A/N: Hello all, another short chapter for you all. And probably the last one that really focuses mainly on The Plan. After this, I want to get back to focusing on the characters.
Needless to say (but you KNOW I'm gonna say it anyway), I was really pleased at the reaction to "Moonage Daydream". Thank you to all who reviewed!!!!
Disclaimers: I still don't own Harry Potter et al. Or "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and Spiders From Mars" (don't listen to that album until the fic is finished unless you want spoilers). If I did, you'd have to fork out 20+ bucks to read this.
HP 1-7 Spoilers- They might be there.
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The Rise and Fall of Harry Potter and the Wizards From Mars
Chapter Four: Starman
"Don't you guys have anywhere else to hand out?"
Dudley was more than a little annoyed when he heard someone knocking on the door to Jackie's flat and open it to find Piers and the rest of the gang standing outside.
"It's Potter, Big D! He's going be on TV!"
Jackie, who had come out, said, "Let them in."
The boys snickered when they saw that she was wearing a hastily put on a bath robe, until Dudley shot them a look. They crowded around the TV and got it to right channel just in time to see Harry, Ron, Neville and Seamus walk onto to set of a popular talk show.
"It's very exciting," the host said to the audience. "We have some very special guests here today. Harry Potter and the Wizards From Mars. Now, Harry, we're all dying to ask this, but are you really from Mars? I mean you look...human."
"When we're with the humans, we look like the humans. No, we're all from different planets. Mars is just where we met."
"Is there life on a lot of other worlds, then?"
"Oh yes. Millions of different species. Didn't you know?"
"No, we had no idea. You see, on Earth, all we know about aliens comes from conspiracy theories and movies about galactic wars."
"Well, there was a war. That's how I lost me arm."
"I'm sorry. But it hasn't seemed to change your life much. Everyone saw how you played guitar with your left hand.
"Yeah, in fact it's better than my old arm. No, the war was definitely worth it. That's how we all met."
While the host listened to the Wizards From Mars' war stories, the group at Jackie's flat were giving each other nervous looks.
"What's he playing at Dudley," Jackie asked.
"I don't know. But don't start worrying yet, he's been planning this for nearly two years. He must have something else up his sleeve."
"So," the host said, turning back to Harry, "you all met on Mars. How did you end up there?"
"Well, after the war, I had nothing better to do, and heard about a program on Mars that trains people to be ambassadors on other planets, so I used up all my savings to get there."
"And what kind of things did you learn there?"
"Oh, the usual. The history and culture of different planets, how to blend him, what languages to speak, that sort of thing."
"But how does this...school, I guess, know anything about us?"
"They send people here to study you all the time. Some have even given you messages. I think the most famous messenger came here about 2,000 years ago. But he wasn't the only one, your little planet used to be crawling with messengers."
Though he said with a look of complete innocence, Harry was inwardly smiling at the audience gasps. Just wait, he thought, you ain't seen nothing yet!
"W-we're you sent, too?"
"Oh, of course! I mean we begged for the job, but we can't go anywhere without the Starman's permission."
Ron, Neville and Seamus we're giving Harry well-rehearsed looks that said "shut up!" But no one was paying them any attention. All eyes were on Harry.
"S-starman?"
'Oh, he's the head of our little group. You see, while we sometimes work as ambassadors to planets that are part of the galactic government, our main goal is to help planets that are just starting out. And between you and me, I think Earth is favorite. He's been watching over it since the beginning."
"And why, after all these years, has he decided to tell us the truth?"
"He hasn't. I'm not supposed to be telling you this. But I think you have a right to know. He's up there, you know right know, watching. He'd like to come down and share all his knowledge with you, but he says you're not ready. So he ends us down here to pass on his message. He's told us not to blow it, 'cause he knows it's all worthwhile! And when we're done, we're supposed to leave, and you'll never know who saved you. No one knows and no one thanks him. I think that's wrong! There's one thing I want to ask of your planet. Well, two things really, I want meet Chuck Berry 'cause we found that probe that you sent out and I love his music. But more importantly, I want to ask Earth to turn of its lights. Tonight. Go to the power companies and shut them. Then, take your flashlights and your candles and raise them to the sky. So that when the Starman looks down tonight, he'll know. He'll know that you got his message. Then, maybe, he'll come and land."
There was silence after Harry finished his semi-incoherent rant. There was nothing to be said. Finally, the host thanked his guests and closed the show. Put no one was watching anymore. Though it was broad daylight, everyone who had seen the show was outside looking toward the heavens, as if they expected the Starman drop from the sky.
It didn't take long for the story to spread outside of Britain. News programs all over the world were interrupting whatever was playing to play clips of the interview. Rushed text messages and e-mails were being sent out. It was long before the people of our planet were united in a common goal: contacting their savior.
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"WHAT WE'RE YOU THINKING, BOY!"
It wasn't the shouting that told Harry that his uncle was really mad at him. It was the fact that he called him "boy" for the first time in two years.
"Would just listen, Uncle Vernon?"
Vernon wanted to shout some more, but a glare from his wife restrained him.
"This. Had better. Be. Good."
"It is. Think about it. Two thousand years ago, everyone believed in God. So when Jesus started claiming that he was the son of God and preformed miracles to prove it, people believed it. He was able to change the world. Now, was he really the son of God or just a con-artist who knew what say, I don't know.
"With me so far? Good. Now, two thousand years later, the world is a very different place. More and more people don't believe in any god. But they do believe in aliens. So I pretend to be an alien, tell them that someone is watching over them. Same story, different characters."
"But it didn't work last time," countered Uncle Vernon, exasperated. "Why should it work this time?"
"Because this time, their lives, and not their souls, depend on it."
Vernon Dursley started to argue back, but he was rudely interrupted by all the lights in his house going out.
"What the bloody Hell is that," asked.
"That, Uncle Vernon, is every light in Britain going out."
They looked out the window and saw no lights in any of the surrounded houses.
"See, no electricity in the country."
That wasn't exactly true, places like hospitals still had electricity. But even in such places, employees were covering up the windows so that no light was shown.
The people of England gathered up their flashlights and candles and ran outside as fast they could. For a while, all they could do was stare at the sky. Then someone, no one knows who, turned on their flashlight and pointed it to the heavens. Simultaneously, the rest of Europe did too.
All over the world, when the sun when, the lights were turned out and the candles were lit. Of course, the apocryphal Starman never came. But that didn't stop some people from waiting up all night.
Standing out there with his family and his new friends, Harry felt as if he could never be happier. He was wrong, though. Even then, his spirits lifted when Tonks appeared by his side. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.
When he looked into her eyes, he realized how deeply he cared for her. Up until now, they had refrained from any displays of affection in front of the Dursley (Aunt Petunia wasn't entirely comfortable with her nephew dated someone so much older than him). But Harry couldn't and didn't want to stop himself. He pulled Tonks into a tender kiss.
"Nymphadora Tonks," he whispered into her ear, "will you marry me?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
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Another cliffy, though not a big one. Please read and review!!