Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story!
Bill Weasley stepped into the Leaky Cauldron on Saturday night as usual. The second war was over. Peace reigned supreme.
Yet so many lives were ruined.
Terry Boot stood behind the bar. He had taken over when his great uncle Tom had been killed. You could see the dreams behind his eyes, yet he owed it to his family to run the buisness they had owned for so long.
An old man sat at the bar with Ginny, both slowly getting drunk. After Harry, Ron and Hermione had left the country, she had gotten a job teaching at Hogwarts, but every week she came to reminisce about her school days.
Though new Ministry laws allowed werewolves to marry, Remus Lupin had never chosen to do so. Instead, he just dated and lived with Nymphdora Tonks, who couldn't get out of the Auror department even though they did nothing at all anymore.
The Luna Lovegood everyone knew had died along with her father. She now worked and lived at the Leaky Cauldron, where she trained for a career at the Ministry.
Percy and some other Ministry men sat at their usual table, trying to recreate their lives, which hadn't been the same for a long time.
And as Bill stepped up to the old dusty piano in the corner and sat on the rickety stool, he knew that no one's life ever would. Even he, who still had most of his family and a wife with a child, felt the pang of loss.
But as Bill surveyed the faces around him, the pale face of his little sister, the ashen face of Terry, and all the others, he knew that he needed to keep doing the one thing he could to help make it better.
So he began to play.
It's
nine o'clock on a Saturday
the regular crowd shuffles in
There's
an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his firewhiskey with
Gin
He
says, 'Son can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it
goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I
wore a younger man's clothes'
Da
da da de de da
da da de de da da da
Sing
us a song, you're the piano man
sing us a song tonight
Well,
we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin'
alright'
Now
Terry at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for
free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But
there's someplace that he'd rather be
He
says 'Bill, I believe this is killing me'
As the smile ran
away from his face
'Well I'm sure that I could be a Quidditch
star
If I could get out of this place'
Sing
us a song, you're the piano man
sing us a song tonight
Well,
we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin'
alright
Now
Remus is a werewolf professor
Who never had time for a wife
And
he's talking with Dora
who
still is an Auror
And probably will be for life
And
the waitress is practicing politics
As the Ministry men slowly get
stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But
it's better than drinking alone
It's
a pretty good crowd for a Saturday,
And the manager gives me a
smile
'Cause he knows that it's me
they've
been coming to see
To forget about life for a while.
And
the piano sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a
beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say
"Man, what are you doin' here?"
Da
da da de de da
da da de de da da da
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a
song tonight.
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And
you've got us feelin' all right.
Author's Note: That was my attempt at angst. Pathetic, but oh well. Please review!