Chapter 52 - A Dance with the Devil

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Authors notes on music:

Dance with the Devil is a song that is, in theory, a waltz. It is far too fast for a standard waltz (84-90 bpm) and too slow for Viennese Waltz (180 bpm). Its tempo of about 145-150 bpm makes it a very uncomfortable, unnatural waltz, thus, it is the soundtrack for this chapter.

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Trembling, crawlin' across my skin

Feeling your cold dead eyes

Stealing the life of mine

I believe in you, I can show you that

I can see right through

All your empty lies

I won't last long 

In this world so wrong

Dance with the Devil

-Breaking Benjamin

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Juliette POV


PUTAIN DE MERDE PUTAIN PUTAIN PUTAIN PU-

"Fancy seeing you 'ere, I did not realize you were teaching?" his thick French accent drew out his English as he offered me a glass of champagne. I wanted to smack it out of his hand, but my arms moved of their own accord and accepted the goblet from him.

"What are you doing here, Renatus?" I asked with a tight smile, completely ignoring his question. It was none of his business why I was here. I set the champagne down on a nearby table, not wanting him to mistake any politeness as an invitation.

As I placed it on the table, I noted that my rings were glowing for the first time in weeks.

"Oh, so formal with my full name, my love?" he drawled.

Sebastian's nickname for me was like poison dripping from Renatus's lips, and I had to suppress a shudder.

"Well, Juliette, I am 'ere as a liaison from the Ministry, a chaperone if you will, for the Beauxbatons students."

I nodded and tried to move around him, but he blocked my path.

"No drink? A dance, then?" he asked with a hand extended out to me.

A dance? With him? In his fucking dreams.

"Sure," I said through gritted teeth, not wanting to cause a scene by rejecting him. I knew damn well what kind of a scene this man was capable of creating, and I was not about to let him ruin this perfect night with his temper.

The Yule Ball was meant to be a night of international magical cooperation. What type of host would I be if I refused a dance?

When the music started, I was not so sure it was a waltz. It was too fast, a completely different meter, and it sounded like more of a Quadrille, maybe even a polka.

True to form, Renatus chose to waltz anyway and he did so aggressively

He practically dragged me across the floor, his strangling grip on my waist and hand had me worrying whether my bones were going to break. I stepped on his foot at least three times, mostly on accident.

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