Two Houses (HarryxDraco)

Chapter 1

The heavy red velvet curtains hissed as they dragged across the floor to reveal a darkened stage. With a loud click, a spotlight burst into life, illuminating the ominously empty stage. A long, awkward silence followed and the audience seemed to hold its collective breath, waiting for any indication of life. All eyes flitted to the right of the stage at the sound of nervous footsteps approaching; the shuffling grew louder with each step and soon a young man, no older than fifteen, came into view. He stepped into the intense spotlight, recoiling slightly at the blinding light, blinking desperately although he could see nothing. He was so frail in appearance that he looked as though a strong gust of wind would blow him away. His mousy brown hair was plastered flat against his head, whether from overheating thanks to the heavy leather breeches he wore, or fear, or a combination of the two. He quickly swiped the back of his hand over his pale brow, blinking rapidly as the sweat stung his eyes. His breaths were coming out in short, nervous pants, audible to the first few rows of the expectant audience. He wrung his hands together, staring out into the blackness, struggling to find the words as the silence seemed to stretch out for all eternity.

After an awkward few moments, he slipped a shaking hand into his doublet pocket and closed his eyes, taking a steadying breath, and the tension appeared to ease in his shoulders. When his eyes slid open again, he had stopped shaking, and when he finally spoke—to the surprise of everyone there, including the young man—his voice rang loud and clear...

"Two households, both alike in dignity," he began, his voice carrying across the large audience as though someone had applied a Sonorus Charm to it. "In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."

Everyone listened intently as the boy spoke and the lighting on the stage began to change, the left side illuminated in pale green light, the right in a soft red hue. The boy walked slowly across the front of the stage and the spotlight followed him.

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life," he declared, his voice growing in strength with each word that he spoke. "Whose misadventured piteous overthrows doth with their death bury their parents' strife."

The boy stopped dead in his tracks and glared down at two people sitting in the front row, anonymous and unseen by the rest of the audience. He allowed the silence to stretch out to dramatic effect before turning away and continuing his introduction to the play.

"The fearful passage of their death-marked 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." He turned dramatically towards the audience again before sinking into a low bow. "The which, if you with patient ears attend, what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend."

The young boy vanished from view as the spotlight fell and the audience erupted into uproarious applause, hundreds of eyes struggling to follow the dark outline of his shadow as he strode across the dimmed stage and out of sight, which was still glowing an ominous emerald green and ruby red.