Chapter Nineteen:

In Which People Dance

The hall broke out in applause, and Rachel and Seamus bowed quickly and hurried off the stage as music to yet another song frilled the air. This music, however, was coming from the speakers. "This song, ladies and gentlemen," crooned a voice from the PA, "is for the happy couple, Haley and Oliver."

Haley, looking positively radiant, and Oliver, who had eyes only for the woman next to him, came out onto the polished dance floor. The song was "You and Me," and Mrs. Schreiter burst into joyful tears and had to be calmed down with a glass of champagne.

They made a very pretty picture, gliding along quietly and mushed romantically together. "Aw, that is so sweet," Tanya whispered.

Rachel slipped back into her seat, her strappy black sandals dangling lifelessly from one hand. "Yeah…" She looked wistful.

"Hey," Dean said softly, leaning over. "You and Seamus did brilliantly!"

"Thanks, mate." Seamus slid into the chair next to Rachel and was shushed by several guests. "I guess that the Three Broomsticks really was a good place to practice, after all," he continued in a whisper.

At last, the music faded away, and the guests leaned forward expectantly. Suddenly, a very bouncy, maraca-rific rhythm burst from the speakers. The guests cheered, and Haley and Oliver were quickly joined on the floor by the majority of them, all "boogyin' down" to "Walk Like an Egyptian."

"Come on, I love this song!" Katelyn squealed, and caught Seamus' hand and dragged him out onto the floor.

Tanya and Rachel quickly found themselves alone at the head table. Even Mrs. Finnigan—already past her due date and looking ready to pop out a baby at any moment—was out cutting a rug with Oliver's grandfather. Eventually, one of Haley's extended relatives came and asked for "Tanya's hand" when the next song began. And so the "Cha-Cha Slide" and the "Macarena" and "Love Shack" went by, Rachel sitting comfortably with her feet on the back of another chair and her nose in a worn library copy of Pride and Prejudice.

Finally, "Love Shack" started wrapping up, and Seamus escaped from Katelyn's Azkaban-like clutches and staggered back to his seat. When he saw Rachel, however, chuckling as she flipped a page, he stopped. "Hey—" he said. "Why aren't you dancing?"

She glanced up. "Oh—well, I…just didn't feel like it. That's all. Having fun?"

Her question was sincere, but Seamus could see the disappointment behind her smile. "Yeah, I guess. But I'd have more fun dancing with you, I think."

Rachel looked flattered. "Aw, thanks, Seamus!"

Just then, "Love Shack" ended, and a tango-like piano song started. Rachel's eyes widened. "Oh, goodness. Even for Haley, this is…"

Seamus paid no attention to this. "So…d'you want to?"

"Want to what?"

"Dance with me."

"No!" she cried, then saw Seamus' wounded expression and quickly recanted. "No—no—what I meant was not that I didn't want to dance with you—just not this song."

"Why not?" asked Seamus, who was still slightly hurt.

"Listen to the words, my friend. It's Tom Lehrer."

"Oh, I ache for the touch of your lips, dear,

But much more for the touch of your whips, dear.

You can raise welts

Like nobody else

As we dance to the Masochism Tango!"

People were fleeing from the dance floor, and Dean, Hannah, Tanya, and Katelyn soon joined them. "What a nightmare," Hannah sighed.

"I don't get it," said Seamus. "What's so bad about 'masochism tangos'?"

"Katelyn, you explain," Rachel said, and hid her face as Katelyn cupped her ears around her mouth and explained to Seamus how people find…er…pleasure in causing pain to others.

Poor Seamus sagged into his seat and stared off into space, his freckled cheeks white as a sheet. "Nice going, Katelyn," Hannah sighed. "Corrupting the youth of Athens—America. Er, England. Well, perhaps Ireland. Gosh! You really get around, don't you!"

A grin tugged at Seamus' lips at this, and Rachel patted his hand. "There, there, dear Zorro. We all had the same reaction as you did, I can assure you. When I was younger, before I knew what it meant, I used to parade around the house singing it as loud as I could. Then I found out…"

He laughed at this. "I pity your parents."

"You know what? I do too."

"Oh, good," Tanya said suddenly. "The song's almost over!"

"Will you dance the next song with me, then?" Seamus asked Rachel.

"Oh, all right," she said, blushing, and happily tucked her book away.

"Masochism Tango" finally ended, and the younger guests cheered as a pulsating hip-hop rhythm vibrated the floor.

"What is this?" Hannah asked in horror.

"It's Seeed!" Dean said with delight. "'Riddim No 1'!"

"Aren't they the German reggae-slash-rap group?" Rachel asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah."

"Oh, my dad listens to them."

"Does it have words?" Seamus asked, fearfully.

"Yes, but it's all in German," Dean assured him.

"Right, then," Seamus said to Rachel, and gestured toward the floor. "Shall we?"

"Okay," she said, blushing furiously.

And so the two of them went out onto the floor and were lost to sight. Hannah and Dean, who now seemed virtually inseparable, were quick to follow. Tanya went off again with Haley's relative, and Katelyn twiddled her thumbs for a while before sneaking a glance at Rachel out on the floor and pulling Pride and Prejudice out of the bag.

When "Riddim No 1" was over, Katelyn looked up expectantly. The new song was a stuffy classical piece, and the young, uncultured dancers made way for the old or incredibly in love. Dean, Hannah, Tanya, and Seamus returned, but there was no sign of Rachel.

"What have you done, Irishman?" Katelyn cried. "We let you have one dance with our Sushi and you let her escape? She was on loan from the zoo! Oh, whatever shall we tell the ape house…?"

"She went to request a song from the music blokes," Seamus said. "Katelyn, breathe."

"What, did you not want to slow dance?" Dean asked with a wicked grin. Hannah elbowed him.

"Well, I wanted to," Seamus said quietly, looking out onto the dance floor. "But…ah, well. Whatever makes her happy, I guess."

Katelyn was doing the 'Ooh, I'm getting the warm-n-fuzzies' dance behind him, and Tanya had to physically restrain her friend, who was so incredibly hyper she was bouncing up and down in Tanya's arms.

It was at this crucial moment in time that Rachel reappeared. "Hey, guys, sorry about that."

"Did you get your song?" Dean asked.

She nodded happily. "Got it bumped up to next, too?"

"How'd you do that?" Katelyn asked, calming down significantly.

"I volunteered you to dance with the sound guy," Rachel answered matter-of-factly.

"You what?" Katelyn shrieked.

"Oh, calm down," Rachel replied. "He's the younger brother of the sound techs and they won't let him go unless he has someone to dance with. He's bored and lonely."

"How old is he?" Katelyn asked doubtfully.

"About sixteen—maybe fifteen," Rachel answered. "He seems really nice. Plus…he's a redhead."

Katelyn brightened at this. "Well, I suppose a few dances won't hurt."

"Atta girl," Rachel said happily. "Seamus—you will dance this one with me, won't you?"

"Sure!" he said quickly. "Wait—does it…"

"Yes, it has words, but it's from the 1940s so it's perfectly clean," Rachel soothed.

"The 1940s…?" Dean echoed.

Rachel nodded. "'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.'"

There were five blank looks.

"'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,'" Rachel said slowly, "by the Andrews Sisters…"

There were five blank looks.

"You uncultured cretins!" Rachel cried. "Well—at least I know what I'll be doing this Christmas break."

"What?" Tanya asked.

"Giving you guys a crash course in American history, of course!"

Katelyn and Hannah groaned, and Rachel put her hands on her hips. Seamus, recognizing the danger signs, took her hand and tugged her towards the dance floor as the classical music ended. There was a grinding sound, and then a scratchy trumpet began playing rather slowly.

"Is this it?" he asked.

Rachel shook her head, eyes twinkling. "Just wait."

Suddenly, the 40s swing beat really began. "Ah," Seamus said, grinning.

When the energetic song ended, Rachel and Seamus returned, breathless with laughter, with a tall, gangly red-haired teenager tagging along behind. "Katelyn," Rachel called.

Katelyn glance up from Pride and Prejudice, then caught sight of the redhead and sighed almost inaudibly.

"Katelyn, this is Eric. Eric, this is Katelyn," said Rachel, gesturing between them.

Eric blushed and grinned. "Hi, Katelyn."

Awkward, Katelyn thought. But out loud she said, "Hi, Eric. Want to dance?"

Rachel gave her a grateful smile as the two perfect strangers went out onto the floor to dance to "Hamster Dance," a song that most of Oliver's wizarding relatives had never heard before—or Haley's, for that matter.

Dean, Hannah, Seamus, and Rachel took this opportunity to snatch a well-needed rest. Hannah was beginning to regret not bringing flip-flops to change into, as Rachel had, and they were all pink-cheeked with exertion.

"Great wedding, eh?" Dean asked finally.

"I'll say," Rachel replied. "First, Haley wanted to marry Oliver, then she didn't, then she did, and then she didn't. I hope she realizes she can't change her mind now. She's got the ring and the name."

Seamus was about to respond, but instead let out a large sneeze.

"Gesundheit," Hannah said.

"Danks," he replied. "Rachel—hab you got ady tissues?"

"Yeah, in my bag. The little pocket on the inside."

"So—what do you mean about Haley not wanting to get married?" asked Dean.

"Cold feet," Hannah answered. "She just got nervous. I mean, can you blame her? It's a big respon—"

"Hey, Rachel," Seamus interrupted, blowing his nose in a Kleenex. "Why do you have so many tubes of lip balm? Look—one, two, three, four unopened tubes."

Rachel batted the Chapstick out of his hands and back into the bag. "None of your business, I'm afraid. Though I'm sure you'll find out, eventually."

"Wha—"

But then "Hamster Dance" ended, and a pretty Handel orchestra piece began. "Do you wanna dance, Hannah?" Dean asked for what must have been the millionth time that evening.

"Okay," she said without hesitation, and they stood up together and went onto the floor, leaving Rachel and Seamus to twiddle their thumbs in what was suddenly rather uncomfortable silence.

"Well," Rachel said to break the tension.

"Do you want to dance with me?" Seamus blurted out rather foolishly in response. He winced and waited for a gentle letdown.

"Sure," Rachel said softly.

Seamus felt very solemn as he took her hand and led her towards the floor. This was not a laughing matter—it was a serious dance, with no joking around in the asking.

The floor was nearly deserted, as it was not necessarily a slow song, and the two had no trouble getting in step and remembering how to waltz.

"You did really well tonight," Rachel said after a pause.

"Thanks," Seamus said, intently watching his feet as he'd sworn not to step on her bare toes in his hard-soled shoes. "You, too."

"Thanks for agreeing to do that with me."

"You're welcome. You know…I actually really like it when we…y'know, play together." His ears turned bright red.

Suddenly, Rachel stopped and threw her arms around him, squeezing him tightly and pressing her cheek to his shoulder. He patted her back awkwardly as other couples had to swerve to avoid them. "Are…are you okay?" he asked after a moment.

She stepped back, swiping at her eyes. "Yeah—yeah."

He pulled her back into the waltz so they wouldn't get trampled, but his touch was distinctly gentler. "People who are okay don't usually cry."

"Oh?" she asked. "And who made you philosopher all of a sudden?"

"Rachel." His tone was reproachful.

"I'm sorry," she said with a pause. "It's just…a lot of things all at once, you know?"

Seamus made a noncommittal sound.

"I mean…" Rachel went on thoughtfully, "with all the Yule Ball chaos, Haley's wedding, all the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang people at school, it's a little stressful. Plus, I hate putting on makeup and doing my hair and stuff—but you don't understand that. At least, hopefully."

He pinched her fingers, and she grinned.

"You know what I mean. There are reasons why I don't wear makeup and dresses that are separate from the reasons you don't."

"Like being male, for instance?"

"That was so close to being an insult that it doesn't deserve a response."

Seamus recognized dangerous ground and wisely backed down.

There was silence between the two for the next few minutes, and they both switched their concentration to perfecting their waltz. (Rachel was having difficulty with not leading.) Once or twice they almost literally bumped into Hannah and Dean, who were so involved in their conversation that Rachel and Seamus weren't even noticed.

"They'll crack, sooner or later," Rachel said softly.

"What do you mean?" Seamus asked.

Rachel gave a quiet chuckle. "Isn't it obvious? Hannah and Dean are head-over-heels for each other. I'm estimating sometime in the next three weeks."

"Estimating what?" Seamus was feeling distinctly frustrated at his stupidity.

"They're going to start going out, I think," Rachel said, blushing.

Seamus let this information sink in for a moment as Haley and Angela went past, performing a complicated polka. "Wow," he said finally.

Rachel nodded. "Makes us look at each other in a different way, doesn't it? I mean, 'us' as in 'the Funny Farm'." She blushed a brilliant red.

Seamus felt rising in his own face, and his voice came out painfully weak until he cleared his throat vigorously. "Yeah. Well, about that…there's—there's something I've sort of been meaning to tell you—"

"Wait!" she cried, looking away. "I'm sorry—but someone's kissing your mom!"

Seamus stopped dancing so suddenly that Rachel ran into him, lost her balance, and tumbled to the floor. When she'd gotten her breath back, Seamus had recovered from his horror and helped her back to her feet.

"Aren't you going to do something about it?" she asked breathlessly, brushing off her dress and pushing stray hair out of her face.

"Well, that would defeat the purpose," Seamus replied. "That's my da."

"Oh," Rachel said. "Well."

And Seamus strode quickly from the floor towards his parents. Rachel, feeling suddenly abandoned, followed shyly.

"…A wonderful surprise, isn't it?" Mrs. Finnigan was saying.

"How'd you get here, Da?"

"Hopped the ferry," Mr. Finnigan replied. He was tall, like Seamus, with ruddy skin, dark hair, and a liberal amount of freckles splashed over his nose and cheeks. "Frances told me to tell you 'hi'."

"He's back again?" Mrs. Finnigan sighed.

Mr. Finnigan shrugged. "It's hard to hold down a Muggle job when you've missed two and a half years of primary school."

"I know, Jack, I know," said Mrs. Finnigan. "I just wish he would try a little harder, that's all. Oh—Seamus, love, are you just going to let Rachel stand there? Introduce your father to her."

Seamus turned to his left, and then blinked in confusion. Rachel cleared her throat, and he turned ninety degrees to his right and saw her. "Sorry, sorry, I thought you were here," he said sheepishly, motioning to the empty space next to him.

"Uh huh."

"Da," Seamus went on, tugging Rachel to his side. "This is my friend, Rachel. Rachel, this is my da."

Rachel stuck out her hand and shook Mr. Finnigan's hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Seamus' da."

Mr. Finnigan grinned. "Nice to meet you, too. I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh, goodness," Rachel sighed. "Good or bad? Actually, don't answer that."

Mrs. Finnigan laughed. "Oh, don't worry, love, it's all been good."

"Mam," Seamus said reproachfully, "don't lie."

"Seamus!" Rachel said with mock affront.

"Yes, ma'am, shutting up," he replied, and began to loosen his tie.

Rachel beamed. "Don't worry, Mr. Finnigan. I take very good care of Seamus during the year."

"Now, if only she could take care of her own business," Seamus couldn't help but say.

"Shut up, you."

"You shut up."

"You."

"You!"

"You!"

"Guys," Mrs. Finnigan cut in. "I hate to interrupt this enlightening conversation, but it's getting late."

"It's time to go?" Seamus sounded disappointed.

"Not yet, love," Mrs. Finnigan soothed. "A few more dances, then you can say goodbye to Haley and Oliver. I want to get you all back to Hogwarts before it gets terribly late, especially since the Yule Ball is in a few days."

"So…about half an hour?" Rachel asked.

"Sure. Go on, then."

And so Seamus and Rachel scampered off.

(A/N: OH MY GOSH IT'S BEEN FIVE MONTHS SINCE OUR LAST UPDATE!! Wow. That's really, really sad! Please review and tell us how awful we are...:( Of course, Schmurf's had the longhand copy for a VERY LONG TIME...maybe I should stalk her so she'll write faster.)