Chapter 2

Muggle Music Awards

There'd been no time for further discussion, as the proprietor of the tavern had chosen that moment to start the show. Mickey hit the first chord on his guitar, and Joe started on the harmonica. It was a diverse group in the tavern, as many old as young, some looking rather jet set, others, not so much. He was just glad he had such eclectic taste in music. They should be able to find something to please everyone at least once.

"Oh, once upon a midnight dreary I woke with something in my head;" he began to sing, once the harmonica solo was done.

As the night went on, Harry and his friends were alternately bored or ecstatic, with a few moods in between. He, and Ron had looked suspiciously at the girls when the singing started, as for a moment they'd seemed swoonish. But they shook themselves out of it soon enough.

The musical duo was all over the place, with barely any rhyme or reason between styles. After a hard rock song, they sang an Irish Drinking song. Joe even played amazing grace on the bagpipes, when suddenly Mickey began accompanying him on electric guitar.

The only one fascinated no matter the music being played was of course Arthur Weasley.

Despite his mood these days, Joe became lost in the music and soon, it was almost as if the audience, and his life's problems didn't exist. There was only him, Mickey, and the sound. It was a magic all it's own, and be he Muggle or not, he'd always been able to do it. But of course he could not stave off his predominant disposition the entire night.

"Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinkin', maybe six feet ain't so far down!" Joe's mind wandered back to everything that was bothering him, and it threatened to crush him. He'd been able to cope, somewhat with his friends' deaths in High School and College, by focusing on school, or band, or Drama. But now those shelters were gone, and he had nowhere to escape to. Best not sing too many songs like this, or he'd never make it through the night.

He was vaguely aware of what was happening before him when people started dancing, but truth be known, the audience was secondary to him at this point. It didn't matter whether he was acting, singing, playing music, he always felt like this onstage, and was always disappointed when it stopped. This was where he belonged, in the moment, in the music. And it had been far too long since he'd been there.

All too soon, it was over. Only when the last strain of sound faded did he realize how dry his mouth had become, his throat a bit sore, his legs and lungs tired. A quick glance at Mickey revealed him in a similar condition, but equally as exhilarated.

The night may have been nice for Joe, but for Mickey, it was a first for many reasons. He'd just performed for his people. He may have been raised among Muggles, and had many Muggle friends (okay almost all his friends were Muggles) but he was a Wizard, and here were Wizards and Witches applauding him. And not just his music, which he'd always prided himself on, but he also had used magic for the first time ever on stage. He'd adapted techie experience into magic, designing lighting, modulating sound, even enchanting a few instruments to help them along.

He was exhausted.

"Thank you Diagon Alley, Ladies and Gentlemen, Witches and Wizards!" Joe shouted. "We're totally wiped so without further ado, I wish you all a good night!"

"What he said." Mickey said. He was far less theatrical than his old friend.

As some patrons began leaving, Joe and Mickey relaxed, and accepted a few praises. "Dude, I'm starved." Mickey complained.

"What manner of victuals you reckon they got here?" Joe asked him.

Before he could respond, their apparent biggest fan came forward.

"I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed your performance." Arthur gushed. "Can I buy you boys a drink?"

"Well I certainly wouldn't say no to some pumpkin juice." Mickey said.

Joe quickly agreed. "I've been dying to try that stuff. Mickey's been raving about it."

"Whatever became of your parents Mickey?" Arthur asked as they settled into a booth. The kids, Joe noticed had skedaddled fairly quickly.

"Well they moved to America." Mickey said. "Which explains my accent. On the way they met the parents of this sorry piece of Haggis here." he indicated Joe. "I grew up in Sunnydale California."

"What sort of schooling do American Wizards get?" Mr. Weasley wanted to know. "There's sadly little communication between the continents these days."

"Well I can't vouch for all of America. I actually was invited to go to Hogwarts, but my parents thought it best if I not go." On Arthur's slightly disappointed expression, he hastily continued. "Not that they didn't love Hogwarts, they just felt they wanted me raised around Muggles. So I was home schooled in the magical arts, but every summer I went to summer school sort of in the Rockies."

Arthur pumped them both with questions about America and Muggles, until Joe finally cut in. "Mr. Weasley we thank you for your interest, but we really are pretty wiped, and we've got an early day tomorrow. We've still got to get all this equipment back so I'm afraid we have to say good night."

"Oh, of course, sorry to have kept you."

"Not at all," Mickey said. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"And you as well. Do give your parents my best when you speak to them next."

"Will do. You have a good night."

Tbc…