Chapter One

One, two, three strikes, I'm down,

I'm out of the game and out of your heart.

Four, five, six times you've told me,

Told me nothing at all and everything at once!

Seven, eight, nine things I've said,

Each meant to-

"Granger, get your head out of the clouds, we have a show to do!"

Hermione looked up at the clock, and gasped. It was already a quarter to six, at which time they would start their sixth concert. She scrambled out of her seat and hurried past an impatient Draco Malfoy, who stood in the doorway tapping his foot. Dodging stage hands and personal assistants, Hermione waved hello to Ginny as she passed her dressing room. The red head was applying eye makeup, already dressed and with her hair pulled into messy pigtails.

"Late again, 'Mione?" she called after her.

"I was writing!" Hermione called back as she entered her own dressing room and began stripping down to get into her outfit. "Where're Harry and Ron?"

"They're already back stage making sure all the lighting is in order," Ginny called through the wall, "He wants to avoid what happened in Dallas, at all costs."

"Oh, honestly," Hermione muttered, pulling on her pants and trying to buckle them, "It wasn't all that bad."

"I know it wasn't, not to us," Ginny said, grinning from the doorway, "Harry, however, thinks that it was our little lighting problem that kept us from a full house this time around."

Hermione rolled her eyes, pulling her shirt on and looking at the ties that went down the front of it.

"Don't even try to figure those out," came Draco Malfoy's voice from behind Ginny. "Just leave it open, give all those pubescent boys out there something to wank off to at night."

Hermione gave him a horrified look as she tied the bottom two sets of strings, covering most of her cleavage. "Honestly, Malfoy, you are a barbarian."

"And you are going to make us late to start our own concert," he retorted, pointing to the watch on his wrist.

Hermione tried not to roll her eyes, but she couldn't help it. They still had three minutes to get on stage and in places. She knew for a fact that it would only take them 45 seconds to do so. She turned from her blond and red haired friends, looking at herself in the mirror. Her pants were tight, black jeans, with silver skulls embroidered on the legs and a red butterfly on the front left pocket. Her shift was a pale salmon-y pink, with similar designs in gold. Her shoes were thick soled black leather dock martins. She was wearing a silver pendant around her neck that dangled down into her cleavage. It was of a book that opened to become a locket. She looked over at Ginny and grinned. Her younger friend was wearing a similar outfit, only the pants and the shirt were black, and instead of skulls there were lions embroidered with gold thread. Her hair had black streaks in it, and was pulled into two messy pigtails, held up with black ribbons.

"Hurry it up, Granger," Draco sneered, "Honestly, do all girls take this long to get ready?"

"Ten minutes?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. "No, I imaging most girls take upwards from a half hour to get ready to sing in front of thousands of people."

Ginny laughed at Draco's look of indignation at being talked back to. "Really, Malfoy," she said, "She is right, you know."

Draco snorted, "Whatever, just hurry it up, would you?"

He turned to go and Hermione noticed what he was wearing. His hair was slicked back, as it always was, and his hands were hidden in the back pockets of his impossibly tight leather pants. He wore a tight, black wife beater, and had black wrist bands on both arms. His ears, which had gotten pierced somewhere in between Tokyo and Amsterdam, were decorated with a matching pair of silver wolf fang earrings. Hermione thought that if he wasn't such an evil git, he might be date worthy material.

Ginny noticed Hermione looking him up and down and grinned, "You think it looks good on him, Harry and Ron are wearing the same outfit, minus the earrings. Ron's still too chicken to get his pierced, and Harry thought that fangs are too over done."

Hermione was putting her own earrings in as she walked out the door, Ginny beside her, "Really, what pair is Harry wearing?"

"Lightening bolts, of course."

Hermione laughed, "Of course."

----

Hermione and Ginny found Pansy just outside her own dressing room, she was arguing with a makeup woman who though pink would look better than the thick black eyeliner the black haired girl had already put on. Her outfit matched Hermione's and Ginny's, but in a green color scheme.

It took them almost thirty seconds to convince Ms. Mayes, their hired makeup artist, that Pansy's eyeliner was perfectly fine and that they really didn't have time to redo her makeup.

"That woman is almost as insufferable as you, Granger," Pansy grumbled angrily once they were on their way to find the boys.

"Thanks, Parkinson," Hermione muttered, otherwise ignoring the girls jibes.

Pansy and Draco were the only two in the band who insisted on calling the others by their last names. The two had joined the band right at the start, both intrigued by the idea of running away from their homes to travel and perform. Draco, now disowned by his multi-billion dollar father, was fast on his way to being worth just as much. They were silent when they found their three male counterparts. Harry was looking quite serious, talking with a stage hand who seemed to be concerned with some of the wiring, while Ron looked as though he were about to throttle a very calm looking Draco.

Then their manager appeared.

"Mister Grey," Hermione greeted happily, hugging the young man.

"Hello Hermione, Ginny, Pansy," he turned his eyes on Draco and Ron, "Boys. Not getting into trouble are we?"

"Course not, Grey," Draco responded, smirking. "Weasley and I were just discussing the tragedy that is his love life, or should I say his lack of love life."

Grey just shook his head and sighed, stepping past them and towards the stage. He was wearing an outfit almost like theirs, black leather pants, black punk boots, a tight black shirt. He was only a few years older than they were, and acted just their age, dressing like them and treating them like equals.

He stepped out onto the stag and the crowd went crazy, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Ron went up next, followed closely by Draco and Pansy.

Taking a microphone, Grey began to talk. "You ready for music?!"

The crowd screamed, and for a second Hermione was overwhelmed by the noise.

Grey was grinning, "Are. You. Ready. FOR THE CHOSEN?!"

Harry and Ron were grinning as everyone took their places on the stage. Harry and Ron each took up singning positions, with Hermione. Ginny was on the drums tonight, with Draco and Pansy playing electric guitars. The music blared to life, live playing from Ginny, Draco and Pansy, along with assistance from a prerecorded mix. Hermione wondered if the crowd would be able to hear the songs over their own screaming.

"If you want me to wait
I will wait for you
If you tell me to stay
I would stay right through
If you don't wanna say
Anything at all
I'm happy wondering."

Whenever Harry sang the girls would go crazy. His scar made him their favorite in the band, that coupled with his windswept hair and startlingly green eyes. That wasn't to say that Draco and Ron didn't have their own following, or, well, that Draco didn't, Ron really didn't have that many fangirls chasing him through the street.

Draco and Pansy played hard, grinning and moving around the stage as Hermione sang back up.

"Go!" She sang loudly, "Yeah, Yeah!"

And then Draco was tossing her his guitar as he picked up the next set of lyrics, grinning as he moved to the edge of the stage and crouched down in front of a group of screaming fangirls.

"Since I was a young man
I never was a fun man
I never had a plan and no security
Then ever since i met you
I never could forget you
I only wanna get you right here next to me!"

And Hermione was grinning as she tossed his guitar back to him, listening as Ron began to sing, clear and strong.

"If you want me to wait
I would wait for you
If you tell me to stay
I would stay right through
If you don't wanna say
Anything at all
I'm happy wondering!"

There was a pause in the singing as the music flowed on, Hermione picked up a third guitar, joining in.

"Pretty good turn out, aye Granger?"

Draco was grinning at her. She grinned back.

"Yeah, too bad it's only a dream and we're gonna wake up soon, isn't it?"

Draco nodded, "Yeah, but, if it wasn't a dream you and Pansy wouldn't know how to play the guitar, and Weasley's voice would be cracking. So let's be glad it isn't real."

Hermione laughed, and then she looked out into the crowd as the world beyond the stage began to disappear, dissolving into gray mist, until all that was left was the stage where the six teens still played hard.

---

Hermione sat up in her bed in her Head Girl's room, breathing hard and covered in sweat. She was grinning, though the reoccurring dreams were beginning to disturb her. Each one was different, a different country, a different set of songs that she recognized from muggle radio. Except one, two days prior, it had been of the six of them on a beach, taking a break during their Euro-Tour. She could still remember Ron's face as he came awake on the beach, thoroughly burned, and with his sister laughing at him from where she sat, applying copious amounts of sun block.

Each one seemed so real, aside from the fact that she had no idea how to play the guitar. After each dream she would feel lighter, could go through the day without minding how anyone, namely Slytherins, treated she or her friends.

Looking out the window she could see that it was still dark, though just beyond the Forbidden Forest she could see the sky turning lighter blue. Knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back to sleep she pushed the covers from her body and crawled out of bed. She got dressed quietly, slipping into a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt.

Picking up her Potions text book she headed to her common room, intent on studying until breakfast.

All the while humming the tune to Good Charlotte's, Wondering.