Glee, Harry Potter 1. Prologue

She walked into the store trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, without appearing obvious. Her hood was up, but not pulled over her face, she walked quietly and calmly through the crowds of the store. However when she reached the door to the back, she prayed no one noticed as she stealthily entered, sending out a silent thanks to the universe that the door had been unlocked.

She found George's office in the back, shut the door behind her and sat in the only visitor's chair in the room.

It was almost half an hour later that George finally entered his office. In that time Harry had not moved a muscle since she had sat down, even though she was so nervous that it felt like her insides were shaking. But the _lessons _she had received did not allow her to forget how to properly sit and wait.

"What are you doing in my office?" George demanded as soon as he spotted the slight figure sitting primly in front of his desk. George shut the door with a decidedly determined click. He was not in the mood to deal with inquisitive strangers today, especially sneaky inquisitive strangers that had broken in to his office.

"I was looking for some advice on a present but I did not want to face the crowds in the shop. I hope you don't mind." She replied in an even polite tone, but her body still did not move. George's angry strides carried him to his chair, disbelief evident in his face as he turned towards the newcomer.

"Harry?"

"Yes, George. Did you honestly believe a stranger would wait in your office for you?" He sat down on his chair with a thump.

"It almost seems more believable than you. You haven't spoken a word to me or to anyone in the family for seven months. We haven't seen you since the Battle and-" He cut himself off, unable to finish the sentence, to acknowledge the pain he carried with him every day. "And then we find out that you just up and married Malfoy, without a single by-your-leave. You didn't invite us to the wedding, or invite any of us over for tea afterwards, hell we had to find out via the Prophet! Reporters knew before we did! How dare you Harry! You were family and then you pull this crap." His voice grew oddly quiet and resigned near the end of his speech. She would have expected him to yell. Perhaps he had changed since she had last seen him. It wouldn't surprise her, she had changed, changed so much, so why shouldn't George.

"Really George. This conversation is quite unseemly. I didn't tell you because everything seemed to happen so quickly, it was so romantic, but I've been so caught up with settling in to my marriage that it hadn't occurred to me that it had been so long since I had talked to any of you. I am sorry for not inviting you to my wedding, but there simply wasn't enough room for everybody that we would have liked. But we preferred to keep our wedding a simple quiet affair, we didn't think it _seemly _to hold such a large celebration after the horrors of the battle."

"That's no excuse."

"George, honestly, you have such trouble focusing on the topic at hand, just like when you and your family picked me up to come to the Burrow summer before second year. You couldn't concentrate on the task at hand; too busy fussing over my lack of letters. I'd been busy then and I've been busy now. Can we please get back to my reason for coming here; I was hoping I could get you to invent something for me. I've got the idea all planned out, but I don't know enough on how to actually create it. It's a gift you see, and I would like it kept top-secret." Her eyes pleaded with his, hoping he would pick up her subtle hints, remember that summer that felt so long ago and yet so close, when he and his brothers had broken her out of her prison of a bedroom. His eyes were shrewd, speculative, she honestly couldn't be certain if he understood.

"Top-secret you say? Would you mind if I were to put up some privacy wards? I wouldn't want your present to be spoiled."

"Not at all, I'm rather proud of my idea, and I really do not want anyone else knowing before Lucius' birthday party." He nodded, and immediately raised several privacy wards, some his own design. She watched his wand work and muttered words carefully, feeling the magic wash over her. She inwardly smiled as she felt them snap into place.

"Right, privacy wards are all in place now."

"You're positive, nothing can get through? Nothing can be seen or heard of us?"

"Yes, I've even added one of my own privacy ones that prevents anything being discussed in this room being discussed with an outside party without both of our express permission and consent."

"Can you do another spell please?"

"What one?"

"Can you please check for any magical bugs? With a business as thriving as yours I wouldn't be surprised if some competition from Zonko's hasn't slipped some bugs into your office to steal your ideas." He nodded quickly, becoming more concerned the more paranoid she seemed. He ran a thorough diagnostic over the entire room, pausing for a second when he saw Harry make a subtle hand gesture pointing at herself. He quickly ran the spell over her discovering both a bug and a tracking spell. He quickly dismantled both spells, making it appear as if they were still functioning to the other side, but now impossible to use.

"Now, Harry, tell me what's wrong."

"Oh god, George, I need your help." Harry's stiff posture disappeared instantaneously as she brought her legs up to her chest, curling up in a ball.

"I gathered that much; very nice hint-dropping, by the way." She smiled wanly in response.

"I wasn't sure if you would get it. I didn't want to make it too obvious, in case someone was listening."

"Someone was." She nodded stiffly, "Harry, why didn't you remove the spells yourself?"

"I haven't ... I haven't got my wand anymore."

"Why not?"

"He took it from me, it's locked away so I can't access it."

"Who?"

"Draco, it was Lucius' idea."

"Why? When?"

"They wanted me helpless and dependent on them. If I had my wand I could have fought them, could have tried to stop them. So he had Draco steal it from me before they told me of my marriage to Draco."

"But they can't have just forced you to marry Draco! Both parties have to consent!"

"My legal guardians consent was all that was needed for me, despite my protests. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were more than happy to get rid of me a year early in exchange for several thousand pounds. Especially if all they had to do was sign a contract marrying me to some other freak."

"Harry, do you know what this contract says exactly? If I'm going to help you it's very important that I know the exact wording of it and what it commits you to."

"It's pretty firm. According to the contract I am officially married to Draco and can never divorce him, although he may choose to divorce me at any time. If he does choose to divorce me I remain his, my possessions are his possessions, my body his body, he will still control me I just will not have the benefits that come from a legal marriage. I will produce a minimum of one male heir for him, but will have as many children as he desires. All my possessions are now his, my political power is controlled by him, I cannot leave him, I cannot cheat on him. I am to obey Draco, and by extension his father while Lucius remains head of the family, in all things."

"Harry, that contract sounds pretty air-tight, I don't think I can get you out of it. Perhaps we could focus on how it was your muggle relatives that signed it and not you, being muggle they shouldn't be able to enter into a magical contract."

"George, I think you misunderstand me. I need to get out. Now. I don't think I can stand staying there for another day."

"Running away won't solve the problem of the contract; you're still legally bound to it. We need to focus on that before you do anything. Are you able to get me a copy of it?" She shook her head numbly, she couldn't get a copy of it.

Slowly, with careful motions, Harry began to pull her elbow-length gloves off, George looked down at her hands, only just noticing that she had kept the emerald-green velvet gloves on. He sucked in a breath and had to resist the urge to get physically sick.

Her arms were covered in bruises, and burns, and scars, and welts. It was almost as if there natural colour was a sickly shade of blue-green, rather than the porcelain it was meant to be.

Her wrists were worse though. So much worse. They were raw, and bloody, and yet other parts of her wrists were shiny with scar tissue.

"If I don't get out of there today I don't think I will get another chance to leave for years. They will question what happened when I came here to talk to you. Why I would so patiently wait for you to enter your office rather than just seek you out immediately. My behaviour will be suspicious. Suspicious enough that they will not let me leave the manor by myself again. I can't stay there anymore. If I don't escape today I will find a way to kill myself. Because I can't. I just can't anymore. "

"Harry-"

"No, I need to leave and I need to do it now. All I'm asking you for is if you can please create a fake Muggle passport and id for me to use. I'm leaving, leaving Britain and the wizarding world. I won't tell you more because if I do they may be able to get it out of you."

"Of course I will Harry. Just promise me that you will stay safe, and if I can ever help you don't hesitate to contact me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

George remembered rescuing Harry the summer she turned twelve. It was one of the most traumatic episodes of his life at the time, it wasn't meant to be, it had started out as a great adventure, sure they thought something was probably up but they hadn't expected what they had found.

When they first arrived outside Harry's window, it had taken her what seemed like several minutes to get out of her bed and make her way to the window to confirm that it was really them. Her window had been barred, a sight that disturbed them greatly. Once they had removed the bars from her window and Fred and he had entered into her room they discovered that the bars were not the most disturbing sight to be found in that house.

Harry had been skin and bones, she had always been small and skinny for her age but now she looked emaciated. Bruises littered her face and every visible patch of skin. She walked with a limp, as if her right leg could not support her weight, and she favoured her left arm when doing anything. They had been able to pick the locks and head to the cupboard under the stairs to retrieve her school supplies. That in itself had been a revelation. Inside the cramped and tiny cupboard, too small for them to stand inside, they had found a battered, old, blood-stained, campbed. And messy words carved into the wall above the bed proclaiming it "Harry's Room." They'd nearly vomited at the sight of it. They had thought her bedroom with its locks, and barred window, and lack of any comforts had been the worst it could have gotten. It was almost amazing exactly how quickly they had been proven wrong.

He prayed to every god that he knew that maybe she would finally catch a break and be happy and safe for once in her life.


	2. Wandering

She'd been running for weeks. She'd started off in South America. Brazil specifically, a country she knew literally nothing about except that it was where the first plane out of London International Airport was heading. She'd wandered around for a few days before she figured out that a white British teenage girl all by herself in Brazil stood out more than a wizard amongst muggles, which was coincidentally exactly what she was.

So she headed north, towards the United States, because it was the closest English-speaking country around. She managed to acquire a beat-up old junker of a car when she was in Mexico, after the driver of said car, which she had been hitch-hiking in at the time, keeled over from a heart attack. The man didn't have any family to speak of, so she left his body at a local hospital and carried on her way, content in the knowledge that there was no one else that the car was destined to go to.

She'd wandered around America for about two weeks, mostly living in her car, before stumbling upon Ohio. It had been pure chance that she had entered into small-town Lima, Ohio, a detour on the main highway had sent her stumbling throughout back-roads before she finally found some measure of civilization in Lima.

Harry didn't know why, but something about Lima called to her. Maybe it was the seeming lack of magical people and creatures around. Or maybe it was that there was absolutely nothing in small-town Lima that reminded her of back home, except for the gossiping housewives. But here there were no castles, or manors, no pure-bloods or minor aristocracy. Most everyone was blue or white collar workers. So she found herself settling down into a tiny apartment in the bad-side of town. It wasn't much, but the landlord accepted rent money in cash and didn't ask any questions about why a teenage girl was living on her own.

She enrolled in the local high school, no better way to go unnoticeable then to do what was expected of someone her age. She hadn't attended regular school since she'd been eleven, which made enrolling in classes very difficult. She had had to promise the guidance counsellor that her records were on their way from England but that it might take a while, and that her parents were very busy sorting out things with moving so she they had sent her in on her own.

Eventually they had created a class schedule that Harry was reasonably certain she wouldn't flunk: English, Art, Accounting, and Latin. English seemed an easy enough choice, although Harry hadn't studied it in years she spoke it well enough and had written more than enough essays during her years at Hogwarts to get by. Art was almost a default, Harry wasn't particularly skilled at it, having never been given the opportunity to try, but really, who had ever failed an art class before? Accounting was the only high-level math that she was able to do. It was important as a _Malfoy, _she shuddered, to be able to manage and understand the accounts to prevent being swindled, even though as a woman she wouldn't be responsible for doing anything business-related. Latin had been a shock to her, she hadn't realized that American schools even offered it anymore, but she was more than glad, after five years of studying at Hogwarts, whose spells were almost entirely latin, she had more than a passing familiarity with the language.

Her classes started four days after she arrived in Lima, having come in at the end of March Break. She had thought that she'd been settling into her classes well enough, she wasn't obviously failing, but she wasn't doing terribly great with the other students. It had been so long since she'd been just Harry, just another new student, albeit one with an interesting accent, rather than Harriet Bloody Potter the Girl-Who-Lived-To-Be-Stared-at. It got so bad that by the end of her first week of classes the guidance counsellor, Mrs. Pillsbury, had sat her down to talk about ways to fit into the new school.

There was talk about study groups, and sports teams, and clubs. Especially about something called a Glee Club, which Harry just didn't understand at first, was it a club for people that were happy? She'd heard people talking about it in the halls, apparently Glee was for losers, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Loser was a label that she could disappear under, something that would give her anonymity. So once Mrs. Pillsbury explained to her that it was a club for singing and performing, something Harry had no experience with, but maybe she could hum and sway in the background. Harry agreed to join and Mrs. Pillsbury went so far as to walk her to the Glee Club practice that was going on at the time.

She gave a nervous smile and hoped for the best.


	3. Starting From Scratch

Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing, characters and settings belong to their respective writers/producers.

XXXXXXX

"Glee Kids, Will, this is Jessica Williams. She's new to McKinley and I think I've convinced her to join Glee Club."

"Umm by that Ms. Pillsbury means she's convinced me to come out and see what Glee Club is. Mind if I sit in for a bit, see what it's all about?"

"Not at all, Jessica." The teacher, whose last name she had no idea about, welcomed her in, gesturing her to the front of the room. "Tell us a little about yourself."

"Oh, um, I wasn't expecting to have to do this. Umm I'm British, obviously, just moved to America about two weeks ago. I like to read. And my friends call me Harry."

"Hairy?" A Latina-looking girl responded, "Is that because you're a hairy person, you don't shave or something?"  
>"What? No. It's because I'm always a bit harried."<p>

"So you've got a lot of hair?" A tall boy asked, confused.

"No, damn limited American vocabulary, harried means that you're bothered by a lot of problems and are as a result anxious. I seem to draw trouble to me like a moth to a light, I was always harried back home, so my friends gave me the nickname and it seemed to have stuck. You can call me Jessica if you want; I'm just more used to going by Harry."

"Okay, then, Harry. Anything else you want to share about yourself?"

"Well to be honest I'm not too sure about joining Glee Club, if I do join is it possible for me to just sort of stay in the back and like sway along?"

"We do prefer to have more active members, but it's always nice to have another warm body, and I bet that a couple of our more outspoken members will be glad that you're not looking to take any solos from them." He flicked an amused glance at the club members. "Why don't you grab a seat, check out the Glee Club, and if you like what you see stay back afterwards and talk to me about what auditioning for the club would be like."

"Okay, sure." She snagged a seat beside a buff boy with a Mohawk. Sure he looked dangerous, but deep inside his eyes he seemed friendly. The direct opposite of the refined Malfoys.

Ms. Pillsbury left, and the other teacher adopted a serious look before beginning what was clearly a rehearsed speech.

"Guys, I've got some bad news. You know how we decided on Sing by My Chemical Romance for Regionals. Well I hold in my hand a "cease and desist" notice from the band." The entire room seemed to spring into chaos. Shouting about some coach being responsible, and the teacher responded as if the coach had actually been responsible for it and he had thought of it before they had.

This didn't seem to really calm the room down; the other teenagers were clearly upset and worried about they were supposed to do now. Harry wasn't sure what 'Regionals' was, but, she supposed, it was probably some kind of competition or performance or something like that. One of the other girls, brown-haired wearing a red cardigan, suggested that they write their own songs and most of the group seemed to object.

One of the other girls piped up to support the first one, a stylish blonde wearing a white sweater, something about her screamed Slytherin to Harry, and combined with the blonde hair, reminiscent of the Malfoys', Harry resolved to keep careful eye on her.

"No, I think Rachel is right. This team works best when we push ourselves and do something a little different."

"When all the other teams are doing amazing songs we're not going to be as good." The busty black girl from the front row countered, clearly worried.

"You're right we're not going to be as good. We're going to be better. We won't be using other people's words, other people's music, it'll be our own. Our own hearts and soul, not just our voices. And we've got our own really talented song artist. Rachel, I was thinking maybe you and I could write a song together." Harry had to admit her argument was very convincing.

"I'm with Quinn and Rachel, I mean if these two could agree on something it's probably an idea worth considering." The tall boy chimed in.

"Wait, wait, wait, so suddenly you two are writing music for Regionals? No way, I think everybody should get a chance to write a song." The Latino girl in the jean jacket countered, clearly annoyed with the assumption that only Rachel and Quinn would be capable of writing a song.

"Santana's right. We can do this."

"What do you think, Mr. Schue?" Oh! So that was his name.

"I think we're doing original songs for Regionals!" The group clapped happily, Rachel literally gasped with happiness, and Harry wondered if her life had ever been that simple that she had actually gasped with happiness.

"Now," Mr. Schue continued, "Does anyone have a specific song they want to share?" A chorus of shaking heads "Alright, well why don't we revive an old classic for now, to celebrate this decision! Hit it!" The piano man started playing immediately, even though the teacher had given no indication on what he wanted the man to play.

The Glee club seemed to know the song immediately though, and the girls started singing right away, "You can't always get what you want." The rest of the club fell into it naturally and immediately, except for the blonde teenage boy with the really big lips. But even he quickly fell into the natural rhythms, even if he was obviously, at least to her, not as comfortable as the rest of them. They were all grooving in their seats, and even Harry found herself swaying along enjoying the music.

When the song ended Mr Schue began talking. "Since we're now doing original songs I think now would be a good time to release you to start on this week's assignment. Which is, obviously, an original song. You can write individually, in pairs, or groups if you'd like. Write what you know, good luck, and have fun!" The group happily chattered as they dispersed and Mr. Schue turned towards Harry who was still sitting.

"Well, what did you think?"

"Is it always that drama-filled?"

"No, no of course it's not, except when Coach Sylvester tries to sabotage us again, or when one of the kid's relationships goes kaput, which doesn't happen all that often...okay fairly often. But I promise we're not intentionally drama filled."

"If I join do I have to contribute to the drama or surround myself with it or something?"

"No, I can honestly say I would very much appreciate a member of Glee club not being overly dramatic." He assured her with a warm smile.

"Okay, umm I actually really liked listening to you guys sing. But I noticed that nobody used any sheet music or anything, everybody just seemed to know the song and what to do."

"We do actually use sheet music fairly often, but I find that most of the Glee kids don't use it when it comes time to perform in front of each other. It's good practice not to have it when we practice in Glee club because you're not allowed to use it in actual competitions. In this case we've already performed that song so everybody already knew what they were supposed to do."

"Okay, so it's alright that I don't know that many songs, and had absolutely no idea what you were singing?"

"It's fine, but I assure you that the kids won't let you get away with a limited music knowledge. They'll take it upon themselves to educate you. So are you thinking you're going to join?"

"Actually, yeah I am, it was kind of fun sitting in."

"That's great! But you will have to audition."

"Audition?"

"Yeah, it's a group requirement, but trust me, it's more a formality than anything. We've never turned anyone away before. Actually why don't we kill two birds with one stone, if you'd like you can write an original song and audition with that by the end of the week."

"Do I have to audition with an original song?" She asked nervously, she'd never written a song before and she had no idea how to go about writing one.

"Well, no, but the assignment this week is to write an original song. You'll have to present one anyway; it just makes sense to combine them. If you're nervous you can pair up with another Glee member and work together on it. They could even help prepare you for the audition."

"Do you do assignments a lot then?"

"Once a week or so I give an assignment. Normally it's something to do with a musical genre or a feeling. The kids get the week to find a song that fits the assignment, prepare it, and then at the end of the week they present it. Some of the kids present throughout the week as they complete the assignment, so they don't have to wait until the end of the week. Of course, aside from the assignments we also use our meetings to rehearse for our competitions. It's nearly Regionals actually, so we'll be doing a lot of work to get ready for that right now."

"Umm I literally just joined Glee club, do I have to participate in Regionals?"

"Not if you don't feel you're ready. It might actually just be a good experience for you to join in with the practices as you can, and then watch us perform."

"That sounds great, thank you."

"No problem. Now go, enjoy the rest of your day, and let me know if you have any questions."

"I will, thanks again." She smiled at him, and waved at the piano player. She made a note to herself that she would have to stop and talk to him soon. It was always best to know all the players, she thought, as she left the Glee room.

XXXXXXX

Author's Note:

In this chapter Harry introduced herself as Jessica Williams. This is a fake name she has created for herself, she was born Harriet Lily Potter and has always gone by Harry. However she does not want anybody to find her and if she registered under her proper name that would be like her sending red-flags up on her location. So she picked two very common names and registered under them. Her explanation for her nickname of 'Harry' was made up by her to explain why she responded to Harry better than she did Jessica, and that way nobody got confused as to why she didn't seem to respond to her "actual" name.

I am sorry for the delay in posting this chapter and it's likely to be equally as long until the next one goes up. I have to rewatch the Glee episodes that this story-line is based in and it can be hard to find the time to do so and then to write.

Please review, reviews encourage me to write and make me happy and smiley (even if you say that my story was stupid or something.)

In response to the reviews I have gotten:

ptl4ever419 Thanks! And no, Ms. Pillsbury isn't married, I just automatically call all female teachers Mrs. instead of Ms. and it sort of carried over into this story. I'll try to keep an eye out for it.

icyquest4 I'm not quite sure where the story is going to take me, but rest assured that Puck/Harry will at the very least be best buddies, I'm just not sure if I will have Harry pursuing any romantic relationships right now.


	4. A Place of Pain

_Author's Note: Standard Disclaimer I own nothing._

_I got three reviews for last chapter! THREE! I was so excited each time I got the notification I basically squealed. Which you know was very awkward when I was at work and it popped up on my cell phone. _

_Hope everyone enjoys the next chapter. If you notice any flaws (grammar, character, logical, etc.) please let me know, I do want to improve my work and love feedback. _

XXXXXXXXXX

After the debacle that was their first song-writing workshop Harry had begun to reconsider Glee club. Seriously, "Trouty Mouth"? That girl was a bully and no one seemed to care. It bothered Harry a great deal, she'd spent her childhood defined by bullies, and no one could deny that the Malfoys were bullies as well. Granted the Malfoys had taken it past high school bullying into something a great deal more deadly. Her life so far had left Harry with an undeniable hatred of bullies and the damage that they caused. So when confronted with a situation where it was accepted and even expected by the rest of her teammates that Santana would bully other students, Harry took a long hard look at how much she desired to fit in and be invisible at McKinley.

It was perhaps lucky that the following song, "Big Ass Heart" was so well-received by everybody, including the girl that it was about, and that the author, Puck, had used it to apologize for a prior song choice that had hurt another girl's feelings. Because otherwise she would have written off the whole lot of them as useless bullies, the very act of trying to fix the problem by Puck meant that there was something redeemable about him. So Harry would keep an eye on the situation. As she struggled to decide whether having a safe place to hide here in anonymity was worth standing by as people were bullied.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's your favourite song of all time?"

"My Headband" Harry knew she wasn't very musically knowledgeable, but was there really a song called 'My Headband'?

"Alanis Morisette's 'You ought to know.'"

"'What's Going On' Marvin Gaye"

"And what are all the songs about?" Mr. Schue questioned, clearly trying to prove a point.

"Headbands." Harry couldn't decide if Brittany was odd like Luna, seeing and hearing things no one else could, or if she was just simple.

"All these songs come from a place of pain. The greatest songs are about hurt and that's the side of yourselves I want you to get in touch with."

"That should be easy. Coach Sylvester tortures us for no reason, and tries to get the entire school to hate us."

"Yesterday she filled Britt's and my locker with dirt." She sounded like a crazed Severus Snape or Umbridge. How was she getting away with this?

"Okay, okay, slow down." He ran to a whiteboard to start writing down ideas.

"Well she literally throws sticks at me." And she hasn't been fired yet? Harry thought shocked.

"Okay, okay what else?"

"She called the Ohio secretary of state saying she was me and that I legally wanted to change my name to Tina Cohen-Loser" Seriously? Was this woman on drugs? How was she getting away with this?

"Okay, and how does that make you feel?"

"Well at first it hurts but then it kind of makes you want to win."

"Guys, I think you may have just found your song." The group smiled proud of themselves.

The rest of the team chattered happily as they got to work trying to write. Harry sat quietly off to the side, her own notebook in her lap, as she tried to consider what she wanted to write for her song. Mr. Schue clearly wanted it to be from a place of pain, but Harry felt that she was little more than pain. Little more than a bone-deep ache of loneliness, and sorrow, and pain, and scars both emotional and physical that went so deep that she'd never get rid of them. She was nothing but pain, but how could she even begin to put that on the page. How could she sing of her pain in front of people? There was so much that she had kept locked inside of her since she was a child. Nobody wanted a broken saviour, so she had hidden her pain from the time she had entered the Wizarding world at age 11. She was the queen of repressing and if she wouldn't even share it with her closest friends, how could she possibly begin to share it with these strangers?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Regionals Competition was amazing. Harry sat in the audience the whole time and watched. She'd never thought that the New Directions could be so good.

The next day when the Glee Club members gathered to practice Harry was already waiting in the room, the first to arrive. She was nervous about auditioning, but she figured it was always better to get things out of the way, no point in dragging out the inevitable after all. She congratulated the members as they arrived. And they smiled at her, but there was none of the easy camaraderie that existed between them. But that was just her life after all. She'd always been on the outside looking in, no matter how hard she tried. She never felt like she belonged, always kept her true self hidden.

The MVP award for Rachel Berry had been a nice touch. And there was no doubt that Rachel had done the majority of the work in the performance, singing lead for both songs, and she had written the one song entirely by herself. It was heart-warming for Harry to see somebody singled out and appreciated for their hard work in a way that made that person feel better instead of feeling like some kind of spectacle as she always had. Harry didn't join in on the group hug. She stayed in her seat and watched instead, not feeling confident in the likelihood of their acceptance of her joining in. And that wasn't even counting the fact that she was still incredibly leery of touching other people and having other people touch her.

"So I know we've got a lot of hard work ahead of us for Nationals. But it's about time to let our newest Glee Member audition for us. So Harry if you would just come up to the front." She rose from her seat and went to stand in front of the audience.

"What have you picked to sing for us?" He asked, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Well since you were really pushing the original song idea this week, I've written my own song to sing."

"Great! And do you have music for the band or the piano?"

"No, I have no idea how to write sheet music, so I figured I could just, you know, do it by myself without instruments."

"Alright then, good luck!" He sat down next to the other Glee members. She closed her eyes for a moment to centre herself, drew upon the training that she had received during her marriage to steady the outward signs of her nerves and began.

_They tell you who you are_

_How you must be_

_They tell you that fear is for cowards_

_And you must always be brave_

_That tears are a weakness and beneath you_

_They tell you who you are_

_But they cannot see_

_They cannot see you, they see who they want_

_Be you, don't let go of you_

_Let them have their mask, let them have their hero_

_But don't let them define you, confine you, malign you_

_Listen to your heart_

_Listen to your heart beat telling you that you're afraid_

_If you're afraid _

_If you're alone_

_If the end seems somehow too far to go_

_Don't give up, don't stop_

_You can do it_

_Stand strong, walk talk_

_Don't let them see you fall_

_Alone and afraid, don't let them see_

_Scared and confused_

_That's all you'll be_

_They'll never know_

_How far you'll go_

_To not let them see_

_Don't let them see_

_Give them their hero_

_Even if you feel like a zero_

_Being alone isn't bad_

_No one to let you down_

_No one to hold you back_

_No one to hold your hand_

_No one to care_

_So stand strong_

_Walk tall_

_Don't let them see you fall_

_When you're afraid, when you're alone_

_Listen to your heartbeat_

_You're still here, you're still here_

Harry finished her song, pausing for a breath, afraid that she'd somehow screwed up majorly. But she maintained her calm demeanour as she gave a mini bow. She was almost startled by the applause, Harry hadn't thought that they liked it based on the way they had watched her throughout it. They had had these serious concerned looks on their faces the whole time, as if she wasn't good enough for them to warrant letting in. Perhaps she would be the first person ever rejected from the Glee Club.

But they applauded her and she looked at them, confused. The applause wasn't deafening, but it didn't sound like pity applause either. It was just, normal, she guessed.

"I think that I speak for everybody when I say, welcome to the New Directions." Mr. Schue enthusiastically said, planting a bright smile on his face and clapping loudly, even still Harry could tell that he wasn't actually happy. His eyes were far too serious for that, and considering how often she had seen the man genuinely happy throughout the week it was easy to spot the difference.

"Harry, are you okay?" Tina said suddenly.

"Of course I am. Why would you ask?"

"It's just that you're crying." She brought her hand up to her face startled to feel the tears there.

"Oh, I hadn't realized."

"Why don't you take a seat, Harry, and I'll carry on." Mr. Schue smiled at her in concern, gesturing to the seats; she nodded, trying to stop the flow of tears now that she realized they were there.

As Harry took her seat Mr. Schue started talking but she wasn't really listening.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah, Mercedes?"

"Want to come to the Lima Bean with me and some of the other Glee clubbers after this?"

"Sure, I've love to."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Lima Bean was a quaint little coffee shop; it was like it was trying to be a Starbucks without actually being one. Harry had never really had the opportunity to just hang out at such a place before. But she supposed it was a little like the Three Broomsticks with the way it filled up with students from the high school. Harry ordered a coffee, double double, relishing the sweet richness of it.

"I would have thought cause you were British you'd be having tea."

"Americans can never get tea right. I gave up on getting tea within a week of arriving in the states."

"It's tea, how can we possibly screw up tea that much? You just mix boiling water and a tea bag, it's not complicated."

"Yes, that's the problem, everyone thinks that. They have no idea the proper temperature of water to use, or how long to let it steep, or when to add things to it, or whether or not to swish the teabag about. There are many critical steps in properly brewing tea and I have yet to encounter anyone here who even begins to understand that."

"Tea snob."

"Of course."

"Okay, okay, so other than your obvious tea snobbery, we want to know more about you. Tell us about yourself!"

"I don't know what to tell you."

"Who's your favourite female singer?" Rachel questioned.

"Umm Lulu."

"Who's Lulu?" Mike asked.

"Lulu is a British pop-singer, who's been successful since the 1960's. Although she was originally part of the group _The Luvers, _she ended up going solo after a few years. Sporting several hits such as "Shout" and "Boom Bang-a-Bang." She is also well known for her iconic role in the movie "To Sir With Love." In which she played Barbara 'Babs' Pegg, and in which she sang the hit song, 'To Sir With Love'." Rachel rambled off, pleased with her superior knowledge.

"How in the world do you know all of that?" Finn asked, shocked.

"Please, it's me. Now, Harry, why is Lulu your favourite female artist? She's rather obscure, not as amazing as say Barbara Streisand, Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, or Katy Perry?" Rachel questioned curious at the odd choice.

"And let's not forget Aretha Franklin." Mercedes piped in.

"I'm so going to regret saying this, but I don't actually know who those singers are. I only know Lulu because Mrs. Number Six next door to where I used to live had an obsession with her and would listen to her ridiculously loudly whenever she was drunkenly cleaning her house." Shocked expressions met her announcement.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you know any music at all?"

"Not really. It wasn't very big in my house when I was growing up. I didn't get into listening to it, or the radio or anything like that."

"But it's music! It's everywhere! How do you not know these things?"

"It's Britain, it's a different culture. It's very possible to not know music if you don't actively seek it out. I assure you that there were never any Glee clubs prowling the halls and randomly bursting into song at my old school. I didn't listen to the radio, when the television was on it was only for the news, action shows, or cooking shows. I wasn't allowed to use my family's computer. I just never really spent much time considering music."

"Blasphemy. It is now my solemn duty to introduce you to the world of music that you have been so sadly lacking.

"You make it sound like I've never heard of math or something. I get that it's weird that I don't know much about music, but it's not that big of a deal."

"You are so very wrong. In the famous words of Bono 'music can change the world because it can change people.' And Jimi Hendrix said that 'music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.' Music is an important part of everyday life. It is through music that we reach out to each other, change each other, and change ourselves." Rachel's impassioned speech seemed to have inspired her fellow Glee clubbers.

"Music is an expression of our inner selves; it brings who we are into the light of day! If not for music I would be a very different person." Mercedes continued on.

"I'd still be faking a stutter and not have any friends if we didn't have Glee club, and we wouldn't have Glee club if not for music." Tina pointed out, and Harry internally questioned why in the world Tina would have faked a stutter.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Music is super important and I am a failure for not knowing any."

"Well not a failure per se, but definitely uneducated. But don't worry; we'll fix that right away. I'm going to create a list of songs and artists every week that you absolutely need to listen to and you can just download it and listen to it on your iPod."

"No, I can't."

"Why not? It's a perfectly reasonable idea."

"Because I don't have an iPod. And even if I did my parents wouldn't let me use the compute for something like that. "

"You don't have an iPod?"

"What part of 'I don't know any music at all' did you not grasp?"

"I just assumed that you would have an iPod, everyone has an iPod."

"Well I don't, and I'm sorry but I won't be spending the money to buy one anytime soon. I've got car repairs to pay for."

"Okay, okay, that just means that you will have to spend more time at our houses getting your music lessons."

"That sounds reasonable."

"Great! I'll get started creating your first week's music history homework tonight. You can come over to my house this weekend and I can give you your music history lesson and then we can work on improving your voice, it will need to be much better for Nationals."

"Ummm sure, whatever you say, Rachel."

"Great!" Mercedes broke in before Rachel could unleash another idea on the table. "So, Harry, did you leave a boyfriend behind in Britain?" Harry froze, not expecting the question. How did she answer this? She was married, and that was technically not a boyfriend, but it was also technically a relationship. No, she had to say no, if she said yes there would be too many questions and she was nowhere near ready enough to even begin thinking of her, shudder, _husband. _

"No, no boyfriend."

"Any boys you were crushing on?" Harry sighed, there had been, once, it felt like such a very long time ago. Once that crush had left her feeling like a happy normal girl for the first time ever, but now thinking back on it just made her sad.

"Not, not in a while."

"That sounds like there's a story here."

"No story."

"Oh come on! Tell us! We'll just keep bugging you until you give us the gossip!"

"I said there's no story."

"If there's no story than why aren't you talking about it? Just give us the facts, what's his name, what does he look like, what's he like, how did you meet, why did your crush end. The basics."

"Drop it."

"Harry!" the girls whined in unison. Harry couldn't take this; she'd been emotionally compromised since the thought of Malfoy had entered her head. And she couldn't stand this. She just needed them to stop, needed to make them shut up and leave it alone forever.

"Fine! His name was Fred, he was tall and freckled and had red-hair and the most infectious grin you'd ever seen, he was a prankster of the highest degree but he was also a really caring individual. He took care of the younger students whenever he could, and he was fiercely protective of his family. He was my best mate's older brother; I'd known him since I was eleven. And I'd say my crush ended ten months ago when he died saving his brother from a collapsing brick wall. Now if you'll excuse me, this conversation is done and I am leaving." Harry stood up, grabbing her bag, leaving her coffee nearly half-full on the table, and walking purposely away, trying to prevent the tears she could feel stinging her eyes from falling.

"Harry! Wait! I'm really sorry!" Tina had stood up to follow her, make her stop leaving, Harry guessed, but all she could focus on was Tina's hand gripping her arm so that she couldn't leave.

"Let go of my arm."

"Harry, I don't think it's safe for you to drive like this. You're really upset."

"Let go of my arm or I will cut your hand off. Am I clear?" Tina dropped her arm as if it was burning her. Harry strode out of the coffee shop before anyone else could stop her. Once she got outside she didn't hesitate before running to her car, climbing inside, and speeding home.

Once she arrived at her tiny run-down one-room apartment Harry immediately flung herself into the tiny closet by the front door. She settled herself onto the nest of blankets she had created, curled into a ball, and rocked herself back and forth trying to convince herself that she was still just a kid locked in the cupboard under the stairs and none of this terrible shit had happened to her.

She failed miserably, Fred's dead face and Malfoy's creepy possessive leer, which had always preceded his painful violating her, swirling together behind her closed eyelids. Her panic attack lasted long into the night.


	5. A Night of Neglect

_Author's Note: I don't own Glee or Harry Potter, I also don't profit from this._

_Sorry for the really late chapter, I've basically had this written for three weeks and I just wasn't sure about it and I've devoted literally no time to this story in the last week and a half because I just became an aunt and I have been spending almost all of my free time cuddling my adorable new nephew. Any constructive feedback (or feedback at all) would be super appreciated. _

_I'd like to give a big thank you to my reviewers: Shadow Wolf 15846, megipegi, Silvermane 1, ptl4ever419, AA. _

_Silvermane 1: You will just have to wait and see what happens with the story, but I do like some of your suggestions and may incorporate them later._

_Also, I'm still incredibly excited! This story has 61 follows, 30 favourites, and 10 reviews! Making it my most popular story by far!_

XXXXXXXXXXX

Even Harry could tell that Mr. Schue's latest scheme was terrible. Sure they needed money to go to Nationals, something that Harry felt should have been covered, at least partially, by the school itself, but to try to sell 20,000 pieces of saltwater taffy was, quite frankly, insane.

"Do you honestly believe we can sell 20,000 anything? I mean we won Regional's in the first time since the dinosaurs roamed the earth and I still got a cherry Icee facial." Santana complained.

"Santana is right, nobody cares about us."

"I can't listen to this." Mike got up to storm off.

"Mike, are you okay?"

"No, you guys complain all the time about being mistreated, but you guys have no idea what it's like to work your butt off all the time and have everyone even your friends ignore you. Artie, Tina, Brittany, and I are on the Brainiacs."

"Wait isn't that the Academic Decathlon team?"

"We have one of those?"

"Yes, and the four of us went on the Smarty Pants Show and beat Caramel High to go to the Academic Decathlon trials in Detroit next week."

"So you guys were on TV? Why didn't you tell any of us about it?"

"We did!"

"Wait I get the three of you being on the team." Mr. Schue began.

"Is it because two of them are Asian and Artie wears glasses?" Puck questioned.

"No." He responded to Puck's idea, "but Brittany..." Mr. Schue trailed off, perhaps realizing how offensive his words were and not wanting to vocalize his idea, but even still Harry thought it was incredibly insensitive. Who was to say that Brittany didn't have a secret wealth of knowledge and she just needed the right environment to let it shine. Brittany reminded Harry rather forcibly of Luna who had had the same problem of putting the wrong information out at the wrong time but who had been incredibly brilliant. It made Harry rather protective of the strange blonde girl everyone seemed to think was an idiot.

"Liz Schneider was our fourth but she got Rubella." Mike explained to Mr. Schue's unasked question.

"Her parents are hippies who don't believe in vaccinations."

"Brittany was the only one we could find on short notice. We bribed her with DOTS. That Sunshine Corazon, who Rachel sent to a crack house, was on the other team."

"She would have beaten us but luckily we had our secret weapon: Brittany. That girl knows everything there is to know about cat diseases."

"Sadly we can't afford to go the finals so we're going to have to forfeit."

"Why don't you just have your parents pay for it." Right, Harry thought, like everybody has parents that can pay for it or would pay for it. If she'd ever asked Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia for money to go on a trip they would have laughed in her face. And her parents were too dead to pay. Christ that Rachel girl was insensitive.

"Because we shouldn't have to. We're a school club, the school should pay for it. It's a matter of pride."

"You guys are absolutely right. How much do you need to make the trip?"

"With gas and hotels, and if we only eat Funions, $250."

"Which means, we just need to sell more taffy." Mr. Schue exclaimed, excited at having the solution to the Brainiacs problem, and apparently eager to encourage the other Glee-clubbers to get busy selling taffy.

"That doesn't count as the school paying for it though." Harry pointed out.

"You're right, Harry, but since we can't get any money for Glee club to go to Nationals, then I doubt that they're going to get the money to go to Detroit. This is a compromise, their parents aren't forced to pay, and they still get to go."

"Yeah, but only with extra work for them. It's not like they're even asking that much. Look I get why Glee Club isn't really being funded. We're asking for a ton of money. The Academic Decathalon is asking for a pittance, and if they got to go they would make the school look good. I'm just saying that this school's funding is really messed up and it bugs me."

"Okay, it's noted. But we can't fight city hall."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I've been thinking about all of your complaints yesterday, about how selling taffy is a lot of hard work, and it's going to require a lot of sales. So I've come up with a better plan. It's a benefit night, called A Night of Neglect. It'll be a performance that we put on in the auditorium, and we'll sell tickets to it to help raise money for the trips! And the best part! We're only going to do songs by neglected artists!"

Blank stares from the kids greeted Mr. Schue's enthusiastic announcement.

"Because it's A Night of Neglect." Mr. Schue tried to explain.

"Can you define what you mean by neglected artist?" Rachel questioned.

"Umm someone whose brilliance isn't always appreciated."

"Oh, so you mean someone like me." Rachel responded arrogantly, nearly everyone shot her disdainful looks. Even if her brilliance wasn't always appreciated it's just too damn egotistical to point that out.

"I mean like all of us. Alright everyone, next Saturday night in our auditorium McKinley High's first annual Night of Neglect fundraiser benefit is officially a go!"

The bell rang and the students began to scatter.

"This is going to be really good for you Harry!" Rachel told her as they walked down the hallway towards their classrooms.

"Oh. Umm why?"

"Well it's going to give you a chance to practice in front of an audience performing without the stress of Nationals and it'll hopefully prevent you from screwing up at Nationals because it won't be your first time on stage. We've worked too hard to let inexperience stop us now."

"Oh umm I guess that's good. I don't intend to screw up the performance though."

"No, you wouldn't intend it, and it's not like you're going to have a solo or anything. I mean your voice is good but it's not that good. But it wouldn't do any of us any good if you suddenly find out you have stage fright for the first time at Nationals."

"Noted. I promise I'll work really hard. And it wasn't like I was looking to do solos anyway. I just wanted to make friends."

"Friends have no place in a competition."

"Okay umm noted. I'll just be an, I don't know, acquaintance then. I guess."

"A teammate, Harry, you'll be a teammate. And there's no I in team so don't you dare screw this up for me."

"I'll do my best." Harry reassured Rachel, nodding her head enthusiastically, and beginning to back away slowly from the crazy that was Rachel Berry.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So who are you guys doing?"

"I'm doing a song by Lykke Li." Tina

"Mike Chang, Dance Dance Revolution. I'm tired of my dancing being overshadowed by your guys singing. It's just going to be me and my sweet sweet moves on that stage." The group laughed.

"What about you, Harry? Who are you doing?"

"I have literally no idea. I don't know any neglected artists. I barely know the really really famous ones."

"That just won't do. Tina, you and me are gonna hook this little white girl up with a neglected artist to match her neglected music knowledge."

"I think I know just the thing." Tina responded, "But we've got to test this out. Come over to my place after school tonight and we can try it out."

"Sure, I'd love to. Thanks!" Harry responded happily, she was finally making friends, she was starting to blend in. "Who are you planning on Mercedes?"

"You're all forgetting about the most neglected artist this glee club has ever seen Aretha Franklin."

"Neglected? She's like the Queen of Soul!"

"See, I auditioned for this club singing "Respect" and she's got none since. So I'm doing Aretha."

"Awesome Mercedes, awesome all of you guys. Those songs are great appetizers to my main course Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." It's going to be our finale."

"What!" Mike squeaked.

"It's like the biggest song of all time."

"No, you don't understand, Celine isn't the neglected artist. I am"

"I was kind of hoping to do the closing number."Mercedes countered clearly annoyed.

"Hey, you guys remember Sunshine Corazon?" Finn interrupted everybody before Mercedes and Rachel could start really fighting.

The entire Glee club ran off to the auditorium to confront some girl named Sunshine. Turns out that she wanted to help out and sing in the Night of Neglect. Everyone was oddly suspicious, none more so than Rachel. But at the thought that the girl might be able to actually get people to come they turned their opinion around faster than speeding bullet.

Except of course, for Rachel. But apparently Rachel had sent the girl to a crack-house at some point, which just made Harry more confused than before. Who does that to someone? What the hell kind of people were in this Glee Club?

It didn't take long for Harry to figure out that Rachel felt extremely threatened by how good Sunshine was and had tried to eliminate the competition by whatever means necessary. But Rachel was governed almost entirely by her ambition, which isn't a bad trait per se, but it meant she was a Slytherin. And Harry knew better than to get between a Slytherin and whatever their ambition was. Harry supposed it was a good thing that Rachel had already deemed her little more than a weak link to be fixed up before Nationals, rather than an actual competitor for singing parts.

Regardless of Rachel's Slytherin-like suspicion and disapproval the Glee club agreed to let Sunshine be part of the benefit night. Of course Rachel insisted that she take the second-most important position, once again forcing Mercedes to give up the position she wanted.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Tina, Mercedes and Harry ended up at Tina's house that night.

"So what singer were you thinking?"

"Have you ever heard of Gordon Lightfoot?"

"That sounds like a man's name. My voice isn't like a man's voice is it?" Harry questioned, surprisingly concerned at the thought.

"Trust me, you don't sound like a man. But I haven't heard of him either."

"Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian singer-songwriter, he is, or rather was, internationally successful. He's been credited with helping define the folk-pop sound of the 60's and 70's."

"Then why haven't I ever heard of him if he's such a big deal?" Mercedes questioned.

"Because he's Canadian."

"Then why have you heard of him?"

"I've got a cousin that's Canadian. She wouldn't shut up about meeting him this summer."

"Okay, great, that's a lot of useful information, but he's still a man, and I'm a girl."

"Yeah, you are, but you can sing his songs a little higher. I honestly think his folk sound is the right way to go for you."

"Why?"

"Okay, maybe because you couldn't actually see your audition you wouldn't get it. But you cried as you sang. Actually cried, not in the way that Rachel does where she's so impressed with how good she is. But you were clearly emotionally connecting with that song on a very deep level. I think if we can get you doing folk songs you can continue to connect to them which instantly makes your performances better."

"She's right. Also your voice is pretty decent, but you haven't had any formal training or experience, and folk keeps you away from any real hard notes, it's more melodious like that song you wrote. I think it would be easier for you to do than anything else."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Glee club was gathered backstage doing vocal warm-ups for the show when Santana stormed in, cell-phone clutched in her hand.

"Huddle up, this just in, according to Sunshine's twitter she's not coming and neither are any of her followers."

"I told you, she's evil!"

"I was just in the auditorium there's like six people in there. I say we blow this whole thing off and go hit up the arcade."

"No, no screw that! These people paid to see us sing! What's that saying 'the show's gotta go all over the place' or something."

"You mean 'the show must go on.' Finn's right you guys, whether there's six or six thousand people out there we still have to give it our all. Okay, Tina you're up first."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Even from backstage they could hear the people heckling and booing Tina. Tina's voice began to falter and halfway through the song she left the stage. She ended up backstage in tears.

"It's the worst I've ever felt in my entire life."

"I didn't think it was possible for people to hate us even more. But we're calling this off."

"Guys, I hate to say it, but I think we need to buck up. Tina I'm sorry that you had to go through it. But it's actually a really good lesson for us. It's a part of show business guys. Sometimes people can be really mean. Think about what' s going to happen if we have an unfriendly crowd in New York. And I'm sure there's going to be some Vocal Adrenaline supporters there too. We need to find some strength and make our way through this. I think I may know a way to shut those hecklers up for a minute or two."

The plan to give out saltwater taffy to the hecklers worked brilliantly for Mike's performance. And Harry had to admit from the wings his performance had been breath-taking. She just wished she could have seen it from the audience.

However by the time that Harry took the stage, right after Mike but right before intermission, the saltwater taffy scheme stopped working. She could hear their heckling calls from the audience as she walked onto the stage.

"Up next is our newest Glee Club member: Jesscia "Harry" Williams! She will be singing "Don Quixote" by Gordon Lightfoot!" Harry approached the microphone at centre stage as the band began playing the first few notes and the heckling started.

**"You're not good enough for Gordon!"**

**"Isn't it past your bedtime?"**

_Through the woodland, through the valley  
>Comes a horseman wild and free<br>Tilting at the windmills passing  
>Who can the brave young horseman be<br>He is wild but he is mellow  
>He is strong but he is weak<br>He is cruel but he is gentle  
>He is wise but he is meek<em>

**"You reek!"**

_Reaching for his saddlebag_

**"You're a saddlebag!"**

_He takes a battered book into his hand  
>Standing like a prophet bold<br>He shouts across the ocean to the shore  
>Till he can shout no more<em>

**"I wish you'd sing no more!"**

_I have come o'er moor and mountain_  
><em>Like the hawk upon the wing<em>  
><em>I was once a shining knight<em>  
><em>Who was the guardian of a king<em>  
><em>I have searched the whole world over<em>  
><em>Looking for a place to sleep<em>  
><em>I have seen the strong survive<em>  
><em>And I have seen the lean grown weak<em>

_See the children of the earth_  
><em>Who wake to find the table bare<em>  
><em>See the gentry in the country<em>  
><em>Riding off to take the air<em>

**I wish you'd ride off already!**

_Reaching for his saddlebag_  
><em>He takes a rusty sword into his hand<em>  
><em>Then striking up a knightly pose<em>  
><em>He shouts across the ocean to the shore<em>  
><em>Till he can shout no more<em>

**You suck! Get off the stage already!**

**BOOOOOOOO!**

_See the jailor with his key  
>Who locks away all trace of sin<em>

**I want to lock you away!**

**You're terrible!**

**Singing this bad is criminal!**

_See the judge upon the bench  
>Who tries the case as best he can<br>See the wise and wicked ones  
>Who feed upon life's sacred fire<br>See the soldier with his gun  
>Who must be dead to be admired<em>

_See the man who tips the needle_  
><em>See the man who buys and sells<em>  
><em>See the man who puts the collar<em>

**"I wish someone would put a muzzle on you!"**

_On the ones who dare not tell  
>See the drunkard in the tavern<br>Stemming gold to make ends meet  
>See the youth in ghetto black<br>Condemned to life upon the street_

_Reaching for his saddlebag_  
><em>He takes a tarnished cross into his hand<em>  
><em>Then standing like a preacher now<em>  
><em>He shouts across the ocean to the shore<em>  
><em>Then in a blaze of tangled hooves<em>  
><em>He gallops off across the dusty plain<em>  
><em>In vain to search again<em>  
><em>Where no one will hear<em>

_Through the woodland, through the valley_  
><em>Comes a horseman wild and free<em>  
><em>Tilting at the windmills passing<em>  
><em>Who can the brave young horseman be<em>  
><em>He is wild but he is mellow<em>  
><em>He is strong but he is weak<em>  
><em>He is cruel but he is gentle<em>  
><em>He is wise but he is meek<em>

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you okay, Harry?"

"Of course I am."

"You're crying."

"Yeah, the song made me sad."

"What about the hecklers?"

"What about them? Trust me, they're not that bad. I was actually amused by some of their insults. I've never heard it done that badly before."

"They were brutal with you!"

"And I ignored them."

"Good for you Harry!" Mr. Schue commented, "But I'm not sure if everyone else has that same thick skin. So what we need to do next is impress them so much that they just can't heckle. So next one up is Mercedes!"

"Mercedes isn't here."

"Right, you guys go look for Mercedes, I'm going to talk to our hecklers." Taking charge Ms. Holiday walked out of the room, expecting everyone to go to their assigned tasks.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Once they got Mercedes to agree to perform the rest of the night went off without a hitch. The teenage hecklers had been shamed into leaving by Ms. Holiday, Ms. Holiday's performance had been lovely, and Mercedes rendition of "Ain't No Way" was simply breath-taking. The entire Glee club had gathered in the audience to watch her perform and Harry was once again incredibly impressed by the talent that was in this small-town high school.

"Anybody up for a celebratory after-party?" Mercedes questioned, finally fully over her diva mood swing.

"I don't know." Harry started off, unsure how she felt about being in close quarters with a group of partying teenagers. She still wasn't comfortable with being touched, at all, and loud noises made her uneasy. It seemed like a pretty terrible idea to her.

"Oh, Harry, you have to come!"

"Well, where is it? I don't like driving too far that late at night." That was a good excuse, nobody lived near her, she was pretty sure that Santana was the closest because she was Lima Heights adjacent but that was close enough to Lima Heights that most of the other Glee clubbers weren't too comfortable with going there. Nobody would live anywhere near her.

"I was thinking my place, if you want you can all spend the night. My parents are out of town at a dental convention so we'd have the whole place to ourselves." Mercedes responded happy to be hosting a big party for all of Glee.

"I've got the booze!" Puck threw out excitedly.

"Come on, Harry!" Tina tugged on her arm, "We need to celebrate! Mercedes closed the show! We raised enough money, thanks to creepy Mr. Ryerson, for the Brainiacs to go to Detroit! Ms. Holliday shut down all those haters! And you made it through your first performance in front of an audience and did great! You can't deny it's time to party!"

"Okay, okay, I guess I could." Harry hesitantly agreed, unable to think of another excuse without outright saying she didn't want to go. She was trying to blend in here, and saying that she wasn't interested in partying would really stand out.

"Great! Now who needs a ride?" Merecedes exclaimed, as Harry got dragged into the last minute party plans.


End file.

Glee, Harry Potter, Friendship, Hurt-Comfort