| "~" = song lyrics Veneficium By: Skylar Inari Chapter One: The Hit Single Andrew Polkiss rubbed his eyes tiredly as he finished cataloging the CD shipment, to be shipped to the stores where the masses would buy them. The current box he was checking was filled with Veneficium's latest CD's. He grinned to himself, that was one CD he was going to buy for himself. After thirty years of cataloging CD 's, records, tapes and such there was very little music to which he truly cared to listen. He'd been a fan of Veneficium since their first record. The combination of punkish pop-rock and celtic folk blended with the beautifully contrasted voices of the two lead singers captured the essence of their songs perfectly. As it had captured his interest... He'd placed his order for the CD the moment he'd gotten wind that a new one was being released. The release date was July 31st. In fact, he even had a pre-release version of it at home - missing its cover art and looking like no more than an illegally burned CD. In fact, his manager had given it to him just last week. The only kind of music that the manager liked was sappy country tunes, and he had been quite willing to part with the pre-release copy as long as Andrew wrote a review on it for the �Staff Picks� page of the distributor�s newsletter. Andrew would have done far more to obtain such a treasure. The manager had commented that he had the same taste in music as those 'bloody' teenagers who haunted playground across the street with blaring stereos. Andrew had hid his irritation - it wouldn't have done to offend the person who not only controlled state of employment but had the power to withhold something so precious. So he had mumbled something agreeable, promised that the review would be in on Monday and went home. And spent the next hour and a half blissfully listening to all new haunting tunes in the voices that had become so familiar to him. Andrew frowned... Teenagers, his manager had said. They listened to Veneficium? Andrew pursed his lips wondering if he should... Veneficium would be going on tour to honor the release; the first show was to be on September the first. Maybe he could get his nephew to come with him... But his nephew wasn't likely to want to go to a concert without knowing anything about the band... The frown deepened. He decided he could part with his pre-released copy. After all, the actual disk was coming out in less than a week and he already had most of the songs memorized. Tomorrow he'd lend the pre-release to Piers, then ask him if he'd be willing to go to the concert. Humming the title track Andrew Polkiss finished up his inventory, and with a last covetous look at the box containing the CD he had pre-ordered he left for home. He'd listen to it one more time. *** At eleven Piers Polkiss had been a small weasel faced boy who held peoples� arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. At fifteen he hadn't changed much; although he had gained some height he still had he weasel like face and still held people for Dudley. Of course, Dudley now usually used his Smeltings stick rather than his fists. Piers Polkiss rang the doorbell on Number 4 Privet Drive and waited impatiently for the door to be opened. His uncle had lent him a CD, in hopes of luring him to a concert. Piers had listened to the CD, one night because he had been bored and had been looking for something loud enough to block the sound of what he and Dudley were planning next. The CD had turned out to be pretty good...but more useful to Piers had been the fact that it would drown out almost anything. Because his uncle had managed unwittingly to place something highly useful into his hands, Piers had decided that he'd go to the concert - it was a small price to pay and might get his mother off his back about spending some 'quality time' with his uncle. Telling his uncle that he had wanted to play it for his friend, Piers had asked if he could keep the CD for an extra day. So that he and Dudley could do what they'd been dying to do for ages. Go through Vernon and Petunia's bedroom. It was a goal they had once considered impossible but now, with Dudley's parents away at a luncheon in hopes of consolidating a deal about drills and no one else home but Dudley's half-wit cousin Harry the operation would be a piece of cake. With the music on Harry wouldn't even think of investigating if they dropped something because nothing would be audible over the music. The door opened finally and, grinning cheekily, Piers Polkiss strolled into the Dursleys� house. They had work to do. *** Harry Potter lay listlessly on his bed and stared at absolutely nothing. He was bored. A week ago he had received a letter from Dumbledore telling him that he would not be going to the Weasley's at all. That had completely crushed his hopes of salvaging the otherwise horrendous summer. His room was still almost empty, furnished with only absolutely necessary items. The only things that showed that the room was even lived in were the recently cleared dust (his doing, not Petunia's) and his trunk of his books and robes for school. However, one could only read the same books so many times in a row. He didn't even have any homework to distract himself with anymore, he'd finished the last assignment (a three foot essay from Professor McGonagall, The Difficulties of Self-Transfiguration. Discuss.) the night before. To make matters even worse, Dudley's friend was over today, so Harry couldn't even leave his room without fearing for his safety. For, although Dudley was completely unable to catch Harry himself (Dudley was now too large to fit through some of the doorways in the house), Piers was still more than willing to catch him so Dudley could hit him. Harry was effectively trapped in his room for the day and trapped with the Dursleys for the summer. It was not a high point in his life. Closing his eyes he wracked his mind for some way to amuse himself without incurring his guardians� wrath. That's when the music started up. Loud, and louder because Dudley and Piers had turned the volume way up. The small room felt as if were vibrating with the beat. Harry tried to drown it out by burying his head in his pillow, and almost succeeded. In fact (finding nothing better to do) the young Potter was drifting off to sleep when... ~...Voldemort...~ Harry's head snapped up. He couldn't have heard that word, not in a muggle rock song! He listened closer to the lyrics. ~....young Cedric Diggory.~ Harry felt the blood drain from his face. It was impossible. No muggle would even know that name. No... Not possible... They didn't know... How...??? No... It can't be... Please...don't let it be that... All summer he had had difficulties dealing with the fact that Cedric Diggory's death was on his hands by his reckoning. And as much trouble as he had dealing with the fact that he had the blood of another student on his hands while he was at the Dursley's, he knew the sense of guilt he carried with him would only increase once he was in the familar surroundings of Hogwarts. In a way he was grateful that he had the summer to deal with his consicence. He pushed off his bed and opened the door slowly, hoping that Dudley and Piers wouldn't see him. Seeing a clear coast Harry slipped out of his bedroom and crept down the stairs, moving carefully - though he doubted that Dudley and Piers would have heard him if he had stomped down with bricks on his feet. ~...drenched in blood...~ After seeing that they were not in the room, Harry entered and began looking for the CD case. He found it wedged between the CD player and the wall. Prying it out he flipped over the case and read: Veneficium Pre-release "Voldemort" The case dropped from suddenly nerveless hands as Harry backed away, shaking his head in denial. It wasn't possible...no...that name....in the muggle world...the one place where he�d felt isolated from the atrocities that happened in Voldemort's name.... How? No.... Harry ran back to his room, trembling with disbelief and the song beat in unison with his footsteps... ~ Blood being spilt, lives being lost... The cost of revival Innocence shattered, lying broken drenched in blood Undeserving, those unconnected. Strayed on to the path... The youth so loyal and fair, taken by Voldemort... The undeserving, caught by misfortune's maids of honor, That poor young Cedric Diggory...~ *** Hermione Granger was sitting in the waiting room of her parents� dental clinic. She wasn't there for an appointment or anything, it was just that her parents had decided that nearly fifteen years old was good age to get a summer job. So she became a receptionist for her parents. She didn't mind it, it wasn't a hard job at all and she was getting paid well. Her shift was almost over, then the usual receptionist would be coming in to take her place. Ten more minutes and she could go home for the day. Chewing absently on the tip of a pen she buried her nose a book she�d brought from home - not one of her school books, she had decided that it might invite awkward questions from the patients. Ten minutes later, Hermione left the building that her parent's clinic was in, book tucked under her arm. Catching the bus just as it was leaving, she managed to get home minutes before noon. Taking her shoes off in the front hall she raced up the stairs to her bedroom. After dumping her book on her bed she headed for the kitchen in search of lunch. She assembled a sandwich and sat down to eat when she heard a soft clicking noise from the living room. She left her lunch and rushed to see what could possibly be making such a sound. It was Hedwig. Hermione hurriedly unlatched the window so that the owl could enter. Hedwig landed on a bookshelf and preened herself, while Hermione got her a bowl of water. Placing the water beside Hedwig, she picked up the freshly delivered letter and settled down to read it. Dear Hermione, I just found something really unsettling, and I'm not allowed to leave the house so I need your help. Have you ever heard of the muggle band "Venificium"? Could you look them up for me? I heard one of their songs today and it kind of disturbed me- the CD it's from is called Voldemort. Could you buy it for me? And any others they have? I'll pay you back once I've been to Gringott's. Please do this for me and write back what you think. Thanks very much Hermione, Harry Hermione was glad that she was sitting down. A muggle band with a CD called "Voldemort"? Harry had been quite right to go to her and not Ron. For one thing Ron wouldn't know anything about muggle money and probably even less about muggle music. Add to that the fact that Harry couldn't leave the house at all, and while understanding muggle money didn't have any and wouldn't be able to access Gringott's until the end of the summer, since that was the only time he'd be able to get away from his relatives. Well, Hermione was the only one he could turn to in all reality. Especially because Harry wouldn't have wanted to bother or worry those wizards who might actually have some knowledge of the muggle world with something that he wasn't sure if it was a big deal or not. Hermione grabbed a sheet of paper and scribbled: Dear Harry, Of course I will! Could you send Hedwig back to me when you get this? That would be more convenient that trying to track down an owl of my own and convincing it to bring a letter to you. You're welcome, Hermione Hedwig accepted the letter from Hermione's hand with an affectionate nip and flapped out the open window. Hermione wrote a quick note to her parents telling them she was going shopping and didn't know what time she'd be home. Tugging on her shoes, Hermione headed out. She took the bus to the closest mall and headed straight for the huge CD store it boasted. She strode determinedly up to the first employee she saw and politely demanded their attention. "Veneficium?" The man looked at her in surprise, obviously not believing that such a conservatively dressed girl would be interested in such a band. Hermione nodded, "My friend recommended them. He said he thought they�d interest me and I ought to pick up their CD "Voldemort"..." He glanced at his computer screen. "I'm sorry, that one won't be out until Monday. Would you like to pre-order it?" At the girl's nod the young man continued. "We've got all of their others in stock if you'd like to look at them?" "Yes, thank you. I�d appreciate it." The man lead Hermione over to the pop/rock section and pointed to the 'V' area, then left her, saying that she could order 'Voldemort' at the register. Hermione went through the section and found five different CD's credited to Veneficium. The titles were (in chronological order of original publication): 'Unending', 'Marauders', 'Taking its Toll', 'Love's Magic', and 'Glimpse of Shadows'. Taking one of each she went up to the counter, paid and filled out a pre-order request card for 'Voldemort'. Thanking the clerk, Hermione went home. Once home Hermione removed the plastic wrappers. She entered the first one in her CD player and settled herself on her bed with the liner notes. She hit �play�. ~Deep as the shadows go...~ *** Several hours later, Hermione stretched. She regarded the fan of CD cases speculatively and pursed lips. The music was indeed interesting. As far as she could tell it was an accurate version of the past sixty or so years of wizarding history - starting with the defeat of Grindelward by Dumbledore. Tapping her fingers absently on her cheek, she gathered up the disks and placed them on her desk before settling down to write two letters. One for Harry, the other for Professor Lupin. An adult needed to know about this, and there weren�t many adults who'd pay her much mind besides Dumbledore (and he had more than enough on his mind). Lupin would be able to decide much better if this were a legitimate cause for concern. But, Harry: Harry, I agree that --- ~0ooo0ooo0~ Onward to Chapter 2 Back to Fiction Back to Main |