holidays, she asked if I'd like to ride along with them to see your big performance. How could I turn it down? My parents agreed and I rode the Floo Network over to your place in London first thing this morning. How 'bout them apples?'
'That's excellent!' James exclaimed. 'How long are you here for?'
'Rest of the week, if it's all right with old Merlin Magicpants. You two still on the outs?'
James opened his mouth to explain, then shook his head. 'I don't know. It's complicated. Ask me after the show, all right?'
'You got it,' Zane nodded. 'I better get back out front. Your mum is saving me a place, but it's going to be standing room only, and some of those parents can get pretty cutthroat about seats. By the way, it's probably best if you don't get too close to the red flowers with the yellow tips. Those came from George, and he was grinning an awful lot about 'em.'
James nodded seriously, glancing down at the bouquet on the floor. 'Understood, thanks.'
Damien Damascus pressed toward the boys, a prop sheep under one arm.
'James, come on!' he called. 'Gennifer's going to have twin hinkypunks if you aren't wearing a goatee in five minutes. Hey, Zane, need a zap?'
'Nope, I'm good for the night,' Zane said, patting his backside. 'See you at the party, you guys!'
James scrambled after Damien, struggling to button the last of his buttons and already hot in his tights and waistcoat. After a moment, he stopped, ran back, and grabbed the enormous prop sword and scabbard. Clanking, he trotted to make-up, his stage fright mostly forgotten in the rush of simply getting ready and his happiness at seeing his friend.
Gennifer was holding James' goatee in her hands as he ran up and plopped into a chair.
'Honestly,' she said, swabbing the beard with a foul-smelling, yellowish glue, 'for the amount of trouble Muggles have to go through to put on a show like this, I'm surprised they do it at all.'
'Maybe that's why they watch so much telly,' Victoire commented from a nearby chair. 'My mum says Muggle children spend more time in front of the telly than they do asleep.'
Damien was still standing nearby. He sniffed, 'But not as much time as Victoire spends in front of the mirror every day, so that's all right, then.'
Victoire scoffed, ignoring the laughter that followed.
Five minutes later, James stood offstage alongside Petra, who looked beautiful, if a bit overstuffed, in her huge pink dress and curls. James peered carefully around the edge of the curtain. The amphitheater was indeed almost full, with loads more people still filing in, seeking seats, and babbling enthusiastically. James scanned the crowd, finally finding his mum in the middle section, ten rows back. Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron sat on her right, apparently arguing over who was going to handle the Omnioculars. Ted Lupin sat next to Ron. He'd shortened his hair again, although it was still longer than it had been when he'd been in school last year. He looked much better than the last time James had seen him, although still slightly bedraggled. On Ginny's left, Lily sat up straight in her good yellow dress. She spied James and grinned, waving excitedly. James smiled back at her and waved surreptitiously, trying not to attract anyone else's attention. He placed a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, and she nodded, pretending to zip her lips. As James watched, Zane sidled past a group of annoyed parents, heading toward the empty seat between George and Lily. Satisfied, James turned back to Petra and the assembling actors. Nearby, Scorpius was dressed in a soldier's outfit similar to James'. He didn't seem to be enjoying it.
'Nervous?' Petra asked quietly.
'Yeah,' James nodded, 'but excited, too. You?'
Petra turned to look out at the dark stage behind the curtain. She shook her head slowly. 'Not any more. It'll all be over tonight, no matter what.'
Jason Smith trotted out of the backstage darkness, his wand lit. 'Anybody seen Corsica?' he whispered harshly, looking from face to face.
James shook his head. 'She's not out front? She's supposed to be managing the ushers.'
'None of you?' Jason asked, dismissing James. 'Bloody hell.'
As he stalked away again, muttering under his breath, Henrietta Littleby shrugged. 'I saw her an hour ago, but that was before any of us were supposed to be here. I guess that doesn't count, does it?'
'Where was she?' James asked, turning to Henrietta.
'She was in the second-floor girls' bathroom,' Henrietta replied. 'I didn't hang around in there when I saw her. She gives me the heebies, she does.'
James frowned, thinking.
Henrietta, whose reputation as a gossip was well-known, went on, 'Strange thing was she wasn't really using the bathroom. At least not the way one normally uses it. She was just standing there looking at herself in one of the mirrors, talking. The first thing I thought was that she was practicing her lines, but then I remembered she doesn't have any lines, does she? She's the assistant director.' Henrietta giggled.
'She was talking to herself?' James asked curiously. 'What was she saying?'
Henrietta blinked at him. 'How should I know? I didn't hang about long enough to notice. But it sounded kind of foreign now that I think about it. How weird is that? Pretty weird, if you ask me.'
'Yeah,' James nodded thoughtfully. 'Weird.'
Standing nearby, Scorpius narrowed his eyes.
'Places, everyone!' Curry suddenly rasped, approaching the gaggle of costumed students and making shooing motions. 'Behind the curtain! Come now, it's almost time!'
James followed Petra as she ducked behind the curtain, moving to her opening mark. James found the little taped 'X' on the floor, marking his position for the beginning of act one. His heart was pounding, but he was no longer nervous. Somehow, he'd left his stage fright backstage. Now that he was standing up front, waiting for the curtain to rise, he simply felt excitement. It thrummed in his arms and legs like magic, and in that moment, he thought he understood why even Muggles went to all the trouble to put on productions like this. One could come to love this feeling if they weren't careful. He gulped and looked aside. Petra saw him and smiled a crooked smile, nodding once. Across the stage, Noah and the rest of the actors shuffled nervously into place, lost in semi-darkness behind the huge, thick curtain. Through it, James could still hear the babble of hundreds of voices. Then, finally, there was the clack of Professor Curry's heels crossing the stage on the other side of the curtain. A spotlight clicked on, framing her; James could see her shadow on the backside of the curtains, caged in the center of a perfect circle of light. The crowd fell silent and a round of polite applause wafted into the air. It sounded eerily close. Curry held up her hands and nodded.
'Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,' she said loudly and clearly, not using her wand to amplify her voice, 'and thank you as well for being here tonight. I know that many of you have come from quite far away, and on behalf of the students who've worked so hard to prepare tonight's production, many thanks indeed. My name is Tina Grenadine Curry, and as many of you know, I am Hogwarts' Professor of Muggle Studies. I believe tonight's presentation will be particularly interesting, not only because this is such a classic tale of the wizarding world, but because, as a term-long exercise for my Muggle Studies class, this production shall be presented in an entirely non-magical fashion. As such, prepare to be amazed, amused, and delighted, my friends, by the extremely creative and unconventional methods we've implemented to portray this beloved story. And now, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, may I present your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and family, as they depict for you this Hogwarts Muggle Studies rendition of…
Applause rang out again, deafeningly this time, as Damien Damascus and Ralph began to hoist the curtains. Jerkily, the red velvet rose, and as it did, the applause grew louder. Spotlights came on, picking out the revealed stage elements. One of them glared on James, blinding him temporarily and hiding the audience. He struggled not to squint, remaining perfectly still until the curtain was entirely raised. And then, finally, as the
