A/N: Quick notes to reviewers before I begin. Thanks to everyone for reading, and don't forget to pick up a copy of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' on video or DVD today! ^_^ Oh, and a quick warning: this chapter is a teeny bit sad...
Manaliabrid - I will! I will! I will! ^_^
wouwie - Thank you. Here's the update!
Minerva of Tortall - Oooh, you were a witch? Fun! My best friend was a witch. ^_^ No, Albus and Minerva aren't going to have parts in the play; the only faculty member directly involved is Snape, but I thought about putting them in! And I haven't forgotten about 'Obsessions'... :-) Thanks for reading.
Aeryn Alexander - I had to memorize the captain's speech. ^_^ Like I said, I've wanted to do a Snape/Hermione story for a while... I hope I can make them believable! *crosses fingers*
Aahz - Thank you!We read 'Macbeth' in AP English, as well as 'Hamlet' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and I was in 'Romeo and Juliet'. Can you tell that I've got a Shakespeare fetish? ^_^ Thanks for reading!
Lemon-Drops - Hmm... so you like 'Macbeth' and 'Julius Caesar'? Cool... (hey, maybe when this is done, I should write a prequel in which the Marauders and company perform 'Julius Caesar'! ^_^) And Hamlet is EXTREMELY frustrating! But anyway, thanks for reading.
klo - Thank you! ^_^ Here's the update.
MK - Thanks. Hope you like the new chapter!
SperryDee - Wow, that's an impressive resume! (In English, I read Lady Macbeth in 'Macbeth', King Claudius in 'Hamlet', and Nick Bottom in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. When we performed 'Romeo and Juliet' a few months ago, I was Lord Montague, which is really funny because I'm a GIRL!) I'm glad you like the story, and best of luck to you in your upcoming productions!
~~~
"Hey, Hermione, do you have a cast list yet?"
That was the question Ron tried to ask Hermione at breakfast the next morning, but since his mouth was full of toast, it came out as, "Hm, Hmummy, boo you haff a caff list yet?" He swallowed his toast right after saying "have", so the last part of his sentence was discernable.
"Come again?" Hermione said, confused.
Ron swallowed the last few crumbs of toast still lingering in his mouth and said, "Do you have a cast list yet?"
"Oh." She smiled mischievously. "Yes. It took Professor Snape and I about two hours to make it up, but we got it."
"How can you stand working with him?" asked Seamus, who was sitting a few feet away. "He's... he's... Snape!" he said, unable to think of a better reason off the top of his head.
"Lame, Seamus," said Harry. "Really lame."
Seamus frowned. "I know, but still, that should be enough."
"He's not too bad," Hermione said, "especially when it comes to Shakespeare. He might not be too pleasant the rest of the time, but when it comes to Shakespeare, at least he's civil."
"Well, I'm just glad he wasn't there when I read," said Neville. "He probably would have laughed me out of the room."
A look of exasperation crossed Hermione's face. "You read wonderfully," she said. "I'm not supposed to say what parts you all got, but Neville, I will let you know that your part is... important."
"You told us at auditions that all the parts were important," commented Dean.
"Well, they are, so I guess you could say that I really didn't give anything away with saying that Neville's part is important." She finished off her glass of orange juice, stood up, and said, "If you'll excuse me, please, I need to see Professor McGonagall about something before I post the cast list. See you in Charms." Charms was their first class of the day.
Neville looked at the others. "Do you really think I got a part?" he said.
"She just said you did," Seamus said.
"Oh," Neville said apologetically.
Dean sighed and looked Harry. "Harry, what part did you want?"
Harry shrugged. "It would be cool to be Macbeth, but I don't think I read well enough to land that one, so I guess Banquo or Macduff. Malcolm would be all right, too."
"Who do you think will get Macbeth?" asked Parvati.
"Probably Malfoy," said Harry. "I heard he read pretty well, and... well, Snape. Enough said."
"I don't know, Harry," said Parvati. "Anthony Goldstein and I read a Macbeth/Lady Macbeth scene together, and he was good. I'm sure he'll get a major part, if not the lead."
A mischievous twinkle appeared in Ron's eye. "All right. Let's place bets. The winners get bragging rights, and the losers have to bow down at their feet and say, 'I am not worthy.'" He looked around at the circle of seventh-years that consisted of himself, Harry, Dean, Neville, Seamus, and Parvati. "I'll start, and we'll go in a circle. I think Malfoy got it."
"Malfoy," agreed Harry, who was next in the circle.
"Sure, Malfoy," said Neville.
"Anthony," said Parvati, "but you already knew that."
"Justin Finch-Fletchley," said Seamus. "I heard him practicing a scene with Hannah Abbott, and he was good."
"I think you got it, Harry," said Dean, and when Harry laughed, he said, "No, seriously! You were good! Anyone could see that."
Harry grinned. "Hey, I could always hope for an understudy."
Ron made a face. "But Malfoy's understudy? I'd almost rather not be in it at all."
~~~
When Hermione arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, she was surprised to find that it was open a few inches. In all her years at Hogwarts, she could never remember seeing that door open that amount. Usually, it was shut, and when it wasn't shut, it was open all the way. Open only a few inches was highly unusual for the perfectionist that was Minerva McGonagall, and Hermione wondered if something was wrong.
Then, she heard a voice coming from inside. "We'll get through this, Minerva. We can do it." It almost sounded like Professor Dumbledore, but this voice seemed to weak, too melancholy to belong to the headmaster.
"Oh, Albus," came the broken, choked voice of Professor McGonagall, "how can this be possible? They had so much life in them... so much to live for..."
Hermione stole a glance inside, and sure enough, there they were: the headmaster and deputy headmistress, standing in the middle of the room, holding on to each other as if the other was the only thing they had left in the world. Their faces were twisted with the amount of despair that comes only from losing someone very dear to the heart. She wondered what could have happened.
"Their son is dead," came a whisper from behind.
Hermione turned around at the sound of the soft voice and saw Severus Snape standing a few feet away. He, too, looked upset, but nowhere near as much as Dumbledore and McGonagall did. A million questions formed in Hermione's head, and it took a few moments before one finally worked its way to her lips. "Their son?" she repeated.
Snape nodded. "Yes, their son," he confirmed.
"Are they... married?"
He nodded again, then glanced at the door. "Let's walk," he said. They began walking down the hall with no destination in mind, and Snape continued. "They've been married for over forty-five years. Their son, Gabriel, is - was - two years older than me. They received the message early this morning. Gabriel, his wife, and their two children are dead."
Hermione gasped and stopped walking. "No..."
"I'm afraid so." He stopped, too.
"But how?"
"Gabriel was an ambassador from our Ministry of Magic to the one in Japan, and they've lived there for the last six or seven years," Snape said. "There was an earthquake there last week, and their names were on the list of the confirmed dead."
Hermione could feel tears stinging her eyes. "That's... that's horrible!"
"I hope you didn't have your heart set on attending Transfiguration today, because I believe that class has been cancelled."
She didn't have to ask why. "Well, if nothing else, that will give me some extra time to work on some of the blocking for the play." Then, another question worked its way into her mind. "Professor, with all due respect, why did you tell me about... about them, and about their son?"
"Why?" Snape repeated. "Because you would have found out sooner or later. Because you deserved to know why Albus and Minerva were so upset. Because I like you."
Hermione was shocked. "I always thought you hated me!"
"Don't flatter yourself, Miss Granger. Sorry to disappoint you, but there is only one person in this world whom I truly 'hate', and the only reason I joined him was because I knew he liked me and Dumbledore needed a spy in You-Know-Who's inner circle. I can even find Potter tolerable on occasion, believe it or not."
She thought about asking why he was always so mean to her in Potions, but thought better of it and kept silent.
"You're a good student, Miss Granger, and you know Shakespeare." A smile flickered on his lips for a moment at that one. "Don't let that go to your head, though, or I forsee several points being taken off Gryffindor house in the future."
Hermione didn't believe in Divination, but when the future was coming from Snape regarding house points, she could make an exception. "I won't. Thank you."
"For what?" Snape asked.
"For telling me about Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall's son and for being honest about your opinion of me."
"And don't give thanks out when thanks are not due."
Hermione felt that was really her call, but knew better than to say that. One did not spend seven years in Snape's Potions classes and not pick up a few things about the subject's tempermental instructor. She decided to change the topic to Shakespeare before things had the chance to get ugly. "I have the final draft of the cast list," she said. "Do you want to review it one more time?"
"No, that's all right," he replied. "I think we agree on everything except who should play Macbeth."
She sighed. So much for avoiding ugly. "You didn't hear him read, Professor. It blew me away. Believed me, I was as shocked as you are."
"Whatever," Snape said dismissively. "If he cannot do the job, though, are we at least in agreement on who should take over?"
She nodded. "Anthony Goldstein."
"Correct."
"But there's no understudies, so if we have to change parts around-"
"We'll make it work," Snape said. "Besides, if your judgement is correct, then there will be no need to worry about that, will there?"
His tone wasn't patronizing at all, which surprised her. "We'll see," she said. "I think you'll agree with me once you hear him read, though. He's our Macbeth."
"Point taken, Miss Granger. I'll give him a chance."
~~~
Back in the Transfiguration classroom, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall began to feel capable of standing on their own, so they gradually let go of each other. "I've cancelled your classes for today," Dumbledore said.
"Thank you," Minerva returned. Under any other circumstances, she would have protested his decision, but even she knew when to make the call over when was and was not able to teach, and today, she was definitely not. "If you have work to do-"
"I have a stack of paperwork that almost reaches the ceiling, but it will all have to wait until tomorrow," he replied. "I'm not going anywhere, and if I do go anywhere, it won't be more than three feet from you." He reached out and stroked his wife's tear-stained cheek. "We'll get through this. I don't know how yet, but we will get through this."
She was able to find some comfort in his words, but not enough. Their son and his family were dead. Gabriel, who looked and acted so much like his father, sweet, patient Cora, and little Nicolas and Anna - all dead. She remembered how difficult it was for them to have Gabriel. After three previous miscarriages, she finally had a successful pregnancy, only to go into labor six weeks early. The ordeal nearly killed both of them and left her unable to bear any more children. Their son, the child they worked so hard and risked so much for, was dead. How did someone overcome something like this?
That's how, she thought, her eyes locking with her husband's. They would be here for each other. So many things in the world changed, but their love never did. Not even the death of their son could change that.
Slowly, Minerva nodded her head. "I know."
They hugged each other again, and the tears flowed freely.
~~~
"I don't understand," Hermione said as she and Snape changed directions. They now had a destination: the Great Hall, where she planned to post the cast list just outside the entrance. "How come they never told us that they're married?"
Snape shrugged. "No reason to. The Daily Prophet had a field day when they announced their engagement shortly after her graduation, but after a while, it became old news."
Hermione was stunned. "'Shortly after her graduation'?" she repeated. "Do you mean to tell me that they were involved while she was a student?"
"They weren't the first, and they weren't the last," Snape said coolly. "It's generally not viewed upon with acceptance, but it has been known to happen."
"No wonder the Daily Prophet had a field day," she mumbled under her breath.
Snape changed the subject to something he was more comfortable talking about. "We'll have to start rehearsals immediately," he said. "When is the performance date?"
"New Year's Eve."
"Then we have a little more than two months. Do you think we can do it in that amount of time?"
"How many months did you work on Julius Caesar?"
"Four."
"Is that too soon?"
Snape thought for a moment, then said, "I think we can do it in two, but it will take work, and lots of it, especially from you."
"If you're trying to get me to back out, Professor, it's not going to work. I'll let everyone know that we'll start with an all-call to read through the entire thing after classes today in the Potions classroom." They parted ways, and Hermione continued to walk toward the Great Hall while Snape changed his route to the direction of his classroom.
Excellent choice of words, Miss Granger, Snape thought to himself as he walked. Had you been born a pureblood, you may have made a good Slytherin.
Manaliabrid - I will! I will! I will! ^_^
wouwie - Thank you. Here's the update!
Minerva of Tortall - Oooh, you were a witch? Fun! My best friend was a witch. ^_^ No, Albus and Minerva aren't going to have parts in the play; the only faculty member directly involved is Snape, but I thought about putting them in! And I haven't forgotten about 'Obsessions'... :-) Thanks for reading.
Aeryn Alexander - I had to memorize the captain's speech. ^_^ Like I said, I've wanted to do a Snape/Hermione story for a while... I hope I can make them believable! *crosses fingers*
Aahz - Thank you!We read 'Macbeth' in AP English, as well as 'Hamlet' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', and I was in 'Romeo and Juliet'. Can you tell that I've got a Shakespeare fetish? ^_^ Thanks for reading!
Lemon-Drops - Hmm... so you like 'Macbeth' and 'Julius Caesar'? Cool... (hey, maybe when this is done, I should write a prequel in which the Marauders and company perform 'Julius Caesar'! ^_^) And Hamlet is EXTREMELY frustrating! But anyway, thanks for reading.
klo - Thank you! ^_^ Here's the update.
MK - Thanks. Hope you like the new chapter!
SperryDee - Wow, that's an impressive resume! (In English, I read Lady Macbeth in 'Macbeth', King Claudius in 'Hamlet', and Nick Bottom in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. When we performed 'Romeo and Juliet' a few months ago, I was Lord Montague, which is really funny because I'm a GIRL!) I'm glad you like the story, and best of luck to you in your upcoming productions!
~~~
"Hey, Hermione, do you have a cast list yet?"
That was the question Ron tried to ask Hermione at breakfast the next morning, but since his mouth was full of toast, it came out as, "Hm, Hmummy, boo you haff a caff list yet?" He swallowed his toast right after saying "have", so the last part of his sentence was discernable.
"Come again?" Hermione said, confused.
Ron swallowed the last few crumbs of toast still lingering in his mouth and said, "Do you have a cast list yet?"
"Oh." She smiled mischievously. "Yes. It took Professor Snape and I about two hours to make it up, but we got it."
"How can you stand working with him?" asked Seamus, who was sitting a few feet away. "He's... he's... Snape!" he said, unable to think of a better reason off the top of his head.
"Lame, Seamus," said Harry. "Really lame."
Seamus frowned. "I know, but still, that should be enough."
"He's not too bad," Hermione said, "especially when it comes to Shakespeare. He might not be too pleasant the rest of the time, but when it comes to Shakespeare, at least he's civil."
"Well, I'm just glad he wasn't there when I read," said Neville. "He probably would have laughed me out of the room."
A look of exasperation crossed Hermione's face. "You read wonderfully," she said. "I'm not supposed to say what parts you all got, but Neville, I will let you know that your part is... important."
"You told us at auditions that all the parts were important," commented Dean.
"Well, they are, so I guess you could say that I really didn't give anything away with saying that Neville's part is important." She finished off her glass of orange juice, stood up, and said, "If you'll excuse me, please, I need to see Professor McGonagall about something before I post the cast list. See you in Charms." Charms was their first class of the day.
Neville looked at the others. "Do you really think I got a part?" he said.
"She just said you did," Seamus said.
"Oh," Neville said apologetically.
Dean sighed and looked Harry. "Harry, what part did you want?"
Harry shrugged. "It would be cool to be Macbeth, but I don't think I read well enough to land that one, so I guess Banquo or Macduff. Malcolm would be all right, too."
"Who do you think will get Macbeth?" asked Parvati.
"Probably Malfoy," said Harry. "I heard he read pretty well, and... well, Snape. Enough said."
"I don't know, Harry," said Parvati. "Anthony Goldstein and I read a Macbeth/Lady Macbeth scene together, and he was good. I'm sure he'll get a major part, if not the lead."
A mischievous twinkle appeared in Ron's eye. "All right. Let's place bets. The winners get bragging rights, and the losers have to bow down at their feet and say, 'I am not worthy.'" He looked around at the circle of seventh-years that consisted of himself, Harry, Dean, Neville, Seamus, and Parvati. "I'll start, and we'll go in a circle. I think Malfoy got it."
"Malfoy," agreed Harry, who was next in the circle.
"Sure, Malfoy," said Neville.
"Anthony," said Parvati, "but you already knew that."
"Justin Finch-Fletchley," said Seamus. "I heard him practicing a scene with Hannah Abbott, and he was good."
"I think you got it, Harry," said Dean, and when Harry laughed, he said, "No, seriously! You were good! Anyone could see that."
Harry grinned. "Hey, I could always hope for an understudy."
Ron made a face. "But Malfoy's understudy? I'd almost rather not be in it at all."
~~~
When Hermione arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, she was surprised to find that it was open a few inches. In all her years at Hogwarts, she could never remember seeing that door open that amount. Usually, it was shut, and when it wasn't shut, it was open all the way. Open only a few inches was highly unusual for the perfectionist that was Minerva McGonagall, and Hermione wondered if something was wrong.
Then, she heard a voice coming from inside. "We'll get through this, Minerva. We can do it." It almost sounded like Professor Dumbledore, but this voice seemed to weak, too melancholy to belong to the headmaster.
"Oh, Albus," came the broken, choked voice of Professor McGonagall, "how can this be possible? They had so much life in them... so much to live for..."
Hermione stole a glance inside, and sure enough, there they were: the headmaster and deputy headmistress, standing in the middle of the room, holding on to each other as if the other was the only thing they had left in the world. Their faces were twisted with the amount of despair that comes only from losing someone very dear to the heart. She wondered what could have happened.
"Their son is dead," came a whisper from behind.
Hermione turned around at the sound of the soft voice and saw Severus Snape standing a few feet away. He, too, looked upset, but nowhere near as much as Dumbledore and McGonagall did. A million questions formed in Hermione's head, and it took a few moments before one finally worked its way to her lips. "Their son?" she repeated.
Snape nodded. "Yes, their son," he confirmed.
"Are they... married?"
He nodded again, then glanced at the door. "Let's walk," he said. They began walking down the hall with no destination in mind, and Snape continued. "They've been married for over forty-five years. Their son, Gabriel, is - was - two years older than me. They received the message early this morning. Gabriel, his wife, and their two children are dead."
Hermione gasped and stopped walking. "No..."
"I'm afraid so." He stopped, too.
"But how?"
"Gabriel was an ambassador from our Ministry of Magic to the one in Japan, and they've lived there for the last six or seven years," Snape said. "There was an earthquake there last week, and their names were on the list of the confirmed dead."
Hermione could feel tears stinging her eyes. "That's... that's horrible!"
"I hope you didn't have your heart set on attending Transfiguration today, because I believe that class has been cancelled."
She didn't have to ask why. "Well, if nothing else, that will give me some extra time to work on some of the blocking for the play." Then, another question worked its way into her mind. "Professor, with all due respect, why did you tell me about... about them, and about their son?"
"Why?" Snape repeated. "Because you would have found out sooner or later. Because you deserved to know why Albus and Minerva were so upset. Because I like you."
Hermione was shocked. "I always thought you hated me!"
"Don't flatter yourself, Miss Granger. Sorry to disappoint you, but there is only one person in this world whom I truly 'hate', and the only reason I joined him was because I knew he liked me and Dumbledore needed a spy in You-Know-Who's inner circle. I can even find Potter tolerable on occasion, believe it or not."
She thought about asking why he was always so mean to her in Potions, but thought better of it and kept silent.
"You're a good student, Miss Granger, and you know Shakespeare." A smile flickered on his lips for a moment at that one. "Don't let that go to your head, though, or I forsee several points being taken off Gryffindor house in the future."
Hermione didn't believe in Divination, but when the future was coming from Snape regarding house points, she could make an exception. "I won't. Thank you."
"For what?" Snape asked.
"For telling me about Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall's son and for being honest about your opinion of me."
"And don't give thanks out when thanks are not due."
Hermione felt that was really her call, but knew better than to say that. One did not spend seven years in Snape's Potions classes and not pick up a few things about the subject's tempermental instructor. She decided to change the topic to Shakespeare before things had the chance to get ugly. "I have the final draft of the cast list," she said. "Do you want to review it one more time?"
"No, that's all right," he replied. "I think we agree on everything except who should play Macbeth."
She sighed. So much for avoiding ugly. "You didn't hear him read, Professor. It blew me away. Believed me, I was as shocked as you are."
"Whatever," Snape said dismissively. "If he cannot do the job, though, are we at least in agreement on who should take over?"
She nodded. "Anthony Goldstein."
"Correct."
"But there's no understudies, so if we have to change parts around-"
"We'll make it work," Snape said. "Besides, if your judgement is correct, then there will be no need to worry about that, will there?"
His tone wasn't patronizing at all, which surprised her. "We'll see," she said. "I think you'll agree with me once you hear him read, though. He's our Macbeth."
"Point taken, Miss Granger. I'll give him a chance."
~~~
Back in the Transfiguration classroom, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall began to feel capable of standing on their own, so they gradually let go of each other. "I've cancelled your classes for today," Dumbledore said.
"Thank you," Minerva returned. Under any other circumstances, she would have protested his decision, but even she knew when to make the call over when was and was not able to teach, and today, she was definitely not. "If you have work to do-"
"I have a stack of paperwork that almost reaches the ceiling, but it will all have to wait until tomorrow," he replied. "I'm not going anywhere, and if I do go anywhere, it won't be more than three feet from you." He reached out and stroked his wife's tear-stained cheek. "We'll get through this. I don't know how yet, but we will get through this."
She was able to find some comfort in his words, but not enough. Their son and his family were dead. Gabriel, who looked and acted so much like his father, sweet, patient Cora, and little Nicolas and Anna - all dead. She remembered how difficult it was for them to have Gabriel. After three previous miscarriages, she finally had a successful pregnancy, only to go into labor six weeks early. The ordeal nearly killed both of them and left her unable to bear any more children. Their son, the child they worked so hard and risked so much for, was dead. How did someone overcome something like this?
That's how, she thought, her eyes locking with her husband's. They would be here for each other. So many things in the world changed, but their love never did. Not even the death of their son could change that.
Slowly, Minerva nodded her head. "I know."
They hugged each other again, and the tears flowed freely.
~~~
"I don't understand," Hermione said as she and Snape changed directions. They now had a destination: the Great Hall, where she planned to post the cast list just outside the entrance. "How come they never told us that they're married?"
Snape shrugged. "No reason to. The Daily Prophet had a field day when they announced their engagement shortly after her graduation, but after a while, it became old news."
Hermione was stunned. "'Shortly after her graduation'?" she repeated. "Do you mean to tell me that they were involved while she was a student?"
"They weren't the first, and they weren't the last," Snape said coolly. "It's generally not viewed upon with acceptance, but it has been known to happen."
"No wonder the Daily Prophet had a field day," she mumbled under her breath.
Snape changed the subject to something he was more comfortable talking about. "We'll have to start rehearsals immediately," he said. "When is the performance date?"
"New Year's Eve."
"Then we have a little more than two months. Do you think we can do it in that amount of time?"
"How many months did you work on Julius Caesar?"
"Four."
"Is that too soon?"
Snape thought for a moment, then said, "I think we can do it in two, but it will take work, and lots of it, especially from you."
"If you're trying to get me to back out, Professor, it's not going to work. I'll let everyone know that we'll start with an all-call to read through the entire thing after classes today in the Potions classroom." They parted ways, and Hermione continued to walk toward the Great Hall while Snape changed his route to the direction of his classroom.
Excellent choice of words, Miss Granger, Snape thought to himself as he walked. Had you been born a pureblood, you may have made a good Slytherin.