Malfoy or Mistake?

Wow I got more follows, reviews, and even a favorite! I never thought that kind of stuff would matter to me but it is actually really surprising and nice to know that people are actually reading this :) Thanks guys. I'm going to try to speed the story up a little and start making it more funny… if I can ^^ Also, Scorpius will stop being so self-pitying soon… well at least that is the goal…

also, while I don't dance, I've always been a huge fan of it so I do know a little bit about it. Plus, my sister is a dancer :)

disclaimer: harry potter isn't mine! And neither is any of the music mentioned

Throughout math and bio, Scorpius continued with his normal routine of hiding in the back corner without saying a word. He felt like he was wading through molasses; the day was going so slowly. He simply sat in his seat, doing absolutely nothing, but feeling extra awkward and stiff due to an unfamiliar presence of somebody he had never even had classes with before.

Scorpius didn't dare look next to him. He was now 100% sure that TJ was only next to him because he wanted to be left alone as well. However, he was admittedly a little scared and gave off an aura that made Scorpius want to hunch over even more.

However, the next two classes were different from English. Rather than leaning back lazily (and rudely), TJ was bent over his desk tiredly and would occasionally scribble down notes, but otherwise did not attract the same 'bad' attention he did in his elder sister's classroom. It was strange because he did not give off the same rebellious vibe that he did during lunch and before he started a fight. However, Scorpius didn't think too much about it and merely studied his hands under the desk.

After biology, they both started to get up and Scorpius' bag accidentally brushed against TJ. He jumped back instinctively, wary and alarmed, but then realized something weird. He hadn't felt any contact between TJ and his bag… and in fact, his bag had passed straight through him. This illusion was not the TJ he had sat with first bell; it was a holographic spell! Scorpius realized that TJ had showed up to Literature because his sister would catch him… and to scout out a seat mate who wouldn't realize what he was doing.

Much of the Hogwarts population wondered why TJ, a delinquent who got abysmal grades, was in Ravenclaw. Now, Scorpius knew the answer. The spell work he had done to create an illusion that detailed and convincing was N.E.W.T level, and they were just 'year fours'. Luckily for TJ, Scorpius clearly was not going to say anything about this, even though he had discovered his secret. In fact, he had pushed it out of his mind and went to lunch.

Lunch was horrible for Scorpius because he couldn't talk to anybody. He always seated himself at the opposite end of the table, far away from the other hufflepuffs. So, today, he grabbed a sandwich and slunk out of the Great Hall. He walked quickly through the empty halls, sticking to the sides of the corridors out of habit. Finally, he reached the classroom for dance.

The room was huge and looked like a typical studio but maybe three times as big. Bars lined one wall, and a few large magical speakers were spread around the room.

He honestly was not sure about what style of dance or level of difficulty of the class; therefore, he had no idea of he was supposed to wear. Rooting through his breaking messenger bag, he pulled out the pair of green track pants from the GoodWill near Colling Cauldron and an oversized plain white t-shirt that his mother had found on sale at the Walmart next to the diner she worked at. It was what he typically wore at the studio back home. He quickly changed and discarded the horrid uniform in the corner with his bag.

Cautiously tying back his hair into a stringy pony tail, he looked at his face for the first time all day in the large mirrors that made up the walls of the room. It was not a handsome face: pale, a little hollow, and bleak. In addition, he was not exactly genetically blessed and there was nothing attractive about his face. It would have been a shame except for the fact that he had nobody to impress and no need to look good. Scorpius decided to leave his hair back until lunch ended and proceeded to stretch.

He stretched on the ground and then on the bar, his feet comfortable in the nice new ballet shoes that Linda had sent him for his birthday that May. Then, he decided to warm up with some hip hop to loosen his muscles. Scorpius switched back into his ratty trainers and carefully tucking away his ballet shoes. Even though nobody was around, he snuck over to the speakers and waved his wand while thinking of a song that Zhang Li Hua, the hip hop dance instructor at Die or Dance, had loved to use for warm ups.

"Ladies and gentlemen (leggo)
kan show que ren piao zai shou, bu yao huang bu yao mang, pai dui xiang li zou…"

The song started and Scorpius felt himself begin to move to the carefully practiced choreography that had become nearly second nature. He hadn't even really liked the song at first, but it had an easy to follow beat and had grown on him a lot. If he hadn't been himself, he might have even sang along. Moving his whole body to the song made Scorpius feel so much better. He always seemed to have this empty feeling that suffocated him (metaphorically), but it was eased by dancing.

After the song ended and he had finished getting loose and comfortable, Scorpius flicked his wand at the speakers to switch the song and loop a personal favorite of Linda's: 'Planet Rock', an old song from 1982. Scorpius had thought the song was extremely annoying at first, just like most of the stuff Li Hua loved to use, but just like those songs, it had grown on him (although he still couldn't understand any of it). It was easy to breakdance to and Scorpius quickly got to work. He worked on various swipes, went over his 6-step, and briefly covered his back spin. He was in the middle of his first attempt at a headspin, using his hands to spin himself around, when he was startled by a gasp.

"Urgh-ah!" he exclaimed, toppling over. It was probably the loudest noise he had ever made during his time at Hogwarts.

"Mr… Malfoy?" a tall, blonde lady dressed for ballet was gaping at him. Planet Rock was still blaring uncomfortably loudly. The two stared at each other, one sitting on the floor and the other standing in the doorway, both frozen.

Then, Scorpius realized that he could see a bit too clearly. He gasped and raised a hand to cover his face while yanking out the hair tie with the other. He then got up and scrambled over to grab his wand and flicked off the music. The room came to an abrupt silence.

"So.. It wasn't a typo?" she breathed, confused. Scorpius pretended that he hadn't heard her, although her comment stung a little bit.

"Oh, pardon me! I'm Henrietta MacMillan and I'm the dance teacher!" she extended her hand to shake. Scorpius eyed it warily. Did he have to touch it? He shuffled forward a bit, then stepped back and nodded his head. Henrietta lowered her hand awkwardly.

"Well, you seem to like to breakdance?" she tried to start a conversation, but Scorpius just nodded mutely before shuffling over to his bag and discarding his trainers and socks and putting his ballet slippers on.

All the effort, power, and grace had drained from his movements, which were now minimal and timid.

Scorpius' mind, however, was flailing wildly and racing a hundred miles per minute. She saw my face, she saw me, she… He was panicking slightly and was about to run out of the room when five girls walked in. He, quite frankly, didn't know any of them. They were all wearing leotards and tights… and they all gawked at him when they entered the room. Scorpius felt cornered. He was internally having a break down; too many people were staring. It was just like his sorting and those dreadful History of Modern Magic classes from second year.

Stop looking! Stop! he pleaded tacitly, but nobody got the message, for his face was not visible.

"Phoebe, Grace, Katie, Sarah, Natalya, Scorpius," Henrietta smiled a little too big as she addressed the silent group. "Welcome to 4th Year Dance. I'm Henrietta MacMillan and I am really excited to work with you all. Please, lets all stretch now. I'll run through some stretches with you and then we can get to work."

The other girls glanced at Scorpius, confused, but hurried to put their bags down. The group gathered to stretch, Scorpius a little outside the circle they had formed.

"Scorpius, I don't know if you have done ballet—" Henrietta started, but stopped when she saw him nod his head.

"Oh, okay… Wonderful! Let's begin, then!" Scorpius didn't know what to do, so he just went on autopilot and immersed himself in the stretching. He tried to pretend that he wasn't at Hogwarts, that he was with Linda back in Massachusetts. When they ran through tests to judge their skill levels, he simply did what he always did. Since he had abandoned being overly conscious, he lifted the inhibitions on his movement and for a moment he forgot that he was Scorpius the lonely, shy loser. He forgot that he was afraid of everything. He was Scott Mallory from Die or Dance, a good listener and a hard working dancer/part time cashier.

By the end of the lesson, he was sweaty and Henrietta was looking quite pleased with him. "Nice work, Scorpius. I think you will be a great asset to the class this year", she commented as he was packing up. The other girls looked at him with kinder eyes as well. They had all been pretty good from what he had assessed, though not as good as Melanie and Parker, his friends from back home. He felt his chest swell a little bit with something that could be identified as pride… something he had never, ever felt at Hogwarts.

Scorpius reached up a hand to push away his hair and smile back at them when he froze. What was he doing? His panic switch activated again and he hastily grabbed his bag and nodded a farewell before bolting out the door. He took off, running away from that terrifying moment of weakness, that stupid moment where he got carried away and had foolishly tricked himself into believing the impossible… But of course, due to his bad luck (and obstructed vision), he crashed into something solid. It was lean and muscular, not unlike his own body after years of dance. It was also tall— well, much taller than he was. Scorpius fell backwards and looked up. There, extending a hand to help him to his feet, was Rose Weasley. She was in all white, excepting the brown cloth belt around her waist. Behind her was Dan Danners, Hogwarts' resident study bug, in the same white clothing with a black belt.

And then time froze for Scorpius.

His mind emptied. But it was different from the hollow empty he had felt before. It was a calm empty, and it seemed to ask him:

"Will you take that hand? Will you stay sitting on the floor? Will you just get up yourself?"