My Time to Shine (Dance Moms/Harry Potter Crossover - Part 1)

Chapter 23: Exactly Where She Wanted To Be

Mackenzie awoke Monday morning under her cozy, patchwork quilt bedspread in the effervescent yellow dormitory. She rolled over and saw that both Alison and Abbie had already dressed and left. Abbie's bed was not made, but this was common and didn't phase Mackenzie, in fact she generally left hers unmade as well. She pulled on her robes and put her hair in a messy bun.

"Hey, good! You're awake!" Abbie had just poked her head into their room. "We were just finishing up an essay but didn't want to wake you since you came in so late. I didn't want you to miss breakfast though! We are going now."

"Perfect, I'm starved." Mackenzie yawned. Her body was fatigued and she didn't even want to think about her outstanding homework. She hoped her teachers would cut her a bit of slack today.

Her plate was fuller than ever and had eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, ham, potatoes, beans and pudding. Alongside that, she gulped down three goblets of pumpkin juice before the meal was over.

"Goooooooood morning." Kevin and Scorpius joined the three girls as Mackenzie began stuffing her face with the contents of her breakfast plate.

"It's good to see you back!" Scorpius grinned at her.

"Hungry much, Kenz?" Kevin's sarcasm was always spot on. Sitting with the four other first-year Hufflepuffs made her so happy.

"How were Nationals?" Scorpius asked her.

"Well look at her, she's exhausted!" Alison spoke up with a giggle.

"So, well then?" Kevin answered. They all chuckled.

Mackenzie dove into the story of her weekend. It made her feel happy that her friends took an interest in it. She recounted the incident with Maddie, what her costume looked like, the rush of the performance, and the size of her trophy. She also told them all about the group dance, which had also pulled the first-place win but had a music mishap for the Dance Moms recording.

"So what did they say about you stopping leaving on weekends?" Scorpius looked like he had been anticipating her answer. "I mean you won, right? That was the deal, wasn't it?"

"Yes. It was. My mom isn't thrilled but I am not dancing with the ALDC anymore. I will be at Hogwarts full-time from now on!" Her friends looked just as excited as she did. "No more missing Quidditch matches or needing to catch up on missed classes! But something cool that is happening is that Abby is talking with Professor McGonagall and we are setting up an extracurricular dance program right here in Hogwarts. Gianna, one of the choreographers is moving here and agreed to do it a couple of nights per week. It will be the best of both worlds! It will never impede on school!"

"That's a really great plan! Can anyone do it?!" Abbie inquired.

"Yeah! If you guys want to do some dancing you totally could! I'm looking at you, Kevin." They all laughed together, Mackenzie was so excited about the fact that she would be staying at Hogwarts.

"What about Maddie? What will she do?" Alison glanced in the direction of the Slytherin table as she asked.

"She's moving back to the United States. She wants to do more acting and actually got a movie contract so she will do that. She wasn't ever super interested in being a witch though. She will like it better there." Kenzie informed her friends, realizing that even though her and her sister wanted very different things, and had many disagreements, she would miss her dearly when they were separated.

"We should probably get a move on or O'Kelly might have a cow!" Abbie reminded them. Mackenzie wolfed down another piece of toast followed by a swig of pumpkin juice and left the Great Hall with her friends.

The week, no less busy than any other, felt extremely simple to Kenzie. She felt as though a weight had lifted from her chest. Saturday morning yielded quite an enjoyable time for Mackenzie as she got to watch her first Quidditch game, which was also the last of the season.

She sat in the stands sporting her Hufflepuff scarf and gloves. They were playing Gryffindor. Her and Scorpius were seated on the very back bleacher amid some chatty fourth years who weren't paying attention to the game. They had been separated from their friends as they had hung back to finish their homework before the weekend fun.

"You know, I'm really happy that you will get to be at Hogwarts all the time now," Scorpius told Mackenzie.

"Me too. I just never felt like I belonged on the elite team, you know?"

"I do know." he put his hand on top of hers, which was resting on the bench between them, as he replied. "I think that you have to tough through things in order to find out where you truly fit in."

Mackenzie was so incredibly appreciative of Scorpius in that moment. He had stood by her all year, through thick and thin, and always knew what to tell her to make her feel better. She gave him her biggest smile and squeezed his hand.

"Hogwarts has given me so much more than I ever expected," she told him. He was smiling too.

They both turned their smiling eyes back to the game, just as the Hufflepuff seeker caught the Golden Snitch winning the game 220 to 40. Mackenzie knew that she was exactly where she wanted to be.