The First Lesson - Vertical Movements

Dances with Witches by Pearle

Summary: Severus Snape loses a magical bet. The consequences? The Tango! My answer to the codpiece challenge on Wiktt. HG/SS

Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. of the Harry Potter series are not mine they belong to J.K. Rowling and Co. I promise to return them when I am through. Well, most of them anyway.

~~~~~ Dances with Witches ~~~~~

2. The First Lesson - Vertical Movements

Before leaving, Severus set up a schedule of dance lessons. His first lesson would take place on Thursday evening, three days from now. He felt the restriction on his power to apparate ease as he confirmed the date with the Granger chit.

His robes billowed out behind him as he walked up the path to Hogwarts from the apparation point outside the main gates. He wouldn't have to worry about keeping the dance lesson with Granger Thursday. He would be in Azkaban before tonight was over. He planned to kill Albus when he found him.

He hadn't recognized Granger when she first walked into the room. She had done something with her hair and her figure had filled out considerably, though she could have looked like that when she was at Hogwarts and he wouldn't have noticed. Her most obvious attributes when she had been his student had been Potter and Weasley. The Golden trio had been inseparable their last year.

He wondered if she saw either one of them now that they had graduated. Maybe she was dating one of them? Couldn't be Potter. His name was in the news regularly. Even what the idiot ate for breakfast would become fodder for some columnist. If she were dating him it would have been in the papers. Weasley? Definitely not up to her intellectual level.

He had read about the new experimental program Cambridge had set up. Only the cream of the crop was accepted. Granger's N.E.W.T.'s had tied his own. They would have been thrilled to have her in their program. Adding in the fact that she was also one of the Order members that had helped to bring down the Dark Lord and she would have been accepted anywhere.

What did it matter who she was seeing the voice in his head asked him? She was supposed to teach him to dance and that was that. Where the bloody hell was Albus? Severus threw open the doors to the castle startling Professors McGonagall and Sprout who had been on their way out.

"Severus? Are you all right?" Minerva was concerned as she looked at the angry wizard in front of her.

"Where the bloody hell is Albus?" His anger at the man was ready to boil over.

"Calm down. He had to leave the castle on business. He will be back on Friday. What is the problem?" Minerva was looking at him oddly.

"Friday?" Just his bloody luck, his first dance lesson was on Thursday. He stormed down the hall, his robes billowing out behind him.

"Severus, where are you going?" Minerva called after him.

"Oblivion."

The two witches looked at each other as Minerva asked, "Where did he say? Olivia? Who is Olivia?"

Sprout shrugged her shoulders as they watched Snape flow down the hall. It was the middle of August and the castle was empty except for a few of the staff.

Severus Snape sat in front of his fireplace studying a glass of Old Ogden's. The dungeons were chilly even in August. He turned the glass from side to side watching the whiskey reflect the flames. Oblivion was not to far off considering the level left in the bottle. Granger. Hermione Granger. While the chit had obvious intelligence he never realize she had grown into a very curvaceous witch, not that it was any of his business.

He sighed deeply as he thought about his dance lesson. Holding her tonight had affected him more than he wanted to admit. How the hell was he supposed to get through two hours Thursday night? A snake tattooed on his member she had said?

He had to laugh and wonder if she even knew that part of the male anatomy was sometimes referred to as a snake? He wondered if she suffered from ophidiophobia? He had a python he'd be willing to show her sometime. The only known way to overcome a fear of snakes was constant and repeated exposure to them. He'd be willing to help the witch if there was a problem. After all, he was the head of Slytherin. He knocked back the remainder of his drink.

"Accio bottle," a fresh bottle of Ogden's flew into his open hand. It was going to be a long night he thought as he shifted in his chair.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Severus apparated in front of the Lighter Than Air dance studio several minutes earlier then his actual lesson time. He was curious to see what else might be going on in there. He was not disappointed as he heard Hermione's voice when he opened the door.

"I will not do that 'Dirty Dancing lift' with you. I'm ticklish and this is a waltz!" She was slapping the hand of a young man away from her hip. "One more touch, Mister Wells, and you will not sit for a week. Are we clear?" A wizard of about thirty appeared to be dancing with Miss Granger. The man had the good grace to look contrite for the rebuke.

A bell sounded off to the side. "I believe that ends this weeks lesson. I have a new student starting tonight, so your lesson next week will be with Katherine at your regular time." Hermione was all business as she marked the date and time on a card she handed to the man.

The wizard gave Hermione what he hoped to be a sexy look as he said in a low voice, "What if you're the only witch who can teach me anything?"

Before Hermione could answer, Snape walked towards the man. His scowl was firmly in place and his robes did their usual menacing billow. His voice held an edge that said 'cross me and we will see how many parts they can find when I am through with you'. He glared at the man as he said, "I believe Miss Granger informed you your lesson is finished. Is there a problem?"

Hermione was amused to see the man turning pale as he faced the Potions Master. His expression went from annoyed to fearful. He took the card Hermione held in her hand and headed for the door. "No. No. Everything's fine. Thanks."

Hermione waved and called cheerfully, "Thanks, goodnight." She turned to Severus with a grin. "Thank you for your help but I was fine. Shall we get started?"

"If you really want to be appreciative, we could skip the lesson." Snape's black eyes glittered while he watched the young woman.

"Professor!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose as a headache threatened to appear. "Skip the lesson, Miss Granger. I go home and you go home. Separately." Dear Gods, what did she think he meant? He was her ex-professor for Merlin's sake.

Hermione blushed. "A contract is a contract. Sorry, Professor."

"Fine," Severus stood waiting for instructions, "Well?"

Hermione eyed him up and down. "You're not going to be able to dance freely in all those layers. You'll have to take off your cloak."

Severus glared at the witch. "This is exactly what I had on the other night. It was not a problem then."

Samantha and Katherine had come out of the break room to see what the fuss was about. "Everything okay out here, Hermione?" Samantha asked.

"Fine, Sam. Thanks. Professor?" Hermione arched one brow as she indicated his cloak. The girls giggled as they went back through the doorway.

"Twits," Severus mumbled under his breath.

"Sir?"

"Fine. I will take the bloody cloak off." He was pulling at the clasp to his cloak as he glared at her. A coat stand magically appeared to the side of Hermione. With an annoyed look Snape hung his cloak on the stand. His tone was snide as he asked, "Happy, Miss Granger?"

"I'll be ecstatic as soon as you remove the robes too. Honestly how many layers are you wearing? It's August for god's sake. Why haven't you passed out from the heat?" She thought he was aptly named as the Head of Slytherin. She imagined a snake shedding its layers.

Severus unclasped and unbuttoned his robes in a manner befitting a full ceremonial ritual. He hung the garment up as he said, "I am a wizard. Have you never heard of a cooling charm? Now may we begin before I am forced to take this lesson in my bare skin?"

"The coat, Professor." He was wearing his usual frock coat under the robes and the cloak. Honestly, thought Hermione, how much amour did he need?

He arched one brow as he asked, "You want me completely starkers?"

Hermione patiently said, "Professor, I can see your white shirt under the coat. I promise not to ask you to remove that or your trousers. Although.." Hermione held up her hand and a pink leotard and tutu flew into her palm. "Would you be more comfortable in this?" she asked with a smirk.

An inner voice that was running in her head said, 'Starkers might be nice.' Hermione watched him as he unbuttoned what appeared to be an infinite number of buttons on his frock coat. His body formed a classic 'V' shape, broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist. She watched him from the back as he reached to hang up the coat. 'Nice bum,' her inner voice commented. She shook her head. 'I really need to get out more,' she thought.

Severus was back to full glare as he took off his coat. He had made it down to the final layer, his white dress shirt and black linen trousers. "If you are satisfied, Miss Granger, may we please begin so that I may leave before midnight?"

"If you will come dressed appropriately next time, we won't have to do this again." Her tone was brisk as she discarded the tutu and moved to stand in front of him.

He stood still, silently looking at her. All though she wore heels, he was still several centimeters taller than she. She was wearing a simple black leotard with a dance skirt over it. Her clothing was simple but still managed to show her figure to its best advantage. Her body curved in all the right places. The skirt twirled with her movements.

"All right, Professor. Let's begin. Your right hand around my back and resting on my left shoulder blade please."

Severus slid his hand across her back and rested it on her shoulder blade. He felt a slight shudder pass through her. His eyebrow shot up as he noticed a light flush of color to her face. "Problems, Miss Granger?"

"No, sir. Bring your elbow in and bring your other hand up please." God yes there were problems! Her dreams of him had returned after he left the other day. The scent of the man combined with the sensual slide across her back was not helping. He looked incredibly sexy in a shirt and trousers. 'Get a grip!' she told herself.

They had assumed the position she had shown him the other night. He wasn't listening to her instruction as he thought something was missing. His right hand moved in a circle around her shoulder blade. He looked down and took in her cleavage. 'Why didn't he feel a foundation garment?' he wondered.

"Professor," Hermione's voice cut through his thoughts, "While I have always enjoyed a good back rub, I do not remember requesting one from you. What is the problem?"

It was now Severus's turn to go red in the face. The best defense is an offense. "Are we going to get on with this lesson or not? I do hope your teaching methods are more organized than this."

Hermione snorted as she looked at his face. He looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She'd have to remember to wear something more revealing next week if only to taunt him. "Fine. There are three basic steps used in the Tango. The Side step, the Forward step and the Back step. The direction is relative to the orientation of the upper body. The woman always walks in a straight line either forward or back. The man always moves so that the woman remains in front of him. You 'mark' or direct my movement by the shift of your body. There are two ways to mark a movement. For example, pulling back your right shoulder creates an open space between us. This indicates a turn to the right. I would pivot on the opposite leg to follow through."

Severus did as he was told and felt her move in his arms. She pulled him with her in an awkward turn as she pivoted on her back leg creating a full 90-degree turn to the right.

"The other method to mark a movement would be for your arm to press against my back on the right side while your right hand pressed firmly on my back indicating I should not continue in that direction. Again my movement will shift to the movement of my back leg to complete the turn."

Severus followed her instruction and the pair turned, a little less awkwardly then last time.

"We will work on turns later. I want you to understand the basics of movement first. It is an important part of the Tango for the man to mark each change of direction. A shift in either your hand or the movement of your arm will communicate to me that I need to change direction."

Severus listened intently to her instruction. She had used something with a berry scent that was tickling his sensitive nose. Her voice was smooth and seemed to flow over and through him as she spoke. "So if I were to do this, you would move to my left?" he asked as he matched his actions to his words. He pulled gently on her right hand where their palms were joined while shifting his right along her back. This time the turn was smoother. Hermione's moves were fluid while Severus had always moved with a natural grace.

"Very good, Professor. But in the Tango your left hand would hold firm, telling me not to move up or back. I would then move as your other hand instructed. I'll make a dancer out of you yet." She was smiling up at him as she spoke. They returned to their original position.

"We begin with the Salida, or the beginning sequence of dance steps. Tonight we will work on walking forward and backward with a stop at open stance and closed stance and a counter clockwise turn. I'm going to take a half step back from you. This distance will cause our bodies to lean into each other. This too helps us to move as one. The Tango requires a mark from the man, a motion from the lady and a subsequent motion from the man. Ready?"

Severus nodded his head as Hermione took a half step back and moved her cheek next to his.

Her breasts were now pressed against a broad firm male chest as he held her in his arms. They started in the traditional position facing one another with their feet together. Hermione continued to talk him through the steps as they moved forward and back. They walked through a turn and sped up the movements a little the second time through. They moved with a surprisingly natural rhythm together, considering they were not exactly fast friends to begin with.

The buzzer startled the two of them as they moved through the dance steps again. Hermione laughed as she said, "Well, it appears we've reached the end of our first lesson. You move very well, Professor. All those years of carrying cauldrons back and forth I assume?"

Severus was surprised to find he had enjoyed himself. He was actually sorry the lesson was over. He enjoyed the feel of the young witch in his arms and the sensual sway of their bodies in time to the music. "I would assume. Thank you for the lesson, Miss Granger. It was most interesting. It would be interesting to see the dance performed by professionals. Those that are attuned to each others movements." The dance had a seductive feel to it. Your partner moved against you as the music pounded. 'I am in such trouble,' he thought as he buttoned his frock coat.

"You know what they say don't you, Professor? If done properly, the Tango is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire." Hermione was grinning as she pulled her wand out.

Severus heard various sounds in the background as she pointed her wand at the doorway to the break room and then again at the windows. "You are closing for the evening, Miss Granger?" He donned and closed his robes as he spoke. The coat rack disappeared with a pop as he removed his cloak from the stand.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Katherine and Sam left just after your lesson started. We just need to leave through the front door and I can lock and ward the studio from outside. She indicated the door as she said, "After you, Sir. You know if you're really interested, Professor, we're putting on a performance for the University in two weeks, just before school starts. You're welcome to come and watch the performance if you like."

They had exited through the front door. Hermione had turned to ward and lock it. Severus arched a brow as he asked, "Do you dance in the performance, Miss Granger?"

"Yes. I dance with my boss Ted. He's my partner for the Tango and a Rumba. I can give you the information next week if you're interested. Well good night, Sir. See you next week." And with a pop, Hermione Apparated out.

"Good night, Miss Granger." He said to the empty air. No longer angry about taking lessons, he would be here next week. He suspected she would be making an appearance in his dreams during the week as his body recalled the feel of her moving against him.

He Apparated back to Hogwarts with thoughts of a horizontal expression of a human desire running though his mind concerning a certain witch.

TBC

A/N: Ophidiophobia is the fear of snakes from the Greek ophidon meaning small snake. The steps and form of the dance (as well as those that appear in future chapters) are from this web site: Tango tutorial - http://64.70.140.102/ourdance.htm. The comment about horizontal desire is credited to a journalist, Angela Rippon. Challenge rules can be found following chapter one. Next up, another dance lesson for our friends! Enjoy and let me know what you think. As always thoughts, comments, reviews, whatever are always welcome.

Regards, Pearle