Would You Still Say No?

POV Oliver

The film was over. After two and a half hours, the cinema slowly filled with light again while the credits were still rolling across the screen.

But unlike during an ordinary screening, people didn't get up to make their way outside as quickly as possible.

They stayed seated.

Most of those present were still processing the fact that the film they had worked so hard on for months was finally finished.

And this time, Oliver was no exception. He sat there, still staring at the screen, inevitably thinking back on the past few months.

For months, he had travelled from one place to another, spent hours sitting on a broom in a studio in front of a green screen. Frozen his arse off in the Scottish Highlands in wind and rain.

He had spent countless hours learning his lines, countless hours thinking about how he could do the role of Harry Potter justice.

The room slowly filled with applause, scattered at first, then growing until the entire audience began to rise to their feet and applaud.

Oliver's gaze moved from the screen across the audience, the press, family members, film crew and invited guests. His eyes eventually settled on Margaret, who was looking back at him.

Oliver slowly leaned back and closed his eyes.

He knew Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone from his previous life. It had been one of the first films he had ever gone to see at the cinema with his mother. But that film didn't exist here, that Harry Potter didn't exist here!

It was his Harry Potter!

And the last few hours had shown him that his Harry Potter wasn't simply very different from Radcliffe's. He had changed everything.

This was no longer the film he had known before. His interpretation had changed everything, not only because he was able to show Harry's emotions better than Radcliffe had, but also through his interactions with the individual characters.

Especially the scenes with Hermione.

Emma had been brilliant!

Oliver opened his eyes again. He had done it! He had kept his promise to Jo that he would try to give her a Harry Potter worthy of her story.

The applause gradually died down. He looked around the cinema once more. Margaret was watching him with some concern by now, and Emma and Jamie were also looking at him as though they were waiting for him to say something.

But his gaze moved on. He was looking for someone. He was looking for Jo. He wanted to make sure it wasn't just his imagination. And then he saw her. She was sitting with her daughter a few rows farther back.

He stood and looked over the heads of the other guests, waiting until their eyes met. Then he slowly moved his lips. "Satisfied?" he asked silently.

She looked at him for a moment, her eyes filling with tears, and for a brief moment everyone else in the room seemed to fade into the background.

She slowly formed words with her lips as well. Oliver would have understood them even if he hadn't spent years training himself to do exactly that.

"YES," she said silently and nodded to him. "You did it!"

Oliver sank back into his seat with relief. He had done it. It hadn't just been his imagination.

Stolen novel; please report.

"I think your two minions are waiting for something," Peter said dryly.

"They can wait a moment. I'm having something resembling an emotional moment here!" he replied.

Peter raised an eyebrow and nodded towards Emma, who was already making her way over to him. "Doesn't look like she cares."

Oliver turned around just in time for Emma to stop in front of him. She said nothing, as though she were still waiting for his approval.

"You did well!" he finally said, grinning at her. "Very well, actually, Princess!"

"Of course I did!" she replied, completely ignoring the way the tension left her body the moment she heard his approval.

Oliver could barely suppress a laugh when she suddenly threw her arms around him.

"We did it! We were great!"

The celebration after the premiere had lasted several hours.

The cast and crew had gathered once more, this time without cameras, filming or anyone waiting for Chris to call for another take.

At some point during the evening, Chris had raised his glass and asked for everyone's attention.

He hadn't given a long speech. He had thanked the crew, Jo, the actors and all the people who had spent months working to turn a story on paper into a world that had now been seen on a cinema screen for the first time.

"Emma, Jamie and Oliver!" he began. "After tonight, your lives are going to change dramatically. After this evening, no one is going to call you overhyped anymore. People are going to see you for what you really are."

He looked at each of them in turn.

"The Golden Trio. Three kids who are going to change the world."

For a moment, none of the three said anything. Emma smiled broadly, Jamie looked as though he hadn't quite processed what Chris had just said, and Oliver simply raised his glass towards him.

Then applause broke out around them.

The celebration slowly began to wind down after that. Conversations came to an end, the last drinks were finished, and everywhere people were saying goodbye to those Oliver had spent more time with over the past few months than almost anyone else.

He said goodbye to Emma and Jamie before heading towards the exit with Margaret and Peter.

The night outside was cool. Not much remained of the chaos from before the premiere. Most of the camera crews had disappeared, some of the barriers were already being taken down, and only a few dozen fans and scattered reporters were still waiting outside the building.

The car was parked a little farther down the street.

Margaret walked beside Oliver. "Are you happy?"

Oliver looked at her in surprise. "What?"

But before he could answer, one of the reporters interrupted them.

"OLIVER! IS IT TRUE YOU NEVER WANTED TO PLAY HARRY POTTER? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT NOW?"

Oliver stopped and looked towards the reporter, then at the fans who began calling his name and holding things out towards him when they realised he was looking at them.

Peter looked at Oliver and noticed that something was wrong. "Let's go," he said, giving him a gentle push.

But this time, Oliver refused to be moved. He stepped around Peter and headed straight towards the group of fans and the reporter.

As soon as Oliver reached the barrier, the shouting grew louder. Books, photographs and pens were thrust towards him as several fans tried to get his attention at once.

"Oliver!" he heard Peter call from behind him, already trying to steer him back towards the car.

"Stop!" Oliver called firmly—not only to the fans, but to Peter as well. Then he looked at the group pressing against the barrier. "I'll come to you in a minute!"

Then he turned to the reporter. "Ask me again."

The reporter hesitated for a moment before repeating the question.

"Is it true that you originally didn't want to play Harry Potter? Now that you've seen the finished film—would you still have said no?"

"Yes," Oliver replied. "I didn't want the role. Not because I didn't like Harry Potter. Quite the opposite. I simply already had a life I was happy with."

He paused briefly. "I had my school, my music, my family. I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and Harry Potter wasn't part of that plan. Saying yes meant giving up a large part of it for the next few years. So I said no."

Oliver glanced towards Margaret. "A moment ago, someone asked me something else. Whether I'm happy."

His gaze returned to the reporter.

"The last year wasn't easy. There were days when I was completely exhausted. Days when I missed my family. And days when I wondered whether saying yes had really been the right decision."

Oliver looked back at the building where he had just seen the film for the first time.

"But tonight, I sat in there with Emma, Jamie, Jo, Chris and all the people I've spent the last year with. People I never would have met if I hadn't accepted this role."

Oliver fell silent for a moment before his gaze returned to Margaret.

"So I'll just answer both questions. Am I happy? And would I still say no today?"

He took a deep breath.

"I'm proud of what we accomplished together. I'm happy that I got to know these people. And I'm happy to be standing here tonight after finally seeing the result of all those months."

His gaze briefly moved towards the fans in front of him.

"A story on paper has become a world that other people can disappear into for a few hours. A world where they can forget about their everyday lives and maybe even find a little strength in it."

Oliver looked back at Margaret.

"So yes. I'm happy. I'm proud of us. And I would make the same choice again every single time."

Then he smiled.

"And I'm damn glad and grateful that Jo Rowling didn't simply accept my no back then."