Title: Wishes Are For Dreamers
Author: Yih
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, only the AU scenario.
Beta: Quickjewel (absolutely bloody fantastic!)
5: Mischief Managed (August 8, 2003 to August 11, 2003)
Lucius was right. Severus was pissed. Pissed off. Draco had never seen Severus quite so pale with rage, and he had seen Severus throw frustrated rage around a lot in his early teens. It had tempered down in his later teens when Severus had gotten more use to the astounding popularity of his music. He felt compelled to explain his godfather's excessive anger, but he didn't see any alarm in Harry's expression only a twinge of amusement.
"You should be honored," Harry remarked softly. "It's not any award show you know. It's the premiere music award show in Great Britain. You ought to be honored that they want you to be the closing act."
Severus scowled, and Lucius grinned. "He's right you know, Severus my friend. You ought to be honored to get this privilege. It's not something that only comes around often either. Many popular musicians and singers never get this chance. You can't refuse it, not when Voldemort has asked."
"You know I hate publicity stunts and this is just another one of them," Severus sneered. "I've already finished my promotions for my last album, there's no reason for me to do this. I should be working on my new album, not…" his voice trailed off as he tried to find the right demeaning word, "wasting my time with an insignificant award show that means nothing."
"You're not being given a choice," Lucius continued onward. "Voldemort has specifically asked for you to perform as the closing act. You can't refuse him, especially since he has you on contract for your next two albums. You don't want to piss him off, by doing him this favor you'll have even more free rein over your material."
"I already have all the control I need over my material," Severus hissed back. "I've been the co-producer on my last two albums. This is just another way for Voldemort to sell more of my albums. Another fucking publicity stunt."
"Is that necessarily a bad thing?" Lucius countered lightly. "The more albums that you sell, the more albums that you'll get to make. If you aren't a success, then who will want to sign a contract with you to back you with money? Money talks, Severus. I thought you knew that."
Severus glared at Lucius, but finally nodded. He knew that, but that still didn't mean he didn't have the right to be royally pissed at his best friend for getting him into a situation that was something that'd make him uncomfortable. Wasn't Lucius reputed to be one of the best agents in the business with getting what his artists wanted? Unfortunately, Voldemort was notorious in the business for getting what he wanted.
It was a pity when the two alpha males had clashed that Lucius hadn't been the one to emerge on top. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" Severus responded dryly, though there was no wry humor glistening in his black as midnight eyes.
Shaking his head regretfully, Lucius turned his head to where Harry was standing silently next to his son. "The show is this weekend, how would you like to go as Severus' guest?"
He blinked and blinked again. Was Mr. Malfoy seriously asking him to attend the biggest music award show in Great Britain? "Would I like to go?" Harry breathed out, his eyes wide with his excitement. "Of course, I'd like to go! I'd love to go!"
Both Malfoys grinned at Harry's exuberance, even Minerva couldn't help but smile at the radiant joy appearing on Harry's face. Severus rolled his eyes, but it was only for effect. Had he ever been as carefree and happy as this young man? No, he didn't think so. While he couldn't find it in himself to be outwardly approving of such elation, but inwardly he was almost envious. Why did it elude him?
Noticing the half scowl worn on Severus' face, Lucius thought it might be wise to ask if it was all right with his temperamental artist. It had never proved very wise to get Severus too riled up. "Are you okay with this?" Lucius inquired courteously. "With Harry attending the award show with you?"
Severus knew what Lucius was up to. It'd be all too convenient for Lucius if Harry went to the award show as Severus' guest. He wouldn't have to set up any sort of public relations meeting to showcase the publicity stunt. The goodness of Lucius' heart only went so far without having something in it for the manipulative elder Malfoy. "Yeah," he grumbled moodily. "I'm fine with it."
"Very good," Lucius remarked, his silvery eyes shifting to his son who was barely holding back the grin that was threatening to break across his face. "Of course, Harry will need to be prepared for this. It's not everyday that someone is put on TV in front of thousands of people, are they?"
"No," Draco drawled for Harry, "it's not everyday you're placed under the scrutiny of the public eye. That means you'll need," he surveyed the dark young man from head to toe, "a completely new look. I'm the person to help too. You can't go to an award show looking like that, while you look nice--- you need to look drop dead gorgeous. I'm the perfect one for the job." He grinned and held out his hand to his father. "Credit card, father?"
~
"Don't look like that," Draco teased, slipping the credit card that Lucius had handed him into his back pocket. "You should have a smile on your face, you get to spend a good deal of Severus' money. It's not like he can't afford it. He's got a ton of money. I'm always spending it as part of his petty expenses. Consider it his deserved punishment for earlier today."
"He doesn't have to pay for me," Harry murmured softly, taking out a platinum card. "I can afford a shopping spree on my own. My parents gave me their credit card to cover any expenses that I might incur."
Taking Harry's card and shoving it back into Harry's pocket, Draco deliberately shook his head slowly. "You're the guest," Draco said firmly. "Severus will pay for whatever I decide is deemed worthy of your new look. Now sit back and relax and let the master work his magic, all right? You do want to impress Severus don't you?"
Draco knew that Harry did. He had seen the looks that Severus and Harry had snuck at each other for the past hour or so that Severus' and Lucius' discussion meeting had taken place. Neither of them had been looking while the other had been staring, which in Draco's opinion was unfortunate. It would have been amusing to see their epiphany when they realized they were both interested in each other.
While he might not be attracted to his own sex, he didn't have anything against those that did. Hell, his father was one of them even if he had married and loved his mother. Then again, Malfoys tended to be more open minded about many things. They also tended to be arrogantly superior to everyone as well. Draco smirked. It was going to be fun to remake Harry into a heartthrob. He couldn't wait to see Severus' reaction. That'd be sweet indeed.
"Turn left," Draco directed the cab driver, "we want to go into the shopping district. Do you know where all the posh shops are?" The driver nodded his head. "Take us there then."
It wasn't long before the cab pulled up in front of the prestigious shopping boulevard famed for its outrageous prices and its sleek trendiness. Style was style here. There was no place like this in all of London. Draco smiled when he noticed the way Harry's eyes darted around, such an innocent thing. It was time to turn the naïve young man into a sophisticated dresser enough to knock Severus' socks off.
"Stop staring," Draco muttered with seeming impatience, but humor was sparkling in his silver eyes, "like a baby looking at candy and come with me. It's time for you to get an entirely new look courtesy of my exquisite Malfoy tastes." He grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him with him to the first shop, Marc Jacobs.
When Harry tried to pick out rather conservative outfits that were bland but tasteful, Draco shook his head and forced Harry to sit down and let him choose for him. "You have an eye for quality," he admitted, "but you're too rigid with your choices. You need to loosen up, Harry." Harry only looked at him with a blank expression on his face and Draco sighed dramatically. "Let me do the choosing, all right?"
Harry shrugged. It wasn't his money. He didn't see what was wrong with the clothes that he had chosen though. Sure, they weren't eye catching or trendy but they were comfortable and casual. What was wrong with that? Then again, Draco did have a flair about him with his clothes. It definitely made people notice him. No wonder Draco was mildly criticizing him. Compared to Draco, he was rather dull.
"All right," he agreed. "Choose away."
The grin that came onto Draco's face was breathtaking, Harry felt himself once again admiring the young blond. It was too bad that Draco was undoubtedly straight, he thought to himself. He had noticed Draco's eyes studiously checking out every worthwhile female in the vicinity with discretion. "Great," Draco remarked. "You won't be disappointed."
He didn't have any concerns about that. Getting a look wouldn't be so bad, he reflected, his mum was always trying to get him to wear some more stylish clothes. But he unfortunately got his sense of fashion from his father, sensible and more sensible. That was the Potter trademark. Even his mum's Evans fashion style couldn't override that.
"Come here," Draco called to him from where he had been sitting and pondering on one of the leather chairs. "Try this on," he told Harry, tossing him an array of clothing that had Harry's eyes popping open. Leather pants, brilliantly striped shirts, faded worn jeans, suede jackets, black laced boots, bright silk shirts. "Go on, try them on."
Harry's eyes were still goggled out. Where was he suppose to start underneath the pile of clothes that Draco had dumped on him? It seemed Draco correctly identified that his hesitation came from not knowing where to begin not from his distaste. The clothes Draco had chosen were rather stylish, but he didn't know if they'd look good on him like they did on Draco. "Here," Draco remarked, holding out a pair of pants and a shirt, "try this on."
Harry took the pants and shirt from Draco and was led into the dressing room by a well groomed older man who had taken one look at Draco and had started helping the elegantly dressed man all he could. The other young gentleman didn't make that much of an impression on him, but he wasn't about to complain on who was going to wear the clothes as long as someone was buying them and he got a good commission.
Putting on these clothes made Harry feel weird, the silky feel of the shirt was surprisingly sensual. The leather pants were deliciously tight, molding his long legs in a way his khakis never did. He gulped when he looked into the long free standing mirror that was the center piece of the dressing room. His mum would have been delighted, he considered with a half smile. He'd have to wear something like this when he met her at Heathrow when he flew to New York.
She'd always wanted him to wear something like this. Something that made him stand out more than the bland clothes that he insisted in wearing because they were comfortable. These weren't uncomfortable, just different. Now he knew where Severus' good taste in clothes came from. If the Malfoys dressed him, no wonder he looked like understated sex all the damn time.
Draco had made him look almost sexy. "Are you going to come out?" Draco inquired with humor reflected in his tone. "Or am I going to have to drag you away from the bloody mirror, Harry?"
He flushed. How had Draco known he'd been staring at himself in the mirror in amazement? He took a deep breath and stepped out of the dressing room. His hands were nervously playing with the edge of his shirt; he thought he looked good, but Draco's opinion mattered. After all, it was Draco that had chosen the clothing that made him look so good.
"It's too bad that I'm straight," Draco drawled. "You almost make me want to change my orientation."
That good? Harry snuck a peek at Draco's face to discern whether he was joking or being honest. While Draco's expression wasn't particularly easy to read, he could tell from the relaxed lines that Draco wasn't teasing him. He was utterly sincere. Amazing. "I look good?" he asked with uncertainty.
Draco smirked. "You look bloody marvelous, Harry. I can't wait to show you to Severus."
~
"You know we're going to have to meet up with him eventually," Lucius admonished lightly. "We might as well do it while Draco is out taking Harry on his little shopping spree."
"I don't see why we have to make it convenient for Voldemort," Severus snarled, "when he's making it so inconvenient for me."
Lucius shrugged in appeasement. "You know Voldemort's a hard man to work for. He likes things his way, and he can do that when he's the one that's paying you millions of dollars Severus. Money talks, and Voldemort holds the purse strings. You'll do as he asks, and he is making this worth your while."
"Who cares about the money?" Severus sneered. "I have enough of it as it is. I don't really need anymore."
His best friend chuckled lightly. "That's not what you use to say fifteen years ago when you were a struggling young musician trying to make it," Lucius remarked pointedly. "You use to tell me you'd do anything if you just could get enough money to get by. We all would have. It's amazing the distance that we've come in fifteen years."
Severus grumbled, but Lucius was right. Why did Lucius always have to be so bloody correct all the damn time? "Let's get this over with," he muttered. "Might as well."
"Good," Lucius responded, smiling charmingly at the receptionist. "We have a 3:30 appointment with Voldemort." The receptionist nodded and rang up to the head office with word that Voldemort's visitors had arrived.
"You may go up now. It's the elevators to your left, and he's in the penthouse waiting for you," the receptionist told them in a pleasant tone.
Lucius thanked her and guided Severus to the elevators at the back of the office building that would take them directly up to the penthouse. This headquarters was a bit different in that there was a penthouse on top of the office buildings. Voldemort had added the penthouse so that he wouldn't need to leave his place of work to actually have somewhere comfortable to sleep.
He personally thought Voldemort was a bit obsessive, but it did make the man a brilliant sodding success story. It was no wonder no one could hope to compete with the man. Who could beat a man that never left the office? Lucius shook his head and steeled himself to meet the only man that had ever out maneuvered him with his specialty, the language of words.
"Voldemort," he greeted, inclining his head, "it's good to see you again."
A tingle went down Severus' spine when he saw Voldemort's brilliant green eyes travel from Lucius to him. No wonder Harry's eyes had fascinated him, they were the same shade as Voldemort's. But Voldemort's were cold and calculating while Harry's were warm and gentle. An interesting and very crucial difference. Yet he could see that Harry could very well end up looking like Voldemort when he hit his middle years. Their coloring and their features were eerily alike.
"I'm glad that you two came," Voldemort replied with a cool voice. "We have much to discuss about the upcoming closing act of yours, Severus. The first problem is your lack of new material. We could always do one of your older songs, but I've always understood that you never stop writing music. I'm sure you could pull up a song that you have in the works? It'd be a nice way to advertise it without costing us any money."
Money. It was always about money, Severus thought with extreme disillusionment. Life was about money, but especially the entertainment world. Money was king, and money spoke volumes. He still didn't know how he'd made it in this cutthroat business. Sure he knew how to survive, he'd barely avoided the streets in the worse days. But this business was harsh, cruel, and malicious. It'd been to his fortune that he had landed an agent that had his best interests at heart and was wily enough to use all the tricks of the entertainment world against them.
No wonder why Lucius Malfoy had become his best friend. They'd been together for more than fifteen years as partners in business. They had been friends even before that, but it was really only after Narcissa's death and when Severus had been disinherited by his family that they had struck out and decided to go for the impossible. It was the start of a rollercoaster ride that had taken them around the world. Draco Malfoy was a product of it all--- all their traveling and their success.
"I have a few songs that I've been writing," Severus admitted reluctantly, "but they're no where near done. It'd be nearly impossible to finalize any of them. Most of them are only half written. I'd need a muse for an inspiration."
"Then we will have to work on that, won't we?" Voldemort stated more than queried, dryly.
Severus narrowed his eyes a tad before remembering what Lucius had said before, that Voldemort controlled the money and the company--- therefore, he controlled him. "It won't be easy."
"Nothing's ever easy," Voldemort snapped. "I don't care what you have to do, but you will finish a new song before the awards show and perform that new song as the first single in your upcoming album. Do you understand me, Severus?"
Oh, he understood very well. His hand was being forced. He hated when that happened. That was what his family had been trying to do for years. Forcing his hand, it was no wonder he'd rebelled against them. Family responsibilty be damned! He felt Lucius' warning hand on his thigh, telling him not to act foolishly. He could rail at him all he wanted but when they were alone and not in front of their boss.
"He understands," Lucius answered for Severus smoothly. "We both understand. It'll be done. That I promise you, Voldemort."
"Good," Voldemort responded with the barest glimpse of a smile. "I'll see you then. I trust you know your way out?"
"We do."
~
Author's Note: No lyrics in this one and I really do need some ideas thrown around to help me write this. As you can see I'm not ahead and well I have no idea what I'm going to do next. I have a basic setup but blegh. I don't know what to do. Anyhow, any ideas or feedback would be much appreciated. Hope every chapter is getting better and better. Yeah, I'm not writing 'cuz I'm @ Rice. So only reviewing will get me pumped ;p.
Thanks to Alicorn1, kagyakusha, oracale, Redrum, ntamara, Shinigami061, slytherinsela, Suburb Angel, Jes Imagin, rayvern, someonesgurl, TommieBoy182, WittchWay, Queen Vegetasei, athenakitty, VenomZ, Robin R. Smith (sorry to hear that! Glad you can relate!), Fallen Dragon, Faby, DraconisSenshi, Malakai (so how was Voldie?), Agnei Smith, selua, Wolf Lupin, Tempest8, Magami, Irihi Safaia, Erica, Jewelclaw Lady of Wind, tati1, Corgi1, wintermoon2, Quickjewel (haha and now you're my beta!), Ms. Padfoot.
Anisdeltoro16: I don't think ppl. Realize how hard it is to write the lyrics. I spend a good time on them and they do have a very specific meaning to them and they do relate to the story.
Eaiva le Fay: I always do Draco well, which is why Draco's got his own story now! To the Point of Exhaustion!
Maximum Poofy-Queen of AU: I'm using my passion for writing to write music passion. I've played the violin but I never really liked it. So is Voldemort believable?
Jane: Introspection is my thing if you haven't noticed. Actually MOP (if you read that) is really narrative-based for me. Most of my stuff tends to be more mental than physical.
Setsuri: You ideas are fuel for my thoughts, but I won't tell you want I'm doing yet. Keep brainstorming, it helps me!