A Cashier and a Movie Star...Can They Really Fall in Love?

Surprisingly, my hangover was short-lived, and when Tom kissed me awake, I felt a whole lot better. I was surprised at how I could stand and not fall over as Dan, Mary, Tom and I walked towards the studio. The instant we walked in, I saw a flash of light brown hair come running towards us, along with several redheads.

“DAN! TOM! MARY! JOANNE!”

All four of us were bombarded with very tight hugs, and I gasped for air. “Can’t-breathe…”

The light brunette and the redheads pulled away, and I laughed. It was Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and James and Oliver Phelps. “Hey guys, long time no see…”

“God, we missed you guys!” said Emma as she gave me and Mary one more hug. “So, what brings you guys here?”

“Well, Dannie boy over here lost a bet with me,” I said with a smug look. “And because he lost, he is going to get both Mary and I roles on Harry Potter!”

Emma screamed in excitement, and Mary and I started to jump up and down with Emma. Dan, Tom, James, Oliver, and Rupert stood there, wondering what was going on.

“Girls…” muttered Rupert.

“Yeah, can’t live with ‘em,” said James.

“Can’t live without ‘em,” finished Oliver.

“I’m not saying anything,” said Dan and Tom together, knowing that their input could possibly get them into trouble with Mary and I.

“Hey Mare, I think we trained our boys right,” I laughed as all of us walked over to the casting director’s office.

Dan knocked on the door, and then entered, bringing me and Mary in. Tom waited outside for me with the rest of the gang.

The casting director looked very upset, and was talking on his cell phone animatedly. He was a sort of round, hairy Italian guy with several gold chains around his neck, and four chunky gold rings on each of his hands. He wore a white tank top that had several sweat stains on it, and a tuft of his chest hair was sticking out from his tank. He repulsed me, but I knew now was not the time to be picky about the casting director. I liked him as long as he could get me a good part in the movie. But, boy, this man smelled like sweaty gym socks, body odor, and rotten cheese.

“NO! She has to come back!” said the man as he proceeded to scream into the cell phone. “I CAN’T GIVE HER THAT MUCH MONEY!!! ARE YOU INSANE?!?! You tell her the contract’s up! I don’t care what you say, that contract’s void now! GOODBYE!”

The man slammed his hands down on the desk, shaking many of the little baubles that were on it, and scattering several papers to the floor. I helped the man gather up the fallen papers, and he thanked me.

“Ah! Dan my man! What’s happening kid?” said the man as he wrapped Dan into a brotherly hug. I cringed. I bet Dan would want to take a shower after that… or a million.

“Hey Sam, what was that phone call about?” said Dan curiously.

“Well, you remember Bonnie right?” asked Sam. “Well, her agent, aka her MOTHER, just called demanding more money for this next picture or she quits. And apparently, she quit…”

Mary’s eyes lit up, and she nudged me in the side. “This could be a good opportunity for me!” she whispered.

“Aw, well that’s too bad,” said Dan, slowly starting to warm up to Sam. “And her character is essential to the whole movie! I mean, she is my love interest…”

“Too right!” said Sam as he thumped his grubby hands on the desk. “But how the hell are we going to find a Ginny too late in the game? We need someone who is loveable, cute, adorable, funny, innocent-”

“Uh, Sam?” said Dan as he took Mary’s hand, and guided her towards Sam. “I think I’ve found your new Ginny…”

Sam scrutinized Mary, and Mary just stood there, beaming. “She’s… blonde.”

“Sam, Sam, Sam,” said Dan as he shook his head. “Haven’t you ever heard of a wig? We can always put her in a wig, and everything would work out fine! I mean, this girl here has the charm, poise, and talent of a great actress!”

Sam flung his hands up in the air. “I’m going out on a limb for you Danny boy. I’ll trust your judgment, ONLY because you are like a son to me, and I am DESPERATE! Anything else I can do for you son, now that you have just gotten me out of a tight spot?”

I gave Dan a look, and he smiled back at me. “Is there a way that we could sort of… I dunno, make up a new character?”

“I’m listening…”

“You know there is this HUGE battle at Hogwarts right?” said Dan, slowly dragging Sam into his plans. “Everyone’s fighting, people are dying left and right, and then I am with Ron and Hermione fighting off the Death Eaters when BAM! I run into Draco and his two cronies. How about it we have Draco with a girl too? It could be his girlfriend, and then you won’t have the audience lost at the end of the movie when he is married and has a kid…”

“Interesting concept Dan,” said Sam. “But who would-”

“Play the new girlfriend?” said Dan. “How about this breathtaking beauty right here?”

He pushed me forward, and I flashed a nervous grin. Sam looked me up and down, and I just wanted to get out of that room. The smell was starting to get to me, and I was wondering how Sam and the others were able to stand the stink.

“Hmm… She’s tall enough for Tom. Thank God that boy has stopped growing! Six feet one and he towers over Dan like a redwood tree next to a shrub. Her eyes… they are nice. But I’d like to make her hair a bit darker. It would look much better with her beautiful pale skin…”

He watched my face, looking for any sign that I was going to say something to counter his opinion, but I kept my mouth shut. I had no problem with dying my hair darker, my mother on the other hand, would have a fit. But, I was willing to deal with that later.

“She’s in,” said Sam as he threw his arms wide open for me to hug him. I cringed, and Dan quickly covered for me.

“Sorry, she has this phobia of hugs. Very very serious illness. It’s quite sad really…”

Sam nodded, and Mary, Dan, and I walked out of his office just as he got another phone call. “WHY DIDN’T YOU WARN ME THAT SAM SMELLED SO FUCKING BAD!?!” I hissed at Dan angrily. “My God! The man smells worse than a men’s locker room, worse than rotten eggs. I could have died from his stink!”

“Sorry, Sam doesn’t like to wear deodorant,” said Dan with a small grin. “You get used to it eventually. But hey, I got you a role, so try to lighten up. You’re now Draco’s Death Eater girlfriend!”

I smiled, and nodded. SLAP!

“Breathtaking beauty?!” shouted Mary. “Why did you say that about Joanne? Aren’t you supposed to say that about your GIRLFRIEND!?!”

“I was trying to get her the job Mary,” said Dan as he held the right side of his face where he had been hit. “You know you are the only one for me, my meaning in life, my soul mate, my world. Please, I was just trying not to renege on my promise. Please forgive me?”

Mary kissed him passionately, and I looked over to the Phelps twins, and stuck my finger in my mouth, gagging. The two of them laughed, and did the same thing.

“Mare, I gotta go to the bathroom, I will be right back okay?” said Dan as he kissed her before leaving.

“Potter’s got to go potty,” I snorted as everyone else but Mary laughed at my joke.

“So, welcome to the cast Mary and Joanne!” said Emma, who was more excited than us, which scared me a bit. “ So what are your roles?”

“I’m the new Ginny,” said Mary as Rupert, James, and Oliver’s mouths dropped open. “Bonnie dropped out because she wasn’t getting a higher salary. So I get to be a Weasley, which means we lot are going to be family.”

“And I am Draco’s new Death Eater girlfriend, who hasn’t got a name yet,” I smiled as Tom put his hand in mine. “But I am sure they will come up with a nice name for me… I will be in the fighting scene with you when Harry saves us from the fiend fyre. Remember that part?”

There was a scream, and Tom took off before any of us could register what had just happened. “Tom! Tom, come back!” I cried. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, we can’t just stay here!” said Mary as she pulled me in the direction that Tom had ran. “Come on!”

We ran down the empty halls, and found the source of the screaming. Dan had just come out of the bathroom with Tom, and he looked extremely pale. His blue eyes were glowing, and were changing slowly to red. He had this weird bite mark on the side of his neck, and I pulled Mary away from Dan just in time as he lunged at her. “MARY! CLOSE YOUR EYES OR I’LL DO IT FOR YOU!” I shouted as Tom began to transform into a wolf to fight Dan off. I watched in horror as Dan began to tackle the wolf, and picked it up and threw it against the wall with a sickening crash. I whimpered, and looked away from the fighting, praying that everything was going to be okay.

The wolf roared, and bit Dan’s shoulder, snarling and ripping at his flesh. “STOP! PLEASE STOP!!!!!!” I begged. The wolf did stop, and looked into Dan’s eyes, and barked loudly in his face, his teeth inches away from his face. Dan’s red eyes turned from red to normal blue, and he sat up quickly. The wolf ran quickly away, and Dan looked over at Mary and I. Mary was shaking as I held her close so she wouldn’t have had to see the fight or Tom’s transformation. “Mary?”

Mary turned to look at him, and gave him a huge hug. I left her quickly to go find Tom, praying that he was okay…