Disclaimer: I don't own HP or A Midsummer Night's Dream. Wish I could own
Draco though...
~*A Midwinter Night's Dream*~
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here,
While these visions did appear."
A Midsummer Night's Dream
-William Shakespeare-
Act 5
Scene 1
The four young lovers stood guiltily in front on Professors Mcgonagall, Dumbledore, and Snape. Mcgonagall smiled at them reassuringly, then turned to Dumbledore sharply, "What they tell us is strange Albus. Do you really believe them?"
"Often Minerva," Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes twinkling merrily. "It is the normal things that we cannot believe and the strange ones that we do."
"That is true Albus, their story does tie into the old prophecy."
Hermione looked at her curiously, "What prophecy professor?"
Mcgonagall sighed, "A long time ago, there was a seer who foresaw that four lovers would be lost in a forest before the eve of the birth of Christ to discover their true love. The actual words of the seer are lost, but the story lived on in the scrolls and papers of ancient historians."
"So you're saying," Ginny said slowly, "That we are the four in the prophecy?"
"It is very possible, Ms. Weasley." Dumbledore smiled. "But we shall never know. Now, if you please, we must begin to get ready for the feast tomorrow. Severus?"
"Right here, Albus."
"Good, do you know who's giving the entertainment tonight? I'm afraid my mind is so full of thoughts that one just slipped away." He peered at Harry and gave a small wink.
Snape scowled, "The Weasley brothers and some of their Gryffindor buddies are putting on an ancient Greek play, Pyramus and Thisbe. When Mr. Weasley told me about it he called it the "Long short play about young Pyramus and his lover Thisbe: very tragical comedy". Hmmmph... comical tragedy? Long and short? Sounds like an oxymoron if I ever heard one."
"Ah yes, that's right, I'm supposed to supervise their rehearsal tomorrow morning."
"Albus, you can't be serious! I watched this "play", and it was the worst I had ever seen. They have absolutely no talent!"
"All the more reason to see them Severus, it'll give us a good laugh. Well, I think we should all get to bed. After all, we have quite a busy day tomorrow."
The next day, the Great Hall was filled with decorators, house elves, and teachers all scurrying around frantically trying to finish setting everything up. Under the Great Hall, the house elves were cooking up a storm. Hermione was about to protest until Draco took her aside and after laying a burningly passionate kiss on her said, "'Mione, darling, leave them alone. They just love cooking."
After that, Hermione went on her happy way, not complaining or scolding once. Harry looked amazed. "What's gotten into her?"
Ginny giggled, pecked him on the cheek and said, "What do you think, Harry? Draco of course!"
Harry smiled at her and tweaked her nose. "You silly."
Hermione and Draco laughed uproariously and the rest of the day passed without any event, unless you count Colin and Dennis Creevey setting a Christmas tree on fire while trying to get a picture of Ginny and Harry snogging an event.
That night, as the students stepped into the hall, they let out a collective gasp. Every inch of the Great Hall was covered in festoons of holly, shimmering icicles, golden snowflakes, and of course, Flitwick's favorite, multicolored shining faeries. In the middle of the Hall, with the tables arranged around it, was a huge platform stage. To make it even more spectacular, Dumbledore had cast a spell to make it change colors every 10 minutes. Gold and scarlet, then silver and green, then blue and bronze, then yellow and black...well, you get the gist of it.
As the students were digging voraciously into their dinner, Fred came onto the stage. Forks and knives hardly paused as their owners looked up at Fred, who had begun to speak. "Ahem...I will be serving as the prologue for the play, Pyramus and Thisbe. Here we go." He began to read from a piece of parchment, completely ignoring the punctuation.
"If we should give offense, it's our intent.
That you should, we come not to offend,
But only to show our skill. That's what is meant,
That is the real beginning of our end.
Take it, therefore, we're here because of spite.
We haven't come intending you to please,
Our real aim is. All for your delight,
We are not here. That you should have no ease,
The actors are at hand; by what they show
You'll know the plot - or all you need to know."
Harry leaned over to whisper into Ginny's ear, "That made absolutely no sense at all. He's said it all in one, as if it was a full meal for a starving man."
Ginny giggled, "You're right, he sounds like a broken record."
Just then, the other "actors" appeared through a trapdoor in the floor. Fred brought each of them forth and introduced them. "This here," pointing to Ron, "is the hero of our play, Pyramus."
Ron grinned and bared his nonexistent muscles.
"Some hero." Draco muttered as Ginny poked him sharply with her elbow.
"Be nice" she hissed good naturedly.
George then came forth, dressed in a very large, white, toga-like dress and a yellow wig. Peals of laughter issued from the crowd as he began to speak in a horrible, overly-high falsetto. "I am the most beautiful and gracious Thisbe."
After George, Seamus, covered with plaster and stone in a weak attempt to make him resemble anything like a wall, stepped up. "I am to play the wall, and with my hands," he made a triangular shape with his fingers, "I shall make the chink that the lovers talk through."
Dean then began to speak, waving around the lantern that he carried in his hand, "And I am the moonshine, by which the lovers meet at night." Then, pointing at thin air, "this is my dog and my bush."
Finally, Fred pushed Neville forward. Poor Neville was dressed in a too- small children's lion costume. He was shaking and playing with his tail nervously. "I-I-I am th-the lion... wh-who will k-k-k-kill...no, I mean seem to kill Th-thisbe."
"Well that was pointless," Snape snorted, "They just told us the whole story. We won't need to see the play any more."
"I wonder if Neville is to speak again." Harry wondered.
"He must, Potter," Draco drawled, "After all, a lion must be able to speak if so many asses can."
In the meantime, all the actors had left the stage except for Seamus, the wall. He stood there, fidgeting for a minute and then held his hands in front of him in the shape of a chink. He then spoke, "I am the wall that brought two young lovers together, and with this chink," indicating his fingers, "were able to converse in secret."
"Don't you think a real wall would have spoken better?" Ginny said incredulously.
"On the contrary, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore chuckled, "I think it is the most intelligent dividing wall I have ever heard."
"Ssshh," Draco said, "Ron, I mean Pyramus has come onstage.
Dramatically, with all he had, Ron spoke, "Oh wall, have you any news of my beloved Thisbe? You wall, who stand between myself and my love."
"He's talking to a wall," Hermione sighed, "He's truly lost it."
On stage, Ron bent over, looking into the chink. "Stupid, idiot wall! Thisbe is not there!"
"I think the wall, having intelligence, should swear back." Said Professor Mcgonagall amusedly.
"Excuse me, professor Mcgonagall," Ron said, stepping out of his role for a moment. "'Thisbe is not there' is Thisbe's cue. She'll come out now and I'm supposed to spy on her. You'll see it in just a second. See, here she comes."
George came back onto the stage. "Oh wall, you've often heard my moans, for separating Pyramus and me. My cherry lips have often kissed your stones; your stones, with lime and hair bound up in thee."
Ron answered back, rushing to the wall. "I see a voice! I'll go now to the chink, to see if I can hear my Thisbe's face. Thisbe!"
"My love! You are my love, I think?
"Think what you like, your true love I embrace! And like Limander I am faithful still."
"And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill."
"Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true."
"As Shafalus to Procus, I to you."
"Oh kiss me, Thisbe, through the hole of this vile wall." Ron put his lips to Seamus's fingers. George too bent over, a look of pure disgust on his face as he pressed his lips to Seamus's hand.
"Seamus looks as if he's about to faint." Laughed Harry.
"I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all." George said loudly, all the while thinking "THANK GOD!!!"
"Will you at Ninny's tomb meet me straightaway?"
From underneath the stage (A/N: all the actors went under the stage after the play began) came a strangled cry. "NINUS'S TOMB YOU PRAT!!!! NOT NINNY!!!!"
"Come life or death, I'll go without delay." George continued gallantly. The two "lovers" then left the stage.
Seamus then spoke again, "Thus have I, as the wall, performed my part. So having done, the wall can now depart."
"That was the silliest stuff I have ever heard!" Hermione huffed. "They positively butchered it!"
"Don't worry Hermione," Ginny said soothingly, "Even the best actors are only shamming, so the worst can't be any worse, if aided by the imagination."
"It must be your imagination then, not theirs!"
"Oh be quiet! The lion and the moonshine are coming."
Up on the stage, Neville was standing stiff as a board, frightened eyes peering at the audience. He swallowed noisily and muttered too quickly,
"You, ladies, whose gentle hearts do fear
the smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,
may now, perhaps, both quake and tremble here
when Lion rough in wildest rage does roar.
So know that I, Neville Longbottom, confess,
it's a fierce Lion I am, not a lioness.
If I should enter with a lion's roar
My life would not be worth a single straw."
"A very noble and gentle beast, with a tender conscience." Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"The beastliest actor I ever saw, professor." Mcgonagall smiled.
"A lion eh? Might as well be the Cowardly Lion!" added Ginny.
Hermione was livid, "he makes us girls sound like quivering, witless idiots! Gentle hearts! I'll give him gentle hearts!!!"
No one dared to try and persuade her otherwise.
Meanwhile, Dean held up his lantern and yelled, "This lantern represents the crescent moon."
"Why is he yelling?" Harry asked, wincing and pressing her hands over his ears.
"He thinks we can't hear him." Draco replied.
"This lantern represents the crescent moon," Dean shouted again, "and I am the Man in the Moon, so it would seem."
Snape frowned, "That doesn't make any sense... if he's the Man in the Moon, shouldn't he be in the lantern?"
"He can't," Harry explained, "there's a candle inside."
Dean was still yelling, "All I've got to say is to tell you that this lantern is the Moon. I'm the Man in the Moon. This thorn-bush is my thorn- bush. This dog is my dog!" Gesturing wildly, he was finally pulled into the trapdoor by Seamus and Fred and was soon replaced by a smiling, and much more soft-spoken Fred.
"Methinks all of them should be in the lantern, don't you?" Draco smirked.
George soon reappeared on the stage. "This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love?"
Fred had turned bright red and muttered, "Ninus's tomb, Ninus's tomb, bugger, they'll never get it."
Then, the members of the high table noticed Neville stumbling onstage. He gave a frightened squeak then tottered forward. After taking a deep breath, he let out a deafening roar. George, ran off the stage in real fear then ran back to throw a scarf back.
"Who knew Neville could be so loud?" Ginny wondered, completely stunned.
"Well roared lion!" Harry shouted.
"Well run Thisbe!" Hermione cried, giggling madly.
"Well shone Moon!" Mcgonagall applauded, "Indeed, he shines very gracefully."
Neville got down on all fours and sniffed the scarf vigorously and scuttled quickly off of the stage. Soon after, Ron appeared again.
In the grandest fashion, with elaborate gestures, he said spectacularly,
"Sweet Moon, I thank you for your sunny beams.
I thank you, Moon, for shining now so bright,
For by your gracious, golden, glittering, gleams
I hope of faithful Thisbe to catch sight."
He paused and saw Thisbe's scarf lying on the ground. Slowly, he stumbled over and picked it up.
"But stay! Oh spite!
But mark, poor knight,
what dreadful woe is here!
Eyes, do you see?
How can it be?
Oh, dainty duck! Oh, dear!
Your mantle good -
What? Stained with blood?
Approach, you Furies fell!
Oh, Fates! Come, come,
Cut thread and thrum.
Quail, crush, conclude, and quell."
"Well," Dumbledore said dryly, "I suppose the distress, and the death of a dear friend would make a man look miserable. He certainly does look pitiful."
"He is overacting a bit though, isn't he?" Ginny asked.
"Overacting is an understatement." Said Draco matter-of-factly.
"Oh, why, Nature, did you lions frame," Ron cried.
"Since lion vile has here destroyed my dear?
Which is - no, no, which was - the fairest dame
That lived, that loved, that liked, that looked with cheer.
Come tears, confound!
Out sword, and wound
The breast of Pyramus.
Ay, that left teat,
Where heart does beat.
Thus I die, thus, thus, thus."
And with that, after a moments hesitation, Ron plunged the plastic sword into himself.
"Now I am dead;
now I am fled,
my soul is in the sky.
Tongue, lose your sight,
Moon, take your flight!"
Fred quietly slipped off, snuffing out the candle at the same time.
"Now die, die, die, die, die."
Ron slumped forward and died dramatically.
"He's got the lowest score on the death, one!" Harry proclaimed.
"Less than one, man, because he's dead, nothing!" Draco said scathingly.
"Why did the moonshine go before Thisbe came back?" Ginny wondered.
"She's supposed to find him by the light of the stars, I think." Hermione replied. "Here she comes now. She's already seen him. Now her passionate speech will end the play."
"THANK THE GODS!!!!" Snape exclaimed, "I can't take much more of this nonsense!"
"Asleep, my love?" George knelt beside Ron.
"She can' t be that stupid can she?" Hermione muttered.
"What, dead, my dove?
Oh, Pyramus, arise!
Speak, speak, quite dumb? ("Quite dumb indeed," Draco sniggered.)
Dead, dead? A tomb
Must cover your sweet eyes.
These lily lips,
This cherry nose,
These yellow cowslip cheeks,
Are gone, are gone!
Lovers make moan;
His eyes were green as leeks.
Oh, sisters three,
Come, come to me
With hands as pale as milk;
Lay them in blood
And then you could
Cut through his thread of silk.
Tongue, not a word:
Come, trusty sword,
Come blade, my breast stab through." George too, picked up the plastic sword and thrust it into himself.
"And farewell, friends.
Thus Thisbe ends -
Farewell, farewell to you."
He then slumped over and died. A great emptiness filled the hall, so quiet that you could hear a wand drop.
"Moonshine and lion are left to bury the dead." Dumbledore remarked in amusement.
"Yes, and the wall too." Harry reminded him.
Ron rose to his feet, "No, I can assure you. The wall has been taken down so that it no longer separates their houses. Now, would you like to hear an epilogue?"
"No, no, Mr. Weasley." Snape insisted, "Your play needs no epilogue, nor an apology. It was a very pleasing tragedy. Now, please get off the stage so we can go to bed!!!"
Yawning their heads off, the school left the Great Hall to go to their dormitories, leaving behind Sirius and James, who had watched the entire play while invisible.
"Well, that was a strange play if I ever saw one!" he said in wonderment. "Worse than in the forest."
James agreed, "but I shall return to the forest now. Meet me there at the break of day."
As he left, Sirius climbed on stage and spoke, as if to an imaginary audience.
"If we shadows have offended,
think but this, and all is mended,
that you have but slumbered here,
while these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will men.
And, as I am an host Puck,
If we have unearned luck,
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends."
A/N: FINALLY FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although... I didn't like the ending. If any one could think of a better way to end it I would REALLY appreciate it! ^.^ don't ask me about the prophecy bit, I just added it on a whim. Anways... I want to thank everyone who reviewed this fic! I don't think I would've gone this far if you didn't review! Special thanks to PHOEBE, LEMON PRINCESS, QUIS, ANIRON SAURON GREENLEAF-TOOK, HEDWIG7UP, DRAGONS KITTEN, BORED2DEATH, and LADY REENA. Oh listen to me...I sound like I'm on some award show or something. I'm such a dorQ!!! But of course... you all knew that! Thanx for reading my fic!!!!!!!! Ta-ta!! ^__________^
~*A Midwinter Night's Dream*~
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here,
While these visions did appear."
A Midsummer Night's Dream
-William Shakespeare-
Act 5
Scene 1
The four young lovers stood guiltily in front on Professors Mcgonagall, Dumbledore, and Snape. Mcgonagall smiled at them reassuringly, then turned to Dumbledore sharply, "What they tell us is strange Albus. Do you really believe them?"
"Often Minerva," Dumbledore chuckled, his eyes twinkling merrily. "It is the normal things that we cannot believe and the strange ones that we do."
"That is true Albus, their story does tie into the old prophecy."
Hermione looked at her curiously, "What prophecy professor?"
Mcgonagall sighed, "A long time ago, there was a seer who foresaw that four lovers would be lost in a forest before the eve of the birth of Christ to discover their true love. The actual words of the seer are lost, but the story lived on in the scrolls and papers of ancient historians."
"So you're saying," Ginny said slowly, "That we are the four in the prophecy?"
"It is very possible, Ms. Weasley." Dumbledore smiled. "But we shall never know. Now, if you please, we must begin to get ready for the feast tomorrow. Severus?"
"Right here, Albus."
"Good, do you know who's giving the entertainment tonight? I'm afraid my mind is so full of thoughts that one just slipped away." He peered at Harry and gave a small wink.
Snape scowled, "The Weasley brothers and some of their Gryffindor buddies are putting on an ancient Greek play, Pyramus and Thisbe. When Mr. Weasley told me about it he called it the "Long short play about young Pyramus and his lover Thisbe: very tragical comedy". Hmmmph... comical tragedy? Long and short? Sounds like an oxymoron if I ever heard one."
"Ah yes, that's right, I'm supposed to supervise their rehearsal tomorrow morning."
"Albus, you can't be serious! I watched this "play", and it was the worst I had ever seen. They have absolutely no talent!"
"All the more reason to see them Severus, it'll give us a good laugh. Well, I think we should all get to bed. After all, we have quite a busy day tomorrow."
The next day, the Great Hall was filled with decorators, house elves, and teachers all scurrying around frantically trying to finish setting everything up. Under the Great Hall, the house elves were cooking up a storm. Hermione was about to protest until Draco took her aside and after laying a burningly passionate kiss on her said, "'Mione, darling, leave them alone. They just love cooking."
After that, Hermione went on her happy way, not complaining or scolding once. Harry looked amazed. "What's gotten into her?"
Ginny giggled, pecked him on the cheek and said, "What do you think, Harry? Draco of course!"
Harry smiled at her and tweaked her nose. "You silly."
Hermione and Draco laughed uproariously and the rest of the day passed without any event, unless you count Colin and Dennis Creevey setting a Christmas tree on fire while trying to get a picture of Ginny and Harry snogging an event.
That night, as the students stepped into the hall, they let out a collective gasp. Every inch of the Great Hall was covered in festoons of holly, shimmering icicles, golden snowflakes, and of course, Flitwick's favorite, multicolored shining faeries. In the middle of the Hall, with the tables arranged around it, was a huge platform stage. To make it even more spectacular, Dumbledore had cast a spell to make it change colors every 10 minutes. Gold and scarlet, then silver and green, then blue and bronze, then yellow and black...well, you get the gist of it.
As the students were digging voraciously into their dinner, Fred came onto the stage. Forks and knives hardly paused as their owners looked up at Fred, who had begun to speak. "Ahem...I will be serving as the prologue for the play, Pyramus and Thisbe. Here we go." He began to read from a piece of parchment, completely ignoring the punctuation.
"If we should give offense, it's our intent.
That you should, we come not to offend,
But only to show our skill. That's what is meant,
That is the real beginning of our end.
Take it, therefore, we're here because of spite.
We haven't come intending you to please,
Our real aim is. All for your delight,
We are not here. That you should have no ease,
The actors are at hand; by what they show
You'll know the plot - or all you need to know."
Harry leaned over to whisper into Ginny's ear, "That made absolutely no sense at all. He's said it all in one, as if it was a full meal for a starving man."
Ginny giggled, "You're right, he sounds like a broken record."
Just then, the other "actors" appeared through a trapdoor in the floor. Fred brought each of them forth and introduced them. "This here," pointing to Ron, "is the hero of our play, Pyramus."
Ron grinned and bared his nonexistent muscles.
"Some hero." Draco muttered as Ginny poked him sharply with her elbow.
"Be nice" she hissed good naturedly.
George then came forth, dressed in a very large, white, toga-like dress and a yellow wig. Peals of laughter issued from the crowd as he began to speak in a horrible, overly-high falsetto. "I am the most beautiful and gracious Thisbe."
After George, Seamus, covered with plaster and stone in a weak attempt to make him resemble anything like a wall, stepped up. "I am to play the wall, and with my hands," he made a triangular shape with his fingers, "I shall make the chink that the lovers talk through."
Dean then began to speak, waving around the lantern that he carried in his hand, "And I am the moonshine, by which the lovers meet at night." Then, pointing at thin air, "this is my dog and my bush."
Finally, Fred pushed Neville forward. Poor Neville was dressed in a too- small children's lion costume. He was shaking and playing with his tail nervously. "I-I-I am th-the lion... wh-who will k-k-k-kill...no, I mean seem to kill Th-thisbe."
"Well that was pointless," Snape snorted, "They just told us the whole story. We won't need to see the play any more."
"I wonder if Neville is to speak again." Harry wondered.
"He must, Potter," Draco drawled, "After all, a lion must be able to speak if so many asses can."
In the meantime, all the actors had left the stage except for Seamus, the wall. He stood there, fidgeting for a minute and then held his hands in front of him in the shape of a chink. He then spoke, "I am the wall that brought two young lovers together, and with this chink," indicating his fingers, "were able to converse in secret."
"Don't you think a real wall would have spoken better?" Ginny said incredulously.
"On the contrary, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore chuckled, "I think it is the most intelligent dividing wall I have ever heard."
"Ssshh," Draco said, "Ron, I mean Pyramus has come onstage.
Dramatically, with all he had, Ron spoke, "Oh wall, have you any news of my beloved Thisbe? You wall, who stand between myself and my love."
"He's talking to a wall," Hermione sighed, "He's truly lost it."
On stage, Ron bent over, looking into the chink. "Stupid, idiot wall! Thisbe is not there!"
"I think the wall, having intelligence, should swear back." Said Professor Mcgonagall amusedly.
"Excuse me, professor Mcgonagall," Ron said, stepping out of his role for a moment. "'Thisbe is not there' is Thisbe's cue. She'll come out now and I'm supposed to spy on her. You'll see it in just a second. See, here she comes."
George came back onto the stage. "Oh wall, you've often heard my moans, for separating Pyramus and me. My cherry lips have often kissed your stones; your stones, with lime and hair bound up in thee."
Ron answered back, rushing to the wall. "I see a voice! I'll go now to the chink, to see if I can hear my Thisbe's face. Thisbe!"
"My love! You are my love, I think?
"Think what you like, your true love I embrace! And like Limander I am faithful still."
"And I like Helen, till the Fates me kill."
"Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true."
"As Shafalus to Procus, I to you."
"Oh kiss me, Thisbe, through the hole of this vile wall." Ron put his lips to Seamus's fingers. George too bent over, a look of pure disgust on his face as he pressed his lips to Seamus's hand.
"Seamus looks as if he's about to faint." Laughed Harry.
"I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all." George said loudly, all the while thinking "THANK GOD!!!"
"Will you at Ninny's tomb meet me straightaway?"
From underneath the stage (A/N: all the actors went under the stage after the play began) came a strangled cry. "NINUS'S TOMB YOU PRAT!!!! NOT NINNY!!!!"
"Come life or death, I'll go without delay." George continued gallantly. The two "lovers" then left the stage.
Seamus then spoke again, "Thus have I, as the wall, performed my part. So having done, the wall can now depart."
"That was the silliest stuff I have ever heard!" Hermione huffed. "They positively butchered it!"
"Don't worry Hermione," Ginny said soothingly, "Even the best actors are only shamming, so the worst can't be any worse, if aided by the imagination."
"It must be your imagination then, not theirs!"
"Oh be quiet! The lion and the moonshine are coming."
Up on the stage, Neville was standing stiff as a board, frightened eyes peering at the audience. He swallowed noisily and muttered too quickly,
"You, ladies, whose gentle hearts do fear
the smallest monstrous mouse that creeps on floor,
may now, perhaps, both quake and tremble here
when Lion rough in wildest rage does roar.
So know that I, Neville Longbottom, confess,
it's a fierce Lion I am, not a lioness.
If I should enter with a lion's roar
My life would not be worth a single straw."
"A very noble and gentle beast, with a tender conscience." Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"The beastliest actor I ever saw, professor." Mcgonagall smiled.
"A lion eh? Might as well be the Cowardly Lion!" added Ginny.
Hermione was livid, "he makes us girls sound like quivering, witless idiots! Gentle hearts! I'll give him gentle hearts!!!"
No one dared to try and persuade her otherwise.
Meanwhile, Dean held up his lantern and yelled, "This lantern represents the crescent moon."
"Why is he yelling?" Harry asked, wincing and pressing her hands over his ears.
"He thinks we can't hear him." Draco replied.
"This lantern represents the crescent moon," Dean shouted again, "and I am the Man in the Moon, so it would seem."
Snape frowned, "That doesn't make any sense... if he's the Man in the Moon, shouldn't he be in the lantern?"
"He can't," Harry explained, "there's a candle inside."
Dean was still yelling, "All I've got to say is to tell you that this lantern is the Moon. I'm the Man in the Moon. This thorn-bush is my thorn- bush. This dog is my dog!" Gesturing wildly, he was finally pulled into the trapdoor by Seamus and Fred and was soon replaced by a smiling, and much more soft-spoken Fred.
"Methinks all of them should be in the lantern, don't you?" Draco smirked.
George soon reappeared on the stage. "This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love?"
Fred had turned bright red and muttered, "Ninus's tomb, Ninus's tomb, bugger, they'll never get it."
Then, the members of the high table noticed Neville stumbling onstage. He gave a frightened squeak then tottered forward. After taking a deep breath, he let out a deafening roar. George, ran off the stage in real fear then ran back to throw a scarf back.
"Who knew Neville could be so loud?" Ginny wondered, completely stunned.
"Well roared lion!" Harry shouted.
"Well run Thisbe!" Hermione cried, giggling madly.
"Well shone Moon!" Mcgonagall applauded, "Indeed, he shines very gracefully."
Neville got down on all fours and sniffed the scarf vigorously and scuttled quickly off of the stage. Soon after, Ron appeared again.
In the grandest fashion, with elaborate gestures, he said spectacularly,
"Sweet Moon, I thank you for your sunny beams.
I thank you, Moon, for shining now so bright,
For by your gracious, golden, glittering, gleams
I hope of faithful Thisbe to catch sight."
He paused and saw Thisbe's scarf lying on the ground. Slowly, he stumbled over and picked it up.
"But stay! Oh spite!
But mark, poor knight,
what dreadful woe is here!
Eyes, do you see?
How can it be?
Oh, dainty duck! Oh, dear!
Your mantle good -
What? Stained with blood?
Approach, you Furies fell!
Oh, Fates! Come, come,
Cut thread and thrum.
Quail, crush, conclude, and quell."
"Well," Dumbledore said dryly, "I suppose the distress, and the death of a dear friend would make a man look miserable. He certainly does look pitiful."
"He is overacting a bit though, isn't he?" Ginny asked.
"Overacting is an understatement." Said Draco matter-of-factly.
"Oh, why, Nature, did you lions frame," Ron cried.
"Since lion vile has here destroyed my dear?
Which is - no, no, which was - the fairest dame
That lived, that loved, that liked, that looked with cheer.
Come tears, confound!
Out sword, and wound
The breast of Pyramus.
Ay, that left teat,
Where heart does beat.
Thus I die, thus, thus, thus."
And with that, after a moments hesitation, Ron plunged the plastic sword into himself.
"Now I am dead;
now I am fled,
my soul is in the sky.
Tongue, lose your sight,
Moon, take your flight!"
Fred quietly slipped off, snuffing out the candle at the same time.
"Now die, die, die, die, die."
Ron slumped forward and died dramatically.
"He's got the lowest score on the death, one!" Harry proclaimed.
"Less than one, man, because he's dead, nothing!" Draco said scathingly.
"Why did the moonshine go before Thisbe came back?" Ginny wondered.
"She's supposed to find him by the light of the stars, I think." Hermione replied. "Here she comes now. She's already seen him. Now her passionate speech will end the play."
"THANK THE GODS!!!!" Snape exclaimed, "I can't take much more of this nonsense!"
"Asleep, my love?" George knelt beside Ron.
"She can' t be that stupid can she?" Hermione muttered.
"What, dead, my dove?
Oh, Pyramus, arise!
Speak, speak, quite dumb? ("Quite dumb indeed," Draco sniggered.)
Dead, dead? A tomb
Must cover your sweet eyes.
These lily lips,
This cherry nose,
These yellow cowslip cheeks,
Are gone, are gone!
Lovers make moan;
His eyes were green as leeks.
Oh, sisters three,
Come, come to me
With hands as pale as milk;
Lay them in blood
And then you could
Cut through his thread of silk.
Tongue, not a word:
Come, trusty sword,
Come blade, my breast stab through." George too, picked up the plastic sword and thrust it into himself.
"And farewell, friends.
Thus Thisbe ends -
Farewell, farewell to you."
He then slumped over and died. A great emptiness filled the hall, so quiet that you could hear a wand drop.
"Moonshine and lion are left to bury the dead." Dumbledore remarked in amusement.
"Yes, and the wall too." Harry reminded him.
Ron rose to his feet, "No, I can assure you. The wall has been taken down so that it no longer separates their houses. Now, would you like to hear an epilogue?"
"No, no, Mr. Weasley." Snape insisted, "Your play needs no epilogue, nor an apology. It was a very pleasing tragedy. Now, please get off the stage so we can go to bed!!!"
Yawning their heads off, the school left the Great Hall to go to their dormitories, leaving behind Sirius and James, who had watched the entire play while invisible.
"Well, that was a strange play if I ever saw one!" he said in wonderment. "Worse than in the forest."
James agreed, "but I shall return to the forest now. Meet me there at the break of day."
As he left, Sirius climbed on stage and spoke, as if to an imaginary audience.
"If we shadows have offended,
think but this, and all is mended,
that you have but slumbered here,
while these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will men.
And, as I am an host Puck,
If we have unearned luck,
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends."
A/N: FINALLY FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although... I didn't like the ending. If any one could think of a better way to end it I would REALLY appreciate it! ^.^ don't ask me about the prophecy bit, I just added it on a whim. Anways... I want to thank everyone who reviewed this fic! I don't think I would've gone this far if you didn't review! Special thanks to PHOEBE, LEMON PRINCESS, QUIS, ANIRON SAURON GREENLEAF-TOOK, HEDWIG7UP, DRAGONS KITTEN, BORED2DEATH, and LADY REENA. Oh listen to me...I sound like I'm on some award show or something. I'm such a dorQ!!! But of course... you all knew that! Thanx for reading my fic!!!!!!!! Ta-ta!! ^__________^