In case you're wondering, Voldemort's defeat happened some months ago and was really terribly anti-climactic. * Or it was all a mass hallucination and he never rose the second time, so Harry's heroism was in ending the delusion. Or some other wildly improbable explanation that allows me to skip all the angst and drama and go straight to a frothy guilty pleasure of a fic.
(*Shoutout to Cave Laborem, who caught my typo so that Voldemort's defeat was a let down rather than a bias against the weather.)
Also, any suggestions of songs for the challenge (you'll see what I mean) are welcome. As soon as I've picked a song, I'll be able to get the next chapter out. While normally I worry about the timeline, for this fic I'm suspending all that and just picking out songs without regard for whether they'd actually have been around and popular in England at the time the books are actually set.
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They'd been rehearsing for two weeks when Ron finally noticed Hermione was with Ginny rather than in the library, and that was only because he'd wanted to copy her homework and discovered she hadn't finished it yet. Ron's comments and sniggers were sufficiently annoying that Ginny and Hermione fled to the rehearsal room rather than listen. He followed them, and an ominous silence descended as he noticed who else was there.
Just as his face had shaded over from red to purple, he was hit with spells from two directions. Malfoy's spell meant that the explosion of wrath was completely silent, and then Hermione's sent Ron reeling backwards until he fell into the hallway. Standing over him and looming in the doorway, Hermione said, "I am doing this because I want to, and if you try in any way to make a fuss, I will teach Ginny how to actually hex off certain body parts of yours. If you can be civil, then we'll discuss this." She slammed the door and Ron sat on the ground, staring, until it opened again. "And do your own bloody homework!"
This time the door slammed so hard that the frame rattled, as did the windows further down the stone corridor. Deciding in favor of the better part of valor, Ron decided to avoid storming back in at the moment and instead went to find Harry.
After Harry was found, a certain amount of pantomime, and then some shouting once the silencing spell was removed, Ron finally shook his head and said, "There's nothing for it, Harry. Bang a tambourine if you have to, but someone has to be there to make sure nothing happens." Ron's hand landed heavily on his friend's shoulder like a harbinger of inevitable doom.
Rebelling despite the probable futility of it, Harry said, "Come on, Ron, they've been practicing for ages, you said so yourself, and nothing's happened so far."
"Not yet," said Ron darkly. "And we don't know that for certain, do we?"
Desperate, Harry said, "How do you know they'll even let me in?"
"Simple," said Ron, smiling and magnanimous in victory and secure in the knowledge that he'd left out mentioning Hermione's threat in his recounting to Harry the story so far. "If they don't let you in, you'll just use your cloak and sneak in anyway."
Harry groaned. "It's at times like this I almost miss Voldemort."
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Harry had hoped to approach Hermione privately to bring up the idea of attending rehearsals, but it was not to be. When she called out for him to enter her private room, he found himself confronted with all the band members. Looking from Hermione to Ginny to Cho to Luna, he had the thought that if they just added Parvati Patil and perhaps Fleur Delacour, every girl he'd ever had a crush on while at Hogwarts would be staring at him quizzically. It was not a situation designed to allow him to form words, or even thoughts. The closest he could manage sounded a lot like "Bwergh."
"Come on in, Harry," said Hermione, looking at him expectantly and shifting on the bed to move papers aside. They could've been plans for blowing up the school for all Harry cared; the presence of a bed in proximity with so many pretty girls was making him incapable of thinking or moving. "Harry?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake," snorted Ginny. Rolling her eyes, she strolled over to Harry and smacked the back of his head, making him stumble forward.
"Let me guess - Ron sent you." Ginny shook her head and flopped back down on the bed. "We should just be glad he didn't try sneaking you both in under the invisibility cloak."
"He's got quidditch," Harry muttered. "Says I don't need as much practice."
"Oh, honestly," said Hermione with a sniff.
Cho held up a hand. "Not a word against quidditch or I get to sneer at the collection of library cards."
Before a fight could start, Luna piped up. "So, if he's staying, can we do his hair and nails?"
Harry did not like the looks he got. Not at all. Thankfully, Hermione took pity on him and said, "We have to find the right song for Ginny's challenge, remember?" After a speculative look at Harry she added, "Maybe later."
"Hermione!" he yelped.
"You shouldn't let Ron push you around," she said with a shrug.
"What about this one?" Cho said, holding up a sheet of music. "Simple, but catchy."
"Pass it over." The sheet music made its way to Ginny's hands and she read it over, scowling. "It's sugary, but is it sugary enough?" She hummed a few bars and turned to Harry. "What do you think? Does it sound like the kind of things Malfoy's band plays?"
"Malfoy has a band?" The girls all stared at Harry as if he'd grown another head. "What? Ron just said they were Slytherins."
"You really don't notice anything that doesn't have anything to do with you, do you?" Ginny said with disgust.
"Hey!" Harry cried in outrage. "I was busy! Defeating the Dark Lord, remember?"
Luna shook her head. "It's all right, we understand," she said, standing up to pat Harry's arm. "You can't help that you haven't noticed the bands performing in the Great Hall after dinner once a month for the last six months." He blinked at her, completely at a loss. "You've got the worst case of thieving echissans I've ever seen, but that's not your fault, and once we've won the battle of the bands, we'll all help track down the reticulated negative poppy that should restore most of your observational capacity."
After a long pause for staring at Luna, Hermione seemed to decide in favor of acting like the other girl hadn't spoken. "Well, Harry, in addition to the main competition, which is focused here at Hogwarts but not strictly limited to students, Malfoy and Ginny made a bet during one of their arguments."
That Malfoy and Ginny would argue seemed to be a given, and Hermione continued. "For the next performance, Malfoy's band has to play in our style, which is more stylistically complex, primarily alternative and heavy metal in style with a strong influence from classic rock ranging from the Beatles in their experimental period to Pink Floyd and even some American singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan and Carol King, while we have to play--"
"--Crap," said Ginny.
"Pop," Hermione said, ignoring Ginny as handily as she'd ignored Luna. "We're just trying to decide what to play and how to arrange it for oboe and cello."
Harry blinked. "An oboe?"
"You wouldn't believe what she can do with that oboe," said Hermione.
(*Shoutout to Cave Laborem, who caught my typo so that Voldemort's defeat was a let down rather than a bias against the weather.)
Also, any suggestions of songs for the challenge (you'll see what I mean) are welcome. As soon as I've picked a song, I'll be able to get the next chapter out. While normally I worry about the timeline, for this fic I'm suspending all that and just picking out songs without regard for whether they'd actually have been around and popular in England at the time the books are actually set.
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They'd been rehearsing for two weeks when Ron finally noticed Hermione was with Ginny rather than in the library, and that was only because he'd wanted to copy her homework and discovered she hadn't finished it yet. Ron's comments and sniggers were sufficiently annoying that Ginny and Hermione fled to the rehearsal room rather than listen. He followed them, and an ominous silence descended as he noticed who else was there.
Just as his face had shaded over from red to purple, he was hit with spells from two directions. Malfoy's spell meant that the explosion of wrath was completely silent, and then Hermione's sent Ron reeling backwards until he fell into the hallway. Standing over him and looming in the doorway, Hermione said, "I am doing this because I want to, and if you try in any way to make a fuss, I will teach Ginny how to actually hex off certain body parts of yours. If you can be civil, then we'll discuss this." She slammed the door and Ron sat on the ground, staring, until it opened again. "And do your own bloody homework!"
This time the door slammed so hard that the frame rattled, as did the windows further down the stone corridor. Deciding in favor of the better part of valor, Ron decided to avoid storming back in at the moment and instead went to find Harry.
After Harry was found, a certain amount of pantomime, and then some shouting once the silencing spell was removed, Ron finally shook his head and said, "There's nothing for it, Harry. Bang a tambourine if you have to, but someone has to be there to make sure nothing happens." Ron's hand landed heavily on his friend's shoulder like a harbinger of inevitable doom.
Rebelling despite the probable futility of it, Harry said, "Come on, Ron, they've been practicing for ages, you said so yourself, and nothing's happened so far."
"Not yet," said Ron darkly. "And we don't know that for certain, do we?"
Desperate, Harry said, "How do you know they'll even let me in?"
"Simple," said Ron, smiling and magnanimous in victory and secure in the knowledge that he'd left out mentioning Hermione's threat in his recounting to Harry the story so far. "If they don't let you in, you'll just use your cloak and sneak in anyway."
Harry groaned. "It's at times like this I almost miss Voldemort."
-------------
Harry had hoped to approach Hermione privately to bring up the idea of attending rehearsals, but it was not to be. When she called out for him to enter her private room, he found himself confronted with all the band members. Looking from Hermione to Ginny to Cho to Luna, he had the thought that if they just added Parvati Patil and perhaps Fleur Delacour, every girl he'd ever had a crush on while at Hogwarts would be staring at him quizzically. It was not a situation designed to allow him to form words, or even thoughts. The closest he could manage sounded a lot like "Bwergh."
"Come on in, Harry," said Hermione, looking at him expectantly and shifting on the bed to move papers aside. They could've been plans for blowing up the school for all Harry cared; the presence of a bed in proximity with so many pretty girls was making him incapable of thinking or moving. "Harry?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake," snorted Ginny. Rolling her eyes, she strolled over to Harry and smacked the back of his head, making him stumble forward.
"Let me guess - Ron sent you." Ginny shook her head and flopped back down on the bed. "We should just be glad he didn't try sneaking you both in under the invisibility cloak."
"He's got quidditch," Harry muttered. "Says I don't need as much practice."
"Oh, honestly," said Hermione with a sniff.
Cho held up a hand. "Not a word against quidditch or I get to sneer at the collection of library cards."
Before a fight could start, Luna piped up. "So, if he's staying, can we do his hair and nails?"
Harry did not like the looks he got. Not at all. Thankfully, Hermione took pity on him and said, "We have to find the right song for Ginny's challenge, remember?" After a speculative look at Harry she added, "Maybe later."
"Hermione!" he yelped.
"You shouldn't let Ron push you around," she said with a shrug.
"What about this one?" Cho said, holding up a sheet of music. "Simple, but catchy."
"Pass it over." The sheet music made its way to Ginny's hands and she read it over, scowling. "It's sugary, but is it sugary enough?" She hummed a few bars and turned to Harry. "What do you think? Does it sound like the kind of things Malfoy's band plays?"
"Malfoy has a band?" The girls all stared at Harry as if he'd grown another head. "What? Ron just said they were Slytherins."
"You really don't notice anything that doesn't have anything to do with you, do you?" Ginny said with disgust.
"Hey!" Harry cried in outrage. "I was busy! Defeating the Dark Lord, remember?"
Luna shook her head. "It's all right, we understand," she said, standing up to pat Harry's arm. "You can't help that you haven't noticed the bands performing in the Great Hall after dinner once a month for the last six months." He blinked at her, completely at a loss. "You've got the worst case of thieving echissans I've ever seen, but that's not your fault, and once we've won the battle of the bands, we'll all help track down the reticulated negative poppy that should restore most of your observational capacity."
After a long pause for staring at Luna, Hermione seemed to decide in favor of acting like the other girl hadn't spoken. "Well, Harry, in addition to the main competition, which is focused here at Hogwarts but not strictly limited to students, Malfoy and Ginny made a bet during one of their arguments."
That Malfoy and Ginny would argue seemed to be a given, and Hermione continued. "For the next performance, Malfoy's band has to play in our style, which is more stylistically complex, primarily alternative and heavy metal in style with a strong influence from classic rock ranging from the Beatles in their experimental period to Pink Floyd and even some American singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan and Carol King, while we have to play--"
"--Crap," said Ginny.
"Pop," Hermione said, ignoring Ginny as handily as she'd ignored Luna. "We're just trying to decide what to play and how to arrange it for oboe and cello."
Harry blinked. "An oboe?"
"You wouldn't believe what she can do with that oboe," said Hermione.
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