The Missing Link

So Far, So Good

Pansy lost the competition. However, a famous Russian prima ballerina wanted to speak to her.

“Ah, here’s our star!” Pansy’s mentor said gleefully when she approached them. Her companions stood up to shake her hand.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Parkinson,” the Russian man said in a very thick accent. “May I present, Madame Katarina Ivanova.”

The willowy woman gave her a wide smile, and for a while, Pansy thought she was going to faint.

“How do you do, Miss Parkinson?”

“Very well, Madame,” Pansy replied, trying not to stutter while she spoke to her idol.

“Why don’t we all have a seat?” Madame said, motioning for Pansy to sit next to her.

“Pardon me, but I still don’t understand why I’m here,” Pansy said. “Don’t get me wrong, Madame, you have been my idol since I was five. Meeting you has always been my greatest dream. But…I lost, didn’t I? I think you’re looking for Amanda Brown.”

“Amanda Brown won for very different reasons,” the man said. “Madame and I were outnumbered two to eight, and that was because we couldn’t speak English as well as they could.”

“I saw something very different in you, my dear,” Madame said. “You had the skill, the determination, the grace and poise…but most importantly your passion. I have never seen a girl dance with that much passion and heart. I saw how much you were trying to endure the pain and how much you loved what you were doing.”

Pansy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Katarina Ivanova wanted her to win. She wanted her to win.

“Well, unfortunately, that is all in the past,” the man said. “However, Madame and I wanted to make sure that you get something better, and that the next time you enter a competition, everyone would see how truly talented you are.”

Madame produced an envelope from her tote, stamped with an insignia that Pansy knew very well.

“I have here all you need for application to my dance academy,” Madame said. “One by one, she laid the contents of the envelope in front of Pansy. “I want to give you a full scholarship to my school. It would be an honor for me to teach someone as devoted as you.

Pansy’s eyes grew wide. She gingerly picked up the brochure and started poring through it eagerly.

“I’ll leave you to peruse these for a while,” Madame said with a laugh. “Would anyone like more tea?”

Their companions mumbled in assent, but Pansy was too busy imagining herself in the academy.

It was coincidence that Ivanova and her companions were also wizards. They became friends with Pansy’s mentor through this common bond.

“I heard that the Prince got married recently,” Madame said in a lower voice.

“Oh, yes,” Pansy’s mentor replied. “In fact, Pansy goes to school with him. They’ve been friends since they were children.

“I saw your newspaper,” the man said. “The Princess is very beautiful.”

“She’s also a war heroine,” Pansy’s mentor said. “Her grandfather was apparently a friend of King Abraxas.”

Pansy stopped poring over the brochures. Could she really do it? Leave behind Hogwarts and her family…and Draco? He’d wanted her to be his wife. She knew he will divorce him one of these years. Could she leave him behind like this and risk the chance of not being available when he finally did it?