Austin couldn't be happier about the surprise that happe Rihanna's cert. He didn't even like Rihanna that mud only went because his girlfriend forced him to. Since he had a camcorder, he was relegated to being the unofficial event videographer. Now, he had something exclusive on his memory card that could be worth a fortune.

  "You 't sell it," Bree, his girlfriend, pointed out. "It would viote so many cht ws. You never had their permission to record or distribute the video. Don't fet, this song isn't even out yet. They could sue you. Scratch that. They will sue you if they find out."

  "What if…" Austin mused, "…I sold it on the dark web? How would they know?"

  "Or…" Bree tered, "how about you don't sell it at all? Why not just upload it online for free? There's this new website called YouTube where you upload any video. And since you won't be making money, at most, they'll ask YouTube to take it down."

  Austin, ever the money-minded schemer, didn't agree with Bree, though he wasn't foolish enough to btantly tradict her. Instead, he silently posted an ad on the dark web the video for sale. He set the initial price at 50,000. Unfortunately for him, no one made a det offer, even after several days. The highest bid was just 100.

  Selling the video for such a paltry sum wouldn't be worth the risk if Troy or Rihanna decided to sue him. Relutly, he resorted to what he hoped wouldn't leave him financially ruined: he uploaded the video on YouTube te at night and theo sleep. In the following days, he even fot he had done so. YouTube was a very form, and he assumed at best the video might get a few hundred views.

  Or so he thought.

  When he opened his at a week ter, he was stunned by the numbers in front of him.

  Troy Armitage and Rihanna's Exclusive Song – We Don't Talk Anymore32,345 Views | 3,085 Likes | 22 Dislikes

  Austin stared at the s in disbelief. He pyed the video again to review the result of his impromptu videography. To make the video better, he edited the footage to begiroy walked on stage, ensuring that the brief, public kiss between Troy and Rihanna was included. Fortunately, his camcorder had a good-quality microphone, and the audience around him had been unusually quiet, likely due to the y of the song. He had also used souing software to up the audio, resulting in a surprisingly professional product—at least, in his humble opinion.

  Still, for the video to garner more than 32,000 views in just a week on a fledglie like YouTube was astonishing.

  Another week passed, and then something even more ued happened. Aertai news el reached out to Austin, requesting permission to use clips from his video. In exge, they offered him 5,000—an offer he immediately accepted.

  (Break)

  "Troy Armitage and Rihanna were seen showing some massive PDA at the tter's London cert."

  The video then cut to a still of Troy and Rihanna locked in a kiss—the same ohey had shared on stage.

  "The new celebrity couple also sang a duet, 'We Don't Talk Anymore,' said to be part of their uping movie together, [Echoes of You], which is expected to release ter this year during the holiday season. The full clip of the song, which loaded on a new video streamie, YouTube, has been seen by more than forty thousand viewers by the time of rec of this episode."

  Mum and Dad sat beside me as the news pyed oV.

  "Seriously?" Mum asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you letting this go on at all?"

  I shrugged. "It's free publicity. Legally, I could ask YouTube to take down the video si includes my chted song, but it's just one song out of so many."

  "Don't fet," Dad chimed in, "this isn't even the best song on the album. 'Lovely' is much better than this."

  "I prefer 'All of You,'" Mum interjected. "But that's not the point. I think you're taking this too far. I didn't object to whatever is going oween you and Rihanna, but… this is too much."

  "Is it?" I asked seriously. "I don't think so. For all anyone knows, I'm just dating a girl I like. That's normal teen behavior, isn't it?"

  "Of course," Mum agreed. "But normal teens aren't global sensations. People oher side of the globe now know about you and Rihanna, and the rea isn't great. Especially online."

  "I told you not to go oero read about me, didn't I?" I sighed.

  She shrugged, pig up her ptop from beside her and passing it to me. The s en to the infamous YouTube video that started it all. I had already seen it st week when Tobias suggested I get it removed, but I deed. I knew how much we he publicity for the musical. Tobias doesn't uand how vital social media is for shaping public perception.

  What should have been only a few thousand views had skyrocketed to a massive 419k after breaking into iional media two days ago. As of now, it was the most viewed video in YouTube's library, posted by some guy named Austin.

  Reading the ents below, all I could think was how people have nothier to do with their time.

  @scorpion: This is the bestest song eva!

  @vi: What the fuq is Troy doing with that gal? He do so much better!

  @grace: fuq u @vi. Troy & Ri were made for each other. They are so cute together…

  @demi: I agree with @vi. Rihanna is so mid (not to mention bck!)

  @Sonian: Troy and Rihanna rocked the living bejesus out of me. Hot damn!

  @garfield: Ugh! Why her? Anyone would puke seeing her.

  @Mitts: I knht! Who gave that bck bitch the permission to date MY troy!

  What followed was a deluge of ents that were mostly spewing hate about Rihanna solely because of her skin color. I promptly shut the ptop a aside.

  "I don't care about some nobodies oer," I said emphatically. "ivity is so much easier to spread when no one knows who you are. Even people with something good to say will often stay silent if even five people are talking shit about someone."

  "But that doesn't ge the fact that—"

  "Kathy," Dad interjected, gently taking Mum's hand and shaking his head slightly. "Leave it be."

  "But Steve—"

  "Don't fet that this is a fake retionship," Dad reminded her. "I'm sure soon enough, one of them will be in a real retionship, and they'll call it off. Right, Troy?"

  "Yeah," I said fidently, standing up from the couch. "Enough now. I'm getting te for the shoot."

  I ignored Mum's worried gaze as I left to head to work on [Harry Potter]. If I let insequential things like this affect me, I'd never be able to work in peace.

  (Break)

  Today, we were filming a se not included in the inal [Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix] movie, set in St. Mungo's Hospital fical Madies and Injuries. A mouthful of a name, but so is everything in the Wizarding World.

  "A!"

  "Neville!" Jamie called out to the boy, who startled at the sound of his name. "What are you doing here?"

  But Neville didn't respond.

  "Friends of yours, Neville?" Dame Judi Dench asked, turning to him. He only nodded silently.

  "Ah, of course," she said, nodding towards me aending a handshake. "I know you, Mr. Potter. Neville speaks highly of you."

  "Thanks, Neville," I said, feeling unfortable under her gaze.

  Dame Judi Dench turo Jamie and Imogen. "You two are clearly Weasleys." Then, looking at Emma, she added, "And you must be Hermione Granger."

  Emma's expression showed her surprise that the old pureblood dy knew of her, though she didn't react outwardly.

  "It's good that Neville has friends like you who help him out of sticky spots," she said with a warm smile before her face turern. She looked at Neville and said, "I'll be downstairs waiting for you." Then her voice softened slightly. "Take as much time as you need, dear."

  She walked off, leaving the group momentarily frozen, unsure of what to say or do.

  "Umm, Neville?" Emma, as Hermione, asked softly. "Why are you here?"

  Neville hesitated before finally pointing toward the end of the ward, where a man and a woman sat, seemingly detached from their surroundings. "Those are my parents," he said in a low voice. "They were Aurors—heroes—tortured into insanity by Voldemort's followers after his fall. Cruciatus Curse."

  Just then, his mother approached and handed Neville something. He accepted it without hesitation. "Thanks, Mum," he whispered softly, looking down to see it was ay dy er.

  Emma choked back a sob, tears threatening to spill but managing to hold them in. She hugged Jamie sideways for support, while Imogen leaned into me, her eyes misty—a silent aowledgment that this could have been her father's fate as well if things had been slightly different.

  "Cut!" Rian called out. "Perfect shot, everyone. Let's move on."

  As the cast began to break, I gently stepped away from Imogen. Before I could say anything to her, an older woman stepped beside me.

  "So, how did I do?" Dame Judi Dench asked.

  "Ha! As if you could do anything wrong," I said, beaming. "Thank you for doing this, Dame Judi."

  "How many times do I have to tell you to call me just Judi?" she replied, exasperated.

  I cracked a grin. "Alright, Just Judi."

  She gave me a deadpan stare. "You think you're the only clever person in the world to think of that joke?"

  I shrugged. "heless, thank you for doing this for me. I know you didn't have to."

  "Are you kidding me?" she asked. "This is my grandson's favorite movie series. When he found out you called me, he practically begged me to do it, no matter how short the role might be."

  I smiled, touched by her words. Dame Judi had unknowingly pyed a pivotal role in my life. I'd never fet the moment when she handed me that Oscar statuette all those years ago—a momeched into history. Over the years, we'd run into each other at various Hollywood events, and she'd always been a delight to talk to. So when the ce arose, it only made seo invite her to do a cameo in the movie as Augusta Longbottom.

  As the se ed and I reparing to leave, my loyal assistant came sprinting toward me.

  "Troy, I just got a brand partnership offer for you," Tobias said, panting.

  "You know how to deal with those," I replied dismissively, tinuing to walk.

  "No," he said, shaking his head vehemently. His urgency made me stop.

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "It's YouTube," he said. "They're thrilled with the response your music video geed on their ptform. They're a partnership to promote their website and build a long-term retionship with you—like what you've doh Crocs. Remember how you told me to inform you immediately if an up-and-ing tepany reached out?"

  That stopped me in my tracks. This wasn't just big. It was moal. YouTube would go on to bee the biggest video ptform in the world and would eventually be bought by Google. If it weren't for TikTok, it would be the unchallenged leader for sure.

  "Are you sure that's what they said?" I asked, my tone serious.

  "Yes," he nodded. "They mentioned in their e-mail about wanting to talk, but sihey currently ck the funds to fly to London, they're willing to wait until after your film is done."

  "Call them right now," I said urgently. "Fly them over to London on my private jet."

  Tobias's eyes wide the weight of my words.

  "Go," I ordered, making him spring into a.

  _____________________________________________

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