Chapter 5
Requiem for a Dream
"No, Leslie," Mother shook her head, "you aren't going to a Performing Arts school."
"But, Mother..." Leslie twirled around his bedroom, "I love to dance! I could be good!"
"No, you're going to Hogwarts," Father told him sternly, "you're going to get good grades, and graduate. Then you'll follow in my footsteps, and work at the Ministry, like any worthy Pureblood man."
"But Father-" Leslie pleaded.
"No 'buts'," his father folded his arms firmly, "you're not going and that's final."
His parents left him in his room. The young Yaxley sat on his bed, angry and hurt. Couldn't they see that this was what he wanted to do?
Yaxley shook the memory from his head, his wish as a child pushed to the back of his mind, simply a deep dark secret and a fervent hope that had never quite left. His parents were dead now. That would teach them for destroying his dreams.
Checking no one was in the corridor outside his room, he closed the door. The last thing he needed was people bursting in and seeing this.
He set the CD player in the corner to play his favourite piece – Eliza's Aria.
He changed into something he had bought online – no one needed to see him going into a shop and buying a purple leotard.
He took out his wand and moved the furniture to the sides of the room, stretched to get himself limber and began to dance.
He began with a pirouette, before leaping into the air. He moved gracefully, every step learned by heart, to the extent that he could dance in his sleep.
He was completely oblivious to the world, hearing only the music and unaware of the footsteps outside or the creak as his door opened...
But the peaceful atmosphere was shattered. He jarred to a halt as someone sniggered loudly behind him. He turned off the music and turned round, hands on hips. Greyback, Rodolphus and Bellatrix were there. The latter held a small portable Muggle video recorder.
"Smile for the camera!" she cackled madly, whilst the werewolf began to twirl around in a mocking imitation. Rodolphus just stood at the back, being ignored, as usual.
"What...? How...?" Yaxley felt faint and his cheeks reddened. Had they really just seen him doing all that?
"Come on, Yaxley, keep going!" Greyback roared, "you might get that part in Swan Lake yet!"
"I'm surprised to admit it, but I like this piece of filthy Muggle technology!" Bellatrix seemed astounded, turning the camera in her hands, "it's like a camera, but it takes moving pictures without magic!"
"We found this thing called a 'website'," Greyback explained, "it was on the Muggle box thing with all the buttons! Muggles can use it to put these 'video' things on what they call the 'Internet'."
"It was great fun," Rodolphus joined in.
Everyone slowly turned to look at him.
"No one asked you, Rodolphus," Bellatrix snapped, "go put your head in the oven or something, I don't care."
"Yes, dear..." Rodolphus hung his head and shambled out of the room.
"Anyway, back to important stuff!" Bellatrix skipped out of the room, waving the camera, "this is going on that 'Internet' thing!"
Greyback followed after her, looking back with a horrible grin. Yaxley stood alone in the middle of the room, still bewildered about what had just happened. He blinked. They'd seen it, all of it. They'd seen him. They'd seen him dancing in a purple leotard. What's more, they were going to show everyone.
That was when the screaming began.