Harry had never danced in the previous 14 years of his life, nor had he ever held a girl's hand.
He awkwardly squeezed Ginny's little hand, "And then?"
She lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes, "His other hand... is on my... side waist."
Her voice was very soft and could not be heard clearly in the quiet, empty Club Room.
Harry moved a little closer to her. "Where... where should I put it?"
"Side waist..."
His left elbow was bent, and he awkwardly placed his hand on his left side. "Is this how it is?"
"Pfft—" Ginny quickly covered her mouth with her other hand.
Harry awkwardly wrapped his left arm around his lower abdomen and placed it on his right side.
Ginny couldn't help but laugh again at his strange posture. "It's my side waist."
Harry carefully reached out and placed his hand on her side, and her body visibly tensed the moment he touched her.
He quickly withdrew his hand. "Sorry."
Ginny blushed and shook her head. "I'm fine. Come on, I'm mentally prepared."
Harry was much more careful this time, his hand almost hovering in the air, not even touching her clothes.
"Follow my steps, Harry."
Ginny led him slowly a few steps to the right, then a few steps forward, and then stepped on when she was backing up.
"Hiss--"
Her gasp startled Harry, who quickly removed his foot from her shoe. "Sorry, I'm so clumsy."
This is true for inexperienced beginners; they will definitely improve with more practice.
Watching him tiptoe and carefully land, Ginny couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Harry, we need to speed up our dance."
His stiff arm was gripped in reverse, tracing a graceful arc. "Uh... I'm not ready yet."
After a sharp turn, he nervously tried to keep up with her dance steps.
"Ginny, slow down."
With another sharp turn, strands of red hair brushed against his Adam's apple as he spun, sending a tingling, electric shock-like sensation through him.
"Hiss--"
"Sorry..." Harry hurriedly stepped back, trying to create some distance, but forgot that their hands were clasped together, and accidentally pulled Ginny over as well.
After a scream, her cheek pressed against a firm chest.
"Sorry..." Harry quickly let go of her hand. "I didn't mean to."
Ginny quickly regained her balance, looking down at the tip of her shoe that had just been stepped on. "It's okay, I was just moving too fast."
Let's go back to where we started, back to the very first steps of the dance.
This time, Harry was on edge the whole time, afraid that he might accidentally step on Ginny again.
Their pace slowed down, slower than an old lady crossing the street, so slow that Vincent and Hermione, who were peeking from outside the Club Room, wanted to yawn.
"I'm so anxious!"
"That is."
After watching for a few more minutes, the two of them indeed started yawning.
It seems like things are stagnating, but there should still be some progress.
After watching for a few more minutes, Vincent and Hermione couldn't stand it anymore and quietly left.
From that night on, Harry and Ginny would practice their dance steps in the Club Room every night.
His mistakes were decreasing little by little, while the pace she led was also gradually quickening.
By the time the Christmas holidays arrived, their dance steps had finally become perfectly synchronized.
Although the pace is still a bit slow, it's still possible to dance without making a mistake within the time limit.
On the 21st, the first day of the Christmas holidays, a long-absent figure returned to the castle.
After saying goodbye to his parents, Draco stepped into the school gate and walked slowly on the soft lawn.
His face was sickly pale, and he looked even thinner.
When his gaze inadvertently swept across the Forbidden Forest, his previously calm eyes suddenly burst forth with boundless hatred.
During the nearly one month that Draco spent recuperating at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, he dreamed of the berserk Hungarian Horntail almost every day.
He relived countless times the feeling of being squeezed in the huge, sharp dragon claws, helplessly watching the defenses of the Mithril Amulet crumble bit by bit.
As time went by, this instinctive fear deepened and gradually became his nightmare.
If his father, Lucius, hadn't made inquiries and finally learned the truth about the whole incident from Karkaroff, transforming that fear into overwhelming hatred, he would never have had the courage to step into Hogwarts again.
"I will not admit defeat!"
Lucius did not reveal the whole truth; he concealed his Death Eaters and blamed everything on a fictional evil dark wizard.
Draco withdrew his gaze and stepped through the open castle gates.
The Great Hall was still the same as before, and those familiar figures were all there.
"Draco— " Pansy rushed over from the Slytherin table and clung to him like an octopus.
Perhaps because he hadn't fully recovered, or for some other reason, Draco didn't react for a long time after being held.
He only managed to break free from Pansy when he was almost out of breath.
"Hey~" Fred and George walked over with smiles.
"Our Champion warrior has finally deigned to return!"
"I'm so envious! He's already got so many ladies' men as soon as he got back!"
Draco's pale face flushed red upon hearing this long-unheard teasing.
"Get away from me, Weasley!"
The twins exaggeratedly patted their chests, pretending to be scared, which made many students burst into laughter.
"Champion, you're so scary!"
Amidst the jeers and laughter, Draco sullenly snorted.
He seemed to want to say something, but in the end he simply walked silently toward the Slytherin table.
He maintained his arrogant demeanor as always, but something seemed different about him.
The four Champion reunited at Hogwarts, and newspapers and magazines around the world immediately broke the news.
Also updated were advertisements for the Nobili brand's official launch of a series of magical home appliances on Christmas Eve.
They timed it perfectly; now the entire Wizarding World sympathizes with the wounded Champion, and Draco, as the brand's spokesperson, is the one most seriously injured.
In contrast to the overwhelming advertising campaign by the Nobili brand, the Prongs brand has maintained an extremely low profile.
After everything that had happened, Sirius Black and Lucius both had a feeling that the person who wanted to instigate a conflict between the two families was very likely a persistent Death Eaters.
Voldemort's thoughts became increasingly extreme as his soul split and his Horcrux multiplied. His so-called loyalty was not absolute, but rather absolute disloyalty. Lucius's actions to protect himself were perhaps seen as betrayal by him.
After Sirius Black was completely exonerated, Peter Pettigrew, the former hero, reverted to his original, heinous traitor.
Having realized this, neither side has been at odds with the other, at least not openly.