Note: This is my first oneshot and centers around Remus and Dorcas during their fifth year ^^. This was inspired by "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" by Black Kids. It's a wonderful song and I just felt it fit. Please read and review! Constructive criticism welcome.
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Can I ask a favour?
Sure, anything.
Will you teach me to dance?
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The note had seemed so ordinary. The folded, yellowy parchment had landed on my desk in Defence not even five minutes ago; I'd expected a witty little quip about the professor or another student or something completely different than what she'd written. My palms were sweaty at the mere thought of teaching her to dance. However, I glanced over at her, sitting in the desk next to mine and she raised her eyebrows as if to question to me. Merlin I was a pushover when it came to her. I nodded subtly and wrote back that we'd talk after class. Her face broke into a grin, her nose wrinkling slightly.
"Something funny, Miss. Meadowes?" Professor Thurgood asked, narrowing his beady eyes at Dorcas.
Though the comment was in no way directed at myself, I shrunk in my seat. Thurgood was a tough professor. He taught very little of substance and took any mischief in his class as a personal attack. It didn't help that he had eyes like a hawk. Dorcas wiped the grin off her face, but I saw that one corner of her mouth remained slightly upturned.
"Not at all, Professor," she said, looking him straight in the eye.
"Then, if you would kindly stop passing notes with Mr. Lupin, we can continue," he remarked, staring me down.
Dorcas smirked and returned to copying the notes on the board. I felt myself turning red as a tomato and couldn't even bring myself to look up from my papers. Behind me, someone snickered and slapped my back. That had to be Sirius. I shot him a withering look over my shoulder and then returned to my work. Thankfully, the rest of the class passed quickly and when the bell finally sounded, I gathered my things slowly, trying to match myself to Dorcas' pace so that we could walk and talk. I waved Peter, James and Sirius on, hoping they wouldn't bombard me with questions later.
Dorcas was leaning over her bag, her long, black hair tied back into the ponytail she usually wore and hanging over her shoulder. She seemed to be struggling with the clasp a bit, but finally got it and then proceeded to look up at me and smile. I managed a weak smile back and wiped my sweaty palms on my trousers, hoping I wouldn't make a bumbling fool of myself. Though, that's what usually happened, so I shouldn't have expected this time to be any different.
"I know that was a strange request, but you know how there's that Masquerade instead of the Halloween feast tomorrow, and well, I know that you can dance really well, and was wondering if you'd be able to show me how," she said, looking sheepish.
"I…er-uh thank you," I said in response to her compliment. "And sure. I suppose I can teach you the basics tonight so you'll be ready tomorrow."
"Great! Where should we meet up then?" she asked, smiling brightly.
I tried not to stutter this time. "There's a Prefect lounge on the fifth floor, across the hall from that statue of Dagne the Wild, meet me there around 6:30."
"Alright, I guess I'll see you then. And thanks, Remus," she said, her voice sounding so sincere and wonderful that my knees nearly buckled.
She gave me a small wave and then walked out of the Defence room, joining up with Lily and Hestia and the rest of the 5th year Gryffindor girls. I watched her walk away with them, feeling nervous and excited all at once. On one hand, it meant spending time with the girl that I was pretty much in love with, but on the other hand, I was terrified of being alone with her. I was the tall, awkward quiet boy, the one with his nose stuck in a book all the time. And there was no other word for Dorcas except for, well, cool. She had friends in nearly every house, she was the star Seeker of Gryffindor's Quidditch team, and she was quite pretty to boot. She had all these perfect little freckles across her nose and cheeks and I wanted to count them all one day. Yeah, see, I'd scare her away if she knew how I felt.
I don't even know the precise moment it happened. I remember vaguely meeting her for the first time on the Hogwarts express and all I knew was that she was exotic. She had this long, silky hair and her eyes were a bit more slanted than anyone else's that I'd seen. James later mentioned in passing that she had a Japanese mum. It made sense. She definitely looked Asian, and she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. With my head so high up in the clouds, I didn't realize that I'd just about walked into a stone column on my way to the Library. A nearby Slytherin girl laughed shrilly at me and I blushed furiously, hurrying to the sanctuary of my books.
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I was a lost cause at dinner. I did my best to look interested in what the guys were saying, but they knew something was up when I missed my mouth with my fork and ended up smearing mashed potatoes on my left cheek. Sirius let out a low whistle and gave me a knowing smirk. I looked at Dorcas who was laughing at something Hestia had just said a little ways down the table, and then back at my plate. James was visibly annoyed that I hadn't been listening the whole time, but Sirius seemed to explain what was going on through eye contact and a few mouthed words alone.
At around 6:20, when I had thoroughly finished pushing the food around on my plate, I said a quick goodbye to my three best friends and told them that I would see them a bit later. I then left the Great Hall and made my way up to the fifth floor where I waited outside the Prefect lounge. Hardly any of the Prefects even used it, and if they did, it was only for a late night snog. I found myself wishing I were using it for that reason and immediately blushed, but tried to make it go away before Dorcas showed up.
"Remus!" I heard her voice call me from down the hall. She came closer and spoke again. "Sorry for making you wait. Hestia wouldn't let me leave until I'd heard the story about her Aunt Tilly."
She shook her head and grinned good-naturedly. I gave her a grin in return and gave the password to the lounge. The door swung open and I waited for her to go in before following. The room was well-lit for which I was thankful. I didn't want it to seem like I was planning some cheesy, romantic scene. After she had finished looking around, she turned to me again.
"So, should we start?" she asked.
"Sure, just a minute," I replied, taking my wand out and performing a spell my mum had taught me so that a quiet waltz began playing. I then rolled up my sleeves and when I looked at her, I inwardly felt proud of the impressed look she was giving me.
"So, do you know anything about dancing?" I asked her.
"Er, not really. I'm more of a Quidditch type of girl than a waltzing one," she said, and I believed her.
Dorcas was tougher than most guys I knew. Sirius had insulted her Seeking abilities after a particularly rough game in Third year and before anyone could even blink, she'd had him pinned on the floor despite being at least a head shorter and very thin. She hit him a few times and it took Hestia and James to drag her off of him. The girl was pure muscle, despite being so small, and I wouldn't soon underestimate her. I took a few steps toward her so we stood closer.
"Well, you're going to want to give me your hand –" she did and I nervously clasped it, taking care not to grip too tightly – "and now put your left hand on my right shoulder."
Her hand was featherlight on my shoulder, and I tentatively reached my left arm around her, resting my hand on the small of her back. This was the closest I'd ever been to Dorcas and despite the nerves, I felt a small surge of confidence. It felt pretty good to have her in my arms, even if it was in an awkward waltzing sort of way.
"Now, just mirror my movements," I said, slowly beginning to guide her. "One, two, three. One, two, three. That's it."
We moved pretty easily together and despite our differences in height, she just seemed to fit so perfectly with me. She tripped a couple of times, and we both laughed as I caught her and righted her again. By the end of the night, I was really enjoying myself. I thought I'd be a nervous wreck, but as we danced, we talked. About everything: last week's arithmancy essay, quidditch practice, the latest Muggle book I'd read, and everything in between. She even taught me how to say a few phrases in Japanese, and let out a delightful laugh when I mispronounced something and said a swearword instead of what was actually intended.
I tried counting her freckles, being that close to her, but I was mesmerized by her eyes instead. They were so expressive, showing absolutely every emotion and I couldn't quite pinpoint their colour. Hazel, but with miniscule flecks of blue and gray and deep brown was as close as I'd get. When we'd finished, I was sad to let her go, but before she left, she hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek. Merlin, was I red. She grinned up at me.
"Thanks for everything, Remus. It was really nice of you. And I'll see you tomorrow at the ball!" she said cheerfully.
I watched her disappear around the corner and just stood there, putting a hand to the spot she'd kissed. Tomorrow was a Saturday, so it was doubtful that I'd see her or any of the other girls, for that matter. But, last I'd heard, she didn't have a date. I grinned to myself and whistled the whole way back to Gryffindor tower.
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When the night of the Masquerade came, I found myself straightening and re-straightening the collar of my navy dress robes. I smoothed the front and frowned at the barely noticeable strands of grey in my sandy brown hair. Sixteen years old and I was going gray. I sighed and glanced at the calendar that sat on my dresser. Another 8 days and then the full moon would be here. I really despised being a werewolf. Shaking the thoughts from my head, I grabbed the mask that James had transfigured for me. It was plain and navy blue, just with two holes for my eyes. I didn't want anything outrageous.
When I arrived at the Great Hall with the guys, it was already packed, but Hestia showed us the table they'd decided to sit at. It was big enough for all of us. I craned my neck and tried to find Dorcas, but it was nearly impossible in the sea of people. She would be shorter than them all, and in a mask to boot. Fifteen minutes later, the music started and there was still no sign of Dorcas. But then I saw her. She was swirling around on the dance floor, wearing the most stunning red I'd ever seen. Her mask was silver and plain like mine but she had a couple of small roses entwined in her curled hair.
She looked stunning and I watched, dumbfounded as her ball gown swirled around her. I'd never taken her for the type to get dressed up, but she had really gone all-out for this one. But, of course, she wasn't alone. I didn't know who her date was, but he was dashing and well-built with dark hair and a red rose pinned to his lapel that matched the ones in Dorcas's hair. I suspected it was one of Ravenclaw's Chasers. My chest hurt, like my heart was being ripped by the seams, but there was nothing I could do. All I could do was sit at our table alone, and watch forlornly as my dream girl danced in the arms of another guy—one who was handsome and athletic and not a werewolf—knowing I'd made it possible. Happy Halloween, indeed.