This is the Way I Dance

Author's note--WOW thanks for the great reviews, you guys!!! I respond to them at the end of the chapter with dance details, etc. For now, enjoy this chapter! The next (and last) chapter will be the actual demonstration, of course! This chapter just gets us from the second tango rehearsal to the dress rehearsal!

I had to throw another frat party in there...complete with the characters introduced in "This is the Way I Pray"...and there are a couple of references to things from that story, so hopefully you've read it (and get the references!) Enjoy!

Edit: One of my close friends is a great artist, and he drew a picture for this scene! His name is buffyboy. This is a link to his drawing of Harry and Draco dancing the tango from "This is the Way I Dance" (Chapters 5 and 6).
http://heaven-28.deviantart.com/art/harry-and-draco-81432962

Check out the junk in Harry's trunk! *giggle* Also, Draco's face is my fault. The description I gave to him was, "Think Draco in drag..." and so he was thinking "ugly man in women's clothing"...but as we all know, Draco couldn't be ugly if he tried. Please check it out and leave a comment on his page! Thanks!

Prompt “I have a big head and little arms.” (new Disney movie Meet the Robinsons)

“And after I pull off that miracle, maybe I’ll go punch out God.” (Sin City)

Yes, these quotes finally get used...both in this chapter, actually! *squeal*

This is the Way I Dance by Graballz

Chapter 5

Rainbows and Miracles and Lightning Bolts...oh my!

“Draco, I think you should consider getting a pair of high heel dance shoes if you’re going to dance with Harry,” Derek said, pointing at the blonde with his beer. He had gone to their second tango rehearsal and watched Carmela nearly have a nervous breakdown when Draco announced that he would not be switching partners after all. He insisted that he wanted to learn the girl’s part and dance with Harry for the tango, but that he would be more than happy to continue dancing with girls in their regular lessons.

Luckily, there was a ‘scheduled’ fraternity row party, so Carmela was at one of the other fraternities, doing tequila shots to forget about the stubborn blonde nightmare. Stephen knew that Derek was in the same fraternity as Harry and Draco and had gotten Derek to agree to talk to Draco (ie talk him out of it) but while Draco was tenacious when sober, he was absolutely immovable when drunk…and Draco was drunk and hanging off of Harry’s waist. The blonde leered at Derek unsteadily, much to the amusement of their regular group, as Harry patiently supported him and pulled him upright again.

“I…what?” Draco slurred and Harry allowed himself a bemused smile.

“If you want to dance the tango with Harry—and dance the GIRL’s part, might I add—then you will have to wear a dress and heels,” Derek explained, shrugging as if it were no big deal. Tim, Maria, Marian, Tina, Mark, and Scott all promptly began snickering. “And you should get a pair right away so that you can practice in them.”

“Bu’ I’m NOT a girl,” Draco insisted, leaning towards Derek and placing his hand on his arm. “‘M a boy.” He smiled flirtatiously and began caressing Derek’s arm suggestively. “‘M all boy. Wanna see?”

“Alright, easy there, tiger,” Marian managed to choke out between laughter, using her favorite pet name for Draco. Derek’s face had gone ashen, which sent the rest of the group into gales of laughter. As if anything would or could happen with Harry right there, but Derek still had the ‘deer in the headlights’ look. “He’s gonna have an aneurysm.”

“I’ll make it worth your while,” Draco offered, turning back to Derek after blinking stupidly at Tina, clearly having no idea what an aneurysm was.

“Dude, chill,” Mark slapped Derek on the back so hard that he lurched. “You look like you’re about to swallow your own tongue. At least you’re getting hit on by a HOT guy, right?”

“I don’t want to be hit on by ANY guys,” Derek squeaked. “No offense, of course, Harry.”

“None taken,” Harry replied cheerfully, thoroughly amused at the confused blonde who was still hanging on to him while flirting with their friends. “Not everyone can handle THIS blonde sex kitten.”

That sent Derek scurrying away under the pretense of needing to check on something—and admitting to Stephen his failure of convincing Draco NOT to dance with Harry—ears aflame, while a fresh round of laughter and wolf whistles broke out. Draco turned to Harry, and Harry held his breath, waiting to see what mood Draco was in. While inebriated, his moods switched faster than a girl on the rag, and if the last fraternity party they went to was any indication (in which Draco declared he was going to start a prayer group, and somehow the discussion had ended up fixating on Harry’s cock), Harry had no idea what would come out of the blonde’s mouth from one moment to the next.

“Harry, we need to practice,” Draco was wide-eyed and earnest. “I need to get high heels so we can practice.”

“Practice what?” Todd brought over another round of shots.

“The tango,” Draco turned to Todd, toasting with Tina and Maria before swallowing the liquid.

“Oh, you mean, like, the horizontal tango?” Todd waggled his eyebrows and bumped Harry’s hip with his own. Draco stood stock still and glared.

“No, you moron,” he snapped, and Harry cringed. Mood swing. “The ACTUAL tango. We’re in a demonstration. What’s YOUR excuse?”

“For not doing the tango or for not doing the tango?” Todd wasn’t fazed in the least at Draco’s sudden hostility. “Me, I have a big head and little arms. It doesn’t work so well.”

There was a split second’s silence following Todd’s ‘explanation’ and everyone cracked up a third time, including Draco, who probably laughed the hardest of any of them and nearly wound up puking on Harry’s shoes. (But he managed to keep it down and not puke until much later.) From there, the night stayed friendly and fun, and (for once) the conversation didn’t turn to Harry’s cock. Draco managed to coax several tango basics out of Harry for the benefit of their friends, who clapped and cheered dutifully despite a few drunken stumbles and false starts.

They had learned a new move at the second lesson—the ‘ocho’, both forward and back—which proved to be a very bad idea to try while inebriated, and Draco had to take a short bathroom break before they could demonstrate the ‘ronde’. Harry held Draco in the typical tango position, and Draco balanced on one leg, sinking slightly as the toe of his other foot traced a circle on the floor, his eyes averted and his blonde bangs sensuously almost-falling to his eyelashes.

Despite their friends watching in admiration, Harry couldn’t help leaning forward and nipping at Draco’s naturally pouted mouth after they finished showing off their new moves. Harry was, it was fair to say, drunk on beer, while Draco had slightly sobered up, despite the liquor he had imbibed. Instead of crashing at Mark’s place, they managed to make it home, with Harry practically tearing the clothes off of his blonde lover before they got in the door. Draco then ended up facedown in Harry’s lap, sucking devotedly, but swallowing Harry’s hot cum was problematic. Draco made it to the toilet in time to throw up the alcoholic contents of his stomach, and upon his return to the bedroom, he found that his Gryffindor was barely conscious. That didn’t stop Draco from straddling him and grinding his erection against Harry’s tanned skin until he came all over the boy’s lower abdomen, leaning his sweaty cheek down on Harry’s chest to rest before planting a small kiss on his pectorals and cleaning them up.

*

“I KNEW IT! It’s a conspiracy! You all want me to die! You want me to fall off of these god-awful DEATH TRAPS that you think pass for shoes and break my neck!” Draco exclaimed, pointing first at Harry as if he had created high heels and engineered said conspiracy, and including all of the other female partners present as if they were at fault for being able to walk in high heels without tipping over.

They were at their third tango lesson, and everyone was feeling a bit panicky when Stephen announced that it was the halfway point until their demonstration. They had only learned about half of the routine, and the big question on everyone’s minds at this point was whether they could actually do this. It was only natural that the nervous tension in the air would accentuate Draco’s already volatile temper. Not everyone was as forgiving about Draco’s tantrums and mood swings as Harry—Carmela being one of them—and she glared more ferociously at Draco than he was glaring at everyone else, effectively shutting him up; she then snapped for everyone to get back to work with their partners. The girls tittered, casting sympathetically amused glances at Draco, who had been having trouble simply walking (let alone dancing) in his brand new pair of shoes.

“It’s not easy at first, but you’ll get used to it,” Laurie whispered, taking pity on Draco. She was paired up with a strawberry blonde redhead who reminded Harry a little bit of Ron. “The trick is to…get some actual tango shoes!” Laurie looked down at Draco’s feet and back up at him in horror when she realized that he was wearing a pair of regular high heels. Draco had spent the entirety of the previous night examining the shoes closely, while holding them in his hands and while wearing them, but he still glanced down at them after seeing the expression on Laurie’s face.

“What? The sales lady assured me these qualified as ‘high heels’!” Draco looked miffed as his choice in shoes was criticized. Laurie shook her head.

“Well, yes, those ARE high heels, but you can’t dance in those,” she began.

“I already know that!” Draco snapped, interrupting her. “I would think THAT would be obvious by now!”

“Draco, stop it and let her talk,” Harry intervened quietly. The blonde huffed but complied, casting a fearful glance in Carmela’s direction, but she was working with a couple on the other side of the room and not paying attention.

“They have special dance shoes you can buy that are safer than regular high heels,” Laurie explained. “They even have special tango shoes that are specifically meant for the moves you do in the tango. Regular high heels are too wobbly; even the most professional dancer would be falling all over herself if she wore those!” Draco sniffed, although Laurie’s words made him feel less ridiculous about not being able to even walk properly.

“See? You little drama queen, we just got the wrong kind of high heels,” Harry teased as he maneuvered Draco into the tango frame. He tactfully left out the part of the argument where he had brought up the possibility that there were special dancing high heels, which Draco had scoffed at and insisted on the green pointed toe pumps he was wearing.

Instead of responding verbally, Draco danced his tension and anger, whipping his head dramatically. It made his moves crisper and more precise; Harry could feel the difference immediately, and it felt much better than the way they had been doing it. Elated, he used his emotion, matching Draco’s level, and even though they only knew part of the routine, they went through it like pros. As they neared the end of what they knew (which was about the middle of the dance), Draco kicked his right leg up in a carry, sending the high heel flying, and curled around Harry’s left leg as the Gryffindor lunged to the left. Since that was the last move Carmela and Stephen taught them, they had to stop, but there was also a startled cry from behind Harry as the shoe careened down on an unsuspecting victim.

Draco didn’t even notice that he was barefoot because all he could think about was the way he felt Harry’s cock harden under his as their pelvises were pressed together. The blonde had gotten stiff while brushing up against Harry in their full-body tango frame, and the llevada (as Carmela called it) opened both of their legs and forced their genitals together. The laughter around them brought them out of their trance and Draco reluctantly but gracefully extracted himself from Harry’s embrace. He limped over to the couple he had accidentally pelted with his green pump and retrieved it, apologizing. Stephen called a short break to let everyone get back into focus before he and Carmela showed them the next section of the dance, admonishing them all to practice on their own during the week before letting them go.

The next couple of weeks blew by, and before they knew it, it was the last practice session before the big demonstration. Harry had taken Draco to a dance shop to get the correct shoes, but Draco had insisted upon a muted but shiny silver closed-toe tango shoe, rather than plain black. He felt much more secure while wearing them, and he practiced walking and dancing in them in the kitchen while Harry studied in the evenings. The height didn’t bother him once he got used to it, and he would never admit that he really liked the way the strap went around his ankle and crossed over his foot.

The dance instructors had decided that, in the way of costumes, the girls would wear black dresses (their choice of cut and style, though) with an accent color of their choice, and they looked like a very dramatic rainbow since everyone chose a different color. The male partners wore black suits with white shirts and color accents that matched their partners. Draco had even gotten a sleek blonde wig the color of his own hair, of course, that was done up in a bun at the back for the performance. Draco, predictably, had begged and pleaded for the color green, which everyone graciously gave him. Harry had shaken his head, amused that he would be forced to dance in Slytherin colors after realizing that Draco was going to accent his green and black with silver, but he agreed after Draco pointed out (and after the entire female half of the dance class supported) that the green brought out Harry’s eyes and made them even more striking.

Before Draco, Harry had only contemplated the possibility that he might like blokes in the dead of night when he had nothing else to think of. After Draco came back into his life at Grimmauld, Harry figured out quickly enough who he was into, and the rest was history. It wasn’t that Harry wasn’t attracted to girls; he had obviously liked Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley enough to have dated Ginny for a short time. Ginny had always wanted to get back together, which they had never officially done, and by the time Voldemort was dead, Harry already had Draco, which sent Ginny into a fit of rage that she would never get a second chance with the Savior of the wizarding world.

However, Harry learned something new about himself during the course of practicing for the tango. It wasn’t a question of whether he liked guys or girls more; it was a matter of liking (well, loving) Draco, male or ‘female’. Harry found that Draco, in heels and a dress, was still as smoking hot as if he were wearing pants and a button down shirt. It wasn’t gender; it was Draco. Of course, he preferred Draco to wear nothing at all, but Draco in girls’ clothing was definitely NOT a buzz kill for Harry, who had already fucked Draco several times while insisting Draco wear his high heels (and nothing else).

Their fifth and final rehearsal before the demonstration was full-dress, which meant that everyone wore the outfits they were going to wear during the show. The demonstration was scheduled for the day before Valentine’s Day, which was one reason the dance instructors had chosen the romantic, passionate tango. Harry looked sexy and perfect in his black suit and white shirt. How Draco had found it, Harry had no idea, but he had to admit to being impressed with the glossy white shirt that shone with a silver fleck when looked at from the right angle. His black jacket had green around the lapel edges, though, and there was an emerald square tucked into the pocket. Polished black shoes and socks completed the outfit; Harry had gone to put white socks on—he hadn’t meant to, of course; he just didn’t think about the fact that he would be wearing black pants and shoes—and Draco had nearly had an apoplectic fit. It was true that the blonde’s tirade had been an extreme overreaction, but Harry hadn’t forgotten to mind the color of his socks since.

As for Draco’s attire, Harry had trouble keeping his tongue in his mouth once he saw the finished product. Draco had found a slinky black dress with a jade lining. There were silvery sparkles all over the black, and it went over one shoulder, baring the other one. The arm of the dress clung to him like a second skin, and it tapered to a ‘V’ on the back of his hand, while he wore a black glove (with silver and green bangles on his wrist) on the other hand. He donned his wig, a perfectly styled bun with one green rose and one silver rose on either side, applied his makeup, and strapped on his dancing shoes, trying not to smudge his lipstick onto his perfect white teeth as he giggled about unhinging Harry’s jaw.

Though Draco and Harry weren’t late, everyone paused in whatever they were doing when they made their entrance, stunning couple that they were. Several girls started whispering, jealous of Draco’s femininity, and a couple of guys wondered out loud who the new girl was, knocked off their feet when they realized it was Draco. Carmela’s expression was the most astonishing: she actually fainted! When she came to, tears were running down her face as she apologized for being so distant and cold over the course of the rehearsals, and they found out that she had secretly been afraid what would happen if everyone could tell that two guys were dancing together. After seeing Draco dressed like a woman, though, she relented, brought to tears by their striking contrast, and gave them her blessing.

They went through the routine several times, Stephen and Carmela making minute adjustments here and there, but all in all, they had to agree that everyone looked fantastic. In five short weeks, seven novice couples had been transformed into a fabulous-looking group. Each girl’s dress was similar enough in that it was black, but each had added her own flare to it with her color, chosen from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink. They all agreed, though, that Draco had spot-on taste with his dramatic green and silver, and stared lustfully at Harry, who blushed and pretended to fiddle with his cuffs.

Draco was still having trouble keeping his balance during the finale, though, and he was getting frustrated with himself for not being able to stick it. He made Harry stay late after the dress rehearsal, waiting until everyone else (except Derek, who offered to stay and give them pointers) was gone to continue practicing just that one part. The first two times they tried, Draco wobbled and lost his balance. He kept it (but just barely) during the third run-through, and then lost it again the next few times.

“FUCK!” Draco exclaimed, stamping his foot as he broke away from Harry. “I’m going to need a fucking MIRACLE to do this!” He folded his arms, trying to keep from crying out of despair. Derek exchanged a sympathetic glance with Harry and approached Draco, placing his hand on Draco’s bare shoulder. Draco twitched.

“Draco, you can do this,” he encouraged. “I’ll pray for you, okay? God will help.”

“Pray that I break my leg so that I won’t have to dance and embarrass Harry,” Draco muttered.

“You won’t embarrass him,” Derek admonished, but Draco interrupted.

“Yes, I will!” He wailed. “I can’t fucking get that damn spin! Why can’t I balance? The whole performance is going to be a NIGHTMARE because it’s going to take a miracle, Derek, a MIRACLE for me to do this right!”

“Draco, you WILL keep your balance,” Harry broke in, taking hold of Draco’s upper arms and forcing the blonde to look at him. “We’re in this together. We are going to get this right. And after I pull off that miracle, maybe I’ll go punch out God.”

Derek blinked, taken aback by what Harry said. Harry looked deadly serious, but his green eyes held a hint of mischief. Draco couldn’t help but let out a small giggle when he pictured Harry marching up to Heaven, through the pearly gates, and knocking God off of his throne with a good, solid punch to the jaw. Harry’s comment served its purpose to break Draco’s negativity and lighten the mood. The blonde allowed himself to be pulled in for a hug, and he sighed, feeling slightly better but still apprehensive.

“He has a tendency to throw lightning bolts,” Derek warned, grinning at Harry to show that he wasn’t offended, even if Harry had caught him off-guard. Harry merely grinned back, unconsciously bringing one hand up to his forehead to rub his own lightning bolt that was hidden under his ebony fringe.

“I’ll take my chances,” he snickered, and Draco snorted, knowing what Harry was talking about. Pretty soon, the two were doubled over with laughter while Derek gathered his things, shaking his head.

“You two are hopeless, but not at dancing,” he said. “I’ve got to go now, though, but you’ll get it. I believe in you.”

They waved goodbye to him and then, refreshed and motivated once more, went back to working on that particular section until Draco was reasonably satisfied before heading home to take a shower (which led to a quick shag) and then bed.

* * * * *

Chapter notes

1. Tango dance shoes Here is a picture of a pair of dance shoes that I found on Google while writing this story. This is what Draco's wearing (in silver...the green high heels Draco was wearing at first were just a regular pair...) http://www.pasiontango.net/slike/tangoshoes-2.jpg

2. Ochos This is a dance move for the tango. You can do both forward ochos and backwards ones. I'll try to explain it as best I can, but here's a video on youtube that shows both forward and backwards ochos (as well as some tango turns) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zLa6Zz_ju4

One difference is that this video is Argentine tango, while I have Harry and Draco dancing the American tango (the only real difference between the two being that the American tango music has more of a rhythm and a beat, while the Argentine is more...freestyle...) But the moves are the same in both styles.

The man holds the frame, supporting the woman, and she steps in front of her foot with her other foot, and then he quickly swivels her shoulders (and her body follows) so that she can step in front with the other foot again, and then he swivels her back. For the backwards , the woman is stepping behind her foot instead of in front. Her body is turning one way and then the other (never all the way around...more like 180 degrees) but it looks kind of like a 'figure 8' and 8 is ocho in Spanish.

3. ronde This is a tango move where (again) the man supports the woman and she balances on one leg while running the toe of her shoe in a big circle on the floor. There isn't really a count for this move; it can be short or long, one circle or many, so it's a good 'filler' move for the bridge of a song or a weird part where the rhythm isn't quite the same as the rest of the song.

4. llevada Okay, I'm not sure if this is the official name for the move that I'm thinking of, but basically, the woman kicks her leg up in the air as the man lunges out. She then hooks her leg over his, but way up high on his thigh, pretty much where his thigh and hip bone meet (in that joint there). Her other foot is on the ground, and that can be a single move or he can then walk backwards with her leg hooked around him.

Does anyone watch "Dancing with the Stars"? (This season...the one with Marie Osmond, Mel B, Helio Castroneves, Jennie Garth, Sabrina Bryan, Jane Seymour, and Cameron Mathison) I got a LOT of these moves from watching that show (and not all of them were tango moves, either, but if I liked it, then I adapted it for the tango...but most of them ARE official tango moves)

If anyone wants to know which moves came from which dancers, I can certainly let you know. Just ask. It might help you, too, to picture what our boys are doing if I'm not describing it very well. Also, Draco's costume was "DwtS" inspired too...

Oh, and yes, you DO get to "see" the full routine...next chapter!

Utopia WOW thanks for that review!!! You have no idea how my jaw dropped when I scrolled down and read it! I agree with you completely about dancing (in general, not just line dancing) being harder than it looks. It really DOES make an athlete out of you.

I did spend a year in Ireland working on my master's degree, but I agree that there are definite differences between the UK and the US system (and even the Irish system and the UK system!)

US College System (and other American readers, feel free to help me out here if I leave something out or don't explain it)

High school (ages 14-18, basically) precedes college, and you have to have a high school diploma in order to get into college. (You get the diploma when you graduate at the end of your senior year in HS).

In your junior-senior year(s), you take one or both tests called the ACTs or the SATs. (Some colleges look at both scores, some ONLY look at ACT, others ONLY look at SAT...it just depends on what college and where in the US it is.)

For example, I went to college in Oklahoma (in the Midwest), and I took the ACTs. I have never taken the SATs because the school I wanted to go to mainly looked at the ACTs. My (now ex) boyfriend who went to the same school took both the SATs and the ACTs, since he applied to a couple of other schools as well as the one that we both went to.

The ACTs and SATs are standardized tests that focus on different sections of your education: math, English (reading and comprehension), science, social studies/history.

When you go to college, generally it is for 4 years, to get a Bachelor's degree. (You can get an Associate's degree after only 2 years of college, but your Bachelor's is "higher"...just like a Master's is higher than a Bachelor's, and a doctorate is higher than a Master's).

You choose a major (you can double major if you want) and then take classes pertaining to that major. One big difference is that, in the American system, you can change your major as many times as you want, but you might have to stay in school for longer if you keep changing your mind. (Because if you were a chemistry major and then decided to switch to communications, you have to take ALL of the communications classes required for that major, regardless of how many years you've been at college.)

Generally, the elective courses are the classes "not" in your major. (If you're a science major, then the electives you have to take are English, political science, a language, or other liberal arts classes. If you're a political science major, then you'd have to take a science class, a lab class, a math class, etc etc)

I started out double-majoring in Spanish and political science, dropped the political science down to a minor during my third year, and graduated with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Spanish after 4 years at college.

I hope that helps...again, anyone, feel free to add anything I left out!

And thank you, Utopia, for your kind words!

gorgeousbrowneyes TWO reviews??? Thanks! You're awesome! *gasp* You like Xena too????? I LOVE XENA!!!! I want to be Xena!!! (haha)

Can Draco wear a female outfit? *snicker* You read my mind!!!! LMAO Does this chapter answer your question? Mmmm, well, you almost got it...skin tight, YES! High heels, YES! Short skirt...for the tango? No, no, you gotta have LONG and flowing with a slit up to his thigh for the tango!!!

I totally agree with you that that dancing IS a sport (and dangerous at that, as you can see in this chapter when you don't have the right shoes! *giggle*)

You should totally try ballroom sometime! I have also taken ballet, tap, and jazz (two years' worth when I was, like, 6) and then I didn't dance again until college, but I've always loved it. I know what you mean about not getting away with talking in class (I took a semester of ballet in college...and the teacher HATED us talking in class) but ballroom is different. It's much more relaxed (at least, OUR lessons were) and when you were just dancing, you could talk quietly if you wanted. Of course, people generally didn't break out into an argument in the middle of dance class, but *shrug* it's Harry and Draco. Who's gonna say anything?

Also, competitive ballroom dance practicing is different than just-for-fun ballroom dance practicing. Harry and Draco are beginners as well, so they also haven't quite learned all of the 'ballroom etiquette' that could include "don't talk on the dance floor". Some instructors think it messes up your steps and that you shouldn't...I say, if you can do the steps AND have a conversation (and neither of you is annoyed by it or messed up) then why not?

Thanks again for your kind words! Every time I read this story, I keep going 'awww', so that was the intended reaction! YAY!

ZooArmy Yay, two reviews from you too! Thank you! In response to your question, YES, it is really odd to have two males (or two females) dancing together in ballroom. This is because the male always leads, and the female follows. Generally, the only reason it would be done (in practice) is if there are more girls than guys (which is more often the case than more guys than girls). Then a few girls (usually the more advanced ones who already know both the guys and girls parts) have to 'be' guys and lead. But one thing is that no matter how feminist a girl is, on the dance floor, the guy ALWAYS leads.

That is one of the reasons Carmela has been freaking out on them and hating them...she's very traditional, and two guys dancing together is not. Also, she didn't know that Draco was planning to dress up like a woman (so then, effectively, no one in the audience would know that he's a guy, so then it's not breaking tradition), so as you can see here, she forgives them.

Stephen, on the other hand, is much more flexible and open-minded, but even he knows that two guys can't dance together if they're both in tuxes. Yes, I know they did it on "Queer as Folk"...but other than that, it's just not done. Thanks for asking! I hope my explanation makes sense!

Roozette Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad you like it! I think that you're right that Harry needs to address his issues. As far as confronting Ron, Hermione, and Ginny...they had a falling-out, and they made it clear that they no longer value Harry's friendship because of his relationship with Draco. Of course, that hurt Harry and while he's not quite 'over' it, a confrontation (I don't think) would do much good because nothing's changed. They still don't like Draco or the fact that Harry is with Draco, and Harry's not going to break up with Draco...so it's just the status quo.

Also, Harry and Draco moved to America to get away from their past and start over. So in general, they don't think about what happened at Hogwarts or the Final Battle or after unless something reminds them of it (like the crucifixion tree bringing back Draco's memories or Draco accidentally calling Harry 'Saint Potter').

Harry is also studying psychology as a subconscious effort to figure out why he lost his friends, but that's really not covered in the story or sequel. It's meant to be fluffy (and somehow all of that angst wormed its way in!) but I feel like Harry has effectively put his past behind him and only sometimes does it break through the box he put it in and affect him so negatively like it did after the dance lesson.

Healthy or not...that's the way Harry does it. Maybe by the time he graduates, he will figure out a healthier way for dealing with his issues! (Like pounding Draco through the mattress....er....)

Anyway, I hope that answers your question, and I do feel like (most of the time) they are secure in each other. It's just that "every once in a while" breakdown, y'know?

Dezra Thank you very much for your kind words!

Author's note--Whew! That was a long one! I hope you enjoyed, and let me know if you have other questions about dancing or the outfits or anything! Thanks for reading!