," he said. "But he can be if he tries from now on. You make him want to try, that's more than most people like us get."

She frowned.

"People like you?" she asked.

"The broken ones," he explained. "You are Midas, Luna."

"I care not for gold," she said. "I grew up without it, and I'll probably die without it. Midas almost died from his curse, and he almost killed everyone that he cared for because of it as well."

"Well, you're Midas, your father isn't," Sirius said gently. "The money he lost has nothing to do with you."

She looked at him through the mirror, eyes sharp.

"What are you on about?" she asked.

Nonetheless, while she wanted the answer, Sirius couldn't give it to her, because Remus had just walked into the room and stopped at the door, frozen with his eyes wide.

"I'm just helping," Sirius said quickly.

Remus looked at Luna's frowning, serious face, but saw nothing that could attest to whatever else they could be doing besides dressing. Slowly, he walked further into the room and towards the table, leaning against it to watch what was happening.

"Go on, then," Remus said.

Sirius pressed his lips together, but followed the instructions.

"Arms up, hold onto something," he instructed Luna. "I'm not going to make it too tight, but you'll fall if you don't hold on."

Quietly, eyes stuck on Remus, she held onto the chair nearby and turned her head away from the mirror. She was leaning slightly forward for balance – the position felt far too intimate and far too familiar, so to make her mind quieter, she made sure to not look away from her brother's general direction.

"Tighter?" Sirius asked.

"I'm fine," she answered.

"Fill your chest," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"Take a deep breath and hold it, I need your chest full," he explained, also not looking up from the lacing.

She took a very deep breath, filling her chest and spacing her ribs as much as she could while Sirius quickly pulled several layers of the lacings and touching her back gently. He pulled his back away as if she had burned him.

"You can breathe out now," he said when she looked over at him, confused by his touched.

She huffed the air out and said nothing.

He tied the corset, putting the remaining ribbon on the sides.

Sirius stepped away, looking at his work and nodding at him before looking at Remus, waiting for something that never came.

"Thank you," Luna said, voice small.

"Do you need help with the dress?" he asked.

"I'm sure I can help her," Remus said, staring at Sirius, eyes narrowing.

Someone cleared their throat, and the three turned to look at Euphemia standing at the doorway, arms crossed and staring at the small group with suspicion and disapproval obvious. She smiled at Luna.

"I'm sure that I can help her," she said, nodding at Sirius. "And her brother's here now, so you can go."

Sirius, properly scolded, nodded and blushed before slipping out of the room without any other word. That left Remus crossing his arms and staring at his sister, Luna rolled her shoulder back to alleviate some of the tension that had built and watched at Euphemia walked into the room without explicit invitation as soon as Sirius was out of it.

Slowly, Euphemia walked to the trunk and stopped.

"You don't have your new shoes on," she mentioned.

"Well, you don't use shoes inside your home, so I didn't put it on. I left them on the mudroom" Luna explained.

"I'll help you put them on once we're leaving, then," she said, nodding to herself and opening the trunk, getting the dress. "But to future references, if the shoe wasn't used already or you're wearing a corset, you can use it inside the house. It'll be hard to put it on once you're already dresses."

"I'll remember that, ma'am," Luna said.

Euphemia showed the dress to Remus for the first time.

"Won't your sister look beautiful in it?" she asked, smiling more to herself than to Remus.

Remus nodded, but he didn't answer out loud.

The boy got up as Euphemia laid the dress on the bed and took the black silk underskirt, standing behind Luna and kneeling, opening the skirt. Remus offered his arm to Luna so she could balance herself as she stepped into the skirt. She smiled at him, gratefully, and took the arm even though she didn't need it.

Euphemia tied it, getting up.

"I wonder if this is Acromantula's silk," she mumbled.

"What?" Remus asked, turning his head to the woman.

"The underskirt's silk is richer, thicker than the dress; common, muggle silk is slightly thinner and harder to maintain – the dress is certainly made of muggle silk with a spell to not let it wrinkle the clothes. It was probably bought separately," Euphemia answered. "Most people wouldn't notice the difference."

Confused by Remus' reaction, Luna raised her eyebrows.

"What about it?" she asked.

"Acromantula silk is expensive," he said, frowning.

"So are most of the gifts that Regulus gave me to this point," Luna said, dismissing her brother's worry. "He's used to it."

Euphemia rolled her eyes.

"Courtship gifts are meant to be expensive, silly," she said. "Otherwise, how would he show her that he's ready to take care of her?"

Remus looked at Luna, waiting for panic at the implication of marriage, but Luna seemed to be struggling to keep in a laugh as she avoided to look at him. He cringed inside, knowing far too well that it meant that – most likely – she didn't see her relationship with Regulus as something passing, and therefore could be building a possible future with him. A future that he knew that the Black Family would not agree with.

"Yeah, sure," was all he said, now also refusing to meet his sister's eyes.

Euphemia took the dress, smiling again at the simple sight of it.

"Oh, I love dressing girls. It's like being back at the store!" she exclaimed, kneeling again and letting Luna step into the dress before helping her with the sleeves, but instead of buttoning her up right away, she kneeled again and started fixing her petticoats and the underskirt without looking under her skirt. "Back when I was a teenager, there was this Irish woman living in Rhajastan that would come to us for the silk and wool that she used for her dresses and, as the only woman in the family before my brothers married, I was in the shop all the time, so I dressed her. I loved it. I remember thinking that she was the very definition of beauty and luxury."

"Who was she?" Luna asked as Euphemia got up and started buttoning her up.

"Oh, she was my husband's cousin," she said, smiling at the girl through the mirror. Luna chuckled. "You see, my husband's father was Indian with some English family and his mother was completely and fully Indian. His cousin, sweet Amelia, was always travelling to her family there. It was how we met. She took him with her one day and I fell in love."

Remus smiled.

"Love at first sight!" he said, clearly entertained.

Euphemia nodded, humming in agreement as she fixed the white lace around her shoulders. Under her breath, she told Luna to sit on the bed. Luna did, confused by the request until she saw the small box at the table on the rug – makeup.

"Love at first sight and love at first word. He asked my name – that the first thing he did, I said it and he repeated it to me. I fell in love right away," Euphemia said.

Her hands were quick, far too used with the makeup products, only using her wand for Luna's skin to appear perfect.

Remus stood nearby, watching.

"How did you fall in love with Regulus?" Remus asked Luna, eyes narrowing at her.

She opened her eyes only to hear Euphemia complaining, so she closed them again.

"Why do you ask?" she said.

"Curiosity."

"It's none of your business. Stop being nosy," she said, frowning without opening her eyes.

"You're so rude," he said, sitting beside her on the bed.

"I wouldn't need to be rude if you left my private life private, Rem," she said.

The nickname escaped her lips before she even knew what she was saying. It had been a long time she had called him that to his face, only using it sometimes when speaking of him to their mother.

She opened her eyes at once, surprised with herself, only to find Remus staring at her with as much surprise as her in his wide eyes.

Euphemia was smiling at them, some amusement in his twisting lips.

"I got you a brooch as well," Euphemia announced, moving on with the moment. She showed to her. "Gupta family brooch."

"Oh, I could never, ma'am!" Luna said, widening her eyes further.

"Let's fix something first – enough with the 'ma'am', alright? Your brother often calls me Auntie or Effy, Peter called me Mia once as well. Whatever you want to call me, but enough with the 'ma'am'," Euphemia said with a chuckle. "Now, yes you can. I'm your sponsor! This is my mark on you. The Blacks have the dress, I have the brooch. Besides I put a spell on the brooch, it'll hide your scars while you're wearing it."

Luna thought it was amazing how well-humoured Euphemia always seemed, always laughing and smiling at her as if she knew that Luna was terrified of her facial expression changing. And she also remembered Sirius telling her that Euphemia had been almost overly-attentive to him when he first came to live with the Potters; now she understood. Euphemia was treating her like the traumatised child she took in before, careful not to spook her away.

She smiled at the woman and nodded.

"Alright, I can wear it," she said.

His father's hand was heavy on his shoulder, making Regulus look away from across the room where the door to the parlour – where most guests were coming from to the main hall due to the fireplace – opened and closed.

"Regulus, remember your duty as the host," Orion whispered near his ear.

Cygnus chuckled into his cup of brandy, watching his brother-in-law rolling his eyes at his son's attitude.

"The boy's young, he just found out what a woman can do to one's heart. Allow him some respite from the situation at hand," Cygnus said. "Good boy, he's just in love."

Orion shook his head, disappointed at his wife's brother.

"You as well, Cygnus. Shouldn't you be with your wife, mingling?" he asked, pointing at Druella on the other side of the room laughing at something a man was saying to her. "Oh, do forget what I just said. Your wife seems happy enough away from you."

"I'm happier away from her as well," Cygnus admitted. "My wife in all but name shall arrive soon enough."

Regulus had to force himself to keep his face still, not rolling his eyes or curling his lip at the obvious 'implication' of an affair. His uncle was so clear in his affection for the widowed woman that it was pathetic; his aunt was, certainly, often humiliated by the situation, but she never expressed any distaste by the distance between them out loud, even though she sometimes watched him with such longing or such hatred that Regulus pitied her.

"At my Ball, Cygnus?" Orion complained.

"What was I to do, Orion? Leave her home, alone?" Cygnus asked. Orion grumbled something under his breath. Cygnus sighed. "Yes, I did move in with her. Druella is still back at the manor, as she shall remain. I got Lydia and I another house in Scotland – it's near enough your school, Regulus, do come for a visit."

"I shall not," dismissed Regulus immediately.

Usually, Orion would scold him for his impolite response, but his father did nothing other than raised his own glass of brandy to his mouth and take a sip of it while watching his wife crossing the hall to talk to Druella, separating her from the man that was so obviously flirting with a married woman in public, but the man seemed to put his attentions at Walburga all of a sudden. Orion sighed.

"Who is that?" Regulus asked, narrowing his eyes at the man reaching to touch his mother's shoulder.

"That is Robert Langley, an American," Orion said. "He's here to revise some documents for the Ministry."

Regulus raised a single eyebrow.

"He's looking at Mother," he said as if that was complaint enough.

Orion nodded before turning away and filling his glass with more brandy though there was still amber liquid in is glass.

"Your mother knows how to take care of herself, boy, leave her be," Cygnus said, he scoffed. "Her tongue is sharper than most swords. Her wand is firmer than most duellers." He turned to Orion. "Perhaps your father was right to insist on her continued education after the wedding. He needs to worry less."

Regulus puts his hands behind his back and whispered some stupid excuse as soon as he saw a small gathering of women at the corner of the room near the fireplace with one thick dark-haired towering over the young ladies cowering the men.

His uncle Alphard often held some difficulty walking enough steps around the ballroom before he was stopped by young marriage-minded women trying to get his attention through any means necessary. Had he been a weaker man, he would've compromised one of them before – Regulus admired him for his strength.

"Uncle!" he called out, making some of the women part way for him, some smiled at him, changing targets. "Do forgive me, I fear my uncle has business to attend to at the moment with my father and I, ladies. I'm sure that Mister Langley would be more than happy to entertain all of you – he's new in England, he's American, and you know how friendly they can be. I'm sure he's eager for acquaintances."

The group quickly moved, giggling and whispering.

Alphard turned to his nephew and smiled.

"Thank you," he said.

"Don't mention it," he dismissed. "It was for an entirely selfish reason, I fear. Uncle Cygnus is drunk and speaking of Lydia again, even invited me to their house." Alphard grunted, lip curling as he rested against the wall, looking at the ceiling with some exhaustion that shouldn't be there yet for the party was barely starting. "Besides, the American bloke is flirting with Mother, she seemed uncomfortable."

That caused a genuine laugh out of Alphard.

"Your mother knows how to take care of herself," he said, dismissing Regulus' worry.

Regulus turned to him.

"Uncle Cygnus said the same thing," he mused.

"Oh, because – for the rare occasion – Cygnus' right. When your mother was announced to be married, she broke your grandfather's nose with the best aimed punch I have ever seen, and her lungs have the capacity of screaming as loudly as a newborn. It's impressive, I assure you."

"I'm quite aware how loud she can be, I do live with her after all," he said, grimacing.

Alphard gave well-humoured slap on the back, smirking to himself. He took a deep breath and looked around the room, eyes stopping on something before turning back to his nephew and clearing his throat.

"Where are your friends?" Alphard asked, changing subjects.

"Evan's over there with his mother and sister, I don't know where the Viscount is," Regulus said. "Barty's about to be here at any moment; his father was in a meeting, apparently, so he has to wait for him to come back before coming."

Alphard waited as if expecting him to continue, but Regulus seemed distracted by the image of his mother talking to Pandora and her mother with a tense smile on her face. It wasn't hard to imagine what they were talking about – Walburga was more interested in figuring out even more than Orion already did about Luna than anything else. Perhaps that was why she invited the Rosier family before anybody else.

"And your sweetheart?" Alphard urged.

"She should be here by now," Regulus shifted nervously.

"She'll be here soon enough, don't worry about it," Alphard dismissed his nephew's awkwardness. He made a little hum as the parlour doors opened again. "Oh, I think she's here."

And she was.

Euphemia Potter smiled at someone at her right, waving elegantly while gently fixing the white dupatta resting on her arms. She wore a pale blue blouse with white adornments and a long skirt of the same fabric. She looked taller with the high-heels she had on, her posture looked perfect and her eyes sharp – especially when she found Regulus standing on the other side of room, trying to look around her for Luna.

That when he saw her.

Luna standing not too far behind, eyes running around the room and taking everything in. While she looked slightly overwhelmed, she was certainly powering through it by taking deep breaths. She looked beautiful with the dress that he had sent her, and he knew that she would look so, but he had not expected her to look nothing short of regal. Standing tall due to her heels, her shoulders were rolled back, and her back was straight, her neck looked longer, extending down to her clavicles and the of her shoulders exposed by the sweetheart-neckline with an off the shoulder sleeves. Her skin was smooth, shiny and pale white.

Alphard chuckled.

Regulus blinked, turning to look at his uncle. He blushed.

He had taken three steps forward, stumbling pathetically like a drunken towards wine.

"Aren't you a sight?" mocked Alphard.

"What do you mean?" Regulus asked.

"I never thought I was to watch you reacting like a common teenager, but there you are," Alphard explained. "One look at your partner and you act like a lovesick fool."

"Maybe I am a lovesick fool," he answered, rolling his eyes.

"I wouldn't dare to disagree," Alphard said. He patted his inside breast pocket, finding a small rectangular metal box, opening it and taking one of the cigarettes. "Go on, then, lovesick-fool. I won't be a bothersome adult and hold you to your hosting duties."

Regulus gave him a quick, rare boyish smile before starting to walk.

He could see Luna walking across the room towards Pandora, who now smiled and walked towards her as well. The Viscountess certainly wasn't nearly as happy as her daughter, but Evan ignored her and walked to Luna as well, bowing his head to her in greeting. Walburga's jaw locked, but she too walked to the girl.

Regulus grinned.

"Miss Lupin, hello," Walburga greeted.

"Hello, how do you do?" Lady Rosier said.

"Lady Black, Lady Rosier, hello," Luna said with a smile. She turned to Pandora and Evan. "Hello," she added, unsure of how to behave.

"Luna, I missed you. I didn't have time to write you a letter since I came back from France, I'm sorry" Pandora greeted, excited.

"It's quite alright. I've been so very busy," Luna lied.

Regulus got close enough for them to turn to look at him.

"Miss Lupin," he greeted, voice dropping slightly, not quite a whole octave, but close enough. He felt more courageous like this. "How have you been?"

Luna turned to him; Regulus had to hold his breath. Her eyes had been painted by black around the edges, eyelashes darkened, cheeks coloured with a light and natural-looking rouge and lips in a mauve plum sheen. She looked beyond beautiful. She looked godly – she looked like the figure of his dreams.

He cleared his throat as she smiled.

"Hi. I've been well, what about you?" she asked.

"It hasn't been that long, and it's been too long at the same time. Fortunately, the effect of your presence is yet to leave me, so I've been well," he said, charmingly.

Evan turned to stare at Regulus looking between impressed and disgusted at his words. Pandora had been, gracefully, distracted by something else and was pointing it out to her mother with a smile. Walburga frowned, but Euphemia smiled to herself.

"Evan, Pandora, why don't the four of us go for a walk?" Regulus said, glancing at Euphemia as if to request her approval, the woman gave the smallest of nods. "Soon enough Barty will be here as well and I'm sure that Xenophilius will make an appearance before midnight."

Walburga pressed her lips together, clearly wanting to say something but hesitating due to mixed company.

"Don't take long and don't leave the room," Lady Rosier said.

Regulus smiled and gave a bow with just his head, an exaggerated nod.

"I wouldn't dare," he said.

He offered his arm to Luna before looking away from the woman.

While Lady Louise Rosier was not as attached the young lady that became Pandora's friend as Raphael – her husband – was, she was quite aware that she wasn't a bad girl. She was a typical teenage girl and she made her daughter 'normal'; Pandora would giggle and whisper secrets when they were together, rambling about what she liked without taking a breath and Luna would actually pay attention when she could, that was more than a lot of people would do. Besides, Luna would giggle along, quite happy to stay in the little world that they had built. Pandora would not be sequestering herself to her bedroom or to their gardens if Luna was there, which meant that the girl became was an addition to a family she thought she would build.

Certainly, that fact wasn't public, for she would never admit taking in a half-blood in her family as boldly as Euphemia Potter seemed to be doing. Let alone accept such a public relationship that could end her child's reputation. It had been biggest concern when she accepted Luna's presence into her home during that one summer – Luna and Evan didn't seem to be close, but she knew how some girls could be and –

"Orion said that you and Raphael accepted Miss Lupin into your home the summer before for a few days," Walburga said, cutting her thoughts off.

Euphemia tried not to raise her eyebrows and was clearly paying attention to the conversation.

"Yes, we did. She was a gracious guest," Lady Rosier said.

"Whatever could you mean?" Walburga asked.

"She barely spoke to my son during her time there, mostly keeping herself to my daughter. Besides, she spoke with us very eloquently. Raphael was quite happy about her opinions on potion's matters – not my area of expertise, I fear," she said bitterly the last part. That dinner had been uncomfortable for her, but no one else. Luna's sharp mind only reminded her how she had married out of love, but that Raphael was a successful Charms Inventor, and she a housewife. "Apparently, she met with one Mister Edward McCarten the year before last and asked him questions about his potions," she said, rolling her eyes.

Euphemia frowned. "Edward McCarten?" she asked, interested.

The two women turned to her and nodded.

"You know him?" Walburga asked.

"Oh, he had an internship with my husband when he still taught Potion in the Academy," she answered.

Walburga sighed.

While the conversation with the adults was tense and awkward, the teenagers seemed to be having fun standing near the open windows in the corner of the room, talking amongst themselves and laughing a bit.

"Charming," Evan teased Regulus.

"Oh, do shove off!" Regulus answered, rolling his eyes.

Calmly, Regulus sipped his lemonade and watched by the corner of his eyes Luna sip her own. She seemed to like it enough, because soon enough she took another sip and pressed her lips together to swallow.

"Your mother is staring," Evan warned him. Regulus gave Evan a smirk as he reached for Luna's hand, holding it. "Oh, how scandalous!" he mocked again.

Luna turned to him.

"And why would that be?" she asked, confused.

"Gloveless hands meeting. Oh, the nerve!" he teased.

"That's no longer a requirement," Pandora reminded the group, not catching that he was mocking the couple. "Nobody really wears gloves anymore. They get in the way a lot, I'll admit, but I like them."

Pandora raised her hands covered by white evening gloves.

Evan rolled his eyes, though he bore a fond smile.

"Oh, here comes Barty!" Luna announced, seeing the boy waving through the several guests while waving at her shyly. She smiled at him. "Hi!"

"Hello, everybody," he greeted, fixing his tie.

Evan turned, smiling and opening his arms. He made an exaggerated gasping sound, walking around Barty to admire him.

"That is new suit, that is!" Evan said. "Pandora, hold my cup. I need both my hands to slap –"

"Leave my arse alone!" Barty warned, eyes running to Luna to see her reaction, but her amused smile made him relax. "It's a new suit because my last one doesn't fit anymore. It's too short."

Due to his awkward nature and slightly curved forward tendencies, Luna had forgotten how tall Barty really was, towering over her easily and taller than both boys without much worry. Even Pandora, who was somewhat tall, seemed small. Evan and Regulus were the same height, and Pandora wasn't too far behind from her brother (and she had no heels on). If she was honest, Luna knew that she was the shortest in the group and was quite uncomfortable about it – it made her feel fatter.

She shook her head to put the thoughts away and pay attention to what Barty was saying.

Regulus glanced at her before looking back at his friend.

"Did you see your cousins near the refreshments' table, Regulus?" Barty asked, raising his eyebrows. "Your Aunt Druella seems quite worried."

"Aunt Druella doesn't have enough feelings to be worried," Evan quickly said.

"Pandora, tell your brother to be polite, please," Barty grumbled.

"Be polite, Evan," Pandora mumbled distractedly, trying to look at the table and see what Barty meant.

Luna smiled to herself, also looking at the table.

"Oh, Lydia Zabini is near the table, that's why my aunt looks like she's about to faint," Regulus explained. He made a little noise before turning to Luna. "Dowager Lydia Zabini is my Uncle Cygnus' paramour; he's married to Aunt Druella. You can see the problem, can't you?"

Luna stared at Regulus.

"And that's common knowledge?" she asked, mortified.

"I fear so, yes," Regulus answered, nodding to himself, back to looking at the table. "The woman in green, that's Lydia. The blonde woman in pink is my aunt."

"And the two over there are your cousins?"

"Narcissa is the one in pale pink, Bellatrix is in black," Regulus answered.

Evan snorted. "Of course Bella would be in black," he grumbled.

Luna missed the joke, but smiled at the tone of his sentence, nonetheless.

Lydia Zabini wore a dress tighter than most dresses in the ballroom in emerald-green and black, the bodice of it covered in black lace and she had a black lacy shawl over her arms. She wore only one glove; her ungloved one held a cigarette holder. She was beautiful, that much was obvious. Her skin was a beautiful light brown, her brown hair was naturally wavy and completely down. Her blood-red lips were pulled into a malicious grin as she looked at the man talking to her.

Druella Black, however, was hardly smile. Her face was so taciturn that Luna had to look away before looking at her again; she was the description of politely contained fury. Her dress had longer and thicker skirts, her bodice was not as tight and her golden blonde hair was completely up in a complicated knot without braids.

Bellatrix Lestrange, apparently, was trying to make the situation worse. She was leaning against the wall – quite rudely, one would say about the etiquette of a ballroom for a woman – and smiling. She had a long, black dress with long sleeves and off the shoulder, it wasn't heavy for most of the sleeves were made of lace, but the sleeves did reach the middle of her palms with a small space for her thumbs. She was saying something that made her mother's cheeks turn red, but her painted lips twisted in a smirk.

Narcissa Black wasn't happy about her sister's words either for the way her eyebrows twitched before she turned to glare at her. Her eyes were so big in her face that she looked like a sweet bird, Luna thought to herself, bright blue – not the same colour from the rest of the Black House, but very Rosier – and the pink in her modest dress made her look younger than she was. Her lips were in a much more natural colour, as if she had just drunk some wine not too long before then.

"Narcissa's uncomfortable," Evan mused.

Walburga Black finally got to the group, leaving Euphemia excitedly talking to Lady Rosier (a surprise that not even her had expected). She ignored Lydia completely as she walked by, stopping in front of her sister-in-law and smiling.

Narcissa shifted, even more uncomfortable.

Luna put her hand in Regulus' back. The boy jumped.

"Go save your cousin," she said.

Barty and Evan turned to look at her again before exchanging looks.

"I mean... You should dance at least a few times if you don't want your mother complaining," Barty said, pondering Luna's words.

"But what about you?" Regulus asked Luna.

Confused, Luna raised her eyebrows.

"What are we? Chopped liver?" Evan grumbled. "Go save your cousin from poisonous words and ideas."

Regulus grimaced and sighed, but did move away from the group towards his favourite cousin without a word of complaint.

Evan turned to Luna and offered her his hand.

"A dance?" he offered.

Luna glanced at Pandora.

"It's the reel, Luna. You learned that one," Pandora said gently.

Evan watched the exchange in silence for a moment before a little laugh.

"Haven't been to a ball before, have you? Don't worry. I'll be gentle with your first time," he teased.

Barty's slap on the back of his head was so quick that Evan didn't have time to defend himself from the attack, just flinched away and caressed his head. Pandora giggled to herself at her brother's face.

"Don't be rude. That's your friend's girl!" Barty said.

"It was a joke!" he defended himself.

"It's not my first time, don't worry," Luna teased back. "Your sister has that honour."

"I did teach her the dance," Pandora said with a solemn nod.

Evan seemed surprised by her joking back because he barked out a laugh so loudly that a group of people on their left turned their heads to look at them, but nobody but Luna seemed to mind being stared at. Evan just threw his head back and raised his hand higher, making a show off leaning forward.

"Please, Miss Lupin, give me the honour a dance," he said.

Luna sighed, accepting his hand.

He led her to the middle of the dance floor, keeping an eye on Regulus standing not too far away from them. Regulus seemed surprised by their presence, but said nothing as he looked at his cousin and started talking to her.

As the music started, Evan quickly smiled at her.

"No need to look so terrified, you'll be fine," he reassured her. "Pandora's a great teacher. She's a good dancer even though she doesn't like dancing."

"Why did you ask her to dance? I'm sure she wouldn't have complained," Luna said.

"While I'm sure she would've accepted even if she didn't want to dance, brothers and sisters can't dance together," he said. "And married men can't dance with their wives more than one dance, hence Lord Black dancing with Miss Furlong, his secretary – I suppose he's trying to help her find a husband."

"How is dancing with her helping her find a husband?" she asked, focusing on the steps.

"He's showing her off," he said, smirking at her frown. "It sounds backwards, we are all well aware. It's just the way things are done."

"Doesn't make it right."

"There's a lot of things that aren't right in the world. Changing the smallest and less harmful of them is just unimportant," he said, shrugging as he turned her gently before letting go of her hand. "Trying to help a woman to secure a safe proposal isn't the worst thing he could do, Luna."

She knew that, of course. Lord Black had a reputation for being relentless and ruthless in his job. It was just surprising that he cared enough for his secretary to help her find a husband in his own ball.

They danced in silence for a while.

"Did I say something to offend you?" Evan asked.

He wasn't looking at her.

"Not at all," she answered. They had to exchange partners for a moment, but once they were face to face (far too close to Evan's comfort by the way he pressed his lips together). "I'm just lost in thought."

"I'm sorry."

"No need to apologise. You did nothing wrong. You spoke your mind and explained a culture that I do not take part of, you did me a favour."

"Careful, Luna, you're starting to sound like Regulus."

She chuckled as they exchanged partners for the last time.

By the time the song ended, Evan seemed somewhat cheerful again and offered her his arm, leading her back to the corner, but Pandora smiled far too excitedly at her when they went there.

"The next song is a quadrille. I always dance the Lancers Quadrille with Regulus, may I, Luna, please?" Pandora asked.

Surprised by the question, Luna turned to see Regulus coming swiftly at their direction, a small smile on his face.

"If you wish to, Panda," she said, unsure as to why she was being asked.

Barty chuckled at her reaction as Pandora walked to Regulus. He waited for a second before exchanging a look with Evan and raising his eyebrows.

Evan sighed.

"I can't dance twice with her. Do you want my mother to have my head?" Evan said, glaring at Barty.

"Well, you can't leave her to stand in the corner like a wallflower while her partner dances with another girl," Barty said.

"Then you go and dance with her. I did my duty," Evan said. He turned to Luna. "I might be your friend now, Lupin, but I won't be caught dead dancing with someone twice. By the time I realise my mistake, my mother will have her engagement ring ready."

Luna shook her head.

"I don't need to dance," she appeased the boys.

"Nonsense," Barty said, offering her his hand. "Let's go before the dance starts."

Before she had the chance the refuse, she was being almost dragged to the dancefloor and Barty put her in the circle.

The dance was far longer, beyond ten minutes, but a lot easier. However, it was boring. With Barty in silence and her not knowing how to start proper conversation during a dance where anybody could overhear them, she thought better to keep quiet and just follow the steps that Pandora had taught her.

Once it was done, Luna was eager to go back to her corner with her friends, walking slightly faster than Barty even though she still held his arm as they crossed the ballroom. She was glad to see Pandora was still there, this time accompanied by both her brother and Xenophilius Lovegood, who smiled at Luna as she approached.

"Hello!" he greeted.

She smiled.

"Oh, how long it has been!" she said, approaching. Xenophilius leaned, taking her hand, but instead of kissing it like the other men, he shook it pleasantly. Luna's smile grew. "How are you doing?"

"I'm well, I'm well," he said, nodding. "You?"

Regulus finally reached them as well and huffed as he leaned against the wall, hidden from many of the eyes by leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees.

"I'm done with dancing for the night," he complained. "I did my duty."

Luna turned to look at him, not saying anything about how his curls touching his forehead made him look like a character out of a film.

"Are you tired already?" she teased.

He raised just his head, not fixing his posture.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked, though he didn't seem too excited about.

"Not at all, just worried for your stamina, Regulus" she teased.

It seemed the teasing took a blow on his pride, because Regulus fixed his posture and raised his chin, rolling his shoulders back and glancing at the playing strings in the corner of the room, waiting for the next song. Evan and Barty laughed at the double meaning of the joke, leaning into each other.

"Well, the next song is a Romany Polka," he said.

That made Luna's body go cold.

"I..."

"You know it. I taught you it with Rosemary," Pandora said, frowning.

Her hand twitched, struggling not to touch her sternum.

"It's a very hard dance," she said. "Very quick."

"Well, your dress is long enough. They won't see your feet. Go dance, just this one and then you both can get some rest," Evan urged her.

Barty looked around. "We'll find us a table on that corner over there, away from the orchestra so we can hear each other," he said.

Regulus nodded, though he didn't smile as he offered her his hand just as the quick reel ended. She accepted it, glancing at Pandora, who smiled in encouragement at her before following Evan and Barty to the other side of the room.

With a flourish much more elegant than hers, Regulus acknowledged her with a bow as if he had not escorted her to the very middle of the ballroom. She bent her knees like the women around her, trying her best to ignore the fact that Regulus' presence in the ballroom with her had caught the attention of a lot of people.

As the song started, he put a hand on her waist behind her back and held her hand in front of his body, promenading her around with the other dancers. It was half-hug from behind.

"You're quite the attention catcher," she teased him.

Regulus looked around with the corner of his eyes with some concern, but his lips did twitch as he saw his mother leaning heavily against the table his father sat at.

"Perhaps it's you and that wonderful dress of yours. I wonder where you got it from?" he asked, some teasing in his voice, but a lot less obvious than hers did.

She – surprising herself – giggled.

Euphemia, standing near the edge of the dance floor with a few women around her (mothers of other young women, Regulus realised) smiled at the sight of Luna leaning slightly against him as they crossed the room.

He realised why.

Most couples had the man with the arm offered out, reached towards the woman almost completely, while he had his arm around her and held her hand in a way that led her arm to stand in front of his, her body pressed to his side. It felt suddenly too intimate and far too public at the same time, however he didn't change positions.

They stopped and he used the hand he was holding to raise her arm to spin her under his. She stopped face to face with him.

"I'm scared of falling," she admitted in a whisper.

He smirked, putting his arm around her. Usually, his hand would rest on her shoulder-blade, but he put his hand in the middle of her back, ready to hold her in place if she couldn't find her footing through the quick-paced dance.

"I won't let you fall, otherwise we'll both fall," he said.

With chasse to the side, turning back-to-back to one another before another chasse without letting of hands before doing it again a few more times, they were too busy to speak. She smiled when he spun her around again.

He held her close as they got into position, that was when the classical movements of a polka started, hopping around the room as gracefully as a couple could do before they stopped and (surprisingly to her) he raised her from the ground without her jumping with such easiness that she wondered how strong his arms were under all those clothes.

The group of dancers closed their circle in chasse before they opened it again, jumping to the outskirts of the dancefloor. Once again, the classical movements of a polka came back and he held her closer than he should have, chuckling at her wide, excited smile – she giggled at his laugh, barely caring that most couples were dancing it and speaking at the same time. All the two could do was laugh with each other, no words needed to be said.

He let go of her with some hesitation as the men went to the inside of the circle in little jumps and the women hopped to the outside of it, both crossing their arms and moving their legs (she was quite excited that she got the movement right this time around) before coming back together.

With a little yelp when her heels threatened to slip, she held around his waist with an arm, regaining balance as he put his arm around her waist as well. Their free arms were raised above their head and they spun, their pace growing with the crescendo of the music and making her giggle. Pathetically, even Regulus made a little noise, closing his eyes for a moment as they turned and turned and turned.

He laughed louder than he should have as he pulled her body against his once again, the classic polka coming back to make them so close. To one side. Then, the other.

Boldly, he put both arms on her waist and she both arms on his shoulder as they spun quickly, face to face.

And just as it had started, it ended.

Luna smiled widely, eyes stuck on his, seemingly youthful and bright as the morning. He couldn't look away, not when she looked like the victorious goddess of war after a battle, breathing heavily and eyes shining from the exercise, a smug smile on her lips showing her white teeth and pride.

The loud clapping as the orchestra prepared to play the next number brought him back to reality.

With a trembling breath, he smiled.

"Good job!" he said.

"That was fun!" she said at the same time.

He wondered if the dance or the fact that he was dancing with her made it more enjoyable.

I hope you all liked it. The next part is coming soon (sooner if I get enough comments lmao, I'm that petty - an attention-seeking girly really, I'll admit). 

Well, we all know what comes at midnight, am I right?