Pansy sat in the gym, flexing her feet and doing yoga. The year at Hogwarts had left her no time to practice for the academy's summer season. Plus, her friends had started noticing how little she ate. She didn't have an eating disorder, but everything at Hogwarts was so unhealthy it was impossible for her to even look at it. Sure, she had lost a pound or two, but between eating hardly anything and practice, it wasn't her fault.
The gym was crowded with skinny girls and muscled boys. Everyone was trying to loose those few pounds gained over break. It wasn't like they had to be super skinny, they just liked it that way. Pansy caught Ginny's eye across the room. Ginny winked at her before going back to her stretching. They had been going to the same dance academy ever since they started at the age of two and three respectively. Together, they ruled the academy's summer program and had since they were old enough to get into it.
Harry Potter had started in their class a year after they had. Draco Malfoy had started the year after that. Both were currently messing around, earning them a few angry looks. Pansy and Ginny shook their heads at them, snickering whenever someone told them to sod off.
Harry's aunt had been delighted in learning that he was a natural at ballet. She and Vernon were retired from the world of the stage. Petunia had been a dancer while Vernon had made a living as a prop designer. Dudley had decided to stay dedicated to his studies instead of following his parents footsteps. Harry and Ginny had been dating for three years now and Petunia was already planning the wedding.
Draco had been entered by his mother. His father still had no idea what he did every day. The music spoke to him, but he also took a vocal class and modern dance class. While Harry and Pansy took strictly dance classes, Ginny had broken off like Draco and had decided to take multiple music classes. She now knew how to play the piano, violin, viola, guitar, cello, and drums.
Despite there differences, Pansy, Draco, Ginny, and Harry were best friends. But they weren't stupid. They knew what people would think if they hung out together at school or told people they were professional ballet dancers. So they didn't talk to each other outside of practice and performances.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Pansy stood up and walked to where Ginny was sewing on ribbons to her point shoes. "What do you think about the cast list for Coppelia?"
Ginny smirked. "I think you and Harry will be amazing as Swanilda and Franz." She was referring to the two main characters in the ballet. Pansy and Harry had been partners since they were twelve. Recently, they had been cast together as lovers in Coppelia.
"How's school?" Pansy asked innocently.
"Torture is what it should be called," answered Ginny darkly.
Pansy took out her new pair of pointe shoes. "Lets go. I still have to set up my spot in the dressing room and we have warm up in twenty minutes." Sewing as she walked, Pansy started toward the dressing rooms.
Harry noticed them leaving. As Ginny turned back to get her bag, he caught her eye and winked at her. She blushed, and Harry realized that going back to school would be very… interesting.
Ballet ~ Ballet~ Ballet~ Ballet~ Ballet
Pansy adjusted her hair piece. It was the last performance before she went to Hogwarts for her sixth year. Earlier that day she had auditioned for the Royal Ballet Company. She had spent hours trying to convince Ginny that money wasn't a problem and that they'd help her pay for it if she got in. Adding a little more blush, Pansy stepped out of the dressing room, promising Ginny that they'd talk later.
The trip to the wings was a short one she had made many times. I thought yoga helped anxiety, thought Pansy as she stood, ready to dance her part, in the wings of the stage. She stripped off her leg warmers and did a few exercises that Petunia had taught her. Time to shine, Pansy thought as she stepped onto the stage.
"You're doing fine. Everything's going to be fine," Harry whispered to her as he let her go for the final lift. He always did that when they had something particularly hard to do.
"Thanks, Harry," she whispered back as he held her, suspended above his head.
Later, in the wings, Pansy spied Ginny trying to keep moving, trying not to faint. She didn't faint, luckily. Pansy watched her friend with sad eyes. Pressure had kept her from eating, and Pansy was worried what would happen if she did faint. But what she was sure about was that it would be an interesting year at Hogwarts.
Ballet~ Ballet~ Ballet~ Ballet~ Ballet
Harry stood by himself on Platform 9 and ¾. Aunt Petunia had wanted him to act like they were horrible to him. To make Dumbledore think he was right, they had told him. He had come up with quite a convincing lie, but it saddened him to think that anyone would think it was okay to put a child in a house like the one in his lies. He looked at the Hogwarts Express and wished, not for the first time, that he could turn around and go back to dancing. But that wasn't an option. He was condemned to a life based around something he couldn't even remember.
Breaking out of his thoughts, he turned as someone called his name. "Harry!" A girl around eleven shrieked from across the platform. Harry smiled as she ran through confused couples, her blond pigtails swinging behind her and her feet not making sound. Ann-Elise Mackly flew into his open arms as he lifted her off her feet.
"Prodigy!" Harry greeted her. Her impeccable dancing had earned her the nickname prodigy, a title she was more than worthy of. "Where have you been?"
"Mum and I moved around a lot. But I did get to experience some other dancing traditions. Madame Jang thought I was a doll at fan dancing when we stayed in Japan," Ann-Elise exclaimed.
"You're going cheeky," said Harry as he poked her cheek. She giggled and led him onto the train. Harry shot a backward glance at the platform to see an amused Weasley family and a laughing Ginny.