Kurt and Penny walked into a room unlike the other classrooms she'd been in that day. There were no desks in the room. There were three large uplifts along the wall, making it easier for those sitting in the back rows to see. There were a few chairs, but the most noticeable difference was the piano and band that were in the room. It was actually nice. Nothing like Hogwarts, of course, but the presence of music and lack of desks did help her feel better.

Kurt dragged Penny over toward a group of girls sitting up in the back. He dropped her down in a chair, then turned to the girl he was sitting next to. He gestured toward Penny. "What do you think, Mercedes, sea foam green or deep sea blue?"

The girl turned and looked at Penny, putting her hand to her cheek as if she was thinking. "A red-head, Kurt? I don't know. We've never done one of those before."

Penny's jaw dropped. "What?"

"You really need to stop saying that." Kurt took a finger and tapped Penny's jaw back closed. "It makes you sound like a broken record."

"I'm thinking more blue." The girl said.

"Hm. Maybe some mauve. And that ponytail has to go." Kurt nodded.

"Why is she scowling at us?" Mercedes asked.

Kurt shrugged. "She does that. I'd scowl too if I was wearing that shirt."

"I... like the way I look." Penny said, unsure of herself.

"Really?" Kurt said. "Because you kind of stand out in that. It's horrible."

Penny's heart quickened. Did he just figure out what her worst fear is? "Ok." She said, a little too quickly. "But nothing too outlandish."

Mercedes high-fived Kurt before turning back to Penny. "We do excellent work, don't worry. I'm Mercedes, by the way."

"Penny." She said, tucking a loose hair behind her ear. There were too many people here. Now she'd agreed to have them change her hair. Somehow she didn't think she was achieving the invisible look here. Too bad she couldn't just take out her wand and apparate. She felt like that would be the best thing possible.

After more people came in, including Finn and his guest, Mr. Schue closed the door and sat down on the piano. "So nice to see you all did your assignment! Even you Brittney. Sort of."

Everyone turned to look at a blond girl who had a parrot on her lap.

"It's my Nana." The girl said quietly.

"Alright!" Schue clapped his hands together. "Let's get this started! Who wants to go first?"

Penny watched as the other kids got up. Each pairing was so strange. The one that was in the glee club sang wonderfully, while their 'assignment' sang horribly. Brittney's parrot was better than half of them. Half way through one horrible rendition of "Time after time", Kurt leaned over and patted Penny's shoulder. "See? You can't be that bad!"

That reminder disheartened Penny. She couldn't sing as well as the other glee kids, but she certainly wasn't as bad as the ones everyone had brought in with them. But she still couldn't sing in front of them. Not with an American accent. She turned towards Kurt. "I can't do this."

"It's okay to be nervous." Kurt answered. "No one here is going to care. Besides, I know you can't be as bad as them."

"I... I can't do this." She repeated.

"Relax." Kurt patted her hand. "Listen, we will sing anything you want, any way you want to. Then it's over with. Deal?"

Anyway she wanted? Penny's mind raced with popular British songs that Kurt would know the lyrics to. "The Beatles?"

"Penny Lane?" Kurt laughed as Penny scrunched her nose. "Ok, how about 'Hey Jude'?"

Penny thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Artie, how about you?" Mr. Schue asked the boy in a wheelchair.

Artie wheeled in front of the piano, followed by a shy looking boy. The boy had black clothes and black hair. He also wore black makeup that seemed to cover most of his eyes. "This is Brian. He's a freshman and likes to sing... heavy metal."

"Hey, what's up?" Brian waved his hand. His voice seemed a little high pitch for heavy metal music.

There were some giggles from over by Brittney and another cheerleader.

"Ok, so let's see what you got." Mr. Schue clapped his hands together.

Artie opened his mouth to speak or sing or something, but before he could, Brian started screaming. Not singing, screaming. There were definable points of change in his voice, so it was obvious he was trying to sing, but that wasn't singing. In fact, Penny was amazed her ears weren't bleeding. Most of the kids covered their own ears. Nothing Brian shouted sounded like words of pitch of any sort. Artie didn't even try to do anything. He simply closed his mouth and sat there, staring at Brian in utter confusion and shock like everyone else.

Once Brian finally stopped screeching, he took a low bow, then left the room. Artie watched him go, then wheeled back over to the group. "Sorry, everyone," he mumbled.

"No, thanks Artie. That was... different." Mr. Schue said.

"Someone needs to put him out of his misery." One of the cheerleaders said.

"That just leaves you, Kurt." Mr. Schue said. "And Penny, our brand new student."

Penny hated him even more.

Kurt got to his feet, pulling Penny along with him. When they got to the front of the room, Penny felt weak. She was suppose to blend in unnoticed and now all eyes were fixed on her. Her hand twitched, wanting to pull out her wand that wasn't even there.

Kurt put a hand on her back. "We're going to sing at the same time, since she'd a little nervous." He looked over at her. "You ready?"

Penny bit her lip. This was normal, right? After all, everyone else in here had done this same thing. Blending in meant doing whatever anyone else did, right? She swallowed, then nodded.

The piano started, and Penny closed her eyes. If she imagined she wasn't here, if she pictured herself back in Hogwarts, in her Ravenclaw common room, then she could do this. Yes, she could do this.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad.

Take a sad song and make it better.

Remember to let her into your heart,

Then you can start to make it better.

Hey Jude, don't be afraid.

You were made to go out and get her.

The minute you let her under your skin,

Then you begin to make it better.

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain,

Don't carry the world upon your shoulders.

For well know it's a fool who plays it cool

By making his world a little colder.

Na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-naaaaaa

Penny was happy to hear Kurt ending the song short. She really didn't like having to sing in front of everyone. Still, she couldn't help but noticed she enjoyed singing with him. It was nice to sing along with someone that wasn't her sister. The thought of her sister saddened Penny. The room filled with applause and she opened her eyes, surprised to see everyone looking at them with smiles on her face. She looked over at Kurt, who was just beaming.

"And you told me you can't sing." Kurt teased.

Penny bit her lip. She couldn't sing with an American accent. That she hadn't lied about.

"Nice job guys. So Penny, guys, what do you think?" Mr. Schue said.

"I vote Penny."

"Penny."

"Oh please, totally Penny."

Penny smiled., unwillingly liking the attention for the moment.

"Sounds like everyone likes you, Penny." Mr. Schue said. "Welcome to glee club!"

Oh crap.

Penny's heart sank down into her stomach. What did she just do!

I felt guilty writing out the lyrics to the song. Whenever I read songs, they never have the same impact as listening to them. *shrug* Oh well, I did it. So there.