Harry Potter and The Charming Prince (BP7)

Tonks' house was pretty big, what with her being married to a rock star and all. It looked relatively normal on the outside, but the inside was nearly as loud as her hair and her husband's band. It was exactly as one would expect a rock star's house to look, and Tonks fit right in.

Harry and Draco had been there before, but it seemed different every visit. The foyer walls had been a shocking yellow the last time they'd come. Now they were violet.

"It was so cool, Don," said April, as the man she was talking to helped a pregnant Tonks through the door. "You guys sound even better in person!"

Donaghan chuckled. "Thanks," he answered.

Harry smiled. They'd just left a Weird Sisters concert and it was the first time the kids had ever gone to one. It had been loud, and it had been filled with screaming fans, bangs, and sparks. Harry had found it rather enjoyable.

Draco's favourite part of the evening had been dancing with his husband, even if people kept bumping into them and they had to keep an eye on their children. He had worried they might get trampled at points. Their children had seemed to have a lot of fun as well. Valen appeared to have inherited Draco's moves and, given that he was still only ten, that was a bit disturbing.

Harry almost pulled the door shut behind him, but then noticed his exceptionally quiet son poking along. Sev had been silent since the concert's end. Harry was getting an awed vibe from him. He didn't know why the boy would be so awed. He'd never been to a concert before, true, but it wasn't the first time he'd seen Don play.

Roxy, Tonks' daughter, was bounding around, hair currently neon green as she appeared to still be dancing despite the fact that the concert was over. She bounced up to Sev. "Dance with me!"

Sev startled, drawn out of his thoughts. "What?" he asked absently. It was odd. He usually played very well with Roxy, as she was only a year younger than he was.

"Dance," Roxy insisted, grabbing both of Sev's hands and pulling him into the middle of the room.

Harry sat on the fuchsia sofa, watching the two children.

"There's no music," Sev pointed out, then looked over at Donaghan, that expression of awe passing over his face again.

"The music's in your head, Sev. Can't you hear it?" Roxy asked.

Draco smiled, sitting beside his husband, patting his leg and watching the children.

"I always hear music," Sev answered, almost smug in his words. "But it's better when you can really hear it." He looked at Don yet again.

The man grinned, standing up. "Well, if your ears aren't bleeding already from the concert, I can put some music on." He walked across the room to the impressive Muggle stereo. "What sort of stuff do you like?"

Sev's eyes were suddenly alive with excitement. "Well, I can play Mozart and Beethoven, and I listen to you lot on the wireless, and Nan likes Celestina Warbeck, but I don't like her much," he said very quickly.

Don chuckled again. "I've got a lot more than that here." He opened a glass door on their entertainment system, revealing hundreds of CD cases.

"What's that?" asked Sev, cocking his head.

"It plays copies of the music off discs," Roxy explained.

Draco arched an eyebrow as his eldest son sat down beside him.

"Yep," Don agreed, getting down to his knees to pull the CDs out.

Harry hadn't seen a CD in a long time. Not since living with the Dursleys. Well, he'd watched Mr Weasley try to play one in a toaster once before. Harry smiled to himself at the memory.

"Is it Muggle music?" Sev asked, getting to his knees to to look on in fascination.

"Yeah," Don answered. "There's not nearly enough choice in wizarding music, since our world is a lot smaller. And the Muggles have really excellent stuff. Have you ever listened to anything Muggle?"

"In films, I guess," said Sev, not looking up from the shiny, colourful music cases. "But you can't really hear it well most of the time."

Draco listened. He hadn't had much more experience than his son as far as Muggle things went.

Tonks laughed. "Just don't put on any Nine Inch Nails," she told her husband, flopping down in a nearby chair.

Don rolled his eyes and snorted. "Nah, none of that. Do you like rock then?" he asked Sev.

Sev nodded, excited again.

"Well, all right." He began pulling CDs out and piling them on the floor. "We'll start you out with the classics. We've got The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, and The Doors, and Led Zeppelin, and the Eagles ...."

Sev watched eagerly as Donaghan showed him each album cover and recited each band name. The cases were shiny and colourful, each one more exciting than the last.

"Ever heard of any of them?" Don asked.

Sev shook his head. "They're all rock music?"

"Yep. They're all rock music. Older stuff, but still the greatest."

"Beetles? Rocks? Doors?" Draco asked, looking in confusion to his husband to explain this one.

Harry laughed. "They're bands," he said to Draco's baffled expression.

"What's the best?" asked April.

"Well, I like the Stones myself," Don answered. "But I suppose there is no real 'best', unless you’re going by how many albums sold."

"Am I going to like this?" Draco whispered, leaning in to kiss Harry's cheek.

"Did you like the concert?" Harry replied, amused.

Draco nodded. "It was pretty good. I like dancing," he said. "I mean, it isn't Mozart, but it is fun."

Harry was still amused. "Well, this isn't Mozart either," he said. "It's not as loud as the Weird Sisters, though. You might like it."

Don stood with one of the CDs in hand and walked over to put it into the player. They all sat in silence for a few seconds before the music began, and it sounded as though Mick Jagger was in the room with them. The song ‘Miss You’ came from the speakers surrounding them, and Sev was obviously entranced. His fingers began to play out a rhythm against his thighs and he appeared to be listening carefully as though he could separate each musical instrument in his head.

"I think we are in trouble," Draco tried to say to his husband over the noise.

Harry grinned, taking in Sev's wide eyes with delight. "Or we are witnessing the beginnings of a rocker."

Draco made a pained looking face. This was not what he had in mind for his son's future. "You’re going to break it to him that electric things won't work at the Manor?"

Harry winced and sighed. "Do I have to be the one?"

Valen leant over both of them. "I'll tell him," he said smugly.

"Ah, older brother to the rescue," Harry said sarcastically. "I'm sure you would."

"Hey, the Manor has its rules," Valen said as if that justified it.

Harry rolled his eyes and pushed Valen playfully. "Let Sev have his fun. He might not even ask." Harry doubted that, however.

"Dance!" Roxy was shouting and jumping up and down.

Sev was listening almost so intently, Harry didn't know if he would have room for thought to dance. But the boy stood up and began to move, looking even more lost in thought.

They listened to almost the entire ‘Some Girls’ album, then Don played at least one song from the other CDs he'd taken out. Sev never lost interest and asked dozens of questions; questions about everything. Who were the band members? How long had they been around? What instruments did they use? Who played what? Who, in Don's opinion, played the best guitar?

Don answered all with amusement and enthusiasm, and turned to Harry and Draco when Sev abandoned questions to look at even more CDs. "Future musician here?" he asked.

"He plays several instruments very well already," Draco said proudly, "especially the piano." He smirked at the last bit, glancing at his husband.

Harry laughed and blushed, catching an odd questioning look from April. "Yes, especially the piano," he agreed. "I'm starting to think he could play anything he picks up, though."

Sev grinned over at the adults.

"I am sure he could," Draco said proudly. He reached to hold Harry's hand. "But can we handle it?" he teased.

"I believe I could," Harry smirked. "Can you?"

"I think you two could handle just about anything," Tonks declared. "Even a rocker in the family!"

Sev's eyes glittered with possibility. "Where do you buy these, Don?" he asked, holding up one of the shiny disks.

"Muggle music shops," Don answered. "But you've got to have a CD player to get them to work."

Sev looked pleadingly over at Harry and Draco.

Valen snorted. "Here it comes."

Draco sighed, not actually wanting to disappoint Sev.

Harry ran a hand though his always-tousled hair. "Well, son," he began, "it's Muggle. You know Muggle things don't work around a lot of magic."

Sev's lower lip stuck out just a little, as it always did when he was about to get upset. "It wouldn't work at home?"

Harry sighed. "There's just too much power around us at home."

"Manor wouldn't let it. It would be jealous," Valen said in a way that suggested he agreed with the Manor.

Sev looked crestfallen and April huffed at Valen. "You're such a prat," she complained.

"He can play any instrument he touches, why does he need a Muggle thing?" Valen retorted, shrugging.

Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sev," he said. "We would get you one if we could."

Sev looked to be trying to keep himself from getting even more upset. Harry knew that Sev rarely asked for anything for himself or showed such blatant excitement on his face and wished there were a way to give him what he wanted.

"Well, hold on there," said Don with a crooked smile. "Sometimes I've got to be in places with too much magic and my Muggle equipment doesn't work right. I had a CD player specially made. Technically, it's not exactly legal, since it's a Muggle object that's been tampered with, but it's not going to leap up and snap a Muggle's nose off if they happen to pick it up. They wouldn't be able to tell there was any difference at all. If it's all right with your dads, I can let you have it."

Draco thought fondly of Mr Weasley and knew that if he were still with them, Sev would have to worry about the player being dissected. He arched an eyebrow and looked at Harry.

Harry smiled, staring at what he thought of as Sev's 'begging face.' With his grey eyes and silky black hair, it was a face that was hard not to give in to. Harry was only relieved that Sev hardly used that expression. "Well, I'm pretty sure the authorities won't arrest you," he said. "It's all right with me if it's all right with your father."

Draco rolled his eyes and sighed. He could hardly resist in the face of such pressure. But he did have a concern. "How loud is the thing?"

"It's a portable and has headphones," Don answered. "He'll be the only one that can hear it."

"How does it work?" Valen asked, apparently unable to maintain his scorn over his curiosity.

"Well, it usually runs on batteries," said Don. "But the one I have is adapted so that magic powers it. It should actually work exceptionally well at your place."

"Can I please have it, Father?" Sev asked, looking up hopefully at Draco.

"I suppose," Draco answered guardedly but smiled at his son's enthusiasm.

Sev beamed, leaping up from the floor to give Draco a hug, wrapping both arms strongly around Draco's neck.

Don laughed at him. "I'll go up and get it," he said, leaving the room.

"Did you have music like this when you were young?" Draco asked his husband, still holding a happy Sev.

"Sort of," Harry answered. "Dudley was the one with the music, but it didn't stop me from hearing it."

Draco returned Sev's hug and sat back watching the boy's excitement. His unrestrained enthusiasm reminded Draco of Harry.

Don entered back into the room a few minutes later with the portable CD player in hand and Sev jumped up again to see it and thank Don as if he were giving him a golden ticket to paradise. In Sev's case, Harry supposed he sort of was. Don gave Sev CDs to borrow as well until he could get his own, all of the ones they'd listened to that night, and Sev thanked him even more profusely.

By the time Sev learnt how to work the player, how to control the volume, and learnt how to wear the headphones, it was going on almost two in the morning, and April had fallen asleep sprawled across the sofa, her feet in Draco's lap.

"Merlin," said Harry, looking at his watch. "We're probably keeping you lot awake."

"Don't worry about it," Tonks assured them. "We keep odd hours."

Draco smiled and gathered April into his arms. "We should get the children home and in bed."

"Yes, definitely," Harry agreed, getting to his feet. He threw an arm around Valen, who looked like he might collapse with April. "Come on, Sev."

Sev was still wide awake, examining the player.

Valen leant against Harry, grumbling about his brother going "mental."

Draco noticed that Roxy was curled up on the rug on the floor. "Thank you for a great evening," he told Don and Tonks. He shifted the girl in his arms and headed toward the Floo.

"Great having you," Donaghan replied. "Have fun with that, Sev," he added.

Sev grinned and nodded, inside robe pockets bulging with his CDs. Harry smiled to see the way his eyes shone and knew that his son had, quite possibly, just discovered his passion.