Chapter 290 Dancing Practice (1)
Two days later, Harry made an appointment with Cynthia to meet in an empty classroom on the upper floors. He actually didn't want to come alone, but Hermione was back to her busy state that Harry couldn't understand, just like last year, with a lot of homework, SPEW, and signs that she seemed to be dating someone?
Anyway, after discussing with him whether Cynthia's amnesia was true or not, Hermione was too busy to test Cynthia with him. Ron kept his distance from Cynthia. Presumably, the night in the Shrieking Shack had left him with more trauma, so Harry went to the appointment alone.
From this perspective, Harry's attitude towards Cynthia was really naive. As for being alone together, which might be ambiguous in the eyes of others, he was only thinking about testing her, and even forgot the actual purpose of this date - practicing dancing.
Two people who can't dance can't learn the dance steps by themselves just by practicing a few times, right?
Cynthia focused on the purpose of the date and could easily figure out Harry's negligence. She didn't have any good friends yet, so she invited the person who was most responsible to her.
Della, who was invited over, sat down on a wooden chair at random, with half of her face resting on her hands on the table, a faint smile on her face. Behind her, Sadolin, who also needed dance guidance, looked curiously at the silver-haired girl who asked Della to come over with just one sentence.
"You called me over here just to teach you and your partner how to dance?" Della felt amused and helpless at Cynthia's complete lack of politeness.
"You said you would come to me directly if I had anything to ask," Cynthia blinked, revealing a bit of natural innocence, "I will continue to come to you in the future, Della."
Della nodded and smiled without saying anything. However, Sadolin slightly widened her eyes and looked at Cynthia in surprise.
Harry pushed the door open at this time. He looked at the three beautiful girls with different styles who appeared in front of him at the same time, opened his eyes wide, and then immediately put Cynthia behind his mind and walked towards Della, "Della...we still need to talk..."
"Stop it," Cynthia didn't give the two old friends who were at the center of the light and dark sides a chance to start a series of cycles of 'listen to me', 'I think communication is useless', 'but I still want to tell you'. She looked at Harry with her emerald eyes and said, "We are here to practice dancing today. If you choose to start other topics, it means you are disrespecting me. Then you need to find another dance partner, Harry."
"..." Cynthia suddenly became the center of attention. Harry was completely overwhelmed by Cynthia's aura. Della's eyebrows moved, and her understanding of Cynthia's self-character deepened. Sadolin felt the envy of others for the first time in a long time.
"So, let's just talk about dancing tonight?" Della looked at Harry and gave him a chance.
"...Just talk about dancing." Harry said resignedly, but he quickly realized in his heart that this was also an opportunity. Before, they always tried to find Della with dark topics, but now that they had the premise of just talking about dancing, maybe they could chat with Della about some topics that friends should talk about.
In fact, they should have talked to Della about this topic a long time ago. She had been living away from home for a whole year, but the current confrontation between the two...
"Very good," Cynthia said with a satisfied smile on her face. She walked slowly to Harry's side, her eyes fixed on Della. "Start guiding us now."
"Of course, I will teach Sadolin and show you how to do it at the same time," Della stood up, and melodious music sounded. Sadolin stood in front of her obediently at her eye signal, "You know how to put your hands on your partner, right?"
"Um," Harry raised his hand and gestured to Cynthia helplessly, without even touching the corner of Cynthia's clothes, "I think, I think, I need a little more guidance."
"It's hard to imagine that you actually thought of taking me directly to the dance before." Cynthia said objectively, but it sounded like sarcasm.
"Look at me and Sadolin." Della grabbed Sadolin's hands and placed them on her waist and shoulders. She also put her arms around Sadolin's waist and put her hands on her shoulders. She guided Sadolin to walk two steps forward and backward. "It's about this for the feet."
Harry, who was busy picking up Cynthia, ignored the strange familiarity of the name Sadolin in his heart. The first step he took was stepping on the toes of his partner, "Ah! Sorry!"
"It's better to be stepped on a few times now than to be stepped on the whole dance on the night of the dance," Cynthia said generously without moving her eyebrows. After watching Della's careful and slow teaching, she led Harry to dance two steps, "Go ahead, Harry, it doesn't matter to me."
"I'm dancing the wrong way, Cynthia," Della kept watching the two people's movements, "I'm dancing the men's steps, you shouldn't be looking at me, you should learn from Sadolin's steps."
Cynthia had just subconsciously learned the movements of the more dominant party. Now that she was corrected, she couldn't find her own position. Her steps became disordered and she stepped on Harry a few more times.
When Cynthia became confused, Harry became even more confused. The two of them walked a meter away, breathing heavily and tiptoeing.
"......" Looking at the two people in a mess, Della sighed and decided to adjust the teaching plan. She let go of Sadolin and said softly, "You watch first. Their opening dance is more important. I will teach them one by one."
"Didn't she also dance the opening dance with Iyaev?" Harry said subconsciously, thinking of the fire dragon seeing the two people holding hands that night. Then, Sadolin looked at him with a horrified look, making Harry think that he had done something irreparable wrong.
"I'll give you a piece of advice, Harry. Many people know that you have an invisibility cloak," Della walked up to Cynthia, held her hand and began to instruct her, saying in a lukewarm tone, "So you should be more careful when you speak. You have to remember what you can and cannot say at what time. I don't think you want to become a character like Rita Skeeter in the eyes of others."
Rita Skeeter...
This sentence was so hurtful that Harry was choked and couldn't say a word. He immediately realized that he was talking about other people's privacy that he accidentally peeped into with the help of the invisibility cloak. His face turned red with shame, and he walked up to Sadolin and said sorry.
When saying sorry, Harry remembered that he had never seen Demetri and Sadolin talk to each other in school, and there was no rumor circulating between the two of them. In most people's impressions, the two were completely parallel lines that were destined to never intersect.
Even if she felt that one of the lines was tilted and there was a possibility that the two lines were beginning to intersect, it didn't matter. Della had prepared a backup plan to have Sadolin fake her death.
After observing how the two got along some time ago, Della approved of Dmitri. If Sadolin insisted in the end, she would send her away in a way that would have the least impact on Riddle.
Della, who was dancing with Cynthia, led the rhythm and remembered the "longing world" in Sadolin's mouth.
Under the guidance of a good teacher, the smart Cynthia learned quickly. She only made a few mistakes and was able to dance half of the song following Della's rhythm.
After teaching Cynthia, Della walked up to Harry again. She grabbed Harry's shaking arms, which seemed to have shrunk all the muscles. She sighed and put both hands on her waist and shoulders. At the same time, she switched to a female step. "Don't be so nervous, Harry. You will always have contact with girls."
"Uh, ah! Sorry, Della!" Harry could feel that Della was slowing down and teaching him patiently, but he still stepped on Della's black leather shoes, so he quickly apologized.
"It's okay, Harry, just like Cynthia said, go ahead and step on it," Della said patiently, "Growing from making mistakes is nothing to be ashamed of."
Della's gentle tone, just like in the past, always calmed others' inner anxiety. Harry was a little dazed, but his feet, which had been disobedient, found some trick in this trance and gradually followed Della's elegant steps.
"You dance really well," Harry praised sincerely, not just talking about dancing. "And the teaching is very good, too. You are familiar with both male and female steps."
"I met a very good roommate in Beauxbatons," Della's lips curled slightly, and just thinking of Bellinda made her happy. "She is very familiar with balls and social dances. We sometimes dance together."
Bellinda was undoubtedly familiar with the female steps, but as for the male steps, well, many of Bellinda's female partners were simply attracted to her and had never had same-sex experience before. Most of the time, Bellinda was the dominant one among them. She was very considerate of her girlfriends' habits, and gradually became familiar with the male steps that always moved forward in the dance.
Della had never danced before she met Bellinda, so she had no habits to speak of. Her androgynous style made her quite attractive, and after they danced a few times when they were in the mood, Della finally learned how to dance.
"A very good roommate?" Harry's voice rose slightly, but what he said was not a question. Instead, it was strangely comforting because he could hear Della talking about a friend in a tone that she had never used in the first and second grades. "I'm so happy for you, Della."
Della heard the relief of a friend in Harry's tone, and also heard the pity hidden behind this relief that Harry was not aware of. She frowned slightly, and a feeling of boredom surged up uncontrollably.
One of the main reasons why Belinda and she became so close in the end was that they confirmed in their communication that they were the same kind of people who didn't care about the outside world and only focused on their inner needs. This was the cornerstone of the closeness between their hearts that far exceeded that of others. Della usually didn't care about the self-righteous, condescending pity and care that others gave her, but those shouldn't have affected her relationship with Belinda. That was a defilement of a confidant.
Ultimately, Della gradually realized that all the kind emotions she had longed for in the past were nothing compared to the resonance given to her by someone who truly understood her.
Before Della could say anything to Harry, the door was flung open and a figure dressed in black appeared menacingly at the door. "It's almost curfew, who's still in there? One or two people have been doing this lately. Is it because the dances are getting closer and closer that people have lost their sense of distance?"
Snape spoke in his usual sarcastic and low voice, and he felt oppressive as usual when he walked in. Perhaps after seeing the three groups of people who shouldn't be together in the classroom, the wrinkles on his forehead instantly became an even more obvious "川" character.