Chapter 14

Hermione

Following lunch, Malfoy and I were instructed to work with Mrs. Weasley again. We found ourselves witting in the sitting room waiting for her.

Mrs. Weasley finally came in and sat in a chair across from us with a frown. I smiled at her, to try and brighten the mood, before asking, "What will we be working on today?"

Her frown deepened, "Well, Hermione dear, that is what I'm trying to decide. As it's something I don't want to deal with arguing on. However, I can't stall, as you are both proper in interviews, you know how to appear polite in public, and you're both marvelous at everything else on my list."

Malfoy spoke up next, "So, you're saying we have nothing to work on. Correct?"

"No Draco. I'm saying that we must work on dancing."

Malfoy spoke before I could, "We both know how to dance."

Mrs. Weasley frowned again when she replied, "Not together, you don't."

Malfoy and I looked at each other with wide eyes. I said what we were both thinking, "Why must we dance together?"

"Because, Hermione, each team must dance together. I have no say. It is an order to me."

I took a deep breath, "Can we at least manage to dance without touching, like Ginny is doing?"

"Hermione, we will not be stealing another team's dance. We shall make our own."

I turned to look at Malfoy, as he hadn't spoken in a few moments. His eyes were closed and his head was slumped downward. He took a deep breath and sighed before he replied after several moments of silence, "Let's get this over with." Mrs. Weasley turned to look at me and I nodded slowly in agreeance.

We began by standing face to face. Malfoy and I both took a deep breath before taking the traditional dancing stance. I was surprised to find that Malfoy placed his arm rather gingery around my waist as opposed to the roughness I expected. I slowly raised my hands to place one on his shoulder and to take his hand with the other. His hands were surprisingly soft.

Mrs. Weasley nodded as she flicked her wand to a gramophone across the room. Music began playing and Malfoy and I began the traditional dance.

After just a few moments, Mrs. Weasley was shaking her head in disappointment. She walked towards us and stopped us. "Traditional isn't for the two of you."

Malfoy's brow furrowed as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that both of you are too skilled for the same old dance. You're both great dancers, and you're both too unique for this."

When I spoke, you could hear the uncertainty in my voice, "Then what do you suppose we do?"

Mrs. Weasley looked at the gramophone in thought for a few moments before her eyes lit up. "We're going to start off with a bang."

"Everyone starts the same. You're not going to."

"How are we going to start then?" Malfoy's voice was growing agitated.

"Now, Draco, I am trying to make you both as impressive as I can. If you get agitate with me, you're only going to ruin the dance for the two of you. And, then, ruin your sponsors." She flicked her wand a few times to move the furniture to make the space larger for the two of us. "You're going to start back to back."

I looked at her, still unsure, "Why back to back?"

"Because, you're going to begin dancing together without looking at each other."

By this point, Malfoy and I were sure Mrs. Weasley had lost her mind. But to avoid her wrath and agitation, we chose to listen to her.

We began the dance without music to learn the steps. Mrs. Weasley had us stand back to back, but still touching. She then had us link one arm together and spin. As we spun, we were instructed to slide our hands together until we grasped hands, and to end by falling back a little so we both bowed backwards.

Malfoy and I practiced this step together a few times until Mrs. Weasley was satisfied with us moving forward.

The next step included the two of us pulling together and Malfoy dipping me back before pulling me up into a twirl.

As Mrs. Weasley explained the steps, I grew very skeptical. "Mrs. Weasley, um, I'm not so sure I can do that."

"Why's that Hermione? I have perfect faith in your abilities dear."

"Um, uh, well…"

Malfoy spoke up as Mrs. Weasley tried to figure out the problem, "She thinks I'm going to drop her. Don't you Granger?"

I sighed before nodding, "Yes. I'm afraid if I get dizzy, he's going to let me fall."

Mrs. Weasley nodded, "I can understand that. But, I have faith that the two of you can maintain a working relationship so that we can accomplish this dance. Even in the little amount we've done, I am already amazed in you two. I believe this dance can be incredible. But, I need you two to trust each other. You BOTH need sponsors. And you BOTH need this dance to work out so you can have the sponsors. You HAVE to trust each other for this dance to work. And I entirely believe you two can do it, because you've already come so far in getting along."

I looked at Malfoy, a glimmer of doubt still evident on my face. Malfoy nodded before saying, "We can do it." My eyes widened in shock. Never, in a million year, had I expected to hear Malfoy saying we could get along! Especially before I thought we could do it!

I mustered up every ounce of courage I could before I took a deep breath, "Okay. We can do it."

I resumed the position we had ended in before trying the new step. I was still a little bit afraid, but Mrs. Weasley had made a good point.

Malfoy dipped me really low before pulling my hand up and twirling me. He twirled me three times before pulling me close to stop.

I was very close to Malfoy. There were only a few inches between us. The room was spinning and I could feel the ground shaking under me, but I could feel his firm arms holding me.

"Told you I wouldn't let you fall."

"Very impressive! Both of you! I love it! Now for the next step!"

I could her the enthusiasm in Mrs. Weasley's voice and knew she meant it sincerely. She really was proud of us.

"Now, first off, I like that stop at the end of the twirl Draco. We're going to keep that. Then, I want you to lift her up and you spin slowly. We're going to slow the dance down for a few steps before ending with more power."

We both nodded before continuing. As instructed, Malfoy lifted me up. I chose to add a little bit of flare to the dance by leaning backwards and allowing myself to flow with the movements. Malfoy finally put me down after his slow circle and Mrs. Weasley clapped her approval.

"Wonderful!"

The next steps consisted of Malfoy and I turning away from each other again and slowly swaying back to back. We had to move in sync, or we would mess up the movement. After that step, we were instructed to slowly turn towards each other to start the finale.

After turning towards each other, we were instructed to grasp arms, pull each other close, and then spin away from each other. I had to then run back to Malfoy, and we repeated the previous step of his lifting me in the air and spinning, but the step was far faster than before. After placing me back on the ground, Malfoy had to keep hold of my hand and send me immediately into a twirl away from him before pulling me back and catching me.

By this point we were both breathing heavy and dripping sweat from the dance. Malfoy tried to catch his breath before turning to Mrs. Weasley and asking, "What's next?"

She had a wide smile on her face, "That is it. And, I might add, it is impressive and amazing as I expected. The two of you are a remarkable team."

I looked at Malfoy and couldn't help but believe her words. We did make a pretty good dance team.