Chapter 11: Dance Class

Things have been going well for me since we successfully finished the first task. I've been getting along with everyone in my family well now. Well, everyone except for Scar and Miguel. The only thing that bothers me is that I ended up breaking my leg during the first task. My leg was wrapped in a cast. I had to use crutches as well. Harry also ended up breaking his arm.

As we were all sitting down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, two twin girls walked up to Harry and me.

"Hi, Harry, Lana." They both said at the same time. I waved to them, but Harry did not. Harry had his attention on a girl who was sitting across from us at the Ravenclaw table. The girl's name was Cho.

"Hey Cho, I think Harry's looking at you." One of the girls said. Cho looked back at Harry. Harry blushed, causing him to spit out his drink on accident.

"Look at this!" Hermione yelled, breaking the silence. She fumbled the newspaper in frustration. "I can't believe it! She's done it again. "Ms. Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to be developing a taste for famous wizards. Her latest prey, sources report, is none other than Bulgarian bonbon Victor Krum. No word yet on how Harry Potter's taken this latest emotional blow."

"What the hell?" Nala said.

Just then, Nigel came by, carrying a package and Jessica. "Paracel for you, Mr. Weasley," Nigal said.

"Ah. Thank you, Nigel." Ron said, taking the package from him.

"This came in the mail for you too, Lana," Jessica said.

"Thanks," I said. When I got my package, I placed it on the table to open it up. Ron did the same for his package. Nigel was trying to get Ron's attention but he shooed him away.

"Not now, Nigel," Ron said. "Go on."

Nigel left the table. Hermione gave Ron one of her looks. "I told him I'd get Harry's autograph," Ron said.

"Oh, that's nice of you," Sarabi said.

"Yeah," Ron said.

"Aren't you gonna open your package, Lana?" Miles said.

"Oh, yeah," I said. I began ripping the paper off my package, and so did Ron.

"Oh look, Mum's sent me something. Looks like she sent you something to Lana." Ron said.

"I wanna open mine first," I said. Margo and Hermione helped me open my package. I gasped when I saw what was inside. A dress. A ball gown dress. The gown was a beautiful red and orange color. It looked exactly like the one Katniss Everdeen wore in The Hunger Games. No, it was the dress Katniss Everdeen wore.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, my eyes lightened up with excitement.

"Holy crap bro," Gwen said.

"Okay, I'm jealous now," Kiara said.

"What is it for?" I asked.

"I dunno, but it is cool," Margo said. We then opened up Ron's package. Inside his package was a set of dress robes. I couldn't help but smirk.

"Mum sent me a dress," Ron said.

"Well, it does match your eyes. Is there a bonnet?" Harry asked. Harry dug into the box and pulled out a bonnet. "Aha! Heh!"

"Nose down Harry." Ron hissed. Ron handed me the robes. "Lana I think Mum sent these to you too."

"No, those aren't for me, Dad," I said. Ron's next move was to hand them over to his sister, Ginny.

"Ginny, these must be for you," Ron said.

"I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly," Ginny said. Hermione and I were bursting out, laughing.

"What are you on about?" Ron said.

"They're not for Ginny or Lana. They're for you." Hermione said. Everyone, including me, roared into laughter when she said those words. "Dress robes," Hermione said.

"Dress robes?" Ron questioned. "For what?"

"The Yule Ball. Has been a tradition of the-" Professor McGonagall started but was interrupted by the sound of the record scratching. It was halfway in the day. We were all gathered in the Transfiguration Classroom. We were separated half of the class by gender. The girls were on one side of the room while the boys were on the other side. It was the same with my family as well. "-Triwizard Tournament since its inception. On Christmas Eve Night, we and our guests gather in the great hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school, I expect every one of you to put your best foot forward and I mean this literally, because the Yule Ball is first and foremost... a dance."

All the girls started gasping and whispering to one another. A dance, huh? So that's why Grandma must have sent me that dress. Meanwhile, the boys did not seem too pleased. They grumbled in annoyance.

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall shouted, raising her hands. "The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the Wizard World for nearly 10 centuries. I will not have you, in the course of a single evening, besmirching by behaving like a babbling, bumbling, band of baboons."

"Try saying that five times fast, huh?" Uncle Fred said.

"Babbling, bumbling, a band of baboons." Uncle George repeated. I couldn't help but laugh. My Uncles turned Professor McGonagall's scolding into a joke. The fun was ruined when Miguel smacked me in the back of my head.

"Ow!" I shouted, rubbing the part of my head where he hit me.

"Pay attention!" Miguel shouted.

"Now to dance is to let the body breathe. Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst forth and take flight." Professor McGonagall explained.

"Something's about to burst out of Eloise Midgen but I don't think it's a swan," Ron whispered to Seamus who laughed.

"Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance. Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall said.

"Yes?" Ron asked.

"Will you join me, please?" Professor McGonagall said. Ron groaned but he got up to join her when Harry nudged him. Harry smiled.

"This is gonna be fun," Pavitr said.

Ron walked up with Professor McGonagall to the center of the room. "Now, place your right hand on my waist." Professor McGonagall said.

"Where?" Ron asked.

"My waist." Professor McGonagall said. Ron gave the boys a look as they blew a wolf whistle.

"And extend your arm. Mr. Filch if you will, please?" Professor McGonagall said. The music started. Professor McGonagall and Ron began to dance. "One, two, three,"

Harry turned to the twins. "Oi! Your never gonna let him forget this are you?" Harry asked.

"Never." The twins replied.

"Everybody come together." Professor McGonagall said. Me and the girls stood up and walked to the center of the room. Nevill stands up from his chair. I wanted to dance with Margo and Anga but Scar grabbed me.

"Come on baby, dance with me," Scar said with a sick grin. I groaned, knowing I had no other choice. Just as I was having fun, Scar had to ruin it for me. Later, after Transfiguration Class, I was walking with Ron and Harry through the courtyard to our next class.

"Why do they have to travel in packs? And how are you supposed to get one on their own to ask them? Then he said he would-" Harry was interrupted by Ron shushing him. We awkwardly smiled at the group of girls standing in front of us, then walked away.

"Blimey Harry, you and Lana slay dragons. If you can't get a date then who can? I bet you already have it figured out since your married, Lana." Ron said.

"Yeah, I'm taking Margo and Nala with me to the ball. That is if Scar and Miguel don't stop me." I said, worriedly.

"I think I'd take the dragon right now," Harry said.

"Yeah, same," I said.

In study hall class, while we were working on our homework, Ron was worrying about getting a date for the ball.

"This is mad. At this rate, we'll be the only ones in our year without dates." Ron said. Professor Snape roughly shoved Ron's head down to force him to study. "Ow!" Ron cried. Ron leans into Harry. "Well, us and Neville."

"Yeah, but then again, he can take care of himself," Harry said.

"I don't know about that," Sarabi said.

"Don't be mean, guys. Be nice to poor Neville." Uncle Peter said.

"It might interest you to know that Neville's already got someone," Hermione said.

Ron groaned. "Now I'm really depressed," Ron said. Ron then turns over to me. "Hey Lana, mind if I borrow one of your wives for the ball?" Ron asked. My face turned bright red with anger. How could he ask something like that!?

"Hell no! Go find someone yourself, Dad!" I shouted. Hermione wrapped her arm around me, pulling me further away from him, closer to her.

"Just ignore him. He should have found someone sooner. Not our problem." Hermione said.

"He's such a baby, I swear," Zira said.

The twins shoved Ron a note. Ron read from the note: "Get a move on or all the good ones will have gone."

"Who you go with then?" Ron asked them. Uncle Fred smirks as he crumbles up a piece of paper. Uncle Fred tosses the piece of paper to Angelina.

"Oi, Angelina?" Uncle Fred called.

"What?" Angelina said.

"Do you... wanna go... to the ball... with me?" Uncle Fred asked. Uncle George laughs.

"To the ball?" Angelina said with a smile. "Yeah, all right then."

"Welp, there goes another one," Pavitr said.

"You know what they say, the early bird gets the worm," Simba said.

"Yep," Jessica said.

"Oi, Hermione. You're a girl." Ron said.

"Oh, well spotted," Harry said, nudging Ron on the arm.

"Come with us?" Ron asked. Professor Snape hit us with his book again. Professor Snape hits us again.

"Come on. It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. For a girl it's just sad." Ron said.

"Ron! You never say anything like that to a girl!" Gwen shouted.

"I won't be going alone because believe it or not someone's asked me," Hermione said angrily. Hermione packs up her stuff. She walks over to Professor Snape to turn in her work. Before she stormed off, Hermione said, "And I said yes!"

Ron was upset by the news. "Bloody hell. She's lying, right?" Ron asked.

"If you say so," Harry said.

"Sometimes you just gotta take a leap of faith, like what I tell my son sometimes," Jefferson said.

"Look, we've just got to grit our teeth and do it. Tonight when we get back to the common room, we'll both have partners. Agreed?" Ron said.

I noticed Professor Snape getting ready to hit us again as he rolled up his sleeves. I frantically nudged Harry to try to warn him. "Dad! Dad!" I shouted.

"What Lana?" Harry said. Before I could say something, Professor Snape shoved our heads down again roughly. We grunted in pain. I tried to warn them.

After class, I mustered up my courage to ask Miguel if I could have permission to take Margo and Nala with me to the ball.

"Miguel?" I said.

"What is it, Lana?" Miguel said.

I took a deep breath and started to speak. "I...I..." I stopped for a moment because I got scared. I was afraid of his reaction when I asked him if I could take Margo and Nala with me. My thoughts were interrupted when Miguel shocked me, causing the collar and the bands to go off, sending jolts of electricity through my body. I yelped in pain.

"Spit it out! I don't have all day!" Miguel yelled.

"Okay! I was wondering if I can take Margo and Nala with me to the ball. Please?" I begged.

Miguel sighed. "I don't know. If you are good then maybe I will allow it. I will talk to Scar about what we discussed." Miguel said.

"Okay. I just really want to go with them." I said.

Miguel kissed the top of my forehead. "I know baby. If you behave then your chances of going with them are good." Miguel said.

"All right," I said. When Miguel saw Miles, Miguel walked over to him, leaving me behind. I took this opportunity to talk to Margo and Nala. Simba was with Nala as well.

"I'm worried for Lana. The abuse is getting worse and worse." I heard Nala say to Simba as I was walking up to them.

"I know Nala. Everything's going to be okay." Simba said, nuzzling her.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Hey, Aunt Lana," Simba said.

"Are you okay?" Margo asked.

"I need to talk to you guys about something," I said.

"Okay, what is it?" Nala asked.

"I asked Miguel for permission to take you guys to the ball, he said if I'm good then my chances are high," I said.

"That's good. At least he didn't say no." Margo said.

"Yeah, but I'm worried I am going to mess up and my chances will be ruined," I said. Nala put her paw on my cheek.

"Hey. Everything's going to be okay. We'll make sure that you will be able to take us to the ball." Nala said.

I smiled. "Thanks, Nala," I said, kissing her.

*Timeskip, later that night*

I was lying on the couch, with Harry holding our eggs. I spent a lot of time thinking about what Miguel said. Behave and you might be able to take Margo and Nala to the ball. His words echoed in my mind. Behave, behave, behave. How am I supposed to be on my best behavior when I have a lot of stress on me right now? The collar around my neck and the bands on my wrists are a constant reminder of Scar and Miguel's control.

"Hey, kid. You okay?" Uncle Peter said, causing me to snap out of my thoughts.

"Not really," I said.

"Is Miguel giving you a hard time again?" Uncle Peter asked me.

I wiped a tear from my eyes. "Yeah," I said.

"I can try talking to him for you if you want," Miles said.

"Thanks, Dad," I said. Me and my father are both married to Miguel so we understand each other well enough. Sometimes after Miguel finishes beating us both, we would hold onto each other and cry when no one else is around. As I was venting and letting out my feelings to both Uncle Peter and Miles, our conversation was interrupted by a group of girls who were dragging Ron into the common room. Ron looked miserable. Harry immediately stood up when he saw the state of his best friend.

"Woah dude, what the hell happened to you?" Ahadi asked.

"It's okay, Ron. It- it doesn't matter." Aunt Ginny said.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked.

"He just asked Fleur Delacour out." Aunt Ginny said.

"What?" Hermione said, walking up to Ron.

"Holy crap, you did?" I said.

"What'd she say?" Hermione asked.

"No, of course." Hermione shot out. Ron groaned, shaking his head. Hermione put her hands over her mouth. "She said yes?"

"Don't be silly. There she was, walking by. You know how I like it when they walk. I couldn't help it. It just sort of slipped out." Ron said.

"Actually, he sort of screamed at her. It was a bit frightening." Aunt Ginny chimed in.

"And what did you do then?" Harry asked.

"What else? I ran for it. I'm not cut out for this, Harry. I don't know what got into me. I've always liked looking at them from behind. Oh, she's never gonna forgive me, ever." Ron sobbed.

"You have to have more control over yourself," Hobie said.

"I know, I know," Ron said, choking back a sob.

The twins, Parvati and Padma walked by. "Hi, Harry." They said. When Harry saw them, he immediately walked up to them. His instincts to help out his best friend kicked in. I hope Ron is able to find a girl soon.