CHAPTER 31: A SECOND MUSING

The wooden doors slammed open and in walked the two elusive musicians. All eyes followed them as the pair headed for the stage. The staff moved to the chairs set up for them in the back of the Hall, making room for the amazing performers.

Flint attempted revenge on the gorgeous pranksters, but failed miserably.

"Good try, Mr. Flint." the girls chorused as the pumpkin juice was repelled from their outfits magically. "But, clearly, not good enough." the Muses smirked at each other before climbing the stairs to the platform.

"Well, we're back, and we have something new for you. So, just listen. If you like it, that's great. If you don't, that's cool too." the blonde assured.

"First up is 'Imperfection'. Listen closely, you just might learn something." the brunette stared straight into Oliver's eyes, hoping to send a message.

Little did she know that her message was unnecessary. His beautiful Cinderella had given him a sorrowful glance as she had passed him. The Muses had captured his attention the moment they had walked through the door.

The blonde sat on a stool and lifted a stunning acoustic guitar. Her fellow masked musician joined her. With a slight nod of her head, the blonde's boot-clad foot tapped on the bar.

'MY HAIR'S A WRECK MASCARA RUNS

MY FEET GET DIRTY AND MY SKIN BURNS IN THE SUN

MY LIPS THEY BLEED BUT I STILL SING MY SONGS

TAKES ME A MINUTE TO ADMIT IT WHEN I'M WRONG

PRETTY IS AS PRETTY DOES BUT PRETTY'S NOT MY THING'

The Muses sang with so much heart and soul that they were lost in their music. With a daring strike of chords, the chorus began, and Oliver was struck with a blast of tear-glistening sapphire.

'THIS IS WHAT YOU GET

THIS IS WHO I AM

TAKE ME NOW OR LEAVE ME

ANYWAY YOU CAN

SOMETIMES I TRIP AND FALL

BUT I KNOW WHERE I STAND

IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT CHANGING MY DIRECTION

DON'T MESS WITH IMPERFECTION'

The voices echoing throughout the Hall were so filled with emotion, it was hard to believe these girls were the real Muses as the second verse began.

'MY BACK IS WEAK BUT MY WILL IS TRUE

GOT GOOD INTENTIONS BUT I NEVER FOLLOW THROUGH

I SAY TOO MUCH AND DON'T KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE

IN CASE YOU'RE LOOKING THAT'S MY HEART THERE ON MY SLEEVE

EGO TRIPS AND STUPID SLIP UPS

I'M A MESS BUT'

The girls jumped straight into the chorus again and Oliver suddenly heard a familiar voice. "Those girls are going to go far with that talent." the Weasley twins were sitting behind him.

'OF COURSE,' the Keeper thought bitterly, 'SHE ISN'T LOOKING AT ME, SHE WOULD NEVER LOOK AT ME WHEN SHE CAN LOOK AT GEORGE BLOODY WEASLEY.'

'SCRATCHED AND BRUISED A LITTLE USED

BUT BABY I WORK FINE

YOU MAY CALL ME DAMAGED GOODS BUT I'M ONE OF A KIND'

Both girls stood suddenly and used their foot to kick their stools forcefully behind them. An awesome guitar section blasted throughout the Great Hall and everyone cheered. It lasted a good portion of a minute, and then it was calmed to allow singing. The brunette sang one line, followed by a line from the blonde.

'MY HAIR'S A WRECK

NO I'M NOT PERFECT BUT I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE'

For a good five seconds, the entire school was silent. It was as if a spell had been placed, and Oliver was the only one not hypnotized. Then, the chorus was blasted form the two musicians' lungs, powerfully emotional.

As the song came to a close, the blonde once again captured Oliver's gaze and held onto it as if she would be lost without it.

'IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT CHANGING MY DIRECTION'

The final chord was strummed on the guitars, and the girls held the final note for a moment.

'DON'T MESS WITH IMPERFECTION'

After a moment of silence, wondrous applause was resounding off the high walls. When the cheers had calmed down a bit, the Muses began a second song, still on their acoustic guitars. The blonde was the first to begin to play, repeating a simple chord over and over again.

'NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA

NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA

NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA

YEAH YEAH YEAH'

It seemed as if it would be a slow song again, but then, the brunette called out, "One, two, one, two, three, four." The pace picked up to a quick tempo, and everyone clapped along.

Oliver's Cinderella never dropped her gaze from his own eyes. The Keeper continued to convince himself that she was just staring at George behind him, not willing to build his hopes up only to get shot down once again.

'I'M WHOLE WITH YOU

YOU'RE WHOLE WITH ME

THERE'S SOMETHING HERE FOR US TO BE

IN THIS LONELY WORLD

WITH OUR LONELY LIVES

NOTHING CAN CONQUER

OUR WHOLE LOVE TONIGHT'

There seemed to be a pattern to the song lyrics the masked musicians had chosen, but no one really put much thought into what the reason for that could be.

'I FELT THE PAIN AND LET IT WALLOW

I FELT THE HATE SO STRONG YET HOLLOW

I FELT THE NUMB AND IT WAS EMPTY

I FELT THE LOSS AND FELT IT PLENTY'

The song was so easy to relate to for most people. It was one of those songs that seemed as if they could have been written by the average person on the street. After a repeat of the chorus, the girls plunged into the second verse.

'YOU SAW THE TRUTH AND HEARD IT CALL

YOU SAW THE LOVE AND SHUNNED IT ALL

YOU SAW MY PAIN BUT DIDN'T HEAL IT

YOU SAW FEAR BUT DIDN'T FEEL IT'

As the Muses recited the chorus yet again, their emotion behind the words was clear as the glass on the trophy cases after detention with Filch just ended.

Suddenly, the brunette stepped forward and began a guitar solo. Then, after a good stretch of skilled strumming, the blonde joined her for more singing. The mysterious musicians sang the beginning once again, only at the faster pace.

'NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA

NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA

NA-NA NA-NA NA-NA NA

YEAH YEAH YEAH'

As the brunette continued to sing the fast paced syllables, the blonde broke off and returned to the chorus, but this time with a small adjustment to the lyrics.

'I'M WHOLE WITH YOU

YOU'RE WHOLE WITH ME

THERE'S SOMETHING HERE FOR US TO BE

IN THIS LONELY WORLD

WITH OUR LONELY HEARTS

NOT ONE THING CAN TEAR

OUR WHOLE LOVE APART'

The two Muses continued to sing their separate parts until the blonde had repeated both versions of the chorus once. The talented girls then returned to the simple chord from the start of the song. The slow tempo was replayed as the guitarists closed the song.

The Hall shook with amazed cheer. Just a second after the applause had died down a bit, the Muses moved off to the part of the stage that was hidden by black velvet curtains.

As complaints were shouted throughout the room, the girls smiled knowingly as they placed their guitars against the wall.

The blonde walked back into view and over to her grand piano that had not been noticed by the audience before, hidden in the shadows near the left side of the stage. The brunette picked up her beautiful violin as her companion began to play a lovely melody. Taking a deep breath, the pianist started to sing the third of the night.

'WORDS FALL OUT OF MY MOUTH

AND I CAN'T SEEM TO TRACE WHAT I'M SAYING

EVERYBODY WANTS YOUR TIME

I'M JUST DREAMING OUT LOUD

I CAN'T HAVE YOU FOR MINE AND I KNOW IT

I JUST WANNA WATCH YOU SHINE

TRIPPING UP ON MY TONGUE

IT'S ALL OVER MY FACE AND I'M RACING

GOT TO GET AWAY FROM YOU

RUNNING ALL THE WAY HOME

TRYING TO PUT IT TO BED BUT IT CHASES

EVERY LITTLE THING I DO

WHEN THE LIGHT FALLS ON YOUR FACE DON'T LET IT CHANGE YOU

WHEN THE STARS GET IN YOUR EYES DON'T LET IT BLIND YOU'

The violinist was unable to sing as she held her instrument in position, but her contribution was just as graceful and airy. The gorgeous blonde musician now began the chorus.

'YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

AND I LOVE IT ALL

EVERY LINE AND EVERY SCAR

AND I WISH THAT I COULD MAKE YOU SEE

THIS IS WHERE YOU OUGHT TO BE

COME DOWN TO ME'

The blonde's sapphire orbs still hadn't left Oliver's chocolate brown eyes. The Gryffindor Quidditch captain could not help but doubt his first beliefs about his Cinderella's feelings for George in the back of his mind. But then his 'sense returned and he threw those fool-hearted thoughts in the rubbish bin where he believed them to belong.

'SPELL IT OUT IN A SONG

BET YOU NEVER CATCH ON TO MY WEAKNESS

I'M SINGING EVERY WORD FOR YOU

HERE I'M THINKING I'M SLY

THEN YOU'RE CATCHING MY EYE AND JUST MAYBE

YOU'RE THINKING WHAT I'M THINKING TOO

WHEN YOU SEE IT ON MY FACE DON'T LET IT SHAKE YOU

I KNOW BETTER THAN TO TRY AND TAKE YOU WITH ME'

The chorus was repeated once again, and unfortunately closed the song. With a simple melody, the music was cut off.

Taking their cue, the audience praised the elusive beauties yet again. After taking a bow, the Muses left Great Hall, ending the concert.

Dumbledore called for the schools attention one final time. "The Muses have come to me with an idea. The mysterious musicians have offered to host a 'Battle of the Bands'." at this announcement, excited conversations broke out amongst the students.

Once able to be heard, the headmaster continued. "The details will be posted on fliers, available at tomorrow's breakfast. A sign up sheet will also be set up in the Entrance Hall in the morning. To those who wish to participate, good luck." and with that, the students were free to go for the night.