AN- Just a mandatory Karaoke story. Felt like doing something easy with songs in it, so yeah. Enjoy!
Dumbledore had done it again. He'd found a way to make the Houses compete without physically hurting each other. Hooray! His problem had surfaced when it had been brought to his attention that Quidditch, and other sports played at Hogwarts were getting really violent. So he banned them all (much to everyone's shock and horror) and now they had competitions every other weekend that were approved of or thought up by the Headmaster. Past disasters had been Wizarding Chess Face Off (a brawl had broken out over whether or not a move played by a second year Hufflepuff was legal or not), Jumping Bean Races (several of the beans had disappeared and then been found later in various house member's food), and the terrifying Noodle Incident, which no one will talk about to this very day.
But he had a solution now. He had something everyone would like, he just knew it. Now if he could just keep them from killing each other…
Everyone was crowded around the announcement board as a message scrolled across it. Harry and Ron elbowed their way through the group, forging towards the front to see what was going on. They reached the board and stood staring up at it as words flowed by: "Attention all Houses: The weekly competition has been announced! Entries for the Hogwarts Karaoke Show must be turned in by Wednesday to be checked and approved. There is only one condition: Muggle songs must be used. Please put your entry slip in the box next to the doorway into the Dining Hall. Thank you and have a frabjous day."
Shaking his head as they walked away, Harry looked at Ron. "He's flipped. No one's gonna do this." Ron just kept on walking, a confused look on his face. "Harry," he asked, "What's frabjous mean?" Hermione appeared at their side, answering his question, "It's a made-up word for joyous, Ron. He was quoting the poem 'Jaberwocky.' Do you think you'll enter the contest?" They shook their heads, and she rattled on in excitement, "Ginny and I are. We're gonna sing a song together in a duet. Oh, I hope we're allowed to do that, I should probably check with Professor McGonagle, don't you think? Oh, you two should sing something, it would be so cool if you did! Why don't you look through my CD collection tonight? I'll bring it down after dinner ok? I'll see you later guys!" (Author's challenge: Try saying that whole thing with only one breath!)
Ron stared after her, then turned back to Harry, a terrified look on his face. "Did you give her coffee again?"
It was the night of the show, and Hermione had managed to force the two into performing. After practicing several times in an empty classroom (something unusually hard to find at the time despite the large amount of unused classrooms scattered throughout Hogwarts), they stood backstage waiting to go on. Harry and Ron stood facing each other, hurling insults back and forth like an old married couple. Ginny walked up to them, her eyes wide. "You two aren't fighting, are you?"
Harry turned and flashed a smile at her. "No, we just found out we sound better if we get angry." Turning back to Ron, he sneered. "You're so pathetic. Why don't you get your own life instead of trying to shadow mine all the time?" Ron shot back, "I can't help being in your shadow, your head's so big it blocks out the sun!"
A voice sounded from the side curtains, "Potter! Weasley! You're on!" They both turned, each kissed Ginny's cheek for luck, and walked on. Each holding a microphone, the music started up, and Ginny heard them hiss at each other before they started singing, "White trash!" from Harry, "Blowhard!" from Ron. Then they started into the song, Harry singing Mike's part, Ron Chester's:
Yo peep the style and the kids checking for it
The number one question is
How could you ignore it?
We drop right back in the cut
Over basement tracks
With raps that got you backing this up like
Rewind That
We're just rolling with the rhythm
Rise from the ashes of stylistic division
With these non-stop lyrics of life living
Not to be forgotten
But still un-forgiven
But in the meantime there are those who wanna
Talk this and that, so I suppose that
It gets to a point where feelings gotta get hurt
And get dirty with the people spreading the dirt
It goes
Try to give you warning
But everyone ignores me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening
Call to you so clearly
But you don't want to hear me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening
I got a heart full of pain
Head full of stress
Hand full of anger held in my chest
And everything left is a waste of time
I hate my rhymes
But I hate everyone else's more
I'm riding on the back of this pressure
Guessing that it's better that I can't keep myself together
Because of all this stress gave me something to write on
The pain gave me something I could set my sights on
You never forget the blood sweat and tears
The uphill struggle over years
The fear and trash talking
And the people it was to
And the people that started it
Just like you
Try to give you warning
But everyone ignores me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening
Call to you so clearly
But you don't want to hear me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening
I got a
Heart full of pain, head full of stress
Handful of anger, held in my chest
Uphill struggle, blood, sweat and tears
Nothing to gain, everything to fear
Heart full of pain, head full of stress
Handful of anger, held in my chest
Uphill struggle, blood, sweat and tears
Nothing to gain, everything to fear
Heart full of pain...
Try to give you warning
But everyone ignores me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening
Call to you so clearly
But you don't want to hear me
Told you everything loud and clear
But nobody's listening
I've got Heart full of pain
Head full of stress
Nobody's listening
Handful of anger
Held in my chest
Nobody's listening
Uphill struggle
Blood, sweat and tears
Nobody's listening
Nothing to gain
Everything to fear
Nobody's listening
Coming at you from every side
Harry and Ron finished, and they stood on the stage, bowing as a smattering (AN- isn't that a great word!) of applause came from the crowd. A few whistles came from the back where the Gryffindors who weren't performing sat. They walked off the other side of the stage while Hermione and Ginny came on. A minute passed as Hermione set up the microphones while Ginny plugged the electric guitar she carried into the amp (Another AN- Of course Ginny plays guitar. You didn't know that?). They stepped up to the mikes and Ginny flashed Hermione a nervous smile. Grinning back, Hermione gave a quick introduction to their song.
"Hey everybody. Um, this is a song by the Muggle band Dashboard Confessional. We chose it because, I guess it just kind of describes how we feel. A lot of our friends will be leaving after this year, and it's hard for us to watch them leave. So this is us saying goodbye." She stepped back and Ginny added on, "We love you guys," before she started in on the guitar. A sad melody floated out of the amp, and she played a few bars before Hermione started singing, her voice barely above a whisper. As the song played on, her voice grew stronger, and Ginny joined in towards the end, harmonizing beautifully.
Pacific sun you should have warned us
It gets so cold here
And the night can freeze before you set it afire
And our flares go unnoticed
Diminished
Fading just as soon as they are fired
We are, we are intrigued
We are, we are invisible
Oh how we've shouted, how we've screamed
Take notice, take interest, take me with you
But all our fears fall on deaf ears
Tonight they're burning the roads they built to lead us to the light
And blinding our hearts with their shining lies
While closing our caskets cold and tight
But I'm dying to live
Pacific sun you should have warned us
These heights are dizzying
And the climb can kill you long before the fall
Our trails go unmapped and
Unmarked and
Covered just as soon as they are cross
We are, we are intriguing
We are, we are desirable
Oh how we've shouted, how we've screamed
Take notice, take interest, take me with you
But all our fears fall on deaf ears
Tonight they're burning the roads they built to lead us to the light
And blinding our hearts with their shining lies
While closing our caskets cold and tight
But I'm dying to live
Oh how we've shouted, how we've screamed
Take notice, take interest, take me with you
But all our fear fall on deaf ears
Tonight they're burning the roads they built to lead us to the light
And blinding our hearts with their shining lies
While closing our caskets cold and tight
But I'm dying to live…
Hermione held the last note for almost a whole minute, her voice never wavering while Ginny played out the ending chords. They broke off at the exact same moment, and dead silence fell for a second. Then applause started and built up into screams and stomps as the crowd went wild. They walked off, smiling widely and waving at the crowd. Once offstage they were swept into a huge group hug by the performers. They broke apart and turned to watch as the next performer walked onstage.
A young Ravenclaw girl with long dark hair and blue robes on walked onstage with an acoustic guitar and a stool. She sat down and flashed a smile at the crowd while the microphone floated up to rest in front of her. "Hi. I'm Leslie, everybody, and this is one of my favorite songs. I've uh, never done this before, so be kind, ok?" She leaned back and played the intro, then started singing.
You say you heard every word, but I watched you turn away
Your eyes grew colder than winter
"Love is so intrusive" I thought I heard you say
And laugh so unconvincingly
Famous last words"I'm not ready yet"
"I won't be gone a minute"
Narrow is the road and too high a price to pay
When loneliness is such a sanctuary
Empty are the musings and wasted are the days
When you said you were only waiting
And famous last words"I'm not ready yet"
"I won't be gone a minute" and I won't forget
Famous last words
If tomorrow never comes,
Will I ever know that I was in love?
That I was in love
In love
You say you heard every word, but I watched you turn away
You said you were only waiting
When she finished and leaned back from the mike, the crowd clapped appreciatively. She smiled at everyone and walked offstage. Harry turned to talk to Ron, but then turned back to the stage when he saw his red-headed friend was busy talking to the young girl. Grinning to himself at the sight of Ron trying to talk to a girl, he thought, "It's about time he found someone," then watched in interest as the entire female population of Huffelpuff filed onstage and crowded around Ernie MacMillian. Hannah Abbot giggled into the mike that this song was "dedicated to you, Ernie, from all of us." And they all started singing.
You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
You had me several years ago
When I was still quite naive
Well, you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved
And one of them was me
I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you?
Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga
And your horse naturally won
Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
Well, you're where you should be all the time
And when you're not, you're with
Some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend
Wife of a close friend, and
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You're so vain (so vain)
I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? Don't you? Don't you?
They all filed back offstage, with Ernie once again in the middle, his face bright red. The hoots and whistles from the audience following them off.
Up next was Draco Malfoy. A murmur ran through the crowd as he came onstage, microphone in his hand. Several whispers of "What is he doing?" and "Why is he up there?" could be heard, mostly from the Slytherins, who were just as surprised to see him up there as everyone else. He glared at the crowd and they shut up. He said quickly, "I wanted to sing this song. I heard it on some Muggle radio during Holiday over the summer." Music started playing, and he sang.
Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices
The contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
The angels get a better view
Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.
I walk in the air between the rain,
Through myself and back again.
Where?
I don't know Maria says she's dying.
Through the door, I hear her crying
Why?
I don't know
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis
She walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus
She parks her car outside of my house,
Takes her clothes off,
Says she's close to understanding Jesus
She knows she's more that just a little misunderstood
She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous
Round here we're carving out our names
Round here we all look the same
Round here we talk just like lions
But we sacrifice like lambs
Round here she's slipping through my hands
Sleeping children got to run like the wind
Out of the lightning dream
Mama's little baby better get herself in
Out of the lightning
She says"It's only in my head."
She says"Shhh...I know it's only in my head."
But the girl on the car in the parking lot
Says"Man, you should try to take a shot
Can't you see my walls are crumbling"
Then she looks up at the building
And says she's thinking of jumping.
She says she's tired of life
She must be tired of something.
Round here she's always on my mind
Round here I got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
Nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very very late
Draco's voice faded away, and everyone stared. He hadn't been that bad, actually. Some tentative applause started, and he walked off as it grew into genuine appreciation.
Backstage Hermione and Ginny walked up to him. Ginny stood back and let her partner do all the talking. "That was pretty good, Malfoy."
"I don't need your approval, Granger!" he snarled, and would have said more if Dumbledore hadn't at that moment appeared next to him. "Ah, there you are. I wanted to ask you two a question."
"What is it, Headmaster?" Hermione queried, turning her face up towards him. Draco glanced up and asked, "Yeah, what do you want?" Beaming at them, Dumbledore but his arms around them in a proud, fatherly way and said, "I wondered if you would mind doing a duet for the Karaoke concert in Hogesmeades next visit. Madam Rosemerta heard about our contest and asked me to find her a few students to perform!" He looked at them, happily oblivious to their shock.
AN- Yeah, I know it's a dumb ending, but I can't think of how to end it, so this is how I'm doing it. All of the songs are real, and they all rock, and everyone should go and listen to them right now. I think I'm gonna go do that, actually. Byes!