Submitted for The Houses Competition Forum - Round 4
House: Ravenclaw
Subject: Potions
Category: Standard
Prompt: [Emotion] Ecstatic; [Restriction] First person
Word count: 1,298
Warnings: Muggle AU
in a crowd of thousands
"C'mon, Daddy, I want to go inside!" little Eleanor Nott said as she dragged me to the front of the theatre. "Faster, Daddy!"
I couldn't help but smile at my little girl's excitement. Eleanor was the most precious thing in my life, and I was delighted that she was so excited to see 'The Nutcracker.' I had divorced Ellie's mother a few years ago and I now had sole custody of her, and I couldn't be more proud of the person that she was becoming.
"Calm down, Ellie, the dancers aren't going to disappear! We need to stay close, remember?" I said, looking at my daughter, who was jumping on the spot, anxious to enter the big theatre.
"I know, Daddy, but I want to see the beautiful ballerinas!" Eleanor pouted a little and started to drag me again.
I couldn't believe that my little girl was already four years old and was starting to like something other than unicorns. It seemed just like yesterday that she couldn't even talk! I reminded myself to thank Draco again for the last-minute tickets even though I knew that my friend would do anything for Ellie.
"Alright, sweetie, we're almost there," I said, picking Eleanor up and approaching the ticket booth. The lady working there smiled at us, and Ellie smiled back; I smiled as well at the lady, saying, "Hello, we have tickets under the name Malfoy."
"Here you go. Enjoy the show," the lady said, after looking for the tickets and handing them to me. I nodded my thanks and walked to the entrance, listening to Ellie rambling a mile a minute about 'how the lights are so pretty.'
It didn't take long for us to find our seats—Draco had managed to secure us good seats, not too close to the stage but not that far either—and after securing Ellie in her chair, I looked around, waiting for the show to begin. The theatre was full since it was almost Christmas and everyone loved to watch The Nutcracker during the Christmas season. I noticed that there were lots of families with little girls just like Ellie and some older girls too, probably wanting to become ballerinas.
"What do you think, Ellie? Do you think you'll like this?" I asked, amused at the way Ellie's eyes shone as she gazed up at the stage in wonder.
"I can't wait, Daddy!" Eleanor said with a smile. "My friend Sophia saw this already and said that the ballerina was so pretty!"
"She can't be prettier than you," I said, smiling at her. "You'll be the most beautiful girl when you grow up, but don't grow up too fast, alright?"
"Don't be silly, Daddy." Ellie giggled. I would have probably joked a little more with Ellie if the lights hadn't started dimming, signalling that the show was about to begin.
I have already watched 'The Nutcracker' a few times before, but sitting here with Eleanor made everything different in a way that I didn't know how to explain. I liked the way that her eyes shone when the orchestra started to play and the curtains opened and how she squealed when she saw the little doll that went on top of the Christmas tree come to life, and I couldn't help but smile.
I noticed that the company this year had decided to use an older ballerina to play Clara, but the new change wasn't going to affect the performance for me—or that's what I had thought.
The moment that she entered the stage, something shifted for me and I couldn't tear my eyes from her. I was drawn to her; I held my breath as my gaze followed her every move. Eleanor was enjoying the show, while I was enjoying watching Clara.
"Look, Daddy! The magician is making him fly!" Eleanor giggled, seeing Clara's little brother fly in the air.
"He's indeed a magician, right?" I asked, amused.
Eleanor squealed in happiness when the magician brought the Pierrot and the Harlequin: she loved the toys' dance and I couldn't be more prouder in that moment that I could provide this experience to my little girl.
"She's magnificent, isn't she?" Someone sitting nearby commented about Clara's dancing with the nutcracker, and I couldn't agree more.
"Oh!" Eleanor almost screamed when the nutcracker was broken but smiled as soon as the magician had fixed it. "He's good now, isn't he, Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetie, Clara is going to take care of him now," I said, kissing Eleanor's temple.
The moment that Clara turned small, it was the moment I would remember the most if only because Clara's and my eyes met right then, and my whole world pivoted.
I wanted to know more about the girl that played Clara.
No, I needed to know more.
"Careful, Clara! The rats!" Eleanor said, taking me out of my trance. The moment that the rats appeared was one of my favourites, but now I couldn't even focus.
I was glad that Eleanor wasn't so scared of the rats but rather preoccupied with Clara; I had been worried that she would find that part scary, but she seemed to be enjoying it. The only problem that I had was when Clara and the Nutcracker were dancing the pas de deux and falling in love during the dance, which made me feel a bit odd on the inside. I was glad for the end of Act One, but Eleanor wasn't sharing my enthusiasm.
"I want to see more! The show can't have ended!" Eleanor cried, pouting, which I found adorable—I couldn't help it; she was my daughter.
"It's not the end, Ellie, it's just a break. The show will continue in just a few moments," I said, smiling at my daughter. "The dancers are going to drink some water and then they will finish the performance."
"Oh, okay… I can't wait to see more!" Eleanor said, smiling brightly.
'I can't wait either,' I thought to myself as the lights dimmed once again.
The rest of the performance passed too quickly for my liking, but Eleanor was enchanted with everything and that's what really mattered. She was talking a mile a minute, and I tried to understand everything that she was saying.
"And when Clara danced with that thing, it was so pretty!" Eleanor said, not really knowing that Clara was holding a batonet. "And the prince was so handsome!"
"He was handsomer than Daddy?" I asked, amused, seeing how excited she was. I couldn't say anything though, since I thought Clara was the prettiest ballerina I had ever seen.
"No, but he was a prince!" Eleanor said matter-of-factly and I couldn't contain my laughter. "I want to do that, Daddy!"
"Do what, sweetie?" I asked, lost at what my daughter meant.
"I want to dance! I want to be like Clara!" Eleanor said, turning her blue eyes to gaze up at me. "Can I become a ballerina?"
I didn't know that when I brought Eleanor to watch the ballet she would be so interested in dancing, but I wasn't going to say no. If this is what she wanted, she was going to be a ballerina, and I was going to do everything in my power to help her achieve her dream.
"Alright, sweetie, I'll talk with Uncle Drake and we'll search for a school, alright?" I said, making Eleanor smile brightly.
"Thank you, Daddy!" Eleanor said, hugging me and I decided that I was going to do everything I could to always make Ellie smile.
I didn't know where I would find a ballet school, but it couldn't be that hard. I just needed to ask around. This was going to be Ellie's Christmas present, and maybe someday, I might see Ellie dance as Clara up on that stage.