Looking At Books

[Ella Palmer]

Ella walked in to the library. As she looked at all of the books, she found a book with the words "How to Start a Band" on the spine. She wanted to, but she needed to find people who played instruments. She sat down at a table and opened up to the first page. She read through as she mentally checked off the steps on how to start a band. She got a piece of scrap parchment out of her pocket and then got out a quill with ink. She put all of the items on to the table and started writing the steps. Then she made a check mark in each one that she had already done.

How to Start a Band:
Find your instrument

Practice your instrument so you get really good at it

Find people who play instruments to be in your band

Find your band's type of music and name your band

Practice as a band

Perform as a band

She sighed, she still had to find people for her band. After putting the book back on the right shelf in the right spot, she wanted to sit down and see if anyone came in to the library and talked to her. She started to look at her paper and think about how she would find people for her band. Of course, she also needed friends out of the band. As she was walking back to the chair she had been sitting in, she bumped in to someone who was walking by. "Sorry 'bout that," Ella said, slightly embarrassed for not paying attention. "The name's Ella. Ella Palmer. What's yours? She gave a smile to the boy she had bumped in to accidentally, hoping that he was nice.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

After looking up information for his herbology homework, Jeremy decided to look through the aisles of the library. There were so many interesting books on all sorts of different stuff that Jeremy knew he could easily spend hours inside this room without noticing how much time had gone by. Lost in thought, Jeremy didn't notice the girl who bumped into him. Apparently, she hadn't noticed him either.

As the girl introduced herself, Jeremy smiled and shook his head. "It's ok. I'm Jeremy Thorne" he said quietly. The girl appeared to be a first year like him or at the very least looked pretty young. He saw that she had a paper in her hand, so Jeremy figured she had been doing homework as well. "Whatcha doing?" he asked curiously.

 

[Ella Palmer]

"Hi, Jeremy," Ella said. "I was just looking at a book on how to do something and making a list of what I have already done and what I need to do... hoping I can accomplish the first thing on my list soon. What about you? Oh, and sorry again about bumping in to you. Sometimes I just think about something and I don't pay attention to where I'm going." She smiled at Jeremy. "So, how are you?" She just wanted to make conversation, even though she wasn't very good at it. She was glad that it was okay, and that she wasn't about to get punched for accidentally bumping in to someone.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy listened as the girl jumped into describing what she had been doing. She was definitely very talkative, but rather than finding it annoying, Jeremy was amused by it all. When she finally asked him a question, it took Jeremy a second to realize that she had done so. He tried to think back to whether he'd seen her in the Ravenclaw common room, but he had seen so many people over the past few days that it was hard for him to remember.

He held up his notebook to show her what he'd been doing. "Just my herbology homework. I wanted to get it out of the way so I don't forget." He tucked the notebook back under his arm. "It's really ok...I guess I wasn't paying attention either" he mumbled and then smiled sheepishly.

"So, how many things do you have on your list?" he asked, still not sure what she was up to and searching for another topic of conversation. It sounded as if she were very enthusiastic about it, especially since she had been in the library researching whatever it was. Jeremy was hoping to meet some people and actually talk to them too. When he was in class, he didn't really pay attention to what else was going on, so he hadn't really spoken to many of his classmates. His common room was always busy, but Jeremy was still in the watching and not participating phase. He was still too shy to actually say anything especially when the older students were around.

 

[Ella Palmer]

Ella was good at talking, but she wasn't very good at listening. That was one of the things she tried to work on. Of course, she knew it would take a while. "Oh," she said. "Smart. Unfortunately, one of my bad habits is procrastinating, which I do a lot. I still manage to do homework, but I just do it closer to when it's due. Along with that is talkative which you probably already noticed." She checked her list after Jeremy asked how many things she had on her list. "There are 6 things on my list, but I did 2 so now I have to do 4 more," she said as she started to wonder if he wanted to know what the steps on the list were for. She thought for a minute, and then she added quietly, "The steps are for starting my own band." She said it quietly because not many people wanted to be in a band at age 11, most started in their teens. She also said it like that because it came out that way.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy rather enjoyed listening to Ella, who seemed to have no problems letting him know a lot about her in a little bit of time. Already he knew that she didn't pay attention when she walked, liked to talk and that she procrastinated a lot. Jeremy wished he could be more like her and reveal more about himself. Instead, he continued to listen. With two things already done on her list, he figured that she was well on her way to achieving her goal.

When she told him that he was starting a band, Jeremy's eyes widened. "Really...a band?" he said rather loudly and excitedly, which caused a couple of kids nearby to turn their way and the librarian to narrow her eyes at him. Flushing with embarassment, Jeremy repeated in a quieter voice, "A band? That's kind of cool." He thought about it for a moment and then asked, "What do you play?"

 

[Ella Palmer]

Ella watched as kids turned their way. It irritated her, so she gave them a face that let them know she was trying to say, "What are you looking at?". She wasn't afraid of them, even if some of them were a few years older than her. With the librarian, she ignored it. "Yeah, I'm hoping to start one," she said. "I play the electric guitar, but I'm not good at being a lead singer, but I could be one of the background ones. Do you play anything?" She was glad that Jeremy was interested in it, and didn't think that she should be doing something else as a hobby. Of course, he probably would have kept that to himself because he was nice.

When she noticed that the normal color was coming back in to his face replacing the pink, she said, "Don't worry about it. Nobody remembers things like that, anyway. Glad you think it's cool." She smiled at Jeremy. It was true, and even if he did get teased for it (which would never happen because nobody remembers those things), Ella would stand up for him.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy watched Ella's reaction to the others staring at the two of them. When she went back to their conversation, he listened. "Uh...I tried learning to play the bass for a while...but my dad thought it was a waste of time" he said glumly. Jeremy had bought the thing with his own money at one of those muggle garage sales. He had loved the instrument and had felt at home playing it, but his parents as with everything Jeremy considered fun thought it took away from his studies. He had been so angry with his family when they had thrown his bass away, but fortunately for him, they hadn't destroyed it and Jeremy had retrieved it from the trash and hidden it in his treehouse. "I'm not really that good"the young Ravenclaw added with a shrug.

"I've never known anyone who could play guitar" he said in an awed tone, "Are you any good?" He figured she probably was or else she wouldn't be considering making a band.

 

[Ella Palmer]

"Well," Ella said. "Even though you have a completely different instrument, I can still give you tips, if you want. I don't really know how good I am at it, because of course I wouldn't say that I was bad at it. Not many people would. I think I'm good, but I think I need other people to hear it so I know for sure." She looked at Jeremy with a smile. "If you'd like after you think you're good enough, even though I think you probably are, you could join my band. You're always welcome in it."

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

A strange expression crossed Jeremy's face as he listened to Ella speak. It was a mixture of doubt, intrigue and happiness. For the brief time that he'd played his bass in the house, Jeremy had never heard a word of encouragement about it from anyone in his house. They had called it 'noise' and told him to stop even though it obviously made him happy, and when he hadn't the thing had been chucked because it was too much of a 'distraction.'

"Thanks Ella" Jeremy said, his voice filled with gratitude, "but I kind of left my bass at home. My parents would never let me bring it to school..." Thoughts of sneaking it back with him during the yule break rose in his mind, though he didn't voice them.

 

[Ella Palmer]

"Why wouldn't they let you bring it to school?" Ella said. "If you don't mind me asking, of course. I just think that your parents should be supporting what you like to do. It isn't like you shouldn't be able to enjoy yourself. That's just bad parenting, no offense. I mean, music is great, and if someone likes it then nobody should be able to stop them from playing it. Or maybe that's just me." She felt bad for Jeremy, not being able to play his bass when it made him happy. She didn't know how her personality would have changed if she didn't have music. And now that he was away from his parents, he wasn't allowed to have his bass. That was just wrong. "Have you ever thought of bringing it here without your parents knowing?" she asked, knowing that some rules just had to be broken. She had a smile on her face. Even though a lot of times she did. Her eyes twinkled as she started thinking of things to do to accomplish it.

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

"They don't even know I still have it. I was supposed to throw it away before I got here." Jeremy shifted anxiously. "Because they think music is a waste of time." he added sullenly, though his anger was not directed at Ella. It was more that he was thinking back to the argument he'd had with his parents that had resulted in their throwing the bass he'd paid for away. He shrugged his shoulders, not really in the mood to explain that his parents only saw books as being worthy of any attention. He completely agreed with Ella though.

A mischievous grin flickered across Jeremy's face as Ella seemingly read his mind. "I kind of have it hidden in my treehouse now though" he whispered as if his parents were nearby and might overhear him. Realizing how silly that was, Jeremy continued in a more normal voice, "I was thinking about doing that because then I could leave it here, but I don't know how to get it here without them noticing me with a huge case." He knew he'd have to think about this more. He was usually good at coming up with plans and knew that if he put his mind to it, he could think of something. "Got any ideas?" he asked Ella.

 

[Ella Palmer]

"That's a hard one," Ella said, continuing to think of what he could do. She came up with an idea, but she wasn't sure if it was very good. After all, it came to her head immediately, it wasn't a well thought-out plan. "Well... I'm not sure if it will work but if you have a really close friend you met here, you could bring them and say that they are all about studying and all that because it's probably what your parents like considering they won't let you bring it here. Then, they could sneak in to the treehouse and take it. Of course, they would be planning to stay for a few days, so they would have a lot of trunks and one would be big enough for the instrument. Then they say that they feel like they're going to be sick. Then they would go home and keep the base until they see you next and then they would give it to you when you come back. I don't know, it came to my head and you might have to go over specifics later." She hoped that it didn't make Jeremy think that she was a person who did a lot of sneaking around and causing trouble. "I mean," she said, feeling some pink color go in to her cheeks. "I've had to think about things like that to always know when bullies were going to take it a step farther... I had to think like someone who needed to sneak around a lot."

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy listened to Ella's suggestion and found himself liking it much more than he probably should. If he got caught, it would get him into a ton of trouble with his folks. If he didn't though, it would be a pretty brilliant plan. He thought about it for another moment or two, trying to find some kind of problem with it, but couldn't find one other than the whole possibility of being grounded, which actually sounded almost worth it.

"You're brilliant!" he whispered. "Are you sure you don't belong in Ravenclaw?" he asked as he glanced down at her robes which had a Hufflepuff patch on them.

He knew he'd have to think it over and fine-tune it, but the plan would give him some hope for getting his bass somewhere where he could actually play it. Now all Jeremy had to hope for was that his parents didn't decide to go to his treehouse for any reason before he arrived back home for break.

 

[Ella Palmer]

Ella smiled. "Well," she said. "It was kind of the sorting hat's decision. I think I could have easily been in Gryffindor. Not sure about Ravenclaw, but it could have been a possibility." She knew that certain things would have to be worked out later on. It made her glad to help someone get their right to play music back. It was her pleasure. She thought that Jeremy's parents needed to actually learn a life lesson. Life's not all studying, it's short so have fun while you can. [iI mean,[/i] she thought. Studying is important, but life wasn't made so people could study! It's not like if you get lower than 100% on a test the world is going to be destroyed. She was angry at his parents for being so dumb and mean.

Ella sighed so quietly that she almost couldn't hear it herself. Jeremy's parents taking away music, the thing that made him happy, was just plain wrong. She felt bad for Jeremy. He had had to live with them for so long. She wished she could do something. Sure, she had come up with a plan, but anyone could do that. She tried to think of a way to help. Just thinking of a plan wasn't enough help for Jeremy. "And about the plan," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper so nobody except Jeremy could hear. "I'd be happy to help you carry it out. Not necessarily as the person who actually takes the bass, you'll probably need someone to be a lookout to make sure that your parents don't go to check on the friend, or on the place where the bass is hidden. Just to make sure the plan succeeds."

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

Jeremy leaned in closer as Ella whispered to him so that no one else could hear what was going on. It was actually pretty funny because the only two people who would probably care about what the two first years were talking about were thousands of miles away. His eyes widened as she offered to actually help him carry out the plan. "You would?" he said suprised. He'd never had anyone come over to his place and thought it would be kind of cool to have someone to hang out with in his home. His older sister never wanted to do anything with him, so Jeremy ended up spending more time alone than with anyone else.

"I'll have to ask my parents if I can invite someone over...but that would be awesome" he said genuinely as a smile broke out on his face. For a girl, Ella was proving to be a very cool girl. He shifted his book in his hand and then said, "I'll owe you one."

((So sorry it took me so long to reply))

 

[Ella Palmer]

((It's okay, I'm patient. ))
Ella smiled at Jeremy. "Of course I would," she said, determined to get his bass back. "And you wouldn't owe me anything. Your parents would owe you something, though. I guess I'm just that type of person. But you need creative freedom, and that's what you're going to get. I don't mean to seem like a troublemaker or anything, I just think that it was wrong of them to take your instrument away when you enjoyed it."

((I'm sorry for the short post, I have a bit of a cold and I can't think of much at the moment.))

 

[Jeremy Thorne]

((Thanks ))

Jeremy thought it was nice to finally meet someone who could appreciate music as much as he did. Maybe the plan really could work. He also knew that he really needed to get started on his homework otherwise there was no way he'd be allowed to invite anyone over to his house during the break.

"Thanks Ella...but if you ever need help with anything, I've got your back" he said with a grin. He sighed and glanced down at his notebook. "I've got to go now. I really need to get started on this History of Magic essay and my astronomy homework. I'll see you in class" he said because he knew he shared at least one class with the 'puffs.

 

[Ella Palmer]

((No problemo. Sorry this took me a while, I wasn't feeling great and I couldn't come up with much.))

Ella smiled as she hoped that the plan would work.

"It's not a problem at all," she said. "In fact, I consider it a pleasure to help you. Thanks, and you remember I've got your back as well. I understand. I have to do some of my homework, too. I'll see you in class!"

She turned to walk out the door, then turned to wave to Jeremy. Then she walked out the door to go do her homework.