for hogwarts: assignment two [wizarding languages - task #3]; writing club [liza's loves; showtime - if i could tell her]; insane house challenge [gambol]

the golden snitch prompt of the day [swan lake]

490, by google docs

Lily Luna was five when she first knew that she wanted to be a dancer. Her older cousin, Dominique, had been going to ballet classes for a while and the Potter-Weasley family was invited to her company's annual dance recital of Swan Lake. As soon as Lily heard the soft music and saw the girls dancing on stage, she knew it: that was what she wanted to do.

For her sixth birthday, Dominique gave Lily her old pointe shoes. Dominique had small feet, which resulted in her and Lily having the same shoe size. She explained that she didn't really have time for dancing, as she was going to Hogwarts in September. Besides, Dominique figured, her parents could get her new ones.

Lily spent several months trying to figure out how to stand on pointe, getting tips from the Internet. It was March before she got the hang of it, but she stuck with it.

When Dominique came home for the summer, she taught Lily how to do plies, releves, and sautes. By the time Lily turned seven at the end of the summer, she was gamboling around her house, doing grand jetes. She was far, far from perfect, but she went to her father and asked him if she could join Dominique's old dance company.

He said yes.

Lily's heart pounded as she peeked out of the curtain to see who she knew in the audience. She was younger than most of the other dancers, so she didn't have a big part in their Swan Lake performance, but she was still terribly nervous; a lot of her family promised to come. She only drew back when someone tapped her back. She was sure that it was her director, about to rebuke her for peeking out, but she didn't care; everyone looked out to the audience.

She turned around, ready to defend herself, and found Dominique standing there instead.

"Hi," Dominique said, grinning widely at Lily.

"Hi!" Lily gave her a hug awkwardly, with her tutu on.

"I came to give you luck," Dominique explained, "and this." She held out an indigo ribbon in her hand.

"What's this?" Lily asked, gesturing to the ribbon.

"My mum gave me this before my first Swan Lake performance. I thought you would want to have it. For good luck."

Lily grinned and nodded. Dominique leaned over to lace it around Lily's bun.

"Thank you, Dom," Lily said, giving her another awkward hug.

"Good luck," she said, as the director called for places. Lily took a deep breath, ready to go on, fully prepared, with Dominique's ribbon giving her another boost of confidence.

As the music started and the curtain came up, all of Lily's stage fright left her, as she told the story of Odette with the rest of her group, just like they'd practiced, all of their bodies moving as one, telling the tale over to the audience.

Lily never felt better.