#I was certain I saw that tutu in a picture or video | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

easily-infatuated23 · 4 years

Text

At the Ballet (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

a/n: hey! i am a dancer so this was super fun to write. i’ll link the video’s of the variations discussed both here and in the actual story incase you want to watch it ‘in the moment’ also the ending is super cliche but i wasn’t sure how to finish

Y/H/H/C= your hogwarts house color

Dying swan variation

Kirtri Variation

pairing: Draco Malfoy x Dancer!Reader

word count: 2.4k

warnings: super brief mentions of blood and cancer

summary: Reader is using the Room of Requirement as a dance studio when a certain blonde finds her and watches her dance

I am probably one of the only people in the world who would be unhappy to find out they were a wizard. The day my Hogwarts letter came in I was devastated. As a muggle-born witch, I had lived the first eleven years of my life without any magic or magical knowledge. I also happened to be one of the few lucky people in the world who was born knowing what they wanted to do when they grew up. Ever since I was three years old, all I wanted to do was dance. While all the other kids were playing princess or digging in the sand box, I was twirling around the play ground. When I started my first formal dance lesson at age five, I was hooked. Everyday I diligently went to dance class after school. I would pull on my pink tights and leotard in the car, just to make sure I was ready when class started. While other kids had sleepovers and weekend playdates, I was in the studio working. When I got my first pointe shoes I was over the moon. I could finally look like those beautiful ballerina’s I’d seen on stage. I could just picture myself in the beautiful white tutu, being lifted in the air by a handsome prince. That all changed when I got my letter.

Boarding school meant no after school classes. Boarding school meant no studios. Boarding school meant crushing my career aspirations. I worked very hard once I got to Hogwarts. I threw myself into my school work to try and forget the aching feeling in my body building up from not dancing. I was too embarrassed to bring my leotard and tights to school but I couldn’t bear to leave my pointe shoes at home. The pink satin shoes called to me like a siren does to a sailor. When the common room was empty or when I could sneak into a classroom, I would dance. The cold stone floors wrecked my beautiful satin shoes, but, I couldn’t stop. Every summer I would take multiple classes a day, trying to gain any training I had lost. Even though I was a witch, I had no plans to go into a magical career. It was always dance. Always.

By my third year at Hogwarts I started to give up hope. My training was falling further and further behind my peers. At this rate, I would never be hired by a company. Then, the strangest thing happened. One day, I was walking down an empty corridor when I saw a door appear that I didn’t recognize. When I entered the room, my heart skipped a beat. Inside, I found a perfect replica of my studio from home. There were mirrors on all sides of the room, a stack of barres sitting in a corner, and a piano. How had I never seen this room before! After this discovery, I used this room (which I later learned is known as the Room of Requirement) every single day. One day when I came in, there was a white tutu sitting on the piano, just like the one I had always dreamed of. Although I had good friends at school, I never talked about my intense love for dance. I had made the mistake of telling someone I intended to go into a muggle career after school, and I was laughed at by all who heard. This caused me to keep my love a secrete.

By fourth year, I came to school with all of my leotards and a full lesson plan given to me by my ballet teacher at home. She had even given me a new challenge too. She assigned me a set of four solo variations to learn and perfect, one of which was the ‘Dying Swan’ variation from Swan Lake. Although the ‘Dying Swan’ variation was not the most technically difficult variation of the group, the emotions that needed to be portrayed made it increasingly difficult. The girl, Odette, was transformed into a swan. She was cursed to live as a swan during the day and become human at night. While in human form, she fell in love. The variation is about when she learned that the love of her life had spurned her for another and it was literally killing her. It was this variation I worked the hardest on. Repeating it over and over, sometimes until my feet would bleed.

Today’s rehearsal was different. I had gotten the bad news that my beloved teacher was diagnosed with late stage cancer and that I would probably never get to see her again. Today’s rehearsal was for her. I was no longer dancing the variation as a girl losing her lover, but as a student losing her mentor. It made the emotions of the dance feel more real and intense. I walked into the Room of Requirement and put on my pointe shoes, making sure to do plenty of relevés and warming up properly. Then, it was time.

I put on my white tutu and waved my wand at the small CD player, starting the sorrowful song. I glided across the space, waving my arms as if they were wings. No. Not good enough. I started again. No. My balance was wrong. I started again. This cycle continued until I got so frustrated I cried. Then, I felt it in my soul. I finally started to connect to the character and emotions I was trying so desperately to portray. I took a deep breath and started again. This time, it felt right. I glided across the floor, I held every balance, I truly felt like I did it perfectly. There was no separation between the music and my dancing. It felt like the violin was the dancer and I was the violinist. When the end finally came, I gracefully slid to my knee and draped my arms over my outstretched leg. Before I could congratulate myself on my execution, I heard someone begin to clap. I sat up with a start and turned to face the intruder. A boy with platinum blonde hair begin to saunter over, still clapping slowly. He saw my shocked expression and spoke. “The door was slightly open and I heard music, thought I’d check it out.” he began. “That was…” he paused, as if he was trying to decide on the appropriate word. “…heart-wrenchingly beautiful” he finished. I blushed slightly, secretly hoping it blended in with the color already present on my face from the exertion. “Thank you” I said quickly.

I turned and pressed the stop button on the CD player before the song restarted. “I’m serious, that was incredible” he said again. I gave a quick uncomfortable smile before taking my tutu off. After all, I had other variations to rehearse and I wasn’t going to let some nosy kid stop me. “Thank you for the compliment but would you please leave, I have other things I need to rehearse” I said shortly. “But please don’t tell anyone about this, I don’t need anyone giving me shit about this”. He looked at me, puzzled. “Why would people give you shit about this?” he asked, crossing his arms as a slight scowl formed on his previously awe-struck face. “Because I want to go into a muggle career” I said matter-a-factly. “Oh” he said.

I took a sip from my water bottle and checked my rehearsal notes for which variation I should do next. I looked over at the door, the boy was still standing there. “Are you gonna leave or are you just gonna stand there gawking at me?” I asked. He looked flustered for a moment. “Oh um, can I or well, would you mind if I watched? My uh, my mother took me to the ballet a few times as a kid so I guess its kinda nostalgic” he said honestly. I took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. I hadn’t had an audience in a while. “Fine but you can’t laugh if I mess up” I said. “Deal” he replied.

Next variation on the list, the act 1 finale Kitri variation from Don Quixote. Different from the ‘Dying Swan’ variation this one is filled with fire and joy. I knew I could do this one well and I figured that I should show off since my intruder had decided to stay. The music began and I was on fire. Every jump and turn I did was perfect. Then came the dreaded diagonal. I would have to complete twenty turns on pointe in a perfect diagonal, then end in a balance on one leg. I always would get nervous for this part but I nailed it. After I finished, there came another round of applause, this one more full bodied than the last. “Merlin, that was…just wow” the boy said. I turned to face him a curtsied. “Thank you! It seems like I dance better in front of an audience” I said jokingly. The blonde laughed and looked down at his feet. He pushed him self off of the wall he had been leaning on and walked closer to me.

“I’m Malfoy by the way, Draco Malfoy”. He stuck his hand out. “Well Draco it’s nice to meet you” I said, reaching for his outstretched hand and shaking it. “I’m Y/F/N Y/L/N”. I took a step back and looked at the clock that was positioned above the door. “Well, I’m done for the day, if I don’t stop now I never will and Snape’s potions essay will never get done.” I walked over to my dance bag and plopped down on the floor, beginning the relief-filled but somewhat painful process of taking off my pointe shoes. “Does it hurt?” Draco asked. “Oh yeah like hell, but the longer you do it the sooner your feet go numb to the pain” I replied, placing the shoes into my bag. Next, I stood up and peeled off my pink tights. I had seen a video of a professional ballerina wearing her tights over her leotard and I’d worn mine in just the same way ever since then. Although I wasn’t looking directly at Draco, I could of sworn I saw him blush a bit. I pulled on my skirt and button down shirt, lastly tying my Y/H/H/C tie around my neck. Draco was still standing there, just watching me as I gathered my things. “Are you just gonna keep staring at me or…?” I said, causing him to shake his head slightly as if he was bringing his brain back down to Earth. “I was actually on my way to the library when I found you, are you headed that way” Draco asked. “Yes, I was planning on going to the library to finish this essay after a quick shower” I replied. “We could study together if you want, meet in the library around 8?” he proposed. I looked at the clock, 7:30, I could make that. “Sure” I said, smiling sweetly. “Just don’t sneak up on me if I get there before you” I joked. He chuckled softly. “See you at 8” I said as I walked out of the room. He waved.

It was surprisingly fun working with Draco. We both got the work we needed to done but managed to have some fun conversations as well. He asked me all about dance and my life. I told him quite a bit about myself, more than I had told to most. He cringed when I told him I was muggle-born but I didn’t think much of it. I tried asking him some of the same questions he asked me, but he was much more reserved and closed off in his answers. I didn’t mind, we are all entitled to privacy.

The next few weeks went by like a blur. Draco had started joining me for my daily rehearsals. He would sit in the back of the room and do homework. Sometimes it felt like that homework was to study me and my body but it didn’t bother me. A few times, when he would ask me how it was possible to do certain steps, I would force him to try some. “Bloody hell this is impossible!” he yelled. “How in Merlin’s name do you do this??”. “Draco its fifth position, this is what the seven year olds learn, stop fussing!” I replied, trying to fix his arms in the position. “No no, chin up, stomach in, arms up, straighten your legs, no your arms are dropping again, no don’t look down!” I giggled calling these corrections at him. “I truly don’t know how you do this” he said, laughing along with me. “It took years of hard work and dedication” I replied. “No your focus is down again” I said, reaching out and touching his cheeks. This action brought his gaze straight forward and directly into my eyes. We stayed like that for a moment before I removed my hands and took a few steps back, the tapping of my pointe shoes cutting through the silence like a knife. “There, you got it” I said finally, unconsciously biting my lip. “Run me through that last correction again” he said, taking a few steps towards me. The gap between our bodies was nearly completely closed. He reached out and cupped my cheeks. “It not this,” he said, pointing my face at the ground. “it’s like this” he finished his sentence. He titled my head up and leaned in cautiously. I swallowed hard. “Mhmm” was all that managed to escape my mouth. Just as I thought he was about to kiss me, the bell tower rang 8 o’clock. We both giggled at the tension that had suddenly been released and he lightly bumped his forehead on mine before releasing my cheeks and stepping back. “I have to go, I’m supposed to be tutoring someone at 8” he said with an air of disappointment. “Yeah of course go I’ll see you later” I replied. He picked up his bag and walked toward the door. He was halfway through it when he turned around and flashed me with one last smile before fully exiting. My hand reached up to my face and felt my cheek, as if it was trying to replicate the feeling Draco’s hand. I smiled and shook my head softly. I turned back to the mirrors and walked over to the CD player. I let out a small giggle then pressed play. Now I understood how those heroine’s in the ballet felt when their prince’s gently caressed their cheek, and I was gonna make sure to rehearse that moment again and again.

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy x reader #dancer!reader #hogwarts #harry potter #ballet #slytherin #ravenclaw #hufflepuff #gryffindor #room of requirement #draco malfoy fluff #harry potter au

212 notes · View notes

inthefamilyway · 4 years

Text

Goodnight, May

Sometime this past winter, I looked at my May calendar and wondered how we were going to fit it all in? A birthday, an important work dinner, an Irish dance recital, and a chorus concert–and these were literally all on the SAME DAY

How were we going to pull this off?

Of course, beginning in March, the cancellations began to trickle in. And soon came the waterfall. Life, as we all knew it, was cancelled, and even when we knew it was coming, it was still… heartbreaking. (Albeit at a certain point when we made peace with it dare I say… a… relief?)

May, for our family, and for everyone of course, marks the unofficial wrap up of the school year. I think for those of us living in areas where the climate leaves a lot to be desired for 9 months out of the year, it also brings with it hope and a prelude to summer.

And here it was–dashed.

On on my usual daily walks, I saw flowers sprouting up, but also congratulatory signs in people’s yards commemorating so many “lasts” in retirements and graduations to name a few. I was the woman walking by myself at dusk with my tumbler of wine getting weepy thinking about all the grieving that is happening in households across the US and world where kids and adults saw their years of hard work culminating into meagar celebrations and some balloons–this isn’t the bill they were promised and I don’t blame anyone for being upset.

It got me thinking, too, about not only all the culminations that were cancelled, but also about all the beginnings.

Birthdays, Communions, Dance Recitals-In May we usually celebrate so many different kinds of births, rebirths, and new beginnings, don’t we?

While, it could be argued that it’s not the same kind of sadness because of future promises in store for us, in our home we felt the grief of so many missed firsts.

Those events I listed above that were all on the same day?

Besides the birthday, those were all to be firsts. First Irish dance recital, first chorus recital at a new school where the momentum and bonding was overturned, first opportunity for the adult birthday boy to be honored and included at a work function at a job he loves.

So I want to take a moment to add to the voices of empathy for lost culminations, some voices to grieve with all of those who could not celebrate the firsts. Whether you had to settle for a drive by first birthday party or an online virtual ballet recital with a disappionted ballerina in her tutu, or a missed opportunity to be welcomed into your church as a whole person with the holy host, I am so sorry for your losses.

When it is happening to you and or you are a five-year old, it doesn’t feel any less important than someone else’s culminations. And it doesn’t matter that in a couple months you’ll probably all move on from it because we know in our hearts it’s not the end of the world because we are all safe and healthy. We are sad grieving in the moment, something that never actually came to be.

I know we all made the most of it and searched high and low for the silver linings, but those treasure hunts are exhausting–and so are the ones we all put together to keep our kids entertained.

And now, here it is, time to bid adieu to May 2020.

And I have to say, I won’t really miss it because it never really got to happen, did it? So… I say now…

Goodnight, May

In the great, messy basement room There was an I-phone And birthday balloon And a picture of-

A lion made on a class Zoom

And there were three little sibs calling dibs on two tablets while Mom worked behind a cabinet

And a little unplayed-with toyhouse strewn with a dirty blouse

And a now never-used comb and a brush and a bowl full of old breakfast now mush

And an exasperated mom on a work video call whispering HUSH!

Goodnight, May

Goodnight, basement room

Goodnight dance classes done on zoom

Goodnight trying too hard Goodnight, solitary birthday balloon

Goodnight, gray hairs Goodnight, empty I-pad stares

Goodnight, stressed out kiddos Goodnight, tucked away winter clothes

Goodnight clocks And goodnight piled up laundered socks

Goodnight, mold Goodnight, cold

Goodnight, unused toothbrush

Goodnight, nobody

Goodnight, breakfast mush

And goodnight to the overstressed mom on a work call whispering HUSH!

Hello, sun Hello, fresh air

Goodnight, google calendar.

(inspired of course by Goodnight Moon-by Margaret Wise Brown)

Disclaimer: Our family supported and continued to support all shelter in place restrictions and all cancelled events for the common good of communities and our country. We respect all who had to and continue to make the hard decisions with closures and trying to find a way to new normal.

#parentinginapandemic #shelterinplace #safeathome

0 notes

opalcosplays · 7 years

Text

Witch OC Progress Entry #2

I’ve been neglecting to do this for so long omg it’s flippin August xD

So I was wrong in the last post. There were fewer things absolutely certain than originally thought. Like the color combo. First it was purple and black and silver. Then it was blue and black and silver. Finally I decided to have red and black and silver.

The Corset

Almost immediately we started casually looking through Amazon for corsets. They are not that cheap. I need one with straps in order to set my cat puppet, Grendel, on my shoulder.

We had even worse luck finding purple corsets once we factored in the need for straps. So I changed my mind to blue. We had an easier time finding blue corsets with straps, but none that I particularly liked.

Finally, after watching a Just Dance video on YouTube (I kid you not), I decided to go with red. The only colors that have stayed in the palette this whole time have been the black and the silver. Luckily for me, we hadn’t bought any fabric for the skirt or any makeup products yet.

Then we made the brilliant decision of making the corset ourselves. I know, great idea. Spend a bunch of money on a specific fabric (assuming we can find one that I like) for a specific style that I want. Then get a sewing machine with none of us having any background in using one. The only sewing I’ve ever done myself has been fixing holes in dog toys. I know, lowkey sad.

But we did it. We bought a sewing machine (and THOSE THINGS ARE NOT CHEAP LET ME TELL YOU), got some practice fabric from the clearance rack, and my dad started practicing using the machine. It came out pretty nice with the practice fabric. My mom half joked that we could put some stuffing in it and make a small pillow.

Then came the task of finding fabric for the corset. According to the Internet, you need brocade fabric or some kind of curtain type fabric to make this stupid corset. As if this wasn’t stressful enough, now we gotta hunt for this special fabric and hope and pray we find some in a nice black and red pattern I like.

We go to Joann’s. Hope is high, chances are alright. Before buying anything, we decide to check and see what Hobby Lobby has. So we go there. Hope is lowered, chances are even lower. We pop by Michael’s. Hope is low, chances are slim to none. We go back to Joann’s.

We look at the pattern we bought a while back to see if it says what fabrics we can use. Lo and behold, cotton is an option!

We book it to the cotton section of the ginormous fabric section. They have some nice red and black fabrics, but I want some more black on it. I turn my head and I see a glorious sight before me. I felt like a spotlight shone from the Heavens and I heard angels sing.

The Halloween fabrics.

This gorgeous fabric was the first to catch my eye. It is wonderful: red roses, black coffins and bats on a gray-black setting. I was almost deadset on this one until I saw another.

HOW COULD I NOT GET THIS MASTERPIECE?! Red roses, cobwebs, black bats, SKULLS WITH MELTING CANDLES ON TOP OF THEM! IT SCREAMS GOTHIC MENACE, EXACTLY WHAT I WANT. EVIL BUT NOT TOO EVIL. DARK AND GORGEOUS (not unlike Elijah from The Originals).

I chose this fabric. This is what my corset will have. We also got the interlining or intertubing or whatever the lining/boning stuff is called. It’s not whalebone, mind you, but good sturdy plastic. We also got some plain black cotton for the inside.

Half of the outside layer is done. I’m not sure how much there is total since my dad is the one sewing it BUT I’M EXCITED.

We’ve also decided to hang little bottles on it as well. This corked bottles are the size of bracelet/necklace charms because that’s what they are. We got them at Hobby Lobby because Hobby Lobby has A LOT of jewelry charms. Inside the bottles will be dust glitter. Think pixie dust. To make the glitter glow, there will be tiny LED lights inside. The bottles will be sewn to the corset with conductive thread. I’m gonna try to explain conductive thread as best as I can, but if that doesn’t work then I suggest trying Google.

Conductive thread is actual thread. You sew it into the fabric and connect it to a battery. When turned on, whatever you want to light up or move will do so, assuming you’ve attached all the right parts and haven’t broken the thread or whatever. It’s like wiring, but it’s thread.

The Skirt

We got this poofy black tutu type thing to add poof to the top since we weren’t sure if using just the fabric we bought at Joann’s would be enough.

Speaking of the skirt fabric...

So when we first decided to make a poofy tulle skirt, we popped by Joann’s and looked through the tulle/netting section of fabric. Reds, blues, blacks, whites. Elsa blue, Belle yellow, I’m noticing all sorts of things that would be useful for other projects. Then we stumble upon a silver tulle. With black crescent moons and stars.

Sadly, I don’t have a picture of it. Even more sad, we can’t find it anymore.

See, we didn’t buy it right then and there like we should’ve because we had no idea how much we’d need. We hadn’t taken my measurements yet. Hell at this point we hadn’t even decided to make the corset yet. So we decided to wait. We went back the next week, and it was gone. It hasn’t returned.

Now we jump forward to picking out fabric for the skirt. This is about a week or two after buying the corset fabric. Black and silver tulle will be easy to find. Red is pretty abundant as well, but I want a specific shade of red. A dark red, but not too dark, but also not too light.

We’re flipping through the bolts of fabric, when this piece jumps out at me.

The red is a bit bright, but other than that it’s the near perfect fabric. Deciding to look for other options in case there’s something else, we keep flipping. We’re almost at the end now. I flip the second-to-last bolt, and this one pops out.

Quite literally. It actually fell and whacked my forehead.

BUT LOOK AT IT. THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE FABRIC I WILL USE. The red is a bit bright, but not as bright as the bats on the other one. This is the perfect shade I was looking for. We didn’t end up buying it for another week or two because it’s about $40 a yard and there were no sales or coupons at the time.

First we bought 2 yards. A couple weeks ago we went back to look for a bright silver tulle (which was easy to find and pretty cheap too) and, after much stress, decided to get another 1-2 yards. We had a coupon, but ended up using it something else because the fabric was already on sale and was excluded from the coupon. Of course.

Last week we went and bought some black elastic to make the skirt. So it goes like this:

The poofy black tutu-skirt goes on first. Then the actual skirt goes on over it. If I swish there are some gaps, but I don’t really swish. There was no sewing. Just tying the fabric around the elastic. I comes about halfway between my ankles and my knees, which is the perfect length because we also got these cute red-and-black striped tights to wear underneath and, combined with the ankle boots I’m wearing, you can still see them.

Makeup

In between the time we spent looking for fabrics for both the corset and skirt and making them, I’ve been practicing makeup looks. First I was deadset on recreating this look with black, red and silver. I went out and got this palette for it. I also got some silver glitter eyeliner too because I WANT GLITTER.

I love this. But after getting the corset, there is so much black in the outfit that I wanted something with more red. So I went looking for red eye makeup looks on YouTube but could not for the life of me find something I wanted.

Then, while I was sick, I stumbled upon this tutorial. I wanted to do this but replace the coppers with red. So I did. It took a couple days of trying, but I finally settled on a combo I like.

And you can’t really tell, but the silver glitter goes into a wing. I love outlining my glitter liner, so I’m thinking about getting red eyeliner and trying something new with that and black liner. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I hope it does. I really want the silver to be obvious, so I guess if it doesn’t work I could try building it up a little higher than it is here. But then I don’t want the silver to hide all the glorious red, so there’s that too.

Do you see my problem lol

Also I’m planning on getting a silver crayon to use instead of the white on the inner corner. If that doesn’t work then I’ll just still to the white.

And LET ME TELL YOU BLACK EYESHADOW IS A PAIN IN THE ASS TO GET OFF OF YOUR LASHLINE LIKE HOLY CRAP

Accessories

When it comes to jewelry, I’ve come a long way. I wanted something gothic and cool but also, obviously, in black and red. TO AMAZON.

And I found this necklace, this bracelet, and this finger claw awesomeness.

I also have this dragon earring/cuff that I got from the renaissance fair back in April. Pain in the ass to get on but still gorgeous.

I should also mention that I’ve given the character an name.

Morgana Alexa Carter.

Go follow my main blog to discover more about her personality. Why? Because that’s where I’m developing her as a person. Here is where I create the costumes. For her this costume is basically what she would use if she would dress up as a witch for Halloween, especially since she is a witch.

So the week of the con I’m headed to the salon to get my hair dyed red. It’s gonna be a nice bright red and I’m SO excited for it. I’ve only had red in my hair one time and that was back in December 2014 when I’d had ONE streak on both sides of my head for Christmas (one green & one red).

On the other hand I’m also kinda nervous because red fades fast and even though I won’t be washing it until the con I’m afraid of it fading too much. Because I’m paranoid like that.

Props

I want a prop for this costume (besides Grendel). Michael’s already has some of their Halloween stuff out. MY PEOPLE ARE RISING.

So we’re looking through the Halloween stuff. I’m seeing fake crows, skulls, cobwebs, etc. Then my eyes land on a stack of fake spellbooks. I want a spellbook.

My dad turns to Pinterest. There he finds a way to make an old leather-bound book, like the one from Hocus Pocus. We got a small and a big wooden book from Michael’s, the kind that looks like a book but is actually a box. The small one will be a practice one. The big one will be untouched until further notice. We also got some big books that no one cares about from Half Price Books to use. We’ll see which one looks better.

Basically it requires mod podge and paper towels. I’m not sure how that’s gonna work, but I trust my dad. That’s also why we bought practice books. We also got some charms from Hobby Lobby to try and put on the book so it looks like they’re inside the cover. We’re also planning on (hopefully) getting an eye like the ones we got for Foxy, as well as a small skeleton hand to act as the clasp of the book.

That’s about it though. I’ll put up pictures of everything I haven’t ASAP. Until then I’ll catch you in the next update. No matter when that is...

#witch oc progress #morgana costume progress #cosplay #witch cosplay #cosplay progress #witch cosplay progress

1 note · View note