The Room of Requirement

"Spray it...with what?" He watched as she continued working on his hair, shocked at how different it made him look. "Woah, it looks really...woah," was all he could really say as he reached up to gently tug at some of his straightened hair.

"Spray it with stuff," He replied vaguely, figuring if Al really wanted to know anything he could just read her mind and figure it out. That was a good tactic. She finished the last little lock of hair and set the straightener down on the vanity after turning it off. She grabbed the little spray bottle of heat protectant and quickly sprayed his hair before setting it back down.

Al pursed his lips as he trailed his fingers through his hair, surprised at the soft texture the straightened dark hair had to it. It didn't look awful, but he had to admit it made him look like an entirely different person when he was missing his usual curls. "I guess it's not terrible, except it makes me look like a total douchebag..."

Parvati's jaw dropped as he said he looked like a total douchebag. "No you do not, Al." She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you look pretty darn tootin hot." She shrugged slightly as she looked him over. "But if you don't like it fine. Just hate on what I do to your hair and the things I like."

"What? No, no, no, no, no, I'm not hating on what you do. I just...on anyone else I bet you'd make them look awesome. On me? I just...I look ridiculous." He glanced up at her with a slightly cheeky grin. "You really think I look hot, Parv?" he questioned teasingly as he winked up at his friend.

"You do not look ridiculous." She huffed, keeping her arms crossed over her chest. "Yes," She whined out as he asked if she thought he looked hot. "I mean you look nice with curly hair but I think you look good with straight hair too." She shrugged. "But if you don't like it I can always like dumb a bucket of water on your head and the curls will come back."

"No, no...it's fine. I'll keep it straight for a while. It really doesn't look that bad, to be honest. I was just surprised by how different it looked," he admitted as he ran his fingers through his hair. "And I'd rather not have a bucket of water dumped on my head, if ya don't mind."

"Oh, well okay then." She smiled before moving so she was in front of him and sat on his lap on the little chair in front of the vanity. "So what do you want to do now?" she asked him. "We could cuddle and talk, or we could dance, or you could do my hair, or we could sing, or we could do something else if you don't want to do any of those."

Al laughed and wrapped his arms around Parvati, resting his head on her shoulder as he tried to ignore how different his hair felt now that the curls were temporarily gone. "All those sound fun. I think...I want to see you sing again," he insisted with a wide smile, glancing up at Parvati through his eyelashes. "Pleeease?"

Parvati frowned as he said he wanted to see her sing again. "But I already sang you a song, Al." She pouted a little bit as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you going to do for me if I sing you a song?" She asked him, looking down at him as she raised an eyebrow curiously at him.

"Would a strip tease work?" he asked, obviously joking as he stuck his tongue out at her. "I like hearing your voice. You need to sing more often," he suggested, poking her in the arm with each syllable.

Parvati squirmed a bit in Al's lap as he poked her side and then hesitantly stood up. "Okay, okay, fine." She huffed. "Are you going to play piano for me if I sing for you?" She asked him, not wanting to sing in complete silence.

"Of course! What kind of friend do you think I am?" he asked in mock surprise as he made his way over to the piano. "Any song in particular you want me to play for you?"

"Shut up," She said with a light laugh as she walked over to the piano with him. "Umm, let me think," She said, biting her lip lightly as she tried to think of what song she wanted to sing. "Can you play and Amy Winehouse? Back to Black?" She asked, hoping he said yes before sheet music appeared in front of him for the song. "Oh, that works."

Al opened his mouth to apologize and tell Parvati that he didn't know all the notes to that song, but before he could say anything the sheet music appeared and he smiled as he adjusted it on the piano. "I love magic," he chuckled. "This'll do." He sat down at the piano and brushed his fingers over the keys before looking over at Parv. "You ready?"

"Me too," She said with a grin as he said that he loved magic and stood next to the piano, letting the fingers on her right hand dance on the smooth top of the piano as she faced Al and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready." She smiled before waiting for Al to start playing.

Al shot Parvati a soft, reassuring smile before pressing his fingers down against the keys as he began to play the first few notes, his eyes focused on the piano as he gave Parvati some form of privacy.

Parvati glanced over at Al as he started to play and then moved her eyes to look at a wall in the room. It had always been much easier for her to sing to people if she started out looking away from them. She took a quick deep breathe before she began singing. "He left no time to regret, kept his dick wet with his same old safe bet. Me and my head high and my tears dry. Get on without my guy. You went back to what you knew so far removed from all that we went through and I tread a troubled track my odds are stacked. I'll go back to black," She sang out moving away from the piano a bit as she walked over so she was standing a bit closer to Al as she sang.

"We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to.....

I go back to us

I love you much
It's not enough
You love blow and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

Black, black, black, black, black, black, black,
I go back to
I go back to

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black," She sang out, taking a deep breathe after the last note as she looked over at Al for a little while longer before she quickly averted her gaze.

Al's eyes eventually made their way over to Parvati as he listened to her sing, this song having a much different feel than the other. Parvati's voice almost had a raspy-like sound to it, making it perfect for the song. As soon as the song was over and Parvati sat down next to him, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek as he tried to urge her to look at him again. "That...was amazing. There's no way I could ever sing like that."

Parvati side glanced over at Al as he kissed her cheek and smiled at him before shifting on the little bench so she was facing him, a small smile still spread across her lips. "Thank you," She said quietly before leaning over and wrapping her arms around him for a moment before pulling back, keeping her hands rested on his shoulders. "You're wrong though. You totally can sing like that. You can sing like better than that, Al."

"Am not," he quipped back, though his expression was completely serious. "I could never pull off a song like that," he admitted, his features softening a bit. "You underestimate yourself, you know. You're a lot more wonderful than you play yourself out to be."

Parvati turned to face him a bit when he spoke again and shook her head slowly. "I don't know about that," She said quietly before shrugging. "You overestimate me a bit I think," She told him with a small shrug before looking away from him. She really did think that though. Al always acted as if she was so great when she really wasn't great.

Al frowned as he gently brought his hand up to Parvati's cheek and guided her gaze back to his face. "Hey, don't say that. I don't overestimate you at all. You're just as amazing as I think you are. You just have a hard time seeing it for some reason," he frowned. "You're the greatest friend I've ever had. Why can't you see that?"

Parvati lowered her eyes slightly as Al moved her face back to look at his and then shortly after she shifted her eyes back up to look at him. "I don't know," She replied shortly, not really knowing what to say. She didn't know why she didn't think her singing was good, or why she didn't think she was as pretty as other people. It was just the way her mind worked all the time and she couldn't help it, no matter how much she wanted to.

It killed Al to watch Parvati speak so poorly of herself, and he wanted more than anything to show her how amazing she really was, not just to him but to everyone around her. "If I wasn't with Scorpius," he murmured softly. "...and if you weren't with my brother, I'd probably ask you to marry me," he confessed honestly. "So don't ever think you're anything short of perfect."