To any of you out there who are confused, I added some to the first chapter after the first time I
posted it. Just go back and read it. I'm sorry to those of you that were looking forward to
Shakespeare, but the only Shakespearian play that would have worked for what I want to do with
this fic was Romeo and Juliet. I just couldn't stand to be so cliche. I promise that the play I am
using is a wonderful one. If you want to see a good Draco-like character that ends up falling in
love, watch Cruel Intentions. Ryan Phillipe's character, Sebastian, is very Draco-esque. Thanks to
all that reviewed! I really appreciate it!
Musical comedy Murders of 1940 belongs to the playwright and the publisher, not me. I am not
trying to claim it in any way.
All the characters and locations in this fanfic belong to J.K. Rowling, except for a few minor
characters that I have added to spruce it up!
A Love to Die For
Chapter 2
I had been waiting all day long for this very moment. Walking into the theater, I suddenly
wondered why I had been so excited. The theater was huge and I felt so out of place. What was I
doing here? I sat down in a seat towards the back of the room and hoped that I would see Cliff.
The theater really was beautiful. It was obviously older than the rest of the building- how that was
possible, I do not know- and had a wonderfully romantic feel to it. I was very glad that I had
come here. I got the feeling that wonderful things had happened here. It was probably just me
though. I found myself really hoping that I would make it into the show, just so I would be able to
spend more time in this room.
I looked above me and noticed that there was a balcony. There was a gold railing with tiny
rosebuds carved into it. Leaning on it was none other than Draco Malfoy. I found myself angry
with him for even being here, in this building that Cliff was in somewhere. Then it hit me. What if
Cliff wasn't here? What if the paper had been Hermione's, and I was stuck here with no Cliff. I
looked back up to the balcony and noticed that Malfoy had vanished from the balcony. I searched
the room frantically for him and spotted him walking down the aisle towards me. Just as I began
to stand up to flee the room- why had I even thought about coming in here? - Cliff sat down next
to me.
I smiled and sighed in relief at the sight of him. He would keep Draco away. I really didn't feel in
the mood for more of Draco's 'if your family could afford' comments. They were so unoriginal.
"Don't like him either?" he asked, smiling at me. For a minute, I sat there confused at what he had
just said. Then, feeling stupid for not understanding, I smiled and replied.
"Oh, I know, isn't he awful? All he ever does is make fun of people. And he can't even come up
with anything new to use," I said, just loud enough for Draco to hear. I glanced in his direction to
see him glaring towards me. Pleased with myself, I turned back to Cliff. He was laughing at what
I had just said. He really was cute, much cuter than Malfoy.
"I never got your name when we ran into each other yesterday." he said tucking a lock of my hair
behind my ear. He was so sweet too!
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I'm Ginny Weasley."
"Weasley... where have I heard that name before?" he mumbled to himself. His eyebrows were
knit together deep in thought. I almost didn't want to help him because he looked so cute. Almost.
"Oh, I have six older brothers. One of them is a sixth year here. Ron Weasley," I said. His face lit
with realization.
"That would make sense. I have Defense Against the Dark Arts with him. He's friends with Harry
Potter, isn't he?"
"Oh yeah. They've been best friends since-" I cut of when a tall thin woman stood and began to
address the group. Everyone in the room quieted down to listen to her.
I had never seen her at Hogwarts before, but I knew that she had to be a Professor. She had that
same presence that every other Professor I had met to this day did. It made you feel like they
knew endless amounts of more information than you did.
"For those of you that do not know me already, I am Professor Wilson, but please call me by my
first name: Emma. I am the director of Musical Comedy Murders of 1940. I am having Kari pass
out a short summary of the script and each part and an audition sheet that I want each of you to
fill out. For he audition toady, we will do cold readings from the script. Tomorrow, a callback list
will be posted just outside the theater and at the same time in the evening, ten of you will come
back and do more cold readings for me. I will give you fifteen minutes to read over the summaries
and fill out your forms, then we will get started."
I read over the summary and discovered that the play sounded very funny. It was about a group of
people getting ready to produce a musical. They were staying at the house of Elsa Von
Grossenknueten, who was the show's angel (she was providing the money they needed to get
started.) The director, Ken De La Maize had gone insane and had been murdering dancers in the
last show he directed. Elsa's maid, Helsa, was a German cross-dressing Nazi who was
masquerading as his sister to murder people in the house. The lyricist, Bernice Roth was a drunk
and her librettist, Roger Hopewell, was an easily frightened gay man. Nikki Crandall was an F.B.I.
agent posing as a dancer to try and solve the case of the Stage Door Slasher and Michael Kelly
was a police officer hired by Elsa to do exactly the same job as Nikki. Then there was a cowardly
comic, Eddie McCuen, and an Irish tenor, Patrick O'Reilly, who wasn't really Irish, but a German
spy.
I began to fall in love with the show. I really hoped that I would be called back. But there were so
many other people here and I had never acted in anything before. I passed my audition form in
and waited impatiently for more directions.
I had seriously regretted coming into the room at first. It was an ancient building and everyone in
the room seemed to know everyone else. I was a complete outsider. Not like I wasn't usually. But
when I began to read the summary sheet and I discovered the part of Patrick O'Reilly, I found
myself suddenly excited. I would give anything to play a German spy. I had already passed my
audition form in and had been assigned to the first audition group.
I was sitting on a chair on stage in a line with eight other people. The director handed each of us a
copy of the script and told us that we were never under any circumstances allowed to have our
wands on stage. We each set our wand next to our chair and we were told to turn to a certain
page in the script. It was a scene between the cross-dresser and the spy. She chose me to read the
spy’s part. I was reading over the scene when I saw who she had chosen to read the
maid’s part. None other than a Weasley. I sneered at her and she groaned. I could tell neither
of us would be happy with the partnering. She gave us a moment to prepare. I cleared my throat
and took a stab at an Irish accent. I figured that it sounded pretty good and started at the
beginning of the scene.
"Thank you, thank you. Sure and we're after bein' stuck down on the road at the bottom of the
driveway, wouldn't you know," I said trying to sound as obnoxiously Irish as I could. I figured
that the German spy was smart and would play innocent very well.
"Ja, I hear the car," Weasley said sounding very German. I was very impressed. I hadn't expected
her to be so good.
"No, that's another car. We couldn't even get up the hill. I'm Patrick O'Reilly. I'm one of the
actors. I thought I'd be comin' up to see if I could borrow a shivel." We continued through the
scene and I discovered that acting was really very exhilarating. I was enjoying myself, and with a
Weasley. When we finished our scene, the director seemed pleased. I hoped that I would get the
chance to read that part again with another person. Surprisingly she only had one other person
read each part after us.
After I read Helsa with Malfoy, Emma had me read with him every time. I didn't understand it.
We hated each other. But I did have to admit, it was very exciting to act. I looked forward to
each time she changed parts because I would get the read again. When it was over and I left the
theater, Cliff came running up to me. I had been rather disappointed that I hadn't read with him,
since he had been in my group. He was a very good actor too. I wondered what it would be like
to act with him.
"You were amazing," he whispered to me. "You'll definitely be called back!" He smiled at me and
I saw something in his eyes, something that I couldn't recognize.
"Really? I've never acted before. I really didn't know what I was doing," I admitted. I couldn't
believe him. I mean, he was incredible. He was probably just say that to make me feel better.
"Hey, do you want to come with me?" he asked taking my hand.
"Sure," I whispered quietly.
He led me down hallway after hallway until we were at a small door that opened to stairs. We
both had to duck to get through it. Once we were through, I found that the stairwell roof was
very high. These stairs obviously led somewhere important since they were lit with torches on
both sides. I was about to ask Cliff where we were going when we stepped up to another door.
He opened it for me and I stepped through, finding myself on a thin walkway almost 20 feet from
the stage. I gasped and was suddenly very glad I was never afraid of heights. The view was beautiful.
I walked out far enough for Cliff to stand on the walkway too. He smiled at me and took my
hand, squeezing past me to lead me somewhere else. Once we reached a wider platform, he sat
down and signaled for me to sit too.
"This is where I come when I feel lonely. It always reminds me that even if I don't have any true
friends here, I'll always have this. I'll always have my love for acting," he whispered. I looked at
his face to see if I could tell what he was thinking when he leaned down towards me and kissed
me softly on the cheek. Then he whispered into my ear, "I don't think I'll need to come here as
often anymore."
He kissed me softly, this time on the lips, then stood and led me back out of the theater. He told
me that whenever I needed him, I could just come to this door and he would be there. It thought
it was sweet but I had a hard time believing him. I watched him as he walked away, smiling,
holding my hand to my cheek.
All of my classes had seemed endless. I wanted to see whether I had been called back or not. I
didn't even enjoy it when Neville spilled his potion all over the floor and half the classes' shoes
turned to squirrels. Now that I was done with the callbacks, I was even tenser than I had been all
of that day. I had to know who was O'Reilly. I had only read for two parts. O'Reilly and Kelly. I
did not want to be Kelly. I wanted to be O'Reilly. Then there was the part of Helsa. There had
only been two people reading for that, and it had been obvious who would get it. Ginny Weasley
would be Helsa.
