Viktor rubbed his eyes. He had given up sleep to write his first boy band song. Boris, his agent and now fellow band member was asleep with his accordion where Viktor had left him—in the kitchen, with an empty cup next to him—which had contained butterbeer—and a little sleeping pill Viktor had slipped in after a rather unsuccessful attempt to tell Boris that he and his accordion were not welcome. Just thinking about Boris and his accordion gave Viktor a headache. Perhaps he had been a tad bit generous in offering him a spot.
He glanced at his sheet of paper and smiled with satisfaction. It was his first song, but he was rather proud of it--because it came from the heart. Looking over it again, he loved it more than ever—and he knew it would win Hermione over. Thus, with these good prospects, he finally decided to go take a nap.
The doorbell rang.
"Just another minute Mum!" mumbled Viktor to his pillow. "Don't wanna go to school--!"
The doorbell rang again, persistent.
"Mrrph!" Viktor dragged himself across the floor. Must be one of those darned muggles! He thought to himself and he went downstairs.
He threw open the door.
"Yo," said a tall fellow, with a fang for an earring. "You must be Viktor Krum."
"Ah, yes, I am," replied Viktor, blinking against the sunlight.
"I'm Bill. Bill Weasley. Boris told me that auditions were today."
"Auditions?" repeated Viktor.
"Yes… We are having auditions, aren't we?" asked Bill. "Don't tell me I got my drums all polished up for nothing?"
"Eeh… just a moment!" said Viktor, and promptly slammed the door shut, then ran into the kitchen in his socks, slipping as he went in.
"Boris!" Viktor shook his agent, who was still fast asleep. Hmm… I guess those muggle sleeping pills work better than I thought. He poked Boris with his wand.
"Just one more polka!" mumbled Boris.
"Wake up!"
Boris opened his eyes. "Oh. Good morning sir."
"Did you set up auditions today?" demanded Viktor.
"Er… auditions… auditions…" repeated Boris. "Oh RIGHT!" he leaped up. "I almost forgot."
"What do you mean almost?" said Viktor sarcastically.
"Come now, get yourself dressed! I've invited many good musicians to come audition!" Boris zapped himself into a suit.
"Oy," groaned Viktor. He wondered what type of musicians Boris would consider "good," considering that he had no musical taste…
By the end of the day, after screening about 100 musicians—ranging from bass players, drummers, and pianists to yodelers, bell ringers, and Viking opera singers, Viktor was exhausted and his ears were ringing.
Fortunately there were a few he liked.
"I would like to thank all of you for coming," he said, managing a weak smile. A gnome answered with a hearty clash of cymbals.
Viktor closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply, trying to ignore his severe headache.
"It was a…er… difficult decision," he continued, "But nevertheless I have made my choice. I would like to offer contracts to Bill Weasley as a drummer, Roger Davies as an electric guitarist, and Collin Diggory as bass guitarist. Thank you all for coming."
Viktor nodded abruptly and motioned to his new band members to follow him into his study.
"Now, let's introduce ourselves shall we?" said Viktor, whipping up some butterbeers. "I am Viktor Krum of course, former seeker of the Bulgarian quidditch team. Due to a career change, I am now into the music business."
"I'm Bill Weasley, and I worked for a while at Gringotts bank. I just got married to Fleur Delacour this summer—"
"Wait a minute!" interrupted Viktor, narrowing his eyes suddenly at Bill. "Your brother is Ronald Weasley is he not?"
"Yes… Is that a problem?"
Viktor ground his teeth but then shook himself. "Sorry, no. But I suspect you might find my music composition interesting," he said with a wry grin. He could tell that it was going to be hard not to hold grudges. "And you?"
Roger Davies was staring off into… somewhere.
"Roger?"
"Oh right! I'm Roger Davies," Roger blinked at them as though he had come out of a dream. "Proud graduate of Hogwarts with honors in my house. After I graduated I decided to go surfing for a while… never quite found a job I liked. Only thing I was interested in was girls," he winked. "Particularly a beautiful half-veela by the name of Fleur…" he said dreamily.
Bill glared at him.
This is definitely going to be more difficult than I thought, groaned Viktor inwardly.
"Ah well ahem," said Roger turning red.
Noticing the awkward silence Viktor nodded to Collin. "And you?"
"Collin Diggory. I work for the Ministry in the muggle relations department. My younger brother Cedric got killed by Voldemort," he added as an afterthought, looking sulky.
"Ah…" Viktor shifted uneasily. "Allright. Well then." He glanced around at his group. Bill was shooting dirty looks at Roger, who was spaced out again. Collin stared back sullenly.
"That's the last of them!" exclaimed Boris, entering the room. "Quite an audition, wasn't it?" he said as he mopped his brow with a handkerchief.
"Indeed," replied Viktor. "Look Boris, I want to thank you for all your help—"
"Oh thanks are not necessary!" he exclaimed, embracing Viktor, who immediately stiffened. "I'm just so thankful that I even get to be a part of 'No Physical Contact' and be working alongside you sir!"
"'No Physical Contact?'" mouthed the three band members to each other in horror.
"Er…really?" Viktor replied guiltily, trying to avoid looking in Boris' eyes.
"Of course! What an honor! I will never forget this!"
There was obviously no way he could tell Boris that he could not be in the band. It would crush him. And after nearly ten years knowing Boris, as a business consultant and family friend, what could he say?
"Uh well.. uh.. it's a pleasure," Viktor muttered.
Boris lit up like a muggle Christmas light as he snatched the song from Viktor's hands.
"Hmmm… that title is a little bit on the long side… perhaps you should—"
"No. No changes," said Viktor, and crossed his arms.