𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 | draco malfoy ✔️

11. dance partners

TRAINING WHEELS—
DANCE PARTNERS.

011

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception," Professor McGonagall explained to all of the fourth years and above sat inside the room, boys to one side, girls to the other. "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 each and 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."

The girls began to whisper in excitement whilst the boys on the other side of the room seemed less than pleased. From where Amora sat beside Hermione, she was slightly surprised, but now Ron's dress robes from before were making a lot more sense.

"Silence!" McGonagall called and the whispers dissolved. "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, besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons."

Amora smiled as she leaned with her chin on her arm. When she was younger, she used to attend dance lessons so she was pretty decent at it. Once she started Hogwarts, she stopped with her extracurricular and instead got far too into reading for her own good.

"Now, to dance is to let the body breathe," the woman made hand gestures. "Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst forth and take flight. Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance. Mr Weasley?"

"Yes?" Ron glanced up from where he was sat in between Seamus and Harry, a worried expression written across his face.

"Will you join me, please?" There were snickers across the room as McGonagall hauled Ron onto his feet and led him into the middle of the room. "Now, place your right hand on my waist."

Ron looked horrified. "Where?"

"My waist," Professor McGonagall repeated, delicately moving her hands onto his shoulders as Ron hesitantly obeyed, earning a wolf whistle from the twins. "And your arm..." She guided it into her hand. "Mr Filch, if you please?"

The old caretaker didn't reply but moved to the large speaker, placing the needle down on the vinyl spinning. Classical music began to play as McGonagall counted them in, the teacher and the student moving around the empty floor, one much more unwilling than the other.

"Everybody come together!" McGonagall ordered. "Boys, on your feet!"

Neville was the first boy to stand, his worried eyes looking around for a partner. Amora was hunting for Leon, her most trusted male friend, although she would have been okay with Harry or Ron too. She froze in her tracks when she saw that he was already joining hands with Kathy. She'd known they'd always had a thing for each other, but she was a little disappointed nevertheless.

In the middle of a herd of students, Amora was looking around for a new partner, craning her head towards the sky and perching upon her tiptoes. She saw Harry shoving past some people, heading towards her. Her smile brightened, about to meet him halfway, when Hermione suddenly popped up in front of her and grabbed Harry's hand with a huff.

"Come on," she groaned, tugging Harry away without even noticing Amora. "Let's get this over and done with, then. Looks like Ron's stuck with McGonagall for the lesson!"

Harry was still staring at Amora as he was dragged away by his best friend, just long enough to see a flash of blond approaching her. Amora's eyes nearly widened when Draco appeared in front of her, but instead of looking at her, he was glancing over his shoulder.