Serena wasn't much about plays. She's attended some quite a few times, but mostly because her mum was a famous Quidditch player and it had something to do with honorable invitations, or part of a charity event. They were tolerable. Would she attend one out of free will? No. Would she attend one to support her friends? Yes.

That's the only reason she decided to attend. Otherwise she'd be taking advantage of the lonely library. Say, this would even be an epic time to try and bust into the Restriction Section like Lisa and she had discussed.

Tempting. Very temping. But priorities = friends.

On purpose she took the seat beside Daniel Yoon's belongings. She knew that tactic, which is why she chose it. "You already seem bored," she said, placing a flower she had brought on her lap.

Ash was increasingly nervous, but Claudine had a calming effect on her. "We worked hard to make everything just right for the performers! I'm so..." Excited. But she wasn't excited. She was afraid. She was so afraid... of something. Afraid... panicked. She was panicking. For literally no reason. Nothing was wrong. But also, everything was wrong. She put her head between her knees, feeling suddenly faint. Her heart was racing, because that's what happened when you were really afraid. Like when something was really wrong. But nothing was wrong. But actually, everything was wrong. But nothing wrong had happened. But something wrong had definitely happened. But she hadn't seen anything wrong happening... ughhh she had a headache.

While her energy still poured CHAOS, Remy had relaxed a lot since seeing her fellow lost boys, Lisa and Delilah. Was she ready?!! They had both asked her, and they seemed a lot more calm than she did. Before she had the chance to respond to her friends, Healer Poppy was here, which would cause anyone to freak out. She was insane, Remy had decided.

Her body moved a little when she tried to usher them on stage, but since no one else was doing as they were told, Remy halted. She wasn’t used to NOT doing what an adult said, despite it being Healer Poppy.

It seemed like Healer Poppy was not taking no for an answer, and she did not know who to listen to. It was all getting too much. With a glancing look to her friends, Remy felt her heart starting to jump out of her chest. Suddenly it didn’t feel like normal stage nerves and something more. Was she having a heart attack????

“I can’t breathe.” She dramatically clutched at her chest. She was an actress after all.

"I'd much rather be someplace else where I can read the final two chapters of my book" it had been a mistake to start reading before the performance because he wanted to know how it ended. "I'm only here because Lisa asked me" He leaned back in his seat and looked at the stage, a dull expression on his features before he turned his head to look at the flower on Serena's lap. "What's the flower for?" he asked and as he looked at it his heart began to speed up a little. Huh. Odd.

But the panicking feeling intensified slowly and soon he felt a cold sweat break out. What was happening? It was just a boring play why was he getting agitated?

Phoebe was fine at working through nerves, so as the curtain finally went up, and the play started, she was able to step into character and perform her lines admirably. She hit her marks. She was winsome and charming (she hoped, yikes).

The energy on stage was WRONG, though, and her own energy was being impacted by it. Like, from rehearsal, she knew that this was about the point where she just trusted the process and it was all smooth sailing from here. But it didn't feel smooth. Her stomach was churning, for some reason, and she would swear that everyone seemed a little nervy.

Teddy's fault. He shouldn't have given a cheesy speech. That was a definite JINXER. Phoebe swallowed her own line when she came in at the wrong bit, and when it came time for someone to surreptitiously clip a line to the flying rig under her nightgown, Phoebe stepped away from the clip and shoved blindly. "NO." No flying. It wasn't safe.

She spotted Daniel AND Serena in the crowd. Seeing both of them brought a smile to her lips and lit up her entire face. It was so good to see her friends! She also spotted her siblings there too. Soon enough, Teddy was calling them over and she joined her fellow classmates.

Teddy’s speech got Lisa all excited for the show. She was literally bouncing from foot to foot. And then Poppy showed up. Her smile dropped immediately and she wore a Evan Nam trademark deadpan expression (one that she had been practicing for ages). As she watched the Healer for a moment longer, she looked to her older classmates to see what they would do. A small, little smirk graced her lips when Kale threatened suggested that he bring his father over here. She nodded in agreement- she was a fan of this. Unfortunately Healer Poppy was telling them to go- go!

The calmness and stillness that she had found was promptly erased. She felt incredibly uneasy. Something wasn’t right. Her tummy did somersaults. And then there was Remy clutching her chest. “Rem!” she cried, panicking to gaze to her left and right. Who would help them?!?!

She looked for someone to help and then all of a sudden felt a shove. “Help! Rem!” she cried with arms stretched out to her friend before she took a TUMBLE. Flailing arms as she hit the floor.

Oooof. Ouuuch.

Tootles down. Tootles down…

It was a little weird when Healer Poppy suddenly appeared and tried to take control of the play by getting them all onstage, even though it wasn't time. There was an order to this, yeah? They couldn't just all rush onto the stage. But maybe the Healer was just really excited, like they all were? Maybe...

Ivy gave Misa a quick hug and smile, and then it was time to finish getting ready. A few final touches, then getting hooked up to the flying rig, and Ivy took her place, moving herself into the Peter Pan mindset and waiting for her cue.

Only she really was starting to feel a bit sick, her insides twisting and turning. Okay, maybe she was more nervous than she realized...

But even a few shaky deep breaths didn't help. Her heart was racing. Her hands were trembling.

Something was wrong. But what? Looking around, nothing appeared off, and yet she couldn't shake the feeling. But her cue was coming up and she needed to... She needed...

She needed to get out of here.

She tugged on the line she was hooked up to. If she couldn't free herself from it, she couldn't get away from...from whatever bad thing that was going to happen. That was the confusing part, this sudden fear with no clear source, but it was becoming clear that she might not be the only one feeling distressed. Phoebe had missed a line and-

Oh no, Lisa!

Ivy wanted to check on her, and she also wanted to run, and she also was fumbling with this line, her shaky hands unable to firmly hold onto anything. Why was it so hard to-

WHOA.

Maybe it was a strange fluke of magic or just the way she had yanked on the line, but suddenly Ivy was hoisted high into the air with a yelp, arms flailing.

This was bad this was bad this was bad!!!!

Dia was backstage since she was part of the make-up crew and therefore needed for little touch-ups here and there. So, she was there when everything started going haywire. Though, she couldn't be much help, unfortunately. Why? Because she was in the middle of a full-blown panic attack. She had never had one before, however, so she didn't know what exactly was happening to her. All she knew was that she had a weird feeling in her chest and it was getting harder to breathe.

She clutched her chest, gasping for breath, and sunk to the floor hoping that whatever this was would pass soon.

Eye patch? Check! Pirate's cap? Check! Supportive friend and girlfriend mode activated? Check and check!

Cece was excited. She'd thrown herself into the role of pirate, even if it wasn't a main one. She'd even come up with a back story for herself. She'd grown up on her own, supporting herself, making friends where she could and trying not to make TOO many enemies. A little mischievous. A lot of spunk. Loyal to Captain Hook. That was her! And so when Teddy made his adorable speech and Ivy and Kale added their bits of advice, Cece gave a spirited, "Argggghh!" She had a good feeling about thi-

........

What on earth was Healer Poppy doing back here? And why hadn't she brought that delicious banana bread? Cece looked around, her eyes landing on Peralta. She'd get the Headmaster, right?

Only maybe she couldn't get him... Maybe Healer Poppy had already got him out of the way! Maybe he was locked in his office and she was here to destroy the play they'd worked so hard on! Her heart was starting to race, her eyes growing teary. This was bad. This was wrong. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to calm her breathing, steady her heart rate.


_____

Professor Peralta had been dealing with a costume mishap when she heard Healer Poppy's voice and she didn't react right away, moving out of the woman's line of sight so she could hear what she had to say. The woman had on no uncertain terms been asked to leave the castle and yet here she was, acting as if she was in charge again. And with the kids about to start, she couldn't exactly sound the alarm just yet...but something was off about the lady, that was for sure. It was easier to see now that Peralta wasn't distracted by her bread baking abilities. No adult was that enthusiastic all the time. That cheerful. It gave her the creeps.

As the play started, Neva scribbled a note on the back of one of the play bills and watched as it changed into a little paper owl, flying off to where the staff was sitting in the audience. It read: Poppy is back. Something is up. Though she didn't know what...even as she started to get uneasy... even as the children on stage and off began to grow anxious.

"Healer Poppy, as nice as it is to see you again, you shouldn't be here," Her voice was soft, her demeanor casual so that the kids wouldn't be distracted from the task at hand. ...Only why was her heart beating so fast? Neva narrowed her eyes at the woman, fighting the feeling that was growing in her chest. She'd never been one to shy away from confrontation before and yet...

Dahlia was all kinds of excited! Nothing was going to bum her out. That speech given by Teddy James was spot on too and only furthered her own excitement. This Lost Boy was ready to go play the best Twin #2 anyone had ever seen!

At least that was until Healer Poppy and to show up. What was she even doing here?! Wasn't she supposed to have left already or something? Her presence alone was causing a disruption among her cast mates. Let alone the women trying to usher them all onto the stage??? What was even up with that? It wasn't time for the play to start, so it most certainly wasn't time for all of them to be heading onto the stage. Something wasn't right..

There wasn't much time to dwell upon it however as she heard terrible words being uttered from her 'twinny's' mouth. Remy couldn't breath?! It had to be nerves. Everyone got a bit anxious before they went onto the stage. "Remy, it's okay. Take slow even breaths.. we got this. We know our parts and you'll be right there beside me the entire time." She smiled softly hoping her words would help to calm her friend down a little bit.

And while she was telling that to Remy she needed to remember it herself. A sudden feeling of panic and dread washed over her just as Lisa began to flail her arms around beside her. Huh?! Lia tried to grab Lisa's hand but her fingers missed the younger girls and the next thing she knew, her friend was on the floor. "Oh, my gosh! Are you alright?" she still held her hand out but now it was to help her up off the floor.

Had that been why she felt a sudden rush of uneasy? Maybe she knew someone would get hurt somehow? No, she didn't think so.. the feeling was still very much there and her heart was starting to race. What was going on?

Whereas Claudine had been feeling proud, pleased and excited, she was now feeling an emotion she rarely felt: panic. One second ago, she was focusing on Ash with a calm expression on her face and the next, at the moment the little Ravenclaw could not finish her sentence, it was replaced by one of restlessness. Claudine bit her lip, trying to fight off the feeling, and wondering how and why in the name of Merlin was her anxiety acting up now.

That’s when she noticed Ash sticking her head between her knees but the panicky feeling was just there that she couldn’t focus properly, couldn’t understand that perhaps she was not alone in feeling that emotion. “Ash? Ash, what’s wrong?”

Interesting. He read books. For some reason (*cough*) she assumed Daniel was...not an intellectual.

A shiver ran down her back and her stomach seemed to be knotting itself. Almost like the first time she was knocked off her broomstick in Quidditch. It was an odd feeling, and she wondered if somehow Daniel's face had triggered that...feeling.

Serena tried pushing it away, like she did with most feelings. "Are you...are you okay?" she asked, noticing the change in Daniel's demeanor. He no longer looked bored. But for a strange reason she was afraid of having asked that. WHY? If the feeling hadn't been intensifying she'd be...not afraid.

The flower?

Her stomach dropped even lower. She no longer felt excited about gifting the flower. She was scared. Every rejection scene of every film she's ever watched reeled through her mind. "It's...uhm...it was for..." Baby blue eyes drifted onto the stage and her eyes began to sting.

She was NOT going to cry.

"It's so...so dusty in here," she said instead.

She wanted her mum and her dad.

Honestly, the panic wasn't that... oooh. No, it was bad. Very bad. It was just irrational... nope, it was very rational. Because, uhhh, she could hear Lisa's yell. And some other people. As it turned out, Healer Poppy only caused a small part of her panic. She created the rest of it herself. Fear was one of the easiest emotions to intensify for Ash, apparently.

Ash looked up at Claudine. "What's going on?" There was genuine fear in her eyes. 'Cause she was afraid, get it? She could only think about one thing: she heard Lisa. Yelling. Somewhere. Not yelling to her, but yelling. Lisa yelling for help was not good. "Lisa." She had to save her from... something! If she could only find the strength to stand up...

It was finally the day of the big performance, and was Morgan nervous? Not even a little bit. He knew most of his lines and the rest... well, he knew his character well enough that he could improvise a little bit. That was method acting as far as he was concerned because he was totally in character.

But just for good measure he was quietly practicing his lines backstage while he waited to go on. Smee wasn't in the first scene so he had some time. He didn't even pay attention to Healer Poppy and her lack of bread. But as Morgan was practicing his lines, he started to feel weird. Really weird. It came upon him slow enough that he didn't notice, then all at once. He started to feel panicky.

Maybe he should have been more diligent about learning his lines and... had he missed his cue? Was he supposed to be on stage right now? The panic had settled over him so thickly that he became convinced that he was missing his scene, so he ran onto the stage, not noticing that the set reflected a different scene entirely until he tripped over his pirate shoes and fell flat on his face in the middle of the wrong scene.

Misa was quickly getting stage fright. Which was weird. The play started off well in her opinion. And then. afgwkrghaekrgjhaekrg. What was happening? Lines were being fumbled. And... and this was a disaster! She grew more and more frantic.

Awkward movements and rushed lines and... and Ivy was just swinging in the air and Lisa was on the ground. She flailed a bit and jumped up under Ivy as if she was going to save her in some way. But nope. Nothing was working and her thought process was just overcome with... hyperventilation.

She'd just stand there and have a straight up panic attack.

The Headmaster had only just gotten back from his office, having returned to get a some last minute letters sent off--never a moment's rest honestly. He expected everyone settled and the show about to open, but the closer he got to the backstage area...the more he felt like every single thing imaginable was about to go wrong.

What if none of them were dressed and in costume?? Had they memorised ALL their lines??? Much as it was too late to fix half of them, the man put a little pep in his step to get back there faster.

What he saw...was ...not on his list of things to suddenly panic about. "Healer Poppy? Are you here with the board? You can't be backstage, we're about to begin." Was she psyching the kids out? Giving them more candles--well, actually maybe HE would ask for a candle. This sudden racing heart was not in the plan.

"Just head back that way. Students?? Merlin, where are the students??--oh, there you are. Places, why aren't we in places??"

There was a show to perform!

With the subtlest motions in the midst of the rising panic, another two vials are released. As the vapours move further throughout the room, the panic turns into real but inexplicable P A N I C.

It engulfs every corner of the theatre. There's nothing to do but run about as if your life is suddenly in danger because it might be. How would you know? You're too busy panicking.

Truly, a stressful time to be had for all.

Apollo had been focused on Teddy James and his wise words of inspiration and everything backstage just seemed to happen in lightning speed in mere moments. He was ready to make his acting debut as the youngest Darling child, but also maybe make more friends too and make a name for himself. It was never too young to start trying for some sort of accolades to make yourself famous and remembered at Hogwarts, right?

But what happened next, well, Apollo couldn't really be certain since Healer Poppy was back and without her amazing bread - sadface! - since he could really use something in his stomach right now... but she was ushering them onto the stage?? It wasn't time yet?? She wasn't the director? What was going on???????? Whatever it was, his heartrate felt like it was pounding outside his chest and the second year found himself ushered to where the curtain hung and why was he clinging to it like there was something chasing him?? "I ... need ... bread..." Was the only thing the gryffindor could usher from his mouth, as he found his legs wrapping around the curtain, like a rope to climb. That was not his lines. This was not part of the play. This was definitely not the accolade he wanted to go down in hogwarts history for either.

Remy took her twins advice and focused on her breathing, which turned into short and sharp breaths. The feeling made her feel a little dizzy. “What’s…“ GASP… “wrong with me? I know all my lines.” Why was she so nervous???? If that was the correct word for it.

Despite her panic attack, Remy’s arms still reached for her friend who was shoved to the ground, but she just wasn’t quick enough. “LISA!” She shrieked. It just added to the absolute chaos of this room, which only seemed to be getting worse by the minute, not even settled at the presence of the headmaster.

She didn’t have the brain capacity to fuss over Lisa at the moment, especially since Dahlia already had her hand held out for her. Instead, the Gryffindor held her face in her hands and started to panic cry, but the headmaster was now encouraging them to take their places.

That WAS a joke, right?

Looking back up, swollen eyes, Remy wiped the tears away and shuffled into a position closer to the stage. Ignoring Healer Poppy’s instructions was easy enough, but she’d listen to Headmaster Trent.

Remy would NOT be auditioning next year, FYI.

After having helped with stage set up, Evan had found himself a seat a row behind Claudine and Ash and was patiently waiting for the play to start. He was surprised by the crowd gathering for the event and he certainly hoped none of the performers were nervous. He felt pretty confident for Lisa, given the fact she had been acting and in various role play performances among the siblings for years. Not that he was considering the addition of tons of people staring but... y'know.

Unaware of what was going on backstage, he was currently scanning the crowd trying to spot his Slytherin sister when he started to hear the questions and panicked tones of his peers ahead of him. Before he could open his mouth to ask what was wrong, however, his own breathing started to become labored. And he could feel this swell of... something building in his chest and sticking there. His palms were sweaty, his eyesight seemed blurred and the only thing he could think was he needed Noah. He had to find Noah.

But then he remembered Noah wasn't there anymore. And HE was the big brother now. Which meant if there was something wrong, which he felt wrong it was his job now to watch out for the younger Nam's. Hearing someone whisper Lisa's name was enough to nearly propel him into motion and he was at least able to get to his feet, before just clutching the seat in front of him. He had to find his sister's. "Has anyone... seen... Lisa?"

Why were words hard? Actually, why was breathing hard?

Yo. Kale was keeping an eye on knockoff Lucille Ball, okay? He was not loving Lucy being all up in their stuff, especially after everybody had worked so, so, so hard on the play. Her coming in to do whatever nefarious gluten-related nonsense she was bound to do was really gonna kill his vibe…

…or maybe it already had. Or maybe it was just hot. Cuz, like, it was super HOT all the sudden? Was anybody else feeling that??? Just him?????

Kale started to pull off some of his excess Hook accoutrement in an effort to b-b-breathe. The hat? Gone. The red jacket? Gonzo. The frilly shirt?? Off off off.

“We’re not ready,” he found himself saying. “Is it hot back here? It feels hot. Sooooo hot.” The world was on f I r E. GLOBAL WARMING?! Must be!!!

Fiona was getting more and more agitated as panic began to seep inside her. She wanted to escape the confines of Hogwarts castle but her body wouldn't let her so she leant against a wall and clenched her fists, her fingernails digging into her palms, leaving tell-tale marks.

Why was she so nervous? After all, she had been rehearsing her lines whenever she could. With panic came suspicion and the Snakette was starting to point the finger in her mind.

Tadhg wasn't going to miss this for the world, not when his girlfriend and best friend was in it along with all his other friends. Taking a seat near the front he placed the flowers he gotten Lia on his lap, thanks to the help of his mother they were delivered and didn't die thanks to thr charm his mother put on them so they couldn't. They were Lia's favorite flower and color as well, so he knew that she'll love them. He knew that this was going to be one wickedly awesome play, the casting was awesome.

Sitting in his seat he womdered if Lia knew that he was here, although he was starting to feel hot and was that mist? What in the Dragon Heaartstring is going on? Looking around he with panic in his sapphire ocean blue eyes. "Lia and the others, where are they are they okay?" Looking around and at the what he thought was where the stage was he really couldn't see anything. He was sweating and felt like he couldn't breathe.

What on Earth was going on here?! Why was everyone suddenly started to get panicked? Gabi's first thought, of course, was some sort of fire...and thankfully for her, Peralta's playbill made it's way into her hands just in time. She grabbed it as it floated by, as floating parchment was hardly ever NOT significant...

She read it over quickly, registering that Healer Poppy was in the backstage area...just as she started to feel a sense of panic herself. Oh no, oh no, this wasn't good! Wait, why was she so panicked about the Healer coming back? The logical part of her brain tried to tell her that this was hardly an appropriate response to her return but...

"Everyone calm down! It's fine, everything is fine!" she called out, even though she knew deep down that she still felt panicked and everything was NOT fine. Backstage. She had to make it backstage. Turning on her heel, she pushed her way out of the crowd and into the backstage area, waving the parchment in her hands.

"POPPY! Poppy! Come here this instant! What have you done?!" she asked her, hardly caring at all for tact and the fact that students were around. Her heart was racing and she felt like she couldn't catch her breath and somehow this had something to do with her! She just knew it.

BUT WHAT IF SHE WAS WRONG?! No, no, she didn't need to think like that...BUT. WHAT. IF!?

And there was the call she had been waiting for. "Ooohhhhhh mmmmyyyyy." Rather than respond to the Headmaster, or focus on the growing panic all around her, Healer Poppy squared her shoulders, drew for her widest smile and side stepped them all. She had her own show to put on.

"If you'll excuse me, it sounds as if I'm needed."

The healer maneuvered her way through the backstage crew and around to the main theatre area.

"Oh dear, oh no, oh my!" She exclaimed, taking in the scene of unease. "I haven't the foggiest what you mean, dear," She replied to the blonde, the smile never faltering, "but I know just the way to take care of this. You'll see."

Reaching into her sack, she pulled forth some of her candles--the ones with the antidote. Naturally. "Let's get a few of these lit, take deeeeepppp breaths, Healer Poppy knows what to do." She held a few candles out for the students to take. "Come now, that's it. This will all be over." And she, the hero Hogwarts needed.