A/N: This chapter includes a song that's genuinely relevant to the plot. (I promise this won't be a habit.) If you'd like musical accompaniment for the song, I styled the lyrics after an instrumental track called "The Dream Waltz" by Mike Strickland.


On an early Friday morning, Melissa wandered into the kitchen, following after the scent of waffles and syrup.

"Morning, Melly-bean." Her dad greeted her from the stove.

"Morning, dad. Mum's not up yet?"

"I let her sleep in." He commented nonchalantly. "Though we ought to wake her up soon. Food's almost ready."

"Mmm, can't wa-i-t." Melissa yawned in response as she settled into her chair.

Her father chuckled at his tired teen, and left the stove a moment to ruffle her hair. "I've been thinking, since your friends are coming into the studio today, you should come with me to the studio. I could use the extra set of hands."

"You sure?" She asked, blinking up to him with tired eyes. "Wouldn't I be a distraction or mess something up?"

"I think you're old enough to know when to hold back." He smiled. "Besides, I'll be short-handed since we agreed to make it a private recording. That, and we might need a bit of translating between magical and regular music concepts."

Melissa nodded, oddly warmed by the compliment. "Sure, I can help out."

"Perfect. Make sure to wash up after breakfast and we'll head up soon after."

True to form, the two of them left the house after breakfast and went out to the studio. Once there, he directed her through the equipment as they prepared for the recording session. A few minutes before the scheduled time, a collection of adult wizards came in through the door.

"Morning, Donaghan! It's good to see you!" She greeted as the first wizard walked through the door.

The man grinned as he clasped her into a quick hug. "Good to see you, too, Melissa. Looks like you've been making waves since I last saw you."

The girl fought back to roll her eyes. "Don't remind me. Oh, I'd like to introduce you to my dad. Dad, this is Donaghan Tremlett. Donaghan, this is my dad."

Her father nodded and shook the teen's hand. "Jake Bennett. How do you do?"

"Well, thanks. Thanks for lending us your studio. We really appreciate it."

"Happy to oblige."

With a nod, Donaghan stepped to the side, where two older wizards were standing. One was tall, lean, and pale, with black hair trailing at the jawline that seemed to emphasize his pale complexion. The other was of a height to the first, but had a healthier look about him, along with a length of brown hair and a face Melissa could almost call pretty. "Allow me to introduce the leads of the team. Our guitarist, Kirley Duke." He pointed towards the pale wizard. "-and this here is our lead singer, Myron Wagtail." He pointed to the pretty man.

"Nice to meet you." She greeted and she and her father took turns shaking their hands.

"Likewise." Myron Wagtail replied. He looked about the room, appraising the equipment. "Never thought I'd get to see a muggle recording studio."

"Well you're in luck." Her father grinned. "Once the others get here I'll give you a quick tour."

Over the next few minutes the others joined in. The first was Orsino Thurston, a fifth-year ravenclaw and resident drummer that Melissa only knew in passing. Partly because they had little in common, and partly because the boy almost never seemed to speak. Barbary and Wintringham arrived almost immediately after. There had been some teasing between the three of them due to the summer's news, but it went on amiably enough. Merton arrived a couple minutes later. At his heels followed a bushy haired, fifth-year bagpiper named Gideon Crumb, who seemed to have black paint smeared over his left eye.

"You know we're just doing a private recording, right?" Barbary asked as they looked over the last arrival.

Crumb brushed off the fact with a gruff. "If I'm gonna rock, I'm making the studio my stage."

Barbary looked to the others for help, but most of the others merely shrugged. Donaghan, meanwhile, grinned at the justification. "I like your style, Gid. Don't suppose you got some of that stuff on you?"

"Yeah, right here." Crumb fished out a small, circular container and tossed it over to Donaghan.

"Thanks, mate. I'll be right back." A quick trip to the loo later, and Donaghan was back with the group scoring a set of black-painted eyes. "How do I look?"

"Like you're ready to rock." Kirley answered with a smile. Crumb, too, nodded approvingly at the addition as he took the container back.

Myron took that as a cue to move on. "So, how about that tour?"

Her father showed the group around the studio. He took time to explain what some of the equipment did, with Donaghan and Melissa translating things on occasion into a way the wizardborns would understand. Once they were done, the next few hours were spent recording. It was an interesting time. Melissa spent most of it in silence, listening to the band or watching her dad adjust the sound quality or make suggestions accordingly. There had been a few snags into the session. One attempt to adjust a mic with magic was met with sparks shorting out the mic's wires. This led to enacting a strict "no wands" policy for the duration of the stay. There had also been some disagreements on style. Sometimes this was between her dad and Kirley or Barbary, other times between the bandmates themselves. By the time they called for a break, it was clear this would take longer than the bandmates had expected.

While the others relaxed on couches in the lobby or breakroom, Melissa kept off to herself. She wandered over to one of the other rooms, one that held a keyboard, and spent her time fiddling with the keys. At the moment, she was trying to mimic one of the songs that the band was working on.

"Oh! Can you dance like a hippogriff?

"Na na na ma ma ny na na ny na

"Flyin' off from a cliff

"Na na na ma ma ny na na ny na

"Swooping down to the grou- no, that's not it" She adjusted the chords a little. "Ground. Down. To. The. Ground. Yeah, that's it."

"Not bad, little girl." Melissa turned to find Myron leaning against the door. Now spotted, he pushed off from the door and walked over to her. "You pick up the beat fast."

"Thanks. Comes with the territory." She smiled and nudged her head to emphasize their location.

"Makes sense. You have a band back at Hogwarts?"

"No." She admitted. "I'm in the orchestra, but I'm more into composition than any one style."

"Right. Mert mentioned you've got some songs up your sleeve." He maneuvered his way onto the piano bench and wriggled his fingers over the keys. "You know any songs by the Vamp Tramps?"

Melissa grinned at the challenge, and met it with the opening chords to Crypt Party. The two of them took shots at the keys, mingling their voices to the lyrics of Vamp Tramp's latest hit. It was fun messing with the vocals, especially with Myron's attempts at a falsetto to match one of the backup singer's soprano. Melissa had to admit that he did pretty well for a guy.

"That was wicked." Myron grinned at her. "You have any songs like this in your collection?"

"Me?" She thought it over and shrugged it off. "Not off the top of my head, but some of my songs are pretty easy to adapt."

"Cool. In that case, how about you play us one for the album?"

She cocked her head at the man. "Excuse me?"

Myron smirked at her confusion. "You've got talent, kid; and you did us a favour getting this record out. I'm sure your Da wouldn't mind us returning the favour."

It was a really cool offer, she had to admit. One that threw her for a loop. That said, he had a point about it being a good return. It could count as getting her foot in the door on the magical side of music.

"DON'T DO IT!" They heard a shout from down the hall.

"What crup ate your lunch, Heath?" Myron shouted back with a laugh.

"YOU HAVEN'T HEARD HER SONGS BEFORE. YOU DON'T WANT IT, TRUST ME!"

Despite the negative review, Melissa couldn't help but laugh. "They're not that bad, Barbary!"

"YES THEY ARE!"

"HE HAS A POINT." Wintringham added.

Melissa snickered at the whole shouting match. Myron, meanwhile, wasn't sure whether to laugh or look apologetic. It seemed he was weighing the argument in mind.

"How about an audition?" He shouted. "One song, we change it to our style. If it works, we make it a bonus track."

There was silence for a moment as the other room deliberated. "FINE, BUT DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU."

Myron turned to her with an apologetic frown. "That alright with you, kid?"

Melissa shrugged with an easy smile. "That's fine. Don't worry about it. I'll come up with something for Sunday and see if it works."

"Alright." He smiled encouragingly. "Sunday, then. We'll see what you got."


The next morning Melissa was alerted to the sound of knocking at her front door. After a quick look through the window, she went over and opened the door. On the other side stood her friends Sarah and Victoria.

"Hey, girls. Glad you could make it."

"No problem." Sarah replied, looking about the hallway. "You said it was an emergency?"

"Oooh, definitely." Melissa replied. "Come on in, I'll explain the situation."

The girls got themselves settled in the music room while Melissa explained her predicament. The girls agreed that auditioning a song would be a good opportunity for her. Even if it is for a rock band. So, with their help, the rest of the morning was spent going over her compositions and trying to find one suitable for the next day's audition.

"I'll be honest, this is a lot harder than I thought." Victoria thought aloud.

"No kidding." Sarah agreed as she turned another set of papers onto the growing reject pile. "Seriously, how many instrumental scores have you written?"

"More than I expected." Melissa confessed. "I didn't realize until now that a lot of my songs don't have any lyrics." It also didn't help that several of them Melissa ignored outright because they were just recreations from old memories.

"Well," Sarah sighed, "you always wanted to be a Hollywood type. Guess it can't be helped. Still… at least they look better than some of these. Snake Charmer in Surrey? Seriously?"

Melissa waved it off. "It's just place-holder lyrics for the music."

"A lot of them seem like that." Victoria noted.

The other girls nodded with a set of frowns. Nevertheless, they moved through the collection with scrutiny. At one point, Sarah grabbed a folder from the bottom of the pile to sift through them.

"Okay, Mel, I have to ask, are you on drugs or something?"

Melissa gave a confused chuckle. "What makes you think that?"

"Because these are ridiculous. Pink Toad Hop. Fear and Chocolate. Are these even supposed to make sense?"

Melissa peered over to her current sheet to the file Sarah was holding, one jokingly labeled HP Prophs. At realizing what folder it is, Melissa giggled loudly. "Um, in a retrospective kind of wave."

"Pink Toad Hop?" Victoria repeated the name with confusion.

Sarah looked over the sheet and grinned. "Oh, you're going to love this, 'Tori. It's an actual sock hop song."

"...Like from the 50's?" Victoria asked. Sarah offered her the folder for Victoria to look over. As she read the music and lyrics, both girls got a good laugh out of it. Even Melissa couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, those are really weird ones. Don't even bother with them."

"No, no. It's fine. I'm really enjoying this." Victoria placated.

Melissa shook her head with a smile, opting to ignore her friend's amusement and go back to searching for a proper song. As they continued, Victoria piped up an idea.

"Wait, how about this one?" She handed a set of sheets off to Sarah to look over.

Sarah read out the title slowly. "Yuree-dice Waltz?"

"You-Ri-Di-Cee" Victoria corrected. "It's the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. From Greek Mythology?"

Sarah looked up to Meliss in surprise. "You wrote a song about Greek mythology?"

Melissa shrugged. "Came across it once. It's a cool story so I figured I'd give it a go."

As she gave that explanation, Sarah went on to read the music. "Huh… this is… pretty good, actually. Though it's more like a love ballad than a rock song."

"A tragic love ballad could make a good rock song." Victoria commented. With that encouragement, the song got added to the relatively small pile of audition songs. By the end, however, it was the only song that two out of three of them could agree on.

"I don't see why you don't want to use it, Mel." Sarah said. "It's got good lyrics, a nice melody."

"I know but… I can't play it."

Sarah huffed at the uncertain answer. "Why not?"

"It's a bit above my grade. Especially if I'm singing at the same time."

"Wait… you wrote a song you can't play?"

Melissa was silent to the scrutiny. Victoria, meanwhile, looked over the sheet music pensively. "I can play this."

"Of course you can." Melissa rolled her eyes. "You're at, what, Grade 8?"

"Nine." Victoria corrected with a smirk. "With luck I'll be in Grade 10 piano by this winter."

"Oh, come on!" Melissa groaned. "That's just not fair."

Sarah snickered at that. "It's not her fault you decided to learn a bunch of instruments instead of sticking with one."

"Not to mention you're two years younger than me." Victoria added with a chuckle.

"It's still not fair." Melissa mumbled. She looked at the sheet music forlornly, knowing it wouldn't be a viable option.

Victoria caught the girl's expression and rolled her eyes. "If you're that bothered by it, just let me play it. You can sing the lyrics at the same time. That ought to make it easier."

Melissa frowned at the suggestion. There wasn't much need to consider that. "That wouldn't be such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"...You know how I told you guys I was going to a special school?"

Sarah raised her eyebrows in amusement. "Right. Your Xavier's school for the gifted." She teased.

Melissa chuckled. "Something like that." She joked back. "That said, these guys are from my school and they're a bit... eccentric."

"They're in a rock band. Of course they're going to be eccentric." Sarah argued.

Victoria nodded in agreement. "I'm sure it will be fine."

"Alright." Melissa sighed. The only advantage on her side was her dad's "no wands" policy at the studio. Maybe they were right and it wouldn't be a problem? "Just don't go running for the hills when they start singing about hippogriffs and stuff."

Victoria and Sarah giggled at the idea. "I won't." She promised. "And, hey, if they're singing about strange things like that, then we're more likely to have this work."

Melissa gave a lopsided grin at the notion. "You know what, I think you're onto something here."


The next morning the band members were blessedly early for recording. It offered Melissa enough time to explain the performing dynamic she had planned before her muggle friend arrived at the studio. The boys were amused by the invitation, but promised to keep wizard-talk to a minimum while they wrapped up their album.

When Victoria arrived at the studio, Melissa waltzed up to the entrance to greet her. "Great! You're here!" She hugged the girl happily. "Come on, let me introduce you to the band."

"Hold on." Victoria stopped her with a warning tone.

"What?" Melissa halted in her step.

"I want a regular introduction. Not one of your 'royal heralds'." She stressed to her.

"Aw, come on, 'Tori. We're supposed to have fun at a studio!" Melissa grinned.

"Professional is how things are supposed to be." Victoria argued. The look of warning dropped and she gave the younger girl a pleading set of doe eyes. "Come on, I'm doing you a favour. Please?"

Melissa's grin dropped into a light smile. "Alright, fine. But you don't have to be super professional, either."

"If you say so." Victoria sighed.

"Great! Come on, then, your majesty." Victoria shot her another warning look against Melissa's winking grin. "Relax, they can't hear us from here."

Victoria merely shook her head in defeat. "You're impossible." She lamented.

Melissa shrugged it off with a giggle. "It all adds to the charm."

The two girls left the entrance for the recording room proper. There, Melissa introduced her 'good friend and brilliant pianist, Victoria Jones' to the collection of wizard rockers. No Elizabeth or other royal additions in sight. If Victoria managed to fire off a quick, warning glance at her friend during that introduction, it was certainly accepted with grace.

From there the two girls got themselves settled into the room hosting a piano for them to use. The boys, meanwhile, got themselves comfy on some couches and chairs.

"Alright then, let's see what you got." Myron encouraged the two girls. The two teens nodded in turn and, watching each other, gave slight nods in signal to begin. Victoria then took to the keys, her fingers playing into a light and dream-like waltz, as Melissa began to sing.

Oh, my sweet Eurydice

My one eternal love

Though time may pass through the hourglass

My heart it beats, my soul it aches

...

The gods they sang on our wedding day

Our love would soon fall to Fate

And try as I may, when the snake came your way

I lost you through Hades' Gate

...

Though it may seem that you're gone from me

I won't leave you to death's snare

So with lyre in arm, and true love's charm

I journey down to the devil's lair

...

My path is blocked by great Cerberus

But from me he'll take no bone.

With a song at my breast, I lay him to rest,

And continue to the underworld throne

...

Dance, dance, Eurydice

Take one step closer to me.

Dance, my sweet Eurydice,

And my music will set you free.

...

To the dark king and his queen in white

I sang them my lover's plea

With tears they proclaim "you have won this game!

You and your wife may go free."

...

"But I caution you, before you go

One rule which you must obey

Behind she will track, but should you look back

Your wife will fade back to the grey."

...

This promise I keep with a joyous heart,

In reflection to my love

With all I desire, I climb on higher

Back to the land up above

...

Dance, dance, Eurydice

Take one step closer to me.

Dance, my sweet Eurydice,

And my music will set you free.

...

Try as I might, a fear creeps in

For silently walks your shade

In worry I glance, and lose my last chance,

For once you were there, only to fade

...

Oh, my sweet Eurydice

My one eternal love

Though time may pass through the hourglass

My heart it beats for you, still

My soul it aches for you, still

With the final words spoken, the song -which had transformed from dream-like to sorrowful by the last two verses- played it's final chords to a gentle completion. It's finality emphasized with silent air. Then, after the quiet pause, Orsino Thurston began to applaud. This act prompted the others to start applauding. Donaghan even threw in a quick "whoop" in their direction.

"Well then, it seems we have a song to work on!" Myron grinned.

"You liked it?" Melissa smiled. The cheering was something, for sure, yet she couldn't help but feel slightly dazed at their approval.

"Absolutely!" Myron answered.

Barbary looked thoughtful as his head nodded. "Even I have to admit, it's good. ...Though I'm not sure about the melody. It's a little too… pretty."

Wintringham side-eyed him. "I swear, Heathcote, you're phobic of all things romance." Barbary in turn shoved his friend's shoulder and muttered something only the two of them could hear.

"We can work around that." Kirley Duke encouraged. "Maybe add some rifts after that music will set you free bit, and get some instrumentals before the lyrics start at the front." As to demonstrate, the musician grabbed his guitar off from the side and strummed out a few lightly metallic notes.

The room sat pensively, merging the chords to the song they had just heard. Though, after a selection of notes, Jake Bennett's eyes went alight. He pushed off his seat with a quick 'I'll be right back' and hopped out of the room. The bandmates continued to make suggestions, with Duke and Victoria adapting their playing to each idea. After a minute or so, Jake returned to the group with a disc in hand.

"I might have an idea you can try out. It's not far off from what Kirley was playing." He announced, prepping the disc into a stereo.

"What is it?" Melissa asked after him.

"Metallica's new CD." He answered. "The track's called Nothing Else Matters. The lyric flow doesn't match, but the melody could give some inspiration."

"Ah, catching up to the 90's, I see!" Melissa teased with a snicker.

Her father rolled his eyes and he pushed through the tracks. "You know, Melly-bean, I actually do listen to new music. Goes with the job description."

"I know." Melissa giggled. "I was just messing with you, dad."

"Alright, Giggles, quit your jokes so we can listen!" Barbary hushed.

They all sat quietly as the track played. The bandmates would glance at each other in turns, trading nods or mouthed words as they considered the muggle muse. When the song finished the group jumped to make their suggestions. Ideas and chords bounced across the room as the songwriting session went into full swing. In time, they managed to make enough headway that they decided to head to the recording room to practice it for a few more rounds.

"Alright, boys, let's see if we can fit an upright in the room!" Gideon Crumb encouraged the boys as they got out of their seats.

"What do you mean?" Victoria asked as she rose from the piano bench.

The male teen shrugged. "We have to find you something to play in the recording room, obviously."

"Oh!" Victoria went briefly wide-eyed, and her hands raised in protest. "Oh, no, I was just here to help Melissa. I thought you didn't want any piano for the final version."

"No way!" Donaghan grinned. He walked over to the two girls, facing Victoria directly. "I can't imagine this song working without you."

"The piano gives it a nice touch." Wintringham added with a nod.

A small blush grew on Victoria's cheeks. She turned to Melissa for advice, but the younger girl grinned to match Donaghan's and gave an encouraging nod. "It'll be fun! You've got this!"

"What do you say?" Donaghan asked with an outreached hand. "Care to be one of the Weird Sisters for a day?"

Victoria looked thoughtfully between her friend and the bassist's outreached hand. Tentatively she nodded, and met Donaghan's hand with a firm shake. "Alright then. I guess it couldn't hurt."

"Perfect!" Donaghan encouraged.

"Great! Let's get going, then." Myron added on. "Bennett, I'll need to borrow you a bit to workshop the lyrics."

"Sure thing." Melissa answered. The group went out of the room into the recording studio. Together, with another hour of practice and workshopping, the Weird Sisters had themselves a brand new track for their first album. As for Melissa and Victoria, by the time the weekend was finished they had themselves a new group of friends and acquaintances, and their first credited roles in the music industry.


A/N: I'm taking a break for the holidays. Next time we see each other, it will be 2022 for us, and a first year in Hogwarts for Harry. See you then!