Hermione stretched her arms out and yawned. She looked at the wall clock. Shoot! It was 10 o'clock! She was going to be late for the dance class! She abruptly rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and had her shower. She came out wearing a towel and rushed towards the drawers. She rummaged for her clothes and put them on hastily.
She glanced at the clock again. It was now 10:15am. She had fifteen minutes to get to the academy. She bolted downstairs.
"Morning, dear." Molly greeted.
"Morning, Molly." Hermione said. She turned to leave.
"Hermione, you're not going anywhere until you have some breakfast. Sit down." Molly demanded.
Hermione obeyed and grabbed a piece of toast and started to eat as quickly as she could. She checked her wrist watch. 10:20, just ten minutes left. She quickly drank her orange juice and bolted outside.
The light sneaked through the curtains, hitting Sadie's eyes. She squeezed them and put her duvet over them, blocking the sunlight.
Draco opened the curtains, letting the sunshine in. He looked at his daughter and smiled. He chuckled and went towards the side of the bed. He shook her.
"Sadie, wake up." Draco said.
"Five more minutes." Sadie muffled.
"Come on. Don't you want to visit Stella and Orion?" Draco asked. Sadie immediately shot up.
"Is that today?" she beamed.
"Yes, but if you don't get ready quickly, then you won't get to go..." Draco said.
"No! No. I'm only gonna take a few minutes! I will be right down." Sadie said and dashed to the bathroom for a shower.
Draco chuckled lightly and headed downstairs to prepare breakfast.
"Good morning, dear." Narcissa greeted.
"Good morning, mother." Draco kissed her on the cheek and commenced making himself and his family some breakfast.
Draco, you don't need to do this. Glacy is here to do it." Narcissa insisted.
"Mother, it's fine. Glacy has work to do already; I don't want to burden her with more." Draco said.
"Alright, alright, I don't want another lecture about the welfare of house elves. I've already here it about a million times and I think I may remember the whole thing. It's quite disturbing." Narcissa said and smiled. She knew why he was acting like so towards the house elves – Hermione. He knows that she hated the mistreatment of house elves and know that he should start appreciating the work they do for their masters. But she was glad because she could e that Draco wanted to change for the better.
Draco handed his mother a plate of pancakes, with golden syrup coated on top.
"Thank you." Narcissa started to eat and immediately felt like she was in heaven. She still didn't understand how he could cook so well, considering that he only had a few lessons.
"Daddy, I'm ready. Can we go?" Sadie asked impatiently.
"Not yet, princess. You haven't had your breakfast. Come on, I've made your favourite." Draco smiled.
"Pancakes? Oh, daddy, you're the best!" Sadie beamed and sat down, eating away as many pancakes she could digest.
Hermione entered the academy and placed her belongings on the side.
"Good morning everyone." Hermione greeted. They all said their good mornings. Today, Hermione was teaching the teenagers.
"Let's get right to it, then, shall we?" Hermione showed them the first step to the waltz. They all got into pairs.
"Alright, first, both of you are going to step forwards with your left foot and then with your right foot. Both of your feet should be together now." Hermione checked each pair and saw that all of them had their feet together.
"Next, you are going to go backwards, with your right foot first, and then your left, until your feet are together again." Hermione instructed them again. The pairs obliged.
"Now, do this simple step continuously. Remember, boys, your back has to be straight and your hands holding your partner's hand firmly. Girls, your head should be thrown slightly backwards, held high. Your back is curved, so you are slightly leaning back, and your hands are placed firmly inside your partner's hand and on their shoulder. Got it?" Hermione said. They all nodded and started practising the step given.
"Miranda, slowly, the waltz is slow. You don't need to rush. Alright?" Hermione assured. The blonde haired girl nodded and did the step slowly with her partner, this time getting it correct.
All the pairs seemed to be doing the dance step correctly and so decided to give them the next move.
"Now, girls, I want you to do a spin. So, tom, can you come over here for a second, please?" Hermione called him. He nervously walked towards Hermione. Hermione smiled at him and took his hand. She placed it on her waist, which made tom blushed. She put her hand on his left shoulder and the other in his right hand.
"Okay, so, we'll just do the first step four times." Hermione nodded to let him lead. They stepped forwards and then backwards, and then did it again."Now, you are going to put your left hand on your back. Boys, you will do likewise. You are going to spin me around, so for that, you are gonna go into this position." Hermione placed their intertwined hands above them, just their fingertips touching.
"Tom, now rotate your wrist, girls, this is where you will spin three times." Hermione showed them by spinning three times while Tom rotated his wrist.
"Boys, you will be moving. So, Tom, put your left foot forwards, then your right foot, bringing them together. Do this two more times. While you do that for each time I will spin once. Girls, you will do this." Hermione nodded at Tom to go ahead with the step. He stepped forwards and she spun around, then he stepped backwards, she spun again, and he stepped forwards and she spun one more time.
"Boys, you can step back once more, with the girls doing the same. So, like this." She stepped backwards with her left and then her right and then stopped.
"Everybody, got that?" Hermione asked. They all nodded and did what Hermione showed them in front of the classroom. "Thank you, Tom." He went back to his partner.
She observed all the pairs and saw that they had no trouble with following her instruction.
"Draco, mate! How are you?" Blaise asked, giving his best friend a man hug as they like to call it.
"Alright. Sadie's really excited to see Orion and Stella. How's Pans?" Draco asked.
"Oh, she's fine. She's gone out right now, but she'll be back in half an hour or so. Come in." Blaise allowed them entrance.
"Hi, uncle Blaise." Sadie ran up to the ebony skinned man. He lifted her up in his arms.
"How's my favourite niece doing?" Blaise asked, messing up her hair. Sadie straightened out her hair with an annoyed expression on her face. She hated having her hair messed up, a trait she inherited from her dad.
He put her back down after they entered the house.
"Orion and Stella are right upstairs. Go ahead." Blaise said. Sadie didn't waste one moment and rushed upstairs.
"She sure missed them." Blaise chuckled.
"Yeah, she kept on asking me when she was coming over to meet them." Draco smiled.
"So, how are Sadie's dance lessons going? I heard that Granger is the new dance teacher." Blaise said.
"Yeah, she is very good. The job fits her perfectly." Draco said.
"Yeah, I can see how." Blaise smirked.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Draco asked, averting his eyes away from Blaise's.
"Oh, come on, man, it doesn't take a genius to figure that you have a thing for Granger." Blaise said.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Seriously, Draco, you like Granger, don't you?" Blaise asked.
"No, I don't." He said quickly, his eyes still not making contact with Blaise's.
"Oh, okay then. You know Theo's back, and he's looking for a sexy brunette." Then he pretended to realise something. "Hey, Granger's a brunette. She's sexy. I should definitely tell Theo. I'm sure he'll love to ask her out for dinner and-"
"What?! No!" Draco blurted out. He quickly put his hand on his mouth to shut himself up.
"Why? I think that's a great idea! Let me just call him over." Blaise reached for the telephone on the table beside the sofa and was about to pick it up when Draco snatched it off him.
"Draco, what do you think you're doing?" Blaise asked smirking.
"Fine! I like Granger! I like her! Happy?" he admitted. Blaise just laughed at him. Draco looked at him confused as to what was going on.
"I was just playing with you, mate." He said still laughing.
"What...So, Theo's not back?" Draco asked confused.
"No, you idiot. I just said that to get you to admit that you like Granger." Blaise was surprised at his best friend's stupidity. The lovesick dimwit, Blaise thought.
"So..." Blaise began.
"So what?" Draco asked.
"So what are gonna do about it?" Blaise questioned.
"About what?" Draco asked dumbfounded.
"About Granger! For Merlin's sake!" Blaise cried.
"I can't do anything. I pretty sure she's married to that Weasel." Draco scoffed.
"Wait. Didn't you hear?" blaise asked. Draco gave blaise a confused look. Blaise thought to continue. "Hermione found out about Weasel-bee cheating on her with Brown. She apparently is said to be having a divorce with him." Blaise explained. He handed Draco the latest copy of the Daily Prophet.
Draco read the article about Hermione and Weasley. Now he knew why Hermione had been so upset yesterday. Because of the Weasel. That bastard can't do anything right, he thought. He had the most beautiful girl in his grasp and he just let her slip away for that fake blonde freak, Lavender Brown.
"She's single now, man. Do something about it. Ask her out!" blaise insisted.
"No, Blaise. She just got out of a relationship. I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to be in another one right now." Draco reasoned.
"Fine, then at least try to become friends with her or something."
"I'll think about it." Draco said.
"I'm sure you will." Blaise smirked.
"I'll see you all on Wednesday, guys. Bye!" Hermione said and allowed the students to depart.
She picked up the Daily Prophet and read the article about her and Ron.
It has been heard that Hermione Granger, the brains of the trio, had caught her husband, being none other than Ron Weasley, cheating on her with his ex, Lavender Finnigan, the wife of Seamus Finnigan. This affair has affected Hermione and Seamus greatly and we all give our condolences to the both of you. As for Mr Ron Weasley and Mrs Lavender Finnigan, we can only hope that they repent their mistake and apologise to their partners.
How do they even find out about this stuff?
And then, it goes on talking about how she found out about him cheating and that she wants divorce. She appreciated the fact that people were supporting her and Seamus, but they had no right to raid their personal problems.
She felt so angry at Ron, though. How he even had thought to betray her like that?
She got up from the bench and switched on the music. It was an Adele song. She started to sway to the beat and was soon dancing to it.
She moved her body fluidly, every movement done with precision. She did a grand jete and then spun on her toes, then did another grand jete, placing both her feet back on the ground. She then spun around the room, on her toes again, her arms out in front of her, forming a circle.
This was what she did. Dance, whenever she felt angry or down. All the emotions were shown in the intricate movements.
Pansy had arrived and started to talk about the holiday her and Blaise are planning for.
"We're thinking of going to Cannes. I've heard the beach there is fantastic. The kids would love it." Pansy said.
"You should definitely go there. It's great, I went there with..." he stopped. He had gone there with Astoria for their honeymoon. He closed eyes, angry at himself for having remembered that day.
"It's okay, Draco." Pansy assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Then, an idea popped into her mind.
"Draco, I've got this friend..." Pansy trailed off, with an expectant grin on her face.
"No no no no no no no no no. Don't even think about setting me up another dat. Do you not remember what happened on the last one?" Draco could never forget that one.
"Oh, yeah, how can I forget that? That girl was a total wackadoodle! And the best part was when she-" he noticed Pansy's deadly glare and stopped dead in his words immediately.
"Look Pans, I appreciate you trying to get me a date, but I'm quite capable of getting one on my own, thank you very much." Draco said with pride.
"Well, okay. Fine. We're having a masquerade next Friday. Come up with a date, and then we'll stop pestering you. If you can't find one, then we'll continue to set up dates for you." Pansy challenged.
"Hey! What do you mean by 'we'? I was never a part of this!" blaise cried.
"Do you accept?" Pansy asked, ignoring Blaise completely.
"Fine." Draco said.
"Okay. Well, see you next Saturday." Pansy smiled.
"I will. Goodbye." With that he stood up and turned to leave. He waved goodbye and exited the house.
He walked across Diagon Alley, looking on each side what was happening. He passed the academy and spotted a moving figure inside. He looked through the window, but it was translucent, he could only see a silhouette. He decided to go inside and entered.
He opened the door and peered inside. What he saw put a smile on his face. Hermione. He smiled at the fluidity of her dancing. It was like she was pouring her heart out into the performance.
Hermione spun continuously in circles on her toes, until she was exhausted. She stopped to regain her balance but nearly toppled over if it hadn't been for two strong hands having caught her. She looked up to see who it was. Her eyes locked with his steely grey ones.
Draco wanted to stay like that all day, staring into those chocolate orbs but he forced himself to get Hermione back up.
She cleared her throat and said a short 'Thank you' to Draco before going to the bench to retrieve her belongings. She put the bag around her shoulders and started to make her way to the door, which was opened by a very gentlemanly Draco. She thanked him again whilst blushing slightly.
She headed out of the academy with Draco behind her. As soon as Draco closed the door shut, she locked it with a spell. She then turned towards Draco and smiled weakly.
"Well, uh, bye..." she said.
"Yeah, uh...bye..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he smiled nervously.
They both parted ways and left for their own home when...
"Hermione!" Draco called. She turned around and looked at him confused.
"Yes...?" she asked.
"Um...I..." he stuttered. What the hell is wrong with him?! Just say it!
She waited for him to speak.
"Never mind..." he finally said, not having the courage to say it.
"Um...okay." she turned to leave.
"Idiot!" he scolded himself. Then he noticed that people were giving him weird looks, thinking that he was mad or something, so he quickly turned to leave.