Chapter Twenty-Five

Day after day, the girls worked on their music. They added more songs to their act, and practiced them each day. They got them memorized in such a short time that Ralee was amazed.

"I can't believe you guys have worked so hard on our act that you have already memorized it!" She cast a soundproof charm on the Transfiguration classroom and turned to face the girls. "Therefore, today, instead of practicing, we're going to talk about the ball! It's this weekend you know."

Mandy leaned back on her elbows. "That's right! I completely forgot about it what with the preparation for the Talent Show. Let's see, Missy is going with Ron, Harry with Lizzy, Me with Oliver, Elorra with Patrick, Hermione with Joshua, and you, Ralee, with Draco. Oh, this is going to be so exciting!"

"Not exactly," said Ralee.

Lizzy looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not so sure I'm going with Draco."

Missy stared at her, her eyes wide. "What? Why on earth not?"

"I yelled at Draco, because he wanted me to stop being friends with you guys."

Elorra blinked. "You mean you broke up with him because of us?"

Ralee smiled ruefully. "Not exactly. We haven't officially broken up, but we haven't talked for a while. I've been trying to talk to him, but he's always busy doing something. I have no idea what. He hasn't asked me to the ball yet, but maybe he will. I have no idea."

Hermione put her arm around Ralee. "Don't worry, I think you both just needed a little space. You've changed a lot, you know that Ralee?"

Ralee looked at her in surprise. "I have?"

"Yes, you have. You used to be all lovey dovey with Draco, maybe even motherly, back when you used to hate us. And now you treat him the way a girlfriend should."

Ralee smiled. "So that must be why he's opened up to me more recently. I must have reminded him of his mother! And I never really hated you guys. I was just mean to you because Draco was mean to you."

"So what made you want start being our friend?" Mandy asked, rolling over onto her stomach.

"One day, I just got sick of Draco ragging on everybody all of the time, so I decided to show him, by becoming friends with people he hated. At first it was kind of a thing to make him mad, but then I really got to know you guys, and now, you're like my closest friends." She grinned at them.

Lizzy gasped. "You know what, I've just realized something. I've been so busy with our act that I barely noticed it!"

Elorra looked at her. "What are you talking about, Lizzy?"

"Harry has been acting strange lately. Quiet, and thoughtful, and get this, I caught him pretending to strum a guitar! I didn't even know he was into guitars!"

"Ron has been acting weird to! I can't believe I didn't realize it until now! Everytime I wanted to talk to him, he said he was sorry but he was busy! And usually he loves to be around me." She paused. "Sometimes you could even call him clingy." She grinned. "Not that I mind!"

Everyone chimed in, talking about how strange their boyfriends were acting.

"They're up to something!" Missy slammed her hand on the floor. "They're doing this to mock us!"

Hermione and Mandy cracked up laughing. Elorra, Lizzy, and Ralee raised their eyebrows at Missy, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Enough about the boys, this is our girl time. Lets talk about what we're wearing to the ball," Ralee said, obviously excited. She apparently was still expecting Draco to ask her.

Mandy sat up. "What are you wearing Ralee?"

"My black dress. It's long, sleeveless, and it has sequins all over it. Elorra and Hermione and I are all wearing the same style, aren't we you guys?"

Elorra and Hermione nodded. "I'm wearing my silver slinky one," said Elorra.

Lizzy gasped. "It sounds sexy!"

The girls rolled over in laughter.

"I'm wearing purple with beads sewed onto it," said Hermione after catching her breath.

"Oh, but you should see Hermione's though," said Ralee. "It's really low cut." And she put her hand in front of her chest to demonstrate.

Mandy gasped and looked at Hermione. Hermione turned red.

"Ralee made me buy it! I really don't feel comfortable in it though," she admitted. "I'm going to adjust it before the ball."

Missy laughed.

"Well," said Mandy, "you know how you three all have the same type of dress? Well, Missy, Lizzy, and I all have the same type of dress too."

"What kind?" Asked Ralee.

"Old fashioned full-length ball gowns," said Lizzy. "They're very...." She couldn't seem to find the right word.

"Poofy." Missy put in.

Lizzy nodded. "Yes, they're poofy. Very full. But I feel like a princess in mine!"

"We all do!" Said Mandy. "My dress is bubble gum pink, with sequins sewn all over it. I have a matching shawl too."

Lizzy grinned. "Mine is dark red, with no sequins or beads or anything. But get this; it has elbow-length matching gloves. I feel so weird...Like I'm rich and famous!"

They all laughed.

"What about you, Missy?" Ralee asked her.

Missy smiled. "My dress is pale yellow with rhinestones, and I have a darker yellow shawl to go with it."

Hermione clasped her hands. "Oh, we are going to be so beautiful!"

"I know!" Exclaimed Lizzy. "Let's do each other's hair!"

They all agreed. "I want something different for my hair," said Missy. They all chatted for a few minutes about what they were going to do to each other's hair.

"Well," said Ralee, looking at her watch. "I suppose we should do a LITTLE practicing."

They all got up. Lizzy did a little air guitar. "Wooo!"

Elorra laughed and grabbed Lizzy's 'guitar' and pretended to pull on it.

Lizzy's mouth dropped open. "Hey that's mine!" She pretended to pull back.

Elorra 'pulled' harder. "Is not it's mine, you play the drums!"

Lizzy thought for a second. "Oh yeah!" She let go of the guitar, and they laughing, took their places, Lizzy behind Elorra, Mandy, and Ralee, and Elorra next to Mandy and Ralee.

They had practiced 'Hero' with Hermione at the Dj's place, but it didn't fit, so instead, Lizzy came up with the great idea of using a piano. Luckily, Hermione knew how to play the piano. When the girls had looked at her surprised, she had shrugged and said: "My parents are very musical."

Now, after the girls were ready, Ralee smiled. "Alright, let's practice A.M. to P.M."

The nodded, and Ralee nodded to Lizzy.

Lizzy counted out the beat on her drumsticks, and on four, Elorra and Mandy sang together, alone without any instruments:

"Somebody hit the lights, so we can rock it day and night. People gettin' down that's right, from A.M to P.M."

Then Ralee blended in:

"A.M. to P.M."

Mandy added her guitar, the electric, then Mandy and Elorra sang together:

"Everybody lookin' like stars."

Then Ralee blending in:

"Like stars."

Mandy and Elorra:

"All the chicks and the fella's in the bars."

Ralee:

"In the bars."

Mandy and Elorra:

"All of ya'll bumpin' this in your cars."

Ralee:

"In your cars."

Mandy and Elorra:

"From A.M to P.M."

Then Lizzy with her drums started in, and Hermione who played DJ in this song, came in.

Then Ralee said at different intervals:

"Uh. Come on. Yeah."

Lizzy went on her drums. Boom boom boom BOOM.

"Yay." Ralee continued.

"Ooh, yay yeah ee yeah."

Boom, boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, tap. Boom ba ba tap. Boom ba boom boom. Boom ba boom boom.

"Ooh, everybody wanna get down when you hear the sound and you bump the beat. 365 days a year, 24 a day, seven days a week."

Lizzy kept the beat going, a steady beat that you couldn't help but dance to.

"Now when you're drivin' in your four-by-four and you turn this up on your stereo, whether night or day, now stop complainin' you know you still want more."

Mandy on the electric came in about the same time Ralee started singing, and they went on, just Hermione DJing, Mandy on electric, and Lizzy on drums, and Ralee singing.

"So..."

Then Mandy's guitar left, and Lizzy's beat slowed down a little bit. Then Mandy, Elorra, and Ralee sang together, and Elorra's bass came in:

"Find a honey that's standin' on the wall, all the girls get the guys on the floor. From the front to the back lets go. Hear this."

Then Lizzy let out a whoop:

"Wooo!" The girls had all figured out that Lizzy was the best at that. And she was loud enough that she didn't need a microphone.

Then Lizzy's drumbeats went faster, Missy came in on the acoustic and Mandy, Elorra, and Ralee all sang together:

"Somebody hit the lights, so we can rock it day and night. People gettin' down that's right. From A.M to P.M."

Lizzy alone with the drums for just a couple of seconds then Missy, Hermione, and Mandy all came in and Mandy, Elorra, and Ralee all sang again:

"Everybody lookin' like stars. All the chicks and the fella's in the bars. All of ya'll bumpin' this in your cars, from A.M. to P.M."

Boom ba ba tap. Ba boom boom tap. Boom boom tap. Ba boom boom tap. Boom ba ba tap. Ba boom boom tap.

Ralee:

"Ooooh."

Tap.

"Yayyy."

Boom ba boom boom boom.

Then Ralee again sang alone, with all of the guitars, Lizzy's drums and Hermione's DJ:

"Everybody in the club come on, keep bobbin' your head now to this song. You got the beats and breaks and your body's shakin', we're doin' it all night long. Any time or place, any place or time,"

Then Mandy and Elorra sang with her:

"No we don't need no sleep."

Then Ralee alone:

"365 days a year, 24 a day, seven days a week."

Then Mandy and Elorra came in:

"So..." Lizzy's drumbeat slowed.

Ralee alone:

"Yay."

Then Mandy and Elorra alone:

"Find a honey that's standing on the wall, (Ralee: "On the wall.") all the girls get the guys on the floor, (Ralee joined in on 'floor' then stopped.) from the front to the back let's go. (Ralee: "Let's go.") Hear this."

Then Lizzy:

"Wooo!"

Her drumbeat went faster; back to normal.

Then Mandy and Elorra together:

"Somebody hit the lights, so we can rock it day and night. (Ralee: "All night, yeahhh.") People gettin' down that's right, from A.M to P.M. Everybody lookin' like stars. (Ralee: "Like stars oooohh.") All the chicks and the fella's in the bars,"

Then Ralee joined in:

"All of ya'll bumpin' this in your cars, from A.M. P.M. Somebody hit the lights, so we can rock it day and night. People gettin' down that's right, from A.M to P.M."

Lizzy:

"Wooo!"

Then Elorra and Mandy:

"Everybody lookin' like stars, (Ralee: "Oh yoee yahhh.") all the chicks and the fella's in the bars, all of ya'll bumpin' this in your cars, from A.M to P.M."

Then Lizzy pumped a slow beat, going higher and higher, and the acoustic dropped out, leaving the bass and electric guitars and the DJ.

Then Lizzy dropped out, leaving Mandy to bring most of the beat with the electric.

Ralee:

"From the front to the back, come on and bob your head, (And Mandy and Elorra joined in with her: "Yaaay.") 365 days a year, 24 a day, (Mandy and Elorra joined in: "Yaaay yeah.") No we don't (Elorra and Mandy joined in: "need no sleep.") All night we (Elorra and Mandy joined in: "rock that beat.") So you know,"

Mandy and Elorra joined in:

"What to do, just make you move and make your move."

Lizzy came back in along with the acoustic.

Ralee alone:

"Yaaay."

Mandy and Elorra alone:

"Find a honey that's standing on the wall, (Ralee: "On the wall.") all the girls get the guys on the floor. (Ralee joined in on 'floor'.) From the front to the back let's go," (Ralee" Let's go.")

Ralee, Mandy and Elorra all together:

"Hear this."

Lizzy:

"Wooo!"

Mandy and Elorra:

"Somebody hit the lights. (Ralee: "Oahwoah.") So we can rock it day and night, people gettin' down that's right. (Ralee: "That's right.") From A.M to P.M. (Ralee: "Woooaah.") Everybody looking like stars. (Ralee: "Like stars.") All the chicks and the fella's in the bars. All of ya'll bumpin' this in your cars, (Ralee: "In your caars.") from A.M to P.M."

Boom boom ba boom!

Lizzy:

"Wooo!"

Mandy and Elorra:

"Somebody hit the lights. (Ralee: "Oahwoah.") So we can rock it day and night. People gettin' down that's right. From A.M to P.M. (Ralee: "Yaaay.") Everybody looking like stars. (Ralee: "Like stars.") All the chicks and the fella's in the bars. All of ya'll bumpin' this in your cars, from A.M to P.M."

All instruments and voices left except for Mandy on her electric guitar. She went on all alone, playing a single note that went higher as it went on. Then just about when it reached it's highest, Elorra, Mandy, and Ralee all sang together:

"From A.M. to P.M!"

Then Mandy's guiter stopped abruptly.

"Phew." Ralee sank down onto a chair.

Everyone, slightly out of breath, kind of flopped all over the place.

"You know," said Lizzy lazily raising her hand. "I think that's our hardest song."

Ralee sighed contentedly. "Maybe." She looked at her watch. "It's getting late you guys, we should be getting back."

They and one by one got up. They shrank their instruments and eventually made it out the door. "See you tomorrow Ralee!" Mandy called, waving.

"Yeah see you!" The others chimed.

Ralee grinned and waved goodbye.