ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ | ᴛᴏᴍɪᴏɴᴇ

Serpentine, ch. 13

PART FOUR:

SHALL WE DANCE?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Slow down!" Draco said. He planted his feet and pulled his arm away from Harmony. "I'm capable of walking by myself."

Harmony watched as he ironed out his wrinkled sleeve with his hand. She had led him to the far side of the auditorium, between a bar and a group of people dancing. Making her voice deeper so he wouldn't recognize her, she said, "I had the impression you wanted to get away from there as soon as possible."

Draco stopped ironing his sleeve to stare at her. Frightened that he recognized her, she added, "Don't worry. I won't tattle to the Dark Lord. But why did you do it? Why get the Dark Mark?"

"For my father, of course," he said with a soft tone he'd never used with her at school. "You should have seen his face when he found out the Dark Lord wanted to give me the Dark Mark. I couldn't reject him like my mother wanted me to. He told me that I'll have to take his place someday. He wants me to 'make him proud.'"

She couldn't believe this was the same young man who had hurled insults at her since day one at Hogwarts. He had always treated her like filth. But in that moment, they were just two young adults forced into a situation in which they wanted no involvement.

She grasped his shoulder encouragingly. "You must not show him you're afraid. Do as he says and you will survive this."

His blonde eyebrows knit together when he frowned at her. "You seem familiar somehow."

She turned her face away from his intense scrutiny. "Come on, then. Let me introduce you to the others." She tugged him, more gently than she had before, toward a group of girls she'd met in her dance group.

She sat at the bar and watched as Draco danced with each of the girls in turn. They fawned over him, and when she caught him smiling she began to relax.

"I call the next dance with you," said a rancid voice in her ear.

She turned to see Barty seated next to her, gulping down a glass of a golden liquid.

"Can't," she said sharply, looking away. "I have to get ready for my performance soon."

"Oh, come on," Barty slurred as he draped an arm around her shoulders. "Just a quickie."

She shrugged him off. "If you were smart you'd go home and sleep off the booze." The current song ended and she stood to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me—"

Barty grabbed her arm with an unexpected quickness she hadn't expected from a drunk. With lust heavy in his voice, he said, "A dance later then." When she rolled her eyes, he tugged her closer. The alcohol on his breath made her eyes water. "You know, love, I'll be watching you perform. And I'll be enjoying every minute of it."

She pulled her arm away in disgust. Without another word, she left him to gulp down another pint of the gold liquid. She followed the signs leading to the backstage dressing rooms. Narcissa gave her a questioning look as she entered.

"Draco was dancing when I left him."

Narcissa nodded and gave a short sigh of relief before continuing her work. Harmony found her costume hung neatly where she had left it the day before and went into one of the privacy booths to change.

Once the rather scanty green dress was snugly in place, her shoulders, arms, and legs felt cold without their usual covering of heavy, black wool. It didn't help that the Serpentine charm had wound itself up one arm and across the top of her breasts. It brought stark contrast to the paleness of her skin.

At least the mask covered the most crucial part—her face. When she was ready, she slipped out of the changing closet to join the others.

"Oh, Harmony, there you are," cooed Bellatrix with feigned interest. The curvy woman sauntered up to Harmony wearing her blue costume and mask. "Good luck, dearie."

Harmony smiled back as pleasantly as she could.

It was only minutes before they had to go on stage. Narcissa lined the women up according to how they would enter. Harmony was the third woman in line. She looked around at the others and became uncomfortably aware of how many of them were staring at her charm.

Narcissa called out for attention when she had everyone assembled. After giving a few last words of advice, she walked to the front of the line and opened the doors to the changing room. The line filed out after her and headed for the stage.

The huge auditorium was filled to capacity with noisy people, but more dizzying were the smells. Sweat, smoke, and alcohol singed Harmony's nose as she peered out from behind several layers of deep green curtains to see the crowd. They were invisible beyond the glare of the blinding stage lights.

"And now," said a man in sparkly robes, "I would like to introduce to you the traditional performance by Slytherin's most beautiful ladies." He was center stage, holding a wand to his throat to amplify his voice.

The crowd began to roar and the sweaty announcer waved a hand for the women to come out as he left the stage. Narcissa turned and gave them the signal to advance.

Each of them walked out onto the stage, one woman at a time. When Harmony's feet hit the hot stage the crowd went wild. She kept her eyes trained on the woman ahead of her and stopped in her designated spot before she turned to look out at the audience. The bright lights made it difficult, but she managed to barely make out the Dark Lord's cloaked figure in the back of the auditorium. The snake charm slithered up around her shoulders with its tail curled around her neck.

Someone in the crowd shouted out her name, but she ignored it to concentrate on the dance moves she was about to perform. She sucked in a deep breath of the sweaty, smoky air to calm her nerves then closed her eyes. When she opened them, every person she saw made eye contact with her. They all looked up at her in awe, their eyes traveling over her arms and chest where she knew the slithering tattoo was making its way over her skin.

The smooth music drew her mind away from the crowd. One, two, three, and like one person the women moved to the rhythm in graceful, flighty steps.

Harmony thought of nothing else as her feet and body flew over the stage. Every move she made mingled and interlaced, becoming one with the music. The heat of the lights and her movement flushed her cheeks and her forehead grew damp with perspiration. In the end were only three more quick, graceful moves. When the music stopped, so did every woman on the stage with a pose.

Chest heaving, Harmony counted to three before she stepped out of the pose and looked out on the hundreds of cheering people. Her heart pounded as a smile broke out on her sweaty face. They all bowed in unison and dashed off the stage, where they were greeted by a grinning Narcissa.

"Fantastic, ladies! Do you hear them? Now go celebrate, enjoy this success!"