The Audition
The morning of the audition, Sam was up around 4 a.m., unable to sleep. She crept down to the studio, figuring that if she did some warm-ups, it would help ease her mind. All it ended up doing was make her even more jittery and nervous.
After she showered and made her way down to breakfast, she ended up staring at her food, unable to eat anything.
"Really, Sam. You should eat something," Celeste said, her eyes full of worry. Sam picked up her fork and managed a few bites before she had to stop, feeling like one more bite would cause her to vomit.
"I'll just go finish getting ready," she said before bolting from the table. Celeste looked over at Roger.
"You know this is partly your fault. She wouldn't have so much pressure if you had let her audition for a few muggle companies as well," she said, frowning before she went upstairs to help Sam get her things together. Roger continued to sit at the table, staring at his plate.
Once Sam had her things packed, they quickly bundled up and took turns using the fireplace to floo to The Leaky Cauldron. They then made their way through the busy Diagon Alley towards Watsworths.
Once they reached it, Sam stopped for a moment, taking in the large, impressive white marble building. It was the grandest building in the whole Alley, in Sam's opinion. Even more impressive than Gringott's. She took a deep breath, her nerves flaring up again. She couldn't help but feel like her entire future rested on this one audition. The rest of her life. It was beginning to become too much as her heart raced and it became difficult to breath.
"Come on, Sam," Celeste said softly. Sam looked at her and nodded, then followed her inside. They easily found Finn, his parents, and Madam Bernard in the busy lobby outside one of the smaller theaters. They quickly checked in and then with one final kiss on the cheek, Sam and Finn's parents made their way inside the theater while Madam ushered the two dancers backstage where they could get ready.
Once in her costume, Sam quickly did her hair and makeup and then sat in front of the mirror, staring at herself. She had to use more concealer than usual to cover up her dark circles and silently cursed herself for not thinking to grab some of Miss Myrtle's Conceal All balm before leaving the house. Even her costume was a tad bit looser, but nothing a bit of charm work couldn't fix. She had foregone the more traditional tutu and was instead in a simple white sleeveless dress with a skirt that floated around her whenever she moved. Her hands had been shaking slightly the whole time, making it harder to put on her eyeliner.
"You ready for this?" Finn asked, sitting next to her. Sam jumped slightly and looked over at him, smiling.
"As ready as I can be. How mad do you think Madam Bernard is going to be that we changed the routine?" she asked.
"Not too mad once we nail it," he replied. Sam nodded and looked down at her hands, which she was wringing. Finn reached out and grabbed them. "Stop it, Sam. We have this." She nodded, looking up at him and smiling briefly. "Remember what I said… don't fight what you're feeling… use it."
"I can do this," Sam said. "I can do this." Finn smiled.
"Come on, then. Let's go warm-up," he said, pulling her up and leading her towards the warm-up space. "We still have to get through the drills before we perform."
"How nervous was she?" Agatha asked from where she was sitting next to Celeste.
"Poor thing could barely eat this morning," Celeste replied. "I've never seen her this worked up before."
"Can you blame her? She thinks it's her one shot," Agatha replied. Celeste shot Roger a look. He seemed just as nervous as Sam was, constantly looking from the program in his hand up to the stage.
"And who's fault is that," she muttered.
"She still not talking to him?" Agatha asked. Celeste shook her head.
"I've been trying to get them to sit down and talk, but she thinks she needs to get through this audition before she can process it. Not to mention, she's still furious that Roger kept things from her this long. Though he did finally tell her what really happened," she said. "Or at least what we know." Agatha frowned.
"That can't be good," she said. Celeste shrugged and sighed.
"I've done everything I can, but she won't talk. Locked herself in the studio all hours of the day and night. I know she's not been sleeping well. I'm worried," she said. "All I can do is pray to Merlin that we get through this audition."
Agatha reached over and squeezed her hand.
"She'll be fine," she said, smiling reassuringly. Celeste nodded and turned to the stage where the first candidates were starting to get in place.
Oliver couldn't help but jiggle his leg, glancing at his watch as the fifth or sixth audition started up. He then looked down at the bouquet of flowers lying at his feet that he was planning to give her after it was all over. He knew that Sam and Finn were number 15 in the lineup - the last to go - but it seemed like time was moving at a glacial pace.
It was going to take forever to get to them.
He had watched some of the rehearsals before they left Hogwarts, but this would be the first time he had seen it all put together – and with costumes and makeup. All this waiting was making him even more nervous. He glanced around the theater, taking in the various others there, hoping it would be a good distraction.
Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He whipped his head around, seeing an unexpected face, sitting in the last row, hunched over. Even in the darkened room, Oliver could make out the white of his sling. His eyes were on the stage but would temporarily glance down to the program in his hand. Oliver turned back to the stage, frowning slightly.
He hadn't expected to see Pucey there and it was likely that he didn't want anyone else to know as he was sitting in the back row. He wondered if he should tell Sam when this was all over but decided he would think about it later.
He shifted in his chair, getting more comfortable. They still had a way to go.
Adrian glanced at the program for probably the millionth time since he got there. His aunt still wanted to come with him, but he had insisted on coming alone and had snuck out from the manor. Even though the two were broken up, he knew how important this audition was for Sam and he wanted to be there to support her.
A small part of him hoped that after seeing him there, she might be willing to talk to him. Try to work things out. And Merlin knew he could use someone to talk to now. Things had been tense at home since he got back, his father lecturing him for the first two hours he was there about dating Roger Abbott's daughter – a halfblood – before he ever got the chance to tell him that they had broken up.
Then there was the yelling and shouting. His mother trying to placate both of them, but just managing to make Adrian even angrier.
He had spent the rest of the time in his room when he wasn't needed for something, owling his aunt about arrangements and packing. Thankfully neither his parents ever came to check on him, choosing instead to send a house elf. He planned to leave while they were getting ready for the Malfoys' annual New Year's Eve Ball, apparating to his aunt's house and leaving behind nothing but a letter explaining while he was gone, though he was certain they would know why he ran away without it.
Since summer, he had been squirreling money away. Hiding it in his trunk or clothing. He planned to open up his own account at Gringott's once he felt it was safe enough. As he was of age, he knew if he did now, his parents couldn't technically freeze it and use it as ammunition to make him come back. But still, he'd rather play it safe until he graduated. He had a decent amount put aside that he could get through the rest of the year and possibly be able to get a modest flat over the summer. If he didn't get in the League, he'd need to find a job rather quickly, but he had thankfully planned for that as well. Sam had helped him plot out all his options.
It was going to work out. He was going to run away from his family, finally getting the freedom he long yearned for. And then he couldn't be forced to join the family business or anything else. The whispers were there. He had overheard enough of his father's conversations in his study late at night when he thought the rest of the house was asleep, seen the growing stack of letters on his desk through the half-opened door. Something was coming and while Adrian wasn't sure what it was, he knew enough to know that he wanted no part in it.
Adrian shook his head, returning his attention to the stage as another audition continued on. Today he was there for Sam. Not to think about himself or whatever troubles there could be. He wanted to let her know that he still cared for her. Still cared about her future – even if it didn't involve him.
He glanced over, easily located the line of seats taken up by her parents and the Woods, Oliver sitting on the end with a bouquet of flowers at his feet. His eyes had found them often throughout the auditions, an ache filling him. Sam and Oliver had what he had always dreamed about since he was a child. A family that cared about each other, that went to events and supported each other. Even though Sam often complained of her father, Adrian would still kill to have a father that invested in him. Being with Sam, he had hoped that eventually her own family would have accepted him and he'd have a chance at that.
But that wouldn't happen now.
After learning about what had happened between his father and Sam's, part of him had hoped perhaps things could change. Maybe his father would finally speak to him openly about the past. But to his disappointment, his father had remained the same. Critical. Cold. And Adrian had to admit that more and more, he saw things Sam's way.
How could someone willingly offer his best friend's family up for slaughter without considering any other option? His mother had tried several times to explain to Adrian just how it had affected his father – he was never the same after that moment. And he had tried to get word to the Abbotts to warn them. But once the news broke that Amanda and Zach Abbott had been killed with Sam barely surviving, his father had become the cold, unfeeling person that he was today. Shutting himself off from even his own wife and family.
Adrian glanced down at the program again, moving it slightly so he could see the photograph he had underneath it. He was sure Sam already had a ton of photos of her mother, but when Adrian had come across the worn photo in his father's study, he couldn't help but think it deserved to be with her – not with his father.
In it was her mother, sitting on the floor next to his mother – the twins as infants crawling in front of them with an infant Adrian. Toys were everywhere. He didn't recognize the place but assumed it must be the Abbott's house as it was much brighter and warmer than the large manor house where he grew up. Amanda Abbott was laughing, her head tossed back in much the same way Sam did. The same dark blonde waves and dark blue eyes. He assumed his father must have been the one taking the photo as he wasn't in it, but Roger Abbott was leaning over the back of sofa, grinning at the scene in front of him.
He hadn't remembered this or that he had spent time with the twins as a child before Zach died. He just added it to the long list of things his father had kept from him, adding more fuel to the hatred burning in him for the man.
Adrian looked up, shifting in his chair as his eyes once again found the stage.
There was time enough to go through everything. But for now, he just wanted to watch Sam dance.
"Up next… participants 14 and 15 – Sam Abbott and Finn O'Callahan. Hogwarts."
Sam took a deep breath, closing her eyes as they stood just behind the curtain. She knew it was a risk, changing everything just weeks before the audition. But something inside her told her this was right. She remembered what Finn had told her. Don't fight her feelings. Use them. She opened her eyes and looked over at him. He nodded, smiling his encouragement.
They stepped out on stage, Finn leading her, and then took their positions. She nodded, signaling that they were ready for music.
Chopin's Prelude No. 8 started.
Immediately, Sam and Finn were in motion, moving swiftly but smoothly across the floor. From his chair in the audience, Oliver sat up and leaned forward. He had never seen her move like this before. It was like watching emotions in human form. There was a sense of desperation that hung around Sam as she moved towards Finn, then just as quickly moved away. The way she seemed to float into his arms, only to leap out.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Celeste's eyes widen and Roger's mouth drop open as he sat up in his chair. He smiled to himself as he turned back to watching the stage.
On the other side of the auditorium, Adrian sat up as well, different emotions flying through him. There was no confusion in the story that was playing out on stage.
It was clear. Two people drawn to each other. No matter how hard they tried to stay away, they ultimately came back for stolen moments. But it was clear by the end that they couldn't be together. The music changed and Sam stepped back to the background and Finn moved through his solo. It was good. Near perfect.
But everyone there who knew her was eagerly waiting for Sam's solo.
The music changed again and Sam came spinning towards the front of the stage.
From the moment she started moving, everyone was transfixed with many in the audience noticeably leaning forward in their chairs. While she had constantly told Oliver and their friends that she was fine since the incident, it was clear that she had not been. With every movement, every spin, every leap, her heartache, despair and even anger was clear.
Even though every move, Sam exuded complete, effortless control, it was hard to ignore the emotion exuding from her. It was magic. Her normally calm face was filled with anguish as a sheen of tears occasionally glittered in the lights.
She moved to the far right of the stage, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath before launching into a series of fast, intricate turns in a large circle around the stage. As the music reached a fever pitch, she had reached centerstage again and was doing a series of so many turns, Oliver was starting to get dizzy just watching.
He focused on her face, seeing the emotional torment there. Then suddenly, she was up in the air, pulling off a spinning turn that he had never seen her do before. His eyes widened as he gripped the armrests.
She landed and then moved on to the next move, though there was a slight wobble. Managing to cover it up – Oliver barely saw it himself – she then started a series of leaps across the stage. He could tell by the music that the routine was coming to an end and started to grin. She was going to do it. And this was quite possibly the best he had ever seen her dance. Even Sam seemed to be slightly more relaxed.
She set up for her final pass of turning leaps. The second to the last one, he noticed a slight grimace when she landed, but she launched herself back into the air.
Sam landed hard. Much harder than she was supposed to. Rather than spinning out of it, she crashed to the ground, the pain evident of her face. Gasps ran through the auditorium as Celeste and Roger shot up to their feet.
Big fat tears were now clear on her face as Finn rushed up to her and the music ended. Murmurs could be heard running through the crowd as a cry rang out from the stage. Oliver was up, starting to move down the aisle. The curtain slammed shut just as his mother grabbed his arm and stopped him, leading him back towards the exits. He glanced over locking eyes with a shocked Pucey before he was dragged out and back around to the stage door, just behind the Abbotts.
"What, what do you think happened?" he asked, looking at his parents as they pushed
through and started making their way through the labyrinth backstage area. Agatha just shook her head as they continued back, now hearing Sam's cries.
They pushed through other dancers, finally making their way to where Finn had set her
down on the floor, Madam Bernard looking over her. Sam's eyes were glued to her left foot. Oliver gulped as he looked down, finally seeing the damage.
Her pointe shoe had been pulled off and was lying nearby on the floor, but her foot was twisted an odd way. An unnatural way. Madam looked up at the Abbotts, her face grim.
"It is broken."
Little more drama for poor Sam, but it'll get better, I promise. There are 34 chapters, so things will be happening. Including some funny things and mushy things...
Bepo9 (Guest) - Haha! Well, just keep reading...
Son of Whitebeard - But things will get better, I promise!
As always, thanks for reading and following!