Dance Lessons!
In response to a house-wide notice, the entirety of the Gryffindor house from fourth year up crammed into the dance studio of Hogwarts. It was fairly modest compared to some of the more extravagant places in the castle, one wall was lined with full-length mirrors and the floor was made of a smoother cobblestone than most of the castle. McGonagall commanded silence with one simple gesture from her place in the middle of the room, girls were seated on her right and boys: on her left.
The professor began to speak, “The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception.”
Jess turned to Alisa and whispered, “What does inception mean?” Alisa responded with a disappointed shake of her head and signalled to Jess to be quiet.
“On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity.”
“Why is she using such big words?” Jess mumbled, evidently annoyed.
“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.”
There was a clear divide in reactions: most of the girls seemed elated at the idea of a formal dance- beautiful decor, curled hair and fancy ballgowns; most of the boys seemed disgusted and frankly uncomfortable with the idea. The group of students immediately erupted into eager conversation, Alisa and Jess shared a look, a playful smile on both their faces.
“Silence! 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.”
Jess, once again, looked at Alisa with a certain desperation on her face. Alisa giggled quietly.
“Now, to dance is to let the body breathe. Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight. Inside of every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance… Mr Weasley.” Professor McGonagall stepped towards him.
Ron cringed in his seat, “...Yes?”
Alisa and Jess sat up in their seats to catch a glimpse of what was going on, and with McGonagall's next statement, they looked at each other and started cackling at Ron's expense.
“Will you join me, please?” Ron closed his eyes and sighed before Professor McGonagall grabbed his jumper and helped him off his seat.
“Now, place your right hand on my waist.” Ron hesitated before McGonagall repeated herself. Once Ron put his hand on her waist, the students began to laugh and a wolf whistle was heard. Ron frowned and tried to retract his hand but McGonagall placed it back down.
“Extend your arm. Mr Filch, if you please.” Music began to play, “Everybody come together. Boys, on your feet!”
The girls instantly stood up, stepping towards the centre of the room. However, the boys hesitated, sliding down their seats to avoid the embarrassment. After a moment of nothing, Neville stood up confidently and stepped towards the girls. Eventually, all the boys were on their feet and walking towards the girls. Jess smiled and went towards Harry, they had been dating for more than a year now.
Alisa watched as he friend left her and turned to gaze elsewhere. She made eye contact with Fred Weasley and stepped towards him, “My fair lady! Wouldst thou honour me with the pleasure of a dance?”
"Oh, why, of course!" The tall redhead put on a high tone, dramatically flipping his hair over his shoulder. Fred grinned and extended his hand, allowing the other girl to take it.
Alisa led the dance, her hand on Fred's waist, they span for a couple of beats before an idea struck Alisa. Seemingly, Fred seemed to have the same idea, both of them had mischievous smirks on their faces. Eventually, everyone fell into the step of things or sat on the outskirts, the people on the floor danced peacefully... that is until Alisa started spinning Fred aggressively, his limbs knocking into people.
The lanky teenager theatrically threw his arms in the air, hitting unsuspecting students in the face. At some point, Fred decided to start breakdancing to the classical music- with surprising skill, Fred got onto the floor and started to spin his legs around, tripping up all the students around... including Alisa, who accidentally fell into Harry and Jess. The three tumbled to the ground, Jess on top Harry and Alisa on top Jess.
"OH SHIT!" "ALISA!" "Oops..."
"Get off!" Jess squirmed, violently red.