Chapter Twenty
I'm Here
Draco didn't have to look at his father to see the reaction on the older Malfoy's face. Draco could care less what his father thought, though. He had done a beautiful job, and he'd made half the girls in the school cry, because he was so damn good. He smiled back at several of his classmates that were grinning like hyenas.
Draco knew, though, that after the contest was finished, he was going to get a very good talking-to from Lucius Malfoy. And he was dreading that conversation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, making sure they were not paying attention to him. They weren't. What were they doing? Well, they were a bit caught up in each other, so to speak.
Harry turned to Draco, who was grinning proudly at his effect on the crowd of his peers. Harry poked Draco's arm lightly. Draco turned to Harry, a smile still lingering on his lips. Then the smile faded slowly at the sight of Harry's face.
"Yeah, Potter?" said Draco, raising an eyebrow.
Harry took a deep breath. "That was really great, Malfoy," murmured Harry.
Draco's eyebrows ran for cover under the still-loose fringe of his hair. "What was did you say?"
Harry swallowed the lump in his throat brought on by Draco's song and cleared his throat. "I said you did great. The song was beautiful."
Draco managed to reduce his blindingly huge smile to a normal-ish sized one, and said, "Th-thank you."
Harry smiled back at the blonde. "You're welcome. You deserve to win. You looked like you really meant all of that."
"Oh, I did," said Draco softly, suddenly feeling extremely shy. "I meant every word."
Harry nodded silently. He searched Draco's eyes to see if it was really him that Draco had sung to, but the Slytherin had always been good at shuttering his emotions from the world, especially Harry. But Harry thought he saw the hint of something in Draco's eyes. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it was good. And Harry smiled again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Seamus moved toward the stage again and clapped away the grand piano still sitting at centerstage as he reached the stairs. As he faced the crowd, he was trying not to look utterly flabbergasted at the talent oozing from the blonde Slytherin that had settled himself back next to Harry. He cleared his throat loudly, and everyone turned to look at him.
"Well, thank you, Malfoy." He tried to hide the surprise at the very honest and open display of emotion from the usually steely Slytherin. He shook off the surprise, knowing he needed to move on to the next introduction.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you a young man that truly needs no introduction. The one. The only. Mister Harry Potter of Gryffindor House!" Seamus threw a hand out, palm up, and gestured to where Harry was sitting.
Harry smiled nervously at Seamus' introduction, or lack thereof, and he stood.
Well, he thought. Here we go…
He took a deep, would-be-calming breath and made his way to the stage, and stood at centerstage until Seamus was seated once again. The audience was clapping their hands, stomping their feet, whistling and cat-calling. It was quite obvious how popular Harry actually was.
But Harry didn't hear any of the noise. As soon as he had started for the stage, everything had gone quiet in his head. He had to concentrate on what he was about to sing, and Harry had learned long ago that the best way for him to gain some semblence of peace was to shut the world out.
Harry stood before the thundering masses and raised his hands. A clap later, and not only did his clothing change, but the entire crowd had gone silent. But he didn't notice. He was too busy concentrating on one thing, and one thing only.
Draco.
His school robes had been replaced with carpenter-style jeans and a shirt that was uncannily similar to the blonde Slytherin's. The shirt was a brilliant emerald green button-down that matched his eyes exactly. The top three buttons were left undone, showing the collar and top bit of the black tee shirt he'd worn for the Gryffindor boys' performance earlier. He had nice brown leather Doc Marten-like shoes on his feet.
Harry clapped again, and a stool appeared behind him and an accoustic guitar was leaning against the front leg of the stool. On the lower right corner of the guitar was a small etching of the Gryffindor lion. The strap had things embroidered along it, but no one could see what they were, except for Harry. And Harry didn't pay much attention. He'd seen the guitar so much lately, that he barely noticed its decorations anymore.
He stepped up to the stool. Putting the strap around his neck, he slipped an arm through and settled the guitar comfortably in front of him. Then he sat down on the stool, one foot on a high rung set between two of the stool's legs, and the other on the middle rung set on a different side of the stool. He took the little black plastic pick between two fingers. With one final settling breath, he set his fingers on the opening chord. There was no real introduction, so as he strummed the first chord, he began to sing. It was a clear, but soft tenor.
"You're not happy with the Dark Lord's side."
Harry shrugged and shook his head sadly.
"You wish you were but your emotions hide
You want to be here and fight right by our sides"
A sad smile set itself on Harry's lips.
"And I-"
Harry took breath and looked right into Draco's eyes. The Slytherin stared back, mouth agape.
"I'd like to help you, if you'd just ask me.
I'm always here but that you never see."
Harry frowned and dropped his gaze to the strings of his guitar. He strummed one chord and held out his hand for a second.
"If you just take my hand, then I can set you free."
He pulled back his hand and went back to playing.
"And I-"
He took another breath and started in on the chorus. His voice, still breathy, took on a stronger force behind it.
"I wish I could slay the Dark Lord, but he's still holding fast
Wish I could lay my life down and put this in the past
Wish I could say that it's all done at last"
Harry frowned and shook his head in defeat.
"I've never saved the day."
Harry looked up at Draco again for a moment.
"I know that your heart's in the right place"
Harry dropped his eyes again.
"Others may thing you're trying to save face
But I know better, that this is not the case."
He smiled sadly again.
"And I-"
He started the chorus of the song again.
"I wish I could lay my wand down and stop this stupid war
Wish I could stay and help you, 'cause to me you mean more."
Harry looked up at Draco again, and their gazes locked.
"Wish I could say that it's you that I adore."
He knew that this song was setting him up for possible ridicule from a lot of people, but he didn't care anymore.
"But I've never saved the day
I've just never saved the day."
Harry played the final chord as he said the last word of his lyrics, and he let the sound die off on its own. He dropped his eyes from Draco's, and let his head fall slowly to his chest. His eyes closed, waiting for the jeering and derision from his schoolmates, but it never came.
A silence had fallen over the crowd from the moment that Harry's mouth had opened. Now the entire school sat stunned by the vulnerable boy that was sitting on the stage. This was Harry Potter, their Boy-Who-Lived, their hero, and here he was saying he'd never saved the day, when each one of them could think of at least a dozen things he'd done to help them.
He slid, a little shakily, off the stool and snapped it into nonexistance. He slipped the guitar off and he held it by the neck and carried it to his seat.
He set the guitar on the ground in front of his seat and curled his knees up to his chin. Wrapping his arms around his legs, he buried his face and tried to recover his cool a bit.
As his backside hit the cushion of the loveseat he'd shared with Draco the whole evening, the audience came back to life. They all applauded through their tears drawn by the dispair shown by the teen that had been on the stage. The roar of appreciation of Harry Potter overpowered any other performer's reception.
The only thing Harry heard, though, was one voice.
"It was beautiful, Potter," murmured Draco softly.
~*~TBC~*~
