The Muggle Dance

Harry Potter and the Valeru

By Lady Urquentha

PG – 13

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K Rowling, the exception being any OC characters that might wander in. The plot is my own, and even that may have been influenced by stories I have read in the past. Any resemblance to real events or places is entirely accidental.

Minerva looked down at the dark blue dress spread out on her bed, fighting an internal battle. It was the Yule Ball tonight, and she was expected to attend. Normally she would have worn her normal dress robes, but she was unable to do so tonight. Albus Dumbledore had delivered a rather surprising piece of news upon announcing the Yule Ball. It was to be muggle themed, and they had to wear a muggle outfit. Even Severus had to get rid of his normal black robes to wear a suit. Minerva smiled briefly in amusement as she remembered the fuss he had kicked up, before he was ordered to do so.

She sighed as she gazed down at the silk dress upon the covers. It had been a gift from her mother over twenty years earlier, one which she had never had the occasion to wear. She was reluctant to wear it even tonight as it was, to her eyes, rather immodest. And yet, the only muggle dresses she'd managed to find on such short notice were even worse. They hadn't even reached her knees!

Slowly, Minerva lifted it up, and stepped into it, relishing the feel of the silk against her bare skin. She slid her arms into the long sleeves, and then zipped up the back. She smoothed the dress down, and then checked her skirts. This skirt was layered with both netting and silken skirts, making it fuller then the skirts of a dress-robe. She looked into her mirror, and smiled faintly.

The dark blue silk was off-set by heavy gold embroidery on the upper-arms and bodice, while the sweeping sleeves and skirt were unadorned, except for the rim of each. She knew it showed off her waist, which was as slim as it had ever been, even after all these years. She had, in her youth, been one of the 'breath-taking-beauties' of her time, but not in the typical sense. Though she had indeed a very womanly figure, she was dark not blonde, green-eyed not blue, and her features too firm for true 'beauty'. But all had acknowledged her as a beauty then. Now, she was no longer the girl she had been. Age had added lines, although she was not yet wrinkled, and her custom of hiding her figure in loose robes and her hair in a bun had not helped.

But tonight, she was going to have that reputation back, in fact, she was actually looking forward to it. For the first time in almost forty years, she would relax and show the world exactly who she was. Her husband had remarked before that with her hair out of the bun and her body in better robes, she looked far younger and much more like the beauty she had been. She moved to her dresser, and reached for the comb. She gently pulled it through her hair, brushing out the long tresses that were normally kept in a strict bun.

She glanced in the mirror, debating whether to twist it up or to leave it down. Her gaze wandered down to a butterfly clip covered with golden glitter that had come with the dress. It was intended to hold her hair up behind her head. But she knew she looked much better with her hair down, and so she was debating whether it was worth losing her professional appearance and dignity.

She picked up a bottle of perfume and sprayed it gently on her wrists and behind her ears. She bent to a golden jewelry box and drew a necklace from it. She slipped the heart-shaped sapphire set in gold around her neck, feeling the cool metal rest just above her breasts. A matching bracelet went on her wrist, and then she slid two rings onto her fingers. One was a gold circle set with a single diamond, while the other was plain gold. Her engagement and wedding rings respectively, rings that she wore daily, but concealed by many spells.

She reached up and removed her glasses, carefully setting them on the dresser. She didn't actually need them, they were more for show then anything else. She had, in her youth, required things to make her appear more 'professor-like', to avoid her students thinking of her as a woman. Thus, she'd gotten glasses, changed her robe styles and started pinning her hair up in the bun.

She carefully applied her make-up, which was wizarding not muggle. Wizarding make-up was always water-proof and smudge-proof, and certain types had magical properties. Some of her childhood friends had worn make-up that cycled through every possible color, or that enhanced their lips.

At last, she slid her feet into blue high-heels and picked up a hooded, dark blue cloak from where it lay upon her couch. She swung it around her shoulders, quickly fastening the clasps, and then sliding the hood over her head. It concealed her and her gown completely from view, as she had hoped it would, while leaving a slit for her hands to escape it.

There was a knock on the door, and she moved to open it, careful to not dislodge the cloak. Standing on the other-side of the door was Albus Dumbledore, dressed in an almost Victorian era suit. He blue eyes were twinkling as usual as he bowed to her,

"Good evening, milady," he grinned, "is that what you are wearing to tonight's ball? I can't say I remember muggles dressing in enormous cloaks."

"I'm concealing my outfit until I arrive," Minerva stepped out of the room, a faint smile on her own lips. She accepted his proffered arm, careful to ensure that her sleeve did not escape the cloak.

Albus escorted her through the corridors, towards the Great Hall. The first students were already milling around the Entrance Hall, waiting to be let in. Albus got a few strange looks as he escorted her through, they were clearly wondering who the strange woman on his arm was. After all, they couldn't see her face to know who it was.

"Dumbledore, whose that?" Rolanda asked. Minerva almost burst out laughing, one of her best friends didn't even recognize her! She held out her free hand,

"Good evening, Rolanda, I'm Professor Minerva McGonagall," she greeted her, the hood concealing the enormous smirk on her face.

"Minerva?" Rolanda squeaked, "that's you under there?"

"Yes, it's me," Minerva's amusement showed in her voice.

"What are you wearing, Minerva?" Snape sneered, "it looks like an overgrown cloak!" Minerva turned slightly towards him, and promptly turned her laugh into a drawn out cough. He looked completely different in a black and white suit, and was obviously feeling very uncomfortable.

"You'll see when the dancing starts, I'm not taking the cloak off until then," she informed him archly.

Minerva watched as Albus banished the tables after the feast, and then blinked as something emerged from the back wall. It was a platform holding what seemed to be muggle electronics, and a man was seated there, fiddling with it.

"Attention, please," Albus's voice was easily heard over the noise, "this year I have arranged for a DJ instead of a live band. The DJ has stocks of both muggle and wizarding music, and you may ask for a song of your preference. Have fun!" Right on time, music blared out from the far end of the room, and a few couples swung onto the dance floor. The lights dimmed slightly, and the teachers began to spread out.

"Wait! Minerva, take off your cloak!" Poppy commanded. The entire night Minerva had been completely concealed, including her head, so they were dying to see what she was wearing.

Slowly, she unfastened the front of the cloak and let it fall to the floor. There was a soft gasp from each of the girls as they saw the gown. She heard Albus's quick intake of breath, and a smile curved her lips. She knew well what had caused that; the hugging shape and the low collar that showed off her cleavage.

She glanced around her, and almost smirked at the stunned looks of the faces of every male teacher. Even Snape, notorious for his dislike of the human race, especially Minerva, was staring at her. Her friends were clearly envious of the gown, by the looks on their faces. Rolanda was in black three-quarter skirt and a blood red blouse, something that showed off substantially more of her figure then Minerva's outfit was. Poppy was in a sleeveless white dress that ended at her ankles, and her other friends were in similar outfits. None had gone ball-room style as Minerva had.

"Look at McGonagall!" someone shouted. Minerva whipped her head around, searching for the speaker, as every head in the hall turned towards her. Jaws dropped, eyes widened and breaths were drawn in. She couldn't help but feel slightly smug about the fact that she'd managed to stun the entire school. If she read their faces right, all the boys had suddenly figured out that she was female, and all the girls had realized that their boyfriends had figured it out.

Minerva watched in amusement as the girls started to drag their dates out onto the dance floor, and made sure their backs were to her.

"An interesting choice of attire, my dear," a masculine voice breathed near her ear. A smile crossed her lips, as he took her into his arms.

"I'm glad you like it," she purred, as she was swung onto the dance floor.

"I think I'm not the only one," Albus's eyes twinkled as he led her through the steps. She followed his gaze and it landed upon Draco Malfoy, who was staring at her in ill-disguised desire.

"I suddenly remembered why I decided to put my hair up in the first place," she grumbled.

"Yes, I remember the looks you used to get," he smirked. She glared at him,

"Looks? Lucius Malfoy attempted to seduce me," she hissed.

"I dare say that he didn't succeed?"

"Of course he didn't," she spat, "you would have found out if he had."

"I'm sure I would," he smiled down at her.

She was very comfortable in Albus Dumbledore's arms, she always had been. She had long since considered Albus Dumbledore's arms the safest and most comfortable place to be, one reason why she was rather wary of using the Patronus Charm. Not to mention that he was a brilliant dancer, and he never led her wrong. Even if she missed a step, which she hardly did, he was easily able to cover for her and keep the dance going.

As the music faded, he escorted her back off to the side of the room. As he headed off to talk to Severus, Minerva was crowded by her friends.

"Where'd you get the dress?"

"WHEN did you get the dress?"

"Did you know all the boys are drooling for you?"

"Rolanda!" she hissed, batting at her friend, who grinned unrepentantly. Turning to her other friends,

"it was a gift from my mother before she died, and I haven't had a chance to wear it before now."

It was ten minutes later that her friends finally left her by herself, finished with their questions.

"Professor?" she looked around to see Fred Weasley standing at her side. He and his twin were currently stationed at Hogwarts to help guard it as part of the Order.

"May I have this dance?" he bowed slightly. She hesitated a moment and then laid her hand in his,

"Certainly." As they danced, she noted that he was her height now, she no longer towered over him as she had done when they were first years.

"You are aware that every male in this room has their attention focused on you," he remarked. Minerva nodded slightly.

"You're going to have some problems with control for a while," he added. She rolled her eyes,

"I know."

Four hours later, she was being escorted back to her rooms. As she climbed the stairs, she discovered a problem with her gown, it made it very hard to climb without tripping. Several times, only Albus's firm grip on her kept her from tumbling off the side of the stairs. The castle was deserted at this time of night, the students all celebrating in their Towers and the faculty already gone to their rooms.

Albus's arm was around her waist as they approached the statue of the goddess Minerva that was the entrance to her rooms. She had opted for a statue rather then a portrait because the statues couldn't tell tales. She gave the password, and the statue moved aside to reveal the doorway. She opened the door and stepped into the room, Albus quickly following her.

No sooner had the door slammed shut behind them then her lips were crushed in a kiss. Her breath was drawn straight from her lungs as she was clasped close to his body. His tongue ran along her lips, and she parted them obediently. His tongue darted into her mouth, exploring and plundering.

When he finally let her go, she was dizzy from lack of oxygen.

"Minerva, Minerva," he whispered, his voice ragged, "why do you tempt me so?" She knew perfectly well what he was talking about. The gown she wore was enticing for any man, but for Albus it would have been horror to be unable to touch her. She did not answer, merely linked her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his once more.

In the midst of the searing kiss, she was aware that he was fumbling with the zipper that ran down her back at the same time as pushing her backwards towards her bedroom. By the time they had reached the door, her dress was pooled on the ground, and he still hadn't let her up for air.

She backed towards the bed, kicking off her shoes as he shook off his jacket. As she rapidly undid his shirt, he ripped of her jewelry, tossing it all into a corner. When she was free of the jewelry and he of his shirt, he pushed her down. She sat down on the bed, and he pulled down her stockings. She quickly unbuckled his belt and pushed down his trousers, but was then shoved backwards to lie down on the bed.

Suddenly he was on top of her, his mouth hard on hers, as she settled back for a sleepless night.

A/N: So, what do you think of this one?

E.N. Friendly (or non-friendly. Depends on what day you catch me) editor here. I loved this one-shot, didn't you? V-original. Anyway, give a review so that Lady Urquentha can write more!