[IWSC Summer Camp Task 2]

Summer Camp: Painting, 50 points. Write about someone trying to break into the world of the arts (i.e art, performing arts).

Word Count: 3012 words

Cabin: Weasley

Author's Note: This story is an AU set in a world with no magic. Instead of going to Hogwarts together, the trio, alongside Luna, Ginny and Neville have known each other since secondary school. They are now in university, where Luna and Ginny share a dorm together on campus, Neville still lives with his grandmother (he's not too far from campus) and Harry, Ron and Hermione share a two-bedroom flat near campus. Also Harry's parents are dead in this AU but instead he lived with his uncle Sirius before going to university.

The following story features alongside three other Harry Potter FanFictions written by my amazing teammates, Charbo2576, Cymbeline Dragon and DrarryMadhatter. I'd also like to thank them for their support and help with betaing! Make sure to go check out their stories to see how we all used the color red!

Disclaimer: The following characters and world (unfortunately) belong to J.K Rowling, please know that I support #transrights.

First Performance

Nineteen-year-old Ginny Weasley rushed out of her university classroom as soon as the professor had concluded his lecture. It was Friday evening, her last class of the week had finished at 7 pm and she was now making her way to her friends' flat. Her brother Ron and his two best friends lived near campus and they had a tendency to hang out there with some other friends on Friday nights. Ginny was normally the last to arrive because for some bloody reason, she was the only one out of their friend group to have classes on Fridays.

Normally she took her time walking to Ron's flat, chatting with a couple of classmates, because she knew that her brother and Harry would still be out grabbing their take away tonight was different, she had big news to share with the group.

Weaving through the mass of students leaving different campus buildings, she walked as fast and safely as she could in the direction of the flat. Even if she was in a hurry, she couldn't help but notice the beauty of the few leaves that remained on the trees. It was early October, winter would be arriving in the near future. But for now, she could still enjoy the vivid red leaves that slowly fell to the ground.

In record time, she arrived at the front door of the building and pressed the call button to announce her arrival. She knew for a fact that Hermione would be able to buzz her in, she had a tendency to study until the food arrived.

Right on cue, Ginny heard the familiar buzz of the front door unlocking. Without hesitation, she walked into the building and bypassed the lift, opting instead to take the stairs up onto the seventh floor. She could use the small workout, her rugby practice had been cancelled this week. Taking the stairs two-by-two, she eventually made it to the seventh floor and opened the door to the stairwell. She walked into the hallway and was about to continue on down the hallway when she heard the lift ding. She turned her head in the direction of the noise.

Her flatmate Luna and their friend Neville stepped out of the lift.

''Hi Ginny, your face is red,'' Luna stated, a soft smile upon her face. Ginny absolutely loved her friend, but sometimes, she didn't seem to always think before she spoke.

''Oh,'' Ginny replied. ''Well, I just ran up the stairs.''

''Why, is everything alright?'' Neville exclaimed, clearly worried about her. The pair had now reached where Ginny had stopped to wait for them in the hallway.

''Yeah, don't worry Neville,'' Ginny reassured her friend. ''I was just in a rush to get here. I have some exciting news for everyone!''

''How wonderful,'' Luna exclaimed. She walked ahead of the group and simply opened the door to Ron's flat. They knew they didn't have to knock, Hermione always left it unlocked for them.

When Ginny entered the flat, she immediately removed her light jacket and went to place it in the cupboard near the front door. Neville and Luna did the same. None of the residents seemed to be in the living room or kitchen, which were both visible from the entrance. Ginny assumed Hermione was still in her room. She walked past the kitchen and down the hall where the bedrooms were. Harry's bedroom was next to the bathroom while the largest bedroom that Ron and Hermione shared was at the very end of the hallway.

The door was open and she peeked her head inside. Ginny was proven right when she saw Hermione sitting at her desk.

''I'm almost done,'' Hermione said, sensing or hearing Ginny's arrival. Her eyes never left her laptop as she continued to type something.

''Okay, but be quick!'' Ginny exclaimed.

''Yep,'' Hermione replied absentmindedly. Ginny turned around and returned to the living room. Neville and Luna were sitting on the sofa, Neville seemed to be explaining something he had learned in his animal biology module. Luna was the only one that ever really paid attention to him during his ramblings, Ginny never understood what he was talking about.

Nevertheless, she dragged one of the chairs from the small table nestled in the kitchen towards the sofa and sat down to wait for the others to arrive.

After what seemed like ages, Ron and her boyfriend, Harry, entered the flat, carrying two large pizza boxes and a bag full of canned pop.

''Honey, I'm home!'' Ron exclaimed, a goofy smile on his face. He quickly closed the door behind him.

Ginny jumped up from her seat in excitement, rushing over to grab the boxes of food from the boys as they removed their shoes and coats.

''Hermione, hurry up!'' Ginny yelled as she placed the boxes on the coffee table that was in between the sofa and her chair.

''Geez Gin, what's the rush? Let her finish her homework!'' Ron said a tad irritated.

Ginny rolled her eyes at him but decided it was best not to push it and call Hermione over once again. Luckily the woman in question walked out of her bedroom and joined them in the living room.

''What's going on?'' Hermione asked, sensing that the mood in the living room was strange.

''Sit down everyone!'' the young redhead exclaimed, unable to contain herself anymore. ''I have the best news!''

Ron and Hermione sat down on the floor near the coffee table. It was clear that Ron had positioned himself closest to the pizza boxes so he could eat as soon as the impromptu meeting was over. Luna and Neville had also handed the couple some pillows from the sofa so they would be more comfortable. Harry walked over to sit on the chair she had previously been occupying. Once they were all comfortable, they looked up at her expectantly.

''Okay, so I was walking to my last lecture of the day, dreading it and debating if I should just skip—''

''Which I'm hoping you didn't?'' Hermione interrupted.

''Me? Never!'' Ginny joked, winking at her friend. Hermione lightly rolled her eyes but allowed her to continue. ''Anyways, that's when I noticed a flyer taped to the door of my classroom!'' She then proceeded to pull the flyer out of one of the pockets of her jeans.

She unfolded it and showed it to the group. The flyer was incredibly hard to miss; the paper was fire truck red with bold, yellow letters. It read; Battle of the Bands.

Before the group could continue reading the flyer, she let it drop on the table and resumed her speech. ''It's a brand new competition that's being held here on campus, in the union bar! There's even a cash prize! It's on Halloween night, the bar will be packed! It's not only great exposure for us but we're bound to win and we can finally buy some of the new equipment we've been dreaming of!''

''Awesome! I'm in!'' Ron exclaimed at the same time that Hermione asked; ''Isn't Halloween on a weeknight this year?'' They both blushed after noticing they'd both had different opinions on the competition.

''Halloween is on a Thursday night this year.'' Luna said, softly answering Hermione's question. ''Also, I am of the same sentiment as Ron.''

''I wasn't actually planning on doing anything this Halloween,'' Neville said nervously. ''I have a lot of labs due around that time.''

Ginny was shocked by their answers. She thought everyone would jump at the opportunity to perform. The summer before Ron, Harry, Hermione and Neville started university, they had all been at a loss of how to spend their time. Since they were starting university, they had all decided to try and not spend any money in order to save for all the upcoming expenses. They all had summer jobs and had simply decided to take small trips around the countryside. Unfortunately, the weather seemed to have other plans as it seemed to constantly storm and rain.

On one particular rainy Sunday, the group of friends were hanging out at Harry's place. He had been living with his uncle Sirius ever since his parents had passed away when he was a child. They had all complained about how they were bored but no one suggested what they could do to pass the time. Sirius, who must have been annoyed by hearing them complain and just sit in his living room, suggested they find something creative to do. He joked that when he was younger, him and his group of friends, which included Harry's father, had always wanted to start a band but none of them were good at playing instruments. On top of that none of them could sing. One of their friends, Remus, apparently sounded like a howling wolf when he tried to sing.

The group had laughed at Sirius's story but didn't think much of it. Until two hours later, when Luna broke the silence and boredom that filled the room and stated that she could play the keyboard. Her mother had taught her when she was younger. Neville shyly confessed that he had been playing the guitar ever since he was a child. Ginny had seen her older brothers play the drums before, there was an old set in their basement. She seemed to insinuate that she knew how to play them a bit. Harry and Ron both excitedly admitted that they had always wanted to learn how to play the bass. Everyone had turned to Hermione expectantly, they all had quickly attached themselves to the idea that they could start a band for fun. Hermione had quickly shook her head, saying she didn't know how to play an instrument and had no desire to do so. The group had suddenly become less excited, they didn't want to exclude Hermione from their summer plans.

Suddenly the silence of the room had been broken again when Ron had gently stated; ''But I've heard you sing before and you have a beautiful voice.'' And just like that, their band was born. They had managed to find all the equipment necessary and Sirius had gladly given them the basement of his house to let them practice in. The process had been slow at first, Ron, Harry and Ginny had to properly learn and master their instruments before they could actually play anything Luna, Neville and Hermione had busied themselves with finding sheets of music for songs they could easily play as a group. As the summer had come to an end, they thought that their band had been nothing more than something to pass their time as the majority of them waited to start university. But they quickly realised that they missed playing their instruments during the school year and had decided to meet once a week to spend time together and jam. They still met at Sirius's house since it was near campus and easy for Luna and Ginny to meet them there.

It wasn't until this past summer, before Ginny and Luna started their first year at university that they started composing their own songs instead of just doing covers all the time. They didn't consider themselves a real band, they had never performed for anyone and they didn't even have a name. But Ginny thought they were ready for that, they had a lot of good original songs and they played well together.

''Harry? What do you think?'' Ginny asked her boyfriend, hoping he would agree with the idea that joining this competition was a good idea.

''I think it's a fun idea Gin,'' Harry told her sincerely, ''but we can't force anyone if they don't want to.''

''I'm not forcing anyone!'' Ginny defended herself. ''It's not something we have to do all the time. I thought it was a fun thing to try and that we could make a little money doing it!'' Ginny hesitated for a second before continuing. ''I just think it's time we dip our toes in the world of performing, find out if we're actually any good or not.''

The group remained silent but she could tell they were thinking about it more seriously.

''I promise that it won't take up too much of your time. We don't need to do much to prepare. Technically we just need to register and decide our setlist. We can practice the songs we choose on our next scheduled get together, nothing more!''

''I guess you're right, this could be fun,'' Neville said, changing his mind. ''I might actually need a healthy distraction to keep sane during all my labs.''

Ginny broke out into a huge grin. Ron and Luna were obviously still on board as they nodded their heads in agreement.

''Why not,'' Harry said as he shrugged his shoulders.

All eyes, once again, turned to Hermione. Ginny didn't want to pressure her, but she thought Hermione should participate. ''Hermione, you deserve to have fun and to take a break during the school year. You work really hard and I think one extra night off would be good for you.''

Ginny noticed Ron grab his girlfriend's hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Hermione looked at Ginny and gave her a small smile. ''I guess you're right. One night won't be the end of the world.''

''Yes! Thank you Hermione! You won't regret this!'' Ginny said excitedly.

''Good, can we eat now?'' Ron asked even though he had already reached over Hermione to open one of the pizza boxes.

''Yeah let's eat,'' Neville confirmed.

''I'll get the plates,'' Harry said, getting up from his chair. He walked over to the small kitchen and grabbed some plates from one of the cupboards.

''I'll grab another chair,'' Ginny said.

When the whole group was once again settled around the coffee table and to Ron's content, finally eating, Ginny put the flyer on her lap. Once she had swallowed her bite, she read the instructions listed on the piece of paper to the group. The paper mentioned that they needed to send an email to the organisers with the name of their band, the number of members, what equipment they would need and what three songs they would be playing. They also needed to send a small video clip of them performing one of those three songs so the organisers knew they were good.

''I think we can easily figure out the setlist. We just need to pick the three songs we're most comfortable playing,'' Harry said addressing the group before taking a sip of his drink.

''What about the name of our band?'' Luna questioned.

Silence filled the room as everyone tried to think of a name. They had never chosen one because they didn't feel it was necessary. But most of all because even back when they had formed the group, they couldn't think of one.

''Should it include our names?'' Neville suggested.

''It might be too long with all our different names. Unless we want to be Weasleys and Friends.'' Ginny said jokingly. Everyone laughed with her.

''Well, what's something we all have in common? We could try including that in the name?'' Hermione asked them, as she grabbed another piece of pizza for her boyfriend.

''Tired students?'' Neville answered, half-seriously, half-jokingly.

''That sounds rather depressing.'' Luna answered him. ''Our group name should be brighter! Oh, should we include a color in the title?''

All the while they discussed the name, Ginny noticed that Harry had remained quiet. It was quite unusual for him.

''Harry? What do you think?'' she asked him, gently touching his shoulder. He seemed to be spaced out.

It took him a second, but his eyes regained focus and looked over at Ginny. ''What?''

''Did you have an idea for a name?'' she asked him again, flashing him one of her dazzling smiles.

''Not really... It's silly...'' Harry said quietly. Ginny motioned to the rest of the group to be quiet. They quickly got the message.

''Nothing is silly. What is it Harry?'' Hermione reassured him.

''Well... Remember when my uncle Sirius gave us the idea for the band?'' Harry asked them. Everyone nodded in response. ''Well after you all went home that evening, I talked to Sirius some more, I wanted to know if he could tell me more stories about my dad. Sirius told me that my dad and their friends were all really into music and it's how they spent a lot of their free time. My mom also joined them in listening to music when they used to hang out. She was the only one out of them that could actually sing and play an instrument, so they joked that if they ever did start a band, they would name it in her honor.''

''What was the name they had chosen?'' Ginny wondered out loud, completely intrigued by Harry's story.

''Red Muse'' Harry said bashfully.

Everyone smiled in response to Harry's story. Ginny looked at everyone sitting around the table. ''Everyone in favor, raise your hand.'' Ginny said, already raising her own hand.

''Oh, Gin, it's okay, I was just reminiscing, we don't need to use that name.'' Harry protested, blushing a bit.

''It's the best idea we've had so far and it has a beautiful meaning, why shouldn't we use it? Unless you're set on Weasley and the Tired Students?'' Ginny told him.

''I love the name,'' Hermione said reassuringly, also raising her hand. Neville, Ron and Luna all voiced their agreement and also raised their hands.

''Harry, you didn't raise your hand,'' Luna pointed out.

A bit surprised by his friends eagerness to use the name Harry had hesitated raising his hand. But once he saw they were all sincere and excited he also raised his hand. ''Thank you,'' he told his friends, a large smile gracing his face.

''We are officially Red Muse, let's win this competition!'' Ginny exclaimed, her excitement returning.

Everyone grabbed their drinks and clinked them together in celebration. They were all excited for their first performance as an official band.