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Chapter 12 - Dancing

I groggily opened my eyes to a sun-filled room. Once again, I found myself in an unfamiliar bed; except this time it was okay, because I was on holiday with my parents and older brother in the French Alps. The air was crisp, so I clutched the periwinkle blue quilt closer to my body. I stretched out and decided it was time to get up. I swung my legs, which were burning from skiing, off of the bed and padded my way into the hallway of the cozy chalet in Chamonix.

"Someone's up early," my older brother, Tom said. He was sitting at the mahogany table, mulling over The Daily Prophet with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. I poured myself a cup absent mindedly and sat down on the stool next to him.

"Yeah, I could only sleep in late for a week. What about you? I've never seen you awake before eight before."

He chuckled and gave me a knowing smirk. "I haven't gone to sleep yet, baby sister," he said. "The nightlife here is wild."

"Oh yeah? Find a nice girl you're ready to settle down with?" I jested, knowing he was far from this. Tom was twenty-years-old, and an up-and-coming DJ on the Wizard Wireless Network. He's a smart guy, but was never drawn much to his studies like I was. Entertainment was where his passion lies, and he was perfect for it with his playfully huge ego. Unfortunately, with that ego came a string of girls that seemed constantly ongoing….

"Hell no. I'm still young, kid. Got plenty of time for that," he laughed loudly and put down the paper. "What about you, Blakey? Still seeing that Cedar guy?"

"Cedric, actually. And no, we broke it off ages ago. Where have you been?"

Tom eyed me with a devilishly look on his face. "Then why don't you go out on the town with me tonight? You're as free as a bird, find yourself a bloke for the rest of the holiday!"

There was only one guy I wanted to be with right now, and I hadn't seen him in two weeks. It wasn't the wrenching pain in the heart that silly, desperate girls in love stories feel when they are away from their "beloved." I simply missed Lupin. I missed talking with him and just being with him. But there wasn't very much I could do about it. It might seem a little strange if I got owls from my professor while on holiday.

"What do you say, Blakey?" Tom continued, breaking my silence. "Spend the day on the slopes, get all dolled up, and then go out with me tonight." His hazel eyes were earnest and full of excitement. Maybe it would be nice to be around some people my own age...

"Fine, fine..." I sighed. "But I'm not going to have fun. I'm just going to sit there and pout all night." I only kept a straight face for about fifteen seconds before we both broke out laughing hysterically. Once we both caught our breath, I said, "So, you are going to get changed and then we'll go skiing?"

Tom gave a dry chuckle. "I think you misunderstood me. You hit the slopes. I'll hit the sack. See you tonight, Blakey." He shuffled off to his room and closed the door.

I bundled up in my ski gear and made my way out of the chalet. I could see the sparkling snow on the mountains in the distance, but the snow around the house was unfortunately tinged with gray. "Gross," I muttered to myself, wishing I could perform a quick Scourgify! to make it pure white again. When I got to the main lodge to get my pass for the day, I looked around for the first time – I mean really looked around. At the people. After talking to Tom, I decided to preview with whom I would be spending my night with. There was an older couple in horribly tacky Christmas sweaters looking at the brochures and attempting to speak broken French. There was a little girl dressed in an electric pink snowsuit making a mad dash for the door while her mother chased after her. There was a small cluster of kids around my age chatting animatedly, dragging their skis with them. I avoided eye contact with them.

"Mademoiselle?" the cheery, young woman working at the desk prompted. I snapped back and looked at her. She had pretty red hair in a bob and naturally pouty pink lips. I wonder if Tom had met her yet. "Mademoiselle, voici ta passé pour aujourd'hui. C'est tout?"

"Oui, c'est tout," I responded quickly, embarrassed. "Merci beaucoup. Au revoir!" All week, I had been riding the bunny slopes. Feeling as though I had progressed somewhat, I took the route for the trail with the next difficultly level. My heart pounded with silly anticipation, and the decent-looking boy running the lift did not do much to help my nerves.

"Salut!" The boy smiled when I handed him my pass for the lift. "Je m'appelle Billy. Et toi?"

Hearing the distinct British accent in his French, I answered, "My name's Blake. Nice to meet you."

Billy, who was rather short, about 170 centimeters, with strawberry blonde hair and a smattering of freckles across his nose, checked my pass and said, "Have fun out there, Blake." I took the ride up the small mountain, vaguely wondering if Billy would be wherever I was going with Tom tonight.

oOoOoOo

I shrieked with frustration. Tom popped his head into the green-tiled bathroom. "What is your problem?"

I had spent the last hour trying to look presentable for our night out and was meeting nothing but frustration. Apparently, we were going to the resort nightclub called La Rainure, and I had to look good. "My stupid curling iron won't heat up," I pouted.

"Oh, Blakey, why do you mess around with that stuff?" Tom asked, picking up a perfume bottle and sniffing it.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who told me I had to look decent tonight."

Tom made a sour face at the flowery scent. "I want you to look more than decent," he said. "But you're so good at magic, why don't you use some to make your life a little easier?"

I gave my brother a disapproving look. "Have you forgotten when my birthday is? I won't be legal for another month! And you rightly know that anything else is illegal."

"I think it's about time I teach you a lesson," Tom said with a smug look on his face. "When we came hear, Mum and Dad hooked this house up to the Floo Network. That means the Ministry knows that there are wizards staying here. Y'see, when someone uses magic, that's all they can see…not who is using it! So Blake, if you use magic here, it won't trigger any reactions from the Ministry. Apparently parents are supposed to monitor their children or whatever. So what do you say?"

"Tom," I protested. "It's still not right!

"Seriously, kid. Isn't it about time for you too be a little bit bad?" If only he knew…I highly doubt that even the legendary Tom Knightly had been with a teacher while he was at Hogwarts. Feeling a pang of sibling rivalry, I longed to brag to Tom about my relationship with Lupin, to tell him how bad I've been. I nearly blurted it all out, but then realized the consequences were far more serious than the short feeling of victory.

"Alright," I muttered, knocking past him to get my wand. "If it will get you off my back!" I went into my room and fetched my wand from its safe-keeping in the bedside table. I gave a flick towards my head and my hair settled into smooth and shiny waves. Another flick and my eyes were bright, my lashes were long and thick, and my lips were pouty.

I walked over to the closet and opened the doors. With perfect timing, Tom yelled, "Don't look like a nerd, Blake!" I sighed and began my search for something un-nerd like. What does one wear to a club, anyway? I decided on a flouncy floral skirt that I feel is a little short for my taste, a white v-neck tee shirt, and my favorite pair of pruple pumps. I'm going to be freezing, I thought to myself. Hopefully it would be warm in the club.

I met Tom in the hallway. He gave me an appraising look. "Not half-bad," he said, and I stuck out my tongue at him. "Let's go," he said.

"Hold up, I need to grab my coat," I said.

Tom grabbed my arm. "Silly Blake, we're going to apparate. Hold on tight!" Before I could protest, I felt the yanking feeling in the pit of my stomach and the hallway twisted around me. Suddenly, my feet landed in the snow – that was quite unpleasant, actually – and we found ourselves at the back door of La Rainure.

"Some warning next time, please!" I huffed and carefully stormed through the snow to the front door. Tom chased after me and soon we stepped through the tall glass doors. I stepped into a large, dark room with blaring French techno music. There was a mass of bodies in the middle of the dance floor and others near the trendy and modern-looking bar. "This is what you like?" I asked Tom, wrinkling my nose. He chuckled and walked me over to the bar.

"Une bière, s'il vous plait…et un martini, aussi," Tom told the bartender as he handed over his ID. The bartender handed over the drinks, and we walked way until we were out of sight, and Tom handed the drink to me.

"Tom…" I said, apprehensively.

"Blake. Seriously. One drink is not going to do anything. Except not make you so bloody uptight, maybe."

I sighed and took a swig from the drink. It tasted pretty good, so I quickly finished the rest of it. We made our way to the dance floor, and the fast-paced beat suddenly seemed infectious. I had been dancing and singing along with the songs I knew when I felt a pair of hands on my hips. I looked over my shoulder and saw a bloke, around my brother's age. He was good-looking, so I danced with him for a while until his hands started to wander. I gave him some excuse and stepped off the dance floor. I was scanning the crowd – I spotted Tom grinding on a bleach-blonde – when someone sat on the stool next to me.

"Hey there." Of course, how typical. Cute Billy was grinning at me and I blushed. "How are you, Blake?"

"Good, thanks," I smiled back at him.

"So, where are you from?" he asked. Seeing my positive reaction, he scooted a little closer.

"Bristol," I answered, hoping he wouldn't ask me about my school. "You?"

"Leeds." We chatted for a while, and I denied his offer of buying me a drink. I learned that he worked at the resort of the holidays, had a little brother, and played football. After a while, he shyly asked me if I wanted to dance, and I accepted. We walked out to the dance floor and he put his hands on my waist. Wanting to seem friendly, I wrapped my hands around his neck. Billy was a good dancer and we got closer and closer with each song. His strong hands gripped my waist and he said my name. I looked up to meet his eyes. Billy tilted his head and placed his slightly parted lips on mine. He was firm, and I felt myself return the kiss. His hands slid from my waist to my neck. Under his grip I felt the chain around my neck press into my skin. I suddenly remembered what was hanging on that necklace. I broke apart and grabbed the tiny paw-print charm.

"I have to go," I stuttered, stepping back."

"C'mon, Blake," he whispered, closing in the space, taking my hand in his.

"No, really," I said, walking away and shaking. "Bye. Thanks."

"What is it?" he yelled after me. "You got a boyfriend or something?"

I quickly walked away and searched for Tom. I found him whispering in a different blonde's ear. I yanked on his sleeve. "Take me back now, Tom. Please."

He groaned, but could see that I was upset. We headed towards the exit. "What's the problem, kid? It seemed like you were hitting it off with that ginger kid," he said.

"I don't want to talk about it," I mumbled. "I just want to go home."

"Do you need me to beat him up for you?" Tom asked, cracking a smile.

"No, thank you."

We walked to the back of the club in silence, and I clutched on to his arm as we apparated. I gave him a quick "good-night" before going to my room, still clutching my necklace.

What had been one of the last things Lupin had said to me? He was worried about me meeting someone over the holiday. It's like he knew I would cheat on him! But, is it really cheating? I mean, he wouldn't readily call me his girlfriend. I paused for a moment. Of course it was cheating. I know how he felt about me, and I know how I felt about him. I…think I love him. But what am I supposed to do now? I wished he were with me right now. If I felt his arms around me, I would know how to make this better. I curled up in my bed. I didn't feel like crying, but just sleeping, hoping this was just a bad dream. I fell asleep, counting wolves in my head.

A/N: Bonjour! Yes, I know it's been a while again. So, I'm not particularly found of this chapter because Remmy isn't in it :( But, I think this story was in need of a little change in scenery, haha. But, never fear, the holidays will be over shortly! Please please PLEASE review! I love them all! And I'll try to have the next chappy within the next 6 months, haha. Review! Love you all!