The Land of Stories: A Very Gleeful Threequel

Heart's Desire

18. Heart's Desire

In which Darren is pining, like a thing that pines frequently and desperately...

Darren had been at Hogwarts for over a week before he stumbled across the Mirror of Erised. He wasn't at all surprised that the image it showed him perfectly matched the one he saw every time he looked into his own magic mirror: Chris's smiling face. Darren's answering grin was automatic, but tinged with bittersweet longing. Seeing his boyfriend was wonderful, but would it always be through glass?

Darren's optimism, which had once seemed so unquenchable, was beginning to erode. As day followed day, with Chris still trapped in the Gleeful Land of Stories, and Darren and Joey still stuck in the musical version of Hogwarts, what had once felt like a magical adventure was rapidly losing its sparkle. Darren was pining.

Joey, in an attempt to cheer him up, suggested that Darren should pull out his guitar and sing some of his favorite songs. As luck — or misfortune — would have it, Ginny happened upon them just as Darren got ready to play.

"Hey, Ginny, c'mere. I wanna show you something. C'mere."

Ginny — wearing her heart on her sleeve — blushed as she approached. "Hey, Harry Potter."

"Listen, I wanna play you this song that I'm working on. I met someone who I really, really like, who's really special. So, I just wanna know what you think. Just for the purposes of now, 'cause I'm still working out the lyrics, I'll put your name in it, but I don't think it's really gonna work out. Well, let me just give it a shot."

Ginny was glowing with pleasure as Darren began to sing:

You're tall and fun and pretty

You're really, really skinny

Ginny

I'm the Mickey to your Minnie

You're the Tigger to my Winnie

Ginny

Gonna take you to the city

Wanna take you out to dinney

Ginny

You're cuter than a guinea pig

Wanna take you up to Winnipeg

That's in Canada!

Ginny Ginny Ginny —

With a shake of the head, Darren cut himself off mid-song. "You know what, this doesn't work with your name at all. It doesn't work. But, I don't know, how does that make you feel, emotionally?"

"Wow! Wowie, Harry Potter!"

"Don't you think it could — I don't know — make somebody fall in love with me?"

"Oh, I think it already has."

"Awesome! 'Cause it's for my boyfriend, Chris. He's super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot! He's the hottest guy I've ever met. He's far more attractive, far more appealing, far more interesting than anyone I know."

As Ginny tried to hide her disappointment, Darren launched into another version of his song:

You're tall and fun and pretty

You're really, really skinny

Chris

I'm the Mickey to your Minnie

You're the Tigger to my Winnie

Chris

Gonna take you to the city