Chapter 2- Running the Gauntlet
Harry arrived at the large auditorium that had been set up by Dumbledore for this occasion. "And for many other plays, I hope," Dumbledore said at dinner the previous night.
The stage seemed plain. It was black and you could see the cat walk and all the elements that were still in the works. The seating seemed complete; dark burgundy plush chairs in rows around the entire hall.
"Isn't it great?" Ginny asked Harry excitedly as he sat next to Hermione.
"Yeah," Harry said, taking the scene in again. "When did they do this?"
"A couple weeks ago," Hermione said with a large secretive smile. "They let the Prefects help," she whispered on a side note.
From the stage, a girl in blonde pigtails stood and cleared her throat. Everyone's attention turned to her as she started to speak softly. "Good afternoon," she said with a small smile. "My name is Hannah Abbott, for those of you who don't know me, and I'll be directing Guys and Dolls. For those of you who don't know about the play, it's a musical comedy by Frank Loesser, Joe Swerling and Abe Burrows. It takes place in New York in the era of the 1940's, so I'd ask that all of you try to do your best American accent, New York if possible, of course." There were many groans and much chattering about the sudden request. "There's a charm Professor Flitwick will help us use for most of you, but it's unreliable, so I need to know if you can cover it up when you have to."
"Oh well," Draco muttered confidently as he leaned back with a smirk. "Just one more advantage I have, I suppose."
Harry scowled at the back of Draco's head, wondering how much more embarrassing this would be now. "Everything else will run normally. We'll just start on this first row and make our way around. If you have to be at a club or detention, just let me know and you can go first."
Two or three people approached the stage and had a word with Hannah about going right away. Just as they were sitting down, Ron was seen walking down an aisle to make his way towards his sister and friends. "Did I miss anything?" Ron asked.
"So you decided to join us?" Ginny commented.
Ron scowled. "Don't mention it," he said as though he were sick at the idea.
"We have to do our monologues in a Yankee accent," Harry said, worried about the fact.
"Oh," Ron said with indifference.
"Don't tell me you know how to do an American accent," Hermione said with doubt dripping in her voice.
"I've, uh," Ron said, turning a bright red. "I've practiced."
"When?" Ginny asked with a smirk as the other two looked on. Ginny knew exactly when. She had walked in on Ron once or twice, looking at himself in the mirror and doing all sorts of accents.
Ron looked down and scowled. "I was bored… there was nothing to do," he mumbled in self-defense.
Ron was saved any further questioning as the first boy rose and made his way shakily up to the stage. He gave a rather nervously delivered monologue before singing a verse of a song, most of the lyrics forgotten. Draco and the Slytherins surrounding him all laughed heartily at the poor boy who had given it a shot and ended up sulking off the stage, face as Ron's had been moments before.
"Like he's going to do any better," Hermione said under her breath. But that had been where she was wrong. After two rows of students either performing at a mediocre level or completely falling flat on their face, Draco Malfoy stood up and gave a flawless audition. His accent was nearly undetectable, the only hint of his true dialect could be covered with the charm. Needless to say the Slytherins cheered wildly as everyone else looked on in shock as he exited off the few steps down stage right to resume his seat once more.
"I think I'll just be going back to the common room," Harry said, standing up a bit.
Hermione grabbed his arm and pushed him back down into his seat. "I don't think so," she said. Harry could hardly argue through the nerves.
After the group of Slytherins, who had clumped themselves together (and none of which lived up to their leader, Malfoy) Susan Bones went up. She did well, though her accent was rather forced. Another Hufflepuff went and then it was Ernie MacMillan's turn. He looked red in the face from the moment he stood to make entrance on the stage. "I will be… be… I will be doing a monologue written by… by Fredrick Ashel," Ernie said uneasily before starting the monologue. He didn't do as bad as it seemed he would. It was just slightly tense. "He looks like he's constipated," Draco pointed out.
The monologue, however, wasn't the worst part of his audition. When he started singing, several of the students in the audience started wincing at the sound. "He can't be serious," Ron said, making a disgusted face.
"He's only auditioning because he really likes Hannah," Hermione said. "I think its sweet… sort of."
Ginny pointed to where Hannah was sitting and said, "look at how hard she's trying to keep a straight face." Harry, Hermione, and Ron found themselves mimicking Hannah's actions after seeing the scene for what it was.
When Ernie finished, there was a loud applause from all but Slytherin, as the members of said house were laughing as loud as they could. Ernie gave a grateful smile as Hannah nodded with approval, despite his dismal attempt.
Next was Ron. He gulped hard and walked up passing the jaunts from Malfoy and his gang. "I'll be performing 'Audition' by Matthew Calhoun," Ron said. Malfoy made a comment under his breath, though Ron couldn't hear what it was.
"'My resume'," said Ron as he takes out a small card and throws it towards the audience. "'Oh, first I should mention that I could play any of the parts in this play. Any. I could play an ant, I could play Little Red Riding Hood, I could play Hamlet. I've never heard of this play, as a matter of fact. It doesn't matter. I can do opera, I can do commercials, I can sing soprano, I can do my own stunts- I'm that versatile. Leading man, leading lady, gay, ingenue- you name it, I can do it. That's how great I am. I see you looking over my resume. Noticing I've never had a part. It's a real comment on this sick business we're in, isn't it? An actor this good (he thumps his chest) and he's blackballed! Why? For refusing to show up at auditions! Auditions are beneath me. I wipe my feet on them. People should be begging me to grace their theatres- producers should be asking me to audition them! But those egomaniacs who should bow and scrape before me - they have forced me to betray my principles and come to this'," Ron manages a sneer much like Malfoys as he looks up and finishes with the word, "'audition'."
Everyone sat shocked for a moment or two. Even Hannah's mouth was slightly agape as she looked back down at her paper. "Er—do you have something to sing for me?" she asked after getting over the idea that Ron could do this… that he could be successful… perhaps the best at something.
"Yeah," Ron said, his American accent leaving him immediately. "I'll be singing 'All I ask of You', or part of it at least," Ron said. "It's from another Muggle play."
Hermione's jaw dropped slightly and she gasped quietly, though it didn't get missed by everyone. Ginny leaned over. "What? What is it?" she asked.
"That's my favorite," Hermione said, still looking up at the stage where Ron was getting red in the face. Still, the piano (which had been charmed to play) started, and Ron began to sing. It was nearly perfect. There was one part where he had a hard time with some of the higher pitches, but nearly everyone applauded as he got down from the stage.
"Good job!" Ginny said, standing as her brother approached and throwing her arms around him.
"Okay, okay, not so tight," Ron said, prying Ginny off him and sitting down. "Your turn Hermione."
Hermione entered the stage with the same surety as she did everything else. Draco and the other Slytherins sat there talking amongst themselves, not having anything bad to say about Ron's performance, but it was obvious they were keeping an ear out for any mistakes. Hermione chose a monologue from one of her favorite novels, Emma, keeping things rather prim and proper… and somewhat stiff. She sang technically well, and her accent was almost on, though her 'r's made it obvious that she wasn't American.
Next Ginny went, following in her brother's lead to show that it must be a Weasley trait. She performed her own monologue, one about a lost nun, which had quite a few people laughing instead of just confused. Her accent wasn't as good as Ron's, but then again, she hadn't spent her spare time in front of her bedroom mirror practicing it. Her singing was clear and pure. Quite a sound, most agreed, and as she sat down, many people were sure she would get the part she had come for.
Harry almost backed out. Here he was, inexperienced, and yet trying for something so many people wanted and would do much better at. "I'm, er… I'm going to do a monologue from… er… A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," Harry said. Hermione had picked it out of course, but he was now wondering if her judgment on the piece had been sound, as the Slytherins and a few other scattered beings seemed to be laughing at him.
"'Take me'," he said somewhat quietly as he felt his hand starting to shake. "'I'm nobody. My folks came over from Ireland the year the potatoes gave out. Fellow ran a…'," Harry stopped, trying to think of his next word.
"Come on, Potter, we don't have all day," Draco shouted. A few others laughed.
"'Fellow ran a… a," Harry tried to think of the word, but the laughter just rung in his ears, never seeming to end. That's when he looked up. The first thing he saw was Cho Chang, looking in any other direction from his. Harry realized what an idiot he looked like. Harry forced his attention further down the rows until he saw his two best friends sitting with the other regular to their group. Ron was looking down, biting his bottom lip. Hermione sat on the edge of her seat, mouthing the word, though Harry would never have been able to make it out. Ginny was the one he noticed, though.
Her lips were together in an encouraging smile. One that told Harry he was doing fine, that there was no need to stress. Clearing his throat, Harry started again. This time there was no one in the room but Ginny, with that smile. No one was taunting or making snide comments, just one person silently listening on. Harry had never felt so comfortable with anyone looking at him before, but now he didn't seem to mind so much. When he ended, people cheered in support, and that was when it first sunk into him that others were around.
"What song?" Hannah asked.
"Song?" Harry asked, forgetting that he wasn't done.
"Potter thinks his popularity gets him out of a song," Draco said.
"I… I have a song," Harry said, trying to forget the Slytherins' presence. "I'm singing…"
"Oh great, he's going to forget this too," Draco said.
Harry looked over at Ginny for just one second, as if she held the answers. "'Try to Remember'," Harry said. He continued on with his auditions. There were two lines when Harry completely lost the lyrics and some of the melody, but continued anyway. Once the last note played, Harry hurried off the stage as quickly as his legs could carry him. Once in his seat, Hermione, Ron and Ginny all gave words of encouragement, though he brushed them off as he waited eagerly until it was Cho's turn.
Ginny held her breath as she saw the notice on the board. Her class had just ended, but Ginny supposed McGonagall had had some time off to put them up. Ginny approached the board slowly and started to read the casting:
Sky Masterson- Ron Weasley
Sergeant Sarah Brown- Hermione Granger
Nathan Detroit- Harry Potter
Miss Adelaide- Cho Chang
Benny Southstreet- Seamus Finnigan
Nicely-Nicely Johnson- Dean Thomas
Rusty Charlie- Micheal Corner
Harry the Horse- Vincent Crabbe
Angie the Ox- Gregory Goyle
Big Jule- Draco Malfoy
General Cartwright- Susan Bones
Arvide Abernathy- Roger Davies
Lieutenant Brannigan- Ernie McMillian
Hot Box Girls/ Female Chorus
Mandy Brocklehurst
Lavendar Brown
Tracey Davis
Marietta Edgecombe
Laura Madley
Parvati Patil
Ginny Weasley
Rose Zeller
Police/Gamblers/Male chorus
Stuart Ackerley
Malcom Baddock
Terry Boot
Owen Cauldwell
Dennis Creevy
Justin Finch-Fletchley
Neville Longbottom
Zacharias Smith
Blaise Zabini
Ginny's heart sunk. She couldn't feel the finger tip that had been scanning the page for her name only a moment before. In her minutes of silence, Ginny didn't even notice people approaching. "I'm so sorry," Hermione said softly. "I… I really am."
Ginny mentally shook herself out of the stupor and turned around with a forced smile. "Congratulations you three," Ginny said. Tears were slightly starting to form, though she knew she should cry over something like this. Ginny knew she had put her own hopes too high and that she shouldn't have expected a leading role, since she was a fifth year. "I'll see you around," she said quickly, feeling a tear wanting to fall, but not wanting to cry in front of anyone, let alone the three of them. It wasn't as if it were their fault they were the leads and she wasn't.
Ginny walked up to her room quickly and sat down on her bed. She looked around the room pensively before laying back and falling out of the cruel world that denied people of their dreams.
A/N: That seems a good enough place to end for the time being. I hope you like this chapter. I didn't want to show each and every song/monologue, not even of the trio and Ginny, so I stuck to Ron's monologue, to give you an idea of how outgoing he was. By the way, if anyone reading this can draw really well, I would love a poster type pic of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny as the cast for Guys and Dolls. If not, Review and I'll be equally as happy ;)
Thank you: (I'm re-posting the chapter because I forgot to put these in before! Sorry ya'll, I was just a little tired!)
Loralie: Thank you so much for reviewing. I'm glad you like this one, and I'll continue to update asap. I love Guys and Dolls, you should go rent (or buy) the version with Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit and Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson. So much fun that one is. I'm sure you also know the song 'Luck be a Lady', even if you didn't know it was from this.
Padfoot104: lol I'm not entirely sure about the mystery part of it all, but I do try and add quite a bit of humor in my writing. I usually am one to have a story with a little bit of every genre, though one is the main component.
Henrietta-Black: Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you enjoy it.
Luckyducky8200: Here you go… the next chapter. I hope you like this one as well.
TheGossipQueen: Right on! Were you in it? Or just a spectator? I love this musical, it's so much fun.
JamieBell: You know me… I do overdone plotlines with a twist… it's my motto ;) You'll figure out what I mean about the play within a play by the end of this, I'm sure. I'm glad you like the mood I'm creating, and I hope you still do. By the way, Ginny not getting a lead role was your fault… yours I tell you, so you can't complain about it ;)
Dancerrdw: I'm glad you like it, I really am. I try and make things different, more realistic even. Not everyone that got a lead was the best, but they got their parts for a reason, which is soon to be revealed.