Work Text:
August 2002
From the time he was small, Draco had been raised on a strict diet of ice skating and classical music. He’d been told that the very same day his nanny announced that he’d taken his first steps, Father came home with a pair of tiny ice skates. As soon as he was steadier on his feet, he’d gone to classes.
That very same nanny had an atrocious voice, so Draco had kicked up a fuss every time she tried to put her to sing him a lullaby. After weeks of nightly tantrums, Mother invested in a disc player—the highest quality available—and purchased several CDs of composers he would grow up loving.
Debussy, Vivaldi, Handel, Tchaikovsky…
These were the melodies that floated through his dreams. They were the ones that he hummed as he dressed in the morning and the ones that he chose when it came time to select music for skating programs. Those melodies were the obvious choice.
“You need something timeless. Something that will let the judges know you are serious.” Father encouraged this direction when Coach Binns offered him a handful of choices for his first competitive season at age five.
Yes, it seemed like the obvious choice. He wanted to be seen as serious. Needed to be. Why would he pick anything else?
In the end, he chose the most fun classical piece he could think of: Peter and the Wolf . The story told by the song had been interesting enough that even Coach Binns couldn’t make it boring.
Draco had always thought that skating to classical music was the best choice. The only choice, really.
He’d thought that through his entire childhood.
And then she’d come along.
Being from a ballet background, Hermione was sure to have a taste for a similar musical diet. On early car rides together, he quizzed her on Debussy’s works, just as a test.
In return, she’d offered him a ten minute lecture comparing the famous composer’s style to that of impressionist painters like Monet and Renoir.
It had been the longest car ride of his life.
She appreciated classical music, but mostly as a swot.
If Hermione had her way, she’d bob her head to nothing but pop rubbish. It was absurd.
As Draco pouted in the back seat of the Granger family car, arms folded across his chest, he listened to the awful screeching of Hermione and her father singing along to some ridiculous, overly-simple tune on the radio. Her father was tapping on the steering wheel in time to the beat. Hermione strummed an imaginary guitar beside him.
He was almost embarrassed for them. Draco felt heat prickle on the back of his neck, the same way it always did when people did things he would never dream of doing. His whole body felt stiff, as though he would crawl out of his own skin at any moment. Hell, crawling out of his own skin was preferable to enduring the five minutes longer it would take to get to the rink.
It wasn’t until the song crossfaded into something new and slightly less horrendous that Draco relaxed a little. This song had a strong piano focus. Unlike the last song, which had been a messy blur of guitar whiny vocals, this one was… nice.
Hermione and her father seemed to know every song on the radio. Without a moment to breathe, they dove into these new lyrics, heads bobbing and fingers tapping.
Even though his hands still wrapped around his middle, Draco allowed his foot to tap. Just a little. Just to see.
‘Cause you know I’d walk a thousand miles
If I could just see you…
Tonight.
Oh, this wasn’t bad.
By now, Dr. Granger and Hermione were belting, and their voices echoed around the car. Draco still wasn’t too fond of their awkward enthusiasm, but at least this song didn’t make him want to claw his ears off.
The song finished just as the car pulled up to the front doors. When they stopped completely, Hermione unbuckled her seatbelt, leaned into the front seat, and kissed her father on the cheek.
“Bye, Dad. See you after practice!”
Draco looked away at the sweet exchange.
It’s not that it made his skin crawl. It was more like it made his heart feel heavy.
All his worries were pushed to the side the moment he put on skates and took to the ice. He and Hermione were just weeks away from their second competition season, and that gave him plenty to focus on. Today would be all about perfecting. He expected two hours of repositioning arm angles, fixing footing, and running the same sequences over and over until he fell over, exhausted.
He couldn't wait.
And then… something odd happened.
As soon as they stepped onto the ice, Snape was standing on the opposite side of the rink, looking stern as ever. That part was normal. But instead of the usual classical pieces they used for warm-ups, Snape waved a CD case in his hand.
“It is crucial for a skater to be flexible,” he explained. “And that is a skill that you both need to improve upon. So today, instead of your usual warm-up, you are going to improvise and freestyle together. I will, however, allow you to select one of the tracks on this disc that the rink lent to me. The operations manager assured me that you would be familiar with most of these songs, as they are apparently popular these days.”
He handed the CD over to Hermione, the case pinched between two fingers. She accepted it eagerly, swinging the plastic cover open with a squeak to read the scribbled tracklist on the top of the disc. Hermione studied it for a moment before jerking her head slightly in his direction.
Draco stepped toward her, dread pooling in his stomach.
“What do you think of this?” She pointed to one of the scribbled titles. Draco squinted. He thought it might be the title of the song they’d just been singing along to in the car.
“A Thousand Miles?”
“I saw you tapping your foot in the car. Thought you might know it.” When he didn’t respond right away, she shrugged. “I mean, we can always choose a different one.”
A quick glance through the tracklist proved that Draco knew none of these songs. Not a single one.
He wasn’t sure whether to feel superior or like a total dunce.
“No. No, that’s fine.” He shifted his weight from one foot to another. “Pick whatever. It’s just a warm-up.”
Hermione handed the CD back to Snape with a flick of her wrist. “We’ll do track six.”
Their coach retreated to the sound booth while the two of them headed to the center of the ice.
Draco wasn’t sure how he felt about freestyling. Improvising hadn’t ever been something he enjoyed. He liked to know precise choreography. What to do with his hands. His feet. How to hold his head. Where to look.
Still…
It was just a warm-up. That was all. He could improvise a warm-up.
The piano started, and before he drowned himself in over-thinking, Hermione began to skate. She moved around him, twirling to the twinkling melody.
Draco followed, repeating her motions.
They skated separately for the first verse, Draco copying Hermione’s movements as they circled around the outer ring of the rink. It was reassuring to know that she didn’t seem to mind him following her lead, at least for a while. When she spun, so did he. When she skated backward, so did he.
Draco concentrated on feeling the music and listening to the words. He’d started to learn them in the car. Just a bit. Not seriously.
If I could fall into the sky
Do you think time would pass me by?
It was a catchy song.
By the time they made it to the second chorus, Draco felt more confident in his movements. He’d closed the distance between the two of them, and now held her in a waltz hold. The switch required him to take the lead, and as the steady beat surged through his veins, he finally felt as though he’d be able to muddle through.
Draco led them across the ice. He tried to remain as smooth as he possibly could, leading Hermione where she needed to go and keeping his body trained to the beat. The bridge of the song kept him moving forward. Kept him dancing.
And I still need you.
And I still miss you.
And now I wonder…
These weren’t bad lyrics.
He kept his eyes trained on Hermione. It was part of what he’d been practising. To make the audience convinced of their storytelling, he had to look her in the eye. It had been funny and weird at first, but after a year, it had simply become a habit.
Now, he kept his eyes on her.
She smiled at him.
He smiled back.
This really wasn’t so bad.
The song finished, and Snape gave them a two minute break to grab water before they’d run another round of improvisational warm-ups. He and Hermione headed for the edge of the rink to grab their water bottles.
“What was that about?” Hermione giggled between sips.
Draco arched his brow. “What was what about?”
“You kept mouthing the words to me.”
“I kept… what?” Draco tilted his head as he took a drink from his own bottle.
“You were… lip syncing? I didn’t think you knew the song.”
Draco blanched, his heart pounding in newfound panic. “I don’t!” His voice cracked.
The prickling heat on the back of his neck returned in full.
Hermione must have sensed his despairing embarrassment, because she practically dove to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew. Did you… not realise?”
Draco shook his head, unable to meet her eyes for the moment. He’d have to look at her again in another minute, and he needed a second to work up the nerve.
“It’s funny. You know, I don’t think we’ve done much skating to songs with lyrics before. It’s mostly been orchestral stuff. Maybe that’s why you’ve never done it before.”
Draco shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe. But I… think I’d prefer it if we stuck to classical from now on. No words.”
He chanced a glance at his skating partner, only to find her eyes narrowed in his direction, as though she were trying to study him like one of her school books.
“Look…” Hermione screwed the top of her water bottle back on and stuck it in her purple duffle bag. “It doesn’t matter to me if you lip sync. I don’t think judges care either. It’s not like we’d get points taken away for it. So if you mouth the words, you mouth the words. All I know is that I liked how it felt, dancing to a newer song. It was exciting. And I’d like to try it again some time. If you’re willing, anyway.”
Before Draco could respond, Snape called to them from the sound booth. “Right, you two! Time’s up. Back on the ice.”
When they’d taken their place in the center of the rink once more, Hermione turned her head and offered a half-smile.
The piano riff started.
Her smile widened, as if to say, “Go on.”
He should have been embarrassed. Should have wanted to shiver and run out of there as fast as he could. But for some reason, he didn’t.
He smiled back.
And although he didn’t know all the words, it didn’t stop him from trying to mouth them.
This time, improvising was plain fun.
He and Hermione played it up, skating in circles around each other.
‘Cause I need you.
He stretched his arm toward Hermione.
And I miss you.
She returned the gesture toward him.
And now I wonder…
They reached for each other and fell into the waltz hold.
This time, their transition to the chorus was easy. Draco held Hermione confidently, gliding them around the ice. He may have mouthed some words, but so did she.
You know I’d walk a thousand miles if I could just see you...
By the time the last piano notes faded away, they both collapsed in a fit of giggles.
Snape merely rolled his eyes and told them to take another water break. Then they’d get into refining their competition pieces.
Classical pieces.
For the first time, Draco considered what it might be like to try something different. Perhaps next season they might consider a non-traditional piece for one of their dances. Father might be irritated, but that was a bridge he could cross later.
He liked the possibility of being able to lip sync lyrics. It helped him really feel the music. Lose himself in it. And if there was one person who he could look in the eye while doing it, it was Hermione.
He liked her. She never made him feel like an idiot, even when he messed up.
Maybe, just maybe, a little bit of him meant it when his mouth formed those words.
He kind of… needed her.
Now that made the back of his neck really prickle.