Kitty sat in front of the dressing room mirror, dragging a comb through her long black hair. Admiring herself intensely, it was a couple of hours before she was due on-stage. With an outfit planned and hung delicately nearby, she was anything but nervous. Hundreds of screaming Hogwarts pupils, centre-stage beneath the spotlight with a live band behind - it was Kitty's idea of heaven. She'd been practising for weeks, and with Maeve and Bella's approval, she was ready to perform.

Applying a thin layer of scarlet red lipstick upon her mouth, she pouted instinctively, fluttering her eyelashes. It wasn't just about her voice - of course not. It was about the performance; the dress, the attitude, the swagger, the atmosphere, everything. If Kitty wanted a life in the spotlight, it was imperative that she focus her efforts in the early stages of her 'career'.

A line of black mascara fell onto her fragile lashes, and during her make-up session, she was gradually maturing in age. Without all the slap, Kitty looked extremely youthful - a fact which she hated. However, after a mask of cosmetics and a pair of killer heels, she looked more and more like the glamorous twenty year old she aimed to be.  Taking another glance at her handiwork in the mirror, her head instantly turned as the dressing room door creaked open.
"I said I didn't want to be disturbed!" she barked.

Chance Ryker had seen Kitty Li around from time to time and hadn't really gotten a favorable vibe from her, but he didn't really know her.  He quirked a brow at Kitty's snippy response as he drummed a fist on the apparently open dressing room door.

"Pre show jitters gotcha a wee bit high strung, Kit?"

This was probably the most Chance had spoken to Kitty.  He wasn't receiving the best impression thus far, but maybe she was simply tense from preparing for the big show.

"Some o' th' techies want ya t'do a mic check on stage real quick t'make sure everything's workin' fine."

Chance began ambling back out toward the stage, while tweaking his electric guitar.  It was a wild axe indeed, jagged with a dark scarlet sheen to the paint job.  Chance was wearing a yellow gold t-shirt with a sword stabbing through a heart, and two griffins stretching their wings along his shoulders.  He wore a grey, pinstriped vest, a pair of grey slacks, and a pair of black boots.  Chance was always wearing a wrist cuff or two, and today he had the classic, thick black one which sheathed his wand on a chain, as well as several other leather bands around his opposing wrist.  Chance's hair was even more wild looking than ever, erratically spiked and jutting out in every direction.  He truly looked ready to rock.

"Ugh, you," Kitty snarled, turning back to the mirror and dabbing some grey eyeshadow around her wicked little blinkers. "I've got nothing to be jittery about, Ryker. Tonight will be absolutely, fabulous." The Slytherin villain spoke with so much conviction that it was hard to even doubt her confidence - she had it by the gallon. Running a hand through her black hair once more, she got to her feet and dusted down her skirt, turning to Chance with an unwelcoming look written all over her face.

"Mic check? Here's me thinking that we'd be without all these Muggle hinderances," she muttered, outraged at the inconvenience these 'techies' were causing. Following Chance onto the stage, she completely ignored the throngs of backstage volunteers that were making Kitty's concert possible, concerned only with herself and the all important performance.

"Will this be quick?" she snapped at one of the crew as she grabbed the microphone off him, rolling her eyes in dissatisfaction. Why were all these plebiscites bothering her with such mundane, mediocre business? These sort of things should've been sorted by now, and Kitty had to still get dressed and do her hair and get excited with Maeve and Bellatrix. So many things to do. Tapping her heeled foot to get the timing right, she opened her mouth to sing, a stream of haughty yet enchanting lyrics spilling from her mouth.
"How can I deny the feeling? Come choose the fuse that lights the spark, don't think I'll hold out too much longer," she sang. Despite being one of the most evil girls in Hogwarts, her voice was mesmerising and she turned to Chance.
"It's you that should be nervous, Ryker. It's going to be a hard act to follow." Kitty gave him a smirk and tipped her head back in victory; she would steal the show tonight.

Kitty's condescension and self obsession were fairly obvious even from the most superficial meeting with the girl.  Chance smirked halfway as a brow quirked as she vented and fumed her way through the backstage area.

"High strung'r obnoxious.  Knew it 'ad t'be one o'th' two."

Chance shrugged faintly, as if speaking to himself.  He wasn't very concerned with the Slytherin girl and didn't really see much point in prolonged interaction with her, but as Kitty threw a little taunt his way he nodded rather earnestly.

" 'ow true.  M'not quite sure 'ow much prolonged weight that stage can take...magically reinforced'r not.  I might 'aveta play in a crater left by y'an' yer rather obese ego."

The Irish Gryffindor smiled nonchalantly, caring very little for the girl's opinions or self delusions.  Mercy...she was nothing like her sister!  Chance made his way back to the stage, plucking a few chords here and there.  He mumbled under his breath a gritty, memorable opening to "Come As You Are" by Nirvana.

"Come...
as y'are...
as y'were...
as I want y't'be...
as a friend...
as a friend...
as an old enemy..."

Chance was still thinking over various songs he knew how to play that he thought would go over well with the crowd.  This was his current focus.

Grace walked through the backstage area for the holiday concert in her own little world, taking her time warming up her voice for the selection that she was going to be performing. In one hand she carried a mug of tea containing her own concoction that would sooth her vocal chords, and subsequently, her nerves. In the other hand, she held a few sheets of paper that contained the music for the song that she would be singing.

She had chosen to perform something befitting the occasion. For one, she did not feel she had the voice to suit a more contemporary piece but for another, the holiday season had always been a special time for her and she liked sharing that with others, even if not everyone believed in the same ideologies. For her, it was more about the spirit of being with family and friends than anything else.

Grace was nudged out of her introspection by a ruckus coming from the stage area and she plodded in that direction to find diva Queen Bee Kitty Lee being a nightmare to everyone around her.

Surprisingly, that included her fellow Gryffindor prefect, Chance Ryker.

Grace quietly made her way closer to the scene and caught the tail end of the exchange between Kitty and Chance.

With a smirk, Grace realized that she was on the same side as Chance and for once it didn't irk her in least. Stepping up beside him, she quipped loud enough so only he would her, "And you thought I was high strung and unbearable to deal with? Pffft..."

"Speak English, Ryker," she spat the words like poison, completely intolerant of accents that weren't Korean or Queen's English. Kitty was far too involved with her own stardom to even register his insult, and looked at one of the 'techies', raising an eyebrow. Why did they want her for so long? She needed to get ready, for goodness sake!

As Ryker began to strum a few clear notes on his guitar, Kitty didn't even know the song and turned around once more. The scowl on her face had become a trademark of Kitty's since her initial year at Hogwarts, and she wore it now with extreme fury.
"You call that music? Thank God I didn't agree to a duet with a grunge-garbage git like you," she scoffed, placing a nonchalant hand on a skinny hip. It was all about synths, pop melodies and addictive beats, not guitars, hair-swinging and 'mosh pits'. Kitty would sooner die.

Grace Eddy appeared on the stage (or Kitty's stage, to be precise) and the would-be diva turned around once more, starting to get sick of the interruptions to her all important sound check. Anything that was to do with her performance was number one priority in Kitty's book.
"I'm starting to get tired of all these irrelevant faces showing up..." Kitty muttered to a nearby backstage pupil, who merely nodded in agreement and terror.

Chance had long ago quit caring about what petty or snooty people said.  Truth be told, manipulations were the only power that any such person had that wasn't directly given to them by the victim.  Little did Chance know that his fellow Gryffindor prefect was on the way.  As Kitty ranted and howled, Chance couldn't help but snicker and shake his head.

"I stopped carin' what snot nosed posers like yerself said a long time ago.  Maybe y'outta take a page outta Violet's book if y'want somebody t'actually give a flip 'boutcha, lass."

Chance grinned as he saw Grace come into view and he straightened up with a welcoming opening of his arms.

"Ahhh...Grace, be a dear an' block out that screechin' howler monkey that jus' won' stop, wouldja?"

At this point, Chance was simply droning Kitty out.  He wasn't one that enjoyed bickering back and forth and here it seemed especially pointless.  Chance didn't really have anything to prove or to gain by arguing with Kitty, so ignoring her seemed the logical path. 

"What brings yer gorgeous self t'th' stage Ms.Eddy?"

Little did Chance realize that Grace had signed up to take part in the concert herself!

Kitty turned around once more and narrowed her eyes, her ears straining to hear what the boy was saying. In reality, Kitty knew perfectly well what he just said, but there was nothing worse than somebody pretending they couldn't understand you. It was sheer, ignorant bliss. Kitty shook her head slowly after her finished and shrugged, giving a mock sympathetic smile.
"No, Ryker, still can't understand you," she sighed, and spun the microphone round in a circular motion by its wire. "Say it with me, Chance, elocution. El-o-cu-tion." Giving him a smirk, she turned around and placed the microphone back in its stand.

Trotting towards the back of the stage, she'd had enough of this sound test. They had gained her attention for five minutes, and now, Kitty needed to get ready. She needed makeup, glitz, glamour and her girls to stoke the fires of excitement. It was going to be, epic.

Before she left the stage in her ridiculously high heels, Kitty turned once more, both hands on her hips, poised for attack. Looking at Grace, then to Chance, and back to Grace once more, she shook her head, laughing to herself.
"I never realised trolls and goblins got on well enough to do a duet," she tittered, flicking her head back in delight before she went back to her dressing room. "See you later this evening, losers."

Grace vaguely knew that Kitty Li was one of Maeve Whitman's little faithful followers. It was hard not to notice the fifth year trailing along after her older Slytherin housemate whenever possible. What did the girl hope to learn, anyway? How to be the next Wicked Witch of Hogwart's?

Grace knew that she wouldn't be around after this year, but she sincerely hoped that for every Maeve Whitman that popped up in a year, there were twice as many people like herself who would work hard to put them in their place. The world, both magical and not, did not revolve around them. No one was required to listen to what they had to say or had to bow down and kiss their feet just because they were the magical world's equivalent to anachronous royalty. As far as Grace was concerned, purebloods like Maeve and Kitty were simply a waste of space. All of their machinations to create havoc among those around them and all their woeful concerns about the shoes they wore or the hairstyles they had were not going to do anything to improve the world.

This was why it made Grace's blood boil when they taunted others who most certainly would. Grace had no idea what Chance's plans were after Hogwart's. But given his acceptance of the Prefect post and their interaction since, she was sure that he at least aspired to a plan more meaningful than Kitty's. He was going to do something noteworthy. And, he was a good person, albeit a somewhat annoying one in a completely different way than Hogwart's little clique of plastics.

Grace had had enough of Kitty's antics about five seconds after she knocked Chance's music selection.The Gryffindor seventh year stepped forward a little and sent Kitty a searing look.

"Like, oh my Godric," Grace cut in, her voice inflecting in such a way that was meant to poke fun at prissy purebloods. To go along with that, Grace brought the back of her hand up to her forehead, as if something were really horrid. "Because his music is like, soooo much worse than your music that induces nothing but hair flipping--" Grace briefly paused and demonstrated a good airheaded flip of her reddish hued hair. "And bouncy, trouncy dance moves that look more like you're having a seizure....or, horrendous blood curtling screams." Grace rolled her eyes. "Like, yeah. That's soooo super amazing."

Grace's voice was now dripping with sarcasm and she was plenty ready to be done with seeing Kitty's face before her. She had turned to respond to Chance's question about what brought her there when Kitty just would not leave Chance alone, this time picking on his accent, which Grace admitted that it had grown on her.

Her brown eyes blazed as she fired off, "No one here wants to say anything with you, Kitty. Your elocution is like the fast track to snobsville. And it's overcrowded as it is with self important, airheaded brats like you." Others might have been intimidated or so put off by Kitty's comments to just let them go. But not Grace Eddy. There was no way she was going to let the fifth year have the last word. "Have fun with your solo act. The posters are already reading--" Grace held her arms up and splayed her hands out to pay homage to an imaginary sign, "Now showing: Kitty Li in Concert (with no Pips)." Then Grace added as a wry afterthought, "Because no one wanted to sing back up to such a diva, who's ego is so much bigger than her talent..."

Chance wasn't sure exactly what Kitty Li was saying at this point.  He really and truly had droned her out.  It was more like hearing a barking chihuahua while running a vacuum cleaner, sure you could hear some annoying yipping but couldn't really distinguish it.  The electric guitar was a wonderful distraction...and currently he was playing a little "Forever" by Papa Roach.  He picked up at the rather striking chorus that was so intense and passionate.  Chance loved it!

"Because days! Come an' go!
But muh feelin's fer you are forever
Because days come and go
But muh feelin's for you are forever."

He swayed and jolted his head a bit, but then paused and realized that he knew so little of the song's lyrics aside from the chorus. 

"Wow...really dunno that song s'well.  Heh!"

Ah well.  It was still quite an excellent distraction.  However, when Chance returned his attention to Grace...he could see that her redheaded rage was rising.  His green eyes widened as his brows lifted.  Chance was rather stunned at Grace's Kitty impression at first, but it seemed Grace felt the Slytherin needed to be put in her place.  Chance agreed, but he doubted anything he said would hold weight with the girl.  Suddenly the thought that Kitty was behaving this way toward not just one, but two prefects.  How did she act around those without even a shred of power or status above hers?  This concerned Chance.  Not everyone could shrug off insults like he could.

"Look Kitty, I know ya dun' givva flip what I think an' that's all well an' good...but th' problem is, when ya set yerself up t'be a snarky, lit'l diva...not a person likes ya, not even th' people that pretend t'be yer friends.  S'all fake."

Chance wasn't big on lectures and kept it short and sweet.  Chance began to strum Army of Anyone's "Goodbye."  Surely the Gryffindors wouldn't have to assert any threats of point deductions or other such punishments?  Hopefully Kitty would back down, whether she truly respected them or took anything they said into account or not.

"Yeah, ah got this thinkin' in muh head
Yeah, ya wanna say th' things not said

What's th' reason?

Dun't really care if you leave
Just wanna see you beaten
Dun't really care if you grieve
Dun't really need a reason

Hey, goodbye
I wish you stayed here
I wish you were here..."

It always sounded funny to Chance when he fully pronounced the word "you", but sometimes the song simply called for it.  And he did love this song...