Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing but…wait, no never mind. I own nothing. Sadness. The HP characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The songs belong to 'Edwin McCains' and 'Hairspray' . mumblesstupidrichpeopegrumbles Oh well. I can do nothing about it so I might as well just get on with the story.
Serenade
"Gin?"
"Yeah Mya?"
"Where on earth are our dates?"
"…Good question. Where are they?"
"I don't know, that's why I was asking you. "
"Oh. Right, sorry."
The end of year dance was going rather slowly. But then again, it was only about a half hour into it. The girls would have been thinking that it should pick up anytime soon, had they not been preoccupied with their missing dates.
"You know, Mya," Ginny began. "I was expecting something like this from Malfoy, but I can't believe Harry would ditch me."
Hermione scowled. "Thank you. That makes me feel just fan-bloody-tastic that my own best friend doesn't have any faith in my boyfriend!" She put extra emphasis on the 'boyfriend' part to get her point across.
Ginny just shrugged. "What can I say? Once a ferret, always a ferret," Ginny said laughing.
Hermione tried very hard not to laugh too, but it was difficult. She cracked a smile and snorted. Ginny was right. She too, was half expecting him to walk off and find Pansy or some other tramp to spend the rest of the night with. After all, they only began dating again just under three months ago. This pattern had gone on for a little over a year. They were together for a while, then they'd break up. No one could ever figure out why. But during their time apart, he was always with a new girl; the flavour of the week as Hermione so fondly called them. He'd come crawling back to Hermione by the end of the week, begging for forgiveness. Okay, not crawling and begging per se, but you get the idea!
But Harry. That was unusual. It usually took quite a bit of force to separate Harry from Ginny. This was weird. She expected it from Draco, but not Harry.
Something else she wasn't expecting was walking out onto the stage. Two seventeen year olds heading toward two stools placed in the centre of the stage. The one leading them out onto the stage had shaggy ebony hair just covering the tips of his ears, piercing emerald eyes, and a thin scar on his forehead. The other was a bit taller, with platinum blonde hair and enticing grey-blue eyes. He was holding a guitar.
Draco Malfoy sat down on the stool to the right, and Harry (surprise surprise) sat to his left.
"Oh my God, Ginny. Look at the stage!" Ginny turned and gasped in shock.
"What are they doing?" she hissed.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling we're going to find out."
It wasn't long before the entire hall noticed the two nervous looking boys on stage. The entire hall became silent. And then it started.
A steady, calming guitar beat. Wow, Draco is good, Hermione thought. It was Harry's voice the Great Hall heard first; a soft, hauntingly calm tone to it.
(A/N: bold Harry, italic Draco)
The strands in your eyes
That color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
And emeralds from mountains
Thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth
And tell me
That we belong together
Dress it up
With the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows
Of heartache
That hang from above
And I'll be
Your crying shoulder
I'll be
Love suicide
And I'll be
Better when I'm older
I'll be
The greatest fan of your life
And rain falls
Angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed
And you're my survival
You're my living proof
My love is alive not dead
Harry's body language showed just how much passion and emotion he was putting into the song.
"Did you know Harry could sing like that?" Hermione whispered, transfixed by the strange sight on stage.
"No. Did you know about Draco?" Ginny asked back.
"He told me he played the guitar but I never knew how amazing he was."
"He's incredible."
"They both are." The gaze of the girls never left the stage throughout their whispered conversation.
And tell me
That we belong together
Dress it up
With the trappings of love
I'll be captivated
I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows
Of heartache
That hang from above
And I'll be
Your crying shoulder
I'll be
Love suicide
And I'll be
Better when I'm older
I'll be
The greatest fan of your life
And I've dropped out
I've burned up
I've fought my way back from the dead
I've turned in
I've turned on
Remembered the thing that you said
And I'll be
Your crying shoulder
I'll be
Love suicide
And I'll be
Better when I'm older
I'll be
The greatest fan of your life
The greatest fan of your life
His voice floated off into the distant silence as the last note of the acoustic guitar trailed off. Or rather, would have had there not been rapturous applause and wolf whistles coming from the crowd.
Ginny and Hermione both had tears in their eyes they were so moved by the song. They smiled and cried and clapped for the boys who stood up to take a bow.
Harry turned to leave the stage but noticed Draco was just sitting back down. "Malfoy, what are you doing?"
"You'll see," he said evasively, focusing on his guitar. Harry just shrugged and left to go find Ginny.
Upon reaching the two ecstatic girls, Harry wrapped Ginny into a knee-weakening kiss (he actually had to hold her up, it was that amazing) before hugging Hermione lightly.
"Where's Draco?" she asked expectantly.
"Still on stage."
"Why?" Her gaze fell.
"Dunno. Hell if he'd tell me either."
Another soft tune, this time a bit jazzier, floated through the room, catching Hermione's attention. 'I know this song,' she thought as the multiple instruments playing in the background were joined by disembodied voices singing back-up.
Draco began to sing, and his voice was just as beautiful, if not more so, than Harry's.
They say it's a man's world
Well that cannot be denied
But what good's a man's world
Without a woman by his side
So I will wait until
That moment you decide
That I'm your man and you're my girl
That I'm the sea and you're the pearl
It takes two, baby
It takes two
A king ain't a king
Without the power behind the throne
A prince is a pauper, babe
Without a chick to call his own
So please darling choose me
I don't want to rule alone
Tell me
I'm your king and you're my queen
That no one else can come between
It takes two, baby
It takes two
The music changed and Draco grabbed the magical amplifier in front of him as he stood up. He slowly began to move toward the edge of the stage as he continued to sing. A spotlight followed his every move.
Lancelot had Guinevere
Mrs. Claus has old St. Nick
Romeo had Juliet
And Liz, well, she has her Dick
They say it takes two to tango
Well that tango is child's play
So take me to the dance floor
And we'll twist the night away
At this point he had reached the edge of the stage, where he jumped off the edge and began to make his way into the crowd towards Hermione, Harry, and Ginny.
Just like Frankie Avalon
Had his favourite Mouseketeer
I dream of a lover, babe
To say the things I long to hear
So come closer baby, oh
And whisper in my ear
Tell me
You're my girl and I'm your boy
That you're my pride and I'm your joy
That I'm the sand and you're the tide
And I'll be the groom if you'll be my bride
It takes two, baby
It takes two
Draco stopped directly in front of Hermione, a circle of people surrounding them to see what was going to happen. He continued softly.
It takes two, baby
It takes two
The last bit of music in the background faded off as Draco handed the magical amplifier in his hand to some random person in the crowd. His eyes did not, could not leave Hermione's shocked and happy face.
"I can't believe you just did that," she said softly. No one made a sound, desperate to hear what was going on.
"Did what?" he murmured softly taking a step closer.
"You know what," she said, as a tear of joy found its way down her cheek. "Sing to me. Sing for me. In front of an audience no less. And especially that song."
"So what do you say?" he asked calmly taking her hands in his. "I'm not up to doing this alone. Are you with me?"
Hermione couldn't hide her grin any longer. "As long as I'm your number one."
"Mya, love," he began. Their audience held their breath. "You're my only one." Still holding her hands in his, he dropped to one knee and looked up at her. "So, Hermione Jean Granger, what do you say? Will you be my bride?"
Hermione gasped along with the crowd as he pulled a beautiful diamond engagement ring from his pocket. More tears slipped down her face as the ring was being slid onto her left hand. She had no words. Pulling him up from the ground, she engaged him in a kiss that caused the entire room to roar with applause. "Is that a yes?" he asked hopefully, as they pulled apart.
"That's a hell yes." Draco grinned and spun her around before pulling her in for another mind blowing kiss.
The crowd around them began to disperse as the music started playing again. The happy couple took no notice of anyone around them; that is until Hermione was practically tackled from behind in a hug from Parvati and Lavender who were squealing in excitement.
"Oh, Hermione! That was so romantic!" Parvati began. She turned toward her boyfriend, Justin and smacked him hard on the arm.
"Hey! What was that for?" he protested.
"You never do anything romantic like that for me!" Everyone in the small group laughed.
"Sorry," he grumbled sheepishly.
"So Hermione," Lavender cut in, "Let's see the rock." Hermione produced her left hand for the girls, who all began to gush over how gorgeous and huge it was. Draco pulled her partially into his side in a one armed hug and kissed her on the top of the head.
"Okay, now I have a question," Ginny announced. "Why did you help Harry Draco? I thought you hated him."
Everyone turned to him. Hermione had a bit more trouble doing so as she was tight to his side, but she managed. "I don't hate him, that's not t say I like him or anything. By no means do I like Potter. No offense."
"None taken."
"But I can tolerate him."
"That still doesn't answer my question," Ginny insisted. "Why did you help him?"
"I wanted a special way to propose to my lovely fiancé and I knew this was how I wanted to do it. But I had no idea what song to use. Potter helped me out there."
"So that's why you kept badgering me about what love songs I liked," Hermione exclaimed in realization.
"Yeah," Harry admitted. "That and I promised I'd get Ron to lay off you guys."
"Oh. I thought he was acting a bit more tolerant lately," Hermione mused. "So how long have you had this planned?"
"About two months," Draco answered.
"Why not sooner?" Justin piped in.
Hermione answered for him as she gazed into his eyes. "It doesn't matter. It was completely worth the wait."
Draco smiled down at her and kissed her with a deep passion.
"Eurgh! Get a room!" came from behind them. They pulled apart to find out who had interrupted their moment.
"Ron, you prat! Leave them alone!" Ginny screeched.
"No Ginny, it's ok," Hermione said with a chuckle.
"It is?" Draco asked incredulously.
"Yes, it is. Ron we've found a room. We're currently standing in it. Just because you don't happen to enjoy what we're doing within the room gives you no right to kick us out of the room we found first. You may, however, vacate the premises if you dislike me kissing my fiancé so much." The group roared with laughter as Ron's ears turned pink in embarrassment. He turned around to leave when Hermione called out to him. "Oh, Ron. Stop it. Come back here! I was only kidding."
He turned around sheepishly and rejoined the group who continued to enjoy the rest of the party that had just kicked itself into high gear.
THE END!!!
Author's Note: Whas' crackin' ma homies? Wow. In a bit of a gangster mood today. But it didn't last long. See! It's gone now. Anyhoo. I hope you enjoyed my randomness at…almost three o'clock in the morning. REVIEW! I won't bite, I swear.
(p.s. that's another good song!)