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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 20, 2009 0:20:13 GMT -5
"It's easy," Chase said. It took years of practice to perfect it, but even novices could enjoy the natural grace in the dance itself. "Do you want to?" he asked again, his eyes searching hers.
There was a vast difference between how he'd treated Dru before and how he was treating her now, but he didn't think of it. The first time they'd been together, it had all been an experiment to see if he could be with only one girl. Since then he'd learned more self-control than he'd ever used in his entire life before Hogwarts. Now she was, in his mind, at least, his Mistress, and he understood that relationship. He knew his rights and responsibilities.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Jul 20, 2009 0:27:57 GMT -5
Dru's eyes locked onto Chase's and it was a few moments before she was able to answer him. "Yeah," she said finally, nodding. She'd never get a chance to any other way. Was she really going to waltz with Chase? It struck her that they hadn't so much as kissed yet. It was certainly different, but she didn't mind at all, this easy comfort was amazing. She smiled up at him, "I'd love to learn to waltz."
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 20, 2009 0:42:07 GMT -5
Chase's lips curved slightly at the ends, a momentary response to Dru's smile. Then he was glancing both ways down the corridor. If they were caught, he was going to be screwed, but he couldn't hole up in the Room of Requirement tonight.
When he was sure that everything was clear, he turned to face Dru, and his posture reflexively corrected. He gave a half-bow, then extended one hand for Dru's, his other sliding lightly against her waist to settle just below the dip of her back, as low as it could get while remaining proper. He didn't know how well he could teach, but he could show.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Jul 20, 2009 0:51:13 GMT -5
Dru couldn't help but smile at the little bow, then at feel of Chase's hand against her and she took his other hand while resting the other against his shoulder like she had seen Mrs. Hardt do during her dances. She could almost imagine that they were in a ballroom. At the same time, it was strangely intimate there alone in the corridor with him. "Okay, so what do I do?"
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 20, 2009 8:20:28 GMT -5
Chase shifted his hand slightly, casually correcting how Dru's sat against it without saying a thing. "You follow my lead," he told her. "I'll go slowly." Her feet would be forced to move in the right directions simply by the paths the dance followed. The rest, the bend of the knees, the arch of the back, would come as she learned to move.
He pulled her close now, so that their bodies brushed lightly, then turned, sweeping lightly around her and bringing her along with him. The light pressure of his hand at her back guided her, and though there wasn't a sound but the rustle of cloth and the click of shoes against the stone floor, those sounds kept the rhythm with them. ONE, two, three...
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Jul 20, 2009 12:11:32 GMT -5
It felt like she was stumbling over every step, and Dru couldn't help but look at her feet. Her eyebrows creased in concentration at the brief glimpses she got of their feet through the light brush of their bodies. She was at least successful in not stepping on his feet, though if she were to judge herself on everything else, she would say it was a horrible failure, regardless of the truth of the thought.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 20, 2009 12:44:58 GMT -5
"Don't look down," Chase advised. "You'll never keep balanced that way. Look at me and stop thinking so much." His hand slid upward a bit against her back, finding just the right spot before stopping. He pressed lightly, encouraging Dru without words to shift the arch of her back. There was no judgment in his eyes for the effort this was taking her. Not all wizards and witches were natural dancers, but even the least graceful could keep up after a time, with the right partner to guide them.
Chase knew he was a good dancer. All things necessary for the best image were drilled into him from an early age, and most of them he'd taken to immediately. Until his interest waned, which was usually the moment he realized he could finish the lessons without guidance.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Jul 20, 2009 12:59:22 GMT -5
Dru pulled her eyes up, her eyebrows still creased. She shifted with his hand at her back and tried to stop herself from chewing at her lip. Don't think? How was she supposed to learn how to dance if she didn't concentrate on it? It was easy enough, after a few moments of seeing his eyes, to focus on that instead of the movements. Her dance may not have been graceful, but at least she wasn't staring at her feet in worry any more.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 21, 2009 20:58:08 GMT -5
"Much better," Chase said. He took her into a slightly quicker turn now that she was following, and after a time, moved his hand back down into position, leaving her to keep posture on her own. He wasn't at all sure how the girls were instructed. His own lessons had moved from a private tutor to dancing with girls who knew the steps as well as he, for the most part. He couldn't form words for what was off about Dru's dancing, so he attempted to guide her, or to subtly push her into the corrections she needed.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Jul 21, 2009 21:22:17 GMT -5
Dru tried to go along with the subtle corrections, but it was hard to when she wasn't exactly sure what was wrong. "I don't think I'm getting much better than this," she said after a few moments, then smiled softly up at Chase. Still, it was nice to have learned, even if she couldn't get any better. She was able to think about being with Chase now, it was nice to be dancing with him like this, without everything happening so quickly.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 21, 2009 21:32:27 GMT -5
Chase wished they weren't in school, wished he could set Dru up somewhere and pay for her to have lessons. But no, they were still students under the control of school and, to a point, parents. He was still only the heir. He assured Dru that she was doing well, and he might have gone on if he hadn't heard a sound down one of the corridors. Too quickly, there was distance between them again, and Chase had his wand drawn. "Whoever you are, turn around now if you don't want to lose your house fifty points," he called. A high price, but he didn't want to be caught. He didn't need questions, or for the Daily Prophet to remember him.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Jul 21, 2009 21:36:51 GMT -5
Dru nearly stumbled at the sudden lack of contact, but quickly regained her balance and dropped her eyes. It was weird being with Chase like this, constantly worried about being seen and spied on. She absently smoothed down her dress. An unconscious blush rose in her cheeks as she became all too aware of the places at her hand and back where Chase's hands had been as air touched them for the first time in long minutes.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 21, 2009 21:46:12 GMT -5
The footsteps had stopped completely, and Chase's concentration was focused on listening until the moment the footsteps resumed, heading quickly in the opposite direction. It wasn't until they were inaudible that he relaxed. He flicked a glance aside at Dru, and on second thought let it linger as he hid his wand away again. He didn't think he needed to say how bad that could have been for both of them. Especially him. It was a reminder of the fiancée he hadn't seen in some time, and that she was still his fiancée, whether he liked it or not.
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Post by Druscilla Grace on Jul 21, 2009 22:07:58 GMT -5
Dru chewed her lip for a few long seconds. She didn't like being reminded that it was anything less than a true relationship. She took a deep breath and let it out in a long, soft sigh. "Thank you for teaching me," she said, then finally looked back up at Chase. It was easy to delude herself into believing there was something more, but beneath it all she knew that they couldn't be open.
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Post by Chase Firebrand on Jul 21, 2009 22:57:41 GMT -5
"The pleasure was mine," Chase said, and for the show of it, for the smile he'd seen on Dru's face and for that blush he hadn't missed, took her hand and gave a proper bow over it. He'd enjoyed the game of the masquerade more than he'd ever admit, and though things had died so quickly after, he had memories of that night that made it impossible to regret.
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