------
The first week of term is alright.
My OWL results from last Summer let me continue in NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Charms, and Transfiguration. They're less classes than my Ravenclaw peers are taking, but I'm looking forward to not having lots of work to do this year.
All the Ravenclaws in my year only have afternoon classes on Friday, so we all decide to sleep over in the boys' dormitory Thursday night.
We sneak through the nearly deserted common room and up to the boy's dormitories. Jacob, as always, lets us in.
It's a bit of a shock to see four beds in there instead of five, but my attention is quickly brought to a bulky record player sitting on Clancy's bed.
"What's that?" Penelope asks.
"Oh- I got it for my birthday."
"Ancient, isn't it?" I grin, walking over to it and fiddling with the needle stick.
"Well, nothing else would work here, would it?" he says, digging through his trunk and pulling out an album, "The Queen is Dead", by The Smiths.
"Clancy went through an enlightenment over the Summer and now he listens to The Smiths and wears Doc Martens," Benjamin says.
"Yes, all of the women love him now," Dougal grins.
"You're just jealous," Clancy hits him before setting the needle on the record.
"Of you or of the women?" he jokes.
"Aren't your parents both wizards?" Patty asks.
"Well, yeah, but my Mum's muggleborn, so she knows all about this stuff."
"Did you lot do any of the homework Lockheart assigned?" Penny asks.
"Oh, please- read one of his books and write a paper about his best qualities?" I snort.
"Don't tell me you did it-" Jacob grins.
"Well, I don't want to fail!" Penny says.
"Oh my god, she fancies him," Patty shakes her head.
"I do not!"
"Yeah, she's got a boyfriend now," I smirk.
"No I haven't!"
I give her a look.
"Okay, yes I have," she blushes.
"Oh my God it's not Percy-" Patty starts.
"It's Percy," I confirm.
"Shut up!" She laughs, throwing her pillow at me.
"I Know It's Over" begins to play.
"This song's quite depressing, isn't it," Dougal says, looking at Clancy.
"Shut up; it's poetic," Clancy says, pulling his knees to his chest on his bed.
"I do quite like this one," Eleanor smiles at Clancy.
"You should play the bigmouth song," I say.
"Patience, Laurie, that's not 'till track 6," Clancy says, pompously.
"Did you lot know that Laurie thinks Day Tripper is the best Beatles song?" Penny asks.
There's an uproar from my friends. "Oh Merlin, not this again," I roll my eyes, laughing.
"Day Tripper?" Dougal shakes his head.
"What about Come Together?" Jacob asks.
"Something!" Eleanor supplies.
"Not even Blackbird?" asks Patty.
"I didn't know you all were such avid Beatles fans."
"Didn't know you were such a fake Beatles fan," Clancy shakes his head.
"I'm not a fan at all," I laugh.
"Well, who do you like, then?" asks Eleanor.
"Guns 'n Roses," I say.
"Merlin, not the rock band," laughs Jacob.
I shake my head. "I like rock; the Beatles are just too mellow."
"Didn't know Laurie was a punk," Patty whispers loudly.
"You know what, guys- Ambria's going to have the Hufflepuffs play their songs at the party tomorrow and then you'll all see how good they are."
"Yeah, sure, Laurie," Penny grins.
"Oh- Laurie- this is Bigfoot Strikes Again," Clancy says, turning the record player volume up.
"I like this one!" I grin.
"Your music taste is so weird," Penny mutters, shaking her head.
"Well, anyone who likes The Smiths has got to have at least some good music taste," Clancy says.
"In case you all didn't know, Clancy likes The Smiths," teases Dougal. We all laugh, Clancy included.
"Do you write poetry now, too?" asks Benjamin.
"Actually, I do," Clancy says, keeping his chin up.
We all laugh. "You really changed a lot this Summer," Patty comments.
"Just became a lot more grounded," he shrugs.
"Okay, guys, I think we need to take away his Doc Martens," Jacob says.
Clancy rolls his eyes and laughs.
"Seriously, though, are all of you just going to not do Lockheart's essay?" asks Penelope.
"No, he's mental!" I say.
"I'll probably just bullshit my way through it," Dougal says.
"I'll copy off Dougal," Clancy lays back against his headboard, picking at his fingernails.
"You've got two prefects in here; might not want to say that," whispers Ben.
"Yeah, I'll turn you in," Jacob grins.
"You'll never stand a chance his deep aura," Dougal says. Clancy nods in agreement.
"Guys, shut up, it's There is a Light That Never Goes Out," Clancy says, turning up the record player even more.
The chorus comes on and we all start singing along.
"And if a double-decker bus, crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die," we yell, not caring how loud and bad our singing sounds. I laugh as we continue to belt the lyrics. "And if a ten ton truck, kills the both of us, to die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine."
The next verse of the song comes on. "Depressing song, isn't it?" Dougal says, for the second time tonight.
"That's The Smiths," shrugs Clancy, grinning.
We finish listening to the song and Clancy turns the record player back down. "Hopefully nobody heard us," Penny says, nervously.
"Ah yes, a bunch of teenagers screaming a song about death at 11:30 pm, a quite rebellious act," I nod.
"Reminder that you lot aren't supposed to be in the boy's dormitories," James cuts in.
"Oh, but you're not complaining, right, Jake?" Ben wiggles his eyebrows at him and Eleanor.
They both go bright red and look away from each other.
"It's a good song," Clancy says, bringing us back to the previous subject.
"What's this one about?" Patty asks, referencing the song that's playing right now.
"Oh- it's Some Girls are Bigger Than Others-"
"What's it about, Clance?" I grin.
"Well..." he goes red.
"Is it sexist, Clancy?" Patty accuses.
"No- it's-"
"You're backing yourself into a hole, mate," Dougal grins, patting him on the back.
We burst out laughing at Clancy's awkwardness.
"What other albums do you have?" asks Eleanor.
Clancy, glad for the subject change, starts digging around in his trunk. "I've got Back in Black, Graceland, Thriller, and Abbey Road."
"Oh, let's do Abbey Road!" grins Penelope, shooting me a look. I groan.
"All in favor of The Beatles?" asks Clancy. Everyone raises their hands except for me. I shake my head.
Clancy grins and puts the album on the needle.
Despite my disapproval of the music, I do enjoy myself during the next couple of hours. We eventually fall asleep around 3 am.
I lay on the floor on a bundle of blankets that Dougal gave up from his bed. Penny rests her head and pillow across my shins.
It's actually surprisingly comfortable. It's quite chilly; there's a lot of rain outside, so being next to the heater in the middle of the room is very cozy.
I fall asleep feeling very content.
------
AN: if you haven't, go listen to "the queen is dead" album by the smiths right now; it's your homework before reading the next chapter.
------