Swan Lake - Larry Stylinson Ballet AU

Act III - Assemblé

Louis stared at the amount of money that he was supposed to pay. Surely, this man-this stranger-wouldn't pay for him? It was far too much to ask. But then again, when there was certainty in that sharp face of his. He was not joking in the slightest.

"Harry.." Maria said, as surprised as Louis was but not for the same reason. She couldn't believe that Harry of all people would do something like this for a beginner. He'd always looked down on them. "Are you sure?"

The ballet dancer walked up to Louis, and Louis wondered if he was going to get punched. Yet, as surprising as things were, the man bent down to align their faces, slid a finger beneath Louis' chin and lifted the boy's head up. He stared at Louis for an uncomfortably long while, many thoughts passing through his brain but he didn't let Louis read them. Finally, he stood back up, picked up a towel that awaited on the bench, and began to walk to the changing rooms. "As I said-I will pay for everything." and before he could leave, he turned back and bowed his head, "Your name is Louis, isn't it? Welcome.", and he was gone.

A long silence was cast over the three remaining people in the room. Everyone stared to the doorway where they'd seen the man last, and finally, Louis' mind found itself again and he reacted. He squealed, balling his hands into fists, and jumped up and down in his brand new ballet slippers. He turned to Maria, and there was the biggest smile on his face. It was one of those rare smiles that made his white teeth shine and his eyes crinkle up and his cheeks and nose turn pink. But then, he was laughing, and if you were to think of the happiest thing in the world, it wouldn't even compare to the joy that Louis felt then.

"I have to-I have to thank Mr Harry." He said, jumping from one foot to the other. He ran with difficulty to the changing rooms, and didn't hear both Maria and Lilly-Ann shout urgently for him to stop.

He pushed the door open and it slammed against the wall. Behind it, sat on a bench beneath a row of lockers, was Harry. He jumped in surprise, his head snapping up, and when the shock had passed over his face, he scowled. Louis looked at him, his eyes riding down his body, down the dressing gown that he'd pulled over himself, to his legs. He was strapping a prosthetic to a leg that had been cut off below the knee.

"Oh. I'm.." Louis started, backing away, and then he spun around, out of the room, and slammed the door closed. His heart was thumping, he felt so embarrassed and yet he wasn't sure why. He stayed there for a few more seconds, leaning against the door and leaving his heart to race as it was doing, and then Lilly-Ann was standing in front of him, guiding him away to the ballroom.

"I suppose that you saw, then." she said, sitting Louis down on the end of the long bench by the mirrors. Louis nodded, his cheeks flushed. "You shouldn't have gone in there. He won't be happy."

Louis looked up at her, "What happened to him?"

She got down on her knees and began to tie the ribbons of Louis' shoes correctly. "Harry has always loved ballet. His parents were ballet dancers, and so were their parents. He's come down a long line of the most famous Ballerinas of all time, and surely that is why he's so good. But he was diagnosed with bone cancer not long ago and it caused his leg to get bad, and, well you saw what happened."

"But how can he dance?" Louis asked, "Why does he dance?"

Lilly-Ann looked up at him and there was sadness in those cold eyes, "You're right in thinking that he'd stop dancing, and he did for a long while. He began to believe that he was not made for ballet, that he wasn't worth it. But shortly after he had found the heart to start dancing again, his Ballet partner got into a car accident. It killed her. Her name was Rosaline, his lover. She was to play the part of Odette in the upcoming show, Swan Lake, this winter, but of course, that isn't going to happen. Harry was to be Prince Siegfried. They'd had an argument before she died, and he never got the chance to apologise. He now dances for her. He dances for her love."