Hey Soul Sister
“Sirius Black,” said the producer lady.
He was the last of the four to sing to the judges and his nerves could contaminate anyone that came too close.
Peter was the first one to go - from their group - and come back a little bit more confident than before. Sirius was really happy for him, the poor boy was almost passing out since they announced there was a dancing part.
Then it was James’ turn. He was completely at peace when he got up, he said he was excited to sing the song he picked. From where Black was sitting he couldn’t hear anything but James came back shining like the sun so Sirius supposed it went well.
Remus went third and though he didn’t say a thing about how he felt, Sirius could see he was nervous, his back was tense and his finger played with the hem of his shirt. Remus was already on his way to the stage but looked back at the group uncertaintly. Sirius smiled as sweetly as he could, mouthed “good luck” and that seemed to do it since Remus continued to walk with firmer steps.
James, Peter, and Sirius were sitting - almost lying down - on the floor of the hallway next to the restrooms. Their legs were thrown forward messily and James’ head rested on Sirius's shoulders. Potter and Pettigrew were talking about people he never heard of and honestly didn’t care about. Actually, Sirius wasn’t paying much attention, he was busy trying to listen to Remus’ voice and failing miserably.
Black saw the boy coming towards them with the most beautiful smile. Bright and big, his eyes almost disappearing.
Sirius thought he would pay a lot of money to listen to Remus lull him to sleep with a Bowie song and wake up next to him looking at him with that smile.
He was so focused on that thought he didn’t notice when a girl came running and tripping to the restroom.
In their direction.
And just like it attracts this kind of thing, the girl kicked Sirius’s leg.
Sirius’ bad leg.
Everything in Sirius’ head disappeared when he felt the pain.
He screamed loudly and tears formed in the corner of his eyes. His leg pulsed like something was about to jump out of it. Faintly he could hear his name being called and the girl apologising.
His mind was foggy with pain, his vision dark, and he couldn’t process anything.
He felt strong hands around his waist pulling him up gently, he didn’t even realize he had fallen to the side.
The hit wasn’t really strong but the burn was really sensitive and already hurting since Sirius refused to not use the leg.
After what felt like ages the initial pain started to wear down and his mind was becoming less foggy.
The first thing he saw once his sight got clearer was James looking at his leg. The pants were pulled up so he could see the bandage he had made himself earlier that day with the basic supplies he kept in his room.
“Okay, Sirius, James is gonna take the bandage off so we can see how bad it looks to know what you need,” He heard someone say close to his ear. The voice was so soothing Sirius almost forgot about the pain.
He looked back to see Remus sitting next to him with a worried look, one arm around Black’s waist keeping him up and the other holding his hand. Sirius had no idea how he got into that position but he was comfortable there, despise his leg.
Right, his leg.
Sirius’ mind began to race to what would happen if someone saw the burn. They’d take him to the hospital and call his parents. The hospital would ask questions his parents wouldn’t be able to answer and his punishment would be double.
“James,” Sirius said, his voice raspy like the scream ended the amount his vocal cords had healed.
“It’s okay Sirius, it won’t hurt, I promise” Potter had with a reassuring smile.
“James,” Black said again, forcing his voice to be firmer.
“I don’t know how bad it’ll be but we can call my parents and take you to the hospital then we call yours. Everything will be fine, don’t worry.”
“James!”
“Jesus, Sirius.What?”
“If you touch my leg I swear I’ll kick you with my good one so much you’d be the one needing the hospital” Sirius was scared of what would happen if his mother was called so he protected himself the only way he know how: attacking.
“Sirius…” Remus said calmly.
“No! It was nothing, I just hurt my leg playing footie” Sirius hated football, despised it, really, “and the girl hit right in the wound,”
“I’m really sorry,” The girl that kicked him said next to James. To be honest, Sirius hadn’t seen her or the group of people that surrounded them.
“Sirius, I don’t believe it when you say it’s nothing. Your scream was so full of pain,” Peter said, worryingly.
“What can I say, dear Pete? I’m prone to the dramatics” Black gave his best sheepish smile and the crowd dissipated.
The three boys, however, had a look that showed they weren’t fooled but were letting it go for now.
It was really the best he could do.
That’s why when his name was called half an hour later, he was spotted by James and Remus while Peter cleared the way despite his efforts against it.
They reached the production lady and she raised an eyebrow at them.
“He hurt his leg,” Peter said to her, clearly glaring, “you would know if anyone from this production had gone to help when he screamed so loud all London heard,”
“Only Sirius Black can go into the stage” She ignored him completely.
“It’s fine lads,” Sirius said smiling. His voice had gotten worse and his throat burned like he had swallowed fire. He was afraid to see how he would be able to sing.
Sirius walked on the stage with the biggest grin he could muster, ignoring the pain.
He stopped behind the mic stand, using it to take weight from his leg. He looked to the wings and he could see Peter arguing with the lady, while James and Remus watched everything him with hawk eyes. Sirius knew that at the minimal sign he was in pain they would come to the rescue.
That made him smile.
“Sirius,” Minerva said, catching his attention, “How are you?”
“Brilliant, really. Little nervous” Sirius didn’t miss how her eyebrows raised when she heard his voice.
“Don’t be, boy. Have fun and do your thing and you should be fine” Slughorn said with a kind smile. Sirius took the hint and did a thumbs-up to the other side of the stage.
The song started and he was being able to hit the notes. This time, there was no choreo, no performance, he was saving for later.
He was doing fine, not his best, but fine. His voice wasn’t failing him and the judges seemed pleased.
The problem is: Hey, Soul Sister by Train had a difficult chorus.
Even when his voice was perfect he had somewhat of a problem hitting the “hey”s. Now? He sounded like he was being choked.
He knew he sounded horrible but he didn’t let it show. He went on without thinking.
He tried to save it though, in the second “hey” in the chorus, he didn’t try to go as high choosing to do a breathier “high” that it’s well in his comfortable range.
It sounded different but not bad and the judges would know it wasn’t how he practiced but he could only hope they’d appreciate him thinking quickly in situations of pressure.
The song ended, the judges clapped, and he gave them his best charming smile before waving goodbye.
He walked out, hiding his limp, and was immediately picked up by Remus.
James was trying to calm down a very nervous Peter.
“I really liked your version,” Remus said into Sirius’s ear as they walked back to their place.
“I like everything you sing, really”
༄༄
Peter didn’t know if he was happy to be in the same group for the dance with James, Remus, and Sirius.
They were all so confident, - they weren’t really but compared to Peter everyone was - talking and smiling like they weren’t about to walk in a death trap.
James didn’t allow Peter to look at the first group’s routine, he knew his friend would freak out even more, which Pettigrew was very grateful for.
Actually, he was very grateful for all the boys.
If he was there alone, he probably would be crying absurdly. They were all kind and always listened when Peter talked and made his awfull jokes. James always laughed even when he didn’t understand, Sirius made a funny face and Remus would chuckle lowly occasionally.
He knew James all his life, since they lived close by since babies and James was that kind of person no one could hate, he’s too kind. He had known Sirius and Remus for a couple of days but he was getting attached.
Wich is why when Sirius screamed, Peter’s heart clenched. It was so raw and full of hurt that a shot of adrenaline rushed through his body.
They helped as they could but they were waiting for someone from the show to help.
But no one came and Peter was fuming.
Overall, he was a calm person but when he got really angry all of his morals went away.
He would never have yelled and glared at that lady like he did but she was in charge and nothing was done when his friend needed.
She deserved his rage.
Not only she didn’t help but she refused to let Sirius dance to a lighter choreo because he was injured. “It’s not my fault,” she said.
When his adrenaline lowered he felt bad for treating her like that plus all his nerves with the dancing bit came back, flooding his brain.
“C’mon, guys,” James said, getting up.
Sirius made a mad sound when Remus stood up because his head was laying comfortably in the taller boy’s lap. Then Black made grabby hands wishing for help, a wish Remus didn’t blink to grant.
They were awfully sweet.
Peter’s head spun as he got up.
The four of them walked onto the stage where a blonde man waited for them.
“Okay, spread around,” Gilderoy Lockhart said, smiling.
Peter watched what his friends would do, choosing to stay close. James took a few steps from where they were and waited, Remus didn’t even move and Sirius went to the front line where there was more space.
Pettigrew looked around and decided to stay behind Remus, hoping his height would hide him.
“Alright, I’ll run you through some steps that will make a 30-second choreography, and then you’ll freestyle. Questions?” Gilderoy said and everyone stayed silent until a hand shot in the air.
From where Peter was standing, he could see Sirius’ raised arm and Lockharts annoyed expression.
“Yes?”
“What kind of type of dance will we be doing?” Sirius asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Ballet, tap, contemporary? I wasn’t told I had to bring any special shoes and that can affect my performance,”
“It isn’t that kind of dance, we’ll do something that looks like hip-hop, alright?” Gilderoy answered hiding a chuckle. He didn’t even wait for Sirius’ response - because he most certainly had one - and just shouted ‘music’.
He was in the middle of the stage, back turned to them, waiting for a specific part of the song to come up.
Suddenly he was moving his feet and popping his chest too much and too quickly to Peter’s comfort. The contestants tried to mirror him, desperate to pick up on the choreo but looking sort of foolish.
The song faded, Gilderoy’s movements stopped and Peter was still paralyzed.
In his mind a course of “you can’t do that, you’ll just look silly and stupid, more than you already are” was repeated over and over again until he just wanted to hide.
Faintly he could hear Lockhart shout instructions for the steps but his mind was elsewhere.
“Hey, Pete,” James said from behind him. “Aren’t you gonna do anything?’
“Not really”
“Why? What happened?” By then, James was already in front of him, holding his shoulders.
Behind James’ head, Peter could see Remus staring at them in confusion but his gaze softened when he realised what was happening.
“Gonna make a fool out of myself, James, and everyone will watch” His voice was breaking and he could feel the tears forming in the corner of his eyes.
“That’s not true. I bet you’re a brilliant dancer” Peter could help but laugh, dry and humorless.
“I wish. This is gonna be on the telly, James. Everyone can see how terrible I’ll do and laugh at me,” The tears threatened to spill, making Peter shut his eyes to hold them back.
“Pete, who cares about them? You came here to sing and you do that beautifully. The judges are not expecting great dancers, they just wanna see if we can sell this and be confident, they wanna see us perform, that’s all” His gaze was calm and collected like only James Potter could be.
“Wise words, Potter” Peter tried to joke, trying to calm down.
“Texted mum a while ago and she said that when I told her I was nervous and her advices always work,”
“That is true, Effie is never wrong.” He could feel the not in his chest untie and his nerves starting to settle.
“Exactly. Now, we gotta learn the choreography with someone 'cause I don’t think Lockhart will be very happy to help us,” James said while putting his arm around Peter’s shoulders. Both boys looked over at the choreographer that was very entertained taking selfies of himself “Oi, Black!” He shouted, “Care to help us?”