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Author's
Note: this is, by the way, a song fic to Shania Twain's Forever and
For Always. I'm also trying to get back to work to finish From
Hate to Love. Please don't hate me! I know it's taking me a long
time to update it but I've seriously got so much work right now.
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Dumbledore
was up in his office, looking through the calendar. "Ah, today's
the karaoke contest." he said, his wise blue eyes twinkling
merrily. He had been planning a special event each month in hopes
that it would spark some inter-house unity. He had also assigned
'partners' for classes for each year in hope of achieving his
goal. He had already achieved a tremendous one – too bad no one
else but himself and the two people it concerned knew about it.
He thought about this for a minute. Yes, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy had proved to be very compatible to each other. He glanced out of his window and was rewarded with the sight of the two said people rolling around in the snow, laughing.
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Hermione
sat down at the Gryffindor table, her cheeks flushed from the cold
outside. Ron eyed her suspiciously. "Where've you been,
'Mione?"
"In the library," she answered nonchalantly. "And don't call me 'Mione. My name's HER-mione."
"Liar," Ron spat out. "Harry and I checked the library and you weren't there. You never tell us where you're going anymore. We just don't feel we can trust you anymore."
Hermione had the decency to blush. "Don't me mad at me Ron, Harry." she murmured desperately. "I'd tell you if I could."
Ron glared at her for a moment and then spouted out, "What exactly can't you tell us? What's so bad that you can't tell US?! "We're your best friends damn it!" he yelled, his voice growing louder and louder with each word.
Hermien cringed at Ron's angry voice while people round them started looking and listening to the conversation.
Just then Draco walked into the Great Hall, whistling a cheerful tune. He glanced over at Hermione and saw her glancing at him, a look of desperation on her face. Not knowing what had just happened, he winked at her and continued striding cheerfully to the Slytherin table where he sat down by Goyle and Crabbe.
Unfortunately two other people beside Hermione saw this. Pansy's jaw dropped open and she turned to Draco horrified. "Did you just wink at the MUDBLOOD?!" she shrieked.
Draco appeared startled and glanced up at Hermione where she was staring at him. The Great Hall grew quiet. "Erm," he began.
"Yes." Ron's voice was quiet but deadly as it drifted across the hall. He spoke in a low tone. "What the bloody hell is going on?"
Hermione
inched away from Ron, almost afraid of him. Only when he was very
angry did he speak in such a tone.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The conversation was interrupted as Dumbledore stood up from his chair at the front of the Hall. "Well, since everyone's so quiet now let's have our karaoke contest!" he said happily.
Professor Snape spoke up loudly. "But no one signed up." he declared, rolling his eyes at the mention of such a muggle subject.
"Ah, But I have a better idea of getting people up here." Dumbledore said, smiling brilliantly out at the crowd. "I have here," he indicated a hat filled with small papers, "a hatful of your papers. Each paper has written on it a name of a person and their partner. I will choose three different pairs of partners at random."
At this people groaned. Now they might actually have to get up and embarrass themselves in front of the whole hall.
"But," Dumbledore continued, "you will have five minutes to pick out a song you both know. There are both muggle songs and wizarding songs up here."
He reached into the hat and pulled out a paper. "Colin Creevy of Gryffindor and Denise Marotta of Ravenclaw." he said. Colin and Denise rose to their feet and grudgingly made their way up the aisle to Dumbledore. He handed them a book with songs listed inside and told them to choose.
"Mackenzie Wilson of Hufflepuff and Sarah McGreevy of Ravenclaw." he read off of the next paper. The two girls stood to their feet and linked arms as they skipped up the aisle to obtain their own book of songs. They stood to the side and flipped through it as Dumbledore read off the last name.
"Last but not least," Dumbledore paused as he read the names silently to himself. His smiler grew wider…if that was even possible and Hermione and Draco cast anxious glances at each other across the Great Hall.
"Hermione Granger of Gryffindor and Draco Malfoy of Slytherin." Professor Dumbledore finally exclaimed. His eyes twinkled merrily at the two people making their way up the aisle to him.
Meanwhile, a certain redheaded hothead narrowed his eyes accusingly at Dumbledore. "He did this on purpose," he muttered.
Hemrione and Draco flipped the pages of their own book and quietly conversed as everyone stared at them, waiting for one of them to start a fight.
Dumbedore
waved his wand and a karaoke machine appeared in the front of the
Great Hall. "Alright," he said cheerfully, "in just a minute
we will begin. When the contest is over, a card will appear on your
table and you will vote for the pair you thought did the best. The
prize is 100 points to each house the partners belong to and a small
trophy." he said, gesturing to a pair of foot-high trophies behind
him.
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"What song should we do?" Draco wondered out loud in a quiet tone. "Well what kind of song do you want to sing?" Hermione asked her boyfriend of four months. "Let's sing a song that puts our relationship out in the open," Draco said.
"And how would we do that? Even if we did sing a song like that, everyone will just think it's a song." Hermione replied.
"not if I kiss you at the end." Draco explained mischeviously. Hermione smiled to herself and then turned the page to the list of love songs.
She inspected the list closely. "How about this one?" she said finally, pointing to a name of a song. "That's one we both know. We listened to it last night. Remember?"
Draco's eyes rose to meet Hermione. "The In-your-arms song?" he whispered back. "Mhmm." Hermione said softly.
Draco
grinned at her and simply replied,
"Alright."
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A blast of music interrupted their moment and they were jerked back to reality. Colin and Denise began to sing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BOTH:
Turn
it up, turn it up, turn it upside down
Turn it up, turn it up,
turn it upside down
Turn it up, turn it up, turn it upside
down
Turn it up, turn it up, turn it upside down
Turn the
beat around
Love to hear the percussion
Turn it upside
down
Love to hear the percussion
Love to hear it
DENISE:
Blow
horns you sure sound pretty
Your violins keep movin to the nitty
gritty
When you hear the scratch of the guitars scratchin
Then
youll know that rhythm carries all the action, so
Woah
yeah
BOTH:
Turn
the beat around
Love to hear the percussion
Turn it upside
down
Love to hear the percussion
Love to hear it
Turn
the beat around
Love to hear the percussion
Turn it upside
down
Love to hear the percussion
Love to hear it
DENISE:
Flute
player play your flute cause
I know that you want to get your
thing off
But you see Ive made up my mind about it
Its got to
be the rhythm, no doubt about it, woah woah
cause when the guitar
player start playing
With the syncopated rhythm, with the scratch,
scratch, scratch
Makes me wanna move my body yeah, yeah, yeah
And
when the drummer starts beating that beat
He nails that beat with
the syncopated rhythm
With the rat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat on the
drums, hey
BOTH:
Turn
the beat around
Love to hear the percussion
Turn it upside
down
Love to hear the percussion
Love to hear it
Love to
hear it
Love to hear it
Love to hear it
Turn it up, turn
it up, turn it upside down
Turn it up, turn it up, turn it upside
down
Turn it up, turn it up, turn it upside down
Turn it up,
turn it up, turn it upside down
Turn the beat around
Love
to hear the percussion
Turn it upside down
Love to hear the
percussion
Love to hear it
Turn the beat around
Love to
hear the percussion
Turn it upside down
Love to hear the
percussion
Love to hear it
Love to hear it
Love to hear it
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Denise and Colin's voices faded out together and everyone clapped. Some people stamped their feet wildly and others cheered loudly. Denise blush and Colin avoided the gazes of the crowd as they hurried back to stand by Dumbledore.
Dumbledore stepped up to the karaoke microphone. "Thank you Miss Marotta and Mister Creevy. Well done."
He paused for a minute and turned back to wink at them. "Please welcome Miss Wilson and Miss McGreevy."
Mackenzie and Sarah hurried up to the karoake and pressed a number into the machine to choose their song.
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MACKENZIE:
Can
you hear them?
They talk about us
SARAH:
Telling
Lies
Well, that's no surprise
MACKENZIE:
Can
you see them?
See right through them?
SARAH:
They
have no shield
No secrets to reveal
BOTH:
It
doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people
play...ay...ay...ay
Our lips are sealed
MACKENZIE:
There's
a weapon
Which we must use
SARAH:
In
our defense:
Silence
MACKENZIE:
Spreading
rumors
So far from true
SARAH:
Dragged
up from the underworld,
Just like some precious pearl
BOTH:
It
doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people
play...ay...ay...ay
Our lips are sealed
Pay no mind to what
they say
It doesn't matter anyway, ay...ay...ay
Our lips are
sealed
SARAH:
Hush,
my darling
MACKENZIE:
Don't
you cry
SARAH:
Quiet,
angel
MACKENZIE:
Forget their lies
MACKENZIE:
Can
you hear them?
They talk about us
SARAH:
Telling
lies
Well, that's no surprise
MACKENZIE:
Can
you see them?
See right through them
SARAH:
They
have no shield
No secrets to reveal
BOTH:
It
doesn't matter what they say
In the jealous games people
play...ay...ay...ay
Our lips are sealed
Pay no mind to what
they say
It doesn't matter anyway...ay...ay...ay
Our lips are
sealed
Our lips are sealed
Our lips are
sealed
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The Great Hall went wild. Loud cheers filled the room and a couple of people even gave a standing ovation. The Hall went dead silent as Dumbledore stepped forward once more. "And for our last performance of the night, I give you Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger."
At their names, Hermione rose nervously to her feet and followed Draco's confident swagger up to the karaoke machine.
The music started and Hermione began to sing.
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HERMIONE:
In
your arms I can still feel the way you
want me when you hold me
I can still hear the words you whispered
when you told me
I can stay right here forever in your arms
DRACO:
And there ain't no way--
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't no way--
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day...
BOTH:
'Cause I'm keeping you
forever and for always
We will be together all of our days
Wanna wake up every
morning to your sweet face--always
HERMIONE:
Mmmm,
baby
In your heart--I can still hear
a beat for every time you kiss me
And when we're apart,
I know how much you miss me
I can still feel your love for me in your heart
DRACO:
And there ain't no way--
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't now way--
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day...
BOTH:
'Cause I'm keeping you
forever and for always
We will be together all of our days
Wanna wake up every
morning to your sweet face--always
DRACO: (I wanna wake up every morning)
HERMIONE:In
your eyes---
DRACO:
(I can still see the look of the one)
HERMIONE:
I can still see the look of the one who really loves
me
DRACO:
(I
can still feel the way that you want)
HERMIONE: The one who wouldn't put anything else in the world above me
DRACO:
(I
can still see your love for me)
HERMIONE:
I
can still see your love for me in your eyes
DRACO: (I still see the love)
DRACO: And there ain't no way--
I'm lettin' you go now
And there ain't no way--
and there ain't no how
I'll never see that day...
BOTH:
'Cause I'm keeping you
forever and for always
We will be together all of our days
Wanna wake up every
morning to your sweet face--always
'Cause I'm keeping you
forever and for always
We will be together all of our days
Wanna wake up every
morning to your sweet face--always
I'm keeping you forever and for always
I'm
in your
arms
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The Great Hall listened as if memorized by the way Hermione and Draco's voices blended together. It was dead silent as they finished singing. It was almost as if the people in the Great Hall were holding their breath, waiting for the perfect ending.
And they got it.
Draco gently took Hermione's hand and pulled her toward him. He bent his head down and she raised hers to meet him midway. They kissed sweetly for a minute and the tension in the Great Hall broke.
Several things happened at once. Ron slammed his fists down angrily on the table while Harry stared open-mouthed at the couple on stage. Pansy shrieked and fainted while Crabbe and Goyle looked confusedly at each other.
The Hufflepuffs 'awwed' and clapped. The Ravenclaws clapped for the song. The Gryffindors weren't sure whether to clap for Hermione or what they were supposed to do. The Slytherins were in the same predicament. They weren't sure whether to cheer loudly for Draco or what they were supposed to do.
Dumbledore stepped forward for the last time and took the mike. "Now it's time for voting." He waved his wand and a card and a quill appeared in front of each student and professor. Please check the box next to the pair you thought did best."
The hall was silent for a minute and the only sound was the scratching of quill against parchment. Hermione and Draco stood to the side along with the other two pairs and quietly awaited the verdict.
Finally Dumbledore waved his hand again and all the cards appeared in a pot. The pot swirled for a minute and then poof! A piece of parchment appeared in Dumbledore's hand with the contest results.
The headmaster cleared his throat and then began, "In third place is Colin Creevy and Denise Marotta! 25 points to both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw!" The students clapped for them as they shyly stepped to the other side of Dumbledore.
"In second place," Dumbedore paused, "is Mackenzie Wilson and Sarah McGreevy! 50 points to both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw!" The students in the Great Hall clapped again and Mackenzie and Sarah joined Denise and Colin on the other side of Dumbledore.
"And then of course, first place goes to Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy!" The students in the Great Hall cheered loudly and everyone stood up to give a standing ovation. Hermione blushed slightly as Draco took her hand and led her forward to accept their trophies.
"100 points to both Gryffindor and Slytherin!" Dumbledore proclaimed dramatically as he handed them their trophies.
"Good job to everyone. Well done. You may now go back to your tables or your common room." Dumbledore finished.
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Hermione and Draco walked down the aisle but where stopped by Ron's angry voice. "Just how long has this been going on?" he growled at them.
"Four months," Draco said simply.
The Great Hall grew quiet once more as the rest of the students noticed Ron Weasley conversing with Draco Malfoy. Pansy, having unfortunately recovered from her fainting spell, rose up and advanced on the couple.
"Why her? Why MUDBLOOD?" she asked Draco in her screechy voice at the same time that Ron asked Hermione, "Why him? Why ferret boy?"
"Don't call her that," Draco snarled. "And to answer your first question it's because I LOVE her." Draco said simply.
Hermione smiled sweetly at him and tightened her grip on his hand as she answered Ron's question. "Don't call him that, Ron," she said wearily. "I love him."
Draco grinned at her and led her out of the Great Hall toward their Heads common room.
Once they were inside the common room, he pulled her toward him and kissed her gently. He rested his head on top of her hair.
"I love you Hermione Granger." he whispered in her ear
"And I love you, Draco Malfoy." Hermione whispered back.
"Forever and for always." they said softly together.