The next evening at dinner, Dumbledore stood up and announced the eliminations from the contest. They were Pansy and Seamus. They received a polite applause. After this, the sorting hat was brought out and the names of the remaining contestants were placed into a hat and they were divided up into pairs.
"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley!" at this, both blushed simultaneously. They had to sing a duet together… 'Maybe a love song' Ginny thought dreamily as Harry sat next to her and started to ask her about what they should sing, both of their faces still flushed.
"Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood!" 'crap, I have to work with the loony bird!' Draco thought unhappily. Luna was just kind of looking dreamily off into space…
"Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger!" the hat boomed. This conclusion was reached a few moments ago by the process of elimination, but Ron's ears were still bright red.
"so what should we sing Ron?" Hermione asked
"I don't know, any ideas?"
"well I know this one song that was done by Santana and Michelle Branch, but she does all the singing. but we could split up the verses and stuff."
"sounds good"
"great! I'll lend you my cd player and headphones and I'll split up the verses tonight okay?"
"Alright Tomorrow's Sunday, so we can practice then. Flitwick let me use the charms class the last few weeks. Meet you after breakfast okay?"
"Sure! I'll be there. But I have to go, I need to start working on the lyrics. See ya later. I'll put the CD player in your room."
And with that she left
The next day Hermione and Ron were practicing. They had decided to put in some dance moves along with this song because it had a bit of a Latin feel to it. But in the instrumental break, they had to dance, closely…. Really closely. It made Hermione's heart race… until Ron stepped on her foot and snapped her back to reality.
Ron was anxious, he was hoping Hermione would not notice how bright red he was when they were dancing. God how he wanted to kiss her, especially at this one part. He dips her and they re so close they almost kiss, and he almost drops her from nervousness.
'Merlin, what sbould I do now? Is he gonna kiss me, or just stare at me like that!' Hermione thought nervously as she and ron locked eyes, their faces inching closer and closer together. The entrance for their singing came in, but they missed it, to preoccupied wondering what the other was thinking and hoping that the other would kiss them.
Ron was almost ready to put his lips to hers, but before he got the chance…
"Hey Guys! Time's up! Flitwick said we got the room from now till dinner!" Harry shouted at the pair of them as they reluctantly separated.
"Ginny, we need to talk" Hermione whispered to her as she and Ron left the room. 'what just happened?' she asked in her head. Soon she and Ron had reached the common room and they went into their own dorms and finished up whatever homework they had neglected over the weekend due to practicing.
Meanwhile, back at he charms class, Harry and Ginny were still debating what they should do for a song.
"I really don't listen to too many duets. But what about "broken" by Seether, featuring Amy Lee.
"well, since we should start practicing SOMETHING and it's something we both know… sure."
"So what should we do about costumes?"
"have you seen the video?"
"yes, but it was awhile ago, last summer at the dursleys."
"here" Ginny pulled out her wand and projected what she could remember of the video onto a blank wall.
"my hair will NEVER be that Long!"
"tough luck harry! You suggested it thi song, unless you have any better ideas?"
"fine, but as soon as the night is through the hair is GONE!"
"fine with me!"
"Sp what are we doing for an act?"
"what do you mean?"
"Harry, the difference between how you and I did our acts is that you just stood on the stage and let your talent come through, I communicated with the audience not only through eye contact but through movement as well."
"I'm not sure I can do that just yet…"
"okay, we can work with that… how about we imitate the video kinda. You can be sitting playing a chamed guitar, when my harmony comes on, I will appear from somewhere near you and you act oblivious to my presence… kinda like a whole why-won't-this-throught-leave-my-head-maybe-if-I-ignore-it-it-will-go-away. Kinda deal."
"I can see that…I guess…"
"heeheehee…black angel wings…"
"why did I have a feeling that you would like that idea?"
"because you know me so well"
"Not as well as I'd like" Harry muttered… a little too loudly
"what?" Ginny asked
"oh… n-nothing."
"aright… anyway, lets get to practicing."
Meanwhile in the potions classroom…
"there is NO WAY I'm singing that!" Draco raged
"well unless you can come up with a better idea, we're doing it!"
"I'm not going to pretend to be in love with you, even for the sake of this competition."
"so you want to be beaten by harry, Hermione and the Weasleys at singing too?" Luna knew she had hit a nerve… the trio and Ginny beat Draco at about everything, and it was no secret that that that pissed him off to no end.
"FINE!"
"Alright then. So we're singing 'Come what May' as done my Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor."
"So what about the choreography?" Draco asked
"I dunno. What about it?"
"firstly, are we singing to each other or to the audience?"
"I think each other would be more convincing." Luna answered
"true, but in that case, how will we act and re-act?"
"hm… well we can just sing to each other, wing it that way."
"but there is a longish pause near the end that could cause a problem. We can't just stand there looking like idiots"
"Draco, what are you suggesting?"
"A stage kiss. As far as I can see, it may be the only conceivable way to beat Golden Boy, Mudblood, Weasel, and Weaselette."
"Good point. The hat knew what it was doing putting them together. It's obvious that there is chemistry in both of those teams! We just ended up getting screwed in the end."
"Yeah, so you agree?"
"yes, but on one condition."
"What's that?"
"lets not practice that part…"
Draco laughed at this." Sure, no problem"
Finally Friday rolled around. The whole school was buzzing with talk of the upcoming performances. When the time did come, there was still complaining backstage
"HARRY! You could at least TRY to co-operate!"
"Sorry Gin, but I really don't want long hair!"
"Well tough cookies, because you have it… but you would think having longer hair would make yours easier to manage." She spat at him.
"Whatever… oh well, were on in 5, I'll try to deal with the hair while you get yourself ready."
"Okay" At this, Ginny ran off to change, but most importantly, to don her black angel wings!
They met up again as Dumbledore announced their number. On the stairwell leading to the stage, They were cramped in a very tight spot until the lights dimmed, before they did though, Harry turned to ginny, who was lined up behind him. "Good Luck Gin!" he whispered as he gave Her a soft peck on the lips. Just then, the lights were killed and they were forced to run to their positions.
Ginny's heart and mind were racing. 'what was that for??' she thought anxiously as she ran to her place behind the chair Harry was on.
Harry started singing. His hair was long, past his shoulders, and black. He had a lip ring and was wearing all black. He had magically charmed the guitar in his hand to play the song and he was sitting in the spotlight on a chair.
(A/N letters in Bold are the guy singing, in Italic the girl is singing. Bold italic is the equivalent to both singing simultaneously, possibly in harmony. This will be the case with all of the duets in this chapter.)
I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph; I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
(At this point, Ginny appeared, wearing black pants, a white, sleeveless, one-shoulder top, and of course, black angel wings. she came from behind the chair, looking over Harry)
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel light when you're gone away
You've gone away, you don't feel me anymore
Ginny walks away from Harry into the darkness and a spotlight comes up on her standing alone, looking into the audience.
The worst is over now and we can breathe againI wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away (Harry comes over to Ginny, placing a hand on her shoulder, she acts as if she does not know he's there.)
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain (Ginny moves away from Harry, they are broken into two separate spotlights again.)
'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel light when you're gone away
They were applauded by the crowd. And they took their bows, before turning to the judges.
"Amazing job guys! What did you think Flitwick?" McGonagall asked
"it's good to see that you certainly were not wasting your time in my class practicing. right Sprout?"
"I agree"
"I don't" Snape said coldly. "I think that it did not feature Harry's voice well, if that's even possible"
"Well, we all disagree with you, Severus. Good job Harry, pay no attention to him, he's being a git!" McGonagall said.
Backstage, Luna and Draco were going trying to get into a good acting mode. In other words… they were staring at each other. It all started when Draco said "if we have to act like we're in love, lets try to at least get into that mindset ."
"How would you suggest we do that?" Luna asked.
"well, how do you think when you're in love?"
"um… well you can find it hard to stop thinking of the person, to stop seeing them in your minds eye."
"okay… so why don't we try staring at each other." Draco suggested.
"Are you suggesting that you can fall in love by staring at someone?"
"No, I'm suggesting that it can help you to fake it."
After this, they just stared, until the applause signalling the end of Harry and Ginny's act sounded.
"Well, I guess it's our turn." Draco said.
"Yeah, we'd better got going"
"Break a leg!"
"You to!" Luna whispered back.
They got onstage and the lights dimmed slightly. Luna and Draco were seen onstage, Draco in a white button-up shirt, and brown pants, Luna however, was in a Long Red Dress, her hair a brighter shade of Red than Ginny's natural colour. When the music started, Draco took Luna's hand in his, gasing into her eyes as he sung to her. 'screw my reputation, I NEED to beat Potter! And besides, when she dresses normally, she looks cute… wait what am I thinking???' Draco thought to himself before he began to sing.
Never knew I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before
Want to vanish inside your kiss
Everyday I love you more and more
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing
Telling Me to give you everything
Seasons may change, winter to spring,
But I'll love you, until the end of time
Come what may
Come what may
I will love you, until my dying day
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste
It all revolves around you
And there's no mountain too high, no river too wide
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide
But I'll love you (I'll love you)
Until the end of time
Come what may,
come what may
I will love you (I belong to you)
(Luna gazes into Draco's eyes, singing to him directly.)
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place
(Draco moves foreword until their lips meet, there was a collective gasp from the audience, and though neither would admit it, there was a definite spark between them, they almost missed their entrance, but Luna kept her head enough to back away from him. They just made their cue and started singing.
Come what may
Come what may
I will love you
Until my dying day
The music faded and everyone applauded. It was a very unexpected performance, but well done nonetheless.
"Bravo!" Commented Professor Flitwick loudly.
"Yes, Lovely job dears!" professor sprout said enthusiastically.
"good job you two, but I would have suggested a different song, it did not really seem to reflect any kind of real emotion." McGonagall said
Snape just looked discussed… how could Draco kiss Loony??
Meanwhile… backstage
"OW! Ron that was my foot!"
"Sorry, Mione, I'm just a little nervous."
"S'ok, better here than onstage."
"Goodpoint… hey, speaking of onstage… shouldn't we have gone onstage by now…"
"Crap, I hear clapping! C'mon, lets go!"
And with that, they ran onstage and took their positions.
Hermione was in a pinkish-red wrap top with black lace trim, as well as a flowing black shirt that went to her mid thigh, Ron was in a Black silk shirt and black pants, his red hair flaming from beneath a fedora atop his head. They took their positios at microphones about a metre apart from each other.
Tell me
Just what you want me to be
One kiss
And boom you're the only one for me
So please tell me
Why don't you come around no more?
Cause right now
I'm crying outside the door of your candy store
It just takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that
It started with a kiss
Now we're up to bat
A little bit of laughs, a little bit of pain
I'm telling you my babe
It's all in the game of ...
Love is
Whatever you make it to be
Sunshine
Instead of this cold lonely sea
So pleased baby
Try and use me for what I'm good for
It ain't saying goodbye
It's knocking down the door of your candy store
It just takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that
It started with a kiss
Now we're up to bat
A little bit of laughs, a little bit of pain
I'm telling you my babe
It's all in the game of love
It's all in the game of love
You roll me
Control me
Console me
Please hold me
You guide me
Divide me
Into me
(this was the instrumental break, as they danced the movements came flowing to them, until they got to the dip, then Ron got caught up in the moment… don't ask what he was thinking, because he was not thinking! But he leaned in and kissed her, as she kissed back (after she recovered from shock as it was replaced with joy) they broke apart soon enough to make it look like it was a part of the act, Ron stood Hermione on his feet before they broke into song again.)
So please tell me
Why don't you come around no more?
Cause right now
I'm dying outside the door of your loving store
It just takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that
It started with a kiss
Now we're up to bat
A little bit of laughs, a little bit of pain
I'm telling you my babe
It's all in the game of love
It's all in the game of love
It's all in the game of love
Let's play the game of love
Roll me
Control me
Console me
Please hold me
In this game of love
I'm out here on my own
(A/N thank you to Lady Ladreniel for suggesting this song, I split up the duet, but thanks to you, I have a newfound addiction to Santana!)
Hermione was not sure what was louder, the cheering when they kissed or the applause after the song, but she really did not care… she can't even remember what the judges said, she was too dizzily happy!
Soon they were joined onstage by the other contestants and were given one last round of applause and told that the next week they would be told to sing Jazz.