7

The Band

Room Of Requirement

"That many" Harry sounded shocked. "I don't think this room can grow by that size"

"Don't worry Harry, it's only a couple hundred"

"Only a couple" his voice raised in pitch "You're insane"

"Stop worrying" George tried to calm the boy that sat on the floor, nervously tapping his fingers against the wooden floor.

"Yeah, stop worrying Harry, you'll give yourself a heart attack"

Harry couldn't help but laugh as he heard this assessment of a possible death. "I've fought a certain Dark Lord on several occasions and lived but this party..." he trailed off.

"Take deep breathes Harry" Fred interrupted him. Harry looked up and took his advice to calm himself. When they'd met in the room for progress in planning the party he didn't expect the attendance that was predicted, 132 students stuck in a hot room. He had tried on a number of occasions to set up the place, thinking of a stage for the band and a small bar which Dobby and a number of other elves had volunteered to serve the students with different beverages. He'd seen a number of pictures of Muggle nightclubs in the newspaper that he'd seen while serving the Dursley's breakfast every morning.

The good news when it came to the numbers attending the party was that no Slytherin's would be coming seeing as Fred and George didn't have any links in that house. This was the same with the other schools that attended the Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard cup. He had to admit he was a bit disappointed that no Beauxbatons students were invited seeing as they were extremely beautiful with a number of Veela's being present. He had to remind himself the abilities that Veela's had, just encase he dated one in the future seeing as a potential break up could be hazardous to his health.

"What about the band?"

"Oh yeah, we got a well known band called 'Young Witches '"

Harry sat there with no idea who the band was and the twins could see this confusion as well so they explained further "There the brand new thing, the band everyone wants but most can't afford"

"Witch Weekly number 1 up and coming band" Fred continued with the explanation.

They smiled at him, trying to get the point across "If there so 'hot', how did you get them to play here"

"Well, they may be fans of a certain young man. A man who's as elusive as they are"

"Who?" he asked, sure he wouldn't like the answer.

"He goes by Harry Potter" Harry gave them a confused look, a look which asked 'why were they fans of his'. "Seriously Harry, do you ever read the gossip magazines. Your picture is plastered across it" Fred continued as George thought of some gossip magazines which materialised, dropping in his arms.

"'Harry Potter the eligible bachelor'" George read a magazine title and chucked it to the ground

"'Harry Potter, Sex God?'"

"'Harry Potter the bad boy' that was more recent"

"11 inches! Harry's wand size, but which one?"

"Ok, Ok I get it" Harry replied quickly as the magazines seemed to be getting filthier as the pile grew in size. "How are we going to get the band into the Castle?"

There grins grew as he asked the question that they were most proud off. "Simple Harry, Hogsmede"

"Hogsmeade?" he asked confused.

"Yeah, Hogsmeade is this weekend, we, or you meet them there and you take them to the castle via the secret passage."

"It seems an awful lot of trouble for them to go through" he responded as he realised how much trouble the band was going through, especially a band of their stature.

"They really want to meet you Harry" Fred spoke with a glint in his eye, something he seemed to be missing. "There big fans" this time Fred smiled.

"I'm not going to like this am I?"

"I think you'll like it very much, very much indeed" George told him, replying cryptically.

"Moving on then" Harry spoke, planning on dealing with the band at a later time. "Have you got any questions?"

"Yes, how are we going to get all the students into this room? It'll look a little suspicious if you have a hundred students coming to this floor, plus is may attract younger students"

Harry smiled as he'd realised this early on in the planning. He needed to find a way to keep the room relatively secret yet let people enter it. Thankfully when the thought came up he was in the Room of Requirement which granted his need. This was discovered when he left the room, somehow exiting right next to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "I found that the room's exit/entrance can form almost anywhere in the castle apart from areas that are private"

"Cool"

"Yeah, I'll form several entrance points which should let students enter the room without being noticed. To add extra insurance I've added an age restriction spell on the door. No one older than a certain age can enter while no one younger than a certain enter the room" he explained, remembering coming across the spell while he was in the Library with Hermione.

"What would happen though when they see the older students disappear?"

"Thought of that too, I've placed a mild memory charm, making the student that runs across the door unable to remember what had happened for several minutes, hopefully allowing the door the close in the meantime"

The planning continued into the night as all of the loose ends were tied up for the most part. The ones that still needed to be sorted were the band, which Harry agreed to meet in Hogsmede the following day.

Saturday

Hogsmeade

It was the day of the party as he and the twins were busy trying to set up everything. Fred and George's job was to tell everyone who was coming where the entrances were, seeing as that information wasn't given out when they'd spread the word.

Harry's job on the other hand was to pick up the band in Hogsmeade village, interested to see what the whole fuss was about after he found that even Hermione knew who they were. Harry had arrived in the village quite early as he wanted to meet them on time, trying to make a good impression after the time and effort they went through to get here.

The twins had told him that they'd arranged the meeting to take place in 'The Hog's Head' at noon. The Hog's Head was the chosen mainly because of the lack of customers the small pub held. Not many students would enter the pub seeing as it was considered dirty by many, the glasses would never be fully clean and dust had fallen all over the place.

No fans to bother the band, I guess

This was the destination he set off to as he made his way into the Village, forging a letter of consent from his relatives, a trick that Fred had taught him a couple of nights ago. As he made his way deeper and deeper in the village he noticed a few people look at him, some in anger (mostly the men) and some in lust (mostly the women). He quickly spotted the pub after a couple of minutes of walking as he looked to see if anyone else was around who may've been tracking him.

Seeing and feeling as if he was safe he made his way into the battered pub, the pub that nearly all sane people avoided. The pub looked so old when he walked in, receiving a grunt from the barman who's dirty grey hair hanged over his eyes, kind of like a shaggy dog.

"Could I get a Butterbear please?"

The Barman grunted again and went to work as he picked up a half clean glass and filled it up with the golden liquid. Harry placed a couple of galleons on the counter as he took his drink, allowing the Barman to take the money to pay for the beverage. He took the glass and made his way to a nearby table, the creaks of the wooden flooring could be heard as he walked away from the bar.

When he finally took his seat he fixed his gaze upon the door, waiting patiently as he nursed his drink as he saw the time.

11:45

The waiting game began as every couple of seconds he would look at the wooden door that open now and then, letting people in that intensions didn't seem good.

Probably smuggling

Finally the clock struck twelve but Harry was still without his band, feet tapping away at the ground nervously as he waited for them. He guessed that they were a girl band seeing as the name suggested such a thing. He assumed they were relatively young seeing as they called themselves 'Young Witches'. That was pretty much all he could summarize about them, regretting a little that he hadn't researched them further.

He was so lost in his thoughts of the band that he didn't notice three figures that were donned out in long black cloaks with a hood that covered their appearance. The figures seemed to spot their destination as they flowed past the Barman and advanced on the table that housed a teenage boy.

"Harry, Harry Potter?" they enquired as Harry's head shot up to see the cloaked figures leaning over him.

"Yes" he replied carefully, reaching for his wand slowly.

The figures seemed to sway somewhat as they looked at him, a smile creased there hoods slightly. They eventually pulled down there hoods to reveal their flawless good looks. Harry was not a exception as he looked at the group. The one on the right stood at around 5 foot 6, had long flowing brown hair that framed her face beautifully, her eyes shone a beautiful blue which contrasted beautifully with her pale skin colour, her lips were full and were coloured with a deep red lipstick.

The central figure was a blond to Harry's delight. Her face was a lot more rounded than the brunette while her eyes were a dark brown. She also seemed to be wearing some makeup as he looked at her skin that seemed to be darker than it should.

The final figure that stood to his left seemed to be rocking a slightly rock chick kind of style. Her hair seemed to have been died to a bright orange; nothing like the natural kind like the Weasley's showed. She wore heavy makeup with dark eye liner being used, her nose was also pierced with a small stud.

From what he could see he would guess that they were in there early twenties to their late teens.

"Hello Harry Potter" the middle girl greeted him. "I'm Sophia, this" she indicated to her right where the 'rock chick' stood "is Hayley and finally this" she indicated to her left "is Naomi and we are 'Young Witches'"

Harry looked at them, befuddled to the reason that they'd come here because of him. As he realized he was staring he quickly stood up, knocking his half empty glass onto his jeans. "Bollocks" he tried to wipe himself off while the girls looked at him hungrily as he tried to dry himself. He finally got his wand and performed a drying charm upon his trouser which was met with pouts from the girls.

"Nice to meet you. I've never met three angels at the same time before" he flirted which got a number of giggles from two of the girls while Hayley didn't really react. It would've been difficult to tell even if she had blushed seeing as the makeup covered her face so well.

Clever

"And you can call me Harry if you'd like. Harry Potter sounds too formal" he added.

"Ok, Harry" Naomi spoke, swaying as she spoke his name, loving that she was on a first name basis with Harry 'bloody' Potter.

"Would you like to go back to Hogwarts or stay here for a while" he asked, wondering if this was the place that three beautiful girls should be hanging out at. The girls seemed to think the same thing as they looked around the bar cautiously, finally deciding as a group when they made their way back to Harry.

"We'll be fine as long as your here to protect us" Sophia replied happily as they took their places around the table. When they got comfortable Harry needed to know what was so special about him that would make them come to the castle in the manner that would happen later on.

"Why are you going through so much trouble, even I don't think it's worth the effort of the prize?"

"Well Harry. We, well I mean me and Naomi have been fans of yours for years as we read about you in Witch Weekly nearly every week. All the stories it told us about you and the gossip, it made us want to meet you" Naomi seemed to sigh heavenly as she thought back to the days "As we grew up we fought we'd get over you but then it started to say that you'd defeated the Dark Lord for a second time" she seemed to indicate to Harry for him to fill them in on the truth of the gossip.

"Guilty as charged" he muttered.

"That article made me want to meet you even more. Naomi shared my views" she seemed to settle on that word "of you"

"Were you in school together? I thought I would've seen you at Hogwarts if you came here"

"Me and Naomi came from the same school, Hayley" she indicated to girl that seemed to be more interested in her finger nails than the conversation "we met when we got out of school. We didn't go to Hogwarts, we went to Salem in America as you can probably tell with our accents"

"Cool" he spoke, only just realising that there accents were slightly off.

"Anyway, a couple of days ago we got a letter from a fan"

"A letter which set every other piece of fan mail on fire" Hayley muttered from her corner.

"Yeah, caught our attention alright" Naomi added as she looked like she was living a dream.

"But we couldn't have been more surprised when it said that Harry Potter had invited us to attend a party at Hogwarts, a party where we'd perform to the guy that we had been obsessed over for the past couple of years. It was like fate and I have to admit that you have lived up to my expectations"

"Well thank you kind Miss" he thanked her as he grasped her hand slightly, pulling it towards his mouth where he placed a small kiss upon the back of the hand. Sophia went a deep shade of red as she saw what Harry was doing, making that moment the best in her life.

"I may never wash my hand again" she sighed softly as she felt the moisture on her hand as she moved it against the air.

Harry smiled and continued with the questions, discovering that Naomi and Sophia were both from New York. Their families were pretty rich before the stardom. Sophia's parents were very successful wand makers, possibly the best in the world was what Sophia thought. Naomi's parents worked for the Ministry in America, passing laws that would allow better right for Werewolves, Vampires and other half breeds. Hayley however didn't really say much, only muttering the odd correction here and then. The 'rock girl' was born somewhere in Europe (she wouldn't say anything more), didn't say anything about her parents apart from that they were losers.

He also discovered that Sophia was very forward when it came to what she wanted, rubbing his thigh underneath the table. Naomi was quieter than the others, only speaking when he asked her something. Hayley didn't seem to care that much for him, lying lazily in the chair the whole time. It kind of freaked him out as he looked in Sophia's eyes, the intensity of them, promising of things to come. This party was going to be interesting for him that was for sure.

Defeating Voldemort all those times seems to be giving me something in return

The time passed by in an instant as the three of them talked while Hayley looked at her nails lovingly. After a long time in the pub Harry decided it was time to leave and get back to Hogwarts. They'd be using a passage which was most likely going to be muddy, damp and dark seeing as it was the winter. He cast a charm on their clothing which made all dirt that may be picked up in the passage to slide off like it was water.

The group slowly descended into the passage, Harry helping them as two of them clung to his body for support, or to cop a feel, he wasn't sure. Hayley made her own way down, almost falling as she tripped slightly, resulting in her being caught by Harry who let go as soon as she was upright.

They began to walk into darkness, there wands were the only thing that brought light to the passage. Hayley who seemed to have taken the lead was muttering curses at this idea, having to go through all this trouble just to attend some stupid party.

"They said you'd enjoy it, they said it was going to be fun. Last time I listen to them" Hayley muttered as she tried to re-enact what they'd said to convince her. Harry kept on listening silently, finally deciding to act as he left the other girls side, indicating to the girl in front.

"Hi" Harry said simply.

This seemed to shock Hayley as she jumped slightly as Harry appeared from nowhere. "What do you want?" she blurted out.

"Nothing, just want to talk" he offered.

"Talk, talk to your love struck puppies back there" she responded as she tossed her hair backwards, indicating to the girls that walked a couple of feet behind.

"Na" he waved "I've listened to them for the past hour and a half. I think I know everything there is to know about them, but you I don't" he finished as he really was intrigued about the brightly Ginger haired girl.

"I not gonna talk to you" Hayley spat, hating that another guy was probably only talking to her to get into her pants.

"Fine" he replied simply "I think I'll walk with you if that's ok" he asked which got no response from the aggravated girl. He took this as a positive as he walked beside her silently, only the sounds of the giggles coming from the girls behind broke the silence.

After a couple of minutes walking Harry looked at down, catching a glimpse of the back of her hand, a image of some sort adorned her hand as he quickly realized what it was.

"Nice Tattoo"

She seemed confused for a moment as Harry spoke, as she looked at him and what he was indicating to she realized what he'd seen. "Yeah, it's a guitar" she showed him as she pulled her sleeve back slightly. "The instrument I play in the band" she added. As they went into another patch of silence Hayley decided to chuck him a bone.

"Do you have any ink?"

Harry was caught off guard as she asked him a question, a question that inquired about his life, his body. "I don't have any ink" she nodded as if she's expected it "but I have been marked" he pulled up his sleeve to show two puncture marks that'd been given to him by the Basilisk in the second year, they still hadn't healed properly which left the scars that graced his skin.

Hayley meanwhile looked at his arm, mouth open slightly completely caught off guard as she looked at two large holes that had healed over slightly. She looked up to Harry to see if it was ok to touch which she got a nod to precede. Her fingers gently touched his arm, circling around the holes as another finger went into the dip of skin. By this point the whole group had stopped walking, allowing the other girls to see what Hayley was seeing, amazed as much as her as their hands seemed to drift to his arm, only being stopped as Hayley turned a possessive glare upon her band mates.

After a couple more second of observation, Hayley looked up while trying to gather enough air into her lungs to ask the question. Harry took pity as he told her.

"A Basilisk, Hayley"

"A...A...A...A Basilisk. That's impossible, you lie" she dropped his arm, allowing the sleeve the fall over the scar.

"Na huh" he argued. "One of the founders placed the snake in the school as protection. It was awoken when his heir arrived at Hogwarts, petrifying a number of students which eventually led to me fighting the beast" he explained. "Let's walk and talk" he suggested.

"A boy shouldn't have lived" she muttered loudly.

"Yeah, a boy wouldn't but Harry Potter would" he smiled as Hayley hit him slightly, trying to make the point that this wasn't funny. "Wait, if you'd been bitten, you should be dead"

"Right again, but Fawkes the Phoenix saved me by crying on the wound, amazing creature he is"

"Wow" Sophia and Naomi responded in awe while Hayley tried to shake off the shock but was found wanting as her hand drifted to his arm once again. "Wow" she breathed.

The group continued their trek to the castle; Hayley seemed a lot more receptive when he asked her questions about herself, nothing personal because he didn't really want to push his luck. In all honesty he liked her most out of all the girls, seeming to have more behind her than the others did, she was a challenge and he liked a challenge.

Hayley told him that she had a number of tattoos that were scattered amongst her body, some in places he would see and others in places that there was a very low chance of him seeing. Exactly, he liked the challenge.

The group finally made it to the castle, Harry helped them out of the passage like the gentleman he was, Hayley accepted the help this time because she didn't like the idea of falling on her face.

Hogwarts

They finally made it to the elusive castle as the band stared at it in awe.

"It's massive"

Too easy

"It's the biggest I've ever seen"

Way to easy

"I've seen bigger" Hayley muttered from her position as she looked at the castle.

"You must get around then" he finally spoke. The other two broke out in a fit of laughter after what he insinuated about the girl. Hayley heard as well as she drew her arm back and punched him in the back. "Hey, I was talking about your knowledge of castles"

"I bet you were" Hayley began to walk off towards the nearest door.

"You don't even know where you're going" he tried to tell her as she walked.

"I'll find my own way" Hayley almost yelled as she walked into the castle. As a result he just sighed and took off after her, Sophia and Naomi following.

It'd probably be better if she didn't get caught inside the castle by Snape, god knows what the man would do to her.