Chapter 1 "Auditions"

            "No, no, no!"  Sirius yelled hotly at James.  "God, man, can you carry a tune in a bucket?"

            James shook his head and grinned, "Nope.  I'm just doing this cause you and Lil are."  James gave Lily a rakish wink.

            Remus laughed.

            Sirius sighed out of pure exasperation. 

Last week after years of debate a group of sixth and seventh year Hufflepuffs had formed a Muggle Drama club and were going to do a performance of Jekyll and Hyde.  The auditions were open to everyone, and nearly everyone was going to audition.  However the auditions were arranged so that the first one required you to sing a song in a group.  Most people chose duets, but Sirius, never one to be out done, wanted to sing the part of John in "His Work and Nothing More" which required four parts total.  Lily volunteered to take the part of Lisa leaving James as Jekyll and Peter as Lisa's father, even though he only wanted to work the lights.  Remus had insisted that he had horrible stage fright, but he did listen to the group and give out pointers.  He had actually taken a nearly obsessive interest in the play, listening to the soundtrack that Sirius had nicked any time he could from doing homework to before he fell asleep at night.  Sirius often had to pry the discs away from him in order to listen to the songs himself.  He still had not decided on which song he wanted to do if he got called back for the part of Jekyll.

            However, Sirius had a definite point.  James could not sing any better than a banshee, and in fact sounded a good deal worse, considering you weren't simply put out of your misery from hearing it unlike a banshee's scream.

            Peter yawned loudly.

            Rubbing his temples and looking at his watch Sirius gave it up.  "Tomorrow's Friday."

            "It is Friday, it's past midnight," Remus interjected.

            "Shut up, bookworm," Sirius snapped, extremely tired and getting a sharp headache from the ringing left in his ears by James's supposed singing.  "How about we just work on it tomorrow night?"

            "Fine by me," Lily said.

            James shook his head.  "I've got Quidditch practice."

            "Oh, don't you always?" Sirius added.  "After Quidditch practice then, I guess we'll just have to get Nearly Headless Nick to sing your part until you're here."

            Peter snickered at that image.  He highly doubted the old ghost would be willing to sing for them.

            Remus picked up the discs and went upstairs.  By the time the other boys had reached the room he had already put on the headphones and was humming along with the tune that the entire group recognized as "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch."

            The other three talked for a while and Remus fiddled with the buttons on the player, finally figuring out how to put a song on repeat.  He continued listening, a grave expression on his already shadowed face.  The full moon was approaching for that Sunday.  Soon he was asleep.

            Peter looked at him.  "He's going to run those batteries down."

            Sirius stood and took the head phones off of Remus and untangled the cord, trying very hard to not wake him up.  He lifted the headphones to his own ears.

            "What was he listening too so-o-o-O-o much?" James asked mid-yawn.

            Sirius pressed stop and looked James in the eyes, even though James looked on the brink of falling asleep.

            "'No One Must Ever Know.'"

            James looked confused.  "I don't remember that one.  Why do you look so serious?"

            Sirius smiled slightly at the old joke, but not completely.  "Because I am serious.  Listen."

            James put on the headphones even as his eyes were closing against his will.

"In a battle of wills that I cannot survive,

will I wind up as me or as Hyde?…

Have I lost my mind, did I loose the day?

Am I a good man?

Am I a mad man?

There's such a fine line,

between good man and a…"

            It was well past dark when Sirius, James, Peter and Lily met Friday night.  But it didn't look like they'd be starting anytime soon.

            "Where's the soundtrack?" Sirius asked.

            "I think I saw Remus with it when he was doing his homework," Lily said.

            "Well, where is it now?" Sirius demanded.

            "I don't know!" Lily said.  "Since when am I your mother?  I don't keep track of your stuff!"

            Peter finally spoke up.  "He said he was going to go take a shower."

            Sirius stood.  "Then I'm just going to go ask him where it is!"

            And Sirius marched off.

            As he entered the huge shower room he tried to figure out where Remus was.  It was so steamy that it was hard to tell.  However, he could hear the sound of the song "Confrontation" coming from the back.

            Sirius shook his head and thought, 'God, he even listens to it in the shower." But at the same time something was different about the music.  Sirius blamed the steam and tiled floors as he approached the sound of the music, Hyde and Jekyll's voice changing.

            "I'm what you face when you face in the mirror, long as you live I will still be here!" "All that you are is the end of a nightmare all that you are is a dying scream, after tonight, I will end this demondry." "This is not a dream my friend and it will never end.  This one is the nightmare that goes on. Hyde is here to stay no matter what you may pretend and he'll flourish long after you're gone!"

            Sirius approached the stall but before demanding from Remus the soundtrack he tried to listen closely, just trying to figure out what the difference was that he couldn't put his finger on.  And then, as the finale approached it struck him like lightening.

            "I'll live inside you forever!" "No!" "With Satan himself by my side!" "Noo!" "And I know that now and forever they'll never be able to separate Jekyll from Hyde!" "Can't you see? Its over now, its time to die." "No, not I." "Only you.  If I die you die too."  "You'll die in me, I'll be you!" "Damn you, Hyde, leave me be!"  "Can't you see?  You are me!"  "Noo! Deep in side…" "I am you!  You are Hyde!"  "No never." "Yes forever!" "God, damn you, Hyde! Take all your evil deeds and rot in Hell!" "I'll see you there Jekyll!"

            There was no music in the background.

            Sirius stood shocked as he heard the water turn off.

            Remus stepped out, light brown hair sopping wet and towel around his thin waist, and jumped upon seeing Sirius.  He hurriedly grabbed for his shirt, trying without success to hide the scars running down his arms and chest from the full moon nights he had been left alone.

            Sirius was still shocked.  "That was you singing?!"

            Remus smiled sheepishly.  "Heh, at least I didn't crack any mirrors."

            "Remus!  That… It was bloody brilliant.  Damn!  I didn't know you could sing like that!  With the different voices for Hyde and Jekyll…" 

Remus looked significantly at Sirius.  "My I please get dressed before we continue this conversation?"

"Huh… What?  Oh!"  Sirius turned red.  "Yea… I'll be outside."

"Thank you."

Sirius waited what seemed an eternity before Remus walked outside, his shirt still sticking to him and hair still soaked.  He shook his head in a very dog-like fashion, showering Sirius with droplets.

"Hey!"

Remus grinned at him and began to walk towards Gryffindor common room.

"Hang on!" Sirius ran and caught up.  "Don't think you're walking away that easily.  You can sing!  Damn it!  You sing better than the guy on the bloody CD!"

Remus's gaunt cheeks flushed red.

"Oh, come on!  You know you do!  Moony, you have to try out!"

"Sirius, I can't…"

"Oh yes you can.  And you will too, unless you want those lovely pictures of what your little sister made you wear when you were playing dress up this summer to be all over the scho…"

"Remind me to never invite you over to my house ever again," Remus mumbled shaking his head.

"So, you'll try out?"

"Sirius, do you remember when the play is?"

"Sometime in December."

"Third week of December to be precise.  Sirius, that's the week of the full moon.  If they schedule a performance then…"  Remus shrugged, letting the sentence trail off.

"Rem, Dumbledore can work around that."

Remus shook his head.

"I don't care if I have to put Imperio on you.  You. Are. Going. To. Try. Out.  Or I'm not being serious!"

Remus couldn't help but smile.  "You know that stopped being funny a long time ago."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Because even if you are a stupid git, you still somehow manage to get your way."

"Hey, what can I say?  I'm Sirius Black!"

            However despite Sirius's insistence, when it was time to audition it was a very weak-kneed Remus who was looking over his lyrics as others tried out. 

            The teachers sat in the seats in the audience near the front taking down notes on each performance.  The people who had just auditioned stayed in the stage wings to watch the other performances.  The ones who had not preformed yet sat in the back rows of the Great Hall turned auditorium. 

Several duets were preformed by a wide range of people, including a pair of hopeful third years, who had little hope but to be extras and stagehands.  As the next group mounted the stage though Remus saw Sirius's lip curl out of the corner of his eye.  Looking on the stage he suddenly saw why.  Rosheir, Malfoy, Wilkes, Lestrange and his what's-her-face girlfriend, and finally Snape himself were mounting the stage in full costume.

            Lily shook her head.  "Do they realize that it's a Muggle play?"

            "They don't care, they just want some of the spotlight," Remus commented.

            "God, Lucius thinks he's got a chance as Jekyll," Sirius smirked.  "Let's just see what happens when he hears you, Rem.  It'll knock him dead, hopefully."

            Lily snickered.  "James's voice would be better for that."

Remus smiled as Sirius and Peter tried to keep from cracking up, rather unsuccessfully and Lily glared at them to be quiet.

"I'll tell Jamie-boy you said that," Sirius threatened.

            The group on stage however started to sing, "Board of Governors."

            "Ph, typical.  Snape's singing Stride's part.  He fits it, but damn it, if he doesn't do something about that hair the people in the front row are going to be blinded by the glare," Sirius commented.

            Peter snickered and Remus shook with contained laughter.  Lily punched Sirius to make him shut up.

            Watching the group of sixth and seventh year students Remus could not help but start to feel nervous again.  They were good, and it was a well-known fact that they had been practicing for quite a while.  Remus had been practicing, with the group and intentions to try out, for two days.  Last night had been a full moon and he wasn't sure if his still somewhat hoarse voice would be able to hit the higher notes.

            Lily nudged Remus and whispered.  "Give me the edge of your cloak."

            Without protest Remus handed her the corner of his cloak.  Lily pulled out her wand and with a few well-chosen words charmed the clothes, before his very eyes Remus watched in shock as his entire outfit changed from black school robes to a brown suit, perfect for the distinguished Dr. Henry Jykell.

            "Do that to my robes!" Sirius hissed.

            Thus, as the four approached the stage for their turn, they too were in full costume, Sirius whispering encouragement and tips to the paler by the second Remus.

            "Just be Jekyll. Okay?  Convince yourself that you are him.  You'll do fine.  If worst comes to worst I'll just tell McGonagall and Dumbledore to come listen to you in the shower."

            Remus smiled somewhat.

            "And remember if you get nervous, just picture the audience in their underwear… well… not all of them.  Put Snape in a chicken suit."

            Remus snorted and tried to relax.

            Then the music started.

            And then a transformation unlike any magic occurred.  Quiet, meek Remus, became Jekyll.

            From off stage, the girls stared.

            From the audience, the teachers stared and then smiled as they wrote down comments on their clipboards for names of students who needed to come back for callbacks.

            And from the shadows, Snape glared.