A/N: This is the sequel to Dance: Scandalous, Innocent, and Utterly Amazing.. If you haven't read that yet, I strongly suggest you do, as you will be extremely confused! Plus, in my own opinion, it's the best fanfiction I've written. Everything is set post-Hogwarts, and since I began this series with Dance, etc. before HBP, the plot will not take into account anything that happened in HBP. This is R/H from Hermione's POV. I think the rest is pretty self-explanatory.
Chapter 1: Center Stage—Every Single Day
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."
William Shakespeare
"Places in five, people, places in five, let's go, let's go; we've got a full house tonight!" Chelsea McBride, stage manager of the Star Crossed Magic Players, strode purposefully past each dressing room door, giving the wood a couple sharp knocks. I could hear her voice getting louder with every passing second. Eventually, my closed door suffered a few blows from her relentless pounding fist.
"Places in five, Hermione!" she called.
I snatched up my wand, which was lying on my cosmetic-covered vanity table, and twirled a stray piece of hair around it. The hair curled perfectly into place.
No matter how many times I saw this reflection, it never ceased to make me laugh. My pale pink character shoes, my voluminous sparkly pink skirt, the tight-fitted satin bodice, the rhinestone-encrusted crown, and the spiral curls transformed me into an over-the-top fairy godmother. This wasn't the Hermione Weasley everyone was used to; I looked like a psychotic Barbie doll rather than the famous Hogwarts bookworm.
More banging shook me out of my reverie. "Hermione, I need to do a costume check—now!" Chelsea ordered.
"Coming!" I snatched up my skirt and hurried to the door. As soon as I opened it, I was greeted by Chelsea's sharp scowl. Her blue eyes ran up and down my ridiculous costume as she mentally checked off each item that I needed onstage.
"Your wand!" Her eyes widened as she checked her watch. "Two minutes!" she blared down the hallway. I sped back into the dressing room and grabbed my ridiculous prop wand, which had pink swaths of tulle hanging from each point of the star on its tip.
"Check." I grinned as I waved the wand in front of her face. She rolled her eyes and groaned.
"Don't do this, Hermione; I'm under enough stress as it is." She glanced at her wrist again. "One minute!" she screamed down the hall. As she sped toward the stage to do a final props check, I calmed the butterflies that had invaded my stomach.
Though a year had passed since my debut on the stage as Glinda the Good Witch, the butterflies still came back every single night that I performed. True, they were nowhere near as bad as when I first began acting in Wicked, but they returned without fail.
That wasn't the only thing that had changed in my life during the past year. After moving back to England from New York, I'd had to readjust to my wizarding lifestyle again. Relearning all my Hogwarts spells had been no easy task, but I'd managed to remember most of them with a month's hard studying. I'd also reunited with people I hadn't seen since I'd left Hogwarts. Professor Flitwick, the new Headmaster at Hogwarts, offered me a post at the school when I bumped into him in Flourish and Blotts. With a smile, I refused.
"Professor, I'm flattered," I'd said, "but I'm so busy with the Players, and…"
"Yes, yes, I quite understand," he sighed. "You were one of the most exceptional students I'd ever had; it's a shame that you're passing up the opportunity to share your knowledge…We're in desperate need of a Transfiguration professor, haven't gotten a proper one since Minerva's death…" He walked away, muttering to himself sadly. I turned away and uncomfortably continued my shopping, wondering how exactly I'd gotten a job offer in thirty seconds. Strange….
I'd also spotted Parvati Patil walking down Diagon Alley with her boyfriend, Viktor Krum. She didn't say anything to me like the last time we'd met at Acromantula, the club, but it wasn't difficult for me to translate the nasty glare I received. I wondered if she had heard the good (well, in her case, bad) news.
Six months after I returned from England, Ron and I were married. We had a fairly small ceremony, out in a flowery meadow not far from the Burrow. Forgoing formal attire, I'd worn one of Ellie's white tube tops and a white peasant skirt that just touched the tops of my bare feet. Ron had looked amazing in a simple white button-down shirt, untucked, and blue jeans. At first, Mrs. Weasley was disappointed that I, just like Ginny, hadn't chosen to wear her wedding dress, but she eventually conceded, thankful that I had at least worn white.
We had a Muggle preacher do the official vows, and then we added a twist of our own. We each wrote a little "speech", vows of our own, declaring our love fore each other. Of course, I lived up to my school reputation, going on and on for ten minutes or so, poised the entire time (I'd practiced).
"…so, Ronald Weasley, I'm honored to become your wife. Someone's got to be there for you to celebrate when you're triumphant, pick you up when you're down, hold a bucket in front of your face when you accidentally eat a Puking Pastille--" (this got a few laughs) "and, most importantly, tell you I love you every single day for the rest of our lives together." I fell silent. I heard Mrs. Weasley give a faint sniffle from my right side.
Ron took a deep breath. "Well, 'Mione, that was quite a speech," he said with a grin. Everyone laughed. "I don't think I can come close to topping it, and it's a great deal shorter, but it's from the heart." Mrs. Weasley let out a small sob, and I felt my own eyes begin to fill up.
He drew another deep breath. "I can still remember clearly the first time we'd spoken to each other. Thanks to George's bogus spell--" (George chuckled from his seat) "—you realized that I was not the brightest bulb in the box and decided to help me through seven years of school. I loved you then, even as an eleven-year-old."
My eyes spilled over.
"I never stopped, not once."
I tried to stifle a sob, which came out as half a laugh. I could tell Mrs. Weasley was already gone, and most of the women around us were sniffling. I looked up into Ron's face and saw that even he was tearing up. He finished, in a whisper, "And I never, ever will."
At this point, I threw my arms around him and let myself go. After a few seconds and a river of tears, I broke away. Ron smiled and wiped a tear from his eye before he bent to kiss me.
We'd had an amazing time so far. The hardest part for me was moving out of the flat I was sharing with my Muggle friend from Julliard, Ellie White. She was heartbroken that I wouldn't be around as often, but she was comforted by the fact that she'd have more opportunities to see Charlie Weasley, her current infatuation, more often.
"You know, you've gotta hook us up, Hermione," she had declared as I packed away the last of my things. "I mean, think about it: we could be sisters! Well, sort of…"
I laughed. "I'll see what I can do, but I'm stopping short of a love potion."
"Damn it!" She collapsed dramatically on her bed, pretending to be shot through the heart. "I'm going to become an old maid, I swear! I'll live alone with a hundred cats, living off of prunes and cottage cheese!"
"You will not!" I rolled my eyes. She grinned in her special Ellie way. I couldn't help but smile back, despite her exaggeration.
"Places! Places now! Curtain in two!" Chelsea's voice shook me out of my thoughts yet again. Rolling my shoulders, I took a few deep breaths and a last sip of water. As I click-clacked in my heels toward the stage, I got into character and became Glinda. I left behind all my thoughts of Ron and Ellie and Hogwarts and Harry and traveled from one magical world to another.
So….pretty please, review! I'm going to try to update this at least once a week, maybe more if I can get the chance. The bigger plot will come in the next chapter, I'm just trying to set it up right now. Okay then, go review!
