𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰!
act one, chapter seven
" 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑 "

𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟕

          𝑨𝑼𝑫𝑰𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺. 𝑳𝑰𝑭𝑬 𝑶𝑹 𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯. 𝑺𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑫𝑰𝑭𝑭𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬.

          Wyatt woke up extra early the day the auditions were scheduled for. The day had arrived in a flash and for a quick moment, Wyatt was worried she hadn't prepared enough. Then she remembered ─ she would never be that careless.

          The morning of, Wyatt gave herself plenty of time for anything to go wrong in her usual morning routine ─ which always included pissing off her roommates first thing to start their day ─ and when everything ran smoothly, her mind was put to rest.

          She made sure to have a fulfilling breakfast, to meditate, and to wear her lucky socks from that one time she and her mum ran into Hugh Grant. Nothing could make this go wrong. She had left no room for mistakes, knowing her lines perfectly, she wasn't suffering from any kind of illness including the common cold, tonsilitis and/or a form of infection ─ she had done all she could to put herself at ease and make sure she didn't go insane.

          "I'd say break a leg but I honestly never quite understood that so I'll stick with good luck."

          Teddy was helping Flitwick with the lighting for the auditions and so Rudy dropped them off outside of the auditorium before lunch started trying not to seem perturbed that she was going to have to find alternative entertainment for the entire hour break.

          "Thanks, Rudy. Couldn't have done it without you."

          Rudy cocked her head to the side in question. "You haven't gotten the role yet, Wy."

          Wyatt could only spare her friend a strained smile in response, gagging for the nerves not to go straight to her head.

          Teddy placed a hand on Wyatt's arm knowing she was probably stuck to the spot out of panic. "She's just being optimistic."

          He just about managed to get her through the door where the two of them were met with a bustling huddle of theatre kids, Flitwick organising a scattering of paper at a table in front of the stage.

          "Wyatt!"

          Bounding towards her excitedly was Luna Lovegood and Wyatt was temporarily calmed down now that Teddy had disappeared to his lighting deck.

          "Hey, Luna."

          "Nervous?" The Ravenclaw asked, looping her arm through Wyatt's as they approached the surprisingly large turnout group tangled between the rows of seats.

          "Only a little."

          Just a white lie. Scrap that. Utter bullshit.

          "Oh don't be," Luna giggled. "I have no doubt you'll get the lead."

          "Thank you, Luna," Wyatt replied appreciatively. 

          "I'm going for the Nurse."

          "Why not Juliet?"

          Luna shrugged. "Too many words."

          The hoard of theatre kids had to wait around for a little while, giving others time to arrive, leaving room for any final run-throughs and checking the order lineup. Yasmine Kennedy was acting insufferable, as per usual, and made it everyone else's business what she would do if she got the lead.

          Wyatt made sure to sit as far away from her as possible, at the back of the auditorium on her own to settle her nerves as best she could. And she supposes it was a good thing that she was admiring the elegant ceiling of the auditorium from a red velvet seat near the back because it allowed her to notice someone at the wrong place at the wrong time.

          She shot up from her seat to make sure Theodore didn't disturb Flitwick's audition process.

          Wyatt winced when his eyes met hers as he strolled into the auditorium a bit too casually for her liking. "Ooh sorry, Nott. I understand your head is dense and you lack basic common sense," she said, "but Quidditch practices don't happen here. You'll find what you're looking for outside. On the practice pitch."

          Theodore shrugged, coming to a stop in front of her, his hands relaxing down in front of his body in a clasp. "Not looking for Quidditch practice. I'm here to audition."

          The room went quiet for a second. But not because Wyatt wasn't the only person who couldn't believe what she was hearing but because her brain stopped computing for a second. 

          Then the noise came back to her when she realised what Theo had said was simply not possible.

          She restored her face from any kind of confusion. "I must have been previously mistaken. Maybe you are funny, Theodore."

          "I'm being serious."

          "No, you're not."

          "Yes, I am."

          Wyatt tried to ignore the signs: his relaxed demeanour, the fact his face lacked his usual smirk, the monotone of his voice. She told herself he was just here to be a stagehand because he was being punished for not doing his homework or something.

          "I find that hard to believe."

          "Shame."

          Theodore had taken a step closer to her as if he had full intent of approaching the area where all of the real auditioners were sitting. She stepped in front of him to block his path. "Please leave. You're scaring me."

          Sighing, ─ and revelling in the fact that he had kept a straight face while winding up Wyatt Buckley ─ Theo rolled his eyes as if his presence was because he actually wanted to audition and she was making it hard for him. Not because his friend bet him ten galleons he wouldn't.

          "Read it and weep."

          Theo pointed to the auditions order sheet by the door of the auditorium. Flitwick always made one by accumulating all of the names from all of the signup sheets. It shows the order in which the students will be auditioned, grouped by the characters they are auditioning for, including repeats of students names who will be auditioning for multiple roles. The sign-up sheets had been posted in common rooms, in the Charms classroom, any kind of prominent notice board really.

          Wyatt followed his finger to where his name was at the bottom of the students who had signed up to audition for Romeo Montague.

          She had never noticed it there before.

          Wyatt tried to suck in her combination of fury and distress, putting on a seemingly unbothered face when she turned back to look at him. His nonchalant smirk had never infuriated her more.

          "Ah, I see what's happening," Wyatt said, grasping tightly onto that last smidge of hope she had left that this wasn't true. "This is a nightmare. I just need to wake up."

          Before she could even comprehend the realness of the situation, Theodore leaned forward and pinched her forearm rather fucking hard.

           "Ow!" She cursed, before lowering her volume to a whisper-shout so that Flitwick, who was still sitting reading over notes at a table in front of the stage, wouldn't think her a bad kid for swearing. "What the fuck?"

          "Just proving to you this is real," Theodore said, before leaning forward once more, thinking it more than a good enough time to let his signature mischievous smirk slip. "Welcome to your worst nightmare, Wyatt," he whispered in her ear.

          They were still well out of the way of the stage and the students of the drama club, so Wyatt felt it was okay to show some anger and/or stress while they were still out of earshot.

          "Why are you here?" She asked harshly, spinning on the spot to where he had begun his descent down the aisle of the auditorium. Her hair whacked hard against her eyes.

          "Is this some newly developed torturing device humanity has so cruelly come up with? Is this a new Hogwarts punishment?" Wyatt let out a little panicked gasp at the endless possibilities of Theodore's being here. "Did Snape send you? Did he find out I cheated on the year three final Potions exam because I saw the question paper on his desk one time and was already convinced I was going to fail?"

          Theo cocked his head mockingly. "I didn't know you were capable of such rebellious notions," he said, before looking at her dead-on. "But no. I just can't wait to dive right into the wonders of theatre. Someone once told me about them."

          The little quirk of his eyebrow nearly sent her over the edge.

          Without even thinking about it, she marched right over to him so that their faces were inches apart and seethed at him, her eyes locked firmly on his, her voice calm and low. "This better is some kind of sick joke, Nott, or I swear to God, you are going to regret ever stepping foot in this school, let alone this audition."

          Theodore didn't care for Wyatt's threats. He knew the real reason he was here and he absolutely loved watching her spiral right at his feet.

          Without moving a muscle, not even in his face, Theodore said: "Is Juliet supposed to be threatening?"

          She hoped that would be the last she ever saw of his stupid smirk. Or just him in general.

          The last Theodore heard from Wyatt was her groans of frustration before she stomped off. 

          "𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑬 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝑷𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑩𝑼𝑻 𝑻𝑶 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲 𝑨 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑫.."

          Wyatt tried her best not to roll her eyes all throughout Yasmine's audition. Not because she was the real competition or anything but because ─ and Wyatt doesn't claim to be an expert here (although she totally does) ─ Yasmine always has a habit of overexaggerating. It's Shakespeare, not musical theatre.

          The usual applause followed ─ it was debatable whether Yasmine deserved it ─ before she skipped across the stage, hopping backstage before joining everyone else back in the seats, soaking up all of the underserved clamourings that came from her annoying friends.

          "Wyatt Buckley and Justin Finch Fletchley."

          Her heart sunk to her stomach. This was it. It all came down to this. And no, she is not being overdramatic.

          Justin was going up for Romeo and so Flitwick liked to pair up the wannabe Romeos with the wannabe Juliets to save time and to test the "chemistry" between the actors on stage. Justin was nice. Wyatt didn't mind doing it with Justin. She had already thanked the Gods she wasn't auditioning alongside Theodore.

          Flitwick was making everyone perform an extract from the play with their chosen desired character alongside a minor character, as well as perform a soliloquy for anyone who wanted to be a lead. 

          Wyatt shuffled up the steps towards the stage behind Justin. She caught Teddy's eyes from above the auditorium. He sent her a thumbs up. She smiled weakly back. To her surprise, Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle and Daniel Vaisey were all smirking with their arms crossed hovering next to Teddy, who, upon a second glance, looked very uncomfortable/annoyed with the four boys' presence in his lighting booth. Wyatt pinned it on Theodore immediately. Why else would they watch?

          Speaking of, she then caught the eyes of the other Teddy in the room. She couldn't tell if he was smiling at her or just laughing at her. Wyatt did what she could to forget he was in the room.

          They made their way to the centre of the stage. The lights blinded her and so she took a second to adjust, taking a deep breath in. And out. The world spun for a second. But Justin's voice, commencing the scene with his first line made it stop just enough for her to do what she needed to do.

          And go.

          It was over before she could even say: Verona. Scene, soliloquy and all.

         Her body finally felt like it could relax for the first time in weeks. Flitwick smiled back at them, a hazy round of applause roared back at her and she hurried backstage to grab her bearings and allow herself to adapt to the world post-audition-stress before making her way back to her seat.

          It was a little time later and Wyatt's heart had officially stopped beating out of her chest.

          Theodore was the last one to go.

          He had already done his multi-character scene and was finishing his final line from the second extract Flitwick had selected for the Romeos. What felt like the next second later, he was dismissed by the play coordinator, before sauntering off stage, disappearing behind the curtain.

          Wyatt was waiting for him backstage.

          She had decided on this move the second Theodore had finished his scene with Hermione Granger posing as Lady Montague for the purpose of his audition. She had to talk to him. None of this made sense.

          "Why couldn't you have just auditioned for Mercutio or Benvolio?" She asked him in a whispered shout before allowing her voice to rise a little as they got further and further away from the stage, following a corridor that led to outside of the auditorium. "Or even better, not auditioned at all?!"

          Theodore didn't seem all that surprised to see her. She didn't like that. "First of all, I can do whatever the fuck I want," he said to her, coming to a stop in the echoey corridor. "Secondly, Benidorm or whatever weird French name you just said-"

          It angered her even more that he hadn't the slightest clue what the words he had acted out earlier meant.

          Through strained teeth, she interjected and corrected him: "Italian."

          He hadn't even read the play. Not even for context.

          Theodore stared straight ahead into her eyes as if what she had just said meant absolutely nothing to him. "Whatever. He doesn't sound nearly as cool as Romeo so. And third," he then paused, delighting in what Wyatt's reaction was revealing about her. "I think you're secretly threatened by my performance."

          Wyatt had never scoffed with such disbelief. "Excuse me?" She almost smiled. After all, his inference was amusing.

          Theodore shrugged, still believing that his thought had a fair amount of weight to it. "You wouldn't have cursed me for auditioning if you didn't think I did well, would you?"

          Wyatt poked the inside of her mouth with her tongue. She didn't say anything at first out of fear that she said the wrong thing and Theodore would get even more wrong ideas. "Justin did a much better job than you did anyway so I'm not worried."

          Theodore took a step closer to her, finally letting himself chuckle. "Lighten up, Wyatt," he said, his arms flying to his sides. "It was a joke."

          Something wasn't adding up. "What?"

          Smirking at the fact that not only had he earned his money by going forward with the bet but also at the fact Wyatt's reaction was totally priceless, Theo decided to finally clear up why he of all people, decided to show up to auditions today. "My friends bet me that I wouldn't actually audition," he said. "I have no plans to be in a fucking Shakespeare play. Jesus, Buckley, how lowly do you think of me?"

          Very lowly. 

          Clenching her jaw so much so she felt her teeth would crumble beneath her grip, Wyatt rolled her eyes. Of course there was a genuine explanation for all this. She couldn't have been that stupid to actually believe his desire to audition for a play he had been mocking ever since he set foot in the school. It explained why his friends had gatecrashed Teddy's lighting booth because no other students were allowed to watch the audition process. Flitwick's rules. Throws people off.

          But Wyatt couldn't let one thing go.

          "You still didn't have to do it though did you? You didn't have to audition for Romeo." All he had to do was an audition, right? So why the lead? It was a harder set of lines to deliver. Granted, Theodore did just read off of a script the whole time. But her point still stands.

          Theo's chin retracted inwards as he expressed his confusion surrounding Wyatt's question. "Erm, yeah I did," he scoffed. "Ten galleons on the line, woman. I ain't losing that to Draco. Even if it does hurt my pride."

          She sucked in a breath hoping it would release some of the tension in her jaw. It did not. "You're rich enough anyway," she crossed her arms, avoiding all eye contact with hopes she didn't give any of her true thoughts away.

          But unfortunately for Wyatt, Theodore saw right through her tough act. He tilted his head to one side, delaying the smirk until he got a confession from her. "You thought I acted well, don't you?"

          Wyatt felt her cheeks heat up. She turned away but it still didn't prevent her from stuttering. "N-no."

          She hated the fact. She really truly did. It wasn't fair that the kid that would never be able to take theatre seriously, that ridiculed it because he thought he was better than everyone else, was good at acting. It was painfully annoying to Wyatt and so she could at least try and stop him from learning her true thoughts. His ego didn't need any assistance.

          Theo smirked, but that was all.

          "Well, doesn't matter anyway," he said. Theodore didn't exactly feel bad but he felt he could try and put her mind to rest. "I wasn't even off-book and I have loads of competition. I'm not going to get it."

          "What if you get a smaller role?" Wyatt queried. She needed verbal proof that Theodore Nott wasn't going to ruin her final play at Hogwarts in the slightest.

          "What, like Benidorm?"

          "Benvolio."

          "That's what I said."

          Wyatt didn't have time for this. And her expression said just that, her arms tightly folded over her chest.

          The auditions had ended and all the students that had taken part were now slowly leaving from the auditorium exit at the back of the theatre. The pair of them were going in. Flitwick was packing up, heading for his office to make a start on his decisions with the help of an ex-student, who came back to work as a teaching assistant.

          Theo headed for the stage. His backpack was slumped against the backdrop and he intended to retrieve it. Wyatt followed him hastily up the steps and onto the stage, waiting for the confirmation that her paranoid mind desperately needed.

          They both walked to the centre of the stage before he turned to face her, swinging his bag over his shoulder from where he had picked it up from off the floor. "I'd drop out, obviously," he said, answering her previous question.

          Wyatt was almost grateful for the duh tone that laced his words. "Fine."

          "Mr Nott." Flitwick's calling from the seats of the theatre drew the pair's attention away from each other. They both turned to look at the professor. "I'm very glad you decided to come out and audition today. I am pleasantly surprised."

          Wyatt could have sworn she felt her jaw break in that moment. She tried her best to smile politely as Theodore thanked the teacher. It doesn't mean anything, she told herself. Flitwick only said that because he hadn't expected Theodore to show. Relax.

          The stage lights still streamed down from above, beating on their skin. Wyatt hoped Teddy was long gone. She had never hated the feeling of being centre stage this much before.

          Theodore must have noticed Wyatt's visible despair. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, darling." He then pulled away to make sure she looked into his eyes. "I'm not going to be your Romeo."

¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚