Wot wot wot? Two Chapters? At once? That's right.
00
The date for "Bertie Botts' Every Flavored Beans presents the First Annual WNN Hogwarts Battle of the Bands" had been set for Halloween (luckily, the full moon was fell on the twenty seventh). This gave The Marauders about three weeks to practice. Peter's mother had bought him a keyboard bass for his birthday, so Sirius didn't have to play a bass at all anymore. McGonagall had told them that they were to play two songs, but didn't say anything as to how the winner was chosen. The event was to happen directly after the Halloween Feast.
James, Sirius, and Remus (Peter was sick in the hospital wing) were at the Quidditch Pitch, smoking, on a Friday night in the second week of October. They were using James' newly aquired bowl. It was a red, white, and blue painted glass bowl, much more efficient then smoking out of a joint.
"Alright, mate, that's cashed. Might as well save the rest for later. I'm feeling it right now," Sirius said. James looked at him for what felt like minutes before responding.
"Whatever, man," he said. He used his wand to light a cigarette. When the three were finished, they stumbled towards the castle.
"Fuck you, Padfoot! Be straight when we get inside. Seriously!" James said. Sirius started laughing hysterically.
"Alrighty. Whatever you say, pally." Remus laughed uncontrollably at Sirius' response.
They walked up the main stairs in the entrance hall and treaded up the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower. Upon reaching the common room, they took their usual seats by the fire and mellowed.
"Christ, I am so fucked up right now," Sirius said, then looked around, plainly surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth.
"Then go sleep it off," Remus suggested.
Sirius looked up to see Sarah, Lily, and Gina coming towards them.
"Be straight, you guys. People are coming."
Gina and Lily sat with Remus on the couch, while Sarah sat down in a chair across from Sirius and James. She stared at them for a while before speaking.
"You're stoned, aren't you?"
The three boys exchanged frantic looks.
"No way," all three said at once.
"Evans why don't you have a boyfriend?" James asked, out of the blue.
"What – what do you mean?"
"Are you waiting on someone or are you too good for any of the guys at Hogwarts?"
"Honestly? Maybe both, or neither. I'm not sure right now."
James stared at her, then walked up to the dorm. Sirius followed suit, after winking at a disgusted Sarah. Remus seemed to be asleep on the couch already.
"You know, Lil, I've sort of been wondering about that myself. Why don't you have a boyfriend?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know," Lily said. "I'm dead tired. Let's go upstairs."
"Fine by me," Gina replied.
They both walked up the stairs, leaving Sarah to sit with Remus, she was already asleep as well
0
James awoke on Halloween at about 9:30. He usually slept much later on Saturdays, but his nerves wouldn't let him. He opened his curtains to see Sirius and Remus playing exploding snap.
"Is Wormtail up yet?" James asked.
"No, the lazy arse," Remus responded.
"So what do we do until the feast?" Sirius asked.
"Practice?" said Remus.
"Yeah, sounds fine to me."
The day seemed to go on forever for the four boys. They ate lightly at the feast and headed back up to their room to move their equipment down and get dressed.
Peter was wearing a black t-shirt and khaki pants with a tan suit-jacket. He had sunglasses with him, they helped him to play in front of crowds. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the other boys.
Remus had on a black rolling stones t-shirt and flared jeans. He put a black bowler on over his long hair. He stuck his drumsticks into his back pocket and sat down on his bed.
James had on brown leather pants with a white button-down shirt tucked into them. He lit up a cigarette to help himself calm down.
Sirius had black leather pants on and a leather jacket, but no shirt. He was a lot more relaxed then the others, it was in his nature.
When it came time, the four boys walked down to the great hall. A stage had been set up at the head of the hall. Dumbledore appeared to be organizing the equipment set up with a tall man, most likely from the WWN.
"Professor Dumbledore, where do you want our stuff?" James asked his headmaster.
"Ahh, James, just the boy I was looking for. Your band will be playing last. Go over to the stage and talk to Mr. McHugo, he'll tell you where to put your things."
"Thanks."
McHugo told the boys to put their equipment in the space reserved for them backstage. There were a suprising amount of bands getting ready to play, it looked like over a dozen.
"The competition is going to start in about twenty minutes, the headmaster will be explaining the rules in about ten. You boys should probably go into the hall."
The four proceeded into the hall, which had been completely rearranged. All of the tables were gone. The stage stood at the head of the hall, with chairs arranged in a semi-circle in around it, leaving an empty space for the students directly in front of the stage. Refreshment booths stood in several locations around the hall. The Wizarding Wireless Network was broadcasting from the right side of the stage. All students were allowed to attend the event, and almost all of them had turned up.
Everyone went silent when Dumbledore took the stage.
"Welcome one and all to the First Annual Bernie Botts' Every Flavor Beans WWN Hogwarts Battle of the Bands!" He paused here for applause. "We have 12 bands playing for you tonight. All of them will be broadcasted all over the world via WWN. The winners of the Battle of the Bands will win a cash prize of two hundred galleons as well as fifty points each to their houses. The winner will be judged by the amount of applause given by all of you. Enjoy yourselves! Let the Battle begin! Ladies and Gentleman it is my great pleasure to introduce to you: The New Towns!"
With that the first band took the stage. After their two songs, Dumbledore took to stage again.
"The New Towns! Very good, very good. Now, I need all of you to judge The New Towns with applause. Our Magical Applause-o-meter (A/N: Is that wicked cliché or what?) will give The New Towns their score." The crowd cheered none too enthusiastically. "A 5.8! The New Towns set the mark at 5.8. Next we have: Flagnoise!"
The competition continued in this manner. Flagnoise had the lead with an 8.6, with only two bands left to go.
James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who were hanging out backstage, started preparing to play. Finally the last band finished. Sirius took off his leather jacket and walked onstage.
The other three set up Remus' drum set onstage. Peter set up his keyboards. They faintly heard Dumbledore announce "The Marauders!"
Their first song was Back Door Man, a bluesy type song written by The Doors. It started out with drums, guitar, and bass. A catchy keyboard riff kicked in when Sirius began singing. We pushed his hair out of his eyes.
"Wha, yeah!
C'mon, yeah
Yeah, c'mon, yeah
Yeah, c'mon
Oh, yeah,
ma
Yeah, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
The men
don't know
But the little girl understand"
The riff changed and Sirius began singing in a softer voice.
"Hey,
all you people that tryin' to sleep
I'm out to make it with my
midnight dream, yeah"
He sang heavier again, the song went back to the original riff.
"'Cause
I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls
understand
All right, yeah"
James took a long guitar solo here. When he was finished, Sirius began singing softly again.
"You
men eat your dinner
Eat your pork and beans
I eat more
chicken
Than any man ever seen, yeah, yeah"
He sang heavier for the remainder of the song
"I'm a
back door man, what
The men don't know
But the little girls
understand
Well, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
Whoa, baby, I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But
the little girls understand"
When the song finished, James took a quick guitar solo. After he stopped, the crowd broke into wild applause.
Remus started off the next song, playing a steady marching type beat on drums. James and the bass started at the same time. Sirius sang almost drunkenly into the microphone as Peter joined in on organ.
"Five to one, baby, one and five.
No one here gets out alive, now,
You bring yours, yeah, I'll bring mine.
Gonna make it, baby, if we try."
James played a riff on guitar over the bass and organ, Sirius screamed out the second verse.
"The old get old and the young get stronger,
May take a week and it may take longer,
They got the guns but, uh, we got the numbers,
Gonna win, yeah, we're takin' over! Come on!"
A screaming guitar solo broke out over the second verse, and when James finished, Sirius started screaming at the students.
"You're all a bunch of fuckin' idiots!" he yelled into the microphone. "Lettin' people tell you what you're gonna do! Lettin' people push you around! How long do you think it's gonna last! How long are you gonna let it go on! Maybe you like it! Huh! Maybe you like bein' pushed around! Maybe you love it! Maybe you love getting' your face stuck in the shit! Yeah, you love it, donchya!" He paused and shook his hair out of his eyes. "You're all a bunch of fucking slaves! What are you gonna do about it! What are you gonna do about it! What are you gonna do about it! What are you gonna do about it! What are you gonna do!"
And he launched straight into the next verse. The bass and guitar were quiet, overpowered by the steady drums.
"Your ballroom days are over, baby,
Night is a drawin' near.
Shadows of the evening crawl across the year,
You walk across the floor with your flower in your hands,
Tryin' to tell me no one understands,
Trade in your hours for a handful a dimes,"
He screamed as loud as he could.
"GONNA MAKE IT, BABY, IN OUR PRIME!"
Everything went silent, and he whispered,
"Come together, one more time,
Come together just one more time,
Get together got to, get together now
Get together, baby, one more time!"
James' guitar was screaming, his solos sang out to the crowd over Sirius' singing. Then they all stopped. The students were going crazy. There was no question as to who the winner of the competition was. The Marauders just stood on stage and smiled.
"The Marauders! Thank you, boys, thank you. Oh, and Mr. Black, I believe that Professor McGonagall would like to see you when this is over with." Sirius just smiled.
"The Winner of the First Annual Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans WWN Battle of the Bands Competition is The Marauders! Well done. If everyone could head back to your common rooms in a calm and orderly fashion it would be greatly appreciated. Good Night!"
