A/N: After a couple of months off, I present this onset, written for a challenge that looked interesting. I hoped the story it spawned is just as interesting. As always, I don't own the Potterverse, nor do I own any of the quite real people or their intellectual property that might show up in this story.
Hermione Granger was many things: brilliant, inquisitive, magical, and generally practical. However, there was one particular description of her that would probably surprise many of her friends: Hermione Granger was a diehard fan of Queen. In the first place, most of the Wizarding World wouldn't have a clue who Queen was (in fact, when trying to explain the group to them, their first question was always "Isn't that the old lady who lives at the fancy house in London?"). In the second place, the best friend she had who wasn't raised in the Wizarding World had unfortunately also not heard of the band, due to living with a family who despised anything they could possibly consider abnormal (and almost no one considered Queen 'normal' by any stretch of the imagination).
However, when she learned that the two remaining members of the band would be performing at the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebration, she worked a couple of her contacts in Her Majesty's government for two tickets to the event. Hermione was pretty sure she could convince someone to come to the concert celebration with her, it would just be a matter of who and how. The who would be easy; despite his many misgivings about the Muggle world, Harry Potter would understand and appreciate the magnitude of the events surrounding the Jubilee. The hard part would be convincing him to go attend the spectacle in person (and more importantly, seeing Queen live, Hermione noted).
So she plotted. Hermione spent weeks coming up with logical arguments for why Harry should go with her. She read books upon books about how to convince someone to go along with an idea. And when she finally felt prepared enough to ask him, she sought out Harry's office in the Department of Mysteries, and before she could even began her first argument, Harry held up a hand, and simply said, "I've already been asked to attend as a representative of the Ministry, so yes, I'll go." He went back to his work, while Hermione stood in his doorway, stunned to silence. A moment later, she headed back upstairs, while Harry called after her. "I'll see you at lunch tomorrow, and we can discuss our plans then!"
A few days later, Hermione and Harry stood amongst a crowd of proud Britons as the Queen presided over the third evening of her Jubilee celebration, and the musical celebrations that came with it. Harry had agreed with Hermione that standing out in the crowd was not only not necessary, but might be ill-advised given who they were, so casual wear had been agreed upon. Though Harry was quite sure that he hadn't seen a shirt like Hermione's on sale anywhere, particularly where the sparkles spelling out "QUEEN" actually moved and occasionally outlined a face behind the word.
"You seem awfully supportive of Her Majesty, Hermione," Harry said with a smirk. "Didn't realize you were such a big fan of the Royal Family." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "But the face on your shirt doesn't really look like the Queen that much."
Hermione ducked her head in mild embarrassment. "Actually, Harry, that's not Her Majesty on my shirt at all. It's Freddie Mercury. And while I do enjoy a bit of Royal gossip every now and then (but honestly, who doesn't?), the only Queen I'm here to see doesn't wear a crown."
Harry looked confused for a moment, then it finally clicked in his brain. "That band you told me you liked once, that's why you wanted to be here, isn't it? I never thought I'd see the day that Hermione Granger fangirled over something that wasn't a book." He chuckled, only to look up and see fire in Hermione's eyes.
"There are many things in this world I LIKE, Harry. I like magic. I like French cuisine. I like spending time with my friends. But 'that band', as you called them, and their music are two of a very few things I've found I LOVE, and I'm bloody well proud of it!" Hermione snarled at him.
Taken aback, Harry started stammering a bunch of apologies and anything else he thought might keep Hermione from jumping him and kicking the ever-loving shite out of him for apparently insulting her favorite band. Thankfully for Harry, Brian May and Roger Taylor picked that moment to arrive on stage, immediately drawing Hermione's attention away from him.
They started with a rousing rendition of "God Save The Queen" before sliding into some of the band's most well-known songs, which Hermione of course knew every word of and sang along to, which Harry accepted with only mild distress. By the end of "We Are The Champions", Harry had begun to get into the atmosphere of the event, and was swaying gently along with a very excited Hermione.
"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"
As "Bohemian Rhapsody" was sung, Hermione once again sang along, but in contrast to all of the other songs, this time she kept her focus on Harry. She wasn't exactly sure what made her do it, but something just felt right about this, particularly when Harry pulled her closer and held her as she sang. It could be that she just liked having someone share her musical interests, it could be something more meaningful than that; Hermione wasn't sure. For now, it was just nice to be here.
"Anyway the wind blows…."