Part one of the long-waited pageant... Many thanks go to my dear Magzillasaurus and her giggles...
Chapter Twenty-One
The last few days, the girls had decided to avoid their wizards and concentrate on their gig, studying with utmost interest the video Hermione managed to find from last years Muggle event. Pansy and Daphne perfected walking in heels, being the ones to teach Hermione and Ginny how to wiggle their hips in stilettos. Luna watched and shrugged, she wasn't bothering with shoes for the pageant.
"Do we have our acts ready?" Pansy was the drill sergeant on duty.
"Yes!" All voices in unison.
"Is there something we need to cover?"
"No!"
"Let's go and eat some ice cream." Again nothing but agreeing voices. The girls had it all covered.
-oOo-
The men cornered Harry, who succeeded into obtaining a copy of the Mr United States pageant and the group spent a day playing the video at Grimmauld Place, with beer and some meat on the barbeque. This time the snakes paid attention to the cooking procedure, deciding to add this muggle tradition to their newfound habits. Those already contained muggle drinks, bowling and pizza.
Blaise flexed his abs, annoying the bullocks off Theo and Draco. The wizards were content with their bodies unless their friend paraded a pair of pecs and abs more defined than theirs. Even Harry, who had no issues, felt a tingle of self-awareness.
"Brother, stop showing off, we aren't closeted wizards who enjoy male attributes." Theo bit off, feeling himself the thinnest of the group. Draco might not be so defined, but he wasn't far off.
"Beauty should be savoured."
"You are so full of shite." Draco threw him a napkin ball, "What's your plan? To snag all the witches from under our noses?"
"Feeling threatened Malfoy-dear?" Blaise flexed his bicep once again, "Could I seduce your bookworm with a fascinating love for lingerie?" He sipped from his beer bottle, "Tell me, have you already checked out the contents of a certain drawer?"
"Don't you have a witch to concentrate on?"
"My girl needs to go with your woman for a few extra lessons… Her taste could use an upgrade."
If looks could kill, Blaise would be bleeding, "Zabs, my friend, zip it."
The Slytherin understood the silent threat. The back and forth didn't go lost on Harry either, who enjoyed watching how protective Draco was of Hermione. The initial doubts he used to have - old habits die hard - had disappeared for a while now. Instead, he couldn't think of a better partner for his best friend slash sister, than a powerful wizard like the blond.
Plus, now the man had ditched some of his arrogance and showed the real personality behind the mask, Harry had to admit to appreciating Draco's company. What if he had accepted the friendship all those years ago? Would their school time have been different?
Ron bit his lip, "Harry, what we saw earlier on your telly, do we have to do it too?"
"Which part?"
"I mean, parading in our underwear?"
Blaise broke into laughter, "Are you afraid of showing your goodies to your woman?" He couldn't resist flexing his muscles once more, "Imagine all the present witches, drooling over your body."
"But, do we have to do it in our underwear?"
Harry shrugged, "It's one time only, consider it for fun. Honestly, the guilty guy for this pageant shit seems to be the bodybuilder right here, if I'm not mistaken."
Ron nodded, pointing at the wizard in question, "Yes, he wanted to admire the goodies… kept pushing for it." Said man ducked from the killing glares, Draco's was probably the most venomous.
"Wait a minute, we'll be parading nearly naked, our women will do the same because you wanted to oggle them for free?" Draco's low voice was menacing.
"Brother, you'll thank me for it."
A certain wand appeared, "Oh yes, I will…"
Harry enjoyed hearing a yelp, not even contemplating an intervention. Personally, he could see the fun, and he knew from Ginny that the girls wouldn't be showing off anything beyond a bathing suit. Harry saw those all the time when they went to the beach anyway, "Malfoy, don't worry. Your girl's virtue won't be sacrificed."
"Doesn't it bother you, all those wizards drooling over your woman?"
"Listen, when she and I go to the beach, it's the same effect. They drool, but I'm the one who brings her home." He gave the blond a half smile, "Relax."
"Her assets are mine."
"We will not see anything beyond the most necessary." Harry refrained from explaining how much he had seen during the Horcruxes-hunt, considering it a dangerous field.
Theo summed up, "Basically, we'll be parading in a suit, in our underwear and have to act something out."
"Which can be flexing your muscles, singing, reciting a poem…"
"Play an instrument?" Draco inquired. He didn't sing, reciting poems was something for a Hufflepuff and by the looks for Theo, and flexing the muscles well, he knew who was going for that already. Competing against the number one stud from Slytherin - puh - was a stupid move.
"Or tell jokes?" Ron hadn't relaxed for a bit, the last thing he wanted was to embarrass Pansy.
Harry reasoned, "From the way I see it, between us I mean… you all have chosen your partner. It would surprise me if your original number didn't match your girl's choice. Have fun, I don't think we'll be repeating this pageant ever."
-oOo-
The cooking area had been transfigured into an elegant theatre room with comfortable seating, a stage and adjusted lightning. The managing group had done their job thoroughly based on a few Muggle pictures out of the original version, provided by Hermione.
Ginny and Pansy had secured the best centre seats, not opposed to using some hexes to accomplish their intent. A few women sought help in Hermione against the unnecessary violence but found none.
George appeared on stage, as the host of the day. "Ladies! This is the much-anticipated event of the year, the very first Wizard Pageant in British Wizarding History."
From the backstage, someone added, "And the very last too." It wasn't clear if there were more booing than cheering at that statement. Hermione guessed a tie.
"Let me not keep you ladies waiting. Let's hear it for our brave gentlemen in their nicest suits! Give them a round of applause!"
The room exploded into a burst of cheers and screaming, some girls forgoing their decorum and going extreme on the drama. The girl-gang applauded visibly when they spotted their boys, Harry second to a confident Blaise who flashed the largest Colgate smile, followed by a smirking Draco and two uneasy wizards, Ron and Theo.
It looked rehearsed as they all stood next to each other, the centre of attention oh so unfamiliar.
Pansy screeched, "Ron, love, you're the cutest."
Hermione hid her face behind her hand, shaking her head. Ron wasn't ugly, but Pansy shouldn't exaggerate either. The result was a flushed wizard who wished he could disappear. Even Ginny rolled her eyes, at the display.
Hermione let her eyes roam over the row of wizards, concluding to herself that Draco stood out. There were a few cute boys between, but none held a candle to Draco's masculine appearance. Dressed in an expensive black suit, white shirt and a perfect Windsor black tie around the neck, he stood poised, with hands in his pockets. Staring at her.
She bit in her nail. They hadn't seen each other for days, and she was actually nervous about how the night was going to end. Tonight, they would choose one another officially, not that there was doubt. He was the one she wanted at her side. No questions asked.
A loud bang broke her train of thoughts, as a wizard band claimed the stage while the men prepared for the next part. It was a favourite song that bellowed through the speakers, and the majority was singing along, some witches completely off-tune.
When the second act died down, George took the stage wiggling his brows, "Ladies, I hope you have a fan in your hands, this place is getting hotter by the minute. Welcome our wizards to the stage!" Hell broke loose. Many jumped up and down their seats, screaming and waving wildly with their arms as if Merlin himself had appeared on stage.
A few very confident men, Blaise for instance, ate up the attention and gave all the women a run for their money, flexing his impressive torso and sturdy legs. Hermione had to admit that he looked like man-candy indeed. Cormac and some unknown blokes copied his stance and showed off - not always earned - to bask in the madness going on among the audience. Who knew witches could behave like muggle women?
Others, like Draco and Harry, took it all with a grain of salt, did the runway at ease winking at their girls and joined the row shrugging at the display.
Then you had Theo, Ron, even Neville and several others who wished there was a hole to hide in. Slouched, they almost ran over the catwalk to get it over with and put their clothes back on. Luna kept sending kisses towards her wizard while Pansy won the contest of the loudest cheering witch, by far.
It was beyond madness. Nothing could have prepared Hermione for this kind of display, it was as if none of these witches had ever seen a man this undressed before. She lost count on the times she saw Ginny and Daphne cover their faces in disgust, and burst in a peal of laughter to see the blonde pull Pansy down to placate her.
The stage was finally cleared, and it took two songs before the show continued with its last act.
The girls had to sit out through a few demonstrations before the first of their gang came up.
Theo back in his black suit.
He cleared a few times his throat, before taking a roll of parchment out of his vest pocket. With a steady voice, he declaimed a romantic poem Hermione recognised from Lord Byron.
"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies..."
The otherwise calm wizard managed to bring a certain peace to the audience, the majority blinking a tear away after the heartfelt words. Luna had no shame at drying her cheeks openly, touched by his voice. The deafening applause was earned, in Hermione's eyes.
Even his Slytherin girls beamed proudly.
After a few more wizards, Harry claimed the stage, playing a catchy tune on his guitar. The self-written lyrics made no sense, sending all girls into fits of laughter. Ginny knew this was going to happen, if Hermione guessed right because instead of roaring she shook her head countless times.
Under sloppy applause, some women had trouble calming down their hysterical giggling, Harry evacuated the stage to make room for a very ashamed Ron. Being in the spotlights really freaked him out and his first joke missed its punch line, "Parallels have much in common. It's a shame they'll never meet…"
But after his third, he got the hang of it, and all the girls ate from his hand. Entirely in character, he stated, "My mother once accused me of being immature. I told her to get out of my fort." Hermione finally recognised her friend, the wizard who loved to bring joy to a group. His next one forced her to cross her legs and avoid a certain accident. "I threw a boomerang a few years ago, I now live in constant fear…" They barely recovered from the last one, as he fired his newest, "Do you know why healer-nurses use a red quill? In case they need to draw blood!"
In the end, Ron received a standing ovation from the entire audience, often still with tears of laughter in their eyes. It had been a while since Ginny and Hermione saw him smile so wide. It was glorious.
A few acts later, a black wizard set down a familiar CD-player, took a stand and pressed the button with a wandless move.
"I'm too sexy for my love..."
Hermione was going to drill him until she found out where he learned about Right said Fred's hit, but not even she could stay still in her chair.
The man knew how to dance to the catchy beat, taking his white shirt off in time to "I'm too sexy for my shirt," wiggling his hips and flexing his abs in tune, sending kisses into the air with a flair, that even Hermione had to admit, meant that he totally deserved his title.
Daphne let it all befall her in a mix of awe and embarrassment. "Daph, you're a lucky girl… that's chocolate man-candy." The blonde witch flushed harder.
Either way, he squatted, wiggled, flexed, used the whole podium and performed as an artist who did nothing else all day. Bowing at the end of the song, only clothed in his black trunks. His chest rose and fell with quick breaths but seemed to puff in pride as well. It was a sight to behold.
The stage darkened after Blaise's departure, a black grand piano appeared, steps echoed in the silent room.
At first, only the notes rose in the air, no one recognising the pianist as he stood in the dark.
A romantic piano ballad Hermione recognised as a love theme from Romeo and Julia, filled the room and made everyone silent. It was beautiful and delicate in its performance, played by someone who knew how to let his fingers fly over the keys, right hand taking the upper hand while the left played the accords softly in the background.
After a half minute, a lit candle appeared above the majestic instrument, and Hermione gasped, recognising the pale blond hair. Draco never looked up, only straight forward into the darkness bouncing at the beat, playing the piece obviously by heart. His fingers moved smoothly, a few times almost ghosting over the white or black keys. She closed her eyes to let the notes take her along, to open them again and stare at the incredible man. A wizard full of surprises.
The last note waved over the quiet room for a few seconds.
Applause broke, as the wizard got up out of his chair and bowed to accept the honour. Eyes only focused on his witch, who smiled softly behind the few trembling fingers she held against her lips.
The love story itself was a tragic one, but the song signified a tribute to love; arrows pierced through Hermione's heart as she acknowledged her feelings for this blond Adonis. No reason to deny them anymore nor to doubt his, in return.
A hand dried the escaping tears.
The embracing arms of Ginny offering her comfort, went by, unnoticed.
Because she longed.
After him.