Disclaimer: Recognize it? Not mine.
A Story Never Told
"Never thought you'd enjoy this, Scorpius."
"I am not enjoying this," he retorted, the lack of enthusiasm apparent in his voice. "I still see no use to sitting there watching these amateurs."
"None of these stories tickle your imagination? Not even that boy who was thrown out of his house for being in love with a man?"
He rolled his eyes. "It's too cliché. I need something different."
Grandma Greengrass had suggested that he should sit through the young dancers' auditions for the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts. "You'll hear their stories," she said, "and you'll see them do things you never dreamed possible."
To him, Grandma Greengrass' footsteps were ones worth following. She chose a path and she stuck to it, hiding the aspects of her personality that would've hindered her success otherwise. She was the only reason his father hadn't disowned him for going to the Academy to major as a playwright, though he had the nagging suspicion that she was also the reason he'd been accepted so easily.
She was, after all, a successful actress and Director of the Academy.
He had accepted her advice to watch the young dancers, because he assumed that she should know what could evoke his inspiration. However, after the first few auditions, he understood that she'd made an overstatement. Yes, those dancers were capable of impressive magic, but it was a kind of beauty that didn't appeal to him. Scorpius was, like all the Greengrasses, an admirer of a very particular sort of beauty. His admiration wasn't his father's very Malfoy love for lavish aesthetics, but his mother's love of balance and fresh creations.
At that very moment, he was watching a male dancer conjure up a dragon as he displayed some over-the-top acrobatics. It was surely striking, but detracted from his performance and it looked too flamboyant for his taste. His idea of beauty had nothing to do with trying too hard to impress, for it struck him as a poor manner of expression. Scorpius favored minimalist forms of art, for he had his very own eloquence and vivid imagination
This was the reason no one had any doubt that Scorpius Malfoy would succeed . . . until he found out from Grandma Greengrass about the assignment that would constitute the whole of his grade on his final year. There was no way he could write a musical! He was a master of dialogues and intelligent plots. Poetry and lyrics had never been his forte, not to mention that he had little knowledge of music and dance. How would he be able to write lyrics for an unknown melody? How was he supposed to imagine prancing figures to a song that didn't exist?
That was the idea, Grandma Greengrass told him - to think outside the box, to find a way to overcome those limitations, to find inspiration in unlikely sources. Scorpius only hoped she was right and watching the hopefuls from the shadows of the very last row would inspire him.
"You should be taking notes, young man," his grandmother said. "Maybe now this seems irrelevant, but it could turn out to be helpful. Many of these kids would make amazing characters."
"Or I could just talk to them in the hallways, if I actually cared!"
She scoffed.
"Those muggle-loving foreigners? I doubt you'd mingle with them."
She was right. Prejudices weren't as strong in him as they were in his older relatives, but they were there. He knew it was wrong, but he didn't know how to change it. More importantly, he knew he would be caught and killed by his father had he dared to talk to anyone whose blood wasn't the purest of them all.
Not to mention all those foreigners! The Academy was the only one in the Wizarding World that offered Irish dance as a major. Irish dance was fashionable within English-speaking communities abroad, because those communities regarded the United Kingdom and Ireland as the root of all powerful magic. The best wizarding playwrights and many renowned actors had also graduated from the Academy.
"Look at that girl," commanded Grandma Greengrass. "She's too tall for a dancer. She has to be incredibly talented to go through. This will be interesting."
Scorpius immediately recognized the wiry girl who approached center stage. It didn't take a genius to pinpoint that red hair tied in a tight bun and those big brown eyes. She wore black ballet shoes and a black sleeveless leotard. Her pink skirt reached her knees and the flowy fabric seemed to mimic her every movement with a certain delay. Her attire gave her long limbs an ethereal grace.
Last time he saw her, she hadn't dropped out of Hogwarts yet. Seeing her now made it all clear - she'd dropped out to pursue a career as a dancer. He never suspected she could dance in the first place, especially since she came from a family with a long Quidditch tradition and a preference for show-off magic. It wasn't like he was supposed to know. His only real memory of her was the one time he accidentally hexed her with a Tarantallegra.
There were three professors ready to judge her, reading her application and whispering to each other.
"Lily Luna Potter," one of them called her name. He was a dark, bald man who couldn't have been older than forty.
"The one and only, sir," she answered with a nervous smile.
"That's quite the name you carry, girl! What do you go by?"
"Anything but Potter, sir."
Scorpius smiled. He'd never talked to her at school, but he already liked her.
"So Lily. It's written here that you do ballet and Irish step dance?"
"That's right, sir."
"I know that in Hogsmeade there's that pretty little studio... I took ballet lessons there myself," the only female teacher in the panel interjected. "But how did you manage to learn step dance?"
"I dropped out of Hogwarts after my fourth year to pursue it, ma'am. I still continued my training at Madame Cavendish's, so I got a magical ballet education..."
"But you have the three NEWTs required for both majors!" The third judge interjected. Scorpius vaguely remembered that dance majors needed to know very advanced magic to perform the tricks they did on-stage.
"I studied at home, with the help of my parents and my aunt."
Scorpius couldn't help but admire the girl's determination.
"That is very impressive, Lily," the female teacher echoed his thoughts.
"Thanks, ma'am."
"So what are you going to dance for us, my dear?"
"A solo that Madame Cavendish helped me compose. It's called Give Her Wings."
Before they could say anything else, she waved her wand and music started.
She showed off her ballet skills first. Scorpius understood nothing of dance -he didn't even enjoy it- but he wasn't immune to the beauty of it, the grace of the lines she formed and how her posture denoted a total ownership of the stage. Her routine was characterized by smiles, jumps and pirouettes that evoked a childish joy.
The music ceased while she spun. She took her wand out again from between the folds of her skirt and made light engulf her as she spun on and on. When the sparks cleared, her hair was down and she was wearing an entirely different set of clothes - a short, elaborate dress with long sleeves, tights, and black shoes with a slight heel.
Scorpius gasped. Most of the magic he'd seen on stage that day had been quite gimmicky, even unnecessary. Just by looking at her shoes, he understood she was about to perform a different sort of dance. It didn't only mean the change was necessary, but it had been flawlessly and beautifully done.
"It's a very basic bit of magic," Grandma Greengrass whispered, seemingly glad that he was finally focusing on the auditions. "Well, it takes really advanced Transfiguration skills, but it's the very least you need to know to be accepted in the Academy. Notice that her skirt is charmed too, to weightlessly hold her wand. Dancers learn here to link their spell to the music that's playing so that becomes unnecessary. Notice also that..."
Click. Clack. Clock.
The sound caught his attention. He'd never seen step dance before, so it took him a while to realize that she was making music with her shoes.
Click-clack-clock.
He watched avidly, and heard how those a capella clicking sounds grew faster and louder. And just like that, she started to spin and move across the stage like something had gotten into her. But her smile didn't falter. He gasped again when he realized he'd seen her dance like that before.
She was telling their story.
She was telling them all of the day he'd hexed her unintentionally. Her feet started to brush the floor like that, her arms rose up above her head that exact same way, and her wild hair trailed behind her like it did back then.
She told them all about that day, about facing difficulties as a dancer, about dropping out of Hogwarts and pursuing that dream, making it her only option. Dance had never spoken to him this clearly, and suddenly, a whole new world opened in front of him.
I have to write her story, he realized. It's our story.
She finished with her hands up high and one foot in front of the other. It was a grand finale, symbolizing how proud she stood and how happy she was with her choices.
"I've seen better than this blood traitor," Grandma Greengrass muttered. "She might make the cut, but I wouldn't risk it."
Deep in his heart, Scorpius hoped they'd accept the Potter girl. He didn't know how he felt about that. Lily Luna Potter was, to him, the most likable of the lot of Weasley cousins. She was the only one who hated it when her brothers picked fights with him out of boredom.
"Daddy will be furious!" she'd said, seconds before he cast that spell she'd just danced about. "He told us to not be mean to anyone, not even Slytherins!"
"You better listen to her." Scorpius wore an arrogant smile.
"In your dreams, Malfoy!" That had been James Potter. "Expelliarmus!"
"Tarantallegra!"
And the rest was history, until he saw her walking the Academy's hallways one October morning and understood that Grandma Greengrass had been wrong: Lily Luna had been accepted into the Academy to pursue the double major she wanted. His father would've killed him if he knew that it made him happy. He would've raged if he knew this lanky blood-traitor, quarter Mudblood, was the muse he'd been searching for.
But he needed her to know.
What went over him every time he saw her was the feeling of a thousand angels singing in his ear. It was racing heartbeats and cold sweats. It was a longing that was fueled by curiosity, and he needed to tell her if he wanted to return to normal.
The clock was ticking. He'd never been this inspired to write something, which made the lack of progress even more apparent. He needed to ask her. He needed her approval.
He watched her intently for a couple of days, until it was clear that she was always free to be approached. She always sat alone at lunchtime, so one day, he simply took his lunch and plopped down in front of her.
"You're Lily Potter, right?" He sounded like an idiot. Her eyes struck him like daggers to his chest. What was wrong with him?
"What could you possibly want from me, Malfoy?" Her voice was cold, which confused him. Was she prey to the prejudices that haunted both families?
He gathered the little courage he had and kept talking. You can't give up now.
"I know this is insane but... I watched you audition, alright? I saw you dance and it reminded me of..." He was unable to finish. Yes, he was insane. How did he think it was a good idea to actually ask her?
"Of the time you hexed me?" She actually looked quite embarrassed. Her face went a sweet shade of pink. She raised a hand to her hair, looking for her ponytail to play with.
"Accidentally, yes," he answered, amused. "I want to say that I'm sorry, but it looks like you're doing well enough."
She laughed, and it was the sound of mythical mermaids beckoning him to his death.
"Yes. I did ballet before Hogwarts. I studied at a Muggle Elementary School, and we had an after-school class and well, I loved it. I didn't give it a thought at Hogwarts though, until you cast that spell. I'm surprised you were able to identify that event at the audition."
He was surprised by how approachable she was then, given the icy tone she'd used a few seconds before. It had always seemed to him like she usually had a sort of wall between her and most people. Maybe it was that fragile figure that hid strength and talent. Maybe it was the contrast between her strong temper and quiet manner that kept them all away.
She was actually quite charming to him.
"I've been told I'm very observant." He smugly raised an eyebrow. "Either way, as I was the one to cast that spell, I doubt you could possibly fool me."
"Indeed, Malfoy. May I ask, why are you bringing it up?"
So the moment of truth had come. His palms were sweaty and he had to cough slightly before he spoke.
"You see..." he wanted to call her 'Potter' but he knew she hated it. He coughed again. "You see, I have to write a musical as a final assignment, and truth to be told, I was wondering... I was wondering if you'd let me write your story."
The girl regarded him with surprise. The fear he'd seen when she'd stood up to him so many years ago was obvious at that moment in her gaze. She didn't say anything right away. He couldn't tell if she was shocked or deep in thought.
Finally, her features gained a neutral expression as she narrowed her eyes. He could almost see her heart turn to ice.
"Never."
Notes:I tried to write this as a stand-alone piece, with potential for a few more chapters. I do really have a more elaborate plot in mind, so let me know what you think. In the meantime, it will stay like it is.
This was submitted or the following challenges: The Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts challenge (pretty much what it sounds like), The All The Pairings Challenge (I got Lily/Scorpius with the prompt 'lack of enthusiasm'), and the 'Let's End This The Way We Started It' Competition (the word 'never' had to be at the beginning, end and in the title.)
I want to thank the wonderful AnneNevilleReviews for dedicating a ridiculously huge amount of time to beta-reading this story.
And to everyone else, thanks for reading! I'll be glad to receive your support (and your story requests)!
-Karyn.