Battle of the Bands

Battle of the Bands

A quiet seventh year. Something Harry'd never expected, he'd never even dreamed that could happen after Voldemort.

That's how he divided his life now: the time before Voldemort, when it was perfectly normal to wake up hating Malfoy, and the time after, in which Harry soon discovered that not only did he not hate Draco but that he wanted to snog the boy to death.

But that was his only conflict. Yes, he had the every day trial of school, the Dursleys, Quidditch and the sheer willpower needed by the best mate of a Weasley. Those were the simple problems, little day-to-day battles that dissolved in the wave of a hand, or in Harry's case, a wand.

There was no more struggle to live, he hadn't lost anyone else close to him in the final fight against Voldemort, he didn't need to prove himself as savior of the wizarding world anymore. He was just Harry again.

However, seventh year would not be as quiet for just Harry. Thanks to a certain headmaster named Albus Dumbledore.

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"He's got to be kidding!"

"There's no way I'm doing that!"

Draco heard the comments before he even entered the hall for breakfast Monday morning. When the other students noticed he was behind them, they spread apart like the red sea. He chuckled and smoothly stepped forward between the two sides. The object of everyone's attention, a simple announcement posted by the headmaster, caught his attention.

Draco skimmed it briefly and smirking broadly, snatched the paper from the wall. He sauntered over to the Gryffindor table, paper in hand. Slapping it down so hard the aftereffects shook the table, he smiled down at Harry, who flushed, and quickly absorbed himself in his food.

"Did you read this, Potter?" he asked.

Harry shook his head, still avoiding eye contact. Ron glared up at Draco from his seat next to Harry.

"What's it to you, Malfoy?" he growled, drawing himself to his full six feet.

Draco scoffed and snapped his fingers. A group of Slytherins, including Blaise Zambini and Pansy Parkinson, trotted over to stand directly behind him.

Seamus and Dean jumped to their feet beside Ron. Neville, his hands shaking, knocked over a jug of orange juice, soaking everything in its immediate vicinity. Harry yelped. He jumped up, holding the tail of his shirt away from his body. His white tee slowly began to turn a yellow-orange shade.

"Thanks, Neville." he glared at the smaller boy, totally oblivious to the battle going on around them.

Hermione rolled her eyes and continuing rereading Magical Maladies: Everything You Need To Know If You Want To Be A Healer.

If they were going to get themselves into this mess, they could fight their way out of it. She'd gotten them out of far too many fixes in the past and it was high time Ron, and especially Harry, learned a little common sense. Although it seemed that poor Harry, in this instance, had no idea what was going on.

"I think that we should allow this to be the deciding factor between our two houses. A little competion to settle the best: Gryffindor or Slytherin." Draco motioned towards the limp paper, which now soaked up half the juice on the table.

Ron frowned and looking to Dean and Seamus for their approval, nodded.

"We'll do it. Right, Harry?" he asked the boy beside him, who steadly patted at the orange stain forming across his white tee.

"Yeah, whatever, Ron," he muttered back, not paying a bit of attention to what the conversation was about.

Draco nodded. Stepping up until he and Harry were inches apart, he poked the other in the chest. His gaze turned on Harry; the Gryffindor shivered under his stare.

"I guess I'll be seeing you there." Motioning for the others to follow, he removed himself to his side of the hall.

Harry blinked several times.

"What?" Puzzled, he turned to Hermione for help. Sighing deeply, she shut her book with a clap.

"Don't you understand, Harry? You've just agreed to join the Battle of the Bands competion that Professor Dumbledore is sponsoring at Hogwarts this weekend."

"I don't remember agreeing to that...Ron!" Harry whirled around to face his best mate.

Ron grinned sheepishly and looked to the others for support. Seamus and Dean quickly absorbed themselves in their textbooks before Harry could notice them.

"Look at it this way, mate. If we beat Malfoy, we'll never have to listen to the slimy git ever again," he remarked, ducking the ball of wet paper Harry threw.

"And if we don't, he'll never let us live it down! I can't handle that much attention from him. It 's bad enough we have classes together!" Harry yelled, before hiding his face in his hands. Hermione patted his back.

"Why are you worried about that?" Ron asked.

Harry's ears turned a delightful shade of maroon.

"Look, Harry, it won't be that bad. I think it'll be kinda fun. We can get a band together with the five of us. One of us is bound to be able to sing, Dean knows how to play a little guitar, Neville can play the keyboard," Seamus continued droning on.

"Really, Neville? That's great!" Hermione interrupted. Neville flushed and ducked his head, mumbling a thank you.

Harry groaned and banged his head on the table, hard.

Ron still looked confused.

"What is it, Ron?" Hermione snapped.

"What exactly is this Battle of the Stands thing anyway?" he asked.

"Bands, Ron. Bands."

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"Alright. Now first things first: who's going to sing?" Hermione glanced around the common room.

As the self-appointed manager, she'd decided to hold a meeting that night in the Gryffindor common room, in order to determine the members of the official Gryffindor band. Neville, Seamus, Dean, Ron, Parvati, Lavender and a reluctant Harry set in a ring around the fireplace. They looked at each other and back at Hermione, who inwardly groaned.

Without a singer, there was no band. Without a band, there was no point in even trying to compete.

Ron waved at her, drawing her attention. Raising a hand, he cleared his throat.

"I nominate Harry to sing."

"WHAT!" Harry screamed and tried to make a run for it. Seamus caught around him the waist before he could make it to the stairs and bodily held the smaller boy in place.

"I second it," said Seamus breathlessly, as he fought Harry's efforts to get free.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Neville spoke up.

"I've heard him in the morning when he thinks everyone's asleep. He's really good, especially with those muggle tunes he knows."

Hermione wrote Harry's name beside the singer slot on her list.

"Don't I have a say in this?" he asked.

"NO!"

Hermione turned back to her checklist.

"Now, what about the others? I know Neville can play keyboard, and Dean guitar but what about the drums?"

Now it was Ron's turn to try and hide. Harry grinned maliciously.

"Weren't you just telling me, Ron,about that set of drums your dad confiscated during a muggle raid? The ones you practice on all the time at home?"

Everyone stared at Ron, whose face was now ten shades brighter then his hair.

"So," he squeaked,"so what of it? I can play a little."

Hermione nodded sharply and scratched him down, along with Dean and Neville.

"Seamus, Parvati and Lavender, what about you?" she asked them.

"I can help with all the equipment and I can sing a little backup as long as I'm drowned out," Seamus said.

Hermione wrote him down under extra help.

"Parvati? Lavender?"

"We are here on behalf of fashion. What's a band without hot guys in great clothes?" Parvati smiled, throwing her hair over one shoulder. Lavender giggled in agreement.

Hermione wrote them under extra help as well.

"That settles it then. We'll get the instruments from Professor McGonagal and start practicing."

"What about the song, Hermione?" Ron remarked.

Harry grabbed the checklist from her hands and scribbled a title down.

"We'll do this one," he said, showing her.

"This one? Harry, are you sure?" Only Hermione knew how he really felt about Malfoy.

Harry nodded.

Seamus, grinning, launched himself at his housemates.

"This is gonna be great!" he shouted.

"Seamus, get off! You're choking me," Harry moaned.

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The day of the competion had the entire castle humming with anticipation. The famed rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin would end today, decided in the muggle tradition of may the best win.

Among the contestants, only Harry felt any apprehension about preforming. Sure, Neville's face really wasn't that sickening shade of green and Dean never snapped two guitar strings at once but they weren't going to unveil their secret feelings for everyone to see.

Yanking on the end of the scarlet silk shirt Lavender and Parvati made him wear, he resisted the urge to adjust his now nonexistent glasses. The two girls forced a vision correction potion on him, along with gel for his now tamed hair and magicked red highlights that Harry privately thought looked rather ridiculous.

Not that they'd asked any of the boys what they'd thought before the girls forced the clothes and 'much needed extras' on the band members. Ron now sported a new spiky 'do with blonde highlights, ripped black jeans and a red t-shirt. Neville even had on a black vest and loose fitting shirt and his hair in a ponytail. Dean, having refused any hair help, wore the only gold shirt in the group with a pair of dark red, almost black, pants. They'd all pulled the line on jewelry and the girls had gone away to sulk, leaving Hermione to conduct a last minute practice session.

Glancing around the hall, Harry noticed that the Slytherins hadn't arrived yet. His stomach did a cartwheel as he tried to calmly bite all his nails to the quick. Hermione patted his hand affectionately as the others sat down around him.

Seats had been arranged in the Great Hall, with the tables and chairs removed for room for the large stage that was now at the front. Professor Dumbledore floated up the stage steps, with Professor McGonagal right behind him. The student body silenced immediately.

"Welcome to Hogwart's first Battle of the Bands! I trust that everyone will enjoy themselves and no one," he looked down his nose at the students,"will show poor sportsmanship. Feel free to applause and please, leave the criticism for after the contest. Now, will the bands please meet backstage to recieve their order of performance."

Professor McGonagal nudged him.

"Ah, yes, the judges. If I can get your attention towards the front table at this time, I will introduce the judges for this event. In the first chair, with have our own Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, Rubeus Hagrid," Dumbledore stopped, rather then speak over the loud clapping and cheering, " and in the second chair, we have the maker of prophecy, Professor Sibyl Trelawney," no applause, although she bowed to the audience, " and our Potion Master, Professor Severus Snape!" Loud booing slowly died as Snape glared at the crowd.

"We are so dead now," Ron moaned mournfully as they grouped together backstage, waiting for Hermione to get their performance time.

Harry nodded briefly before a bright flash of hair grabbed his attention. He swerved around to see Draco and his clan literally floating backstage. Draco felt his gaze and their eyes met. Harry quickly looked away, a flush rushing from the pit of his stomach to his face.

The Slytherins had all chosen similar outfits in varying shades of grey and green. Draco, with a soft dove grey sweater and green form-fitting pants, stood out among the rest. He'd left his hair without the gel and Harry raged against the urge to run fingers through the blonde's baby fine strands. He snapped quickly away from them.

Hermione came back to them, a dark expression on her face.

"What is it, Hermione?" Dean asked calmly. He was the only one out of the group completely ready to go on.

"Bad news, guys. We're first."

"Then we'd best begin to set up," said Ron. He grabbed his drumsticks and waltzed over to help Seamus with the equipment. The others began to chip in, except for Harry.

His knees felt so weak that he could barely stand. His chest tightened until he couldn't breath. Hermione guided him to a chair in the corner.

"Calm down, Harry. We've got a few minutes," Hermione said soothingly.

"That's not it," he groaned, "what if I'm not right?"

"And what if you are?"

He didn't have an answer to that.

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Harry blinked at the brightness of the lights. A rush of noise filled his ears as the students began to whistle loudly.

"Looking good, Neville!" shouted Ginny. Ron shot a deadly glare at her before blushing at Luna, who waved at him.

The Gryffindor grinned at that; not matter how protective Ron was, Ginny was growing up. With a grin and nod from the others, Harry stepped up to the microphone and took it from its stand. He gave his own nod to the annoucer, former Hogwarts graduate, Lee Jordan. Lee had his own microphone, courtesy of Professor Dumbledore.

"Hello, Hogwarts! First up, we have an all Gryffindor band. Give it up for Godric's Hollow and their version of On Fire by Switchfoot!"

Taking a deep breath to wait for the noise to stop, he heard the first few notes of the keyboard. Harry opened his mouth and let the song take him away, praying that Draco was listening.

They tell you where you need to go

Tell you when you need to leave

They tell you what you need to know

Tell you who you need to be

Out the corner of his eye, he could see Draco on his left behind the curtain, a frown across his lips.

But everything inside you

Knows there's more then what you've heard

There's so much more then empty conversations

Filled with empty words

Hermione had tears running down her face. Was he that bad?

And you're on fire when he's near you

You're on fire when he speaks

You're on fire burning at these mysteries

Seamus was jumping up and down, giving Harry the thumbs up. He had to fight the laughter. His eyes met Draco's again and the next lyrics came easily.

Give me one more time around

Give me one more chance to see

Give me everything you are

Give me one more chance to be near you

Draco's eyes hadn't left his yet; Harry kept going. Maybe, just maybe, it was working.

When everything inside me

Looks like everything I hate

You are the one true hope

I have for change

You are the only chance I'll take

Harry heard the guitar notes pick up and he knew the end of the song was near. He didn't stop then but kept going because he could see Draco there. He hadn't moved during the entire song.

And I'm on fire when you're near me

I'm on fire when you speak

I'm on fire, burning at these mysteries

Ginny hollered out; Harry couldn't make out what it was. The crowd was wild.

I'm standing on the edge

I'm standing on the edge of everything

And I'm on fire, burning at these mysteries.

When the song ended, he looked back to the left of the stage to find Draco gone. Before the feelings could well up inside him, his band members fell on him, laughing and clapping him on the back.

"That was brilliant, Harry!" Ron laughed. Hermione blew him a kiss from backstage.

They pulled him offstage in a stupor. Seamus stopped back there briefly to tell them that they'd gotten a score of twenty-seven out of thirty but none of that really mattered to Harry. He was looking for Draco, who'd disappeared right when they'd finished. He mouthed to Hermione about using the bathroom and scooted away quietly.

On his way there, someone yanked him back into the shadows.

"You are the hardest person to get alone," he drawled.

"Draco." Harry turned around to face the Slytherin.

Before he could say anything else, Draco did the one thing he never expected him to do in this situation. He felt Draco's lips brush his own softly.

"We're on next, Harry." He began to stroll away.

"What about an answer?" Harry demanded.

"Listen to the song."

Draco winked at him before stepping out on the stage.

"Alright, next, I'm sorry to say," Lee's voice paused, "ok, professor, I'm happy to introduce Slytherin's band, Serpensortia, performing Hoobastank's The Reason!"

Harry heard the notes begin a few moments later. He stood in the same spot as Draco before, watching him on the stage.

I'm not a perfect person

There are many things I wish I didn't do

But I continue learning

I never meant to do those things to you

And so I have to say before I go

That I just want you to know

Silver eyes met green. Harry felt his heartbeat rise as he thought of the kiss.

I've found a reason for me

To change who I used to be

A reason to start over new

And the reason is you

I'm sorry that I hurt you

It's something I live with everyday

And all the pain I put you through

I wish that I could take it all away

That's why I need you to hear

Harry felt like crying in relief. He'd felt the same way.

I'm not a perfect person

I never meant to do thise things to you

And so I have to say before I go

That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for you

To change who I used to be

A reason to start over new

And the reason is you

I've found a reason to show a side of me you didn't know

Draco stood a foot away from Harry, his hand stretched out. For the first time, Harry saw a real smile on the boy's face.

A reason for all that I do

And the reason is you.

Harry put his hand in Draco's as the crowd roared behind them. He didn't care. With Draco beside him, he knew that seventh year wouldn't be so quiet after all.