"Happy Birthday my dear. Please sit down"
Amelia smiled as her companion sat in the chair across from her. Outside it was a cold January evening but as always, it was cozy and warm in Amelia's study.
"Thank you Amelia."
It was perhaps a little silly or trivial but Constance couldn't deny that it felt very lovely that someone remembered her birthday. In reality every year since she had come to Cackle's the headmistress had made an effort on this day. There was always tea, sandwiches and some fruitcake for just the two of them after classes finished. Had she wanted it Constance knew there would have been a bigger fuss made of her but this was more than enough. And based on the previous years she was very much looking forward to whatever book Amelia presented her with as a gift.
Once the tea had been poured Amelia sat back in her chair. She was slightly nervous regarding what she was about to do but she was also hopeful that her gift would be well received, if not now then in the future.
"Well Constance, another year has passed as hard as that may be to believe. As you know I like to mark the occasion but this year when I went to buy your normal gift it struck me that it was time for a change. So I have done something rather different this time."
"You don't have to buy me a gift Amelia. You know I don't pay much mind to birthdays, especially my own."
Amelia shook her head, "I do know that but that doesn't mean I have to agree with you. And while this is partly a physical gift it is more of an experience, one I hope you will benefit from."
The older woman paused and reached down to move a brightly wrapped box out from beside her chair. Taped to the top was a card. She handed it over with a smile.
"Well, open it."
Constance was rather nervous as she carefully removed the card and opened the envelope. The card was the standard "Happy Birthday" one she received each year from Amelia, however this time there was something inside.
"Yoga classes?"
Despite her nerves Amelia laughed as her friend's voice went up a few octaves.
"Yes Constance, I have enrolled you in yoga classes starting tomorrow. It's all paid for and in the box you will find a mat and suitable clothes as part of your gift." Amelia saw the refusal that was about to come and put up a hand to halt it. "Please my dear, let me explain why I have done this."
Constance tore her attention away from the foamy mat, at least it was black. "Go on."
"You are a marvellous teacher. You contribute so much to the school, more than any other staff member, including myself. I know the girls don't always appreciate it, neither do Miss Bat and Miss Gimlet at times but I do. However, I worry about you. You are here far too much, I sometimes think your entire life is spent in this school. That's not the way it should be, you should have some outside interests.
"I started to wonder if there was something that you could do to get you out of the stone walls. I know you're not an arts and crafts kind of person and you would find a lot of more educational classes boring. Then it struck me, yoga. This is something that you can benefit from both mentally and physically. Also, its a small class, only five or six people, all women. The woman I spoke to sounds very nice and she assures me that she will be starting with the basics. I know you Constance, I know your natural instinct is to refuse but please, try this out. For me?"
With those final two words Constance knew there was no argument to be made. Amelia was perhaps the only person who had ever shown her real kindness in her thirty eight years on this earth and she had clearly put a lot of thought into this gift.
"I shall try it but I don't know what I should expect to gain from this."
Amelia reached for her cheese sandwich and beamed across the little table. "I'm not entirely sure myself but I am looking forward to finding out."
The following night Constance found herself outside a small yoga studio in the nearby town. She had flown from the castle and her broomstick was already shrunken down and packed away along with the mat, yoga pants, sports bra and loose t-shift that Amelia had gifted her.
"If I just didn't go would Amelia ever find out?"
"Hello there. Are you here for my class?"
Constance jumped as someone appeared next to her, disrupting her thoughts of running away.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."
"No, you didn't, well I." Constance cringed as she heard herself try and respond. She was a powerful witch, every student in Cackle's Academy was wary of her and here she was tripping over her tongue with nerves as she spoke to this stranger. She regarded the woman with the short blonde hair. She was smiling broadly and dressed in tight green leggings and a long baggy black top. Her appearance caused a thought to occur to Constance.
"Were we meant to be dressed before we came? My friend booked the class for me and she said I could change beforehand."
"Ah, you must be Constance. No, you have time to change, a lot of people come here straight from work and we have changing rooms. Let me open up and you can get ready while I set up the room. I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself, my name is Imogen Drill."
"Pleased to meet you.", Constance murmured as she followed the teacher into the building.
"The changing rooms are just down there. You can leave your dress and everything in the lockers, all you'll need is your mat. Hey are you alright?"
After a moment of silence Constance sighed, "I'm not sure this is really for me."
Imogen could how nervous this woman was. In her long black dress and boots she looked like a fish out of water in the bright, airy hallway. That didn't mean that she didn't belong, just that she needed to give it a chance.
"Tell you what, give it two sessions. If this is your first time doing yoga you might find this evening is more about getting used to the positions. Next week you should have a better idea whether this is for you or not. Does that sound fair enough?"
It would have been churlish to say no so Constance found herself getting changed, picking up her mat and making her way into the yoga studio without allowing her doubts to put her off again. On entering the room she found the teacher sat on her own mat with her legs crossed. There were four other women in the room now, clearly they had come in pairs judging by the chatter amongst them. The doubts quickly crept in again. Seeing women paired up like this reminded Constance of her school days, everyone else had a best friend, someone to work with whereas she was always on her own, on the outskirts and usually ended up paired with the teacher.
"Right everyone let's kick off." Imogen smiled warmly at the five women in front of her, she loved starting these classes and finding out about the people who had signed up. Once everyone had introduced themselves she went through what to expect and the health and safety points she needed to cover before getting started.
To Constance's surprise she didn't feel as awkward as she had expected. Yes, she struggled with some moves but it appeared that everyone did. Nobody struggled for too long though, Miss Drill or Imogen as she insisted on being called, was very good at explaining what to do. She also corrected form where necessary and her own demonstrations were thorough and easy to follow.
"Nearly there, just move your leg back a bit more and you'll be in the perfect position."
Constance flushed as Imogen placed a hand on her thigh encouraging her to move back. It was rare for someone to touch her and it felt undeniably strange although straight away she could feel the difference in her pose.
"That's it." Imogen was impressed with the group as a whole but she had never seen someone concentrate as much as this particular student. Something told her that Constance needed these classes. She seemed tense and stressed but already it was clear that she was getting something from the session.
"I hope she stays."
The hour long class flew by and before she knew it Constance was rolling up her mat. Despite all her nerves and reservations she couldn't deny that she felt that she had accomplished something that evening. What was more, her mind felt a lot clearer and for the first time in a long time, she felt relaxed.
"See you next week?" A fellow student who had introduced herself as Rachel asked before she left with her friend.
"Yes, I believe so.", Constance answered shyly. She gathered up her mat before looking up at the teacher. "Thank you Miss Drill, I mean Imogen. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Constance. You did very well tonight, have a good week."
Imogen was pleased as she tided up the room.. The first class had gone well and it was great to see people leaving with such positive attitudes. She had a good feeling about this one.
The following week, true to her word Constance was back. This time she knew what to expect, who would be there and how the class would go. She also remembered the positions from the week before, in fact she had been practicing a little which to her surprise she had enjoyed. Again the hour went quickly and sooner than she would have liked she gathering up her mat again.
"So, that's two weeks done. What do you think?", Imogen bit her lip nervously as she awaited a response.
Constance looked into the bright green eyes and felt a warm glow, not entirely from the exercise, spread through her body.
"I do believe that yoga is for me Imogen and I am very much looking forward to next weeks class."
A/N Without spoiling anything I think we can see where this may go. I know I tend to do this type of story a lot but, well, I can't resist. I will try and branch out in the future but for now I'm going to stick with what I know and what I hope you will like. I'm playing it safe with the AU setting but I perfect to think about it as more of a "what if".
Also, I need to say that the original idea came from this Tumblr prompt.
Imagine Person A starting a new sport and having Person B as their coach/teacher/trainer. Person B touches Person A's shoulders and legs during trainings, showing them the right way to do exercises and giving advice on how to make them better. Person A always listens to the coach but also gets really uncomfortable and blushes since they're really shy and have a crush on the coach.
