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starfishstar) wrote2016-02-14 05:49 pm
starfishstar) wrote2016-02-14 05:49 pm
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Ain't Misbehavin' (4/4) – Chapter 4: Strangers in the Night
AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'
Summary: It wouldn't be the Auror Christmas party without a mystery to solve, a spot of mischief, and a very well-earned slow dance.
Characters: Tonks, Remus
Words: ca. 7,000 total; this chapter (final chapter!) 1,200 words
Chapter 4: Strangers in the Night
After Tonks had taken her leave from the startled onlookers on the dance floor, giving them a cheeky wave and ducking back into the crowd; after the musicians had ascended the same stairs Tonks had just slid down and taken up their positions on the balcony; after she’d returned the gold pocket watch to Buckle and accepted his tearful gratitude – after all those things, Tonks turned to Remus, who was waiting discreetly to the side while Buckle effused his gratitude, and asked him, “Shall we dance?”
The orchestra on the balcony had struck up an upbeat tune, something with a big band sound, and it was already making Tonks want to jump and move. Remus looked at her, considering, then nodded.
“You could swing dance to this, but it’s also fine just to kind of bounce up and down,” Tonks said, as they found their way to an unclaimed bit of the dance floor. Her Muggle grandparents had loved this music, and her dad had inherited a fondness for it too. He’d sometimes danced Tonks around their small kitchen when she was a little girl, Tonks giggling like mad, her mum waving a dishtowel at both of them, shooing them out of the kitchen before they broke any more dishes than their usual average.
For all Andromeda’s protestations, Tonks suspected her parents still sometimes put on the wireless and danced in the kitchen. Though Tonks had never yet managed to get her mum to admit to such a degree of frivolity.
Tonks grinned at Remus, where he was dancing a couple feet away from her. They weren’t dancing together, quite, but they were here in the same space, and Remus seemed to be enjoying himself. His moves weren’t particularly coordinated, but then, neither were hers.
He smiled back and gave an apologetic shrug. “It’s not a dance form at which I excel, I’m afraid.”
Tonks shrugged back. “Doesn’t matter!” She jumped even more energetically, flailing her arms back and forth to the rhythm, and Remus laughed. Tonks seized the opportunity to press a point from earlier in the evening. “Hey,” she said, raising her voice a little so he could hear her over the music. “Have I mentioned you look smashing in those robes?”
Remus snorted. “I think you and Sirius may have mentioned it once or twice.”
“Well, you do! Surely you’ve noticed people looking.”
“Oh, Dora, really –”
“Just look around!” She cocked her head to the side, and lowered her voice. “That woman over there, for example, to your left. She’s from the Portkey Office – the one in the green dress. She’s definitely looking at you. And that bloke there, too, he keeps glancing over.” She cut her eyes to the left, to indicate where she meant.
Remus was blushing faintly. “Surely –”
“No arguing,” Tonks told him, mock sternly. “Just enjoy it!”
“Well, then,” Remus said, still moving side to side in time with the music, “I could say the same to you. Surely you’ve noticed all the eyes you’ve caught tonight.”
“When?” Tonks demanded. She hadn’t noticed anything of the sort.
Remus’ lips quirked up. “When you slid down that banister, for one.” He raised one hand before Tonks could protest. “And not just because you were sliding down a banister at the time. You’re an arresting sight in that dress.”
Tonks stared at him. She wasn’t sure he’d ever complimented her appearance before. Comments of a personal nature weren’t generally Remus’ thing, to put it mildly. Tonks wondered if he’d even noticed just now that that was what he had done.
“Thanks,” she managed.
Before she could say anything else, the song ended and the orchestra launched into another one, a much slower number that Tonks recognised as a Frank Sinatra song. The same orchestra had played at the previous year’s Christmas party, too, and she remembered that the singer did quite a good Sinatra.
A slow dance, though – that was too much to ask of Remus, who hadn’t even intentionally come to this party as her date, only as a friend. Cajoling him into jumping around with her to a big band tune was one thing, but a slow dance… Tonks suspected he would be embarrassed to dance to this song, but also embarrassed to be the one to beg off from doing so – the gracious thing would be to save him from that predicament by bowing out first.
Tonks looked up, intending to offer Remus an easy out by asking if he wanted to go get a drink. Instead, she saw he’d stretched out his hand towards her.
His eyes sparkled. “May I have this dance?”
Tonks felt her mouth drop open, and hurriedly closed it. “I – yeah, of course!” She reached out too, and met his hand with her own.
Remus clasped Tonks’ hand and pulled her towards him, his other arm coming around her back. Tonks’ arm slid effortlessly into place, her hand at Remus’ shoulder.
And something – changed.
All at once, the way Remus moved was different, his arms around her easy and assured. Before he’d even taken a step, it was clear he was perfectly at home here, on a dance floor with a slow song playing.
Tonks gasped in surprise, and felt Remus’ answering chuckle.
“I was raised to believe,” he murmured, very close to her ear, “that every man should know how to do a little ballroom dancing.”
Tonks closed her eyes briefly, trying to keep her composure despite that voice in her ear. “I’m afraid I’m not nearly as expert at this as you clearly are,” she admitted. “The whole clumsiness thing and all that. I may not be able to keep up with you.”
“Don’t worry,” Remus said softly. “I’ll lead.”
And he did. For the first time, Tonks truly understood what it was to lead and follow in a dance, because Remus was flawless. The pressure of his hand in hers was gentle but firm, keeping them both in position. His warm hand at her back showed her where to go, and her body simply moved with his, without needing her brain to tell her what to do next. And it turned out that when she worked on instinct, Tonks did quite all right.
“See?” Remus whispered. “Not so difficult.”
Tonks nodded, letting him feel the movement of her cheek against his chin, not quite trusting herself to speak. And the two of them floated on, she and Remus, swaying back and forth in their little bubble of perfect space on the dance floor.
“Strangers in the night…” the singer crooned from the balcony. “What were the chances…”
Tonks let her head drift down to rest on Remus’ shoulder and he didn’t startle away, didn’t even react except to pull her ever so slightly closer, until their bodies were nearly flush and warmth radiated between them.
It’s just a dance, Tonks reminded herself, because she was dangerously close to being swept away by this. It’s just a dance, it doesn’t mean anything.
Then just quickly, an answering thought came: It doesn’t have to mean anything. It just is.
Tonks closed her eyes and let the music carry her, let herself feel Remus’ arm around her, and followed him wherever this might go.
THE END
End notes:
Auror Albert Buckle is also an OC I made up for “Be the Light in My Lantern.” Mirabelle Vivianus I made up on the spot. :-)
If you didn’t guess already, all the chapter titles are the names of classic swing/jazz/big band tunes! I had fun rediscovering some classics for this story.
•“Puttin’ on the Ritz” is by Irving Berlin.
•“In the Mood” was an up-tempo hit for the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
•“Ain’t Misbehavin’” is a Fats Waller classic.
•“Strangers in the Night” was popularized by Frank Sinatra. The other songs I chose for their titles, but this one I chose for its lyrics:
Strangers in the night, two lonely people
We were strangers in the night
Up to the moment when we said our first hello, little did we know
Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away…
.
Summary: It wouldn't be the Auror Christmas party without a mystery to solve, a spot of mischief, and a very well-earned slow dance.
Characters: Tonks, Remus
Words: ca. 7,000 total; this chapter (final chapter!) 1,200 words
Chapter 4: Strangers in the Night
After Tonks had taken her leave from the startled onlookers on the dance floor, giving them a cheeky wave and ducking back into the crowd; after the musicians had ascended the same stairs Tonks had just slid down and taken up their positions on the balcony; after she’d returned the gold pocket watch to Buckle and accepted his tearful gratitude – after all those things, Tonks turned to Remus, who was waiting discreetly to the side while Buckle effused his gratitude, and asked him, “Shall we dance?”
The orchestra on the balcony had struck up an upbeat tune, something with a big band sound, and it was already making Tonks want to jump and move. Remus looked at her, considering, then nodded.
“You could swing dance to this, but it’s also fine just to kind of bounce up and down,” Tonks said, as they found their way to an unclaimed bit of the dance floor. Her Muggle grandparents had loved this music, and her dad had inherited a fondness for it too. He’d sometimes danced Tonks around their small kitchen when she was a little girl, Tonks giggling like mad, her mum waving a dishtowel at both of them, shooing them out of the kitchen before they broke any more dishes than their usual average.
For all Andromeda’s protestations, Tonks suspected her parents still sometimes put on the wireless and danced in the kitchen. Though Tonks had never yet managed to get her mum to admit to such a degree of frivolity.
Tonks grinned at Remus, where he was dancing a couple feet away from her. They weren’t dancing together, quite, but they were here in the same space, and Remus seemed to be enjoying himself. His moves weren’t particularly coordinated, but then, neither were hers.
He smiled back and gave an apologetic shrug. “It’s not a dance form at which I excel, I’m afraid.”
Tonks shrugged back. “Doesn’t matter!” She jumped even more energetically, flailing her arms back and forth to the rhythm, and Remus laughed. Tonks seized the opportunity to press a point from earlier in the evening. “Hey,” she said, raising her voice a little so he could hear her over the music. “Have I mentioned you look smashing in those robes?”
Remus snorted. “I think you and Sirius may have mentioned it once or twice.”
“Well, you do! Surely you’ve noticed people looking.”
“Oh, Dora, really –”
“Just look around!” She cocked her head to the side, and lowered her voice. “That woman over there, for example, to your left. She’s from the Portkey Office – the one in the green dress. She’s definitely looking at you. And that bloke there, too, he keeps glancing over.” She cut her eyes to the left, to indicate where she meant.
Remus was blushing faintly. “Surely –”
“No arguing,” Tonks told him, mock sternly. “Just enjoy it!”
“Well, then,” Remus said, still moving side to side in time with the music, “I could say the same to you. Surely you’ve noticed all the eyes you’ve caught tonight.”
“When?” Tonks demanded. She hadn’t noticed anything of the sort.
Remus’ lips quirked up. “When you slid down that banister, for one.” He raised one hand before Tonks could protest. “And not just because you were sliding down a banister at the time. You’re an arresting sight in that dress.”
Tonks stared at him. She wasn’t sure he’d ever complimented her appearance before. Comments of a personal nature weren’t generally Remus’ thing, to put it mildly. Tonks wondered if he’d even noticed just now that that was what he had done.
“Thanks,” she managed.
Before she could say anything else, the song ended and the orchestra launched into another one, a much slower number that Tonks recognised as a Frank Sinatra song. The same orchestra had played at the previous year’s Christmas party, too, and she remembered that the singer did quite a good Sinatra.
A slow dance, though – that was too much to ask of Remus, who hadn’t even intentionally come to this party as her date, only as a friend. Cajoling him into jumping around with her to a big band tune was one thing, but a slow dance… Tonks suspected he would be embarrassed to dance to this song, but also embarrassed to be the one to beg off from doing so – the gracious thing would be to save him from that predicament by bowing out first.
Tonks looked up, intending to offer Remus an easy out by asking if he wanted to go get a drink. Instead, she saw he’d stretched out his hand towards her.
His eyes sparkled. “May I have this dance?”
Tonks felt her mouth drop open, and hurriedly closed it. “I – yeah, of course!” She reached out too, and met his hand with her own.
Remus clasped Tonks’ hand and pulled her towards him, his other arm coming around her back. Tonks’ arm slid effortlessly into place, her hand at Remus’ shoulder.
And something – changed.
All at once, the way Remus moved was different, his arms around her easy and assured. Before he’d even taken a step, it was clear he was perfectly at home here, on a dance floor with a slow song playing.
Tonks gasped in surprise, and felt Remus’ answering chuckle.
“I was raised to believe,” he murmured, very close to her ear, “that every man should know how to do a little ballroom dancing.”
Tonks closed her eyes briefly, trying to keep her composure despite that voice in her ear. “I’m afraid I’m not nearly as expert at this as you clearly are,” she admitted. “The whole clumsiness thing and all that. I may not be able to keep up with you.”
“Don’t worry,” Remus said softly. “I’ll lead.”
And he did. For the first time, Tonks truly understood what it was to lead and follow in a dance, because Remus was flawless. The pressure of his hand in hers was gentle but firm, keeping them both in position. His warm hand at her back showed her where to go, and her body simply moved with his, without needing her brain to tell her what to do next. And it turned out that when she worked on instinct, Tonks did quite all right.
“See?” Remus whispered. “Not so difficult.”
Tonks nodded, letting him feel the movement of her cheek against his chin, not quite trusting herself to speak. And the two of them floated on, she and Remus, swaying back and forth in their little bubble of perfect space on the dance floor.
“Strangers in the night…” the singer crooned from the balcony. “What were the chances…”
Tonks let her head drift down to rest on Remus’ shoulder and he didn’t startle away, didn’t even react except to pull her ever so slightly closer, until their bodies were nearly flush and warmth radiated between them.
It’s just a dance, Tonks reminded herself, because she was dangerously close to being swept away by this. It’s just a dance, it doesn’t mean anything.
Then just quickly, an answering thought came: It doesn’t have to mean anything. It just is.
Tonks closed her eyes and let the music carry her, let herself feel Remus’ arm around her, and followed him wherever this might go.
THE END
End notes:
Auror Albert Buckle is also an OC I made up for “Be the Light in My Lantern.” Mirabelle Vivianus I made up on the spot. :-)
If you didn’t guess already, all the chapter titles are the names of classic swing/jazz/big band tunes! I had fun rediscovering some classics for this story.
•“Puttin’ on the Ritz” is by Irving Berlin.
•“In the Mood” was an up-tempo hit for the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
•“Ain’t Misbehavin’” is a Fats Waller classic.
•“Strangers in the Night” was popularized by Frank Sinatra. The other songs I chose for their titles, but this one I chose for its lyrics:
Strangers in the night, two lonely people
We were strangers in the night
Up to the moment when we said our first hello, little did we know
Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away…
.