Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, and the licensed copyright holders including Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Warner Bros., Inc. No money has been exchanged and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Song lyrics in this one, the song is "Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon I cut a bit out for length purposes and changed a bit to fit the story better…Evan doesn't quite fit and I wasn't about to change his name to Sean.
9.
They'd followed the usher down to their seats, which all three had to admit were excellent. They were centre stage in the very first row. Hermione asked whose body they'd have to hide in payment for the tickets and Harry warned that he better not have signed away his first born child. Ron blushed at the teasing then mumbled something about being Percy's personal house-elf. It was funny in a sick twisted sort of way and Hermione decided that she and Molly would be having a little talk in the near future about siblings who take advantage and muddy the waters of true love's course.
Bad Faith encouraged local bands to open for them; their label, Ramora Records, held "Battle of the Bands" competitions in the months leading up to Bad Faith concerts. The winning band won a monetary prize and the honour of being the opening act at the next Bad Faith concert. Not only did this make Bad Faith concerts popular on the basis of their own appeal, but fans of local bands turned out en masse to support their local talent. It also gave people who might never have a shot at garnering attention from established record labels needed exposure. Tonight's opening act, Buried Jury, was a talented bunch despite their lacklustre name and by the time they'd finished their set the crowd was hopping and eagerly anticipating the appearance of Bad Faith. To be honest, the Gryffindor trio was as well but for wholly different reasons.
One by one the band members came on stage to thunderous applause. It was obvious that each member had a devoted following. Harry's palms were sweaty by the time Dai Xihou in a warm reddish spotlight was introduced. There was only one member left. If he didn't think it was a totally asinine and adolescent thing to do he probably would've swooned or something. Then finally, finally, in a pale, nearly ice blue spotlight, Bad Faith's Dragon made his way on stage. The noise could have shaken Hogwarts to its foundations, and Harry was sure that there had been some swooning behind him somewhere to his left.
The raucous welcome went on for some moments but the band seemed to tune the noise out and by the time Dragon had situated himself next to Avery, their bassist, the band's manager was making an introductory speech. She introduced herself as Rhiannon Vaughn, admonished the crowd to enjoy themselves but be courteous of their neighbours, plugged the new album Mobilicorpus then turned the mic over to the band who wasted no time lighting into a catchy fast-paced song known by most of the audience who were singing or screaming along. Three songs into the set the stage lights dimmed and Dragon went alone to the piano that had been moved centre stage.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRAGON!WE LOVE YOU!" a gaggle of giggling girls screamed as the auditorium quieted.
Dragon smiled softly, flipped his platinum blond hair over his shoulder, and nodded in reply, "Another year older. Wiser? That's debateable."
With the exception of three rapt members of the front row chuckles and cheers made their way through the audience.
"Did you know?" Hermione hissed.
"Had no clue, never kept up on the ferret's personal details."
"Shut it Ron. Harry?"
The man in question sighed, "I knew, I just forgot." He looked again at the stage and was transfixed by the beautiful man sitting there.
"Maybe this is wrong. He's got a new life I shouldn't go charging in trying to change things even if I'm trying to fix it…" He hung his head.
"Oh no, Harry Potter…we're here, we went to all this trouble. You WILL follow through with the plan. Got it?"
Harry paled and nodded. He really did need to learn how Hermione could suddenly sound like Molly Weasley and Minerva McGonagall at the same time.
When the hall had quieted further with nothing but low level murmuring as ambient noise, Draco pulled the microphone closer.
"Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I appreciate them. I had a great birthday today. I had breakfast with my family and spent the afternoon with my son and now I get to spend some time doing something I enjoy—sharing music in a way that people can feel, knowing that it is often beautiful beyond the simple words we use and powerful beyond imagining."
Cheers and applause ran through the crowd along with a really off-key rendition of 'Happy Birthday to You'
Dragon smiled broadly at the heartfelt is somewhat drunken expression and laughed a little as he raised his hands to calm the crowd. When the noise died down again he continued speaking, "Some very important people are watching tonight. Special people whom I love very much and I'm telling you all that as much as I love you if you're bums are not in bed by the end of the next set you're all in big trouble! And don't think I'm larking about, your parents and Aunt Mel will back me up. So to Aidan, Kaelleigh, Lennox, Chase, Madison, and Emmeline, I love you all very much and thank you for making this a happy birthday!"
The audience cracked up at his obviously personal message. The more devout Bad Faith fans knew the names of the group's children and 'awwwed' at the message they thought was just "too cute".
Again Dragon raised his hands and this time his expression was more sombre. It was obvious to all that his next words carried deep personal meaning and a hush fell over the crowd as he began speaking again.
"There's someone else I have to thank. He makes all my days special. Evan, I love you more than I can say. Every breath I take is for you, every beat of my heart is for you. Papa loves you so very much and this song is for you. Thank you cub for being my most precious gift."
Harry noted that many of his neighbours had teary eyes and he too felt the familiar burn of tears as Dragon's fingers caressed the keys and his smooth melodious voice rang out into the night.
Close your eyes
Have no fear
The monster's gone
He's on the run and your papa's here
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way
It's getting better and better
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Out on the ocean sailing away
I can hardly wait
To see you come of age
But I guess we'll both just have to be patient
'cause it's a long way to go
A hard row to hoe
Yes it's a long way to go
But in the meantime
It's getting better and better
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Darling, darling, darling
Darling son.
"Good night baby. Papa loves you."
With that the set ended, the stage darkened and there was lots of rumbling as things were moved around. But suddenly Harry was feeling very cold and very alone.
"I hate to say it about such a hateful git, but that was kind of nice."
Harry wiped his tears away and glared at his best friend, "Would it really hurt all that badly Ron to just say it was beautiful? To not make some hateful bitter comment. Merlin's beard, it's been years Ron. Years! Since you've known a damn thing about him! And even when you thought you knew him you didn't. Did you ever stop to think why he stopped the teasing and fights 6th year? Why he worked so hard to get those in Slytherin not committed to Voldemort to defect 7th year? It's because he's a good man. He just needed a chance, a chance for people to stop judging him by who his father was and how his father expected him to act!"
Harry turned his back to his friend and went willingly into Hermione's arms. "He loved me," he sobbed, "He loved me so much! And I loved him too and I lost him because I was too great a coward to trust that he was strong enough to stand beside me."
Tbc...
