Ceilidh
A/N: A huge thank you to Miss Ang, for beta reading this chapter.
Chapter Six: The Military Two Step
Minerva was waiting in her rooms for Albus to join her. She was unaware of his presence until she felt two arms slip around her waist. She felt herself being pulled against someone and that someone nuzzling into her neck.
"Albus, it's a good thing that I know only you would dare to do that," she said with a playful smile. "Otherwise, you might find yourself in the hospital wing."
"I nearly ended up there last night," he replied with a grin. "I thought I had done my back in."
"Well you wanted to try something different," she said with a blush "but enough talking about last night. You have come for a lesson and this is the hardest one out of the three dances. So, I need you to behave and listen."
"Yes Professor!" answered Albus as he pulled away from her and walked around to face her.
They had enjoyed their much needed distraction the night before. It had done both of them the world of good. Albus felt like a new man and was ready to take on the new challenging dance that she was going to teach him. She hadn't mentioned the name of the dance so he hadn't been able to read up on it like he had with the others. There were only a few more days till the big McGonagall Ceilidh and Albus was still unsure of his actual dancing abilities.
Minerva decided that they should go through the other two dances before they started on the next one. She wanted to see how Albus was doing with pivoting and she watched him with a neutral expression. He was still having trouble staying in the same spot but she tried not to discourage him. He had done better than she had expected and that needed to be praised. The Gay Gordon's dance usually ended the Ceilidh and by then, most of the guests had had too much Scottish whiskey and were all over the place. She hadn't told Albus that, though. She hadn't felt the need to.
The next dance Minerva was going to teach him was The Military Two Step. Out of all the Ceilidh dances, this one had always been her favorite. She had remembered watching her mother and father dancing together when she was a little girl. She had always felt that you needed to be deeply in love with the man you were dancing with but as she had grown older, she realized that it wasn't always the case. In her mind, she wanted to dance with the person she loved and that would be Albus. She had danced it with her father and brother but it would be different with Albus.
"Darling," she said as she led him into the middle of the room "the next dance shall be The Military Two Step."
"Hmm, that sounds fun," Albus answered with bright eyes.
She smiled. She loved having a willing student who would listen so intently to her and put all his effort into learning. She had been like that when she had been his student all those years ago. She had listened to every word he had said and some had even been imprinted in her brain to remain with her forever. She moved beside him and took hold of his hand. She ignored the spark that jolted her through her as she touched him.
"I place my hand on your shoulder," she said as she dropped his hand and placed her own on top of his shoulder. "Now you place your hand around my waist."
Albus did as she instructed and then looked down at her. He kissed the top of her head lovingly. He knew that she loved those tender moments where he acted on instinct instead of duty.
"Now we touch the heel of the outer foot to the ground twice," she explained. "While we doing that we bounce on the inner foot."
Albus, with concentration etched on his face, tried his best to follow her instructions though he did find it hard to bounce and tap at the same time. He thought he had finally mastered it but then Minerva had had to burst his bubble. She informed him that he was bouncing on the wrong foot. Minerva had thought it best that they stand apart so Albus could learn the first part of the dance without her body getting in the way. They spent half an hour concentrating on that part of the dance. Albus had been able to master the tap and bounce one but the other part he struggled with a bit. He tended to tap twice without bouncing.
"Why don't we continue with the rest of the dance and then come back to this part my love," suggested Minerva. "You are nearly there."
Albus nodded in argument and was silently relieved that Minerva had suggested moving on to another part of the dance. They moved back into their starting positions and then skipped the bouncing part.
"We move forward for three steps," she explained. "We turn towards one another and then face the opposite direction. We repeat what we just did but facing this way."
They walked through that part several times and then started from the beginning. Albus stumbled through the tap and bounce part but he was making progress.
"Now we face each other and hold hands," she said with a smile as she turned to face him and reached for both his hands. "We bounce on both feet and then kick the right foot across the body followed by the left. Don't kick too hard Albus! Otherwise you will hit me!"
Remarkably, Albus didn't kick Minerva once and he wasn't sure who was more relived, him for not kicking her or Minerva because he hadn't kicked her. Her smile encouraged him and he began to enjoy the dance. All memories of the dreaded tap and bounce floated from his mind as she taught him the final move of the dance.
"You raise your left hand and I turn underneath," she said as she tired to turn. Unfortunately she had failed to mention that they needed to drop the other hand so she ended up tripping and falling on the floor.
"Oh Min, are you okay?" he asked as he dropped to his feet.
"I am fine," she answered with a giggle. "That was my fault."
Albus helped Minerva to her feet and they tried the final part of the dance again and this time, Minerva didn't end up on the floor. They spent half an hour walking through the dance without music before finally putting it to the music. Minerva decided to call it a night after that. She had noticed Albus was growing frustrated and tired.
"Let's call it a night darling," she suggested. "I think we have done enough for tonight."
"Are you staying the night?" asked Albus with a playful smile.
"Yes!" she answered.
To be continued
