*Crawls out from under her rock*

Hi guys (if there's still anyone out there?) it's me… you know- the author…

I'm soo sorry guys it's been years since I've updated! I have in fact started this chapter on 5 different occasions and on every occasion have been unable to find the time to finish it, sigh. But now I'm on holiday for 4 weeks with nothing to do and I'm waiting on some of the most important exam results of my life so I decided to distract myself and write! Hopefully I'll finish this story, or at least get a lot further in it…

And with that I give you; The Show

Disclaimer; I don't own the harry potter series or the phantom of the opera screen play or book. This honour belongs only to Jk Rowling, Andrew Lloyd Weber and Gaston Leroux

Chapter 10 The Show

It was finally here- the night that Harry had simultaneously dreaded and wished for the past few months. Dreaded because he would have to sit through the pain of this performance, but wished for because after this the farce would be over.

Also the entertainment value of the performance was bound to be quite high if the snippets of rehearsal he had actually heard were representative.

All the students were assigned seats in the upper circle for the one night only performance with the stalls being sold to the general wizarding public. The boxes would be for visiting officials that Minister Fudge had invited.

Honestly, Harry thought that showing dignitaries this would make Britain the laughing stock of the magical world, but he had no say.

Harry lagged behind as the tower began to clear out that night. The actors had the day of school for final preparations and one last desperate warm up so the school was abuzz with anticipation.

After dinner the students were told to be at the new theatre out on the grounds by 6.30pm. This was news to everyone as there had not been a theatre there earlier that day when Harry had herbology.

Eventually Gryffindor tower was empty- the students desperate to support the many members of their house in the main cast. Harry looked at his watch and sighed; it was now 6.20 and they had to attend this performance. He had delayed enough.

Slowly Harry trudged down the stairs and through the main entrance. As he did so he saw Severus coming up from the dungeons

"Trying to delay the inevitable too Sev?" Harry asked

Professor Snape looked up at Harry's voice and sighed; "I was hoping to get out of it, but Dumbledore has ordered the castle be cleared"

Harry rolled his eyes and began to walk to the theatre alongside the professor. "Do you know if they're paying heed to the traditions?" he asked curiously

Snape nodded, knowing what Harry referred to "at least Dumbledore has done one thing right; box five will be empty as per tradition. Though Fudge protested, he wanted the extra box to shove a minor busybody from Hong Kong."

Harry rolled his eyes again "Well one thing's for certain; the majority of the wizarding world really don't appreciate the arts"

Snape hummed in agreement as they reached the entrance to the theatre. "Well I have an assigned seat to get to; I'm meant to watch my slytherin's" He said, "perhaps you should head to your seat also" Snape gave Harry and meaningful look and turned away leaving Harry in the opulent entry hall.

"Perhaps I shall…" Harry murmured "Perhaps I shall"

Harry glided along the hallway following the signs to his destination. As he walked he lifted his arm, withdrawing his wand and beginning a familiar sequence of movements.

Slowly the shadows began to lengthen and cling to him, forming a suit, then a hooded cape. They concealed him from the shining boxes that he passed full of laughing dignitaries.

He climbed the final staircase and paused outside his destination. "Hello old friend" he whispered before pushing open the door.

Hermione frowned at the empty seat next to her and glanced around for the hundredth time in the last five minutes. She turned again to Neville who was sat to her right. "Have you seen Harry anywhere?" she asked

Neville shook his head "Not since dinner; he was grumbling about the 'farce of a performance' again"

Hermione's frown deepened as she glanced to Harry's seat at her left and sighed. "Well if he doesn't turn up he'll have Dumbledore to deal with; it's a mandatory school event!"

Neville just shrugged and refocused on the red curtains of the stage as the lights flickered and distantly a bell rang. "Show time"

Harry glanced out from his box after weaving some spells to make it harder to see him. The tradition of keeping box 5 empty was long standing and useful when visiting other performances. The superstition was that the box was for the phantom only, and it added to the performance making the audience feel part of the play.

However as a phantom Harry had special dispensation and a right to sit in the box… at least that was his thinking. He glanced up to the mezzanine and quickly found Snape; he was sat surrounded by gossiping slytherin's and his face simply pleaded to be freed.

As Harry looked he caught Snape looking at his box, he winked knowing that since Snape was aware of his presence he could be seen. Severus rolled his eyes and smirked knowingly before turning to berate some of his 7th years.

Harry continued scanning the student section catching Hermione desperately looking for him, Harry sighed knowing he would get an earful from Hermione later. He didn't really care though- he just wanted to get through this mandatory school wide bonding event.

As the lights flickered and the warning bell rang Harry sighed for what felt like the millionth time and settled back in his seat. Time to watch the catastrophe.

There were many points throughout the play where Harry had to stop himself reacting inappropriately and breaking his cover; either by laughing or jumping on stage and strangling Draco or Ron.

Honestly it was almost intolerable- Ron's inability to get over the fact that his little sister was playing his characters love interest ruined most of the competitive nature of the Raol/Phantom debacle. It was obvious, at least to Harry that Christine would have chosen the phantom if her Raol had been anything like Ron played him.

Draco was almost worst- though at least he could reach the phantoms notes. The portrayal of the Phantom that Harry witnessed that night was one of the worst he had ever seen. There was no connection, no emotion, no personification.

All Harry could see was Draco Malfoy strutting around the stage like he owned it; there was no heartbreak as Christine left, no passion during point of no return. Simply put, a cardboard cut out could have done a better job.

Apparently the audience did not share his opinion, as when the curtains closed the auditorium rose in unison to applaud the cast. Harry sighed in defeat as he realised that the wizarding public would probably never recognise good theatre and rose from his seat.

He slunk back down the staircases desperate to get out before the throngs of students returned to their dorms. Harry desperately hoped that the school could forget this whole atrocity soon.

Quickly Harry walked up the staircases to the 7th floor, to the room of requirement. He knew he'd be unable to face the 'celebration' in Gryffindor tower that would undoubtedly last all night. It was only a week before the holidays started and Harry needed to be rested in order to be able to perform.

As was traditional in the troupe they would perform in a different capital city every day of the holiday, performing first in Paris on Christmas Eve and ending in London on New Year's Eve. Harry was in for a lot of jet lag as they couldn't travel too far by magical means without raising suspicion.

Harry was the only one of his friends who was leaving over Christmas; the others were all invited to the New Years Eve show and so couldn't leave. This meant Harry had a compartment to himself on the train and so he allowed himself some rehearsal and warm up time.

Aunt Petunia was collecting him from the train station and taking him straight to their rehearsal space for the first rehearsal he'd actually attended since last summer. It would be exhausting but hopefully not too difficult as their first performance was in a few days.

He smiled as the train pulled into the platform; finally he could get back to what he really loved.