Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I affiliated with it in any way.

The first time I saw her, she was dancing. Beneath the starlight, she moved like flame and shadow and temptation. She was painted in turquoise and gold, and the bonfire cast deep reds across her olive skin.

God, I wanted to touch her.

She moved to the erratic beat of the Egyptian drums. It wasn't the hesitant, uncertain dancing the other Breakers were attempting. She danced like a native.

Like a goddess.

No one could tell me her name, and there was not enough drink in me yet to ask. I watched her as she lost herself in the tribal rite, touched by something divine, I was sure.

Every year for the past nine, Breakers had received invitations to drink and dance at the ceremony of Ra. We went every year, but this was the first year I had seen her. I couldn't take my eyes from her as she jumped and slapped the ground, hair flying as she spun in circles. I had known magic all my life, but there was something undeniably enchanting about this dark beauty.

I poured another drink into myself and approached the ring of dancers that were slowly rotating around the fire. She was barely clothed, but we were no longer in the age of full dress and propriety. We were in ancient Egypt and there was nothing improper about her bare skin. I shivered despite the heat as the muscles of her stomach rippled, her strong legs throwing her again into the air.

A golden wreath beset her head and I didn't bother to wonder how she had convinced the hosts to let her wear it. It belonged to her in this hour of simultaneous celebration and abandon. Beneath the glinting gold, her face shone like heaven as she danced, all worldly cares shed. Her eyes met mine in the dark, and I fell into their depth. I knew nothing but those eyes, and each time she turned, they always returned to me. Even from the other side of the fire pit, I could feel her gaze on me, hotter than the flames between us.

A single pass. Two. Three.

I felt hands on mine and barely registered them as hers. She was guiding me into the circle—into the dance, and I could suddenly feel the music vibrate through her skin. Perhaps it was the drink, or perhaps she played the part of conduit between this world and something beyond that night, but I danced and shouted and moved, one hand ever locked in hers.

I wished for the night never to end, and something—God, or magic, or her—heard my desire. It felt as though days had passed by the bonfire, the musicians never tiring and the sun never rising. All night, I had nothing more to drink, but I was drunk on this girl.

This woman.

I lifted her by the waist and spun her on the spot, hot skin sliding across hot skin as I let her to her feet. Her lips passed across mine like a whispered secret, and then she was dancing away from me. The world felt cold again, but she turned and her eyes beckoned. What could I do but follow?

My arms wrapped around her, my lips brushing her ear.

"Who are you?"

I could think of nothing else to say to her. Nothing, but the one thing I wished to know more than any other. I wanted to know her—needed to know her. I just needed her.

Her laughter was like waterfall, and it crashed over me, weakening my knees and throwing my already whirling mind into frenzy. Carelessly, she jumped into my arms, hands finding the back of my neck, and she gave me the gift of her name.

"Padma."

Padma. I had never heard the name of a goddess before, but it sounded as perfect as she was. She twirled away, fading into the darkness away from the fire and I chased her, unwilling to let her be nothing more than a faded caress and smudged tribal paint by morning.

The music faded into the night as I struggled after her through darkness and sand. I stopped when I felt I was perfectly alone, having left the ceremony behind.

Having been unable to catch my dreams.

The moonlight had dimmed the world and made it real again. I was in the darkness, alone, and without the heady, dizzy feeling of the music or the drink in my head. I was no longer in the magical place between reality and heaven, and my Egyptian princess was gone. Hands limp at my sides, I turned to go back to the celebration, and light filled my life just as suddenly as it had faded.

"You."

"Me."

God, I wanted to touch her.

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her with as much passion as I could manage, dying to give her the feeling of the magic and the music that she had given to me. My hands reached for every inch of her that I could find, but I felt her push against me.

Catching my breath, I reluctantly released her, but she didn't move away from me. Instead, she looked up and captured me with her dark eyes again. She smiled and shook her head.

"Who are you?"

I laughed and put my arms around her again, spinning her into the darkness, eliciting a joyous noise from the woman I held. She did not protest as I laid her gently on the sand and positioned myself next to her, my hand cupping her painted face.

"I'm Bill," I told her, "and I can be whatever else you could ever wish me to be."

In answer, she pressed her lips to mine, her fingers fighting through my hair and pulling me closer. The music returned to my ears, though we were worlds away from anyone who could see or hear us.

But still the music played, and again we danced.