"Yeah, they just got on." Derry turned her attention back to the stage, keeping close to him. It was really important for her that he was here, actually. She wanted him to know why her best friends were so amazing, and why she raved about them so much.

She beamed at the stage, it was so amazing, seeing them all up there in lights, her skin felt tingly. "Thank you for coming." she added, kissing his cheek this time.

She could EXPLODE with happiness right now.

As soon as the time for them to start playing got closer and people were gathering back around the stage, Penelope immediately headed that way too. And she totally shoved pushed some people out of the way too, DETERMINED to be in the front. Nothing was getting in between her and that front row.

There. Now she had a perfect view of someone in particular her friends.

And the chanting? She beamed at that. She was already ridiculously excited for them and to see them perform again, but the fact that other people were excited too only added to her own. This was AWESOME, yeah?

Penelope cheered and screamed when the announcer's voice came and Ascanius' familiar voice counted them off and it began.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

"Perfect timing then" He remained close to her, moving his hand close to hers and slipping his hand into hers. If she didn't want to it was whatever but why speak over the crowd and interrupt the song to ask?

He could see how talented her friends really were, he would have to ask her their names again later, he was sure she'd told him but he wasn't sure if he remembered correctly. "Thanks for inviting me" Jim couldn't help but smile at the kiss on the cheek.

"Do they have a merch table set up?"

Dora wasn't screaming or chanting or any of that nonsense, but she was up at the front and as close to being center as she would allow herself to be. She was visible to her friends up on stage, if they looked close enough and her wand tip was a fiery red, not waving it yet though since they couldn't tell it was her and she wasn't going to waste her energy on stuff they couldn't see. But still lit.

Because she did love almost every member of that band, and at least enjoyed looking at all of them. Good genes all up on that stage.

When the lights came on, her wand went up and then she started to wave it around casually.

Rorie skated over to the main stage when she heard the super loud chanting. Looks like they were pretty big among the locals. Turns out they're not called 'The Thread Needles'. They were called 'The Dead Kneazles'. Dec should've made that clear, gosh.

The pink haired infinitesimal being pushed her way through the crowd of people preventing her from seeing what was so great about this band. Occasionally, she'd run over people who wouldn't move and then make a total sweetheart face that apologized for it like it was an accident. Obviously, it wasn't.

Eventually, she surfaced at the front to finally see what these "idols" looked like.

...........

...HOLY TARANTINO!! Was it legal for this many attractive people to be in a band together?! By Carpenter's Left Toe!!! This is the eighth wonder of the world right here!




All this screaming was starting to make loads of sense. Although, she could very much do without straight in her ear THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Ror was in the process of scanning over the lead singer's tattoos when her eye caught a figure that was very much also in a poster hanging in her room.

O______________________________O

IT WAS CHARLIEFROMAGROMANTULA ASJDFHFIJOKAJILSKLRKIJSLO!!!!!!!!!!!

She glanced at him, trying not to stare for too long and make it obvious. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. There was a scream loud enough that probably her dad in California would hear dying to burst out. She didn't want to seem like another screamy fangirl though.

Despite all her efforts, the scream escaped her lips in a sputtering mess that eventually turned into "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" In a desperate attempt to conceal it, she turned back to the stage and directed it up there to blend in with the rest of the TDK fans.

ASAHJHSJKKOSPEOPWP

!!!

"ROOOOORIEEEEE!" Marigold screamed, to be heard over all the noise, at her younger cousin. She waved frantically, then pushed her way over to her. For a tiny fangirl, she was pretty strong, kthnxbye. She wrapped both her arms around Rorie, then jumped up and down and squealed.

"RORIE WE ARE AT A DEAD KNEAZLES CONCERT TOGETHER AREN'T THEY SO GOOD THAT ONES WEST HE'S REALLY COOL I HAVE ALL THEIR AUTOGRAPHS LET'S DANCE."


WIGGLE!DANCE MOVES ENSUED.

She could cry. From happiness. Not only she was finally free to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, except apparating her brother here, because he hadn't wanted to, but whatever, but she was also going to see them perform.

Not the first time, of course, but each time was particularly special.

Also, she made sure to arrive just in time for The Dead Kneazles, because that's the only band she was looking forward to see, truth be told. And while more than enough time to spare, she'd rather spend it doing things she liked. So, just TDK for her, thank you.

How exciting it was, to see her friends up there!

Best. Night. Ever. Sort of.

This group was Rockin. The lead was amazing and hot! Wiggenweld, she was going to have to remember that name, though she was sure she had heard their songs before. Plus the chick on the side of her wasn't a drama queen about a drink being spilled on her. Double awesome, she was going to continue to dance with this one. Pushing her hair off her shoulder she turned more to face her new dance partner.

Looking down at her cup she turned her eyes towards the food stations on the other end of the festival, "Over there, though I should have gotten a bigger one, this one isn't going to last too long. Here want a sip?" She was certainly a giver, so she didn't mind sharing her drink.

Looking back to the stage she nodded, just as the singer started to slow things down, "OMG!! I love this one!" She swayed a bit to the music, "Yeah they are good." Fully getting into the music again she swayed and sung until the end. "I'm Madelyn by the way."

Her eyes moved to the stage, they were done? They just started. UGH! The next group looked like they just left their mother's lap. "We could go get some more drinks if you want." Or she could stay and dance to this group, she was up for anything really.

Now this is what it is suppose to be like in front of a live audience. They had the graduation party and some other things. But this was really awesome. Everyone chanting their name and waiting for them to perform. Nothing could beat this until something did in the future

Right after West slammed down some chords on his guitar. Nigel looked around to see Ves and Scan as ready as he was. Nigel followed with his bass slamming down on some chords. Getting the crowd more into it. If it was possible.

Who knows.

It was all about putting on a good show besides their awesome looks. Because really they were all good looking.

Fact.

Not one to talk and really, he was the bass player. It was not his place for the talking to audience thing unless he was joking around between songs.Fun that was. So he just bounced around the stage. Striking some chords here and there waiting for them to finally start performing their awesome songs. Then he heard the one two three four thing from Scan and knew it was finally starting.

Lights...Music...Show Time.

This was happening.

This was REALLY happening.

Vesper Bayliss, who had just graduated ONE YEAR AGO, was standing front and center on the WWN Music Festival stage; West and Nigel to either side of her....and Ascanius on a raised platform overlooking them. The stage was bathed in total darkness; the only light coming from the array of lit wands in the crowd...........and Vesper wasn't nervous.

There was something buzzing in the air; something kinetically changed and ALIVE. A pulse and heartbeat in this Festival crowd.....and she felt everything they were feeling. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and a shiver coursed through her body.

Introducing the finale act of the night, The Dead Kneazles!

West struck a cord. Nigel followed suit. Ascanius started counting them off.

Tambourine in hand, Ves closed her eyes and took a calming couple of breathes. This was THEIR moment. People were screaming THEIR name. They were here for THEM.

They could do this.

The lights came up and her eyes immediately sought out West.

Ready?

João stopped before the people were too crowded. He was taking no chances whatsoever with this. He didn't trust these teenagers to begin with, who knew what they would do for their 'idols'? He also didn't trust Dylan and Aspen. Now that Dylan had talked to him to apologise, João was sure the boy thought they were equal, and would ruin the night. And Aspen was Aspen. It had been the worst mistake of his life to ever trust her.

"These teenagers are crazy," he said to Mags as his eyes scanned the area. He had never understood the concept of an 'idol' in the first place, but this was good observation of people, some sociological lesson or something. Done with quickly examining the crowd, his eyes landed on West on the stage. His face betrayed nothing at all, but in his mind, he replayed that night and how things could have worked out differently.

...Ready. Willing. Eager. As always, of course. West felt at home up here, on any stage really, with his guitar strings vibrating under callused fingers. It was dark now, technically night time, but with the lit up wands, the screaming fans (holy Merlin he'd never get tired of that, and was it his imagination or were there more than he'd ever heard before?) and the sound of their instruments coming to life, everything felt brighter and lighter than ever before. Yeah, you could see in the dark with music, that was part of its power, part of the magic.

His fingers picked out the chords to their opening song, a new original as most of this set would be, and West leaned into the microphone and sang the opening verses to an upbeat, dance-able tune:

"The web I spin for you
is sticky with the residue
of lies that once were true

baby I’ve changed
but the words stayed the same
and I’m caught up in the blame"

He couldn't make out any faces out there but he knew that certain ones would be present, and he kept his gaze on the darkness, as if he was looking deep into the eyes of anyone who happened to be looking back. The song built to a crescendo and unleashed itself with the upbeat chorus and West threw himself into it, fingers a blur on his guitar, voice ringing out:

"Tricky, sticky situation
don’t make me eat my words
I need a little motivation
for this relationship to work
Girl, I’m not a liar
Just read it in my heart
we’ve got to stick together
before we fall apart"

He jumped around the stage as the chorus ended, Scan's drumming beating its way right through Wests feet. Small instrumental section, with that heavy gritty bassline they were becoming known for. West's energy remained high as they brought it back to the next couple of verses:

"This situation has corrupted
every little thing it touches
you know you think too much!

Girl you don’t believe in me
the way you should be
and I know I don't make it easy!"

Soon enough West was shoulder to shoulder with Vesper, sharing a microphone as they hit the chorus again, her beautiful voice fitting in with his in a seamless harmony here and there to emphasize the lyrics they sang.

"Tricky, sticky situation
don’t make me eat my words
I need a little motivation
for this relationship to work
Girl, I’m not a liar
Just read it in my heart
we’ve got to stick together
before we fall apart"

West dropped to his knees fingers furiously picking out the guitar solo while Nigel and Ascanius provided that undeniable thumping beat that was the meat and potatoes of the particular dish TDK were serving up: they were the hearty fundamentals, basically. West's solo was more the seasoning, the spice, that little bit extra heat that amped it all up.

Tying it together of course was the sweet and smooth vocals which Vesper cut in with as West got back to his feet.

our sticky little history
is not enough for you and me
I just can’t make you see

They sang together again twice more through the chorus and then West let his guitar swing on its strap, all the instruments dying out as he grabbed his microphone with both hands and sang unaccompanied, staring out into the audience with a burning gaze:

"the web I spin for you
is sticky with the residue
of lies that once were true...."

His voice faded into a deafening silence, broken by cheering only moments later. His heart was on fire and it was glorious.

"That was one of our new songs, Sticky." West told the crowd, shooting a wink out there to accompany the grin that curved his lips.

"Are you having a good time, Diagon Alley?"



He cupped his ear. Yes? They were? Hmmmmm. West looked over at Vesper and Nigel, then shrugged theatrically.

"Did you guys hear that, I didn't quite hear that. I think they can be louder than that. Let me ask again. Are you having a good time, Diagon Alley!?"



West raised both of his hands in the air, inviting the response. Ahhh MUCH better!

"That's what I thought! So lets keep that good time going."

He gripped his guitar again and launched into the opening riff of the second song of their set, they were just getting started.

She didn't mind the hand holding, in fact, she quite liked it. Though of course there was the fact that right now there was pretty much nothing that could possibly bring down her mood. Derry clinged to Jim's hand, squeezing it as West and Vesper sang...

She should probably be dancing, but she just had so many emotions right now. She was going to burst. She bounced on her toes a little, holding in that annoying squeal of pride and excitement that was trying to get out of her mouth, and kept her eyes fixed on the stage, on her friends. Her friends. She was so lucky.

And she was sure that whatever Jim had said had been important, or at least interesting, but the song had finished and she couldn't help screaming her approval along with everybody else, playing along with West.

Olly was about to ask Józsua to vanish her fish-and-chips-container too (hey lets just pretend she finished it yeah?) when the last band left the stage. Right. They really SHOULD start moving to the front. Yes. She quickly downed her drink and just dropped her food (oops someone MUST have bumped into her - well now it was RUINED) before getting up. "Yeah, we should-"

'Introducing the finale act of the night, The Dead Kneazles!'

When she heard the band's name being announced Olly simply grabbed Józsua's hand and pulled him through the crowd. Yes there might have been some conveniently placed elbows and shoves on the way but eventually the two of them had made it to the front of the crowd. Like, excuse me, her and Józsua were DEFINITELY more important than most of the others here. She occasionally spotted familiar faces but didn't bother to stop to join them. From their current position they had PERFECT view of the stage. And the people ON stage. Because they were there.

They'd STARTED!

And despite everything that was currently going on in her life, Olly grinned over at Józsua and squeezed his hand.

So that evening. The one where The Dead Kneazles performed as Headliners at the WWN Festival.. Yeah, that one. Józsua knew then that it would remain with him for his lifetime..

He was being dragged through the crowds.. Olly weaving her way through and Józsua following. She pushed and shoved her way (had she done this before?), and Józsua tried his best to apologise to people on the way past. Finally they reached the front. Olly had managed to get them a good spot with a good view of the stage. “This is perfect.” He shouted, grinning from ear to ear. The Kneazles were already on.

He fixed his gaze on the stage. Everything then became a blur. This was nothing like that intimate, dimly lit gig after graduation. The enormity of it all hit him suddenly and all Józsua could do was stand there in stunned silence, listening. The cheer of the crowd.. the four people up there he went to school with.. the atmosphere.. the fans. ..West. West. That guy. His friend.

Józsua felt the burn of tears in his eyes. Even above the roar of music and the perfection that was Vesper and West's harmonies, he didn't know how the people around him couldn't hear the heavy thud of his heart. He took a deep, shaking breath and looked at Olly, tears rolling down his cheeks which glittered under the lights from the stage.. a proud smile fixed on his face as he still clung to her hand.

Letting go, he put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer to him, feeling a rush of love for her. “This is.. this is amazing. They sound amazing.”

Cosgrach didn't know the other singers much, sadly, so he didn't feel especially outgoing and energetic to come and watch them, but TDK? YOU BET he would watch his old students and support them! So, hand in hand with his wife, he walked to the stage and crowd before they started to see it all. He exclaimed like a little child when rainbows things happened, and yelled a "WOOOOO HOOOOO!" when their name was announced. Finally, the kids were on stage.

"That's Ascanius!" he said as he pointed at the drummer. They were in the middle of the crowd, he didn't want to hog the front row, lest their friends and parents wanted to, but he did want to have a good view. Hopefully, Victoria wouldn't mind the crowd.

"Nigel," he said, pointing at the bass-guitarist, "Vesper," who was obviously the only girl, "and West!" The guitarist, and also...

Wooooow! Cosgrach had always assumed Vesper did all the singing, but this? West got SOME voice there! He was perhaps too old to dance, and he would just embarrass himself anyway, so he didn't, but enjoyed the song.

"It's SO good to see that my students are following their dreams."

Yes, it was perfect. It truly was.

Her eyes were fixed on the people on stage - maybe more on West than the other three - and right then she didn't care about anything else. She didn't care that people kept bumping into her. She didn't care that there were girls and boys literally squealing into her ear. She didn't care that she'd felt like hell just a few moments earlier. She didn't care about any of it.

All that mattered right now was that West was up there and that she was SO proud of him.

Olly looked up at Józsua when he put an arm around her. She noticed the tears and she understood. It was exactly how she felt right now too. With a smile she reached up to run her fingers over cheek for a second, careful NOT to wipe the tears away. They should stay there. It was cute. She then brought her attention back to West the band.

Leaning against Józsua's side she nodded in agreement to his words. "It's....unreal somehow." And it was perfect.

The beginning of Sticky Scan's foot pedalled the bass drum. Giving West and company some support to push along the song. Until the chorus. There was a HUGE downbeat where Scan threw his back into the drums. He heard Nigel's bass tear it up all grimy and gritty. The song got real earthy whenever Nig got to solo a bit.

During the instrumental break, Scan's arms flew all over the drums hard and exact. Precision in rhythm, unrelenting in feel. Like the wash of music that the rest of the band was supplying was just crashing into the audience again and again. A riptide of wrock 'n roll.

Throughout the entire refrain Scan basically wailed on the drums. Upbeat music meant he could just.....unleash. Sweat was sticking to his skin by the end of first song when he pounded out a BA DA DA DUM.

His hands stayed up until the final echoes of the first song when the screaming took over again. And the stupidest, stupidest smile etched on his stupidly, stupidly handsome face.

This was.......unreal, yeah? When did this happen to them?

He was vaguely aware of West talking at the audience 'cause he was hot. Yeah, yeah he knew he was attractive, but like ACTUALLY sweating.

So he did the only thing he could think of....took of his shirt and tossed it at Nigel's head to annoy him. Cue smirky smirk. Hey Nig. Ready for the next song, mate?

This was a good day, it was nice outside, she was hand in hand with her husband, and she was out at a public event, so face time and a little campaigning if necessary. Though she wanted most of the day to just be her and Cossy and of course a little of Bart, since he was running around here somewhere. She knew the fifteen year old was too cool for his mother now, so she'd give him his space.

As they made their way towards the stage she was glad he didn't want to go all the way up. It was a little loud for her taste, but that could be showing her age a bit too. After two screaming babies she preferred the more quiet settings. The music was good though and she couldn't help but giggle as her much older husband got teenage like excited over a bad. "Your students? Already on a big stage like this, goodness they must be good." Had Bart spoke of them? She toned out his music most days, so he could very well have and she hadn't noticed.

Looking to the stage as he started naming them she did recognize a few, "They've played Quidditch at school, well before it was canceled." bitter sounding? Yes she was that bloody school had made extra work keeping quidditch away. Her brow did raise as he said West, "As in West Odessa, Professional Quidditch player?" Interesting, the boy seemed to have a time turner possibly? It was the only way to explain how he could be successful in both Professional Quidditch and a band. Both were very hard work and took loads of time, but she wasn't there to judge she was there to have a good time and the music, though not of her liking, wasn't too bad and soon she was dancing a little and nudging Cossy to dance as well.

She had been waiting around all day for this. She never seen them play before but she knew who they were. The Dead Kneazles or TDK. The whole band had been at Hogwarts the first year she was there. This was just so cool. She was excited for all of them. Their first really big gig, right?

The stage was dark. Many people had their wands in the air with the tip lit. She heard the chant TDK TDK TDK. They really had a bunch of fans. She didn't join in but she clapped along with the chant. Her brown eyes, glued to the stage. When she lights came on she beamed up. There they were. Cinna couldn't help but to yell out.

"VESSSSSSPERRR!!! Wooooo!!"

It was Vesper. As beautiful as ever. There she was her idol, her role model. They even had the same last name different spelling but that was besides the point. And the guys they looked great as always. The first song started playing and she clapped along to the beat.

Mags quirked an eyebrow at his comment and smiled. Turning toward the stage she pulled his arms around her. They were crazy. And loud. But she didn't mind so much.

She wasn't particularly keen on this band... the frontBOY looked like a girl and his voice was annoying. But oh well. She swayed slightly to the music. As long as that dude wasn't singing she liked it alright.

"I'm just glad I'm here with you."

TDK had taken the stage, but Amelia was still all worked up about having been pulled on stage with Wiggenweld. So she was dancing near the stage, surrounded by the crowd, but only marginally paying attention to what was happening around her.

She could only assume Emrys hadn't seen, since she hadn't been immediately collected and taken home. Whatever. She was of age and could do what she pleased. Or something. She scanned the crowd, seeing if she could spot a familiar face. Someone to dance with would be nice, at least...

The energy here was something else, she thought. Like, vibrate your bones sort of intense. So even if TDK wasn't her favorite group in the world - and she really didn't get some of the obsessing - she could admit that they were good and knew this was going to be a good night.

Jumping up and down a bit, Amelia closed her eyes and just danced.

Jim squeezed back, feeling like his hand was in a little ball of energy! Merlin, her excitement was great, the crowd seemed to be responding accordingly, which meant her friend's had great stage presence.

But the song had ended and the crowd was cheering, so he cheered with them and her. "They're really good." He leaned in and said in her ear. He wondered how many songs they had.

Libby guzzled a bottle of water after coming off the stage, and she tentatively hugged her band mates (sweaty boys... no thanks) before making her way out into the audience. It was nice to support the other acts performing, especially young and struggling bands that reminded her of their early days on the road.

Near the stage, she spotted their very willing victim still vibrating with energy from her close encounter with Chord. Grinning, Libby tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Hi again."

Merlin, it was noisy down here, wasn't it? A bit heavy on the bass for her tastes, but the band worked together well and weren't just making noise up there like sometimes happened with new bands.

Libby was TOTALLY NEAR HER AND SO WAS CHARLIE BLACK BUT MARIGOLD WAS ALREADY VIBRATING WITH EXCITEMENT SO SHE DIDN'T REALLY OUTWARDLY CHANGE. Marigold was dancing as much as she could and drinking up the experience - NEW SONG THAT MADE HER SCREAM A WHOLE LOT, and then West was so good that she might've swooned a bit, and then Ascanius took his shirt off.

Wooowee. *fans self*

WAS ZAHRA HERE TO SEE THAT? SHE SHOULD BECAUSE IT WAS PRETTY GREAT.