Never Alone

Musical Montage Pt. 1

Cnorth

Disclaimer: All HP Characters belong to JKR.

Beta: Winthrops Slayer

A/N: Anyone who can think of good titles for any of the chapters, please leave them in the form of a review. I'm tired of it just being Chapter 10 and so on. Thanks. Enjoy!

It was Thursday of that week before Draco gained consciousness for long enough to hear about the party, and Friday before Madame Pomfrey would allow him out of the hospital wing. So he had a little less than three days to plan for the party. Still, no matter whether him and his father served Voldemort or not (which neither of them did, both had been spies), they were still Malfoys, and the entire family line was well known for their fashion sense and tendency to be good at anything that required socializing and making connections.

Hollie still hadn't gotten a chance to see him, so she was determined that she would catch him over the weekend. But in the end, she didn't have the opportunity. So, she prepared for the party, deciding to go as the green fairy from Moulin Rouge.

The night of the party arrived, and Hollie filed silently to the antechamber of the Great Hall where everyone was having their voice changed. She chose a French accent to go with her costume, and prepared to go into the modified hall. A grand staircase now led down from double doors to the floor below, and the ceiling reflected a midnight sky even though it was only 8. Candles floated through the air over the heads of the party goers, and other than a few tables bordering the room, there was nowhere to sit. The idea of the party was to mingle, and mingling takes movement.

Heading toward a drink table, she stumbled and bumped into a dark figure, dressed like the Phantom from one of her favorite movies, Phantom of the Opera. A deep, husky voice issued from behind his divided mask, with a soft purring, "Are you alright?"

Hollie nodded, made momentarily speechless by the powerful pull she felt to this man. Before she had a chance to say anything further, he had disappeared into the crowd. Suddenly, a glowing figure dressed in all white with large, beautiful wings paused next to her. She looked just like Drew Barrymore from Ever After.

"Holls, are you ok?" came the whisper that passed for the angel's voice.

"How do you know who I am? I didn't tell anybody." Her voice was laced with confusion.

"Green fairy? Come on…last year was Tinkerbell. It's just so you," the angel jibed, the line sounding unusual given how sarcastic it was. It didn't seem like it was something an angel would say.

"Well, that's not fair. I don't know who you are. I mean, I do know that you're a WU-girl, but we're all friends. And you know how spastic I get when I think people are stalking me," she was severely frustrated. The whole point of this was to spend time with people that you didn't know, and yet this girl was obviously one of her friends, who had searched her out.

The angel let out a very unangelic, borderline evil laugh.

"Well, that narrows it down quite a bit. Nice costume, by the way. And great job with the voice, it sounds nothing like you." Hollie now knew that the angel was Sam. Only she could pull off that laugh-or at least the only other person who could was herself, so that option was out.

Sam jumped, looking slightly defensive. "Hey, that's not very nice, slut whore…uh, uh, I mean…"

"Hoebag!" Hollie teased, continuing the ongoing joke between the two of them. At Winthrop, they had been roommates, so they were used to living with each others peculiarities, and each others teasing. The two broke into hysterical laughter, and randomly hugged each other before Hollie began tugging on Sam's arm, pulling her in another direction.

"Come on, I think I saw Chelli over there somewhere." Despite her earlier theory of trying not to spend time with only her friends at this, the sudden remembrance of how much time they spent together on the floor made her miss everybody else.

"How would you know?" Sam asked, gaining the confused look Hollie had just had a moment before.

"Ever seen Van Helsing? By the way, see a monk anywhere? And where's that Phantom?" Despite how random this sounded to Sam, Hollie REALLY wanted to find that guy again, because 1) he was hot and B) he was dressed as the freakin' phantom of the opera.

"You mean Chelli dressed as a monk?" Sam had her ditzy moments, and it appeared this was going to be one of them.

"Yup, it's you alright. No, Chelli didn't dress as a monk. David Wenham's just hott." You could hear the second t that Hollie put on the word hot, and even Sam finally got the emphasis.

"So what is Chelli dressed as?" she asked, happily, not really caring that she had just been made out as really ditzy.

"BOO!" Chelli popped up behind Sam, spooking her. She was dressed as Anna Valerious from Van Helsing, in the gown she wore in the ball scene.

"Oh, hi Chells." Hollie said, nonchalantly as if the girl hadn't just scared her and Sam both.

"Hey, Holls." Chelli returned, knowing automatically to whom she was talking.

"How do you know that?" Sam asked, frustrated.

"ESPN." A look of confusion crossed her face again, while Hollie and Chelli smirked at each other.

"I'm not a tv." She said, not getting the Mean Girls reference.

"Sam, have you been drinking?" Chelli asked patronizingly as if talking to a small child, she was only half joking.

"WHAT? No. I had squeeze-y gel candy," she answered sweetly, with just a hint of sugar in her tone.

"Sam. Don't do that. It's sexual." Hollie barely choked out through her bursts of laughter. The others began laughing as well, and soon the entire group was in hysterics. Through the fits of laughter, Hollie suddenly spotted the Phantom seemingly float past.

"Excusez-moi…j'ai besoin d'aller…over there…to uh…au revoir!" she murmured, not realizing she had mostly switched to French.

"What the hell is she on?" Chelli asked Sam, not having a clue what was going on with Hollie.

"Fundip. And Phantom," the blonde replied, smirking wildly.

"Not yet."

Hollie snuck up behind the Phantom and began singing.

"I remember
there was mist . . .
swirling mist
upon a vast, glassy lake . . .
There were candles
all around
and on the lake there
was a boat,
and in the boat
there was a man . . ." At this, the Phantom turned, his eyes seeking her own, burning with a wild longing.

"Who was that shape
in the shadows?
Whose is the face
in the mask?" Hollie sang, touching his arm gently.

"Would you care to dance?" he asked, his husky timbre once again sending Hollie's mind into oblivion. Hollie nodded, her thoughts caught up in the grayish-blue whirlpool of his eyes, not able to speak.

"Hey Chelli, hey Sam!" a girl dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast piped, coming up next to the two.

"HOW DO YOU DO THAT!" Sam shouted, unable to understand it. She had thought it would be hard to guess who she was…after all, Hollie had trouble…

"Didn't you do that to Hollie?" Chelli asked her, pointing out the obvious to the blonde.

"Well yeah, but wait…come on, that was easy!" Sam argued, not thinking it was fair to use that against her.

"Well, so are you." Belle teased, and her and Chelli burst out into raucous laughter.

"Haha, I have evil slut magic." Sam laughed, and the other two had now completely lost track of what she was talking about.

"Sammy, you do realize you're dressed as an angel, right?" Chelli pointed out, and Sam blushed.

"Uh, I mean…" she tried to backpedal, so Belle decided to bail her out.

"Oopsie-boople." After this, it was obvious that Whitney was Belle. Everybody laughed, and forgot about Sam's comment. A slow song began, and a man dressed as Van Helsing approached Chelli.

"Nice costume," he said, an appraising look in his eyes. The costume was completely accurate to the movie, something that he admired deeply.

"Yours too," she smiled happily. This guy obviously had good taste in movies.

"Wanna dance?" he asked, and Chelli shrugged, and nodded.

"I wanna dance…" Whitney whined, feeling left out and looking around, since Sam had wandered off somewhere. Her eye was drawn to a tall, muscular man dressed as Zorro.

"Ooh, a Zorro! Hey, do you wanna dance?" she asked as she approached him.

"How do you say, ah, yes…" he replied, doing a very good impression of Chris Kattan imitating Antonio Banderas.

"You just did. I like your pants, they're very nicely fitted," Whitney commented, not caring how entirely wrong that sounded.

Across the floor, a strange occurrence was happening. It seems one of our couples was having a conversation completely in song lyrics, which the orchestra happened to pick up on. As such, the following requires very little speaking.

"Sing once again with me,

our strange duet,

my power over you,

grows stronger yet,

and though you turn from me to glance behind,

the Phantom of the Opera is there inside your mind," the Phantom sang to her in return, his singing voice more beautiful than his speaking voice, if that were possible. He actually sounded just like Gerard Butler, who played the Phantom in the movie.

Hollie giggled, then continued their dialogue in song.

"Say you love me

every

waking moment,

turn my head

with talk of summertime . . .

Say you need me

with you,

now and always . . .

promise me that all

you say is true -

that's all I ask

of you . . ."

A grin came across the Phantom's face under his mask, unseen by Hollie, and he began rising to the challenge her words were proposing, pulling from the darkest reaches of his mind every single song he thought could be useful.

"Night-time sharpens,
heightens each sensation . . .
Darkness stirs and
wakes imagination . . .
Silently the senses
abandon their defences . . .
Slowly, gently
night unfurls its splendour . . .
Grasp it, sense it -
tremulous and tender . . .
Turn your face away
from the garish light of day,
turn your thoughts away
from cold, unfeeling light -
and listen to
the music of the night . . .
Close your eyes
and surrender to your
darkest dreams!
Purge your thoughts
of the life
you knew before!
Close your eyes,
let your spirit
start to soar!
And you'll live
as you've never
lived before . . ."

Hollie could not believe her luck…this man knew Music of the Night word for word, a feat not many men could attest to. 'Let's see just how good he really is', she thought, and broke into "Somebody to Love", by Queen.

"Got no feel, I got no rhythm
I just keep losing my beat
I'm OK, I'm alright (she's alright - she's alright)
I ain't gonna face no defeat
I just gotta get out of this prison cell
One day (someday) I'm gonna be free, Lord!

Oh Lord
Ooh somebody - ooh somebody
Can anybody find me somebody to love ?
Can anybody find me someone to love"

'Ooh. A test. How interesting. I know just the thing,' he thought, before continuing.

"I can dim the lights and sing you songs full of sad things
We can do the tango just for two
I can serenade and gently play on your heart strings
Be your valentino just for you

Ooh love - ooh loverboy
What're you doin' tonight, hey boy
Set my alarm, turn on my charm
That's because I'm a good old-fashioned lover boy"

"Hey boy! Where'd ya get it from? Hey boy! Where did you go?" Hollie countered,

"I learned my passion in the good old-fashioned School of Lover Boys!" he answered, with a smile on his face, as Hollie giggled and began an attack of her own.

"She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laserbeam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime
Ooh, recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try ?"

Underneath the mask, his eyebrows arched, thinking 'Curious choice of songs. Interesting…' before switching back to music from Phantom of the Opera.

"Let your mind start a journey to a strange new world!

Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before!

Let your soul take you where you long to be!

Only then can you belong to me... Floating, falling,
sweet intoxication!
Touch me, trust me
savour each sensation!
Let the dream begin,
let your darker side give in
to the power of the music that I write -
the power of the music of the night . . .

You alone can make my song take flight -
help me make the music of the night . ."

The only song it seemed appropriate to carry on with now for Hollie was "Point of No Return".

"I have come here,
hardly knowing
the reason why . . .
In my mind,
I've already
imagined our
bodies entwining
defenceless and silent -
and now I am
here with you:
no second thoughts,
I've decided,
decided . . ."

And unexpectedly, the Phantom broke into "All I Ask of You", having figured out exactly who he was dancing with, and being very happy with the thought of it.

"Then say you'll share with

me one

love, one lifetime . . .

Iet me lead you

from your solitude . . .

Say you need me

with you

here, beside you . . .

anywhere you go,

let me go too -

Hollie,

that's all I ask

of you . . ."

"Say you'll share with

me one

love, one lifetime . . .

say the word

and I will follow you . . ." she continued, not fully aware of the fact that he had said her name. Her mind was still unable to process many things. She also didn't really care that she still didn't know who the Phantom was. She also did not want to break the song, despite the discrepancy in male characters. Besides, she was enjoying herself.

"Share each day with

me, each

night, each morning . . ." (BOTH)

"Say you love me . . ." (Hollie)

"You know I do . . ." (Phantom)

"Love me -

that's all I ask

of you . . ."

(They kiss)

"Anywhere you go

let me go too . . .

Love me -

that's all I ask

of you . . ." (BOTH)

"What is going on with this music?" Zorro asked, confused by the rapid changes of song, and style.

"Well, it's Phantom and Queen, so my guess would be that it has something to do with that Green fairy over there." Whitney giggled, a smirk on her face.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, unsure of why the staff would let students choose the music, or if that was even what she was getting at.

"Well, I used to live with her and I know her taste, and she tends to sing. I mean, look at her, she's singing along…I'm sure those two are singing and the orchestra is just picking up on it." Zorro nodded, now understanding. He was now fairly sure that the girl he was dancing with was one of the Americans, which was fine with him…they were all hot. But he was hoping…

"I'd rather be looking at you. You are truly enchanting," he replied, lifting the girls chin and turning her head back to him gently.

"You dance beautifully, Princess," Van Helsing told Chelli, as he gently spun her to the sound of "All I Ask of You".

"Thanks," she replied, blushing, "You're not that bad yourself." She began to find herself anxious to discover who she was dancing with, as Van Helsing was one of her favorite characters, and any man who dressed up as Van Helsing, was okay in her book.

'Just a shame he's not the one who got my cell phone to work…bad Chelli! No, don't think such things!' letting herself get caught up in "Music of the Night". She suddenly jerked back to attention when she recognized the next song as Queen.

"What is Holls up to now?" she mumbled, and it was just loud enough for Van Helsing to hear.

'Holls? She's an American…now for the question…is she MY American?' he wondered, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "You tell me."

"Well, apparently she's having fun with the orchestra…AGAIN! Sometimes I swear that girl's insane…"she replied, embarrassed that he had heard her, and that she might have given away her identity.

"Having fun, Anna?" came a creepy whisper-voice from a girl dressed as Aleera, the crazy vampiress, and Dracula's bride, also from Van Helsing. The girl continued dancing in a circle around the couple, just long enough to annoy Chelli.

"Don't make me pull out the stake, blondie." The last word was whispered, as she once again tried and failed to make sure that Van Helsing didn't hear her.

'Hmm. It IS my American,' he thought, and he hurriedly spun her into his arms, as the reprise of "Music of the Night" started. He started humming along under his breath, and they continued dancing, both amazed that neither had stepped on the other's toes yet. It seemed like everyone was dancing well tonight, no matter their usual.

After a couple more songs played, a strange compulsion took over the entire room. All of a sudden, everyone, whether they had seen the movie or not, knew the words and dance moves to Masquerade, and began singing and dancing in perfectly choreographed motions.

The Phantom felt a twinge of pain, and stumbled slightly. "I have to go," he murmured, brushing his hand against her neck, and limped away into the crowd. Finally snapping out of her trance, Hollie looked around, searching for him in the crowd, and ran for the doors, desperate to find the man who, in one night, had stolen her heart.

It was almost midnight, and time for the reveal was coming closer. Chelli was still dancing with Van Helsing, and Zorro had stolen Whitney away to the balconies that had been magically added, which looked out over a beautiful garden view and smelled like jasmine and roses.

A stately woman dressed as the White Witch from Narnia stepped up to the platform, and removed her mask, revealing herself to be Professor McGonagall. "If you would all please remove your masks," she said, brightening the lights so it wasn't so dim in the room.

Hollie threw off her mask as she ran through the door, and knelt to pick up the Phantom mask that lay on the ground right in front of it. She sank to her knees, tears leaving her eyes unbidden.

Meanwhile, Zorro had hesitated, and told Whitney to go first. When she removed her mask, he sighed happily and removed his own. She had spent the entire night dancing with Oliver Wood!

"I had a wonderful night, Whitney. I can't see myself being as happy as tonight with anyone but you. Go out with me?" he asked, unsure of what response she would give.

Across the room, Van Helsing was the first to remove his mask. Chelli blinked, not believing her eyes.

"FRED!" she squealed, and her eyes widened to an even more impossible size as she continued blushing, ran quickly out of the room.

Similar things were happening all over the room. Jenny, who had finally stopped dancing by herself and picked a person, had ended up dancing with Lee Jordan.

Ginny and Harry had ended up dancing together, and despite his insistence on not dating her for fear of putting her in danger, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Shaylin and George, who had both gone as ancient Greeks, had ended up together, as had Lori and Neville, who went as characters from the 10th Kingdom. Hermione ended up with Ron, and Ashley with Joe. Sam had found herself dancing with Blaise Zabini, and Stacy and Seamus had spent most of the evening together.

And so the night ended, with some good results, some bad. But whether good or bad, at least everyone but Hollie knew who they had been dancing with. She was determined to find out, and wouldn't give up until she did. She fell asleep that night with the phantom mask lying beside her bed on her desk.