A/N: As I'm sure 99.9% of you are VERY aware, the great King of Pop, Michael Jackson, has passed at the young age of 50. It hurts my heart to remember all the years I spent as a child, listening to the Thriller and Bad albums, and crushing on him when he came out looking so smokin' hot in the Bad video (I'm not lying, go see for yourself if you've not seen it before!). As a last personal tribute to the late influential pop star, I present one of the cheesiest fics I have ever had the misfortune of writing! I will not blame you for gouging out your eyes after, but it just had to be done! So enjoy, or...not. But read it and review anyways!!!
P.S. If you've never seen the video for Thriller, I suggest you go watch it on Youtube first! It's worth it!
WARNING: So cheesy, you'll need some wine to go with it! XD Oh and er....faintly implied Draco/Hermione...(hides from ravenous Harry/Draco fangirls)
Thriller Night!
The Halloween Ball was fast approaching at Hogwarts once more. Students and Professors alike scrambled to put together unique and elaborate costumes, often aided by magic and wild imaginations. Professor Charity Burbage decided it was time to make a scene at the Ball, and she would get her students to help.
"Ms. Granger, can you stay after class please?" Professor Burbage called out to the bushy-haired Gryffindor as her class prepared to leave.
Hermione paused in her packing of her bag as she shared a curious look with Neville. Had she done that horribly on their last essay? Surely the world was coming to an end if a Muggle-born witch was failing Muggle Studies...Hermione waved to Neville as the bell rang, signalling the end of class. She moved to the front of the classroom, pulling her heavy bag over her shoulder.
"Is this about the essay, Professor? I know you said only two and a half feet, but I just couldn't help myself –"
"No, no, dear girl. Your essay was superb, don't worry yourself about that. I actually had an idea for a project, and I was hoping you could give me some insight. Would you mind?" Charity asked the young witch, feeling excitement at the sparkle in the brilliant girl's eyes.
"Um, sure, I don't mind. What kind of project is it, Professor?" Hermione asked, curiously immediately about this new project. She was even more curious why the Professor was asking her for insight.
"Well, this would have to be a full class project – all the classes combined. Have you ever heard of Michael Jackson? He's a Muggle pop singer from the States."
Hermione became even more bemused as she nodded slowly. "Yes, of course. My mother has all his records," she answered, wondering what on earth this had to do with a class project.
"Well, I'm sure you've heard his song called Thriller, then? And the music video for it, you've seen it on television?" Charity asked, smiling at the confused look on Hermione's face.
"Er, yes I have. That video is legendary because of the classic dance...Is this something to do with that dance, Professor?" Hermione asked. Her mum had tried to get her to learn it before, but she could never get all the steps right. She remembered practising with her mum and dad when she was much younger, and it brought a smile to her face.
Charity beamed a bright smile. "Smart girl you are, Hermione! For this year's Halloween Ball, I was thinking of putting all of the Muggle Studies classes together and learning that dance to perform during the Ball. It would count as credit for the course, and it would be required. All we need is practice space and someone to head the dance; a Michael, essentially. Any suggestions?"
Hermione giggled as she lifted herself onto a desktop, facing her Professor. "Well, it would just be someone to lip sync, right? I think I might know of one person who would be perfect...but he'll put up a fight for sure. He's only taking this class because he needs it for his Healer Programme Entry Exams."
Charity grinned like the Cheshire cat as she realized exactly who Hermione was referring to. "Oh, that's bloody perfect. He'll not have heard the song though, so you'll really need to help him out."
"Don't worry Professor, I know of a few other Muggle-borns who know the dance. We'll pull this off one way or the other."
"Fantastic..."
~M~J~
"Hermione, this is insane! He's going to murder you on the spot, you know that, right? He'll never go for this. He'll run to Snape and complain for sure."
"Would you be quiet, Ron? Professor Burbage has already told him he has to do it or he'll fail the term. Snape gave him a week's worth of detention for insulting Professor Burbage when they had a meeting about it. He can't technically get out of it because it's for course credit. It's already been approved by Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said matter of fact as she arranged the classroom to make more room for the eighty or so students that would be coming to the practise.
Professor Burbage had been kind enough to offer the Muggle Studies classroom, and Professor Flitwick had worked his magic to make the room much bigger to accommodate all the dancers. Hermione was just putting the record on the turntable when the classroom door burst open and a group of angry looking Slytherins marched in, headed by Draco Malfoy.
"Make no mistake, Granger, I will get you back for this!" Draco snapped as he stopped just in front of the Muggle-born witch, looking down his nose at her. He couldn't believe even Snape was making him do this, it was completely ridiculous. Malfoy's don't dance, and they especially don't pose as Muggle pop singers.
Hermione just smirked as she pushed a red and gold letterman's jacket at the blond. "Whatever, Malfoy; don't forget your costume," she quipped turning back to the record player. She tried to suppress her laughter as the Slytherin sputtered and groaned behind her.
"Red and gold, his costume was red and gold? You've got to be kidding me!"
Ron and Harry were leaning against the wall, clutching their ribs in laughter as they watched the aristocratic blond shed his robes and pull the jack on over his button up shirt. He was inspecting the material, a grimace on his face as he spotted the cracked leather. "At least it has an 'M' on the front..."
"Oh wait, here's the one you'll be wearing," said Hermione as she produced another violently red jacket, this time with black trimming. It was odd indeed.
Just as Draco was about to pull the first jacket off, a flash went off as someone snapped a picture. "I will murder you where you sleep, Longbottom!"
Neville just chuckled and hid behind Ron, shaking the Polaroid to help it develop faster.
"Anyways, no costumes for now; I need to teach you the dance before we start on costumes. We've only got three weeks to learn this you know. Professor Dumbledore managed to procure the tape and a VCR and television somehow, so let's watch it first." Hermione popped the tape into the VCR and settled herself on a cushion on the floor, smirking to herself as Draco reluctantly sat down beside her. People were flooding into the room now, taking seats all across the classroom floor and kneeling up to better see the TV screen.
After the video had played all the way through, Hermione stood up and looked around the room at all the horrified, amused, and incredulous faces. "So, who's ready to dance?"
The Great Hall was strangely quiet. People were standing outside the closed doors, their costumes a wide array of crazy and inventive outfits. Some students were looking around for their friends or dates that had got mysteriously missing the night before. Suddenly they heard strange music floating throughout the castle, almost as if there were an enormous radio with many speakers, blaring the music all around. Everyone turned as they heard a commotion on the spiral staircase, then paused as a girl on a guy stood at the top of the stairs both in strange costumes. The guy wore a red leather outfit, his hair was messy curly and black, and he looked like he had fallen straight out of the eighties. The girl was similarly eighties-esque, her bushy hair piled high as she pulled a blue leopard print vested-jacket on over a red tank top, her tight pedal pushers the same design as the vest, and he heels the same colour as her shirt.
And then it happened – the couple started dancing down the stairs as the music got louder, and singing started up.
"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark. Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart. You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it. You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes, you're paralyzed."
The couple travelled down a few steps, dancing circles around each other. People at the bottom of the staircase are stunned and staring up at the spectacle wondering when Hogwarts had turned into a musical.
"You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run. You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun. You close your eyes and hope this is just imagination. Girl, but all the while, you hear a creature creeping up behind, you're out of time."
People start to clear a path as they get closer to the bottom of the stairs, some dancing along to the music out of sheer boredom or just plain fun. With the war in full swing in the Wizarding World, it wasn't everyday you go to let go and just have fun.
"They're out to get you, there's demons closing in on every side. They will possess you, unless you change that number on her dial, and now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah. All through the night, I'll save you from the terror on the screen, I'll make you see."
The couple paused at the bottom of the stairs as an eerie voice boomed through the castle, some recognizing it at Dumbledore's voice.
"Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize y'alls neighbourhood. And whoever shall be found without the soul for getting down, must stand and face the hounds of Hell and rot inside a corpse's shell."
A girl shrieked as someone dressed spectacularly like a zombie corpse snuck up behind her and pushed his way through. As the crowd looked around, the zombies crept out from every nook and cranny of the hall, some sliding out of broom cupboards and behind tapestries. Dumbledore's voice boomed out again.
"The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty-thousand years. And grizzly ghouls from every tomb are closing in to seal your doom. And, though, you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver, for no mere mortal can resist the evil of the Thriller."
The music suddenly stopped as the couple in the middle of the Entrance Hall are surrounded by the zombies, inching closer and closer, moaning and growling ominously. The couple pull close together, clinging to each other in fear as they turn round and round, trying to avoid reaching hands. The girl turns to look at her boyfriend, and lets out a shriek of terror as she sees that...
He's turned into a zombie too.
The girl backs up quickly and the doors to the Great Hall open on their own as the music starts up again. The boyfriend steps forward and starts to dance, the zombies all falling in line behind him as they dance in unison with their leader. They follow the girl into the Great Hall, moving ever closer to her as she stands horrified, in the middle of the Great Hall.
After a pause of fantastic and entertaining dancing – the crowd not part of the project cheered and laughed as they openly pointed at the dancers – the lead zombie-boyfriend turned back to face the girl, his face back to normal, and started singing and dancing again.
"'Cause this is thriller, thriller night, and no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike. You know its thriller, thriller night. You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller.
Thriller, thriller night 'cause I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try. Thriller night. So let me hold you tight and share a killer, diller, chiller, thriller here tonight.
'Cause this is thriller, thriller night. Girl, I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try. Thriller, night. So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller. Ow!"
The lead zombie-boyfriend and his clan of zombies draw closer and closer to the girl, until they close her in and the guy and girl disappear from the middle of the zombies. A loud, menacing laugh is heard from the front of the Hall as the music fades, and the couple reappears in front of the staff table.
Many students start to applaud and cheer as Hermione and Draco bow, their hair colour turned back to its natural state making it obvious who they were. All the zombies around the Great Hall took a bow as well, laughing and celebrating the success of their Muggle Studies project. Professor Burbage walked to the front of the crowd, clapping along with everyone else.
"All my Muggle Studies classes receive full credit on their midterm! Fantastic job!"
Hermione was about to go and join her friends when Draco caught her arm and held her back. She looked up curiously at him, thinking of how beautiful he was when he smiled and laughed instead of sneered and smirked.
"Thanks, for making me go through with it. I actually had a lot of fun, and...well, I never get to have fun, so thanks for that," Draco said quietly, still holding Hermione's arm gently.
Hermione smiled and tried to hide her blush as she looked down at her heels, which she was greatly surprised hadn't resulted in breaking both of her ankles that night. "Well, you're welcome, Draco. You make a good Michael."
"Yeah, I'm sure I look fantastic as a brunette," Draco said with a shiver. He had fought for a long time against the glamour over his hair, but had finally given in as Hermione threatened to use Muggle dye on it to permanently turn it black.
Hermione giggled as she tugged distractedly on the very form-fitting tank top in an awkwardly nervous manner. She felt extremely exposed, but she was proud of the success of the project she worked hard to put together. "You'd look fine with turquoise hair, Draco." Hermione turned to join Ron and Harry, who were waiting for her beside the punch bowl. She couldn't help herself as she mumbled, "As long as you're wearing leather pants, you might as well be bald."
Draco bent double in laughter as he blushed at Hermione's remarks, watching her saunter away back towards her friends. For just one night, Draco could forget his true destiny, forget that he was on the wrong side to be flirting with a Muggle-born. For one night, it was a Thriller Night.
A/N: And so ends my cheesy, retarded, yet heartfelt tribute to the late King of Pop! May he rest in peace, and be remembered for his fantastic music and not his controversial lifestyle thereafter. Long live Thriller!