Chapter 18: A Lesson in Dancing
December had come along quicker than anticipated. Hogwarts was bogged down with heavy rain and roaring winds. On one particularly dreary day, I had found myself in the library searching for Hermione with Ron and Harry. We were supposed to meet her after our separate classes to head for Transfiguration, but she hadn't showed up by the stairs. We searched the entrance hall and then the library. Still no sign of her. The only person in the library was Viktor Krum. Ron, who was staring at the champion from behind a bookshelf, was whispering to Harry about getting an autograph. We heard giggling from a few feet away from us. Seven girls from Hufflepuff were hovering behind the bookshelf across the way. They were whispering a little louder than Ron had been about getting an autograph. Ron decided against it pretty fast after that.
Transfiguration was uneventful. We were practicing Cross-Species Switches for most of the lesson. It was the end of class, however, that was most eventful. Professor McGonagall announced that the Yule Ball, a Tournament tradition, was to be held during the Christmas holiday. It was a social gathering – a dance – that was open to fourth year students and above. A few of the girls in class giggled openly. Hermione, who I had been sitting with, fidgeted in her seat. McGonagall had to raise her voice over the whispers going around class. She explained to us that dress robes were to be worn and the ball would be on Christmas Day from eight to midnight. The bell tolled, signaling class had ended and everyone rushed to get out. McGonagall's last words were that all ball-eligible Gryffindor students were to meet in the Music rehearsal room after dinner.
Lunch was more interesting that day. All the students were buzzing with news of the upcoming Yule Ball. I was sitting next to Ron across from Harry and Hermione at our table when a group of twittering girls walked by, openly staring at Harry. Ron, who was still not over Harry's involvement in the Tournament, asked with a little bitterness in his voice, "Any idea who you're going to try and ask?"
Harry was staring over at the Ravenclaw table where Cho Chang was sitting with her friends. As Harry took a sip of his drink, she looked up and found his gaze. Harry, who forgot he had pumpkin juice in his mouth, tried to say hello. It spilled down his front and the girls laughed. He turned back around in shame. I had a feeling that finding partners for this dance would be harder than imagined. Harry had sighed and muttered that fighting the Hungarian Horntail would be easier. It hadn't been long since the announcement, but suddenly, all the girls in school seemed to be lumped together in groups. They whispered and giggled as they passed boys, looking at them with big doe eyes.
I grimaced, nudging Harry under the table with my foot, "Incoming."
A Hufflepuff girl who looked no older than thirteen had approached our group. She quietly greeted Harry and right away asked him to the ball. Harry was physically taken aback. He declined so fast that I don't even think he really knew what he was saying. She walked off looking rather hurt though. Harry had to endure Hermione's scolding and Ron's taunts about how he handled that situation. Before lunch was over, two more girls came up and asked Harry to be their date. One was a second year and another was a tall fifth year who looked like she could knock him out. Hermione went from scolding Harry, to scolding the girls. She was mad that they would try to take advantage of his fame like that.
A young boy holding a package suddenly popped up next to Ron, "Parcel for you Mr. Weasley."
"Thank you, Nigel," he said without looking at the boy. The boy started gawking at Harry, making him uncomfortable. I nudged Ron who rolled his eyes. "Not now, Nigel. Later. Go on." The boy left and we stared at Ron in confusion.
"What was that," Hermione asked, crossing her arms.
"I told him I'd get him Harry's autograph," Ron shrugged. He opened the letter attached to the package and read it over. "Oh look, mum's sent me something."
Inside the package was the most horrific looking cloak I had ever seen. It was a muddy brown with floral designs sewn into it. Pink lace trim lined the cuffs and sat around the collar. The inside was genuine leather and the whole thing smelled like moth balls. There was also a brown and black checkered vest and a fluffy off-white neck tie that had an emerald velvet bowtie with what looked like roses in the same fabric sewn down the middle. It was quite old and worn by the look of it.
"It matches your eyes," Harry laughed as he dug through the box.
Hermione and I were racked with suppressed laughter. "What're you two on about," he asked with a huff.
"They're dress robes," Hermione burst.
The bell tolled the end of lunch and the four of us continued our day. Ron, who was too embarrassed to be seen with the hideous dress robes, sent Nigel to drop them off in his dorm. Harry was more alert as the day went, keeping close to either myself or Hermione to ward off unwanted female attention. You'd think that's exactly what he'd want. But no. The only female attention Harry wanted was from the one girl who wouldn't give it; Cho Chang. Hermione, however, was more open to the idea of a ball. She, like McGonagall had told us, saw it as a way to get to know our foreign visitors better and make connections. I didn't really know what to think. I knew exactly who I wanted to ask to the ball, but I was too afraid to even entertain the idea of asking.
After dinner, we headed to the Music rehearsal room. There were chairs against either side of the room and the middle of the floor was empty with the exception of an old gramophone sitting on a square table next to Filch. The girls of our house were on one side of the room and boys were on the other. A record was softly skipping as McGonagall tapped her wand against the table to capture our attention. She nodded to Filch and he removed the needle from the record.
"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Tri-Wizard Tournament since its inception. On the night of Christmas Eve, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward. I do mean this literally because the Yule Ball is first and foremost a dance."
Groans emerged from the boys who were quite displeased. But I, along with the other girls, were more excited. Even Hermione had a twinkle in her eye. From across the way, we noticed Harry's face had gone white. My friend and I chuckled together. McGonagall continued:
"The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirch that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling, band of baboons."
As she went on, I scanned the boys' side for a familiar red-head. Fred, who was leaning against a window, had his head close to George's. They were whispering frantically to each other and smiling like idiots. I didn't realize I had been staring because when Hermione elbowed me, Ron was in the arms of our Head of House. It took me a few seconds to comprehend that she was trying to teach Ron how to dance properly. His face was screwed into a frown and he looked sick. She placed his right hand on her waist and someone let out a wolf whistle. Even a few girls giggled at Ron's awkwardness.
Filch had started the music and McGonagall began to count, leading Ron in an easy waltz. As I watched Ron fumble over his feet, I leaned closer to Hermione. "This will be such good blackmail," I whispered.
Across from me, the twins were laughing at their brother and pretending to dance with the music in a sloppy way. Once McGonagall realized Ron was a lost cause, she asked everyone to stand and step forward. The girls and I were quick to our feet. Hermione had hesitated, but joined us. The boys did nothing. With some coaxing from our Head of House, one boy stood.
Neville may have been shy, but he was no coward. He stepped forward when no other boy would. The smile on McGonagall's face was heartwarming. Other boys followed suit until everyone was standing. We were to find an open space and pair up. Hermione, who was still not as enthused to dance as the other girls, was quickly grabbed up by Harry. I don't think he wanted to make a fool of himself with someone else. I looked around and saw that all of the other boys my age grabbed up a girl. Neville was left alone. I sighed and walked over to him.
"Hey," I greeted.
"Oh – umm – hello," Neville stared down at his feet.
"Boys place your right hand on your partner's waist and take her right hand in your left. Girls place your right hand on your partner's left shoulder. Keep your elbows strong and squared. The basic waltz is a one-two-three, one-two-three count. On the one, boys will move their left foot forward, girls right foot back. On the two, boys right foot to the side, girls left foot to the side. On the three, boys left foot to right foot, girls will be right foot to left foot. Then repeat starting with the opposite foot as you started on."
Filch changed the music as McGonagall began her one-two-three count. It was a mess from the start. A confusing mess. Everyone was bumping into each other right and left. Feet were stepped on, groans were louder than the music. Neville, who was supposed to be leading me, stared at his feet the whole time. He was counting in time with our professor under his breath. Occasionally, one of us would trod on the other's toes, stopping his counting. When McGonagall passed us, she corrected our posture by pulling my elbows out more and pushing Neville's back in to make him stand up straighter. She also commented that he should look more at me and less at his feet.
He continued to count under his breath for another song. It actually helped me get the steps down better. It was a basic box step in which your feet had to hit every mark just right. When it seemed we were doing better, Neville stepped on my foot. I hissed in pain and he looked at me in horror.
"I'm so sorry," he apologized quickly when we stopped dancing. I curled and flexed my toes slowly to gain the feeling back.
"It's fine, Neville. We're learning."
Neville still wasn't looking at me when we started up again. "You're always so nice to me," he muttered.
"I like to think I'm nice to all my friends," I chuckled.
"Oh," he sighed. Then he looked at me, taking a deep breath. "Cora, will you go to the ball with me?"
I tried to find words, but all I had was silence. I was going to give him an answer when McGonagall's voice rang out for us to switch partners. There was a frenzy in the Music room. Students were grabbed every which way. Neville seemed to disappear from my sight. I had meant to reply, but everything had happened so fast. A hand grasped my shoulder and I turned around to face George Weasley of all people. He was looking down at me with a mischievous grin. Not as lopsided as and a little wider than Fred's, I noticed. I couldn't remember if I had ever been this close to George before. I didn't have time to contemplate the differences between the twins because Filch started the music back up.
George took my right hand in a loose grasp and put his right hand on my hip instead of my waist. When McGonagall started counting again, George moved. He seemed a little more confident than Neville. He didn't look at his feet the whole time, only to make sure he was moving correctly. I was a little surprised to find that George was actually a good dancer. He had a nice rhythm down already. We were still a little stiff, but I felt more at ease dancing with someone who was actually confident in himself.
"So," George raised his eyebrows at me. "What did Longbottom say to you to make you so unresponsive?" I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. I just shook my head as we practiced the box step. George smirked, "C'mon. Tell me." When I remained silent, he wiggled his fingers into my side tickling me.
My body lurched as I laughed. "Okay! Okay," I cleared my throat. Some students were watching us with interested looks. When McGonagall passed us, she narrowed her eyes and we resumed the starting stance. I sighed, "He asked me to the ball."
"Really? Longbottom asked you? To the Yule Ball? To dance? With him?"
"Yes," I rolled my eyes, stopping him from saying anything else.
"The classic image of the waltz is a man and woman circling the dance floor with grace, eyes only on each other. This is the epitome of sophistication. So practice looking at your partner and not your feet," McGonagall's irritated voice rang out.
I looked over George's shoulder to see Neville's red face as he stared up at his taller sixth year partner. She did not look extremely happy to be dancing with him. I felt bad at that moment for not being able to respond to Neville's question. I mean, sure I would go with him. But only as friends and only if I had no one else to go with. I felt bad for thinking that too.
"Cora," I heard George say. When I looked at him, he chuckled. "I asked if you said yes or not."
"Umm, well I didn't have time to respond," I shrugged. "We had to switch partners."
"I don't think he'd be a good date for you."
"What," I asked taken aback. I blinked slowly in confusion.
"I mean, I don't think you'd have a good time with Longbottom. This is a once in a lifetime thing, this is. You should go with someone you'll remember having a good time with."
"Are you saying Neville wouldn't be able to show me a good time," I snorted, stepping away from George as the song ended.
"All I'm saying is that you shouldn't go with the first person who asks," George raised his hands in defense. "You might miss the chance for someone else to ask you."
I bit the inside of my cheek. I looked around the room as if hoping to find the eyes of another; eyes similar, yet very different to the older boy standing in front of me. No one was looking at me, however. Not even George. He was staring off in the direction of Fred and Angelina who had paired up. They were dancing with their arms flailing everywhere. A small frown passed across George's features but it was gone as quickly as it came.
McGonagall announced that we were done for the night and everyone left the hall in a buzz. The girls all bunched up like they had during lunch and left in groups. Ron and Harry were waiting for me and Hermione by the door. Both looked rather put-off. Hermione actually looked pleased with herself. She seemed more positive about the dancing than when we started the lessons. As we headed up the stairs to our common room, I thought about what George said to me. I would let Neville know that I would get back to him and see what other offers come my way. I didn't think that was being mean, I just wanted to keep my options open. But my number one option was a tall red-head with a lopsided grin. I knew Fred would ask me to the Yule Ball. George was practically hinting at it. At least, I think he was. I hope he was. I was going to put all my eggs in one basket with Fred. Hopefully he wouldn't drop the basket.