A Moment Like This
Chapter 2 – Harry's Song
Giggles escaped her mouth as she twirled around the dance floor. Her red hair flew in all directions, but she didn't seem to care. She looked up at him with adoration, and he could feel himself smiling down at her. The music played in and out of focus. He suddenly had the urge to hear the lyrics, and found himself straining to hear them.
I can love you like that
I would make you my world
People crowded around them, dancing with their own partners, not paying them any mind. Harry felt frustrated all of a sudden. He wanted to scream at the music, he wanted to hear the words clearly....
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl
There! What was that? He looked down again, and saw Ginny staring at him, as if she were waiting for him to say something extremely important. He opened his mouth, but the words didn't come out.
I can love you like that
I would make you my world
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl
Harry sat straight up, glasses dangling from his nose. Through the curtains, he heard faint music, and he assumed that either Seamus or Dean had gone off to breakfast and left their bewitched stereo on. Groaning to himself about nuisance dorm-mates, Harry got out of bed, and walked over to Seamus' bedside table. Sure enough, the stereo was on. He reached over to push the off button, but the familiarity of the chords stopped him.
Move heaven and earth if you were my girl
He froze. This was the song from his dream. He sat dazedly on Seamus' bed, listening carefully. Even in his half-awake trance, he could tell that this song was exactly what he'd had in mind when he lay awake for nearly four hours thinking about what to sing. This was it.
Harry found his way to breakfast without looking like a complete idiot- all he could think was, What was I thinking? Letting Parvati trick me like that! I bet there wasn't even anything written in that bloody envelope. Duh. He slid into his place beside Ron, who was staring at his hands. Hmmm....Ron staring at his hands? Where's his food? He should be eating fifths by now...
"Ron? Are you feeling okay?" Harry asked, shoveling eggs and kippers onto his own plate before looking up at his pale-faced friend.
"Just wonderful," was Ron's reply. He paused. "Why did I tell Hermione that I'd sing?"
"Dunno. Maybe," Harry said with a wicked grin, "it's because you fancy her! Imagine that!"
Ron grunted. "I guess."
Harry was shocked. "You mean you're not going to curse me into next week for even mentioning that? Hmmm.....Perhaps I should egg you on a little, " he continued, holding up a forkful of egg for emphasis, "because if you do decide to curse me into next week, this whole production will be over, and I won't have to sing at all." He looked hopefully at Ron.
No reply. Then-
"Good morning, Ron! Harry!" Hermione plopped down across the table from them, and immediately buttered herself some toast.
"Morning, 'Mione," said Ron. He was suddenly much more lively than before.
Harry gaped at him. "Okay," he said, elbowing Ron in the ribs.
"Ow! You nutter, what are you doing? Going around elbowing blokes like that!" He rubbed his side pathetically.
Harry stifled a full-blown grin as he said, "Really, Ron. Acting so pathetic and helpless in front of the one girl you-" Ron clapped his hand over Harry's mouth- "Mphmmhm," he finished.
Hermione raised her eyebrows at them from over the top of her Daily Prophet. "Excuse me?"
Reluctantly, Ron removed his hand from Harry's mouth. Harry stuck his tongue out at Ron before smiling cheekily at Hermione. She continued to stare at them, took a sip of pumpkin juice and surveyed them both over the rim of her goblet before going back to her newspaper.
After finishing his last bit of toast, Harry followed Hermione to Transfiguration, occasionally pushing Ron into suits of armor in retaliation. He didn't really notice, Harry realized. Hermione is in front of him. Of course he's not going to notice that he's wandering around the bloody castle with a helmet on his head.
Hermione was mulling over her History of Magic essay when Ginny bounced into the Great Hall, singing under her breath. Realizing that that night was the singing contest, Hermione said as Ginny slid onto the bench beside her, "What were you singing?"
"Hmm? Oh, just this song that I heard on the radio in the shower this morning. It's a really cool song." Ginny didn't skip a beat when Harry and Ron showed up; she looked up at them and said, "Hi Ron. Hi Harry."
Ron mumbled something about the contest, but Harry replied with, "Hello. Is the bread any good?" Ginny looked at him skeptically. "Dobby would sometimes send me bread over the summer. Sometimes it wasn't bad, but most of the time-" he pulled a face. Ginny giggled.
"Ginny, who was that song by?" Hermione asked impatiently. She knew full well why Ginny hadn't bothered to answer the first time- Harry. Duh.
"Hmm? Oh, the song. Right. It's the Dixie Chicks, by Cowboy Take Me Away." She paused, then blushed crimson. "I mean, the song is 'Cowboy Take Me Away,' by the Dixie Chicks. Sorry, "she added in an undertone.
Hermione grinned, then whispered, " Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter!" She ducked as Ginny made to swat at her playfully. The two boys looked at each other incredulously. It was their turn to raise the eyebrows. Hermione caught a glimpse of this, and started to giggle uncontrollably. This set Ginny off, which left Harry and Ron amidst a pack of hyenas.
Half an hour after dinner on most normal nights, Gryffindors could most likely be found lolling around in the common room, playing chess, Gobstones, or Exploding Snap. This particular night, the seventh year boys' dormitory was about to be hit by a deadly tornado. Tornado Ron.
Harry staggered up the stairs with the hope that he could at least convince Seamus to let him borrow the CD he'd heard the song on, but found the dormitory in a right state. He found Ron on the floor next to Dean's CD tower, with four or five CD cases clutched in his hands.
"Harry," he croaked. "You've got to help me, mate." He gestured to the piles around him. "Sit down and start looking for a song." He consulted a piece of parchment. "Find the case labeled Toby Keith. This bloke says 'How do you like me now?' Kinda sure of himself, that one."
Harry stood and slipped the CD into the stereo. Instantly, the song blared over the surround-sound speakers that Seamus had installed. "Too flashy," said Ron, crinkling his nose.
They spent a quarter of an hour listening to random songs before Harry looked over at Ron and said, "D'you know what you want to be expressing?"
Ron looked away fairly quickly, and Harry was quite sure he was hiding a blush. "Yeah," he said. "I want to tell Hermione how I feel."
If Harry hadn't been so keen to give Ron the help he needed, he would have felt the need to say, "It's about time!" So, with the prospect of an empty dormitory in mind, he said nothing other than, "Really?"
They rummaged around the dormitory for another quarter of an hour before Ron croaked out, "That there's the one." Harry felt himself smiling in spite of himself. Seeing this, Ron asked worriedly, "D'you think she'll like it?"
"Knowing 'Mione, she'll flood the place before you can actually say that it's for her," Harry grinned.