When Hermione had agitated for magic-equipped televisions and DVD players to be provided for the common rooms, she'd never quite thought that someday she might return to Gryffindor Tower to find various Slytherins scattered around in front of the television and all the lights off. She looked around as best she could and scurried in to sit down next to Harry, who'd just hit play and flopped on the nearest couch. "What's going on?"
"We're watching a traditional muggle Christmas story," said Goyle from the other side of Harry. "Pass the fluff corn."
"Popcorn," Hermione said absently as she looked at the screen, then turned to Harry. "Die Hard? Are you serious?"
"It's a classic," he said happily, picking up what looked like a fast food cup, except for the fact that it was made of silver. "We forgot cups when we were ordering the food, but the house elves came through as best they could."
"Pass the caramels," came a basso profundo rumble that could only belong to Zabini. Harry picked up a box of candy and tossed it back. Luna was the one who actually caught it, and she said dreamily, "I love caramels. Can we share?"
Hermione didn't hear the answer, as Ginny was snapping, "Get your filthy hand out of my popped corn, Malfoy!"
"Popcorn," Hermione said again, then oohed as Harry handed her a Dr. Pepper and a bag of licorice.
The next few hours passed much the same way, with random pauses for explanations. Afterwards, someone restored the lights, and Hermione looked around. Luna was calmly popping caramels alternately into her mouth and Blaise's, Harry and Goyle were both digging through a single large popcorn bowl, and Ginny and Draco were separated by a fuming Ron, who had come in halfway through the movie. The big surprise was on the couch furthest from the screen, where Pansy was wrapped around Neville Longbottom, kissing him like she was a parasite and he was an endless source of food.
"Oh, for God's sake, Pansy, don't molest the boy," snapped Draco. "You know he couldn't possibly handle you."
"Jealous?" Ginny asked archly, but Pansy snorted a laugh as she detached from Neville.
"We're going to get a room," Pansy said, standing up and adjusting her robes. "Come on, Longbottom."
"Call me Neville," he croaked, holding his robes away from his body as he stood hastily and took her up the stairs to the boys' dorm.
"Well," said Hermione into the long silence that followed. "Um, that was a good movie, didn't you think? I don't usually watch it at Christmas, but I do like it a lot."
No one was responding, and Hermione found that she wasn't capable of stopping the flow of babble. "I practically had it memorized at one point, especially Hans's lines. I know he's the bad guy, but he's so terribly sexy, and--"
"Sexy?" Ron sounded shocked and horrified. "The bearded git? The one who looks like Snape?""
"He does not!" Hermione said indignantly. "He was one of my first crushes, and he's still dreamy."
Ron looked at her with disbelief. "He could be Snape's bloody twin."
Rolling her eyes, Hermione declared, "You're mad. That's just all there is to it."
"Actually..." was Harry's contribution."
"Don't you start," she snapped, "you're always on his side."
"No, he's right," said Ginny thoughtfully. "If Snape cut his hair and grew a beard, maybe got out in the sun a bit..."
Hermione shook her head and looked around for support, but everyone was nodding. "He doesn't! Does he?"
"You keep telling yourself that, Granger," said Draco, standing and stretching. "Come on, my lot. We need to get down to the rehearsal room, I've got an idea."
Goyle sighed and heaved his bulk off the sofa, tousling Harry's hair as he walked past. "Thanks, Harry. We'd have to do it again sometime."
"Any time, Greg," Harry said. "I've got the two sequels, too. We could make a night of it."
This prompted a few odd looks from the other Slytherins, but Hermione decided that trying to explain to Harry how it sounded would be too daunting a task to take on at the moment.
***
The night of the concert, Hermione still didn't know several key things. First of all, she had no idea what kind of competition they faced; the Slytherins had been very careful not to let on even the slightest hint of what they were planning, and she didn't know anything about the other contestants because the previous concerts had just been so much background noise while she was studying. Worse, she had no idea what she was doing there - as far as she could tell, a metronome could play her part. And, while it was a totally trivial detail, she really wished she knew her own band's name.
She didn't dare ask, though, because Ginny was about to have a nervous breakdown. The tips of satin slippers and a white-knuckled hand were all that was visible outside the cloak that covered her from neck to floor. "I still don't see why Hermione couldn't do the singing," Ginny grumbled, a slight tinge of hysteria in her tone.
"Because you're not a wimp," Luna said calmly.
Hermione backed away, trying to make herself inconspicuous. She ended up almost knocking over Blaise's keyboard, and as she righted it her attention was caught by the various markings. Touching them didn't seem to do anything, and the keys were silent as she pressed them.
"Use your wand." Blaise's rumbling voice came from right behind her, startling her badly. He jabbed his finger at the keyboard. "Here for amplified, here for normal, and here so only you can hear it."
He walked away then, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how gorgeous the boy was, something about him just made her jumpy and nervous. Shrugging it off, she touched her wand to the privacy rune and started experimenting with how the keyboard worked.
The rest of the members of the two bands were in the wings, watching a group from Hufflepuff, all handsome and well-groomed, singing about love while dancing in ritualized choreography to music that was piped in. Ginny sneered. "Well, they're certainly good at being pretty."
Draco stiffened, but when Ginny looked at him, clearly expecting a comment, he closed his mouth and glared. "Come on," he snapped to his band mates, cutting Ginny off as she was taking breath to speak. "We need to go get set up."
Hermione looked up and started to step back from the keyboard, but Blaise just walked by with a muttered, "Camouflage."
"Does that mean Hermione can keep playing with it?" Luna called out. The smile he gave her in response made Hermione weak in the knees, and it hadn't been directed at her. Luna remained unaffected, just smiling back and calling out thanks as Draco and Greg dragged Blaise away.
"Poor boy," Luna sighed. "He really needs to be more careful about the dyes in his robes. They're really starting to have a detrimental effect on his communication skills."
Discretion being the better part of not getting a migraine from trying to talk to Luna, Hermione turned back to the keyboard. "Hand me the sheet music, would you? And after we perform, someone's going to explain why no one ever showed me a wizard keyboard before, and tell me how to buy one."
"I've got some catalogs," Cho said, "but keyboards are looked down on. They're not really seen as taking any skill to play."
Hermione snorted. "Tell that to the six piano teachers I ran through before magic precluded arts in my education."
"In the future," said Ginny carefully, "perhaps you could focus more on sharing information instead of having hidden depths."
Thankfully, Hermione was spared the necessity of floundering for a comeback by the announcer barely getting two words out before wild applause and cheers from the audience drowned him out - making Hermione miss the name of the Slytherin's band. As the stage continued to stay dark, the applause died out, until the hall was entirely silent.
"We're watching a traditional muggle Christmas story," said Goyle from the other side of Harry. "Pass the fluff corn."
"Popcorn," Hermione said absently as she looked at the screen, then turned to Harry. "Die Hard? Are you serious?"
"It's a classic," he said happily, picking up what looked like a fast food cup, except for the fact that it was made of silver. "We forgot cups when we were ordering the food, but the house elves came through as best they could."
"Pass the caramels," came a basso profundo rumble that could only belong to Zabini. Harry picked up a box of candy and tossed it back. Luna was the one who actually caught it, and she said dreamily, "I love caramels. Can we share?"
Hermione didn't hear the answer, as Ginny was snapping, "Get your filthy hand out of my popped corn, Malfoy!"
"Popcorn," Hermione said again, then oohed as Harry handed her a Dr. Pepper and a bag of licorice.
The next few hours passed much the same way, with random pauses for explanations. Afterwards, someone restored the lights, and Hermione looked around. Luna was calmly popping caramels alternately into her mouth and Blaise's, Harry and Goyle were both digging through a single large popcorn bowl, and Ginny and Draco were separated by a fuming Ron, who had come in halfway through the movie. The big surprise was on the couch furthest from the screen, where Pansy was wrapped around Neville Longbottom, kissing him like she was a parasite and he was an endless source of food.
"Oh, for God's sake, Pansy, don't molest the boy," snapped Draco. "You know he couldn't possibly handle you."
"Jealous?" Ginny asked archly, but Pansy snorted a laugh as she detached from Neville.
"We're going to get a room," Pansy said, standing up and adjusting her robes. "Come on, Longbottom."
"Call me Neville," he croaked, holding his robes away from his body as he stood hastily and took her up the stairs to the boys' dorm.
"Well," said Hermione into the long silence that followed. "Um, that was a good movie, didn't you think? I don't usually watch it at Christmas, but I do like it a lot."
No one was responding, and Hermione found that she wasn't capable of stopping the flow of babble. "I practically had it memorized at one point, especially Hans's lines. I know he's the bad guy, but he's so terribly sexy, and--"
"Sexy?" Ron sounded shocked and horrified. "The bearded git? The one who looks like Snape?""
"He does not!" Hermione said indignantly. "He was one of my first crushes, and he's still dreamy."
Ron looked at her with disbelief. "He could be Snape's bloody twin."
Rolling her eyes, Hermione declared, "You're mad. That's just all there is to it."
"Actually..." was Harry's contribution."
"Don't you start," she snapped, "you're always on his side."
"No, he's right," said Ginny thoughtfully. "If Snape cut his hair and grew a beard, maybe got out in the sun a bit..."
Hermione shook her head and looked around for support, but everyone was nodding. "He doesn't! Does he?"
"You keep telling yourself that, Granger," said Draco, standing and stretching. "Come on, my lot. We need to get down to the rehearsal room, I've got an idea."
Goyle sighed and heaved his bulk off the sofa, tousling Harry's hair as he walked past. "Thanks, Harry. We'd have to do it again sometime."
"Any time, Greg," Harry said. "I've got the two sequels, too. We could make a night of it."
This prompted a few odd looks from the other Slytherins, but Hermione decided that trying to explain to Harry how it sounded would be too daunting a task to take on at the moment.
***
The night of the concert, Hermione still didn't know several key things. First of all, she had no idea what kind of competition they faced; the Slytherins had been very careful not to let on even the slightest hint of what they were planning, and she didn't know anything about the other contestants because the previous concerts had just been so much background noise while she was studying. Worse, she had no idea what she was doing there - as far as she could tell, a metronome could play her part. And, while it was a totally trivial detail, she really wished she knew her own band's name.
She didn't dare ask, though, because Ginny was about to have a nervous breakdown. The tips of satin slippers and a white-knuckled hand were all that was visible outside the cloak that covered her from neck to floor. "I still don't see why Hermione couldn't do the singing," Ginny grumbled, a slight tinge of hysteria in her tone.
"Because you're not a wimp," Luna said calmly.
Hermione backed away, trying to make herself inconspicuous. She ended up almost knocking over Blaise's keyboard, and as she righted it her attention was caught by the various markings. Touching them didn't seem to do anything, and the keys were silent as she pressed them.
"Use your wand." Blaise's rumbling voice came from right behind her, startling her badly. He jabbed his finger at the keyboard. "Here for amplified, here for normal, and here so only you can hear it."
He walked away then, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how gorgeous the boy was, something about him just made her jumpy and nervous. Shrugging it off, she touched her wand to the privacy rune and started experimenting with how the keyboard worked.
The rest of the members of the two bands were in the wings, watching a group from Hufflepuff, all handsome and well-groomed, singing about love while dancing in ritualized choreography to music that was piped in. Ginny sneered. "Well, they're certainly good at being pretty."
Draco stiffened, but when Ginny looked at him, clearly expecting a comment, he closed his mouth and glared. "Come on," he snapped to his band mates, cutting Ginny off as she was taking breath to speak. "We need to go get set up."
Hermione looked up and started to step back from the keyboard, but Blaise just walked by with a muttered, "Camouflage."
"Does that mean Hermione can keep playing with it?" Luna called out. The smile he gave her in response made Hermione weak in the knees, and it hadn't been directed at her. Luna remained unaffected, just smiling back and calling out thanks as Draco and Greg dragged Blaise away.
"Poor boy," Luna sighed. "He really needs to be more careful about the dyes in his robes. They're really starting to have a detrimental effect on his communication skills."
Discretion being the better part of not getting a migraine from trying to talk to Luna, Hermione turned back to the keyboard. "Hand me the sheet music, would you? And after we perform, someone's going to explain why no one ever showed me a wizard keyboard before, and tell me how to buy one."
"I've got some catalogs," Cho said, "but keyboards are looked down on. They're not really seen as taking any skill to play."
Hermione snorted. "Tell that to the six piano teachers I ran through before magic precluded arts in my education."
"In the future," said Ginny carefully, "perhaps you could focus more on sharing information instead of having hidden depths."
Thankfully, Hermione was spared the necessity of floundering for a comeback by the announcer barely getting two words out before wild applause and cheers from the audience drowned him out - making Hermione miss the name of the Slytherin's band. As the stage continued to stay dark, the applause died out, until the hall was entirely silent.
Author notes: So, Miran, does this count as having stopped taunting you, or no?
To Be Continued.
Mynuet is the author of 71 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 41 members. Members who liked Bands also liked 1025 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 41 members. Members who liked Bands also liked 1025 other stories.
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