Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, any of the Harry Potter characters, the songs "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin or "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban.
A/N: I hope you guys like this chapter. I tried to include more narrative. I still move putting songs in the story but I will try to make the posts longer so that there can still be a sufficent amont of plot. Please review for comments, songs you'd like to see, or anything, I love to hear the feedback.
Chapter Eight: End of the Year Preformances
"Hey Harry, pass the popcorn." Seamus called to the raven haired boy. The roommates decided to watch a movie that night because it was getting close to finals and they wanted to relax before all the chaos began.
"Sure" Harry said while passing the bowl of popcorn to his roommate.
They were all seated around on the couches while watching one of their favorite movies: Raise Your Voice. Even though they knew that they were guys and guys probably should not be watching movies starring Hilary Duff, they all fell in love with the movie because it centered on music.
Ron, who was the tallest of the group, took up a complete couch, much to the complaining of the other roommates. Harry was sitting with his head propped up against his couch. Harry and Ron were the closest of all the roommates: they were like brothers. Collin and Denis brought their beanbags from their room and situated them in the living room to lie down on. Neville and Dean took up the second couch which left Seamus to sit on the floor, much like Harry, leaning his up against their couch.
Once everyone was situated, they sat down to watch their favorite movie, occasionally making comments like "Harry was do that" or "Isn't that what you did the second day, Seamus?"
Before the movie ended, Harry had fallen asleep and Ron carried him back to his room and tucked him in.
They were extremely grateful that they decided to relax that night because the next couple of weeks were terrible. Ron was working extremely hard on his guitar piece which was going to be accompanied by Harry. They worked on the piece all during the year and were perfecting it with the help of Mrs. McGonagall, who was the guitar teacher and Harry's adopted parent.
Seamus and Dean were out practicing again. The school had separate practicing rooms that were soundproof and the students were allowed to use them as long as they signed in. Harry had done this plenty of times because he had to perform twice in the finals, one for each of his majors.
Harry was out walking the halls to get to the practice room. He had to do some major practicing for his piano piece because he had been focusing on the guitar duet with Ron. He found, yet again, facing the bully that had been terrorizing him all year. The teen, Tomas Riddle, was a fifth year piano player that was considered to be the best in the school until Harry came along. Because of his talent, Tomas Riddle always made a point to terrorize young Harry.
"If it isn't the little prodigy himself" Riddle sneered at Harry while gripping him around the throat.
Harry shook his head back and forth whether it was in denial, he remained extremely modest, or fear. It was probably more of the later because his eyes shown with terror and agony. The grip on the hand went tighter and it was chocking him.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Ron yelled as he ran down the hall. He had been searching for Harry only to see him being manhandled by the fifth year.
Ron's yells alerted the teachers that something was wrong but before any of them could come to investigate, Riddle had disappeared down the hallway, leaving a trembling Harry to be comforted by Ron.
Ron, realizing that they needed to move to a more relaxing environment, scoped Harry up in his arms and walked pack to their rooms. He softly placed Harry on the couch in their make-shift common area and kneeled before him, looking him in the eyes when they were downcast.
"What happened back there?" Ron asked softly.
Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts, not bothering to wipe the tears that were trailing down his cheeks, and answered, "Riddle…he's angry that… I'm good at piano" Harry took a break to sob and continued, "There are some people that think I'm better at piano than him and he… didn't like that."
"How long has this been going on?" Ron asked.
"Since the beginning of the year" Harry responded while breaking eye contact with Ron, knowing that he would be disappointed in him for not telling him.
Ron quickly embraced the young boy, ignoring the stiffening that occurred because of the contact. Harry had told him what his home life prior to coming to Hogwarts during second quarter when Ron was awoken by one of Harry's nightmares. Ron was working to fix his fears by letting Harry know that he would always be there for him and he would never, ever hurt him or let him be hurt.
Ron gently carted his fingers through the black hair and let Harry cry on his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Ron asked after a while and all the tears were cried.
Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and then looked at Ron through tear stained eyes.
They remained that way for a while until Harry led himself to his bedroom, but not before thanking Ron. This crying session that he had made him extremely tired and he just wanted to curl up under his comforter and go to sleep.
Ron, who remained in the common area, sat down on the couch that Harry was previously occupying and made a promise to himself to not let Tom Riddle harm Harry anymore.
Not too much happened in the weeks leading up the final concert, which was their final exam grade. There had been a lot of practicing but not much else for this was their first performance and they were a little anxious.
"Are all your instruments tuned?" Mrs. McGonagall asked the group of students waiting behind stage. This was the music finals and all the students had to perform their instruments. The arts and dance students as well as the rest of the community always came to watch his brilliant display of music that occurred every year.
They all nodded their heads yes when she asked. "Here is the order that everyone will be performing. We try to arrange the grade so not every first year will perform back-to-back. The same goes for the second, third, fourth and so on." She said.
She pinned the paper up on the board so that everyone could read it and get ready accordingly.
When Harry made his way up to the paper he discovered that his duet with Ron was the tenth performance and his solo on the piano was thirtieth.
He made his way over to Ron who had collected their pianos. They practiced a little before realizing that they were being called up.
They took a deep breath and Ron smiled encouraging at Harry before they entered the stage and sat down on the provided stools. They looked at each other before starting at the same time. They slowly began and after a couple of seconds, Harry began singing.
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying the stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying the stairway to heaven.
Harry continued singing the song he wrote to accompany the guitar playing.
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ron picked up his guitar stokes and stood up with the intensity of the playing.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who stand looking.
Ron got another solo with the guitar as Harry hummed along with the music.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
There is a long solo for Ron to play the guitar as Harry smiles at him encouragingly from the stool he is sitting on. Harry smiles in the moment and continues to sing alone to the music.
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know,
The piper's calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
There is a quiet spot before Ron starts up again strumming in a steady beat that gently increases into a solo that left some of the crowd on their feet. He stands up and had to lead back from the guitar to continue strumming, feeling the music playing along his fingertips.
Harry starts back singing again but this time in a higher tone.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
Ron stops playing as Harry sings the last line of the song in complete silence.
And she's buying the stairway to heaven.
Ron and Harry are both standing up by now and are grinning hugely as the audience claps and cheers and they see Neville waving at them in the front row of the auditorium. They smile at him and make their way backstage.
When they arrive backstage, they were congratulated by their classmates and hugged by an energetic Seamus who had preformed second on the list. Ron joined the others who had finished in going to the side of the stage where they were watching the performers while Harry joined those who were not finished yet. He waited and let over the keys in his head while he closed his eyes and ignored the world around him, especially Tom Riddle who was going to perform right before him.
Sooner than he thought possible, he was called onto stage where the piano was positioned directly in the middle of the stage. He sat down and turned on the microphone as he gingerly placed his hands on the starting keys. He began playing the keys. He tapped on the same key before going to the more complex arrangements.
He put his mouth close to the microphone and began singing, his angelic voice projecting across the large auditorium.
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdens be
Then I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit awhile with me
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
He took a chance to have a solo on the piano where he glided across the keys, playing a majestic piece.
He then returned to singing, this time with a stronger voice.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
He then sat up to sing alone. He took the microphone and belted the lines, sometimes having to lean his head back as he reached the higher notes.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
He returned the microphone to its position on the piano and sang in a soft voice while playing softly on the piano.
You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be
You raise me up to more than I can be
He hit his last note and was washing over in waves of applause from the crowd. He got a standing ovation, the first of the night.
Harry cutely blushed and ducked his head before scurrying off the stage as the applause continued.