Author's Note: I never expected that I'd be so lucky to get 10 reviews on the first chapter! I'd like to thank Ginnythesinger (yes, I understood the reference immediately! :D), Somerlia, WobblyJelly, jumbie55, The Musical Fool, Mr Kowalski, monicafoster, Gloria Jean (haha yes, you did inspire two of the characters - namewise, at least - in fact, you also semi-inspired a third :D), Ruji and LizziePixie-Aiko for reviewing! It honestly meant the world to me. Additional thanks to Somerlia, VampBite606, BalletandBooks, The Musical Fool and monicafoster who put this story on alert and/or favourite'd it! You can't imagine my excitement! :D
Second Author's Note: Gloria Jean: I try to be as meticulous about details as I possibly can, so I'm always reading as much information as I can find on the Next Generation. I did make up some of the characters, because I can't bear the Potters and Weasleys being the only ones with children! So, I created Alice and Rosemary Longbottom, Gloria Dursley and the Dursley children.
Final Author's Note: I had a good long think about how I wanted to write out the musical. Do I write it out like a story or write it out like a script? A story would be far too difficult and take away from the overall feel of the musical. I've never written a script before so I wouldn't know how to do that. Thus, I've kind of combined the two (I hope). Things relating directly to the musical are in bold and songs are italicised as well. If you feel like it, try watching the musical while reading the story!
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. Why do I know that? Because my name's not JK Rowling. Starkid owns A Very Potter Musical, because they're abso-bloody-lutely fantastic.
A Rather Unusual Holidays
Act 1 Part 1 – Who the Hell is That?
Previously on "A Rather Unusual Holidays":
The Potters visit the Dursleys. The non-magical kids are prats and Dudley and Gloria are expecting!
Teddy Lupin brings a 'Ministry-approved surprise' to the Potter home.
The 'surprise' happens to be a laptop, which just so happens to go nuts and begin to play a rather unusual video…
"A VERY POTTER WHAT!"
The room was silent. There was no denying the presence of shock on the faces of all who were present. Then, suddenly, everybody burst out in chatter, shouting at each other as they tried to comprehend what was going on.
"What the hell is this?" asked Lily.
"You don't think it's about your family, do you, Potter?" Alice Longbottom asked James.
"It might be," said James uncertainly, "but the name 'Potter' could mean anything!"
"Oh, yes," Scorpius drawled sarcastically, "there are a million things it could be referring to."
"Shut it, Malfoy," Lily snapped. "Go home."
"I don't exactly have a choice in being here, Red."
"Stop it, you two," Victoire warned, trying to get the two of them to stop arguing. Lily and Scorpius were often at each other's throats – sometimes moreso than how they could be with Lily's brothers – and their arguments could become very nasty very quickly for anybody caught in the firing range. Some might have said that their behaviour hid a secret passion for one another – and indeed the thought had occurred to Victoire – but even though she had watched them carefully for a time, she saw no signs of a secret affection between the two.
The number of questions about what the supposed musical might be about grew.
"Do you think it's really about Lily and her family?" Rosemary asked Alice.
"It looks a bit old to be about us…" Albus interjected, overhearing her. "How old is that thing, anyway, Teddy?"
"It's not that old! It's in very good condition! – Actually, no, it is pretty old – about ten years or so…" admitted his cousin-in-law.
"Well if it's about the Potters then it must be about us Weasleys, too!" Fred spoke up, as proud as always of his family and its connections.
"But if it's ten years old then it couldn't be!" Lucy replied. "We were only toddlers! No, it couldn't about our family."
"Uncle Harry, then?"
"Perhaps…" Dominique jumped in.
The chatter between the teenagers in the room grew progressively louder. Teddy, looking around the room, found his wife talking with Roxanne and Molly about whether or not they might see how their parents met, and taking her gently by the arm, led her to the other side of the room.
"Who would have thought that this would happen?" he asked her quietly. "They seem to have completely forgotten about whatever it is this Muggle contraption is playing."
"Perhaps we should calm them down," she replied. "We can't know for certain that this musical is about Uncle Harry's family, but I think we should ask James, Albus and Lily whether we continue to see where it goes, all the same."
"That's my girl," Teddy said, kissing her on the forehead. "I love you, Victoire."
Victoire blushed, as she always did each and every time her husband said he loved her, and smiled up at him, before turning around to stop the chaos brewing in the room. The two managed to succeed after sending sparks fly from their wands several times, quietening the rowdy group of people.
"Lily, James, Albus," Teddy started, "do you want to watch this? It does look as though it's some sort of Muggle play, which means that it mightn't be about your family at all – but in case it is – do you have any problems with watching it?"
The three Potter children shook their heads.
"Then let's get comfortable!" Louis proposed, moving the couches in the room to face the wall with the projection and charming them so that more of them were able to sit comfortably on them. Lily watched in slight dismay as Lucy transfigured the old rug on the floor into something a bit more plush – it had been a favourite rug of hers! – so that those who did not sit on the couches were able to be a little more comfortable on the floor.
"It's a charm, it won't hold forever," she said, catching the look on Lily's face. The latter breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Everybody chattered quietly so that the picture playing on the wall would not resume playing and, once they had all settled, stopped talking immediately.
A boy with insanely curly hair and glasses looked up. Dressed in dark pants and a shirt with a grey jumper pulled over it, he moved his hair from his face, easily showing the lightning bolt on his forehead.
Lily gaped. "Is that supposed to be Dad?" she asked incredulously.
"I—I've got no idea," James stammered. "Who else has a lightning bolt scar on their forehead?"
"That looks a bit similar to our school uniform," Alice remarked. "Is it possible that this is about when he was at Hogwarts?"
"It could be," replied Lily. "But I don't get it! That can't be Dad! This guy looks nothing like him!"
"Perhaps if you shut up, Potter, we'll find out," snapped Scorpius from the rightmost seat on the couch. Lily threw a pillow at him and missed, accidently hitting Lysander Scamander, who'd been sitting on the floor in front of him.
"Hey!" he cried.
"Sorry!" Lily whispered apologetically. Becoming silent, she turned to face the wall again, missing the faint blush on Lysander's cheeks. It did not, however, go unnoticed by Scorpius, who 'accidently' hit the Ravenclaw's back with his foot in annoyance, under the pretence of bringing it up so that he could sit cross-legged.
Wrapping his arms around himself – as if to slightly shield him from the cold – the boy looked around, sad and unhappy. The tune playing in the background became a little more melodic and he began to sing.
BOY: Underneath these stairs
I hear the sneers and feel the glares of
My cousin, my uncle and my aunt
Everybody in the room gaped. None of them had known what to expect when the musical had begun to play, but it did seem as if these people – whoever they were – intended to sing right away. Scorpius, Alice, Rosemary, the Scamander twins and most of the Weasley cousins had not stayed awake long enough in Muggle Studies to know exactly how a musical worked – did this boy intend to sing for the entire duration?
James, Albus and Lily were completely gobsmacked. The boy seemed like their father, from the first few lines that he had sung – but how was that possible? He looked nothing like him – yes, his hair appeared to be jet black, but it wasn't messy! It was simply all over the place – a random mess of curls – everywhere! The scar on the boy's forehead looked rather different and his facial expression! – could it have been any more forlorn? Lily scoffed in disgust, causing the laptop to pause.
"Well, Lily?" asked Rose, gently. "Do you think that's Uncle Harry?"
"It looks like an imposter," Lily said, sneering at the wall-turned-screen. "I don't like it."
"Give it a chance, Petal," said Albus, condescendingly patting her shoulder.
"What have I said about calling me—"
"Cool off already!" Scorpius snapped. "If this guy is your father then I, for one, would like to enjoy him making a fool out of you and your family name!"
Victoire, Dominique and Louis all had to hold back their Potter cousins, who'd tried simultaneously to lunge at Scorpius Malfoy's throat.
BOY: Can't believe how cruel they are
And it stings my lightning scar
"Lightning scar," repeated Alice. "I think we can safely say that this guy is supposed to be your father, Potter," she added, looking at James.
Lily took that opportunity to glare at Scorpius, who was smiling smugly on the other end of the couch.
BOY: To know that they'll never ever give me what I want
I know I don't deserve these
Stupid rules made by the Dursleys
Here on Privet Drive
Albus frowned.
BOY: Can't take all of these Muggles
"It must be a Wizarding play of some sort," said Molly. "Muggles don't know themselves as Muggles – they don't know that Wizards exist, how could they? – so I don't see how this could possibly be a non-Wizarding play."
"But laptops aren't common in the Wizarding world," began Lily, "so why is something like this playing from something like that?"
"They're rare, yes," replied Teddy, "but that doesn't mean that they're unheard of."
BOY: But despite all of my struggles
I'm still alive
I'm sick of summer and this waiting around
Man, it's September and I'm skipping this town
Hey, it's no mystery, there's nothing here for me now
Everybody's hearts began to pick up speed as the song did too – it was rather amusing and – for those in the room who properly knew Harry's story – so far a rather accurate account of him.
BOY: I gotta get back to Hogwarts
I gotta get back to school
I gotta get myself to Hogwarts
Where everybody knows I'm cool
Lily raised an eyebrow. Without a doubt, this boy was supposed to be portraying her father – she knew that from the mention of the Dursleys – but she knew that he didn't think of himself as 'cool'. What was this?
"Sounds a little bit like your attitude, Potter," Scorpius drawled, looking sideways at Lily. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?"
Lily was ready to hex him when Alice spoke up.
"Wrong Potter, Malfoy," she said. "He sounds a bit more like James."
James grinned.
HARRY: Back to wizards and witches and magical beasts
To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts
It's all that I love and it's all that I need
At Hogwarts, Hogwarts, I think I'm going back
Everybody smiled as they remembered how fantastic Hogwarts truly was. "I can't wait to get back to school, now," said Hugo.
"Why? Want to take another swipe at Nearly Headless Nick's nearly headless neck?"
"That's your trademark move, Fred, not mine."
HARRY: I'll see my friends, gonna laugh 'til we cry
Take my Firebolt, gonna take to the sky
No way this year anyone's gonna die, and it's gonna be totally awesome
"What?" asked Roxanne. "Was I the only one who heard that?"
"No, I think everybody heard it," Lorcan Scamander replied. "'No way this year anyone's gonna die' – now why would that come up as something that he's particularly looking forward to?"
"It's perfectly natural to not want anybody to die," said Lysander.
"Yes, moron, I know that, thank you," Lorcan snapped, "but why bring it up at all? When we started school we didn't particularly hope that nobody would die."
"Honestly, you two," said Rose. "Have neither of you read Hogwarts: A History, Volume II?"
"Of course not," said Lily, "why would they? It's not like their mother is in it or anything."
Lysander turned a light shade of pink in embarrassment at Lily's sarcastic remark.
"I'll buy it if it makes you happy," he said, smiling. A dry-retching sound came from behind and he turned around to look at Scorpius, who was glaring at him in apparent disgust.
"Get a room, you two," the blond-haired Slytherin said. "I really wouldn't want you to ruin this special performance of your father for everyone – it's so entertaining," he added sarcastically.
"You're always welcome to leave, Malfoy," Lily replied coolly. "The stairs are just over there." She readjusted her position on the couch, bringing silence back into the room so that the projection would begin again.
HARRY: I'll cast some spells with a flick of my wand
Defeat the Dark Arts, yeah, bring it on!
And do it all with my best friend, Ron
'Coz together we're totally awesome
Everyone watched with baited breath as the door opened and a figure came through.
RED-HAIRED BOY: Yeah, and it's gonna be totally awesome!
Scorpius roared with laughter and everybody else in the room sat in shock, slack-jawed. This guy looked like a moron! And the red hair – it looked so fake!
"Easy to see where your Weasley genes come from," Scorpius said, still laughing. He dodged a couple of cushions thrown by Hugo, Fred and Roxanne.
"That's not my dad, Malfoy," Hugo said. "You wait and watch. My dad's not a moron."
"You could fool me, Weasley," snorted Scorpius. Hugo and Rose jumped at Scorpius, their fists aimed straight at his head – and the Malfoy boy might have been beaten to a pulp had Albus and James not held their cousins back.
"Ignore the prat!" James said. "We know that this guy isn't Uncle Ron, Hugo."
"There isn't any physical resemblance between the two," Molly added. Dominique and Louis nodded.
Rose and Hugo seemed to calm down a little at this and they sat back down.
"What I wouldn't give to punch his pretty-boy face sometimes," Hugo muttered, settling into the rug. Teddy gave him a slight nudge with his foot, warning him to be quiet.
RED-HAIRED BOY: Did somebody say Ron Weasley?
Hugo half-groaned – of course they would get someone to act out his father as an idiot! Scorpius started to laugh and was promptly elbowed – hard – by Alice.
The boy identified as Ron walked over to Harry, hugging him briefly before stepping back.
RON: What's up, buddy? Hey, sorry it took me so long for me to get here, I had to get some – Floo powder, but, uh, we gotta get going. Come on, get your trunk, let's go!
Rose sighed inwardly. This person couldn't even completely remember their lines! Fumbling through the bit about Floo powder – using the word 'uh'! – her mother had taught her from a young age that 'um' and 'uh' had no place in a formal speech of any sort. This musical might not exactly be a speech, but Rose was certain that the same rules applied.
Harry picked up his trunk.
HARRY: Where are we going?
Ron had a look on his face, as if to say, 'Well isn't that obvious?'
RON: To Diagon Alley of course!
HARRY: Cool!
RON: Come on!
If anybody sitting in the room hadn't been somewhat appalled by the musical before, they were now. They watched, half-amused, half-horrified at the scene in front of them.
"What the hell are they doing?" asked Fred.
HARRY & RON: Floo powder power, Floo powder power, Floo powder power, Floo powder power!
"'Floo powder power'?" said Hugo. Scorpius opened his mouth. "Don't bother saying anything, Malfoy, even I'm appalled by that."
"These Muggles are quite curious, aren't they, Lorcan?" Lysander asked his twin. Lorcan frowned.
"Are we entirely sure that they're Muggles?" he asked.
"How could they be?" replied Molly. "They know about Uncle Harry, they know about our world – there are only a select few who know so much – they can't be Muggles."
"Perhaps," said Scorpius, not being rude or sarcastic for the first time the whole evening, "and yet, their movements seem rather inferior, don't you think? They haven't demonstrated any use of magic – what was with all of that arm-flailing and 'Floo powder power' rubbish while they ran about the room?"
"Perhaps they are Muggles and they have Wizarding relatives," Rosemary suggested.
"This is a musical – they probably have several people working on this – how is it possible to have a couple dozen people, all Muggles and all with Wizarding brothers or sisters? The chances of that are phenomenally unlikely."
The room sat in almost-silence, Lorcan humming softly to keep the laptop from playing.
"I think," started Rose slowly, "they really are Wizards. I can think of only one possibility that makes any sense."
"What's that?" asked Victoire.
"Muggle Studies! It must be a Muggle Studies class! The quality of this musical isn't very good – and Teddy said the laptop was quite old – so my thoughts are that perhaps – providing that this is about one of the years that our parents spent at Hogwarts – it could be contemporary to the time it's set in, or perhaps a couple of years later."
Everyone began to nod, realisation dawning in their eyes.
"What's not to say that this is an assignment for Muggle Studies? We've had a couple of really odd Muggle Studies professors in the past – Al, you've paid attention, you know how they've been – so it makes sense that perhaps this is a Muggle Studies class that have been required to put on a Muggle-style play without magic!"
"That would explain a lot," Lucy agreed.
"It does seem to be the most likely situation," Scorpius agreed, slightly disappointed. He privately thought that it would be rather interesting if the whole Muggle world knew about the Wizarding community and – despite their magical prowess – their kind was completely oblivious to the fact.
Everyone settled back down again, happily agreeing that the people performing must indeed be magical.
RON: It's been so long, but we're going back
Don't go for work, don't go there for class
Rose giggled quietly. That did sound a little like her father.
HARRY: As long as we're together—
RON: —gonna kick some ass—
HARRY & RON: —and it's gonna be totally awesome!
Everybody laughed. So far, despite the fact that whoever wrote it seemed to glorify Harry a little – Scorpius thought that there might not be much glorification at all, from what he'd heard from Blaise Zabini – it was quite amusing and they all began to resign themselves to the idea that the whole thing might not turn out to be so bad.
"What's that little hand movement that they do?" asked Lorcan, forming his hand into a fist with his pinkie finger and thumb sticking out. "Why do they shake it like that?"
"It looks like a Muggle sign language colloquialism of some form," said Dominique. "It's strange – we never learned about such things at Hogwarts."
"No, neither did we," Rose said.
"Well, if it's contemporary to our parents' time," said Roxanne, "then it could have easily been scrapped from the curriculum in the time between their time at Hogwarts and our time at Hogwarts."
"Quite true."
Standing side-by-side, Harry and Ron continued to sing.
HARRY & RON: This year we'll take everybody by storm
Stay up all night, sneak out of our dorm
James grinned. He knew exactly how they would have done that – why, he had the perfect instrument in his trunk upstairs!
A girl jumped up from behind Harry and Ron – it was now clear that they'd been standing side-by-side to conceal her – and joined in with them.
GIRL: But let's not forget that we need to perform well in class
If we want to pass our OWLs!
"What is she going on about, 'owls'?" asked James, shaking his head slightly. "You reckon she means O.W.L.s? Why would anybody shorten the exams like that?"
Lily shrugged. "Muggle colloquialism?" she offered as an explanation.
James grinned, a slight glint in his eye. "Perhaps, they're actually passing owls," he said slyly.
Everybody just looked at him.
"As in, they're shitting owls?" he said, the grin on his face more pronounced.
Everybody groaned. Scorpius and Roxanne threw a couple of cushions at him. Lily whacked him across the back of the head. Lorcan and Lysander looked slightly alarmed in his choice of language.
"Hey, that hurt!"
"Well then don't go saying stupid things like that!"
The three of them lurched forward.
RON: Woah! God, Hermione, why do you have to be such a buzzkill?
"That's Mum!" Rose exclaimed.
"She's quite pretty," said Hugo, leaning forward a little to get a better look at her.
"She doesn't really look like her though, does she?"
"No."
"The hair…"
"Yeah."
HERMIONE: Because, guys, school's not all about having fun! We need to study hard if we want to be good wizards and witches!
Rose and Hugo looked at each other.
"Mum," they said in unison.
Ron groaned as the music began to pick up pace, signalling Hermione's re-entrance into the song.
HERMIONE: I may be frumpy—
Most of the room snorted despite themselves. Rose frowned and Hugo looked slightly amused. Frumpy wasn't a word to describe their mother – she had far too much class for that – but the fact that this Hermione was so easily admitting it was both worrying and amusing.
HERMIONE: —but I'm super smart
Check out my grades, they're As for a start
"What's Aunt Hermione going on about?" asked Lily, a look of incredulous wonder on her face. "An A isn't that good! That's the lowest pass grade you can get!"
"Most Muggles use a grading system where an A is the highest pass grade one can achieve," Molly replied. "But even in a Muggle Studies play… They must have thought that using the Muggle grade system would gain them extra marks."
"I wonder if it worked…" Alice said, thinking about whether or not their Muggle Studies professor would have known which system these wizards were referring to.
HERMIONE: What I lack in looks, well, I make up in heart
And, well, guys, yeah, that's totally awesome…
Harry and Ron didn't look completely impressed, but they appeared to agree with her and walked to her right with Hermione continuing to her left.
HERMIONE: This year I plan to study a lot…
RON: That would be cool if you were actually hot!
The room gasped in surprise. Scorpius sniggered.
"Wouldn't have thought that your father would've been into arranged marriages, Weasley," the blonde sneered at Hugo.
"He isn't," Hugo snarled back. "Just because your father married your mother unwillingly doesn't mean that my parents had to marry out of obligation."
"Leave my mother out of this, Weasley," Scorpius growled.
"Oh, guys, shut up!" Lily said, sighing loudly. Everyone looked at her in surprise. Lily Luna Potter, giving up a chance for someone to attempt to murder Scorpius Malfoy? They'd never have thought that they'd witness something so monumental. "Hugo, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione didn't date from Day One, it's quite possible that he didn't realise how beautiful she is until much later." Her cousin smiled at her.
"Hey, that could give us an approximate year that the musical was set in!" said Louis animatedly. "Rose, Hugo, do you know when your parents started dating?"
Hugo, not having ever given the topic much thought, shook his head, but his sister launched into an answer immediately.
"It was about 1998, I believe – bloody hell, that's a long time ago – but Aunt Ginny told me once that Dad was obviously smitten with her in their sixth year – she thinks that his feelings had begun developing earlier, about their fourth year… Mum has never struck me as a particularly romantic type, but I remember my parents and your parents—"Rose gestured to the Potter children "—talking about something that happened in Mum's sixth year, which I remember thinking to be quite sweet at the time… Can't remember what it was for the life of me, though…"
"Okay, so, this could be set anywhere between, say, their first and sixth year," Louis replied.
"Surely not their first couple of years, though," said Teddy. "They were only kids then."
"Yes," Victoire said, agreeing with Teddy. "Look at Lorcan and Lysander – they're in their first year but they don't have crushes on anybody."
Everybody but Scorpius, funnily enough, failed to see the light pink tinge Lysander's cheeks – but perhaps it was only a reflection of the light.
"If they had a crush, nobody would know, would they?" asked Fred, poking Victoire's knee. "That's – the – whole – point – of – a – crush." He poked her knee with every word.
"Something interesting about your shoelaces?" Scorpius asked loudly, looking at Lysander. Everybody turned to look at the apparently offending boy and Lysander was embarrassed by the attention that was focussed on him.
"I thought I saw an Umgubular Slashkilter skittering about my feet," Lysander lied, desperately trying to keep his cool. "You should probably tell Harry, James," he said, looking at the eldest Potter, "one or two of them are okay, but if they're breeding then they'll become particularly nasty and start eating your house. You won't want an infestation."
"Er – yes, of course," said James, feeling a little awkward. Not feeling that there was anything left to say, everybody quietened down to let the musical play again.
HARRY: Hey Ron, come on, we're the only friends that she's got!
Scorpius thought about saying something, but re-evaluated his decision when he saw just how close Alice's elbow was to the zipper of his pants.
RON: And that's cool…
HERMIONE: …and that's totally awesome!
HARRY, RON & HERMIONE: Yeah, it's so cool and it's totally awesome!
The music picked up pace as about a dozen others came onto the stage, dancing and maintaining the general beat.
Molly and Victoire, both incredibly sharp-eyed girls, noticed the inconsistency in the uniform of those on stage, but, looking at each other for a moment, chose to say nothing about it.
HARRY, RON & HERMIONE: We're sick of summer and this waiting around
It's like we're sitting in the lost and found
Don't take no sorcery
For anyone to see how…
We gotta get back to Hogwarts
We gotta get back to school
We gotta get back to Hogwarts
Where everything is magi-coooool
"Do you think that hand gesture means anything?" Lysander asked, referring to the way in which Ron, Harry and Hermione lifted their slightly curved hands upwards.
"I don't think so," said Albus.
"Then why focus on it?"
"Maybe whoever recorded this had Wrackspurts floating about their head!" Albus' answer sounded a little frustrated at best. Lysander, however, didn't seem to notice his tone and, satisfied with the answer, stopped talking.
ALL: Back to wizards and witches and magical beasts
To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts
It's all that I love and it's all that I need at
Hogwarts, Hogwarts
HARRY, RON & HERMIONE: —I think we're going back…
The screen faded to black.
"What's happened?" asked Rosemary. "Why did it stop? None of us said anything."
"I think it's finished," said Ted, slowly.
"Finished!" exclaimed Lucy. "How could it be finished? We hardly saw anything! Was that really it?"
"Well nothing's happening," replied Fred unhelpfully.
At the moment, the door to the basement opened and the real Harry, Ron and Hermione stuck their heads through the doorway.
"How are you guys going down there?" asked Harry.
"What are you doing?" asked Hermione.
Everybody but Teddy and Victoire looked between themselves in a slight panic. Should they say anything? It didn't matter if their parents had already seen the musical – they probably had, seeing as it was probably performed when they were at school – but if anybody brought it up then the adults upstairs might be tempted to come down and watch. While Scorpius wouldn't throw any more barbs at anybody, it would certainly ruin the atmosphere that had been created. Rosemary, Louis and Hugo all opened their mouths, probably about to offer three very different accounts of what was going on, when Teddy beat them to it.
"Nothing much, really," he said, "putting on a bit of a show and all that. We've had a couple of matches of Wizard's Chess—"
"Oh, Wizard's Chess!" said Ron, his face splitting into a grin. "I love Wizard's Chess! Can I come down there and play a couple of games?"
"NO!" Teddy, James and Molly said quickly. They were, perhaps, a little too quick for Hermione, who frowned.
"Why not?" asked Ron, genuinely confused and slightly hurt.
"Yes," said Harry, a small grin forming on his face, "why not?" If they really were playing Wizard's Chess, he'd eat his robes – and he knew that wouldn't happen because he knew for a fact that there were no Wizard's Chess sets down there at all. Teddy's 'surprise' hadn't looked like one either.
"Because, Dad," said Lily, rolling her eyes and sighing loudly on purpose, as if to indicate that the answer was obvious, "Teddy said that only us kids could be down here – none of you are kids – so shoo."
"Teddy and Victoire aren't kids either!" exclaimed Ron indignantly.
"Dad, that doesn't matter," said Rose. "He's the founder of our elite club, he's allowed to stay."
Ron huffed a little, but then smiled. None of them were getting into any trouble; that much was obvious, so he didn't mind letting them have some 'Parent Free' time – he remembered not liking his parents being around much, either, as much as he loved them.
Harry, Ron and Hermione smiled at them and, ascending the couple of steps that they'd climbed down upon entering, went to leave the room. Lily noticed that James had developed a telltale glint in his eye and, groaning inwardly, tried to mentally prepare herself for whatever stupid thing came out his mouth.
"Oh, Aunt Hermione," said James, calling his aunt's attention in a sing-song voice. Hermione stopped and looked at him, smiling.
"Yes?"
"You're very beautiful," her mischievous nephew said, "and it doesn't matter what Uncle Ron has ever said, you've never looked frumpy in the pictures I've seen of you at Hogwarts."
Hermione's eyes snapped to Ron's, who looked alarmed and began to splutter, "Wha—Bu—I didn't say anything like that – I've never said anything like that, 'Mione! – Never!"
"And," continued James, not finished, "I just wanted to let you know that we all know that you had friends at Hogwarts, despite anything that my dad may have said in the past." He turned away, grinning wickedly as Hermione rounded on Harry, who also looked quite flustered.
"Upstairs, now," she said to her husband and her best friend, her lips pressed thinly together.
The basement was silent as everyone watched Harry and Ron trudge up the stairs, looking rather confused, with Hermione right behind them. They strained their ears to hear something from the floor above, the door to the basement having been closed by Hermione when she left.
"You think I'm frumpy!"
Everybody roared with laughter at the faint sound of Hermione from upstairs. Clutching their sides, none of them noticed as they laughed that the laptop had been loading the next part of the musical in the pauses of silence that had occupied the room. It wasn't until they had all managed to stop laughing a couple of minutes later that they heard a 'plunk' come from the laptop and, surprised, watched as the next part of the musical was once again projected onto the wall.
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You may notice a couple of errors throughout this story with my transcribing the musical. This is because at times the audience laughs a bit too loudly and I can't clearly hear what's being said so I try to lip-read as best I can and do a little guesswork. I went to the StarKid site for the lyrics as it saves a lot of time but if you've bought the CD you may notice differences - this is because the characters are watching the musical, not listening to the CD, so obviously I'm going to change it around a little if the actors somehow mess up the words or something.
Recapping info about the Next Generation (with a little extra thrown in):
Remus + Tonks = Teddy (Gryffindor)
Bill + Fleur = Victoire, Dominique and Louis (all Ravenclaw)
Percy + Audrey = Molly (Ravenclaw) and Lucy (Gryffindor)
George + Angelina = Fred (Gryffindor) and Roxanne (Ravenclaw)
Ron + Hermione = Rose and Hugo (both Gryffindor)
Harry + Ginny = James, Albus and Lily (all Gryffindor)
Draco + Astoria = Scorpius (Slytherin - duh)
Neville + Hannah = Alice (Gryffindor) and Rosemary (Hufflepuff)
Luna + Rolf = Lorcan and Lysander (both Ravenclaw)
Dudley + Gloria = Thomas, Amy, Mark and a fourth (all non-magical prats who won't be appearing again)
And until next time!
