House: Gryffindor

Category: Bonus (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

Prompt: Ballet Dancing

Word Count: 1322

Beta: LovelyHanna and NerdyJFics Thanks Hanna and Jo!

-AN My knowledge of ballet is limited to what I remember from my own dance classes over 20 years ago and wikipedia.

"Tina, can you come here please?"

Tina sighed as she slid the delousing comb through Dougal's fur one final time. Newt had been teaching Tina how to care for his creatures. The mooncalves were easy to deal with as long as you supplied them with plenty of tasty treats. The occamy were content to curl up in their small nests and peck at the insects dropped into their enclosure. The niffler was a thieving little menace, but Tina found that it could be distracted easily enough with a few pieces of leprechaun gold.

Dougal was another story altogether. Newt could not figure out how the demiguise had contracted lice, given that none of the other creatures had suffered an outbreak, and he hadn't been outside the case in months. Despite the unknown cause, the fact remained that the poor creature suffered an infestation and needed treatment. Said treatment was an extremely tedious process given Dougal's propensity to become invisible. Tina was more than happy to be called away from her task.

"Yes Newt?"

"It's the erumpent's mating season again. She's feeling the desire to breed."

Tina gulped. "And what are we going to do about that?"

Newt grinned. "I showed this to Jacob last year when the creatures escaped from my case. We need to get her to complete a mating dance. That should tamp down the urges she's feeling. Hopefully by this time next year, I will have located a male erumpent and my intervention won't be necessary."

"How do we get her to dance?"

"Simple," Newt shrugged, "We must start dancing." With that he squatted down in a low position, with his rear end sticking up into the air. "Watch my moves, Tina. First we must present ourselves to show that we are willing mating partners for the erumpent."

In a quick movement, his heels clicked together, with his toes pointed outwards and his knees bent. It reminded Tina of the ballet dancing lessons that she and Queenie had taken as young girls. First position. Plié.

Suddenly, he spun around with one ankle tucked up so that it touched his other knee. Pirouette. He leapt forward with one leg extended out in front of him and landed with grace. Jeté.

Tina lost herself in her memories for a moment. She recalled her ballet instructor's harsh criticism of her wobbly form. She had been just about as graceful as the newly born hippogriff in the other room of Newt's case.

Over the years, Tina had grown into her gangly limbs and gained a respectable level of control over her extremities. But as she watched Newt lithely leap about, she felt woefully unprepared for the challenge presented to her.

Newt, who had been bent over and wiggling his posterior at the erumpent, noticed that Tina was lost in her own thoughts. "Everything alright, Tina?" He straightened up and walked over to her. The erumpent let out a pathetic sounding whine.

She shrugged. "I will never be able to move that way. Maybe we should get Queenie down here. You can show her how to do the dance instead."

Newt cocked his head to the side as if he were trying to solve a puzzle. His clear blue eyes bore into hers until she squirmed under his scrutiny. "Does the mating dance embarrass you, Tina?"

"In a way, yes. I failed at simple ballet classes as a child. I certainly wouldn't be capable of moving in the way you just did. Why bother teaching me if I won't be able to manage it?"

Newt shook his head. "In so many ways, you're confident and sure. But when it comes to your body, your movement, your sexuality," she blushed at that, "you're insecure. There's no need for that. Let me teach you."

He walked behind her and closed the gap between their bodies. Slowly he bent his knees and with a slight bit of downward pressure on her shoulders, forced her to do the same.

"The important thing," he whispered into her ear, "is to keep your movements fluid. The mating dance doesn't require any precise choreography." He used his foot to push her leg out until they were both in a lunging position. "The erumpent, much like any other creature, is entranced by smooth and confident movement. Just go with the flow."

Tina tensed as she felt Newt step away. "But what if I move in a way that offends her? I don't want my ineptitude to enrage a creature in heat."

"You won't. Tina, I promise you won't. Mating dancing doesn't have rules. Just do what feels natural."

'No rules?' she considered. In general, she loved rules and the order that they provided. The fundamentals of ballet dancing consisted of strict rules that she could not make her body abide by.

But since meeting Newt, her strict hold on the rules had loosened. Of course, before Newt had arrived, she'd stood up for poor Credence thereby requiring the obliviation of two dozen of the New Salemers. But since he'd made a place for himself in her life, she'd come to realize that maybe there were more important things than following the rule book to the letter. His creatures thrived by doing what felt natural to them; why shouldn't humans?

Despite her new resolve, Tina found it difficult to make her body obey her brain's commands. She dropped to the ground and attempted to roll over and spring back onto her feet. However, that was easier said than done; Tina's momentum knocked her off balance when she rose back up.

Just as her nose was about to make contact with the grassy plains that Newt had conjured for the erumpent, she felt a firm hand wrap around her wrist to pull her upright.

"Let's try it this way," said Newt as he drew her back into his arms. He held her tightly as they swayed to the music of the creatures.

Over Newt's shoulder, Tina spotted the erumpent watching them in fascination. The gigantic creature let out a low whimper full of want as it slowly started to sway from side to side. Tina watched as the erumpent spun around in a circle, first waving its glowing horn at the pair of humans and then its hind quarters.

"Newt!" Tina whispered as she unnecessarily whacked at his shoulder. "I think it's working."

He beamed down at her. "Of course it is. The erumpent is responding to our smooth, confident movements. She can smell our own pheromones mixed with the erumpent musk I applied earlier. I'd imagine it's a heady combination."

"If this works, does that mean I won't have to leap about like an uncoordinated ballerina again next year?"

Newt threw his head back and laughed, drawing Tina in with his mirth. "No, but I would recommend you give it another chance. It really is quite fun. Just think of it less as a ballet exercise and more as an interpretative dance. The erumpent couldn't care less about proper positioning and form."

Tina considered that for a moment. "I suppose I could give it another shot. But maybe later? Right now, it seems like this did the trick and I'm happy where I am."

"Given the opportunity to keep you in my arms while satisfying my creatures at the same time, I certainly won't object." Newt grinned and pressed a kiss into her hair. "There are plenty of forms of mating dancing. I want to try them all out with you."

Tina didn't even bother hiding her blush as she glanced over his shoulder once more. With a contented smile, she watched the erumpent happily twirl about. To the music of the erumpent's whines, the occamies' clicks, and the mooncalves bleats, she enjoyed her mating dance with Newt.