Welcome to the Jungle
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or Glee. All recognisable characters, content, or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Part Two: Sixteen
Chapter Six: Welcome to the Jungle
Part of Harry's international GCSE requirements involve electronically submitting worksheets each month for each of his chosen subjects. He's doing 10 of them, but fortunately, there's a lot of overlap with the subjects he's already studying in school. Not completely - Modern History and Legal Studies both focus on British History and British Law, respectively, and Welsh isn't likely to be taught anywhere outside of the UK - but nevertheless, the overlap does exist, and it makes things infinitely easier.
Ultimately, Harry plans to obtain his GCSE's in Biology, Business, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, Japanese, Modern History, Legal Studies, Maths, and Welsh. It's a tall order, obtaining them alongside successfully passing 10th Grade and what have you, but Harry's determined, stubborn, and thus far managing despite Ms Pillsbury's justifiable concern.
He's in the choir room, on his laptop and part-way through a worksheet for his IGCSE English Literature course, and he's alone. It's his study hall - the one he'd earned in place of PE after making it onto a varsity team - and the quiet has made him productive. He's already finished his homework for his WMHS English class, is well on his way to finishing his 5th of 10 IGCSE worksheets for that month, and it's the 14th of September. It's a Tuesday - Hermione's birthday had been the day before - and Harry has a Glee Club audition after school.
He's nervous. He's picked a song, practised it a few times over the last few days, received Kate's seal of approval, but there's nothing quite like performing for an audience.
Lost in his thoughts about everything that could go wrong during his audition, Harry's pulled from his reverie with the shrill screech of the last bell. He saves his progress, packs away his laptop with trembling hands, and contemplates an escape. It's not too late to back out, is it?
"Hello, can I help you?"
Harry glances towards the doorway. The Glee Club Coordinator stands there, the pushover Spanish teacher he's heard so much about, and Harry resigns himself to his fate.
"Ah, yeah, hi. My name's Harry. I'm here to audition for the Glee Club?"
"Really? That's fantastic!"
Harry forces a smile, feeling vaguely ill, and unpacks his guitar. He focuses on tuning the strings, too nervous to chit chat, and ignores the glances of curious Glee Club members as they file in. Kate's the last to arrive, almost as excited as Harry is anxious. She drops next to him on the lowest riser, and she can't shake the smile on her face.
"You ready for this?"
"No," Harry answers, "Why did I think this was a good idea?"
"You want to impress the bassist," Kate answers, "But also, university applications. Extra-curricular diversity, and all that. Which reminds me, Would you want to do the Duke of Edinburgh Award with me? I did some research, and we've pretty much got everything but the volunteering covered. I'm pretty sure it's doable, and I've been thinking about it."
"Ask me again after I've sat all my GCSE exams."
Harry has three rounds of them, in November,February, and May. They're due to take place in Columbus, at the British International School there, over an intensive week each interval. It means two exams per day, and Harry and his parents have already cleared it with Ms Pillsbury, and also with his teachers.
Harry's not remotely looking forward to them, but he'd realised some time ago that come what may, his future is in Britain, and he intends to prepare for it as best he can.
"Okay, Harry, whenever you're ready," Mr Schuester prompts them. Kate offers the man a sheepish grin, and Harry an encouraging, one-armed hug, before she skips over to a seat next to one of her fellow freshmen.
Tina, if Harry remembers correctly. She's dressed predominantly in black, with splashes of colour here and there, and although her clothing is loudly expressive in it's own way, the girl herself seems rather quiet. Very unlike Kate, in that regard, but Harry's sister speaks fondly of her, regardless.
Shaking himself, Harry nods to Mr Schuester, and idly strums his guitar. He takes a moment to gather himself, to breathe out his nerves, and then, without ado, he starts to sing U2's 'With Or Without You'. It's difficult, in that it's one of those songs he has to throw his entire being into, but he kills it, and his audience is impressed.
"I think it's a unanimous welcome," Mr Schuester informs him, "You were excellent."
Harry's smile is sheepish, "Thanks."
"Welcome to the Glee Club," Rachel Berry says, "It will be a pleasant change to have someone with male lead potential on the team. I do hope you are able to keep up with me."
As the rest of the established members roll their eyes, long-suffering, Artie Abrams mutters under his breath, "What am I, chopped liver?"
As Kate's fellow freshman, Tina, consoles their classmate, Harry glances at his sister. "You didn't say anything about being the male lead."
Kate shrugs, sheepish, and opens her arms wide, "Surprise?"
He pulls a face, unimpressed, but relents with a sigh. In for a penny, in for a pound, and all that. "I'll give it a go."
"We weren't really going to give you an option," Kate informs him frankly, "Kurt's a counter tenor, and Artie's good - awesome, even - but he still needs practise before he can balance out the female vocals. You've only sung by yourself before, right, Artie?"
"Right," Artie confirms.
"I guess the question is whether you can actually manage with the rest of us," Kurt Hummel opines. "Are you up for giving it a go?"
There's challenge in Hummel's eyes. He doesn't think Harry can manage an impromptu performance, and Harry's entirely prepared to prove him wrong.
Harry tilts his head, eyes his effeminate classmate thoughtfully, and queries, "What did you have in mind?"
Hummel's idea turns out to be a spontaneous rendition of Hall and Oates' 'You Make My Dreams Come True'. Abrams plays the guitar instrumental, Harry taps out the beat on his own guitar, and alongside Rachel, Harry takes the lead on vocals. The others harmonise, Abrams and Kate with solos in the second verse, and it turns out well.
Better than well, even.
"That was fantastic, you guys!" Mr Schuester claps, positively delighted, and addresses Harry, "I think your membership will do great things for this club, Harry."
"No pressure, or anything," Harry mutters, sardonic.
As Harry starts wondering if it's too late to back out, Hummel smirks, and addresses him, "Welcome to the New Directions."
-!- -#-
The thing is, a lot of his friends wouldn't give a shit about his choice to join the Glee Club. Cedric, Ethan, and the other seniors he's close with are too busy with their college applications to care about Glee Club and it's place on the WMHS social ladder.
Similarly, Katie, Cho, Leanne and Flora are too busy with SAT and/or ACT prep to think about something so inconsequential (to them) as Harry's extracurricular activities. Hermione, Mike, Matt, Ron, and Brittany aren't concerned enough about their own popularity to follow the crowd, and the same could be said about Dean, Seamus, Frankie, and the guys on the basketball team.
That, essentially, leaves Puck, Santana, and his teammates on the football team.
Harry doesn't bother with informing the football team. Most of them are upperclassmen, anyway, and he assumes - correctly - that they're in the same boat as their fellow Juniors and Seniors. He tells Puck and Santana though, via text, because they'll be pissed if they find out from anyone else, and Harry has no real interest in dealing with that sort of unnecessary drama.
Santana, predictably, is not impressed. She doesn't tell him to quit or anything, but she thinks he's an idiot, that there is a slushie facial in his future, that his popularity will take a nose dive in the face of his decision.
Puck, similarly, questions his sanity, but also his sexuality, whether or not he's been possessed, had a lobotomy, and then some, and by that evening, Puck's still not satisfied with Harry's answers. He's convinced Harry's choice was made in a moment of temporary insanity - Harry's half convinced it was, too - but either way, Puck's inquisition stopped being funny a while ago, so he tells his friend to get over it, and reluctantly returns to the homework that still awaits him.
As he does so, Frodo whines piteously. Sam lifts his head, pulled from his stupor, and Harry, unable to deny them, promises the two a walk after dinner. He's not spent a lot of time with them, of late - life's gotten rather hectic - but their sad puppy faces are impossible to refuse.
Frodo and Sam will love the walk, and if nothing else, it will allow Harry a break from his schoolwork, give him some time to clear his head, expend some of the restless energy from his afternoon spent doing homework, tuning out reruns of Futurama, and eating too many chocolate and salted caramel brownies.
Before then, however, he has homework that needs doing, a load of laundry that needs washing, carpets that require vacuuming, and only an hour until dinner.
Mercifully, it's not his turn to cook. His proactive parents have established a rotation now, to get Harry and Kate familiar and comfortable with cooking a variety of dishes independently, and although effective, Harry can't say he really appreciates it. It's his parents' house, however, and thus their rules, so Harry grins, bears it, and counts down the days until he can move out.
He loves his parents, unequivocally, unabashedly, undoubtedly, but that day can't arrive soon enough.