Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or Californis Dreams. If I did, there would be more episodes. This story is going to be very strange, so I hope you like it. And if you don't know what California Dreams is... look it up.
Summary: Harry and some other students form a band as homework. But this wasn't the way any of them expected things to go. Hope you like it. R and R, please. Thanx
New Beginnings
By: Whyteroze28
Chapter Two: Music and Potions
The next day, Harry was late for his Muggle Studies class. He raced into the room five minutes late, and prepared to be told off, or to lose points. But Miss Warbeak just smiled, and gestured for him to take his seat.
From the seat behind him, he heard, "Potter didn't get disciplined... what a shock."
Harry ignored the voice. Draco Malfoy. It seemed that even though Malfoy had joined their side, he still couldn't bring himself to be civil to Harry.
At the front of the class, Miss Warbeak was discussing the fact that Muggle schools usually had music classes, and something called a choir. "I don't wish for you all to become a choir, however," she stated. "What I have in mind will be ever so much more fun."
'Ever so'? Who on earth actually spoke like that? But her next words threw him for a loop.
"I have two assignments. One will be a pen friend exchange with the other students in all my Muggle Studies classes. The second will be that I wish for you all to audition for a band that I'm putting together. Since there are only eight of you, if you don't get a part, I will let the other three be my design and advertising team."
"A band?!" Malfoy again. "You've got to be kidding."
Lisa Turpin spoke up from the other side of the room. "Why not try out, Draco? You could be the lead singer. Wear hot clothes, and have tons of groupies... Oh, I forgot, you do that anyways." She giggled.
Harry, however, was frozen. Sing... in front of people? There was no way. He'd end up on the design team for sure. He was terrified of anything involving being in the public eye. And it was understandable, after the way the Daily Prophet (with Rita Skeeter) had treated him during his fourth year... and then the Daily Prophet (without Rita Skeeter) in fifth.
Suddenly, Malfoy's voice whispered in his ear. "Tell you what, Potter. You audition, and I will too."
Harry whispered back. "What do you care, Malfoy? You'd get in, I wouldn't. There'd be no contest."
"Somehow I doubt that," was the reply. Harry turned sharply to look at the blonde, but Malfoy only smirked.
"Here are the words to the songs we'll be singing," Miss Warbeak announced, passing out rolls of parchment. "They will also be the only songs we'll be singing during the school year. If the band decides to continue after that... you can choose your own music then. Have one picked out when you come back to class."
Harry looked around the room. Hermione was already sketching an idea for a band logo, Blaise was staring dreamily off into space, Seamus Finnigan was pretending to sing into an imaginary microphone without actually singing and Pansy and Lisa were discussing costumes for the band. This next week was going to be torture.
After lunch, Harry walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts ten minutes early so he could talk to Professor Lupin.
"And then she made us put our names into a cauldron, along with some from her other classes," he stated. "But the worst was when she announced that she wanted us to start a band. A band, Mo... Professor!"
"Harry, feel free to call me Moony when we're alone," Remus replied. "I kind of miss it." Then he turned his attention to the subject they were discussing. "As for Miss Warbeak... well, I must admit she is unconventional, but then again, so is Dumbledore. I'm sure he has a good reason for hiring her."
"But... Could you imagine me in front of all those people... singing?"
"Admittedly, that would be a bit of a shock," Remus chuckled. "But, you forget. I've overheard you singing in the shower. You have a great voice."
Harry sighed. "It's not the singing that bothers me," he said, looking down at his feet. "It's the people."
"Harry, Harry, Harry," Remus sighed. "Don't you know that there's a potion for that, too?"
Harry shook his head in shock. "There is?" he asked, mouth agape.
As Remus opened his mouth to say more, the other students began to enter, so he just said, "Come to my office after dinner, Harry. We'll discuss it then."
The rest of the day passed in a blur. He remembered Malfoy making derisive comments in DADA, and a few other classes. And he'd asked Harry quite a few times if he'd reconsidered joining the band. Harry had pointedly ignored him.
At dinner, Harry asked Hermione if she'd ever found anything on curing stage fright, because he'd asked her to research it over the summer. When she said no, he told her what Moony had said.
She shook her head in confusion. "Harry, Professor Lupin's probably just kidding. I couldn't find any references to such a potion."
So when Harry finally walked into Professor Lupin's office, he was understandably upset.
"Moony, you lied to me," he said, as he frowned at the man who was the only remaining link to his parents.
"What on earth are you talking about?" Remus asked him. "I have never lied to you, Harry"
Harry shook his head. "Hermio0ne told me there was no such thing as a potion to cure stage fright."
Remus stared at the black haired boy for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. "Contrary to popular belief, Harry," he said, after he'd calmed down, "Hermione Granger doesn't know everything."
The look on Harry's face was priceless. He began telling Remus about Hermione's research into the subject for him.
""Yes, but she wouldn't know anything about this one," Remus interrupted him. "It was another of the more recent discoveries."
"You see," he continued, "Professor Snape, his assistant and I all noticed how uncomfortable you were when you had to give that speech for the Ministry after you defeated Voldemort. And those two decided to come up with a potion that would help."
"You know who Snape's assistant is? Who?"
Remus smiled. "I'm not allowed to tell. Suffice it to say that its someone that I trust, and that they wouldn't hurt you. And now..."
As Harry watched, the former werewolf stood up, and walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the room. He extracted a small vial of liquid. Harry couldn't help noticing that the potion was the exact same shade as his eyes.
"So... what? I take this, and my stage fright disappears?"
Remus shook his head. "No. Sadly, it will only lessen it. You may still be afraid, but it will give you the courage to go on. And, in time, the fear will pass completely."
Harry eyed the potion warily, and then shrugged. "Oh, well. I guess whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger, as the Muggles say," he said, reaching for it, and downing it in a single gulp.
He felt a pleasant warming sensation spreading from his stomach outward, and smiled. But then, his vision blurred, and wavered, as though his glasses had fogged up.
As he reached up, and pulled them off, he gasped. The room had come into sharp focus.
"What the hell?"
"What's wrong?" Remus asked, and Harry could have sworn that his eyes twinkled.
'He's been spending too much time with Dumbledore,' Harry thought before telling him about his eyesight.
"Oh," Remus said, smiling, "that's the side-effect. I completely forgot to mention it."
Harry glowered at him for a minute, then felt sheepish. His friends had been after him to get his eyesight fixed for a while now. He voiced his thanks, and left, chuckling.
After he had gone, Remus walked back over to the cabinet. "I hope this helps," he said, aloud, as he replaced the vial.
"I'm sure it will. Thank you, Professor." The voice came from the shadowy area to the left of the cabinet.
"Of course, if you hadn't come up with that eyesight repairing potion, I don't think I could have gotten him to believe it. Hermione was almost one step ahead of us."
"And thank you for not revealing my identity," the mysterious voice continued, as a figure stepped forward.
"You should have known better. I don't think Harry would have taken the potion if he'd even suspected that you'd had a hand in its creation, Mr. Malfoy."
As Draco Malfoy left the room, Remus smirked. Those two would take a bit of pushing if they ever wanted to fulfil their destiny. And he was just the person to do it... with a bit of help, of course. "I wonder what Miss Granger would say if I asked her?"