The Great Hall was sprinkled with students shoving down breakfast before class. Micah and Avery sat together at the Ravenclaw table.

"Why does Potions have to be so early?" Avery whined before putting a spoonful of grapefruit in his mouth. "The dungeon is so cold in the morning."

Micah put down his copy of the Daily Prophet. "It's always cold in the dungeons. At least we get it over with early." His black corkscrew hair framed his face limply. "And we get to Snape before the Gryffindors, which means he'll be in a good mood…well, good for Snape." He took a sip of coffee and went back to reading the paper.

"Morning," Luna said in greeting as she skipped over to the table. "Is Alek not eating with us this morning?" Luna asked as she sat between Micah and Avery.

Micah shook his head. "His brother, Arnost, called for a Skylark meeting," he said with a shrug. "I think that involves them jogging around the lake while Arnost drills them on their harmonies."

"Quinn!" Jessica walked swiftly over to Micah. "We need to talk," she said breathlessly. She looked as flustered as she had been the past few weeks, but her hair was combed, which was a nice change.

"Miss Smith, you're looking better," Micah said before taking another swig of his coffee. "I'll find you after breakfast. We can talk lat –"

"Now," Jessica grabbed Micah by the back of his cloak and dragged him away from the table. Micah didn't struggle, but Jessica kept her grip on him as she pulled him out of the Great Hall and into the entrance hall.

"You really have to stop letting the Skylarks and the Sirens get to you." Micah pulled the hood of his cloak from out of Jessica's grip. "It's very unbecoming of you," he said as he smoothed out his robes.

Jessica sighed. "This whole tournament has been so stressful. I love a challenge, but I never thought it be so hard to get the choir motivated." Jessica pulled a compact mirror from her school bag and examined herself. "You're right though. I look like death."

Micah nodded. "Well admittance is the first step to rehabilitation." He smiled up at the lead soloist. "So, what was so urgent that you pulled me away from my coffee?"

Jessica's lips formed into a thin smile. "It's time to show those other choirs what home field advantage is all about."

Micah crept through the halls. He passed by a grandfather clock which read eleven-fifty; past curfew, but only a few minutes before the scheduled meet up time. "I thought the common room would never empty out," Micah muttered as he effortlessly skipped over a missing step in the moving staircase and made his way to the entrance hall. From the top of the marble staircase he could see three groups of students huddled in the entrance hall.

"You're almost late, Quinn," Jessica stood with her hands on her hips at the bottom of the steps. She wore a charcoal grey skirt and a white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her Ravenclaw tie was wrapped loosely around her neck. Behind their leader, the rest of the Frog Choir stood, wearing what Jessica liked to call "Hogwarts casual chic." The girls wore outfits identical to Jessica's, with the exception of their ties which all represented their house. The boys wore dressed the same, except for their charcoal grey pants.

"Sneaking out past curfew isn't as easy as you made it seem," Micah responded as he made his way down the steps. "If Filch catches us, we'll get an earful from Professor Flitwick. And we both know how bad he is at being a disciplinarian. It'll be painful for all parties involved."

Jessica rolled her eyes and grabbed Micah by his arm. "Enough snark, Quinn. It's show time." Jessica dragged Micah to a group of four who stood in the center of the entrance hall. Upon further inspection, one could see that there were three groups in attendance; the Frog Choir, the Skylarks, and the Sirens. Jessica dropped Micah's arm. "So, shall we get started?" Jessica asked as she stared down Arnost Balakov and Cecile Gravois

Arnost raised an eyebrow as he sized Jessica up. He wore a pair of brown slacks and thin red thermal shirt. "There is no time like the present," he said in a thick Bulgarian accent.

Behind Arnost, Alek flashed Micah a quick smile and shrugged. He wore the same outfit as his brother. From this close, Micah could see that Alek was actually taller than his older brother by about five inches. Arnost's muscle and stage presence probably had made him appear taller during their first performance.

"But zee door to zee Great Hall is locked," Cecile chimed in. She wore a powder blue pencil skirt and a long sleeved white blouse. Around her neck she wore a blue ribbon which was tied into a bow. "We cannot perform out in zee hall. Everyone in zee castle vill hear us."

A girl with curly dark brown hair stood behind Cecile. Her outfit was identical to Cecile's, but based off her posture she was not as confident as the tall soprano. Her skin, which was a tone darker than most of the Beauxbutons girls, was covered in freckles. Behind the circular lenses of her glasses was a pair of stunning green eyes. Micah couldn't help notice how beautiful her eyes were. When the girl felt Micah's gaze on her, she blushed and looked away.

Cecile noticed the nonverbal exchange. "This is my little second soloist, Garnet Tremblay," Cecile gestured to Garnet, who curtsied in response.

"What are we going to do about the door?" Arnost interrupted impatiently. He crossed his arms over his broad chest.

Jessica snapped her fingers. "Quinn, handle the door," Jessica commanded. Her tone was a telltale sign that she was back to normal.

"Right away, Miss Smith." Micah stepped forward and pulled his wand from his pocket. "Alohomora." Silver wisps of light flew from Micah's wand and landed on various spots of the wooden door which lead to the Great Hall. The sound of unlocking assured the group that the spell had been successful; the door opening with a low groan confirmed it.

"Impressive," Cecile said with a little clap of her hands. She sashayed past the group and through the double doors of the Great Hall with Felecia at her heels.

The rest of the singers moved quickly into the Great Hall. Once everyone was inside, Alek and Arnost pushed the large doors shut.

Jessica walked to the front of the Great Hall. "Quinn, quiet things up for us," she said over her shoulder. Arnost and Cecile followed Jessica, leaving Alek and Garnet with Micah.

Micah saluted before pulling out his wand and pointing it at the door. "Muffliato," he whispered. A grey film flowed from Micah's wand and settled over the door and surrounding walls. After a moment, the film disappeared and was replaced with a faint buzzing sound. "No one should be able to hear us now." Micah turned and walked toward the front of the Great Hall.

Alek fell in step behind Micah "Where'd you learn that charm?" Alek whispered. He leaned down so that only Micah could here him.

"It was written in an old Potions text book I found," Micah answered without looking up. "Are you ready for this?"

Alek shrugged. "We're just having a little competition. It should be fun." Alek straightened up when they reached the front of the Great Hall. The three choir leads were already standing on the raised platform that overlooked the room.

The three second soloists took their spots behind their leads. The other members of the gathers choirs stood around nervously. All eyes were Jessica, Arnost, and Cecile.

"Let's get started," Arnost said. He reached into the pocket and pulled out a bronze pocket watch. The Durmstrang crest was engraved on the cover of the watch.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Jessica pulled her pocket watch from out of her cleavage. The silver watch gleamed in the candle light.

Cecile pulled a gold pocket watch from a pocket in her skirt. The Beauxbatons crest was engraved on the cover, just as the Hogwarts crest adorned Jessica's and the Durmstrang crest adorned Arnost's.

The three lead soloists held up their watches and simultaneously pressed their crowns. Sparks flew from each watch and formed Roman numerals ranging from one to three. The number three floated over the Durmstrang watch, two floated over the Beauxbatons watch, and one floated over the Hogwarts watch.

"What do those numbers mean?" Everyone turned to the source of the question with various looks of surprise on their faces. The one who asked the question was Garnet Tremblay and she had just spoken for the first time since the group gathered in the entrance hall. Garnet blushed and looked down at her feet.

Micah jumped in to save Garnet from the unwanted attention. "Those numbers are our rankings in the Tri choral tournament," Micah explained. "Third place," he pointed to the three floating over the Durmstrang watch. "Second place," he gestured to the Beauxbaton watch. "And first place," he nodded to Jessica who represented the Hogwarts choir.

"I thought we agreed not to tell anyone about the rankings until now," Arnost said irritably. He looked over at Jessica, expecting her to confess that she had broken her promise.

Jessica did not falter under Arnost's gaze. "I didn't have to," Jessica said with a shrug. "Quinn is just a very clever individual."

Arnost grunted in response while Alek stifled his laughter.

"So zee Frog choir is in first place," Cecile said evenly. "Vee came here tonight to change that," she finished with a little smirk.

Jessica returned Cecile's smile. "You're more than welcome to try." She looked from Cecile to Arnost and back to Cecile. "We've decided to have a sing off," she said aloud. "Though, we haven't decided what song to sing."

"Pick a song," Arnost said with a shrug. "The Skylarks will have no problem keeping up." Several members of the Skylarks visibly cringed at the tone of Arnost's voice. Alex rolled his eyes at his brother's seriousness.

"That goes for the Sirens as well," Cecile said. The Sirens all nodded in approval of their leader's confidence.

Jessica shrugged and gave the other captains one last smirk before turning and walking over to the rest of the Frog choir with Micah close behind. "Let's show them why we're in first place," she whispered. Without saying another word, Jessica turned on her heels and began singing in her powerful soprano.

"Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history

Of breaking little hearts like the one in me"

Jessica strode forward until she was right in Arnost's face. Arnost was taken aback by her boldness, but he did not back down. On the last line, Jessica winked. She then turned and walked over to the other members of the Frog choir who were contributing harmony to Jessica's vocals.

Micah managed to surreptitiously position himself behind the stunned soloists and their second in commands. He poked Alex on the shoulder, causing the Skylark to turn and face him. Micah smiled before continuing the song in his soulful tenor.

"That's okay; let's see how you do it.

Put up your dukes, let's get down to it."

Micah put his fists up in a mock boxing stance. He then hopped onto the long table behind him and ran down it. Alek shook his head with a laugh before giving chase. Cecile tilted her head, prompting Garnet to chase after the two co-captains. Garnet nodded and ran after Alek and Micah.

Cecile snapped her fingers. The Sirens skipped forward and surrounded the Frog choir. The Beauxbatons choir took over the chorus of the song while performing their signature swaying dance moves.

"Hit me with your best shot!

We don't you hit me with your best shot?"

Arnost strode over to the Skylarks and shoved a few of them forward. Taking their cue, they too surrounded the Frog choir and added acoustic style accompaniment to the Sirens' singing.

Cecile sashayed over to Jessica and bumped her hip with her own, before continuing the song.

"Hit me with your best shot!"

Jessica felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Arnost standing behind her with his arms crossed and a smug smirk on his face. He winked before taking the next line of the song.

"Fire away!"

Cecile and Arnost exchanged a look. The two seemed to come to an understanding. Like clockwork, Cecile and Arnost began circling Jessica. The Hogwarts soloist kept her head high and belted out the next part of the song.

"You come on with your come on,

You don't fight fair."

Jessica pushed past her competitors. She jumped onto a table then turned and shrugged innocently.

"But that's okay; see if I care.

Knock me down; it's all in vain.

I'll get right back on my feet again."

The Frog choir tried picking up the chorus again, but was overpowered by the combined efforts of the Skylarks and the Sirens. The Sirens danced rhythmically around the Great Hall, while the Skylarks two-stepped and hummed to the beat.

Alek and Garnet finally caught up to Alek at the end of the long table. Garnet amazed the other co-captains by pushing past Alek and getting right in Micah's face. She opened her mouth and sang the next part of the song in a surprisingly powerful alto.

"Hit me with your best shot!"

Micah, not one to be overpowered, retorted with his own soulful tenor.

"Why don't you hit me with your best shot?"

Micah and Garnet glared at each other and belted out the next part of the song in unison.

"Hit me with your best shot!"

Alek sang out in his rich baritone, beating the other co-captains to the next part of the song.

"Fire away!"

Micah and Garnet glared at Alek for interrupting their battle, but the Skylark simply shrugged in response. Alek strode forward with his long legs and got in between Micah and Garnet. He put his arms around their shoulders and led them to the side of the table, where he forced them all to sit down. Alek then turned to Micah and pouted dramatically as he continued singing.

"Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history

Of breaking little hearts like the one in me."

Alek removed his arms from around his two rivals' shoulders and pushed away from the table. He turned and beckoned Micah forward by wagging two fingers at him. The Frog choir co-captain leapt up from the table and marched right up to Alek. The two stood inches apart while Alek sang.

"Before I put another notch in my lipstick case,

You better make sure to put me in my place."

Alek leaned down and kissed Micah on the cheek. The Ravenclaw shook his head and jokingly shoved the taller boy away. Micah turned and saw Jessica cornered by Arnost and Cecile, so he danced over and grabbed his captain by the hand. Micah gave Jessica a wink before pulling her away from the other choir captains and dancing over to the rest of the Frog choir. The other captains and co-captains followed suit and took their places in front of their respective choirs. All their voices came together in harmony for the finale.

"Hit me with your best shot!

Why don't you hit me with your best shot?

Hit me with your best shot!

Fire away!"

The song ended with various members of the three choirs nose to nose. Alek stood diagonally from Micah. To Alek's amusement, Garnet had planted herself in front of Micah. Jessica starred down Arnost and Cecile. After a few moments the tension broke and the three choirs stepped away from each other.

Cecile stepped forward. She was slightly out of breath. "So, shall vee check our rankings now?" Cecile looked from Jessica to Arnost.

Jessica and Arnost nodded. The three captains stepped forward and pulled out their pocket watches. Micah, Alek, and Garnet exchanged glances as their captains raised their watches in unison. Sparks flew from the watches and formed Roman numerals. The number one floated over the Durmstrang watch and the number two floated above the Beauxbaton watch.

The Skylarks cheered loudly and slapped each other on the back. Alek gave Micah a sad smile before joining in his choir's celebration. The Sirens clapped for the Skylarks, while simultaneously celebrating their spot in second place.

Micah stepped forward. His curly black hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat. "We tried our best, Miss Smith," he said before putting his hand on Jessica's shoulder.

Jessica ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Quinn, in a matter of minutes we went from first place to last place. Our best wasn't good enough."