Chapter 1
So She Dances
AN: Hello There. So I got this idea to write and AU fic. So the background is that our Fav Harry Potter Characters, which I do not own, are at a performing arts school and are in their last year. The group of friends is still the same and the dislike between characters is still the same. There will be OCC. Hope you enjoy.
September 17th 2010
Hermione walked through the halls towards an empty ballet studio, her duffle bag draped over her shoulder, ear buds in with rock blasting from her iPod. She entered the dark studio a wall of mirrors behind her and a wall of tall arched windows before her. Letting the light of the full moon in to light the room in an ethereal blue. She walked over to the baby grand piano that sat in the far corner and set her duffle bag down. Unzipping it she pulled out a black iHome and placed her iPod into it changing the music. She walked to the center of the room her Pointe shoes making a soft tapping as she stood in front of one of the large windows. The music began and she started to sway this way and that going up on Pointe and doing a pirouette to the right before ending it in an arabesque. She continued to move to the music letting it fill her soul and move her body to its will. She had always felt free in this. Not worrying about the perfect angle of her leg or position of her arm. This is why she loved to dance. To move with the music and be free in it and let the world and all of its problems fall away. Like that she had today in Pas de deux class when the teacher wanted her to partner with the one person she couldn't stand. Draco Malfoy.
Draco had been walking with some of his friends when he heard the music coming from a dark studio. He told his friends that he would catch up with them later as he peeked into the studio to see what was going on. He thought perhaps someone had just left their music on by accident until he saw the picture of grace moving in the moonlight. Her white ballet gown flowing around her as she twirled and moved to the music. Her long curly hair moved about in a pony tail the streamed down her back. Her movements were fluid and lithe as she moved from one position to the next so into the music that she was lost in a world all her own. Draco had never been this enraptured by another dancer. The song ended and she turned from the windows and opened her eyes. Chocolate brown met with dark gray and he kicked himself for finding this woman so entrancing.
"Malfoy," she spat. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing Granger." He said back with a smirk. She just rolled her eyes and went to pack her things back up. "You really shouldn't dance in the dark. You could injure yourself." He said pushing him self off the door frame he had been leaning on and walked down the hall to go meet up with his friends.
Hermione packed her things and peeked out into the hall before heading to her dorm room. When she got back she tossed her bag down and flopped onto her bed.
"Hey 'Mione what's up?" He roommate Ginny asked.
"Ran into Malfoy." Hermione said her arms draped across her eyes.
"Oh and how was our favorite douche?" Ginny asked turning in her chair away from her desk.
"Oh you know douchy as ever. He found me dancing in studio A." Hermione explained peeking out an eye to look at her roommate. Ginny Weasley was a year younger then her and in the singing program. Her long red hair was braided and draped over one shoulder. She had the perfect figure that Hermione would like to have if she didn't have to stay so thin for dancing with curvy hips and a generous bust.
"Sorry, how was the dancing?" She asked stretching her arms up and over her head.
"Great, tomorrow the teacher is going to let us know the pairs for the senior piece. I am hoping for anyone but Malfoy." Hermione said sitting up in her bed and untying her Pointe shoes.
"Yeah that would be a big ball of fun." Ginny said coming over and sitting on the edge of Hermione's bed. Hermione just made a very unlady like grunt noise in agreement. "So I have some news of my own." Ginny said drawing her knees up to her chest.
"Yes." Hermione said standing up and standing in front of her closet her back to Ginny as she stripped out of her ballet dress to put on her pajamas.
"You the Italian transfer that came here for ballet. Malfoy's friend. Well he kind of asked me out." Ginny said. Hermione stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Ginny hoping it was a joke.
"What did you say?" Hermione asked sitting back down on her bed.
"I said yes. I mean he has kept to himself for the most part and I haven't heard anything bad about him so I didn't see a reason to say no.' Ginny said resting her chin on her knees.
"What about Harry?"
"You and I both know Harry will only ever see me as Ron's little sister." Ginny said with a sigh.
"Ok well what about his taste in friends?" Hermione asked.
"Can you really hold that against him? I mean you are friends with my brother after all." Ginny said teasing Hermione.
"Well just be careful ok. He is quite but I don't trust anyone who is friends with Malfoy. No matter how attractive they are." Hermione said.
September 18th 2010
Hermione was breathing hard and sweat dripped down her back as she finished with class that day. The curls that had escaped from her bun clinging to her skin around her neck and face. She walked to the far wall and grabbed her water bottle and drank deeply from it, calming her heart and breathing. Her black halter leotard clung to her porcelain skin as did parts of her black short dance skirt she wore as a sort of uniform that made her seem even whiter then she was.
"Alright everyone if I may have your attention." There teacher Madame McGonagall called. The woman was tall and thin. Her hair pulled back in a sever bun that was laced with gray hair showing the woman's age. "As you know the seniors that are graduating put on a show every year. They will be boy girl partnerships and you are to come up with a piece together to be put before the other professors for a few to be chosen. You may use underclassmen in your routines. You are to select the music, work out the choreography and costumes. There will be no trading partners. Who you are assigned is who you must work with no exceptions." She said. "The pairs are as follow." She read off some names of the other dancers some were happy with their partners and others groaned. Hermione was becoming nervous as the number of remaining dancers dwindled and neither her, Harry's or Malfoy's name had been called. "Pansy Parkinson and Harry Potter." She called and Hermione groaned at what she knew was coming next there were only two dancers left in the senior class. Her and Draco Malfoy. Hermione looked over to see his smirk gone from his face and a look of pure shock etched into his otherwise perfect features. She was sure the look was reflected in her own features. Their teacher knew they hated each other so why would she pair them up. Hermione didn't care if he was the best male dancer at this school his attitude was terrible and he acted like he owned the place and that everyone should fawn over him.
"I'm sorry madam but I don't think this will work out." Hermione said trying to be respectful of her favorite teacher.
"I'm sorry but the pairs are final. I am sure you will be able to work together to make a wonderful piece." McGonagall said placing a delicate hand on Hermione's shoulder and giving her a reassuring smile before moving on to talk with other students. Hermione looked to see Draco scowling knowing that it was useless to try and talk their teacher out of anything.
"Bad luck Hermione." Her friend Harry said coming up to her. She had known Harry since they were eleven and first started dance classes together. He had grown from a scrawny little boy into a tall handsome and strong dancer. His black hair still unruly and his eyes bright green as she always remembered them, but he was hardly the same little boy she had first met at her mothers dance studio seven years ago.
"Yeah thanks. I was so counting on a good partner to work with. I really need to get into the senior showcase." Hermione told him as they watched the other dancer's pair off and talk. Draco had picked up his bag and was heading over towards them.
"Well I will see you later then." Harry said making a quick exit to go and talk with his partner. Hermione crossed her arms across her chest and cocked her hip to one side waiting for Draco to approach her. She wasn't going to make this easy on him.
"Granger." He said in a kind of greeting.
"Malfoy." She returned.
"Look I'm not happy about this. There are far better dancers that I would like to have been paired with, but seeing as how we can not switch we might as well get to work. I will start work on the choreography and try and make it so you can keep up and we can meet her tomorrow at five sharp." Draco said before turning on his heels and walking out of the studio before she could even say anything back. She was fuming now. She picked up her bag and followed after him. She caught him turning a corner and heading towards the dorms. She hurried along and caught up with him grabbing his wrist.
"You listen here Malfoy." She said releasing his wrist once she had his attention. "I don't know who you think you are but I work myself bloody in class and am one of the best dancers here. If we are going to do this we will work together. Tomorrow at five is fine and we will both bring something to the table and put a piece together that shows our strong points. So come prepared tomorrow and leave the attitude in your dorm. Understood." She said.
"Whatever Granger." He said in a dismissive tone and she just ground her teeth to keep from ripping his head off. They walked in silence heading to their respective dorms.
September 19th 2010
Hermione showed up at five in the classroom from the day before. Draco was already there running through what must be his ideas for their routine. He was a strong dancer but he seemed to be lacking some creativity in his routine. She watched him for a little while taking in his strong suits and his weaknesses. He wore a fitted gray t-shirt that clung to him showing his muscled chest and arms with black men's tights and ballet shoes. His legs were muscular as well and gave him great lift on his jumps. He became stuck on where to go next and Hermione took this moment to let herself be known.
"You're late." He said not making eye contact with her.
"Actually I was here on time but I didn't want to interrupt what ever it was you were trying to do." She said walking farther into the studio and setting her own bag down. Draco watched her as she bent over and rummages through her bag. She wore black tight dance shorts with a tight black top that stopped just below the bust line showing her taught thin stomach. "I thought we could start by selecting the music and what kind of dance we would like to present before we got underway with the choreography." Hermione said placing her iHome and iPod on the piano.
"Is that what you thought?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow to her.
"Yes it is I think that it would be easier to have an idea of what we want before we try and pt moves to it." Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"What to scared to just go with it and see what happens. Not everything has to be planned to death." He said.
"And not everything can be left to just see what happens." She mocked.
"You are so uptight Granger." He said trying to keep his eyes off of her body.
"And you are an ass. Now can we get on with the work?" She asked tapping her foot. Draco inwardly rolled his eyes and sat at the piano.
"By all means proceed. The sooner you get this all out the sooner we can go with my idea." Draco said in an uninterested voice.
"Well I want to present something that is powerful and conveys a message. Something that will pull on peoples heart strings and make them weep for the characters." She said enthusiastically. "I was also thinking the moves should consist of mainly classical ballet with a touch of modern. Drawing on both of our strengths and showcasing both of us rather then one." She said throwing a look at him at the last part.
"Ok and what kind of story were you think of portraying?" He asked intrigued. He hadn't expected her to actually have a good idea.
"I'm not sure yet I was hoping we could run through some music, see if anything good comes out of it and go from there." Hermione said with a shrug. "I have a few song selections if you are willing to listen." Hermione said running through the play list options she had.
"Okay what do you have?" Draco asked leaning against the piano top looking bored. Hermione ran through the first bits of five songs and looked to Draco for his thought.
"Not bad Granger. I am impressed. The first, second and third songs were good. The other two forget them." He said. Hermione nodded and pulled a notebook and pen out of her bag and jotted down the songs he liked.
"Okay so do you have any thoughts?" Hermione asked clicking the top of her pen, a habit Draco found to be like nails on a chalk board.
"Yes thank you for asking. I agree that we want to present a powerful piece that showcases both of our talents. Perhaps we should go with a story about lovers. All three of those songs would work. People are always suckers for a tragic love story." Draco said turning to one song and letting the music fill the room. He listened intently to the word and the beat before going back and restarting it. Hermione watched with curiosity as she could see the wheels in his head turning with steps and movements. "Okay so how about this." Draco said taking her wrist and placing her in front of him. "Okay so mirror my movements." Draco led Hermione through the steps he had created. Hermione followed with him adding her own thoughts her and there. After about an hour they were both sweating and breathing hard and getting frustrated with each other.
"I just don't think that goes well Malfoy." Hermione all but shouted as Draco tried to add yet another difficult combination.
"It goes fine if you can't do the moves just say so." He shouted back.
"I can do the moves but you are making this to intricate. It should stay simple and about the movement of our two bodies moving together. Not about how many steps we can squeeze into it." She threw back at him.
"Do you want to get into the showcase or not?"
"Of course I do but I won't do it with all of he complicated choreography. It is to busy. You are going to cause an injury if we keep doing this your way.' She said pinching the bridge of her nose and taking deep calming breaths. "I think we should call it quits today and come back tomorrow and work on it some more. " She said in a calm voice packing up her things and leaving without another word.
AN: Well there you have it. Review and let me know your thoughts so I can decide if I want to continue this story. The song Hermione is dancing to in the beginning of the chapter is So She Dances by Josh Groban. It was also kind of the inspiration for this story as well. The lyrics follow. Check out Photobucket for character pictures and outfits. Search ssteele2989 and look for the title of the story. Also let me know what songs you would like to see them dance too for the Senior Showcase.
A waltz when she walks in the room
She pulls back the hair from her face
She turns to the window to sway in the moonlight
Even her shadow has grace
A waltz for the girl out of reach
She lifts her hands up to the sky
She moves with the music
The song is her lover
The melody's making her cry
So she dances
In and out of the crowd like a glance
This romance is
From afar calling me silently
A waltz for the chance I should take
But how will I know where to start?
She's spinning between constellations and dreams
Her rhythm is my beating heart
So she dances
In and out of the crowd like a glance
This romance is
From afar calling me silently
I can't keep on watching forever
I give up this view just to tell her
When I close my eyes I can see
The spotlights are bright on you and me
We've got the floor
And you're in my arms
How could I ask for more?
So she dances
In and out of the crowd like a glance
This romance is
From afar calling me silently
I can't keep on watching forever
And I'm givin' up this view just to tell her