AN: Yes, I am still here! I am still alive and kicking, thank you very much. I am quite overwhelmed by all the response I've gotten, even despite my lack of updating. It's quite a rush to get a review for a story you haven't updated for ages.
For people who asked me to review their stories: I'm so sorry. I read your stories. Really, I did. For some reason, though, my computer doesn't do anything when I hit the "review" button. Technology really loathes me. But I'm sorry I couldn't review. I feel pretty terrible.
Anyway, I went back and edited a lot, partially because song lyrics are frowned upon now and partially because I really don't like some parts of this story. Anyway, I am dreadfully sorry that I haven't updated in so long! School will be out soon and I promise you that I will try to finish most of this story during the summer. This chapter is really long. I made sure to make up for lost time! I hope you enjoy it!
Side note: I dedicate this chapter to: ilk girl on livejournal who actually read my babbling and made me smile – loads of thanks for that. Smiling is always good.
Playing the Part
By: Shrk-bait
Chapter 16: Duties and Decisions
Love works in miracles every day: such as weakening the strong, and strengthening the weak; making fools of the wise, and wise men of fools; favoring the passions, destroying reason, and in a word, turning everything topsy-turvy. -- Marguerite de Valois
"Alright, as you all know, Capulet's ball is quite a difficult scene to set up, what with all the dancers, decorations, and extras. So we'll focus on that today." Professor Harris yelled over the sea of gabbling students. "Where are my Romeo and Juliet?"
"Right here, Professor." Lily piped up, waving slightly with her hand from her seat on the floor.
She hoisted herself up from the tile and situated herself on the bench next to James, who blinked multiple times and whose mouth hung slightly open, still in awe of their newly developed friendship-sort of relationship.
"You two need to go to Madame Malkin in Hogsmeade to get your costumes fitted. She has sample costumes, so to cut down prices she's graciously allowing us to use her designs to create them ourselves. So I need your sizes and a sketch of each. Don't miss tomorrow's rehearsal. It's important. Besides that, you're both excused to go to Hogsmeade." Professor Harris briskly gave her commands and then hobbled over to the set conjurors.
"Well, then, Evans. Shall we go?" James grinned, extending his arm out for her to take it.
Lily glanced down at it suspiciously, contemplating whether or not to loop her arm around his. Just as she moved to do just that, a Ravenclaw prefect burst into the Great Hall, out of breath and terribly distraught.
"James, Lily! Moaning Myrtle's gone insane. Something about first years breaking into her bathroom stall and teasing her. We tried to console her, but it looks like she'll flood Hogwarts at the rate she's going." He panted.
"Well, m'dear, it looks like we've got poltergeist potty problems." He joked, nudging Lily slightly in the ribs.
She arched her eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by James' pathetic show of alliteration.
"I suppose costumes can wait. After all, a flooded Hogwarts doesn't seem quite the right setting for Romeo and Juliet."
They scurried off to the bathrooms, following the howls of Moaning Myrtle, whose name was indeed quite fitting at such a time.
"Myrtle, my love, what seems to be the problem?" James cooed, following Lily's actions and charming his shoes to repel the water bursting out of the broken toilets.
"J-James? Oh, you actually came to visit! It's been ages since I've seen you! It was horrible, James! Those nasty kids were simply awful to me! But you're here now!" Myrtle giggled, floating through the stall door with a silly grin upon her face. "So I'm alright."
She stopped, scowling at the sight of Lily inspecting the malfunctioning plumbing.
"Who's she? Why'd you bring her?" Myrtle spat out, eyeing Lily viciously.
"Oh yes, Lily. . . Evans: Head Girl."
"Humph. Doesn't look all that impressive to me. I suppose she's smart. And I suppose she's decent looking. And there is that very minor detail: she's living. But besides all that, she's not that great." Myrtle muttered, swooping back into the plumbing.
Lily frowned, not fully comprehending exactly why Myrtle seemed to dislike her. James, on the other hand, was immersed in a fit of laughter. Not knowing the reason why Myrtle was so upset, combined with not knowing the reason why James was laughing, caused Lily to frown even harder.
"Oy Potter, what's so funny?" Lily questioned, whipping out her wand. "Stop fooling around! I'm going to stop all this water. Figure out how to calm Myrtle down, will you? She's clearly mental."
"Yes, Master." James scoffed while Lily ventured further into the bathroom stall.
A squeaky cackle and the water pressure increased, followed by a groan of disgust. James bolted over, only to see Lily trudge out of the stall dripping wet in toilet water.
"Myrtle, if you weren't dead, I would kill you. You realize that, right?"
"Lily, dear, don't be a poor sport. Now why don't you run along and leave us be?" she suggested, not bothering to hide the maliciousness in her voice.
"Potter! Do something!" Lily whined, drying herself with a simple spell.
James sauntered over to her, slinging his arm around her shoulders. Myrtle seethed angrily.
"You fixed the water, didn't you? You're dry, aren't you?"
"You think I give a damn whether or not I'm dry? I've been spewed with toilet water."
"Right, point taken." He crinkled his nose and leaped away from her.
Lily scowled, swatting at a chuckling James. When that effort went to waste, she kicked up the water on the floor with a swift fling of her foot. It was the ideal water-fight situation. Odd smelling water up to their ankles, but ideal nonetheless.
"Bloody hell, Evans, what a way to spread the love." He grinned, the water dripping off his face.
She was laughing maniacally, stumbling backwards onto an especially slippery part of the bathroom. Lily Evans was not one to defy the laws of gravity and thus with a thud, she fell, her drying spells gone to complete waste.
"That was graceful, Evans. Swan-like, almost." James guffawed, extending his hand to help her up.
"Oh my dear James, revenge is sweet." She giggled creepily, grabbing his arm and wrenching him down next to her on the floor.
It was a sight to see, the two Head students drenched in toilet water on the floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, laughing their heads off.
"You could've at least told me you had a girl." Myrtle pouted, floating grumpily above the sink.
"I have a girl?" James asked between laughs, hoisting himself off the dirtied ground and lifting Lily along with him. "How come I didn't know this?"
"Don't taunt me. I don't appreciate it at all. I suppose you two look somewhat decent together, but I hope you still come and visit me. Otherwise I'll be offended."
"Oh Myrtle, you don't think that he… and I… oh no, we most certainly aren't." Lily interjected, blushing furiously and brushing James' hand off her arm. "He's all yours."
"Really?" Myrtle looked incredibly hopeful, fluttering her eyelashes in an obviously flirty manner.
"Erm… we've got to run, Myrtle. Loads of Head student work to do. Bye!" James said quickly.
He grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her out of the bathroom, water sloshing as they departed.
"So Potter, what was that all about? Are you into seducing weepy ghosts now?"
"Oh damn. You weren't supposed to find out, but since you seem to have already figured it out, Professor Harris and I have been secretly planning to replace you in the role of Juliet with Myrtle. I'm terribly sorry, love."
"I'm deeply hurt, but I suppose it's for the best. Who wants to play Juliet to your Romeo anyway?"
Lily snuffed jokingly, pulling her hand out of James' and folding her arms across her chest.
"Speaking of Romeo and Juliet, weren't we supposed to go to Hogsmeade for costume fitting today? It's a bit late for that and I've still got that Potions essay to write."
Lily slapped her forehead violently. There were not enough hours in a day.
"What are we going to do, Potter? Oh gosh… how are we going to get any of this done? Professor Harris is going to kill us and I've got to do my potions essay too! Damn, damn, damn…" Lily muttered, nervously wringing her necktie and pacing back and forth.
"Calm down. We'll do the potions assignment together, and then figure out what to do about the play, alright? Don't worry, Evans. You'll never get anything done that way." He assured her, stopping her violent pacing by holding her shoulders in place.
"Oh really? Watch me. Not worry… honestly. You are far too naïve, Potter. Ah, but I have no time to discuss your trivial naivety issues. Let's just get this essay done." She pouted, dragging him off to the library, a worried look plastered upon her face.
Anxiety made her oblivious to the slight upward curve of James' lips as they walked, side by side, to the dusty bookroom.
"Hm . . . how should I end this? I can't possibly think of anything else to say about this damned potion." Lily grunted, her head pressed against her left hand, while the other scratched the desk's surface with the tip of a quill.
"Write: despite its potential flaws and the significant extent to which different variables can tweak the outcome, the scintillation solution is nevertheless one of the most impressive magical developments of this century." He suggested, mussing up his hair and extending his legs further away from him.
After staring at him curiously (but briefly) and scribbling down his words, Lily lifted her hands into the air and folded them slowly behind her head. Eyes flitting shut, she missed the fond glances sent her way.
"Erm . . . I hate to tell you this, but we have a slight problem." James pointed out tentatively. "Harris said we must have the costume designs chosen by tomorrow. And it is currently an hour past midnight."
"Bugger, bugger, bugger. We're stuck. There's nothing we can do, so I suppose we'll just have to face the consequences."
"Unless we . . . forget it." James paused, hiding his grin. "You won't do it anyway."
"What? Tell me."
"Oh, it was nothing. Bringing it up is useless anyway. We're Head Students, we can't possibly."
"Just tell me, Potter."
"No, you won't want to."
"You don't know that. Tell me before I hurt you for wasting my time."
"Fine! You see, there's a passageway leading to Hogsmeade that's real quick. And I know for a fact that Madame Malkin's always has a spare key to the back hidden above the doorframe. So, if we wanted to, we could slip into the store, pick the costumes, slip out, and be back here in time for breakfast."
She stared blankly at him, her lips parted slightly, unmoving.
"You see, Evans, I knew you wouldn't want to, so let's just get some rest."
Standing up, he gathered the potion volumes and crinkled rolls of parchment scattered about the table. Just as he reached to put away his quill, a hand touched his arm.
"Alright. Let's go."
There was no other way to describe it, other than complete and utter surprise. Lily Evans, one who had been so vehement about responsibility and rules, had agreed to go on a nocturnal escapade, knowing fully well that they would probably break more rules than she ever had in her entire life.
And yet she agreed. Reverse psychology did wonders.
Damp packed dirt surrounding her, pitch black darkness ahead, Lily could do nothing but stop. Sneaking off for a midnight snack was acceptable, but this was absurd.
Stakes were high, risks were many, courage was slim, even for a Gryffindor such as herself.
"I quit. I'm going back. I'm not doing this, James." She spun around violently, ramming right into James' chest in an attempt to escape.
"Calm down."
"Not an option, I'm afraid. My heart is pounding like mad. I think I'm going to have a heart attack."
"Come on. It isn't too far. We'll be there in no time." He coaxed her, taking a few steps into the unpaved cave and tugging slightly at her arm.
"Oh goodness, I swear I'll regret this. I must've gone temporarily insane when I agreed to this. Do you know what they do to those plagued with neurotic mental issues such a these? Ship them off to St. Mungo's, that's what. I'll be spouting arbitrary lines from Romeo and Juliet, while crazily ranting about passing our potions final. What a life that'll be." She rambled, staring at the floor as James led her through the tunnel, lit up only by his lumos.
"I've never seen you like this before. Is this how your mind actually works?"
"Of course, of course. I'm terribly rational academically, but I think that on a daily basis, it is my inner insanity that ultimately keeps me sane."
"Erm . . . right." He nodded, smiling gently at the unmasked lunacy of Lily Evans as she clung to his arm and blindly followed him through the passageway.
Despite Lily's constant persistence that some drunken wizard from across the street was going to avada kedavra them for breaking into Madame Malkin's, she stepped through the door that James had creaked open.
Air muggy and dark, James lit a few candles, lighting up the room and revealing the splendor of the store's extravagant robe collection.
"Well, I suppose we've made it. Best get started finding those costumes, eh? There's still that chance that someone will find us and send us to our graves before we've even had a chance to leave Hogwarts." She warned him, her eyes scanning the racks for any signs of Shakespearean attire.
"You're not the least bit excited that we've broken the rules and that we're here, alone without any supervision. We could dance around crazily, change the store's entire layout, mix up Madame Malkin's entire organizational system! And whether we choose to or not, the possibilities are here in front of us! You don't feel any rush at all?"
"Well, maybe a bit of a rush."
"Good." He grinned, absentmindedly sifting through a collection of hanging robes.
"Oy! I think I've found it! Right here!" she motioned for him, pulling out a dress and comparing it against herself.
"Which poor sap has to wear that?" he scoffed, pointing mockingly to the tights hanging on the rack of clothes that Madame Malkin had labeled "Romeo and Juliet."
"This poor sap." Lily barked, poking him hard on the flat of his forehead. He frowned, massaging his forehead lightly, almost certain that a bright pink spot had appeared because of Lily's poke.
"Surely, you jest."
"Potter, you can't avoid it. That's what the men wear in these sorts of productions."
"I won't. We'll be original. How about a nice pair of robes instead?"
"I doubt Romeo walks around in wizard garb, while Juliet dons one of these old English gowns."
She gestured to one of the dresses with the tag 'Juliet' attached to the hanger, a simple white frock that laced up in the back.
"That's alright. I'm sure Shakespeare could care less. In fact, I'm sure if he wasn't a muggle, he'd opt for Romeo to wear something more comfortable too."
"He would not. Just a few months ago, you had no idea who Shakespeare was. How can you possibly say what he would or would not prefer?"
"Haven't you heard, Evans? What's that bloody phrase again? Oh yes, great minds think alike."
"I don't care if you can explain the uncertainty principle or the theory of relativity, Potter. You're no Heisenberg and you're certainly no Einstein. But you know what? You're wearing those tights. It's tradition and I'll be damned if I let you wear robes while I'm suffocating in this infuriating thing." She fumed, holding her glowing wand tip up to a magnificent dress, this one complete with matching corset.
"What's that?" he asked, eyeing it curiously.
"A torture device." Bitterness saturated her voice.
"Oh, Juliet gets a torture device of her own." He grinned smugly, "Like these tights, you mean."
"Precisely–" Lily exclaimed vehemently before realizing what a trap she had gotten herself into. "Not!"
"Nice try, Evans, but you know as well as I do that these tights are absolute hell."
"So what if they are? We're actors; we can't be choosy. If this is what Harris wants, then it is our duty to give it to her, setting all personal feelings aside."
"I doubt she'd want me wiggling around, fidgeting with my tights while we're acting out the death scene. It wouldn't be natural – not that playing dead is really that natural anyway."
"I'm sure they're not as bad as you imagine them to be."
"I change my mind. I want to be Friar Lawrence. He gets to wear comfortable monk attire, not to mention that spongy fat suit." He pouted as he eyed Zeno's costume with delight. "It's quite becoming, don't you think?"
Lily, who had tiredly plopped herself down onto a pile of cushions, looked up to see James Potter examining his figure in the mirror – his figure strapped to the stuffed apparatus.
Thumping her chest with her hand, Lily stopped herself from choking on the startling outflow of laughter.
"Potter, what are you doing?" she gasped for air.
"Hm . . . terribly comfortable, actually. Quite cozy, I'd say." He mused, stroking his chin and pretending as if Lily Evans wasn't shaking the cushions with her peculiar display of amusement.
"You look terrible obese." She chuckled once she regained some semblance of composure.
"Oh really? Well, prepare to face my wrath then!" his eyes glimmered mischievously as he plodded over to Lily and promptly sat on her.
"James! You . . . suffocating . . . stop! Juliet doesn't . . . die . . . this way! Gerroff!"
She struggled underneath the weight of a less-than-light Quidditch player donned in a fat monk's costume. What a situation to be in!
"Little Miss Juliet should learn how to hold her sharp tongue, otherwise she'll be smothered."
"Never! 'Tis sad, but true – a noble death for such a lovely Capulet."
"Lovely? Tell me not these lies! Juliet is far from lovely!" he exclaimed, raising his arms in true Shakespearean fashion, while still crushing Lily. "No, the mere vision of her face stings me, the effect upon my memory like that of bubotuber pus on human flesh."
"Wanker!" she cried, wiggling her arm free and somehow managing to move her flailing arms in the ideal position to deliver a sharp blow to James' nose.
His glasses were sent to the ground.
"OW! Bloody hell, Lily!" he recoiled, jumping up and massaging his nose with one hand, while blindly searching the floor for his spectacles with the other.
She found him quite charming, unable to see and frantically searching for what was right in front of him. It was strange to think of James, the cocky prat for the majority of her Hogwarts experience, as charming. He feigned anger at her ringing giggles.
"Lily . . . where are they? You realize that I can't see a bloody thing without them, right?"
"Of course, James m'dear. But I won't deny that your helplessness is humorous."
"Juliet is supposed to be feminine and loving, you know."
"Well, Romeo is supposed to be sensitive and passionate."
"Fine, truce then." He proposed having finally found his glasses and hastily put them on.
"Right, truce." She smiled.
And they resumed costume choosing, the air a bit lighter and their furtive smiles a bit bigger.
AN: I need a bit of guidance on Green Eyes. I know somewhere in the story, each main character will have his/her own little chapter thing and parts of the story will be told from different perspectives. I know I want to piece together their friendship throughout the story, instead of having just one person explain how it began (hence the reason for Lily's brief reference to it – some people told me it went by to "quick," but that's actually the way I wanted it to go). I'm just not sure if I should have all the separate monologue-ish things all at the beginning or if I should separate them. If you haven't read that story, then you're probably lost. But for those who have, please let me know how you think I should go about organizing it.
As for Playing the Part, well, I'm not really too happy with this chapter. After rereading my story, I'm a bit irked at how much I've gotten off track. And I think my writing style is atrocious. Blah. But I'll continue and hopefully by the end of the story, it'll be decent and understandable. I think I prefer first-person narration. I'll come back and edit this chapter later. I just figured I should get it out since it's been ages since an update.
Oh. I have 2 weeks until school ends. Then (hopefully), updating frenzy! Hurrah! I love summertime. It's reading and writing and relaxing for me this summer! Oh, and thank you so much for the reviews! Please continue reviewing! It only makes me happier.
(I have SAT IIs to take tomorrow. Ew.)