Bad Animals

Harry followed Ron's big brother Bill into the London club known as the Underground. It was the end of the summer, and the club was incredibly packed with people, most of which were muggles, over the age of 16.

Bill had smuggled Harry out of the Dursleys' just hours before, to his great relief. It had been yet another miserable summer, although not as miserable as it had been in the past. The Dursleys seemed to be content to just ignore him, stay out of his way. But it had been lonely. Very lonely. Letters from his friends were the bright spots, but he had basically stayed in his room all summer. Listening to music...loads and loads of music...finding it soothed his soul, like some savage beast that needed taming. Headphones became a permanent attachment around his neck that summer. And writing. To his friends, mostly. That and pouring his guts out onto parchment, purging himself of all that happened. He had come to better terms with losing Sirius, though his eyes still stung when he thought of him.

They wove their way in and out of the crowd and Harry followed as Bill approached a table at the front, near the stage. His face broke into a broad grin as he saw Ron and Hermione seated there, smiling at him. They stood and hugged him in turn, exchanging greetings as he and Bill seated themselves.

"Just thought you'd all like a fun night out before you all head back for your last year," Bill explained.

"You alright, Harry?" Hermione asked him quietly over the table as he sipped his drink, "Your letters...you sounded...depressed."

"I'll be okay," he smiled slightly, "just glad to get back to Hogwart's." He paused, considering, "Just don't know what I'll do after. Don't want to go back to the Dursleys...ever."

It wasn't long before Ginny and Dean Thomas joined them as well. The group of them talked over drinks for nearly an hour before the house lights dimmed slightly and the crowd grew quiet.

A middle-aged man approached the microphone, adjusted it down slightly, then spoke, "Thank you all for joining us this evening!" The crowd applauded and he continued, "And now, the Underground is proud to present.....Bad Animals." The crowd applauded loudly as two women took the stage, both with guitars.

Harry's attention was immediately drawn to the petite girl with the blue guitar as she adjusted the microphone. She stood not much more than five feet tall, and had a shaggy mix of red, pink and honey blonde hair that hung just past her shoulders, disheveled in a very attractive way. She picked a few notes on her guitar, made a few adjustments, then started playing an intricate melody. Her mate played along on a blonde classical, and stood quite a few inches taller than she, long dark brown hair cascading down her back, flecked with strips of purple. The crowd went silent as the taller of the two girls began to sing, her cohort consumed in the strings of her instrument. It was as they got to the chorus of their song that Harry found he could not seem to look away from the shaggy haired girl, as her voice chimed in and sang backup...

A trick of light upon our eyes

A trick of time upon our lives

Ancient songs cry out to you

Surely this sweet sand is slippin through

At the end of the song, the crowd applauded, and the girls were joined by the rest of their band mates, all male, on keyboard, bass, drums, and another guitarist. The tall, dark haired girl parked her guitar and picked up the microphone, as her band mate switched her own acoustic for a white Gibson SG and fiddled with her amp. Within seconds, they had ripped into a full on rocker and Harry watched in amazement the petite girl with the guitar. She played it as if it were part of her, completely in tune with it, and moved as though the music itself were the blood in her veins.

Quite a few songs later, they took a break, and the crowd applauded, including the group at the table in front. Hermione stood up, put her fingers in her mouth and whistled very loudly, surprising even Ron, who looked at her with a look of astonishment before sitting back down. "I never knew you could do that!" he said, surprised.

She smiled somewhat sheepishly and answered, "There's a lot about me you don't know, Ronald." He flashed Harry a look that said 'what's that supposed to mean?'

Another round of drinks was delivered to the table as Bill joked, "Hey Harry, you can blink now." They laughed and teased him, and he blushed slightly with a grin.

But it was nothing compared to the look on his face as the two girls from the band approached the table. Bill stood, arms open wide, "Ladies!" The dark haired one kissed his cheek as he hugged her tight, and then the object of Harry's attention hugged Bill hard around the neck, laughing loudly as he lifted her off the ground. They pulled up two chairs and sat on either side of Bill, the smaller of the two squeezing tightly between Bill and Harry.

"Everyone," Bill spoke up, looking around, "these are my friends Toni," he gestured to the one with dark hair, "and Kylie," he turned to the other. "Ladies," he continued, going around the table, "My sister Ginny and her boyfriend Dean, my baby brother Ron, his lovely girlfriend Hermione, and this," he gestured at Harry, "is Harry."

They all greeted each other one by one, and Harry blushed as Kylie put her arm playfully around him and said, "Bill, you lied to us. You said you didn't know anyone else as cute as you." Harry smiled, felt his cheeks get warm, looked down shyly. Everyone laughed, and light conversation broke out, consisting mainly of a lot of laughing as Bill and the two girls cut up.

Twenty minutes later, the girls rose and went back to the stage for the second set. The crowd applauded as Kylie put her Gibson back on, cranked a few hard chords, then approached the mic. "Thank you," she said. Her voice was slightly breathy, soft, with a lilt to it. "As you all know - or maybe you don't," she laughed, "we're pretty influenced by a band from across the pond, they're called Heart. They're wicked ladies, we cover them a lot. You'll know this one." She adjusted the knobs on her guitar before speaking again, "Toni," she laughed, "what say we send this out to a certain gentleman there at the front table?" Toni gave her a thumbs up, Kylie gave a laugh and the crowd roared as she flashed a quick wink toward the table. Harry shifted in his seat, could have sworn she was looking right at him, but decided better of it...surely they meant Bill. She kicked into her guitar with a vengeance and Toni began singing...

Cold late night so long ago

When I was not so strong you know

A pretty man came to me, never seen eyes so blue

You know I could not run away it seemed

We'd seen each other in a dream

It seemed like he knew me, he looked right through me, yeah

Kylie came in on background vocals...

Come on home girl, he said with a smile

You don't have to love me yet, let's get high awhile

But try to understand, try to understand

Try, try, try to understand...I'm a magic man....

She kept looking over at the table as she sang her parts, smiling, jamming out, and at the point of the brief guitar solo, she came over and played directly for them, smiling all the while. Harry found himself wondering why he had never in his life met girls like this, there certainly weren't any at Hogwarts, catching her eye briefly as she hit a high note and shook her guitar for vibrato before heading back to the mic.

At the end of the evening, they had all had a grand time, and the girls from Bad Animals bid their farewells, hugging each of the party in turn and saying how good it was to meet everyone. "Any friends of Bill's are good enough for us," Toni said as she hugged Hermione.

Kylie hugged Bill tightly, and as Toni did the same, Kylie turned quickly to Harry. "Good to meet you," he smiled, offering his hand, which she took and pulled him into an unexpected hug.

"You too," she said quietly. Harry felt his heart skip a beat as she spoke, and felt himself blush as she headed backstage, looking over her shoulder briefly with a smile.

"Well," Bill said, rubbing his hands together and looking at everyone at the table, "shall we?" Together, they all headed out of the club and turned toward the Leaky Cauldron, where they could catch a fire back home.

"They're really good," Hermione spoke up as they walked, her hand in Ron's. Ron agreed with her and she asked, "Didn't you think so, Harry?"

He was walking, not paying any attention, and she had to say his name again before he looked up and said, "Hmm? Oh, yeah, they were...incredible, actually." He grinned rather more broadly than intended.

"And rather easy on the eyes, don't ya think?" Bill laughed as he put his arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Hmm?" Harry looked at him, "Yeah, sure, they're alright."

"Alright?" Bill laughed, "I'd say they're a little more than alright."

"They don't make girls like that at Hogwart's," Ron piped up with a grin, provoking a playful smack from Hermione as they walked together.

Bill continued, "Too bad you're so young." He laughed at the expression on Harry's face, then said, "I know, I know....you're not a kid anymore..." just as they entered the Leaky Cauldron, closing the door behind them.

That night, as Harry slept, he slept, better than he had slept all summer, dreaming of a girl with a guitar....