Our Toil Strive To Mend

Act 1 Scene 1

-In Which Auditions Begin And Twins Have Great Fun-

"But we don’t want to be Sampson and Gregory," explained George.

"Yes," continued Fred, "they’re only in one scene."

"And all they do is talk about sex and then jump around with swords for a bit."

"Where’s the drama? Where’s the excitement? There isn’t any!"

"Just a couple of dirty jokes, that’s all."

"Not to say we have a problem with dirty jokes."

"No, not at all."

"We just want better parts."

"You don’t have any parts yet," interrupted Parvati. "You’re only auditioning."

"We might not even give you parts," said Lavender angrily as she stepped up to the twins with her hands on her hips.

It is important to take a moment here to examine the courage shown here on Lavender’s part. Some people may think that Lavender does not have the sort of courage that Gryffindor house is known for. However, we must consider her situation thoroughly. Fred and George Weasley are in most cases very good tempered, and their most dominant feature is their sense of humor. Of course their sense of humor really complicated things even more because no one is ever really sure whether they are really angry or just acting. In any case, whether they are acting or not, the twins can be very frightening when they are being angry, as they were at this particular moment in the story. They were both taller than Lavender by a good ten inches or so, and the simple fact that there were two of them and only one of Lavender was quite intimidating in itself. If I were in her situation, I probably would have laughed, as that is what I do in most situations, but my brother would most certainly have soiled his underwear. Lavender stood her ground though, and so did the twins.

"Yes, well, I believe we're not welcome here," declared George.

"I think we should leave, dear brother."

"Clearly our talents are not appreciated by this…this second rate theater company."

"We'll find work elsewhere."

"Yes, I hear the Ravenclaws are doing a production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.'"*

The twins made to leave, and Parvati glanced hurriedly around the common room at the very small group of people that had shown up for the audition. There were barely enough people for all the parts if they took everyone that was there- including the twins.

"Wait," she said just before the twins left through the portrait hole. "What parts do you want?"

The twins grinned identical evil grins.

"Well," began George casually, "I was thinking of something along the lines of Mercutio."

"And I," continued Fred, "was looking for something in the range of, say, Tybalt."

"Fine," sighed Lavender.

"You mean we don't have to audition now?" asked George innocently.

"I think that your performance just now displayed your acting skills well enough," said Percy, speaking for the first time. He hadn't looked up from his copy of the play as he spoke, and it was slightly unnerving since most people had forgotten he was even there. Dennis Creevey, who had been sitting on the back of a sofa and had been pretty much staring out into space up to that point, made a funny sort of squeaking noise and fell backwards onto the sofa.

"What do you think you’re doing back there?" asked Ron from the sofa as he glared at Percy. Generally, it is not very polite to glare at someone. However, when a very excitable twelve-year-old falls backwards into your lap because your older brother scared him just now, most people would agree that you were perfectly justified in glaring at your brother for a bit. Such was the case with Ron.

"Sorry," muttered Percy as he slunk back into his armchair. He buried his head back in the play, which was really a very intelligent thing to do as Ron's bad moods most often led to some fairly developed bickering, generally between him and the closest person who crazy enough to argue back. Fortunately for the tiny seed of distemper hiding in Ron's morose expression, Ron happened to be sharing the sofa with Hermione.

"So what is it again that I’m here for?" groaned Ron.

"Don’t you want to be in the play?" whispered Hermione.

"Not particularly."

"But it’s by Shakespeare!"

"But it’s being directed by those two!"

"I thought you didn't mind them. Parvati, at least."

"And what would possibly give you that idea?"

"You took her sister to the ball last year."

"Do you want to start that up again? Do you?"

"Yes, actually."

Lavender shook her head with the air of someone dealing with a large group of chimpanzees with very poor manners. Of course this was not the case, and therefore her air was completely inappropriate just as it would have been inappropriate to break up such a good quarrel. Unfortunately, this is precisely what she did. It is possible, however, to forgive her actions because the ensuing scene was even better than fight had been.

"Ron," began Lavender, "and Hermione- you two are up now."

*Of course this was utter nonsense, but Parvati and Lavender did not know this and neither, for that matter, did the twins.