Liquid Luck [Sirius Black]/editing

chapter 78

The girls, Duke, and I are all gathered in our dormitory getting dolled up for Slughorn's Christmas party.

Duke isn't the most fashionable boy on the planet so he's asked us girls to dress him for the night ahead. He looks dapper in a lavender button-up dress shirt tucked into black trousers. His tall and thin frame is really apparent in these clothes. "Look at you!" I exclaim up at him. "You look incredible, Dukey!"

"Thank you!" He smiles back at his reflection in this mirror on the wall. I help him slip into the matching black jacket. "Y'know, I've never worn a suit before."

"Never?" Lily calls from the bathroom where she's slipping into her dress.

"I've never had any reason to." He smiles that gapped front teeth smile that makes my heart swell. "I quite like it." He turns to me and claps his hands together, "Your turn!"

"Okay..." I trail off as my eyes fall on Marlene. She's already dressed and ready to go in a short red dress that hugs her body in all the right places. Her blonde hair is in tight curls and her lips are covered with bold red lipstick. "Red's your colour, Mar."

"Thank you, Unicorn!" She smiles while scrunching up her curls.

"So, er, do you want to do my makeup?" I ask, though already knowing the answer. Marlene would never pass up the opportunity to glam someone up.

She squeals excitedly and grabs her makeup back before situating herself in front of me. "Sweetheart, Marlene's got you."

I let her do her thing, and while she works on my face Alice fixes up my hair. She does it up in some fancy twisty bun with pins and pulls out two shorter front strands to frame my face.

"And we're...done!" Marlene grins, stepping back to admire her work. "Merlin you're stunning, and I didn't even do much."

I walk up to the mirror and look into it. It's true, she's gone for minimal makeup. She's simply put some mascara on my lashes, making them look much longer than normal, red tinted gloss on my lips, and highlight on the inner corners of my eyes and the tip of my nose.

Duke comes up behind me in the mirror and puts his hands on my shoulders to flip me around to face him. "You are glowing. I'm very close to dropping Fabian for you." He muses.

I giggle and shove his arm, "Stop it."

"I really love your eyeliner, Marlene." Duke tells her, staring at her eyes.

She smiles warmly, "Want me to do yours?"

He frowns, "I-I dunno.."

"Come on, if it's what you want why should you let other people stop you?" I rub his arm encouragingly.

"Okay, let's do it!" He grins, plopping himself down on the bed to give Marlene access. She takes the time to draw on the black eyeliner and smudges it out with her fingers. Once she's finished, we all praise him for how amazing he looks like this.

"Are you all sure I don't look ridiculous?" He asks self-consciously.

"Makeup on guys is sexy." Lily tells him, making the boy grin at her proudly.

While everyone's distracted in conversation, I slip away to change into my dress. I emerge from the bathroom to find everyone looking over at me with bright smiles, and I cross my arms over my chest. "I feel exposed."