Yes. I'm still alive and running. I have no excuse for this lack of updates. I'm very sorry. *ducks under table to dodge rotten fruit* Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Today, all the students of Hogwarts were gathered in the Great Hall. McGonagall was pacing in front of the group of adolescents as she explained the purpose of the meeting.

"During the Christmas Break, Hogwarts has the honor to host a wonderful event known as the Yule Ball. It has also come to our attention that some dance lessons are necessary before this event comes to pass." she lectured as she turned to face the students.

The girls were jittery and on the edge of their seats. The boys, for the most part, groaned or slouched as if trying to make themselves invisible. Unfortunately for them, the deputy Headmistress had the eyes of an eagle, and pointed the the youngest, male Weasley.

"Mr. Weasley, you shall be assisting me in a demonstration. Come up."

Ron looked around frantically, but his brothers were nowhere near him. Resigned to his embarrassment, he stood and slinked over to the old woman.

McGonagall pointed her wand at a music player as ballroom music began to play.

"Now, put your hand around my waist." the woman instructed.

"W-what?" the redhead looked truly mortified at the fact he had to such an act.

"My waist Mr. Weasley."

Quickly Ron did as told, and the transfiguration professor began to demonstrate to the class how to dance. The red-haired fourth year stared at Harry in hopes of some for of assistance, put only got a shrug and a look that screamed, "Sorry. Tough luck."

However, the moment Ron looked away, Harry turned to the Weasley twins and asked, "You're not going to let him live this down, are you?"

"Never." they exclaimed in unison with Cheshire cat grins. They were already planning to tease him after the lesson.

"Alright, everyone. Please stand and take a partner. Let your inner swans glow." McGonagall called, and the students were forced to find practice partners. Some did well; Fred and Angelina were dancing quite dangerously and looked to be enjoying themselves. Others like Neville were much more awkward, and had probably stepped on their partner's toes multiple times.

As they left the lesson, Harry and Cedric were surprised by a piece of news. They and the other Champions would be the opening dance. The younger champion was despairing. He needed a date, and was also in great need of dance lessons, he was having some difficulty.

He didn't have much time to ponder this, though. He had a 3-foot long Potions essay due the next day, and was only partway through it! Not to mention there was a Charms essay due in three days and a DADA paper on the unforgivables due next week and the dream diary for Divination.

He really hoped Hermione could help him.

Deciding he needed some fresh air, he left for the Quidditch Pitch. Sitting in the top stands, he admired the scenery of Hogwarts and all of its ordered chaos. He took out the Potions Essay and his textbook began to work. He had until dinner anyway.

He had been scratching away at the paper for thirty minutes before he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. He noticed it was the two girls of Maho No Hi: Meifeng and Chrome. He wondered what they were doing here. They did mention they don't have Quidditch at their school, and they also didn't have brooms of them, so why were they there?

For once, instead of acting without thinking, he decided to take some advice Hermione gave him once, and payed attention to what was in front of him instead.

He watched as they made it to the center of the pitch, and Meifeng began to talk to Chrome; she sunk into a defensive stance, continuing to talk, but Harry couldn't catch what they were saying from this distance.

The shorter girl tried to copy the Chinese girl's stance. So that meant Meifeng was probably teaching Chrome how to fight without a weapon.

He was right. The Chinese speedster was circling the more petite illusionist, fixing her stance where necessary. He continued watching as she instructed the girl how to properly pull a punch. Then she held up her palms and said something to the purple-haired girl.

Chrome began punching Meifeng's palms. Meifeng would call out a word and the younger girl would punch.

He caught "jab", "cross" and "uppercut".

Eventually they began to shift their feet a bit, moving around the open pitch. They kept up the pace, Meifeng looking no worse for wear, and Chrome sweating and breathing hard. Five minutes later, they stopped, and walked to the edge of the pitch where Harry saw them coming from. The taller girl handed Chrome a water bottle and a towel, which said girl gratefully took.

At that point Harry couldn't take it anymore. He left the stands, potions forgotten, and approached the girls.

"What were you doing?"

They turned to look at him, Harry suddenly became very aware of their heights. Meifeng was always so poised and confident, he never realized she was actually an inch or so shorter than him. Chrome was even shorter.

"I was helping Chrome learn how to defend herself without her trident. She's great at illusions, but if she loses her trident, things become a bit more difficult. Thus, she approached me and asked if I could teach her some basics."

He couldn't help but ask, "Why not that Ryohei guy?"

"I'm sure you've noticed, but Ryohei is a bit... extreme... when it comes to boxing, and Chrome felt like I would be a lot calmer to approach. It's as simple as that."

Harry's mouth formed and "o" in understanding. He recalled that the guy really was... well... extreme for lack of a better word. He seemed to live and breathe that word.

Then, of course, he blurted out, "Can you teach me?"

She seemed a little shocked at the sudden outburst; he blushed slightly in embarrassment and said, "We don't really learn physical defense here, so I was wondering if you could teach me a bit." Harry trailed off, realizing he was probably just embarrassing himself more.

"Sure."

"I mean. It's fine if you don't wa- wait what?"

"I'm alright with it." Meifeng responded, "I don't have many times when I can do it, but I can take some time off in the afternoon tomorrow and Sunday if you meet me here after dinner. Hibari might be around, though, if you don't mind. He seems to enjoy the fresh air here."

He agrees, there's really no way to refuse when he basically just demanded she train him, and leaves to finish his homework.

Tomorrow was bound to be interesting at least.

He still had no clue what to do about a date, though.

Thank you for reading. I literally forced myself to sit down and finish this half-done chapter today. I hope it's satisfactory.

Anyway, like and comment if you do.

AnimeLuver1492 out!