That Year We All Changed...

Chapter Six: Lots O' Singing

"I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord,
But you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this...

The fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall,
The major lift,
The baffled King composing Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Your faith was strong but you needed proof.
You saw her bathing on the roof.
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you.

She tied you to a kitchen chair,
She broke your throne,
She cut your hair,
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe I have been here before.
I know this room, I've walked this floor.
I used to live alone before I knew you.

I've seen your flag on the marble arch.
Love is not a victory march.
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

There was a time you let me know
What's real and going on below,
But now you never show it to me, do you?

And remember when I moved in you,
The Holy Dark was moving too,
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there's a God above,
And all I ever learned from love,
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

And it's not a cry you can hear at night,
It's not somebody who's seen the light,
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah."

Ellie sensed Sirius come up behind her long before she stopped singing. It wasn't that she wanted to be rude, but it was one of her favorite songs, and it was fairly easy to play on her guitar, so it was one she sang and played often. Sirius must have liked it, a little, at least, because he sat down next to her and watched as she closed her eyes and seemed to be playing the song from somewhere within her, almost half-consciously.

"You're really good," he stated softly, staring down at her guitar. It was an acoustic, in a bright, sparkly red.

"Thanks." The brunette grinned brilliantly as she set the instrument down on the grass beside her and settled back to stare at the sky, where the stars were just starting to shine through.

"They're going to make us go inside soon. You realize that, right?" he asked, watching her.

"Yeah, I know." She rolled her eyes. "And I probably shouldn't be sitting out by the lake in November, anyway. But I do it, anyway. Have you ever noticed that they make us go in early some days?"

"Er... no..." Sirius seemed as though he had an inkling, however, but Ellie brushed it off.

"Oh! Look!" She grabbed his arm, and pulled him heavily to the ground beside her. "Look up there - Sorry, did I hurt you? - Do you see that one?" She pointed into the sky. "See that sort of 'V' in the sky? That's Andromeda. She's a princess." She grinned over at him.

"Like you?" he asked jokingly, raising his eyebrows. Sometimes, the way she acted - jokingly, most of the time - gave you the slight feeling she saw herself a little bit as a princess.

"Yeah. Like me." She sighed. "When I was little, I wanted to be a princess so badly. But not like those stupid ones, who just wait for people to save them." Sirius snickered at the way she said this, as if she resented them. "Well, it's true! I wanted to be a princess who was smart, and pretty, and helped other people."

"So you wanted to be a superhero, supermodel, genetic scientist princess?" he asked.

Ellie giggled, the stars reflecting in her eyes. "That's a very clever way of putting it."

Sirius propped his head up with one hand, resting on his side. "Do you think I'm clever?"

"What girl in the school doesn't?" Ellie asked, rolling her eyes. "I was never friends with a guy who every girl wanted to date until I came to Hogwarts." She paused. "Actually, I wasn't friends with any guys until I came to Hogwarts. And it's just in the past few years that I've started hanging out with you guys."

"Every girl wants to date me?"

"You act as if this is news to you," Ellie replied, smirking at him. "Every girl in the school has had a crush on you at least once."

"Even you?"

Ellie paused, as if considering whether answering truthfully would be detrimental to her relationship with him. "Yeah. But there was a period of time when I had a crush on any guy who spoke to me once. Or even ones who didn't talk to me: you, James, Frank, Michael Crosby..."

"Michael Crosby?" Sirius made a face. "That geek from Ravenclaw?"

"I happen to like geeks, thank-you-very-much!" Ellie retorted, giving him a half-appalled, half-joking look. "I'm probably going to end up marrying one..." she grumbled, settling back into the grass.

"Any geeks you've set your sights on these days?" Sirius asked, a little too nonchalant. Just then, the bell for all students to report to their dorms rang across the grounds.

"I have to go in," Ellie stated, a little angrily. She picked up her guitar and slung its strap across her torso, beginning the walk up the hill to the castle.

"No, Ellie, wait..." Sirius sped to catch up with her. Ellie glanced over her shoulder, saw him approaching, and broke into a run. It was amazing, because Sirius had never seen her run very fast before (and she claimed she couldn't) but here she was, sprinting like she was in the Olympics.

"Ellie!"

She reached the front steps, dashed up them, and disappeared into the castle before he had reached the top of the hill. She ran through the halls with expert ease (one learns their way around when they've spent over fifty months of the past six years in one place) until someone appearing around a corner stopped her in her tracks.

"Hello, Severus," the brunette greeted the gangly Slytherin boy in a high-pitched, old man voice, a grin settling on her face. Ellie had possibly the best record with the Slytherins of any Gryffindor, but this was most likely only because she was the object of the least taunting, and ignored it completely.

"Roget," he spat back. The two prefects (for they both were, for their respective houses) stood in the hall, one smiling, the other sneering, until another person entered the corridor.

"Hello Miss Roget, Mr. Snape," Professor Dumbledore greeted the two, smiling down at both of them.

"Hello," Snape forced out respectfully.

"Hi, Professor!" Ellie grinned up at the tall, bearded man. "What's up?"

"I might want to ask you two the same thing. As prefects, I'm sure you are both aware of the fact that the bell means you must head towards your house dormitories..."

"That's just where we were going. We just stopped to say 'hi' to each other." Ellie smiled over at Snape. "And I really need to be going." She took her guitar off her back and began walking the rest of the way down the hallway. She glanced back at Snape and began playing;

"Why can't we be friends?Why can't we be friends?The color of your skin don't matter to me.
As long as we can live in harmony."