Playing Romeo

Ladidah

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Draco & Ginny
Book: Draco & Ginny, Books 1 - 5
Published: 13/09/2004
Last Updated: 02/11/2005
Status: in_progress

In order to improve interhouse relations at Hogwarts, Dumbledore insists that the students perform a play which (ironically) ends up being Romeo and Juliet. Based off a challenge at Portkey.

Chapters

1. Prefect

2. Deciding the Play

3. Impossibilities

4. Disbelief

5. An Awkward Beginning

1. Prefect

Written off a challenge on Portkey.

~*~

Dumbledore, intent on encouraging inter-house relations insists on schoolwide play. For whatever reason, (up to you) it ends up being Romeo and Juliet. The teacher in charge, (again, this is up to you.) decides that because of their feuding families, Draco and Ginny should play the star roles. Neither wants to, but in the end Dumbledore puts his foot down and makes them.

- Ron must play Tybalt
- Starring as Paris, one of Ginny's ex boyfriends, or someone she turned down. (for the love of Bob, NOT Harry.)

- Ginny and Draco shouldn't just fall for each other; after the final performance (not opening night) they should admit they like eachother.

- Lets not make Ron out as evil! overprotective brother! and please don't have Ginny beating him up. He most definatly should dissaprove of them playing the roles, and being together, but lets give Ron some credit to take the higher ground and just want his sister to be happy. This does not mean you should make Ron and Draco best mates.
- Lots of play practice is a must, and awkward scene rehearsals for our entertainment.
- More humor, less drama would be appreciated.

~*~

“I'm sure you're all well aware of why I have called you here today,” Dumbledore started, peering at the prefects in the room from behind his half-moon spectacles. Ginny glanced proudly around the room, excited to be a part of such an exclusive group of students.

“For a prefect's meeting?” Ron asked blandly, seemingly uncertain as to what the purpose of this emergency prefect's meeting was.

“Obviously,” Malfoy muttered under his breath as he looked at the redhead unfavorably. Ginny shot a glare in his direction, trying to degrade him for his derogatory remarks about her brother, but he did not even look at her. Incensed, she bitterly turned her eyes back to Dumbledore.

“Yes, Mr. Weasley—I have called you all here today for a prefects meeting, because it is now, more than ever, that we need unification between the four houses of Hogwarts.” He looked around the group meaningfully, meeting the gaze of each prefect one by one. Ginny felt privileged to be included as a prefect—following in the footsteps of three of her brothers. “I expect that each and every one of you will assist in forging a bond between your fellow classmates, regardless of which house they hail from.”

Ginny resentfully looked across the table at Malfoy, Pansy, and the other Slytherin prefects—if Dumbledore expected that she befriend them, he was gravely mistaken. There was far too much family feuds and hostility in their history for her to forgive them on the fly. She skeptically looked around the room, meeting the gazes of equally dubious students who clearly thought an amalgamation of Hogwarts schools, particularly Gryffindor and Slyterin, was highly unlikely.

“Therefore,” Dumbledore continued, ignoring the incredulous gazes in the room, “I propose that you, as prefects, establish some form of activity that would work to unite the school—”

“Like Quidditch?” supplied Ron, looking around the room superciliously.

“No, Mr. Weasley, Quidditch only expands the divergence between houses by promoting competition. What you prefects must decide is what sort of endeavor you wish to pursue that promotes the unification of all of the four schools.” Dumbledore stated as he glanced over his moon shaped eyeglasses.

“How about a ball?” simpered Pansy Parkinson gleefully, obviously reveling in the thoughts of a fabulous new dress and making herself beautiful. Ginny watched in disgust as Pansy shot a significant look in Malfoy's direction, but he was too busy surveying his perfectly manicured nails to notice.

Dumbledore nodded slightly, “a ball is a plausible suggestion,” he started. Pansy suddenly looked very smug at Dumbledore's approval of her idea. “However, there is no way to ensure that you will intermingle and socialize with each other.” He glanced around the room once more, “Does anyone else have any thoughts?”

Looking down at the table, Ginny struggled to think of an inspiration that would magically unite the students without her actually having to talk to Slytherins, but she was at a loss.

“Perhaps a show of some sort, which involves students from all houses,” Hermione started knowingly, “like a play or a performance.” She looked questioningly at Dumbledore, waiting for a response.

“A play…?” Ron started, apparently unsure of what that entailed.

“A play is when Muggles pretend to be different characters and act out a story—” Hermione defined promptly.

“Why the hell would they do something like that?” Malfoy drawled, smirking at the thought of such outlandish behavior. Ginny had to agree—why would Muggles squander their precious time by acting out other people's lives?

“Muggles have been acting in plays since ancient times!” Hermione started, defending the Muggle art, “it's a very well liked form of entertainment—“

“I think it's a bloody waste of time,” Malfoy stated arrogantly.

Hermione shot Malfoy an evil look, but he disregarded her. Dumbledore looked knowingly around at the squabbling prefects, smiling slightly at their insignificant dispute. “A play is an excellent idea to promote harmony between houses,” Dumbledore stated firmly, glancing at Hermione who was busy glaring exasperatedly at Malfoy. However, at Dumbledore's praising words she sat up proudly and looked around at the other prefects. Ginny sent Hermione an assuring smile as Malfoy scoffed bitterly across the room, muttering something about the impudence of ridiculous Mudbloods. Ginny almost wanted to get up and slap him for his disrespectful comments and insults—but slapping him would require that she touch him—and Ginny was not fairly certain she did not want to subject herself to such torture.

After several more minutes of nonsensical arguments, it was established that they would rehearse and perform a play for the school. The prefects had mixed views on the ideas, but no one had a strong argument against it other than `it's a complete waste of time.' It was decided that all of the prefects had to participate in some form, by either acting or developing scenery, and students who were not prefects would either be selected for roles by teachers, or given the chance to audition. Overall, Ginny was fairly skeptical that performing a Muggle play would accomplish anything aside from giving the entire school reason to ridicule the prefects for their horrendous acting skills. Perhaps it would unite the school by giving everyone a common topic to laugh about.

Dumbledore concluded the meeting by telling the prefects to go research Muggle plays and to choose one or two stories to nominate at their next meeting where they would determine what play they would have to enact. Nodding his head in a farewell gesture, Dumbledore swept out of the room and down the hall.

A/N: Obviously it's not finished, but it's just a little work in progress… I'm not sure what I think of it, but I'll write more later and we'll see where it goes. I know Romeo and Juliet is a bit cliché—but I decided to write it because it's just a play, and I think writing awkward practice scenes would be super fun… Hope you enjoy!

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2. Deciding the Play

The following day, Ginny rushed to the prefect's meeting after her last class. Today they would be determining the play that they would perform, and figure out who would be playing what parts.

Hurrying around a corner and trying to avoid running into lost-looking first years, Ginny frantically scrambled for the small slip of paper she had buried in her pockets. `Romeo and Juliet,' it read. It was a play by William Shakespeare, a very well-renowned Muggle playwright, or so Hermione had said. Ginny had not particularly felt like selecting a play for herself, so she had just gone to Hermione and asked for a title. Luckily, Hermione had been in a good mood and had started listing her favorite plays. Ginny was not entirely sure as to what Romeo and Juliet was about, but since her play was not likely to be selected, it did not really matter.

Pulling open the door to the prefect's meeting, Ginny hurriedly sat with the rest of the Gryffindor prefects. Dumbledore smiled knowingly at her over his half-moon spectacles, and slowly stood, preparing to address the meeting.

“I assume you all did your homework,” Dumbledore stated, looking around the room at the prefects, who all had small slips of paper sitting in front of them, with the exception of several of the Slytherins. “Now, if you will, Minerva, pass me that hat over there.”

Ginny looked up suddenly, she had not noticed before that the four Heads of Houses were here in addition to Dumbledore and the prefects. Professor McGonagall handed Dumbledore a hat with a stuffed vulture on top which had been sitting on the shelf next to her. Summoning all the parchments, Dumbledore dropped them all into the hat and lightly shook it.

Holding the hat towards Professor Snape, he gestured for him to draw out a name. Staring bitterly at the stuffed vulture, Snape reluctantly put his hand in and drew out a name. “Romeo and Juliet,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. Ginny looked up, surprised. He had chosen the play she had selected—unless someone else had also picked Romeo and Juliet. Judging by Snape's reaction, he was familiar with the plot of the play and did not think it was suitable. However, Dumbledore, the other professors and the prefects who had heard of the tale seemed alright with the choice.

“Romeo and Juliet?” scoffed Malfoy, “who in their right mind would pick a story with a title like that?” Ginny glanced towards Hermione who looked particularly seething. “This better be a war story. Romeo versus Juliet, that's the only way to go. I'll be Romeo and take that Juliet down.” Draco crossed his arms smugly across his chest.

“I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, to inform you that Romeo and Juliet is, in fact, not a war story. However, since you volunteered, you are more than welcome to play the part of Romeo.” Dumbledore stated, a slight smile peeking through on his face.

“Of course I will,” Malfoy stated self-righteously, obviously quite pleased with himself for landing the starring role of the school play, regardless of what the plot might be. Ginny glanced towards Hermione, who seemed to have an amused look on her face that told Ginny that Malfoy would most likely not enjoy the part he had committed himself to.

Of the remaining prefects at the table, only the half-bloods and muggle-borns seemed to be familiar with Romeo and Juliet, the rest looked as oblivious as Ginny felt. “Now,” started Dumbledore, “we must select who shall play the other parts.”

“So does anyway recall the names of the characters of Romeo and Juliet?” asked Professor Flitwick, pulling out a long quill nearly as tall as he was, and a fresh piece of parchment.

Not surprisingly, Hermione was the first to respond. “Well, there's Romeo and Juliet, of course, and then Montague and Lady Montague, Capulet and Lady Capulet. Then… let's see…” Hermione pulled a thick leather-bound book out of her bag and began flipping through it as everyone else in the room glazed on with looks of utter shock upon their faces. “Ah yes, Escalus, Mercutio, Paris, Page, Montague, Lady Montague, Romeo, Benvolio, Abraham, Balthasar, Capulet, Lady Capulet, Juliet, Nurse, Tybalt, Capulet's Kinsmen, Peter, Capulet's servants, Friar Lawrence, Friar John, Apothecary, Musicians, Watchment, and the Chorus.” Hermione closed the book with a firm snap that made several people jump, and looked around the room happily. Ginny stifled a laugh as she saw Professor Snape and several Slytherins roll their eyes at Hermione's display.

“So what is this Romeo and Juliet about anyway?” asked Pansy Parkinson obnoxiously, clearly irritated at not knowing the plot. Hermione looked enraged, and a few of the other muggle-raised prefects seemed a bit surprised; however, the remainder of the prefects who had grown up primarily in the wizarding world seemed quite interested in learning the plot, with the exception of Malfoy, of course. He seemed quite content in knowing that he was the star, and was busy picking imaginary specks of dust off his expensive black robes.

Hermione jumped in to explain the story. “How could everyone not know about Romeo and Juliet? It's the greatest tragic love story of all time!”

“Love story…?” Ginny heard Malfoy say questioningly, he had suddenly perked up and was now avidly paying attention.

“Yes, love story,” Hermione stated firmly. It is the tale of two star crossed lovers whose families have lifelong feuds, and they are not allowed to be together, so they take their own lives. `Two households, both alike in dignity—”

“Wait—Romeo dies?” Malfoy said, seemingly enraged.

“Yes, and so does Juliet,” Hermione replied matter-of-factly.

“Well, then what the hell is the point of doing this stupid play if everyone is just going to die anyway?” Malfoy asked bitterly. He was clearly furious that Romeo and Juliet was a love story. “Headmaster Dumbledore, you can give the part of Romeo to someone else, I have better things to do.” He stood up and started getting ready leave.

“I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy,” Dumbledore started with an amused look on his face, “I'm afraid you've already committed yourself to the position. We do, however, need to select a person to play your counterpart, Juliet. Minerva, please—” He gestured to Professor McGonagall, who was sitting with the stuffed vulture hat full of names. Stubbornly, Malfoy sat back down onto his chair, his arms folded across his chest.

“It better not be a filthy Mudblood,” Ginny heard Malfoy mutter under his breath. The Slytherins near him sniggered evilly. Hermione was glaring at Malfoy with a certain look of disgust, and Ron looked about ready to leap across the table and pummel Malfoy.

“I'll be Juliet,” purred Pansy as she looked adoringly at Malfoy. Ginny felt a sudden urge to throw up. Her brother and Hermione looked utterly disgusted, and so did most of the other prefects. Malfoy's expression was impassive. Only Dumbledore seemed unfazed as he shook up the hat of names.

“That will not be necessary, Pansy,” stated Dumbledore as he took out his wand and gently stirred up the names before extending it towards Malfoy. “I will let Mr. Malfoy himself draw out the name of his on stage love interest.” Ginny giggled as Malfoy looked at the stuffed vulture hat with a look of dread on his face.

Malfoy reached his hand out, trying to recover his usual look of superior arrogance on his face. He nonchalantly pulled a name out of the hat, and kept it balled up in his fist for a moment before casually opening it.

The imperturbable look on his face was suddenly replaced by a look of absolute loathing and revulsion. “Oh, hell no,” he exclaimed as he whipped out his wand and began muttering a burning spell.

“Accio parchment!” shouted Professor McGonagall and the charred parchment flew across the room. She opened it and read the name as the other Heads of House and Dumbledore looked on. They all had a mild look of surprise on their faces, except Snape who was as unreadable as usual. Dumbledore was looking at the parchment with a slight smile on his face.

“In the interest of time, we will finish selecting roles for everyone and post the list outside the Great Hall before breakfast tomorrow. If any of you have a reason as to why you wish not to act, please send it to me in the next several hours and I will review it.” He stood up and firmly placed his pointed wizard's hat upon his head. “As you all know, the part of Romeo will be played by Draco Malfoy.” Malfoy looked like he was ready to punch something. “And part of Juliet,” Dumbledore continued, “will be played by our very own Ginny Weasley. Good night!”

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3. Impossibilities

Ginny sat for a moment, perfectly still, trying to comprehend what Dumbledore had just said. She could have sworn he had said her name - but that was impossible. No one in their right mind would pick a Weasley to play opposite Malfoy in a romance story. Clearly, she must have been hallucinating.

However, a quick glance around the room did nothing to calm her. Everyone was either staring in shock at her, Malfoy, or the door which was where Dumbledore had swept through immediately following his announcement, followed by the four Heads of Houses.

Ron and Hermione looked almost angry, and Malfoy was looking at her so lividly that she almost wanted to run away or disappear. But then she remembered she despised him as well, so she did her best to put an angry expression on her face and return his fuming gaze.

“Great, a Weasley” Malfoy said bitterly. “The only thing worse than a Mudblood.”

“You take that back!” shouted Ron, standing up and drawing his wand simultaneously. Ginny glanced at Hermione for half a second before they both grabbed Ron by the arms and pulled him back into his chair.

“He's not even worth our attention,” Ginny told her brother quietly, but in a voice loud enough for Malfoy to hear. She noted with pleasure that Malfoy's face had carved into an even deeper frown. Ron looked a little disappointed in not being able to batter Malfoy, but he did not make any more moves to leap across the table. “It's okay,” she told Ron, “I'll go talk to Dumbledore tonight, convince him that it's a bad idea. Otherwise I have a feeling Juliet might end up killing Romeo,” she added with a wicked smile.

“But what if he makes you do the play?” pondered Hermione. “I mean, it is for school unity.”

“What do you mean, what if - there is no `what if' - she's not doing it and that's final,” shouted Ron angrily, waving his arms frantically in the air. The other prefects watched on in shock, and Malfoy smirked amusedly, though he also looked somewhat distraught at the thought of the play.

“Well, even if she does have to do it, it's not like Dumbledore can force her to kiss Malfoy,” Hermione said, weighing out the options in her head.

Ginny suddenly felt sick. “We … we kiss…?” she stuttered, unintelligible thoughts running through her mind. Malfoy's face had also turned a couple shades greyer.

“It is a love story, Ginny,” said Hermione matter-of-factly. “Of course Romeo and Juliet kiss at some point - but I'm sure Dumbledore won't make you do that.”

“He bloody well better not make them kiss!” shouted Ron, “No way that bloke is kissing my little sister!”

“Why not Weasley?” Malfoy asked coolly, “Think she might like it?” Ginny, Hermione and Ron turned towards Malfoy with outrage stretched across their faces. Ginny was not sure of the last time she had felt so queasy.

“What!?” Ron bellowed, whipping out his wand as he started running towards Malfoy. Hermione reached out to grab the back of his robes but missed.

“Ron! Stop!” Ginny heard herself shout. “He's not worth it. We'll just tell Dumbledore that the play isn't happening, and that will be it.” Ron paused and turned to look at Ginny remorsefully. She tried to glare at him as steadily as possible so he would understand she was serious.

Pushing all bad thoughts out of her head, Ginny stood up calmly and gestured to Ron and Hermione. Nodding farewell to the other prefects, she turned and walked out of the room.

A/N: Sorry about the looong break ~ hopefully you enjoy this ~ there is another piece to come soon after. They were originally supposed to be in the same piece, but I want to try and keep the chapters short and sweet (as opposed to some of my other stories). I'm sorry it's been unfinished for so long - but I'll do my best to work on it little by little. I just want to thank all the people who have reviewed the story and left me words of motivation and “where did you go!?” comments - those are what make me come back. Haha. Any comments or critique are welcome, and I'll be sure finish/post a new section in the near future. I love the idea of this story, and I have so many thoughts about it - it's just hard to find time to write. Also, I started this story before book 6 was released, and I haven't yet decided if I plan to use any plot from book 6 yet ~ we'll see.

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4. Disbelief

The realism of her situation did not set in until dinner, when she walked into the Great Hall and every single Hogwarts student turned to look at her with odd looks of curiosity and shock on their faces. She had never quite understood how rumors and news traveled the school so quickly, but for the first time in her life she greatly wished Hogwarts was not such a gossip mill.

The only person who was not looking at her was Malfoy himself, who was busy glaring at every person who dared glance in his direction. Taking a quick look in his direction, she contemplated the horror of having to play the lead in a love story opposite him, and realized how completely wrong it would be. It went against every moral she had ever had concerning Malfoy and his family..

With half a mind wanting to march straight up to Dumbledore and shout at him, she dismally trudged over to Harry, Hermione and Ron, and sat down in an empty seat. She ate quickly, staring at her fork as it shoveled food into her mouth as Ron, Hermione and Harry tried to convince her to talk to Dumbledore.

Once she had finished devouring her food, she bolted out of the Great Hall, as fast as she could while trying not to call attention to herself, which was practically impossible.

After dinner, Ginny uneasily wandered the hallways, dazedly searching for Dumbledore's office. She hoped to meet him outside on his way back from dinner, so she would not have to try to break into his office to find him.

She curled into a small ball at the base of one of the gargoyles outside his office, and buried her head in her hands, trying to breathe deeply and erase the situation from her mind.

“What the hell are you doing here? Filthy Weasley.” Ginny heard an all-too recognizable voice say.

She looked up slowly, “I need to talk to the Headmaster, Malfoy,” she said tiredly, a hint of frustration in her voice. She was not in the mood to fight with Malfoy - there would be plenty of time for that later if she had to go through with this. Now was the time for brainstorming a way to get out of her current situation.

They waited for a moment in silence. “My father will never let Dumbledore go through with this. No way father would let Dumbledore put a Malfoy and a Weasley together,” said Malfoy with undeniable malice in his voice. Ginny rolled her eyes - she had gotten so used to him insulting her family that it almost did not matter anymore, particularly at the current moment.

Suddenly, Dumbledore came sweeping up the hall. Ginny jumped to her feet immediately.

“Headmaster!” Ginny said as she started walking towards him. “Headmaster, I can't be in the play - I just can't.”

“Yes,” started Malfoy, walking up behind her, “I can't be in a play with a Weasley.”

“Ahh, it is so nice to see my favorite students again,” said Dumbledore nonchalantly, “Please do accompany me up to my office so we can discuss this play further, I do expect that you are wanting to look at your scripts, no?”

Ginny glanced disbelievingly at Dumbledore, and then quickly glanced at Malfoy who looked absolutely livid. The headmaster walked past her and Malfoy indifferently, sweeping towards his office. Wearily, Ginny turned and trudged after Dumbledore, with Malfoy stomping along closely behind.

As they entered Dumbledore's circular office, Ginny smiled weakly as she saw a brilliant looking Fawkes perched near the door. She looked around, glancing at the spindly tables full of silver whirring devices, and the portraits of all the old headmasters on the wall. The portraits all appeared to be sleeping, but she could almost hear whispers about Malfoys and Weasleys being hissed back and forth.

Ginny snapped back to reality, and realized that Dumbledore and Malfoy had already approached the headmaster's desk. Malfoy sat down in a nearby chair nobly, as though he owned the office.

“Please,” started Dumbledore, “please do sit down.” He said, beckoning at a nearby armchair. “Would you like a drink?” he asked as he waved his hand and two goblets of pumpkin juice appeared on his desk.

Ginny walked over to the second armchair and sat down, inadvertently moving as far away from Malfoy as possible. “Ummm… Headmaster?” she asked meaningfully, “I can't do this - I just can't.”

“Of course you can, Miss. Weasley.” Dumbledore said as he distractedly looked around his office, searching for something. “So can you, Mr. Malfoy.” He added, just as Malfoy had opened his mouth to say something. “It's an assignment for both of you, as prefects, to work together to unify the houses of this school.”

“But professor— ” started Ginny.

“No arguments, Miss. Weasley,” Dumbledore said firmly, as he began searching underneath objects on his many shelves, “I have made up my mind.” Dumbledore walked back to his desk and sat down. “Ah! I remember.” He said, pulling out his wand and flicking it in the air. Three stacks of parchment appeared on his desk, loosely bound. “Now, here are your scripts,” he added, waving his hand at the parchments, which slowly started drifting towards Ginny and Malfoy.

“You can't do this to me,” said Malfoy angrily. “My father - I'll tell my father, he'll never let you do this.”

“Mr. Malfoy - I have already discussed my ideas with the governors, and they believe that it is a perfectly acceptable way to unify Hogwarts.

Ginny looked at the packet of parchment fearfully, but nevertheless scooped it off the table as it came close. Malfoy, on the other hand, continued to start at the script unresponsively as it neared the end of the desk. Dumbledore flicked his wand at Malfoy's script, and it floated over to him and landed directly in his lap. Malfoy looked quite bitter, and seemed about ready to pull out his wand and mutter a burning spell for the pile of parchment.

“Obviously, Mr. Malfoy will play the role of Romeo, and Miss. Weasley will be Juliet,” he added, glancing at both of them. “We will figure out the other roles in due time, but it is important for you two to begin looking over your lines as soon as possible.”

“What am I supposed to do with this… thing?” Malfoy asked as he prodded the script disgustedly with his wand. “It's just a load of words - you expect me to memorize this?” Ginny looked at the parchments curiously - it did look quite complicated. She had never even seen one of these Muggle “plays” anyway.

“Yes, Mr. Malfoy, you will have to memorize all of your lines by the time we perform,” Dumbledore said, as he idly flipped through his own copy of the script.

“Wait - perform?” said Malfoy, “I'm not a bloody fairy - I'm not going to get up onto a stage and do tricks, and kiss that - that Weasley”

“I have a name, you know,” Ginny heard herself blurt out irritably. She could not believe Dumbledore was going to make her do this - it was going to be a long year, she could tell already.

“There need not be any talk of dancing and fairies - you will merely be portraying Romeo and Juliet as it is written in the script,” said Dumbledore, seemingly entertained by their situation.

“Well, what do I have to do then?” Malfoy questioned bitterly, glaring at the headmaster.

“Why don't you just read the script and find out?” Dumbledore said, an amused tone creeping into his voice.

“All right, I would like both of you to come to the Great Hall after dinner next Tuesday - the other roles will be decided by then, and we will read through the script together with all of the members of our cast. Thank you for coming this evening, good night,” Dumbledore said, nodding farewell to Ginny and Malfoy.

Malfoy seemed livid, but he nodded good night to Dumbledore as he rose to his feet, before stomping out of the room. Ginny glanced at Dumbledore once more, but he seemed confident in his decision, so she too turned and left the room.

Outside in the hall, Ginny paused to look around once more, but Malfoy had already rushed off to his chambers. Letting out a deep breathe, Ginny tried to collect her thoughts - she would be playing the role of Juliet, in a play she had never heard of, opposite a boy she absolutely despised, in front of the entire school. “Oh good, Ginny,” she muttered to herself, “what an excellent way to make yourself feel better.”

After returning to her dormitory, she climbed into her bed and drew the curtains shut. Flipping open to the first page, she idly browsed the character list, looking bitterly at Romeo, wondering why it had to be Malfoy. Sighing, Ginny flipped over to the first page of the play, and began to read.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

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5. An Awkward Beginning

Ginny yawned happily and rolled out of bed. She had read the entire script of Romeo and Juliet - it was so wonderful, a story of two lovers who defied their families in order to be together, even though it had a tragic ending. In fact, she might have even been looking forward to being Juliet if only Malfoy was not her Romeo.

As she walked down to breakfast, she imagined acting out the balcony scene, where she and Romeo profess their love for each other. She smiled as she imagined Harry Potter there - if only Harry were Romeo. Or even Michael Corner, or Dean Thomas. Anyone would be a better Romeo than Malfoy.

The following morning, the rest of the cast was listed on a sheet of paper outside the Great Hall. Glancing briefly at the list, she noted that most of the cast were prefects. Ron was going to play Tybalt, Hermione was Lady Capulet, and Paris was played by Michael Corner, who was one of the few people cast who was not a prefect. Dumbledore had said he would ask others to join in, so Michael must have volunteered, Ginny figured.

The first rehearsal would take place the following Tuesday after dinner in the Great Hall. That night in the common room, she sat with Hermione, Ron and Harry around a small table, browsing the script.

“Are you sure you're okay with this, Ginny?” asked Hermione, glancing through the later acts in the script.

Ginny shrugged, “I don't really have a choice - Dumbledore seems pretty certain that this is a good idea. I figure we'll just take his word for it. Besides, it's not like I have to do anything with Malfoy anyway,” she said, hoping she was right.

“He better not touch you -” started Ron angrily, standing up.

“Calm down, Ron” Hermione said, pulling him back into his chair. “I'm sure Ginny can handle herself just fine.” Ginny gave Hermione a thankful smile.

“It'll be fine, Ron,” Ginny started, smiling at her brother, “every single rehearsal will have all four heads of houses, and Dumbledore. If Malfoy tries anything tricky, everyone will see.”

Ron looked skeptical, but instead of complaining further he flipped open his script. “What is this nonsense anyway? Thy, thou, art… Can't they just talk normally?”

Hermione looked at Ron with an exasperated look on her face, clearly annoyed at his comment. Brushing him aside, she turned to Ginny, “So, I'm going to play Lady Capulet, Ginny. I'll be your mother!” They both giggled. “Let's rehearse our first scene together.”

Ginny flipped open to her scene with Hermione, and they started running through lines, completely forgetting about the drama which was sure to lie ahead on Tuesday.

~*~

Finally, Tuesday night rolled around, and nearly the entire cast of Romeo and Juliet was sitting around on the floor in the Great Hall. The long tables had been pushed aside, and instead the floor was covered with some mats for sitting on, with a few chairs in the front for the four heads of houses, and Dumbledore.

Each prefect had a script in front of them, and they were flipping through idly. Some people seemed to be completely captivated with the story, whereas others seemed completely bewildered.

Looking around the room, Ginny noticed that Malfoy had not yet shown up. In fact, the majority of the Slytherin prefects and cast members were missing. Ginny looked towards where Dumbledore and the heads of houses were busy surveying the room, deep in discussion. She saw Dumbledore say something to Snape, which caused him to turn and leave the room, a bitter expression on his face. Ginny figured that Dumbledore had asked him to find his students and ask them to come to the rehearsal. Professor McGonagall left shortly after Snape, seemingly interested in disciplining all the Slytherin students who had not yet shown up.

Soon enough, Snape returned with a dismal train of miserable looking Slytherin prefects, except no Malfoy, Ginny noted. However, she did not have to wonder long what had happened to him. She heard a stern voice in the hallway, very faintly. She strained to listen.

“Mr. Malfoy, it is your duty as a prefect to play the role of Romeo in this play. I daresay you'd like to keep your prefect status?” a severe sounding Professor McGonagall asked.

Ginny heard a muffled mutter in response, which seemed to be quite resentful.

“Ten points from Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy - now get inside and learn your lines,” said Professor McGonagall. Ginny heard a sulky sounding complaint, but it seemed to be the end of their conversation.

Moments later, Professor McGonagall entered the Great Hall, with a sullen looking Malfoy in tow, a battered looking pile of parchment in his hands. He walked over to the other Slytherin students, and sat down among them.

“Mr. Malfoy,” started Dumbledore, “I must ask, what happened to your script?” he asked, amusedly, glancing at Malfoy's decrepit and burned looking pile of parchment.

Malfoy looked at Dumbledore expressionlessly. “I burned it,” he said simply, seemingly proud of himself, “It was useless.” The Slytherins around him snickered quietly, and Snape had a rather entertained smirk hidden on his face.

“Well, Mr. Malfoy,” said Dumbledore, nonchalantly, “how do you expect to memorize your lines if you can't even read them? Here - you shall borrow my script,” he said as Professor McGonagall walked Dumbledore's script over to Malfoy. As she placed it in front of him, she gave him a rather stern look, as though saying that any further vandalism against the script would lead to disciplinary action. Malfoy tried to look unconcerned, but Ginny could almost see him clenching his fists in anger, trying to hold back from saying something cynical.

“Now,” said Dumbledore, clapping his hands together, “are we ready to begin?” The students looked up at him with mixed emotions. “All right,” he continued imperturbably, “who is the Chorus?” Ernie Macmillan raised his hand. “Act 1, Prologue. Mr. Macmillan, would you please start with your lines?”

Ginny listened as Ernie read the lines of the chorus, enjoying hearing the rhymes of the opening sonnet orally. As the students began reading the first scene of Act 1, Ginny smiled as she listened to the play being interpreted in front of her. Most people seemed to be pretty skilled at reciting lines verbally, although some definitely needed work. It was almost laughable listening to Pansy recite the lines of Lady Montague, the role of Romeo's mother. She sounded as though she was lovestruck by Malfoy - which, in terms of the play, would be completely incestuous.

Malfoy, himself, seemed deadened as he read his lines in a flat monotone, with a trace of cynicism underneath. He didn't get much better at all during the love scenes - not that Ginny herself was putting much effort into pretending she cared at all about Romeo. As the reading went on, she began to feel more and more indifferent, and began matching Malfoy's monotonous manner. She was a bit irritable, because whenever she did lapse out of her dull sounding voice, Malfoy would not even make an effort to add any emotion to his. She almost wanted to shout at him, or slap him, just to see if he would react in a way that was not lifeless and uninteresting.

By the time the reading was finished, most prefects were bored from sitting around and listening both Malfoy and Ginny read the demise of their characters in dry voices and deadpan sarcasm, leading to a rather anticlimactic finish. As Ernie finished off the last line of the Chorus in the script, nearly everyone let out a sigh of relief that they had finally finished. Surely Dumbledore must have realized what a horrible idea this was, Ginny thought to herself; but alas, she was mistaken.

“Bravo! Bravo!” cried Dumbledore, the only person in the room clapping his hands and showing any form of enthusiasm, “That was a marvelous beginning.” The prefects looked at each other in disbelief. “Now, we will have to work on that, of course,” Dumbledore continued, “I would like you all here Saturday afternoon, you will run through scenes in groups of people. Work on memorizing your lines, if you please, and perhaps those who do well will receive a surprise.” Hermione looked suddenly excited. “Have a good evening,” he said, nodding his head in farewell. “Miss. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy - a word please?” he added, as the other prefects began to stream out of the room.

Ginny groaned apathetically. It was going to be no barrel of roses working with Malfoy on this project, and already they were about to get lectured for their lack of concern about the play. Sighing, she got up and began heading over to Dumbledore, ready to hear whatever he had to say.

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