Chapter 5

Dances and Consequences

'Albus, another school year is upon us. Yet, you seem to lack your typical joviality. Is it Potter?'

'You are correct, Minerva. I can't ignore the likelihood that he is no longer with us, but I just can't bring myself to accept that. It troubles me.'

'Have you heard back from schools for the upcoming year?'

'Yes, and the results are the same as last year. A couple look alikes but nothing more.'

'I wish there was something I could do.'

'Believe me, I'm all too familiar with the sentiment. He was only supposed to be at his relatives until we could coordinate for a proper magical family to take him in. The Longbottoms would've been perfect, alas, that wasn't meant to be. There were many families that gladly would've taken him in.' He said wistfully.

'We've been over this, Albus. We didn't know who we could trust, and would be safe; it was a very convoluted time. You had to find somewhere for him to be for at least a few months so things could settle down. Have you tried the Goblins?' She wanted to change the topic quickly. They had been down this rabbit hole too many times, she had no interest in going there again.

'I've tried, they can be even more cryptic than myself. "You are his magical guardian, shouldn't you know whether he is alive or not?" What can I say to that? The fact that nothing has happened to the vaults —that I know of— is my only shred of hope left. Even that will only sustain me for so long.'

'Hope can be a very powerful thing, don't let go of what you have. And there is a whole school full of students that need their Headmaster. Be here, for them.' Was she channeling her inner Dumbledore? She shuddered at the thought.

'Thank you, Minerva.'

New school year meant newness of all the same old stuff. Another beginning of the year speech from Coach Williams, same as last year, yet it still reignited their motivation to be better. Cody, Victor, and Jamal easily passed the middle school fitness test, and fell back into a similar routine as the previous year. "The Speech" wasn't the only lecture in the coach's repertoire, they were treated to another a few weeks into the year.

'How many of you have heard the phrase, "practice makes perfect?" All of you have likely heard that phrase, and I'm here to tell you that it's bull. Practice does not make perfect. Can anybody tell me what practice makes?' Coach Williams barked out during stretches one practice. He didn't lecture daily, in fact there were only a few he had, and he used them sporadically throughout the year hoping to implant the subject matter into his wrestlers' heads.

'Practice makes permanent!' Yelled a few teammates.

'Correct, practice makes permanent! So if we follow our logic, the only way to perfect our skills is to practice perfectly. Perfect practice makes perfect! So now you know why we drill into you the perfect technique, and why we repeat that perfect technique over and over and over again. If you practice something incorrectly, when you are in a situation where you need to use it, you will use it incorrectly, and likely fail. We are not training failures. So the next time a coach comes up to you and corrects your technique, instead of complaining or whining, say "thank you."

'Unfortunately, perfecting one move here and one move there is not going to do much for you. Oh sure, you will win your share of matches. But when you come up against another wrestler that is worth his salt, he will eat you alive. You need to perfect multiple moves, and know when to deploy them.

'We are not playing chess or checkers. We don't have to take turns. When you execute a move, you don't wait for your opponent to counter. You link one move with another without giving your opponent time to react. You build a chain of moves together, to make each move better and stronger. Chain wrestling is the art of keeping your opponent off balance, keeping him on his heels, continually putting pressure on him until he breaks.

'As we practice you can start thinking of different ways to link moves together to create your own chains, sometimes they happen without thinking. If you can engrain moves so well in your head and body that you can perform them on reflex, you will find that the chains will form themselves. Now, let's get to work!'

The gymnasium was dimly lit, streamers crisscrossed the ceiling, Christmas trees decorated with tinsel and garland were placed around the periphery. The center of the floor was scattered with couples dancing. They were surrounded on the perimeter by pods of boys and girls debating the risks of venturing out of the safety of their small groups. Jamal had managed to maneuver their group in the near vicinity of a set of girls that contained one he was particularly fond of —fond of looking at— he had yet to muster the courage to actually engage her in conversation. Cody and Victor had been teasing him voraciously, and as the current song was quickly coming to an end, Cody was ready to step it up a notch.

'Dude, Jamal stop being such a wuss. If you want to ask Sierra to dance, go do it. If you won't then maybe I will.' Cody taunted.

'You won't.' Jamal challenged.

'Watch me.' He didn't give himself time to think. Immediately he walked over to the group of girls that were talking amongst themselves, and tapped his target on the shoulder. She turned to face him and gave a small smile when their eyes met. Before the nerves got the better of him, he spit out his question, 'Sierra, would you like to dance?'

'Yes, I would.' She flashed him a bright smile.

Together they walked away from the group of girls towards the middle of the gym, and took their dancing position.

'Your older brother is on the wrestling team, right?' Cody was glad he knew something about her —other than that Jamal had been crushing on her since last year— that he could start a conversation with.

'Yeah, he is pretty excited to be on the high school team this year. He's really hoping to make varsity, but that might be a year away. I've seen you, you've gotten a lot better this year.'

'Yeah, last year was. . . rough.' He was surprised she had noticed him, and grateful he had genuinely improved from the previous year. He had obviously seen her at the matches. The teasing of Jamal was not a new occurrence this afternoon.

'That's ok. I remember watching my brother his first year, it wasn't pretty. He probably felt the same as you.'

'Well I'm certainly glad it has gotten a lot better this year. There were times last year when it was not very fun.'

'What did you do to improve so much?' She inquired earnestly.

'Just practiced a lot, I guess. Me, Jamal and Victor, we just wrestle all the time. So, I think it's mainly just that extra time. Jamal is definitely the best of us all.' Did she also notice how much Jamal had improved?

'He is pretty good, isn't he? But he is also the lightest. So if he is always practicing against you and Victor he is used to wrestling guys just a little bit heavier and stronger. So then when he goes against his weight class it just feels a little bit easier.' She hadn't just noticed, she had really been paying attention.

'I hadn't actually given it that much thought, maybe you're right. But he is just really good, like always one move ahead. I'd like to think we all make each other better.'

'That's probably true. My brother explained that to me, by the way. He said he likes practicing with bigger guys for that reason. I didn't come up with that all by myself, I'm not that smart.'

'Well, you could've fooled me. You explained it perfectly, so that means you understand it. It takes some level of smarts to do that, don't underestimate yourself. I never expected to talk about wrestling with you. You seem smart to me.'

'You barely know me. This is the first time we've ever really talked, and just 'cause I know about wrestling doesn't mean I'm smart in everything.'

'Is anybody smart in everything?'

'I don't know, maybe.' She said uncertainly.

'And, not that you should really care what I think, but you've made a good first impression.' He smiled at her.

'As have you.' And she smiled as she tilted her head down in an attempt at hiding her blush. Fortunately for her, Cody felt equally uncomfortable with the compliment and looked away trying to hide his own embarrassment.

A somewhat awkward silence followed for a moment. Neither was quite sure what to talk about next or how to restart the conversation.

'You are a really good dancer, by the way. You haven't stepped on my toes once, and you're actually dancing, not just doing the "stand in one place, rock back and forth" move.' Sierra said gratefully.

'Thanks but, I'd like to think my bar for dancing is higher than just not stepping on your toes.' He replied sarcastically.

'Well, for most boys it isn't.'

'I guess. Jamal and Vic are definitely better dancers than me.' He tried to deflect the compliment.

'You know that from personal experience, do you?' Now, she was the teasing one.

'Uh, I mean, umm.' The pink in his cheeks was not fading as quickly as he would've liked.

'I'm just teasing you. And I'll never know if Jamal is a better dancer if he never gets the guts to come ask me. As far as I'm concerned you are the best dancer here. You don't need to be so humble about it.' Again, she smiled at him.

'Thanks, and I won't be when I go tell Jamal. I've had fun dancing with you.'

'As have I, thanks for the dance, Cody. You should ask Stephanie next.' She said with an impish grin.

'I should?' His voice cracked as he responded in surprise.

'You most definitely should.' She giggled her response. He cleared his throat before responding.

'Thanks, I will.' And he nodded before he turned and walked back to his friends with his shoulders back and his head held a little bit higher. Some claim he grew two inches taller that night.

'I can't believe you did that to me.' Jamal whispered his shout through gritted teeth.

'Oh please, you weren't doing anything. And I did you a favor.' Cody waved off his scorn.

'How's that?' Jamal asked expectantly.

'Now I know you should go ask her to dance, before I was just speculating.' Cody said knowingly.

'What do you mean now you know? You didn't. . . ' Jamal's eyes were wide.

'I didn't mean to.' Cody defended. 'But we were talking about wrestling and stuff. Which is probably why you are scared to ask. You think her brother is gonna beat you up or something, that is too funny. But anyways, your name came up and it was right there, I wish Jamal would ask me to dance. Then, later she all but told me to tell you to ask her, so it's not like she was trying to keep it private. You're golden, you just have to ask her. Then she told me I need to ask Stephanie. So that's where I'm headed next. You can come with me if you want. They are standing together.'

'Alright, I'm not mad at you anymore.' And he patted his friend on the shoulder.

'Did she tell you who I should ask?'

'Sorry Vic, she didn't say anything. You could probably ask anyone though, they won't say no.'

'Not Christina, she hates me.'

'Or maybe she doesn't. . .'

'So, Cody, did you have fun at your school dance last night?' She was trying to keep her self-satisfied grin hiding just under the surface, but ready to explode onto her face at the first sign of victory.

'Yes, Mom, and before you get all smug, yes, it was especially fun knowing how to dance. But I found out another thing.' He barely got the first sentence out before her grin had spread. He had to nip that in the bud, quickly.

'And that is?'

'Dancing with girls my age was more fun than dancing with my mom. Sorry it's true.' He leveled the blow, but had to soften it at the end when he saw her face drop.

'You just had to add that, didn't you? Couldn't even let me have my moment without pulling the rug.' She gave him a moment to think she was actually sad, before smiling again. If she couldn't take it then she wouldn't be justified in dishing it out. Their banter was something she loved about her son getting older.

'I could literally see your head expanding before my eyes. I only did it to prevent your head from exploding. But really, it was way more fun than the last dance, so I really should thank you, and probably Elisa and Dominique as well. We got a lot of compliments.' Cody said sincerely.

'I don't doubt that. And you are very welcome. I'm glad you had a good time.'

'Cody, Jamal, Victor. Stay after practice today, we need to have a chat. Captains you'll need to stay also.' Coach Williams called out as the rest of the team filed out at the end of practice.

'Yes, coach.' All three replied firmly.

'He knows, this isn't going to be good.' Victor whispered to his friends. They knew something was coming, but that didn't mean they were looking forward to it. In fact, they were absolutely dreading this conversation.

'I have received a notice that you three have been suspended for three days for fighting. Do you have anything to say for yourselves?'

'We messed up, coach.'

'Yeah, coach we are sorry.'

'Yeah, sorry coach.' None of them had to feign remorse, it was there and it was sincere.

'Well, first of all, it's not me you'll need to apologize to —and I'm glad that you can admit your responsibility— though it doesn't undo what was done. It says here Cody was the instigator. From my experience all that means is that you threw the first punch. I don't take you three as the types to go out looking for fights.' His tone was firm, but lacked anger.

'You're right, coach. I lost my cool. But you should've heard the stuff they were saying to us, mainly Jamal. I'm not gonna let them talk to my friends like that.' Cody's voice trembled as he recalled the build up to the fight.

'Believe me, Cody, there's nothing they could've said that would surprise me. Yet, that doesn't excuse your actions. You'll have to learn a different way to handle those situations in the future.' He shot a quick knowing look to the pair of team captains that had remained for the meeting.

'Yes coach, I will do better next time.' Cody replied steadily.

'Of that I have no doubt. You are a quick learner, and nothing instructs faster than experience. Unfortunately, learning the lesson doesn't absolve us from the consequences of our actions. You three will be unable to attend practice for the length of your suspension and you aren't allowed to compete in the next tournament.' There was a tone of sadness in his voice, as he waited for the boys to connect the dots.

'But that's District! If we can't go to District then we can't go to Regional, then State! That's like suspending us for three tournaments' Victor's desperate plea was the voice to all their thoughts.

'I'm sorry, those aren't even just team rules. This comes down from the athletic department, there's no getting around this.' Coach Williams pointed to the ceiling. This was higher than his authority.

'This sucks. Those guys were definitely not worth this.' Jamal said, depressed.

'I'd do it again Jamal, they deserved it, all of it.' Cody said, unashamed.

'Again, I'm sorry you had to learn this lesson like this, but I have all the confidence you will all come out on top. And you are both right, they likely deserved what they got, yet they weren't worth it. There's an endless supply of those people in this world, unfortunately. Captains, I'm gonna leave the rest in your hands.' Coach gave them a nod, and he strode out the room.

'We've got it coach. Alright, line up. We're starting with monkey rolls, five minutes. Go!'

Five minutes of monkey rolls, morphed into five minutes of up downs, and ended with five minutes of interval sprints. Minute long wall sits were interspersed between each exercise. Sweat was raining onto the mat when they were finally called over to end their extra "conditioning." It couldn't be called a punishment, for some bureaucratic reason.

'Alright, that's enough.' One of the captains, named Roy, called out. 'Come sit down, let's talk. I'm just gonna cut to the chase here, coach really doesn't care about what you did to those guys. As he said, they probably deserved it, and they were probably asking for it. Basically, he just cares that you did it at school where you can get suspended, and that hurts the team.'

'I guess he really didn't seem that mad at us, did he?' Victor acknowledged.

'No, and notice he didn't tell you to report the kids to the teachers or anything. He knows nothing ever happens if you just report people for name calling, no matter how ugly it is. Coach can't tell you some of this stuff directly, but he knows, and he is on board. We are all brothers. If someone comes after one of us, they come after all of us. We do what we have to do to take care of our own.' Roy said before the other captain jumped in.

'Have you guys noticed how the wrestling team is one of the only groups at school that isn't influenced by any of the gangs? That has taken years of standing up for ourselves and sticking together. Now they don't mess with us. These kids that were messing with you were just random punks.'

'Ok, so what do we do?' Cody asked.

'Nothing for now, what's done is done. But if these same punks —or anyone else for that matter— ever try anything again, let us know. We'll show you how to get the message across; without getting suspended. In the meantime we'll teach some mental exercises that will help you keep your cool when people are trying to get on your nerves.' Roy replied.

They spent the next half hour going over different mental exercises that they could use for different situations. Calming mechanisms that they could employ before a match or in the middle of a stressful situation. Visualisation methods that could help them perfect their wrestling techniques. Daily meditation routines that could help them have more overall control over their emotions, along with the other benefits that come from meditating daily.

'Why didn't we get taught all this earlier? We could've avoided this altogether.' Jamal wondered.

'I don't know why we don't go over this with everyone. It kind of just happens when things like this come up. Maybe we'll tell the coaches these things would benefit everyone.' Roy said.

'I think they would. But there's something about the personalized instruction that probably made me pay attention more.' Cody considered.

'And the fact that we are in trouble for what we did made us actually pay attention. If you had tried to teach me how to meditate last week I probably would've laughed in your face.' Victor noted.

'Being humbled can alter one's perspective. Hopefully this stuff helps you guys. You've had enough for today. I guess we'll see you in here next week.' Roy sent them off.

Sitting in the stands at the start of the District Tournament really drove home the point that they wouldn't be participating this weekend. They tried to be good sports and cheer for their teammates, but their hearts just weren't in it. The tournament seemed to drag on forever, and they all began to daydream of next year when they would get their chance at redemption.

They discussed their successes and failures with meditation. While they all agreed they liked the feeling of peace after meditating, they also admitted to each other that it had been hard to develop a habit of making it happen regularly. Setting aside five minutes at different points in the day sounded easy in theory, but it was amazingly easy to put it off until it was time for bed. At which point, the calling of the pillow was strong, and inevitably was just too much to pass up.

They found the visualization techniques much easier to apply. It wasn't hard to drift off in class and start thinking about performing different wrestling moves over and over. Sometimes, they would imagine doing the more painful moves on their teachers themselves. On more than one occasion a classmate had asked what they were smiling at during such a boring lecture. Cody, especially liked the visualization, as it was very similar to how he had been practicing his magic.

Late into the school year the seventh graders were able to take a field trip to a Nature Preserve. The students spent the day hiking around, enjoying the opportunity to escape the sprawling concrete jungle of Los Angeles. Cody, Jamal and Victor were off on their own, it really did feel good to get out of the classroom and enjoy the sunshine. The happiness evaporated at the sudden sound—

Hiiissssssss

'Where did that come from?' Victor asked.

'I think it came from this bush.' Cody said. He didn't jump back like his friends had.

'Don't get close to it, you idiot.' Victor snapped.

§Help me.§

'Did you guys hear that?' Cody was incredulous. He needed some confirmation that he wasn't just hearing things.

'Yeah, it's definitely a snake, so you should probably back up.' Jamal responded.

'No, I mean it sounded like it said something. You didn't hear it?' Cody replied.

'Dude, it's a snake, it just hissed at us.' Victor dismissed his comment.

§Please, help me.§

'Ok, it definitely said something that time. Tell me you heard it.' Cody said, this time more desperately.

'All we heard was hissing, man. What did it say?' Jamal said curiously.

'It wants help.' Cody said softly.

'Well, if you can understand it, try talking to it. See what it needs.' Jamal responded.

§Hello, what kind of help do you need?§

§I am injured. I am unable to move quickly enough to catch food.§

§I don't think I have anything with me that you would normally eat. I have some water though.§

§Water is good.§

Cody unscrewed the cap of his water bottle and poured some water into it. He set the cap down a few feet from the bush, and then backed away. He still hadn't caught a very good look at the snake from the bush, and didn't know what he was dealing with. The white and black banded California King snake slowly slithered out from the bush towards the lid filled with water, and drank its fill.

§Thank you, that was very nice. I still need food.§

'It was thirsty? What has it been saying?' Jamal asked.

'I'm sorry, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I just watched you have a full on conversation with a snake. And that is discounting the fact that you claim it asked you to help it.' Victor got his voice back.

'It said it is hurt, and can't catch food. I offered water, but it says it is still hungry.' Cody said.

'Well, at least it's not a rattlesnake. I don't think this guy is poisonous.' Jamal declared. 'We have mice all over the apartment complex, it should be able to find some food there. It's a cool looking snake, see if it wants to come home with us.'

§I know a place that has a lot of mice. Do you want to come home with me?§

§If you can help me get food, I will come with you. As long as you give me your word not to hurt me.§

§I promise not to hurt you if you promise not to hurt me or my friends.§

§You are much too big for me. I can easily promise not to harm you or your friends.§

§Slither on over here. You're going to have to hide in this bag until we get home. I am Cody. Do you have a name?§

§I've never been given a name.§

§Well, are you a boy or a girl?§

§I am a female, thank you.§

§Alright, I'm gonna call you Key. Let's go, Key.§

'K, guys, this is Key. She's not gonna hurt us, in fact she said we are too big for her, so she would never attack us anyway.'

'Still a snake in my book.' Victor said, still a little uneasy.

'She'll grow on you.' Cody reassured him. Jamal seemed more at ease with the idea as he reached over and petted the snake.

The school year ended without anything of major consequence happening. Their mothers were again pleased with their grades. They weren't straight A students, but they were passing comfortably and appeared to be applying themselves fairly well. The moms were happy with that.

A/N - A little shorter than intended, but I wanted to end at the school year, and the next stuff was moving on quicker than I wanted. Also, a thank you to those who shared some ideas, much appreciated. Hope you enjoy.