Title: Goidte Chuimhneacháin, pt 16
Author's Note: Again, if anything is in "italics" (quotes and italics) it's the lyrics which I do NOT OWN! The music and lyrics belong solely to Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice.
Author's Apology: I'm so sorry it's been so long since I last updated this story. Thank you to all those who have reviewed and let me know that there is still an interest in this story. All you guys have kept this story alive within me and I hope to continue to update more regularly. I've had to reconstruct a few chapters so I'm working on reorganizing things again to flow more nicely.
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Sariah sat nervously looking at her reflection, the night was finally here. Headmaster Dumbledore invited family, alumni, and governors. She knew Alisa and Harold Potter were here; having seen them earlier when they'd given her flowers and wished her good luck. She glanced at the fragrant flowers on her vanity and frowned, wondering how they'd known her favorites were violets and orchids.
"Curtain call in five minutes, Sariah." Professor Rothenbacker said peaking around.
Sariah looked up and nodded, "I'm just about finished."
"Nervous?"
"Terrified."
"I remember my first musical." Professor Rothenbacker reminisced. "I was terrified as well." She informed her. "My director gave me some advice that night."
When the professor didn't continue Sariah asked, "-what did they say?"
Professor Rothenbacker laughed, "-he said to push aside my nervousness until after the show. Actors don't have time to be nervous." Seeing the look on the younger witch's face she nodded, "-yes, it didn't help me either."
Sariah chuckled. "So what do you do?"
"Breathe."
"That easy?"
"That easy." Professor Rothenbacker stated. "Good luck, Sariah, I know you'll do fine."
"Thank you." She said to the exiting professor. Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly and stood up. She met the other 6th years in wings of the stage that had been set up in the great hall.
"Good luck, Sariah." James whispered behind her. "You'll do brilliant."
"Thank you." She said turning to face the handsome man dressed in the uniform of Peron. "Good luck yourself." She added to which he just grinned.
The play started at that moment and just like the dress rehearsal, the music, dancing, and lines moved smoothly. Next thing Sariah knew, she was being cradled in James' arms as he carried her from the hospital bed into the bedroom. She heard a recording of her voice singing the lyrics to 'You Must Love Me' in the background.
James' part came up as Sariah waited off to the wings for her next song. She watched him as he really got into the part, she really felt he meant it when he sang, 'She's not a bauble you can brush aside. She's been out doing what we just talked about'. His voice wasn't as bad as he made it out to be – it was a low tenor and he put his feelings into what he sang.
Together they walked out onto stage where they sang their duet. It was more of a conversation between the two – unlike her and Sirius' duet which was more of a mocking duet. James and Sariah made sure to show their audience that this was a normal argument between the two – without it being an argument – as they both tried to make the other see their point.
"Your little body is breaking down. You're losing speed – not style – that goes on flourishing forever, but your eyes, your smile do not have the sparkle of their fantastic past. If you climb one more mountain it could be your last." James sang softly.
"I'm not that ill – bad days come but they go. Some days are fine, some a little bit harder, but that doesn't mean I should change my routine. Have you ever seen me defeated? Don't you forget what I've been through and yet I'm still standing. And if I am ill – that could be to your advantage." Sariah sang back to him.
"Advantage? I'm trying to point out that you are dying!" He sang with a slight scoff but his tone held his sadness. They continued singing back and forth until he sang, "So what happens now? So what happens now?"
"Where am I going to?" She softly sang.
"Don't ask anymore."
Together they appeared on the elevated patio where a set of microphones were set up. Sariah felt herself really getting into her last major song. She sang to the masses of people and then finished softly. The audience cheered loudly as she and James exited the stage. There wasn't much left and she was glad it was nearing the end – she was getting really tired.
The curtains opened to show the audience Eva Peron in bed with her husband and family at her side. Weakly she sang, "The choice was mine, and mine completely. I could have any prize that I desired." She breathed in. "I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire." Her voice faltered for a moment. "Or else, or else I could choose time."
She felt James' hold on her hand tighten.
"Remember I was very young then. And a year was forever and a day." She kept her gaze even though she felt her body give way to the exhaustion. "So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be? I saw the lights, and I was on my way." She felt her fingers tighten within the tight embrace of James' hand. "And how I lived, how they shone. But how soon the lights were gone." She said as her body relaxed and her eyes closed in death.
Sirius entered the stage and started his lament. "The choice was yours and no one else's. You can cry for a body in despair, hang your head because she is no longer there. To shine, to dazzle, or betray. How she lived, how she shone. But how soon the lights were gone."
The entourage sang together their voices filled with sadness as Eva's body was removed from stage and the mourners following behind.
The curtains closed only to open moments later to show the entire group of actors. The audience applauded the group through the series of bows and stood when Sariah, Sirius and James all came forward to bow – Sirius and James holding out their hands to Sariah who curtsied lowly before joining the rest of the cast.
The candles relit inside the hall as the audience stood up, the volume within the hall living up as friends and family started conversing with each other. Sariah was dragged off stage and into the audience; she was too shocked to ask where they were going until she saw Alisa and Harold talking with Minister King.
"Ah, James and Sariah." Harold said upon seeing the nearing teens. "That was a fantastic show."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Sariah said as James said, "-thank you, dad."
Alisa smiled, "Sariah, have you met Minister Kenji King?"
Sariah greeted, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Minister."
"You as well, Miss. Snape." Minister King said accepting her hand and placing a kiss upon her knuckles. "You did an amazing job as Eva Peron."
"Thank you, sir."
"If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with the Headmaster." Minister King said before nodding and walking away.
"Sariah."
James barely heard the sharp inhaling that came from the witch at his side before she turned around. "Mother."
"Care to introduce me to your friends?" The woman with a pallid face asked coming to stand next to her daughter.
Sariah nodded politely. "Mother, this is Mr. Harold Potter, his wife, Mrs. Alisa Potter and their son, Mr. James Potter." She said softly gesturing to each of the Potters. "Mr.'s and Mrs. Potter, this is my mother Eileen Snape."
Alisa smiled and held out her hand to the woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She said.
"Likewise." Eileen said simply. "Where is Severus?"
"He's backstage cleaning up." Sariah answered softly. "Would you please excuse me?"
"Yes, go change." Eileen said dismissing her daughter.
Sariah nodded and stepped away from her mother before turning and heading towards the backstage. She didn't meet the eyes of any of the Potter's for fear of what they might see there. She wasn't as good as Severus was when it came to hiding her feelings – especially from her eyes. Lily said that she could close her expression off, but Lily could always see a hint of pain within her eyes. She almost made it to the shelter of her rooms when she felt James' hand on her arm.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She said. "I would like to get out of costume." She assured him when it seemed that he was going to press for more information.
"Will I see you later?"
"I don't know." She answered honestly. "Severus and I are needed at our mother's side." She added.
He sighed, "-you know you can talk to me, right?" She didn't respond so he said, "I'm here for you."
Sariah was left alone to change out of her clothing. The first thing she did was release the charm that turned her hair blond – she looked horrible as a blond, but they tried to make her coloring work with it – before charming her skin tone back to her regular sun kissed tone and removing her make-up. Then she changed out of her nightdress costume and pulled on her uniform, tying her Hufflepuff tie around her neck and tucking it beneath her vest which was over her tucked in white shirt. As a final touch she pulled on her robes, knee highs and flat shoes.
She found it slightly frustrating that her feet seemed to hurt more now in her flats than they did when she was wearing the 3-inch heels. She needed to return the shoes to Ari but knew that Ari would probably be with her family and shrunk the shoes to fit in her pocket. She found Severus hard at work, cleaning things up.
"Severus." She called. When she was standing in front of him, seeing that he was wearing his white shirt untucked with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and his black pants. "Mother is here."
Severus looked at her before quietly asking, "-father?"
"I haven't seen him." She answered. "But he shouldn't be able to see Hogwarts."
"The Headmaster might've fixed that for tonight." Severus pointed out. "School your features, Sariah." He said seeing her grimace. "He cannot hurt us here." He whispered in her ear as he hugged her. When he was sure that she would be fine, he pulled away. "I suppose my presence is needed?"
"Mother did wonder where you were." She said as a way of answering.
Nodding he tucked in his shirt, summoned his tie, vest and clock. Rolling his sleeves down as Sariah tied his tie, once done with that he pulled on his vest and Sariah helped him with his cloak. "Shall we?"
The rest of the evening was spent with Severus and Sariah following behind Eileen as she circled the room. Both of them were glad to see that Tobias Snape was not at the school. Sariah didn't get to talk to the Potter's, even though she saw them plenty of times throughout the night, but Lily did come over to say hello to them and wasn't treated too terribly by Eileen.
Soon enough, but not soon enough for Sariah and Severus, the guests all left the castle to go home. Severus and Sariah walked their mother to the door where the carriage was waiting to take her to Hogsmeade so that she could apparate home to Spinner's End. They waited until the carriage was out of sight before they turned and reentered the school. Having been released from his clean-up duties by their professor as the house elves would take care of it all, Severus walked a tired Sariah to her portrait.
"Good night, Sariah."
"Good night, Severus."
End pt 16
xenocanaan - Thank you. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that the wait didn't kill the story for you.
gr8rockstarrox - Thank you for the compliment - I know the updates have been less than ideal and I'm working on changing that, I just hope the muse will stay with me long enough to finish this story.
Sunrisehime - I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm going to work harder on updating more often. It's just been a tough time and I feel like getting back to writing is something I need to do.
mercurae - I'm glad you're enjoying this and have read it more than once, I find the more I read it the more I find different things that I missed the first time around. It's an interesting thought you had and I suppose you could think that - but my reasoning behind the spell was to bind them to each other as sisters. So with that in mind to say that James was only noticing Sariah because of the spell would say that James and Lily are soul mates and I'm not exploring that idea in this story. I hope that makes sense.
Again, I do want to thank everyone who favored my story or asked for updates! It means a lot to me as an author. I hope everyone enjoys what's to come and as always if you have any suggestions I welcome them. If they work for this current story, I will definitely put it in while crediting the one who suggested it or if it doesn't I'll still credit whomever gave me the idea if I put it in another story.
Many thanks!
Aileen
