Chapter Nineteen
From Slytherin, With Thanks
While the Weasley twins were now sitting calmly back in their seats, all hell had broken loose throughout the rest of the Hall. People were being pelted repeatedly by the pillows Fred and George had tossed out to them. And here and there, unsuspecting students started bursting into feathers. After a quick molting, each feather-ridden student was restored to their normal, featherless state, but yellow, blue, green, and red feathers started adding themselves to the white feathers that were emanating from inside the exploding pillows, creating a great colorful mess throughout the hall.
Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape were staring daggers at the twins, but most everyone else were enjoying the chaos immensely. Most of the teachers were trying to get their students to calm down so the contest could continue. It was getting to be a bit later than they really wanted to have their students up and about, and the teachers just wanted to get the contest over with.
Albus Dumbledore just relaxed back in his Lay-Z-Boy and watched the insanity from the comfort of his recliner. And if anyone looked close enough, they would see the normal twinkle in the headmaster's eye had intensified significantly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
WHAP!
A pillow smacked Harry upside the head and knocked his glasses askew. When he turned his face to look at the offending whapper, he saw nothing but pink, pattered with blue ducks.
"Rrmph? Hnph murph famph pipho?" said Harry through his mouthful of cotton. He extended a hand behind him to Ron, who had a pink pillow resting on his lap. Ron, being very fluent in Harry's-face-in-a-pillow-ese, plopped the pillow in his best friend's hand.
If a pillow was not currently covering the Gryffindor's face, a devilish smirk would have been seen. But too bad for Draco…
Flump. WHAP!
Harry pulled back quickly from the pillow being shoved in his face, setting Draco off-balance and nearly crashing straight into Harry's lap. Then Harry bombarded Draco with a vengeance.
Draco didn't know, but Harry and Ron were very big fans of Pillow Wars. They had been since they were first years. So Draco never had a chance of beating Harry. After only five minutes, not only was Draco's usually gelled, slick hair looking a lot like Harry's mess of a mane, his robed were twisted, and feathers were stuck all over his clothes and in his hair.
Harry sat back, satisfied. His hair was in its normal state of organized disarray, and his robes were on perfectly straight. His glasses, somehow, had even been placed back on his face the right way.
Draco ran his fingers through his hair quickly to remove the feathers, and marveled at the complete lack of dishevelment of his pillow fight partner. He frowned grumpily, giving in. He flopped back in the seat, facing the stage once again, his hands resting on the pillow laying in his lap.
A hand reached up to try again fix his hair, but not really doing all that good a job of it. Draco sighed, more grumpiness pervading the space around him. He ran his fingers through his un-slicked hair one more time, trying to get it to at least look presentable.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry was trying desperately not to stare at his enemy-turned-obsession. With Draco's hair all mussed like it was, it looked as though Draco had just rolled out of bed, or been wrapped in an impressively intense snogging session. And what drove Harry craziest was the idea that he was the one that made Draco look so delicious.
Oh Great Merlin's beard. He looks amazing. I just had to muss his hair like that, didn't I? Harry sighed contentedly and fought to keep his eyes off the delectable Slytherin sitting beside him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Seamus, pillow in tow, fought his way through his schoolmates and to the stage. Finally, he stood at centerstage for a few moments, delighting in the sight of the pure bedlam that was taking place in the Hall. Leave it to Fred and George to wreak this much havoc, Seamus thought approvingly with a massive grin lighting his features, and mirth dancing in his eyes.
He turned to face the giant bed that was still sitting onstage behind him. He clapped once to get rid of it. Then he turned back to watch the pandemonium still occurring with the Weasley twins' pillows. A cheery smile lit his face again.
Once he was bored by the pillow fights and explosions of feathers coming from those who had eaten a Canary Cream, Seamus cleared his throat loudly. That got no response, so he yelled.
"Ladies and gentlemen? Can- Hello? Can I have your attention please?"
Still no effect. Seamus shrugged and put down the pillow at his feet. He stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly.
Instantly, everyone in the Great Hall froze on the spot and looked up at the stage.
Everyone but Hermione, that is.
Not wanting to end without getting the upper hand, she whapped Ron in the head one more time before sitting down and crossing her legs primly. When Ron had recovered enough to glare menacingly at her, she was already staring at Seamus, the picture of innocence, except for the teeniest hint of a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.
Seamus grinned at Hermione. "Nice shot, 'Mione," he said with a wink, receiving a blush of thanks from the girl. "Now that I have everyone's attention, it's time to get on with the contest. We're almost finished, folks, so let's get settled again, please?"
There was a dull roar as everyone shuffled back to their seats and got comfortable again. Once the buzzing of voices had stopped again, Seamus grinned again. "Well, our next performer is another fifth year from Slytherin. Everyone, please welcome Draco Malfoy to the stage."
Many of the girls started squealing in excitement. The entirety of Slytherin House started stomping their feet and whooping cheerfully as the still-slightly-scruffy Slytherin rose from his seat and squared his shoulders. He sent a quick death glare at Harry for messing up his hair right before he was to take the stage. Then he sauntered up to the stage proudly. He took his time in getting there, drinking in every second of attention.
Once on the stage, he looked down at his robes. With a snap, they disappeared, and were replaced by a forget-me-not blue button-down shirt and a pair of light blue jeans, both of which accented all the right things. On his feet were normal, Muggle running sneakers. His hair was un-gelled and loose. It hung in his eyes a bit, making him have to push it out of his eyes every couple seconds.
Draco looked out at the audience and felt his knees get a bit weak for a moment. He had not been the center of this much attention in his entire life. Not even in second year during the one and only meeting of Lockhart's dueling club. Not quite everyone had turned out for that meeting… And Draco had never sung in front of his father before either, which is probably the second most nerve-wracking experience.
And it was second only to singing in front of his long-time crush. Harry Potter.
Finally, Draco took a deep breath. He clapped his hands three times, and the audience gasped in astonishment at what appeared on the stage behind Draco.
It was a grand piano, the exact color of Draco's shirt. The piano took up just about as much space on the stage as Fred and George's gigantic bed had.
Draco took another steadying breath and walked to the piano. He had been learning how to play in secret, knowing that his father would not quite approve of such a Muggle-like activity as learning to play the piano. He had secretly enlisted the help of one of the Ravenclaws in his Herbology class, a Muggle-born girl named Laura Something-or-Other. With Laura's help, he had gotten good enough on the piano that he felt comfortable enough to play in front of people.
Now, he sat at the piano and ran his fingers over the pure white keys. He was getting extremely nervous, but his pride was slowly but surely taking over. He closed his eyes, and set his fingers in place at the opening chord.
As Draco began to play, the gasps and whispers of surprise were instantly quieted and everyone listened to the sweet melodies rolling out from under the open lid of the piano. A moment later, the Hall was filled with the sound of Draco's voice.
He was timid at first, his courage not quite harnessed as well as it could be.
"It's hard for me to say to you
The things I want to say."
Draco lifted his eyes from the keyboard and looked skyward.
"I look above, to all the gods,
Get on my knees and pray."
His eyes slipped closed, all his focus on the keys under his fingers.
" 'Help me now, please give me the guts,
Help me out, give me the power
To say the things I must.' "
He took a breath and started in on the chorus of his song.
"Thank you for saving me
For being my strength when I was too weak
For giving me words when I couldn't speak"
Draco shook his head slightly, tiny wisps white-blonde hair falling softly into his eyes.
"Thank you for saving me
Thank you for saving me."
Draco opened his eyes slowly, his fingers dancing over the keys. Out of nowhere, a soft drumbeat started under his piano's melody line. Draco took a breath and started again.
"I never learned of happiness
Until I saw your face"
A quick glance at Harry gave him an extra rush of un-Slytherin-like courage.
"That day I knew that my whole world
Would be a different place
You brought me life when I had none to spare"
Draco shook his head again, and grimaced slightly.
"And even though you hate my kind,
It seems that you might care."
A small, hopeful smile flitted over Draco's lips for a second as his eyes slipped closed again.
"Thank you for saving me
For being my strength when I was too weak
For giving me words when I couldn't speak
Thank you for saving me"
The music started getting stronger, and Draco really started getting into it. His eyes were now opened, and something halfway between a smirk and an out-and-out grin was gracing his lips now.
"When I feel down, you lift me up
You give me hope and then I can't give up
If I were lost, you would come find me
You'd risk yourself to rescue me
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah"
Now his lips were definitely spread into an uncharacteristic grin. Draco was imagining himself and Harry happily spending time together, which made the grin spread over his whole face, even lighting his eyes. He was now playing out what would have been a guitar solo in the original Muggle song, his fingers danced over the keys skillfully, making it seem that he had been playing for years. His eyes were trained on the keys under his fingers and nothing else. He knew if he looked elsewhere, even just at Harry, then he would falter and the performance would be ruined. The end of the solo was at hand, much softer and calmer than before. His voice floated from him in a near-whisper.
"All I know is I can't say good-bye"
Draco shook his head, and he and the music got stronger.
"Because I think that if I do,
A part of me will die"
Draco chanced another look at Harry. Their eyes locked for a second before Draco looked away again. Harry looked utterly stunned. Draco just went on with the chorus.
"Thank you for saving me
For being my strength, oh, when I was too weak
For giving me words when I couldn't speak"
Draco's eyes closed once more, and they stayed that way for the rest of the song.
"Thank you for saving me
For sending me hope, oh, when all looked so bleak
For giving me words when I couldn't speak
Thank you for saving me
Thank you for saving me
Thank you for saving me"
The third time he said the line, his voice got soft and trailed away. He sang one last line.
"Oh for saving me"
He played the soft ending to the song, and a tear was trailing down his cheek. He had truly felt every word of the song, knowing that Harry was the only reason that he was making it through school and life right now. Draco's fingers danced over the keys as he played softly. When his fingers landed on the last chord, he let his chin drop to his chest. He felt more tears coming, and there was nothing he could do about it. He let go of the chord, and all was silenced.
There was no sound from the crowd for a moment as Draco stood and wiped away the stray tears. Then, as Draco was walking slowly back to his seat next to Harry, the entire Hall broke out in applause that many thought would bring the roof down on them. The girls were half-crying, half-cheering. The boys were all quite surprised, but very impressed.
There was only two people not applauding the Slytherin. One was sneering and would not do anything but glare a spot on the farthest wall. The other just gaped as his seatmate collapsed next to him.
~*~TBC~*~
