"And finally, the seventh years will all be participating in a mandatory arts project. All seventh years will report to the Great Hall half an hour after dinner. Remember, this is mandatory. Oh, and you may come out of your uniform. And if you are a female singer, I would come warmed up and ready." Dumbledore sat down and smiled serenely at his puzzled students, who were whispering amongst themselves.
" Hey Prongs, got any idea what this arts project is?" asked Sirius Black, running his hands through his silky black hair, causing his many surrounding fan girls to sigh dreamily.
"Yeah, it's a production of Phantom of the Opera, he told me and Lily during the meeting we had. And he something about tryouts for the part of Christine Daae, like they were tonight." Several girls gasped when they heard this juicy tidbit of news and started to talk immediately , speculating what they should wear and who would be picked and if it would be them.
"Any of you guys trying out?" asked James. Remus looked disgusted.
"Are you kidding? I can't carry a note to save my life. What about you Padfoot?"
"I might. For the part of what's-his-face, the one the girl picks."
Remus snorted. They had watched the movie about six times at James' house during the summer, on the insistence of his mother, something about being well-rounded individuals. You would think that after something that many times, Sirius would remember the guy's name. But the again, that was how Sirius worked. Constantly forgetful, but when it came to things he cared about he could memorize things down to the syllable.
"It was Raoul, Sirius."
"Yeah, him. I'm trying out for him. At least I will, if the girl who plays Christine is hot." He winked, causing girls to swoon. And out of the corner of his eye, he could've sworn that he saw a girl who looked not too happy that Sirius would be trying out. He shook his head, as though trying to rid himself of a troublesome thought. Impossible. There was no girl in the school who could resist Sirius' charm.
Elle Hartford was seething as she heard Sirius say that he would be trying out for Raoul. She knew deep down, no matter how much she didn't want it to be, that Sirius would get the part. After all, he was one of the Golden Boys, the ones who got everything, and excelled at everything. And she, the one in the background, had to work so hard for her perfect grades, and she never got anything. And then a wonderful thought entered her head. She would try out for Christine. And she would get the part. After all, she was pretty good. So good that she had been scouted for an actual opera. So why not kick the snot of the competition and finally get the recognition and the spotlight? She couldn't think of one good reason not to. That decided, she walked out of the Great Hall, trying to figure out what to wear.
Elle got out of the shower just as her dorm mates were getting back from the feast with only fifteen minutes to get ready for the meeting. She had the unfortunate luck of being stuck with the most snobby, prissy, and unfortunately ,popular girls in the school. Brittany, Amanda, Sabrina and Jennifer. God, even their names sounded bitchy. And beneath all their makeup and charms, they really weren't all that pretty. Elle, however, had a sort of natural, almost breathtaking beauty that made everyone glance at her twice. Well, they would have, had she not hid her face in a book almost all the time. But Elle's long, wavy blond hair, the color of molten, rich gold and her bright, exotic looking eyes, which were a mix of robins egg blue and light brown, made her an instant threat to the other girls. Add her skin, which always seemed to be glowing, and her perfect, curvy figure and you had a popularity-wrecking time bomb. So Elle kept quiet. But not tonight. Tonight was her night. She applied her makeup, mascara and lip gloss. That was her beauty regime in it's entirety. She scowled as she saw the other girls slathering themselves in makeup, but turned into a smile as she thought of their faces when she won. They may have looked prettier than her, but she would get the part.
Elle pulled on her favorite tight jeans, and a brown tank top. Over that, she put a long-sleeved, bright blue v-neck sweater. Pulling on her brown Pumas, she laced up, coming face to face with Brittany, the leader of all the girls.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, her tone decidedly bitchy.
"The same place you are. The meeting is mandatory remember?"
"I know that. But why are you so… pretty?"
The unavoidable question. This time she wouldn't back down. " Because I'm trying out for Christine. Good luck." And she left them all standing there, quite literally gob smacked.
Sirius was bored. He had even come to the meeting early, hoping to pick out some potential Hogsmeade dates. Nothing. Every girl to come through the door had been either someone he had already dated, snogged, or just plain ugly. Then a girl, who looked very angry, walked into the room, saw him, looked disgusted, and walked out. Sirius, intrigued, went to follow her, but his friends came and sat down, and he forgot all about her.
"So Prongs, how is our dear Lily, and what did you do to upset her?" asked Sirius, noticing that James had a bright red handprint on his cheek.
"Asked her to go to Hogsmeade with me. She said no way in hell, and that she was already going with someone else." James looked genuinely upset, something that happened often, as in whenever Lily turned him down. He really loved her, but she didn't believe him. Sirius didn't like Lily all that much, mostly because she made James upset. But then again, Sirius guessed the feeling was mutual.
"Hey, the meeting is starting." said Remus, sitting down. Sirius scanned the crowd for the girl, but he didn't see her. He sat down, and closed his eyes… and when he opened them again, she was right in front of him. While Dumbledore droned on about what parts girls could sign up for, Sirius was unaware of another pair of eyes, also fixed on the girl with golden hair.
Severus Snape did not like the Marauders. And the word 'not' was a bit of an understatement. They made daily life for him a living hell. And now, Sirius Black was staring at Elle Hartford, the girl he had liked since fifth year. Of course, he had never told her. He was a Slytherin and she was a Gryffindor. She would never, ever like him back. Ever. Not like he'd actually talked to her- just watched her, hoping to get the guts to go talk to her. Maybe this play thing would be his chance to talk to her. It was perfect- sign up for the play, get to know her, and finally ask her out. He glared at Black's head. He wouldn't let him take one more thing from him.
Dumbledore announced that tryouts for Christine would be right now, and any girl who wanted the part should line up by the makeshift stage in the front of the Hall. Severus gaped when he saw how many girls were trying out- almost all the seventh years, minus a couple of completely tone deaf girls. He scanned the crowd for Elle, catching the gold shimmer of her hair. She was the last person in line, and there were about fifty girls in front of her. All the guys still in their chairs sighed, hoping this wouldn't take too long.
Lily was starting to lose her hearing. Being stage, she had to stand next to the girls while they sang, giving signals to James concerning where to put the spotlight. Lily was starting to love the spotlight- ten girls had already fainted before they even opened their mouths, just from the spotlight alone. She was staring to suspect James was doing something. James. The mere mention of his name was enough to send her heart speeding. She honestly didn't know why she kept turning him down. He was really hot…
"And now for our final- thank god- audition, Elle Hartford." said McGonagall, startling Lily out of her thoughts of James' amazing hazel eyes. She gave the signal to James, who trained the spotlight on Elle. Sirius, Severus, as well as everyone else, watched her as she took a deep breath. She let it out and began to sing…
Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said goodbye. Remember me once in a while - please promise me you'll try.
Her voice seemed to hold the Hall under it's spell. Everyone held their breath and didn't make a noise when she moved onto the next verse.
When you find that, once again, you long to take your heart back and be free - if you ever find a moment spare a thought for me ...
We never said our love was evergreen, or as unchanging as the sea - but if you can still remember, stop and think of me ...
Think of all the things we've shared and seen - don't think about the things which might have been ... Think of me, think of me waking, silent and resigned
Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those times, think of the things we'll never do - there will never be a day, when I won't think of you ..
We never said our love was evergreen, or as unchanging as the sea - but please promise me, that sometimes, you will think of me
At the end of the song, there was an extremely difficult part when you had to go higher and higher and higher, finally ending with 'of me' and a high note which nobody else had managed. Everyone held their breath as she breathed in and let out the loudest, most pure, perfect note all night. Everyone clapped like crazy as Dumbledore stood up and said ,
"I think we have found our Christine. You may all leave- tryouts for Raoul and the Phantom are tomorrow. Don't forget that we all have classes for tomorrow."
That was the last thing Elle heard before she fainted, landing on something sort of soft. That's odd, she thought, I don't remember the Great Hall's floors being so cushiony.
A/N- hope you all liked it, flames appreciated. Please Review! Thank you!