Chapter Twelve: The Dragons
Eventually Aaron received his speedy spices and then he broke the time freezing spell by drinking the antidote. That evening before supper Bailey told him to meet her out in the hallway in front of the Great Hall. Aaron smiled his glistening smile at her while his eyes dazzled before he wrapped his arms around her in a loving embrace.
"I couldn't do this without you Bailey so thank you." He told her as she patted his shoulder and smiled back at him before planting a kiss on his cheek.
"You're welcome. Just be sure to add these an hour before your detention inside your pumpkin juice and then you're sure to fly right through it." She told him while they slowly broke their embrace and Aaron looked down to see that she was holding onto a Ziplock bag with four tiny orange seeds inside of it.
"They look like fire seeds only smaller." He said.
"They pretty much are and they're also incredibly spicy and they might cause you to breathe fire." She explained but he simply just grinned at her.
"Well that's okay because I'm a Dragon now remember?" He questioned her as she just slightly shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Cute Aaron. Really cute." She told him as he took the seeds from her and started heading back inside the Great Hall. "Just don't forget you owe me big time!" She cried right as Professor McGonagall had been walking down the hallway and stopped to look at her.
"What's going on Ms. Parker?" She questioned as Bailey suddenly let out a nervous gulp and then glanced up anxiously at her while turning beet red and shaking her head at her.
"Oh nothing Professor, I was just helping my brother with his homework that's all." She lied before she turned around and started walking into the Great Hall. "The things I do for him." She muttered underneath her breath since she couldn't remember ever telling a lie in her life.
….
Bailey sat upon the couch in the Gryffindor common room gently stroking Ginger while Aaron prepared to mix the speedy seeds up inside his pumpkin juice. "I hope that you appreciate all I do for you. I lied for you and I also snuck that pumpkin juice inside the common room for you even though we're not supposed to have any food or drinks in here." She told him.
"Believe me Bailey, you're a saint." Aaron told her.
"Oh and also you need to be sure to stay inside the castle tomorrow night when it starts getting dark. I found out in astronomy class today that there's supposed to be a full moon already and we never had the chance to brew a wolfsbane potion." She explained.
"Don't worry, that isn't even going to be an issue." Aaron said while turning around to face her and then just simply grinned at her as he raised his goblet off of the coffee table. "Well,.. cheers." He said before tilting his head back and opening up his mouth and starting to drink it down. A few seconds later an incredible wave of energy struck him and he quickly set his goblet back down and zoomed out of the room and through the portrait hole as quickly as a roadrunner and Bailey just simply heaved a sigh while continuing to stroke her cat.
….
Aaron met Derek and the other boys in the Great Hall fifteen minutes later. "You're here already?" Derek began questioningly in disbelief while looking at him. "I guess that stuff really does work pretty fast." He said.
"Yeah it does, and checkout what I made in muggle studies today during free time." Aaron began with a rather large grin before holding up a silky long-sleeved red shirt with matching pants.
"Wow cool how did you do that!?" Justin exclaimed while widening his eyes in excitement.
"With a sewing machine. It's sort of like a car because you use both your hands and foot to make it go." Aaron explained.
"Huh?" Justin questioned with uncertainty.
"Never mind." Aaron replied while setting the clothes on top of his table and withdrawing his wand and then gave it a flick. "Geminio." He said before it duplicated into another outfit just like it before he did the same thing a couple more times. "If they don't fit you can always use a sizing charm on them." Aaron told them before picking up his clothes and heading towards the boy's lavatory to change as the three other boys did the same.
After they finished changing inside of their stalls, they all came out to see how they looked. "Is it just me or is something missing?" Justin wondered but Aaron just simply grinned at him.
"No Justin, it isn't just you." He told him and he removed four pairs of dragonhide gloves from his pocket and began passing them around until finally placing his own over his hands. "Now what do you say we get out there and kick some tail?" He questioned them with an eager and excited grin.
"I say that we go light the stage on fire." Rickie replied before they all bumped fists with each other.
"Dragon power!" They all shouted together in unison before leaving the restroom and up to the front of the room and onto the stage with Bailey and Carly watching them among many other students.
"So who are you guys supposed to be?" The judge questioned them.
"Well,.. we're The Dragons." Aaron replied with a grin.
"The Dragons huh? Sort of catchy. Well what song are you going to sing then?" He asked them.
"We're going to sing an original entitled Superstars." Aaron told him.
"Well then you may proceed." The judge told him while gesturing his hand out towards him as Aaron suddenly felt incredibly nervous and anxious since he was now in the spotlight along with the rest of his friends who were just as nervous as he was. That's when suddenly he felt a comforting hand upon his shoulder.
"It's alright Aaron, remember to do it exactly like we rehearsed it." He told him as Aaron silently nodded and the music suddenly began.
"Ooh, ooh,.. oh yeah,.. mhm,.." Aaron began before continuing to sing. "Oh here we are, this is our destiny and there's no stopping us now." He sung before Rickie took his turn.
"Oh I see, what's really in front of me and all of our dreams are about to come true." He sang.
"Oh it's a long way to the top, but we're never gonna stop, and in the end we know it's where we're gonna be!" Derek belted out before they broke into the chorus together and started busting out a bunch of pop moves while the room started cheering for them.
"Oh ain't nobody gonna stop us now! Cause we're on top of the world! Cause ain't nobody gonna throw us down we're on top of the world!" They sang together.
"For every boy and every girl all around the world will finally see that we're all who we were born to be! For they'll see us as we are, and they'll know that we were born to be Superstars!" Rickie belted out as the majority of the students in the room started screaming louder.
"Oh we're on fire!" Justin belted out.
"We've got the heart of a dragon." They all sang together.
"We've got the courage of a lion, and the strength of a bear, and there ain't no stopping us now!" Aaron belted out before all four of them went into the chorus again.
"Oh ain't nobody gonna stop us now! Cause we're on top of the world! Cause ain't nobody gonna throw us down we're on top of the world!" They sang together.
"For every boy and every girl all around the world will finally see that we're all who we were born to be! For they'll see us as we are, and they'll know that we were born to be Superstars!" Aaron sang out before Rickie started rapping.
"Well D to the R to the AGON, we've come to kick some tail and you can bet that we'll do it again! Cause that's who we are we are the Dragons!" Rickie exclaimed.
"Go! Go!" The other boys cried as the crowd continued cheering for them.
"I said that we're The Dragons!" Rickie repeated in rap.
"Go! Go!" The other boys exclaimed.
"Oh when I say The you say Dragons!" Rickie instructed. "The_" he began.
"Dragons!" The crowd responded.
"Oh when I say The you say Dragons!" Rickie repeated once again. "The_" He began.
"Dragons!" The crowd replied.
"The_" Rickie began once last time.
"Dragons!" The crowd responded one last time before Rickie continued to rap.
"That's right we're The Dragons and we're on our way, ain't nothing gonna stop us now! For we've got the strength of a two-thousand-pound animal and there's nothing that's gonna hold us down!" He cried before all four boys went back into the chorus for the last time.
"Oh ain't nobody gonna stop us now! Cause we're on top of the world! Cause ain't nobody gonna throw us down we're on top of the world!" They sang together.
"For every boy and every girl all around the world will finally see that we're all who we were born to be! For they'll see us as we are, and they'll know that we were born to be Superstars!" Aaron sang.
"Yes we were born to be superstars baby!" Rickie finished before the crowd erupted with cheers and applause and all four judges suddenly rose to their feet and started cheering and applauding along with Bailey and Carly cheering and applauding the loudest.
"Dragons! Dragons! Dragons!" The room chanted as all four boys tried their hardest to catch their breaths and Aaron felt like he could hardly breathe as they all huddled together.
"I can't believe it, they love us." He whispered to the other boys.
"Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards everywhere around the whole entire wizarding world,.. The Dragons have been hatched!" One of the judges exclaimed over all of the screams and cheers and then before Aaron knew it a photographer appeared out of nowhere and snapped a picture of them.
Chapter Thirteen: Fake News
That's when suddenly a young woman who resembled Brittney entered the room except for the fact that she had green eyes instead of blue. "Hullo boys, my name is Rita Skeeter and I work for The Daily Prophet." She began before she shook each Dragon member by the hand.
"Right, and why would we care?" Derek questioned before Aaron elbowed him inside the ribs.
"Cause we're about to become famous that's why you idiot!" He snapped inside a whisper as Rickie just simply rolled his eyes at him.
"Ignore him. It's nice to meet you Ms. Skeeter. My parents were humongous fans of yours." Rickie told her.
"I beg your pardon were?" Rita questioned him with uncertainty.
"Yeah, they're dead now. Both of them." He told her.
"Oh, well, my condolences." She said while attempting a sorrowful expression on her face but Rickie just simply shook his head at her.
"Don't be, they were both saved." He replied.
"Excuse me? What are you talking about? I thought you just told me that they both died." She said.
"Rickie and his family have always been really rather religious." Aaron began. "I am too just not as much as he is." He explained.
"Oh well I see,.. anyways moving on. I was sort of wondering if I could have you each one at a time for an interview." She said while placing a hand on top of his shoulder and Aaron chuckled nervously and slightly shook his head at her.
"Right sorry Eric." Rita said while quickly removing her hand as Aaron clenched his teeth together suddenly starting to feel rather annoyed.
"It's Aaron." He growled while glaring over at her.
"Sorry Aaron simple mistake. Well come on then, let's step out into the hallway shall we?" She questioned him before he simply just heaved a sigh.
"Alright guys, I'll be right back." He said as he started to turn around and headed towards the doors while the rest of the boys watched him go and Rita Skeeter follow after him.
"There's something incredibly fishy about that woman." Justin said.
"Yeah I hate to admit it since she has the power to make us famous, but you're right." Derek agreed.
….
"So, how did it go last night?" Bailey questioned Aaron the next morning at breakfast while she sat down a crossed the table from him and grinned.
"Other than the fact that Brittney and her gang of bitches decided to join the competition it went rather well." He replied as she suddenly gasped and placed her hands upon her cheeks.
"Oh my gosh you're joking!" She exclaimed but he just slightly shook his head at her.
"I really wish that I was." He began. "But she formed her own singing group called The Dragonettes." He told her and that's when she quickly got to her feet.
"That little thief! She's just copying off of you!" She cried while quickly withdrawing her wand. "I'm going to go hex her!" She threatened.
"No Bailey don't. I already lost a whole lot of points for Gryffindor and the last thing we need is for you to be in trouble too. Especially since it's Saturday and I really don't think you want to have a detention over the weekend." He pointed out as she rolled her eyes at him and reluctantly put her wand away again as she sat down.
"Alright, but it's only because I love you." She told him.
"Well that's not the worst thing about it." He began. "They sang Hot and Cold by Katy Perry. Not only did they copy off of our band name and their costumes are rather similar, they stole somebody's else's song without putting in the hard work and effort to write one themselves." He said with another slight shake of his head.
"Just when I don't think that there will ever be another reason to despise Brittney more, she gives me one." She told him while shooting a scowl and an evil glare over towards the Slytherin table where Brittney sat.
"Well on the plus side Carly's now in the competition as well." Aaron began with a grin as Bailey turned back to look at him and smiled.
"Really?" She questioned him as he nodded and smiled back.
"She's in a group with Stevie and Justin's sister Jasmine called The Siren Sisters." He explained.
"Wow, that's cool. I bet that they're a million times better than The Dragonettes." She said.
"They are." He began. "They have their own look, style, and they write their own material." He told her when suddenly a grey owl swooped into the room and started soaring towards their table before dropping a newspaper on top of it and a rather large grin stretched a crossed Bailey's face.
"This must be the article where your interview is in!" She exclaimed excitedly as she picked up the copy of The Daily Prophet and sure enough all four members of The Dragons were gathered together in a group while going into different poses for the picture as it had their band name listed above it and all of their separate names listed underneath it. That's when Bailey started reading it aloud.
"Aaron Michael Parker age seventeen, Richard Patrick Lake age seventeen, Derek Douglas Dodger age sixteen, and Justin Joshua Long age thirteen, are new entries to the first annual Hogwarts singing competition and have recently formed a singing group called The Dragons." She began but as she started reading the next part her smile slowly faded.
"What is it?" He questioned her before she took a deep breath and continued to read.
"Of course, long before Aaron Parker's rise to fame he had already been a teenage heartthrob." She read.
"What's so bad about that?" He asked her with a shrug.
"He was always seeking attention from an early age and has a great sense of self-importance." She read as he narrowed his eyebrows and glared before quickly rising to his feet.
"What!? That's not true!" He cried but Bailey just simply held out her hand in front of her.
"Calm down Air I know it isn't." She began.
"Well what did she write about the rest of us?" He questioned while remaining on his feet.
"She wrote that Rickie is extremely sensitive and loves having emotional support, Justin feels lonely and doesn't have very many friends, and Derek values money most of all and sometimes seems rather snobbish and arrogant." She replied.
"Derek's is the only one she got right but that still doesn't mean that she can write about it in the newspaper for the whole entire wizarding world to see!" Aaron snapped before grabbing the paper and starting to rip it up. "Now everybody's going to hate us!" He cried.
"Don't be ridiculous Air, anybody and everybody who saw the audition knows that you're great and you already have so much love and support from all of your fans. Especially from your number one fan." She told him while smiling rather warmly and lovingly up at him in which he returned to her.
"Thanks Bailey I love you, and don't forget that I have Qudditch practice later this evening." He told her.
"I love you too, but don't forget to be back in plenty of time before dark." She told him as he sat the pieces of newspaper back up on top of the table before sitting back down and continuing to eat his breakfast.