Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)
Marlene and Y/N made their way down to the Great Hall. It never ceased to amaze Y/N- just how incredible magic could really be. The floating lights, the endless servings of all of her favorite foods, it was perfect. They made their way across the hall and took their seats with the rest of the group. Remus and Sirius weren't there- they must have been sleeping in. She came to that conclusion because she really didn't want to imagine what else they would be doing at the moment. The rest of the group however were present. Mary was making eyes at some Ravenclaw across the room, Peter and Dorcas were snuggled up together enjoying their tea, even James and Lily were holding hands on top of the table. She wanted to be happy for her friends, she really did. But being surrounded by so much love and affection all of the time, it quite pissed her off. She thought she had been good at concealing it, but apparently not.
"Are you alright Y/N?" Lily questioned. She seemed concerned. Y/N almost felt bad for shrugging it off, until James turned into Lily's side, pressing a kiss to her cheek. This sent Lily into a fleet of giggles, causing Y/N to roll her eyes.
"Woah," Sirius started, marching up to the table with Remus in tow, "Who pissed in your coffee today N/N?"
"Bugger off Sirius, not in the mood." Y/N grumbled, returning her attention to the F/F on her plate.
"Jeez, right then."
"So, don't suppose you lot are gonna tell us why you're so late for breakfast?" James questioned, raising an eyebrow at the pair as they took their seats at the table.
Sirius leaned in, whispering, "Don't think you guys want to know that bit." he had a look of mischief on his face, and Remus just looked away blushing.
A chorus of groans went up from the table. Y/N was so done with this. Everyone was in a relationship. Everyone was happy. Everyone was getting some. It was unfair. Though it was quite childish, she pushed her plate further into the middle of the table, and got up from her seat.
"Y/N?" Lily asked, sounding concerned again, "Are you alright?"
"Fine. Just not quite hungry." It was nearly 8:30, it wouldn't be weird if she went to the music room a bit early, "I'll meet you girls in the band room yeah?"
Lily and Mary nodded, Marlene just gave her a quizzical look. Y/N grabbed her bag and went off to the music room, not looking back. She knew it was childish, she didn't care. It wasn't like she resented them for being happy- what kind of friend would that make her? It was just... frustrating. Everybody had someone, except her. Well, she had Marlene, but not in the way she wanted her. But that was enough right? To be her friend? It had to be enough.
"Do you think I upset her?" Sirius questioned his friends.
" 'Course not, Pads. She was acting strange before you lot got here. I wouldn't think too much of it." James added, an arm still wrapped around Lily.
Sirius nodded, and the rest of the table returned to their conversation. Marlene sat there, picking at her food, wondering just what might be up with her best friend.
* * * * * * * *
The rest of the girls arrived to the music room shortly after Y/N. Mary was a few minutes late, and tried to blame it on the shifting staircases before Lily quickly shot her down.
"The staircases? And I suppose that Ravenclaw you've been eyeing was helping you figure out your footing." Lily rolled her eyes playfully.
"Er- something like that." Mary blushed lightly, "He's rather handsome, don't you think? He said he'll take me up to the shops for next Hogsmeade weekend!"
The girls chatted for a few more minutes before deciding to get down to business. They'd come here to practice, and so practice they would. They'd always fancied the idea of being in a girl band, though they weren't sure they could call themselves a band if they didn't have a name. But nonetheless, they were a group of friends playing songs together, so they considered themselves a band. They had started to set up- it didn't take much work, it was a magical school after all. A few enchantments on the mics and instruments and it was as if they had the world's best speakers throughout the room. They were ready.
The girls tended to have different tastes in music, so they would often alternate between the music choices of each member. There was never much dispute, it was a solid rotation and as long as they all got their chance to show their music, no one minded all that much. This week, Y/N had gotten to pick a fair deal of the songs, so she was quite happy despite her sour mood in the earlier morning.
"You girls heard of Pink Floyd?" Y/N asked, grinning.
"James quite likes them, I do like a few of their songs!" Lily added.
"Perfect!" Y/N's smile widened, "Okay, lets start with this song. I'll play it for you guys a few times, then I have the sheet music for it as well."
The girls enjoyed playing muggle music- there was something so different about it. It enthralled them, the way that their music was able to sound so magical without being, well, magical.
Y/N walked over to the record player on an ancient desk that sat in the corner of the music room. It was borrowed from the muggle studies classroom and had become dusty with its lack of use. She flipped through a crate of records that sat below it, halting when she found the right one.
"Alrighty girls, prepare to have your minds blown." Y/N popped the record into the player and set the needle as the song began to play.
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher, leave them kids alone
Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone!
All in all, it's just another brick in the wall
All in all, you're just another brick in the wall
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers, leave them kids alone
The song continued on, and when it came to an end, Mary was the first to speak up.
"Ooh, I quite like that one N/N! Not bad at all!"
Y/N smiled at her and turned to the other girls. Marlene just nodded at her in approval. Normally, Marlene was a lot more into these discussions. Y/N wasn't quite sure what Marlene was thinking- she'd been eyeing her strangely since their interaction that morning. Maybe she'd taken it a step too far? She must have been too forward. It must've made Marlene uncomfortable. She tried not to shrink into herself and opted to turn to Lily.
"Lils? What did you think?"
"Er- well.. It's not exactly my cup of tea, but if you like it, I'm more than willing to learn it." Lily added.
"Figures our little book worm wouldn't love a song about rebelling against school," Mary chided. Lily sent her a playful glare before they both began to snort laughing.
"Right then, you guys need to hear it again or should we just start?" Y/N said, clasping her hands together.
They had decided to give it another listen before attempting the song themselves. Everyone took their spots- Lily on the drums, Mary with her bass. Marlene had her electric, and Y/N took her spot at the main mic with Marls on backup vocals. Their first run through wasn't bad, but it wasn't until about the third play that they really got a sense of the timing and a better feel for the beat. Once they'd finished with "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", they moved onto one of Mary's choices. To no ones surprise, Mary chose an ABBA song. The girls quite liked ABBA, and despite the boys usually criticizing their taste in muggle music, Y/N would take to her grave that Sirius once drunkenly danced with her to 'Dancing Queen'. Mary chose to play 'Gimme Gimme Gimme', a song that the girls all quite adored.
There wasn't really much drumming in the song, so Lily took Marlene's spot on vocals with Y/N.
Half-past 12
And I'm watchin' the late show in my flat, all alone
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
Autumn winds
Blowin' outside the window as I look around the room
And it makes me so depressed to see the gloom
When it got to the chorus, all of the girls started to join in, and it had at this point turned into more of a dance party than a band practice.
There's not a soul out there
No one to hear my prayer
Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away?
Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
By the end of the song, instruments had been abandoned on the makeshift stage, and the girls were running around singing and dancing their hearts out. The girls were out of breath when they saw the doors to the music room open, and the boys (plus Dorcas) waltzed in.
Sirius gasped, "Were you girls having a dance party? Without me?"
"Oh please," Mary started, "We were dancing to ABBA. As if you would join us."
The boys, sans James, groaned at the mention of ABBA. James had never been too picky about music, especially if Lily liked it. He would make any excuse to dance with her, never mind the song. James went over to Lily to envelop her in a hug, while Remus, Peter, and Dorcas all took their place on a couch in the corner of the room. Y/N, now slightly out of breath walked up to the stand to gather up the sheet music she'd printed. She shuffled through a few of the other songs she'd wanted to go over. Sirius waltzed up to her and plucked the lot of the sheets from her hands.
"Sirius, what are you doing. Give those back you arse." Y/N started, stomping after Sirius as he jumped away to the couch to take his place on Remus's lap.
"Just takin' a look N/N. Woah-" he stopped, "You've got some good picks here. Didn't know you knew so many muggle singers. You've got the Beatles, Led Zeppelin..." he trailed off, then gasped "QUEEN! Remus! She knows Queen!'
"Sirius, love. Everyone knows Queen. Now give me my music back, you're shuffling all of the papers up!" Y/N wailed.
Sirius begrudgingly gave back the papers. He did not feel like dealing with the wrath of Y/N once again. "You know, you girls never have played anything for us." He drawled, frowning and picking at the chipped nail polish on his fingers. "I think its high time we changed that, don't you guys?"
James nodded in agreement, an arm still wrapped around Lily. Peter and Dorcas were still in their own little world, and Remus just kissed Sirius' knuckles in agreement.
"Well," Mary began, "I'm not completely opposed to it."
Y/N and Marlene let out a near-simultaneous groan.
"Oh come on girls, it could be fun! We know they're our biggest supporters." Lily said, smiling while James pecked her cheek.
"I mean, Marls, if you're alright with it, I guess I am too." Y/N admitted.
With a groan, Marlene finally agreed. "Fine, but we pick the song."
Sirius' grin returned immediately.