I dont own anything, not the characters or the songs, the two songs in here are 'one' by ed sheeran and 'girl crush' by little big town, but its done with the harry styles cover in mind. i would advise listening to both while reading.
Baisically my thoughts with this started with the idea of writing a long story where harry is a musician and large parts of scenes revolve around either songs he sings or songs that he thinks about, but I've no real clue how to mesh in songs to a story because I despise the massive blocks of lyrics some authors just shove in too the middle of their stories.
The concept needs work and my writing definitely does, I am well aware it's all angsty bs but that's where my head space is at so that's where my writing is at.
I may write some more song shots but the universe and everything is incredibly variable and it won't be connected to this at all.
The great hall was beautiful, covered in enchanted ice sculptures that never melted, colourful Christmas trees that stood twenty feet high covered in tinsel representing all four houses and holly writhes. Light from the multitudes of coloured faeries flying around reflected off the sculptures adding the odd flicker of colour to the warm yellow glow from the thousands of floating candles always present, it looked as beautiful if not more so than it had the last two times it had been held, after the triwizard tournament had happened Dumbledoor had decided that it would become Hogwarts tradition to hold a yule ball, it served to break up the monotony of classes and also gave the student something else to look forward too, now two years on it was going well. The music in the hall had calmed from the energetic dances of earlier in the night to beautiful slow dances which called out for intimacy, as nights went, this night was going perfectly, for most.
There were of course the few who seemed to be glued to the tables around the edge of the dance floor, once such person was the Boy-Who-Lived, now most would think that one of the most famous people in the wizarding world would be out there dancing with the prettiest most popular girl in school having a good time laughing with his friends, but Harry just sat gazing out at the happy couples with sad eyes, sure he could have had a date for the ball, plenty of girls had asked him but he had turned them all down, there was only one girl he wanted to go with, and she was out there being held in someone else's arms, he had no chance with her, that was a fact he had come to terms with but seeing the girl of his dreams dancing with someone else still hurt. Tracy Davis had been the object of his unrequited love for years, he had hidden it well, (only Neville knew of his feelings and that was by chance, having stumbled on Harry in the middle of one of the many songs he had written about her) he wasn't going to tell anyone there would be no point, even now he was unsure of what drew him to her, she was beautiful that was undeniable, pitch hair cascading down if soft curls down to her shoulders, innocent brown doe like eyes somehow untouched by the war around them yet her posture and demeanour always showed a hidden strength that one would need being a half blood in Slytherin, and not only that but one of the few openly gay people in Hogwarts, and that was the crux of Harry's problems. Tracy had from the third year onwards been in an unapologetically open relationship with Daphnie Greengrass, though prejudices in the wizarding world lay in other area than sexual orientation due to the lack of Christianity and religion as a whole and also the magical possibilities revolving around conception of children it was still uncommon and as such people were often rude about the subject but the two girls had managed to avoid much backlash from the general populous, something many attributed to the pair's skill with hexes. The couple were here together tonight as well looking like a utterly divine, some boys in the school would say that the classical pure blood beauty that was the tall blonde Greengrass heir was the most striking of the two in her sparking silver dress but Harrys eyes were drawn as they so often were to the girl held in her arms, the shimmering green gown which she wore showed every perfect curve of her body and went perfectly with the glimmering emerald earrings she had on (an anonymous gift from Harry last Christmas). From where he sat she seemed so far away, which was unfortunately a feeling Harry was used too.
Dragging his eyes away from her lest someone catch him staring he glanced over too the stage where the band (The shadowed pheonixes) had begun a new song he noticed something else which did nothing to improvise his mood, there at the back of the stage was his guitar, it was besides the items left to him by his father, his most prized possession, again like his love for the slytherin it was something not many people were aware of, the Weasleys and Hermionie knew he owned a guitar as they had seen him dabbling with it during the summers ever since he had brought it the summer that his godfather had escaped, during the week he had spent he had done quite a bit of shopping for himself in both magical and muggle London, the instrument had called out to him one day as he was on one of his walks around muggle London so he had bought it on a whim, he had taken to it quickly and had gone back to the shop to buy more advanced instruction books the very next day so that he could learn while at Hogwarts, he had however only ever played when he was alone in his dorm too self conscious to show his developing sills in front of the other Gryffindors, since then music had become somewhat of a release to him, he had come to write songs about all of the struggles during his life ranging from his childhood to the aforementioned unrequited love. Neville was the one who had convinced him to put his guitar up on stage as an incentive to make him show the school the skill he had with music, but Harry just couldn't push himself to go and ask the band to play a few songs with him, he was too nervous having never played in front of more than two people before those being Ron and Hermionie, and especially having never sung in front of anyone but Neville before, so he stayed where he was smiling sadly at the stage, wishing somehow that he was both up there playing while at the same time wishing he was back in his dorm.
Stuck in his thoughts he didn't notice the person sitting down besides him until they spoke "You really should go up there, I can see you want to Harry", shaken from his stupor he glanced to the side at one of his closest confidants, "I don't know Nev, I'm not even that good, besides everyone is enjoying the band already", Neville just narrowed his eyes at Harry "How many times do i have to tell you that you are the best singer I've ever heard, and you are miles better than them" he nodded towards the band, "If you don't go now you never will Harry".
"I don't know..." sighed Harry, Neville sensing that his friend was close to caving he played his his trump card, "If you don't go now ill go over to Ginny and tell her you secretly love her and want to be with her but are too nervous to ask her out", Harry's head snapped to Neville from where he had gone back to looking longingly at the stage, looking at his friend he gasped "You wouldn't!". Ginny had been pestering Harry all year, trying to flirt with him and catch his attention, it really annoyed him that she was so persistent even after he had explained he saw her as a sister, what was worse is that Ron fully supported the idea because he 'trusted Harry not to hurt her'. It had got to the point that Harry was actively avoiding the youngest weasley. "Go and sing or I will, trust me i will" Neville dared "you only have to play a few songs but just go and do it, you wont regret it i promise".
Harry fearing the sincerity in the tone of his friend caved, "Fine, I'll go and play, but if anything goes wrong I'm going to kill you" he sighed before standing up and walked slowly over to the back of the stage, by the time he arrived he was tempted to run off and brave the advances of his friends sister, but as he turned Neville caught his eyes and glared so he stayed where he was and waited for the song to end, when it did he picked up his guitar and caught the lead singers attention "Mind if i play a few?" he asked nervously.
"Sure man, you need the band or it it just you and the guitar?" was the reply, having never even considered the band Harry just shook his head no and stammered out "N..No, Just me, thanks"
"Alright bro, well go grab a couple drinks, have fun" the singer said before jumping off stage with the rest of the band and heading over to the drinks table in the corner, Harry quickly pulled a stool over from the edge of the stage and sat down in front of the mic, Looking down at all the couples who had looked to the stage in confusion as to why the music stopped Harry felt the pressure increase, but with a quick glance to Neville who looked on encouragingly he adressed the audience, trying to keep his voice level. "Hi, so urmm.. one of my friends convinced me that i should play a couple songs, ive never played in front of an audience before so if i'm a bit crap don't hesitate to throw something at me" he joked weakly, half expecting someone to throw something before he had even begun, he got a few chuckles from the couples down on the dance floor, many of the student and professors still confused as to why Harry Potter of all people was sat on stage with a guitar, all but a few of them had no idea that he was at all musical so it was a shock to see him up on stage. "So since it late i guess i will should carry on with the slow theme,but I think that ill start with a song called 'One' by one of my favourite artists called Ed Sheeran, a few of you muggle raised might have heard of him but i'm not sure, its a bit faster but it should be alright" He could in fact see a bit of recognition from the muggleborns he knew but most of the wizards were still unsure about the obviously muggle music.
Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he began, Twanging out the first note the people in front of him seemed to disappeared and he sunk in to the music he had found himself in.
Tell me that you'd turn down the man who asks for your hand
Cos you're waiting for me
And I know you're gonna' be away a while
But I've got no plans at all to leave
Would you take away my hopes and dreams
And just stay with me
All but one of the students and professors watched on in stunned silence, none of them had expected this, perhaps some amateurish and embarrassing warbling, maybe even if they were lucky an almost passable voice, not the beautiful angelic singing that sounded out from the boy on stage, Neville for his part watched on with proud eyes, he could see that his friend was fighting his fears and showing the world that he was more than just the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry didn't notice just how silent the great hall had become and carried on through to the end only coming back to himself as he finished the last line,
Just promise me you'll always be a friend
Cos you are the only one
Noticing the silence for the first time Harry flushed and looked down, thinking it had gone awfully, that was until spurred on by Neville's loud clapping the entire hall overcame their shock at the emotion Harry had conveyed through his voice and exploded in to whistles and clapping, Harry only flushed further at the praise and shifted uncomfortably until the cheering stopped, "I take it it wasn't too bad then?" he said when the hall had quietened down, only to have it explode once again in affirmative clapping and shouting, His eyes tracked over the crowd spotting familiar faces cheering, but he was only looking for one smile, the one he had taken secret glances at for years from across house tables, when he spotted it it took his breath away, he couldn't help but smile too when he saw it, but at the same time it tore his heart that this was one of the few times he might see it directed at himself, once more dragging his eyes away from the only person in the hall he actually wanted to sing for he coughed and said over the noise "Well i guess i could do a few more" for no other reason in his mind than that he had finally got an opportunity to sing to her and he wasn't going to give it up so soon, so the night carried on, Harry tried to stay away from love songs as they always tore at his heart, but he couldn't avoid them completely, and just hoped no one saw who his eyes flashed too at least once every time he did sing one.
Unfortunately for him one blond in the crowd had noticed but she didn't say anything half thinking that she must have been imagining it. Her thoughts were confirmed however towards the end of the night as when Harry said he was going to sing one last one, Longbottom shouted out from where he had been dancing with Lovegood 'Harry sing 'girl crush', you know its my favourite and you haven't done it once' Gaining more than once curious glance towards him, no one had hear that song before, not even the mugglemorns.
When Harry heard Neville's request he was so high off the adrenaline of playing his first ever 'gig' that he didn't even consider saying no, so he gave the same description of the song as he had given his friend when he had walked in on him writing it "Alright Nev, So this last one is one I wrote myself, Its about a girl who I've liked for a long long time" Many girls perked up at this, including a particularly hopeful redhead, only for most of them to sigh and look away at his next words."unfortunately for me she is just about as taken as a girl can be, so that sucks... Anyway this is a song about the most beautiful girl in the school, I call it 'Girl Crush'."
I got a girl crush
Hate to admit it but
I got a heart rush
Ain't slowing down
I got it real bad
Want everything she has
That smile and that midnight laugh
She's giving you now
As he sung images of Tracy swam through his head, seeing her smile at Daphnie during meals, watching her blite her quill in lessons, the dresses she had been wearing in the other balls, the smile she had sent him along with everyone else earlier in the night, but all he could feel as he sang was the crushing feeling he always got when he saw her kiss Daphnie and hold her hand, the intense longing he felt for a girl he barely knew.
I want to taste her lips
Yeah, 'cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume
I want her long blonde hair
I want her magic touch
Yeah, 'cause maybe then
You'd want me just as much
I got a girl crush
I got a girl crush
For the second time that night the students in the hall were stunned, they all stopped dancing to look up at the stage, the reason for this being they could hear and feel the intense sorrow which radiated off of the boy who only moments ago seemed happy and on top of the world, only two people in the hall knew who he was singing about, one was regretting asking his friend to sing a song which caused him so much pain, the other felt a confusing mix of anger and empathy, anger at someone else liking their lover, and sympathy at the resignation she could hear in his voice, the resignation she had once felt in her much younger years at the thought of never being able to be with the person she loved.
I don't get no sleep
I don't get no peace
Thinking about her
Under your bed sheets
The way that she's whispering
The way that she's pulling you in
Lord knows I've tried,
I can't get her off my mind
Unknown to Harry who was trapped in the throws of the song his words had caused many in the audience to start to cry, his magic affecting the feelings of the whole mood, Daphnie at this point was grasping Tracy's hand at the thought of anyone loving her this much besides her, Tracy however barely noticed, she was enthralled wondering along with everyone who this girl was that could evoke such strong emotions.
I want to taste her lips
Yeah, 'cause they taste like you
I want to drown myself
In a bottle of her perfume
I want her long blonde hair
I want her magic touch
Yeah, 'cause maybe then
You'd want me just as much
I got a girl crush
I got a girl crush
Tears had begun streaming down Harry's face now as the song drew to a close, his thoughts beginning to be dragged back to the real world, slowly he looked up as he was singing his eyes still held tightly shut.
Hate to admit it but
I got a heart rush
Ain't slowing down
Harry choked out the last few lines in barely a whisper yet the whole ball heard him, as he opened his eyes it seemed that fate had intervened some how and his red tearfilled eyes locked directly with the perfect doe eyes of his heart, after a moment recognition could be seen in those chocolate globes, Harry who knew he had revealed too much of himself in that moment just wanted to be anywhere else, and with a loud crack his magic granted his wish, and he was gone leaving behind a shocked great hall.
END