malsain

[Zara Lovette]

Tempered intonation, careful timing... Zara could feel her hand start to cramp as she practiced, as it always did after these long periods of time. Wieniawski's "Légende op. 17" wasn't helping Zara either, her hand gripping the bow harder than she should as she played another wrong note. With this tightening of her hold, and her increasing frustration, it was only inevitable when her pinky slipped and there went all control of bow pressure. Zara stopped before she made a complete mess of the beautiful and haunting song, not wanting it to seem like the second movement of Shostakovich's tenth symphony; a violent scherzo and portrait of Stalin.

So yeah, pretty angry.

"I wish mum was here," Zara murmured as she stretched out her fingers, rolling her neck as she stared at the sheet music in exasperation. The corner of the page was dogeared, as was all of the sheets that she had deemed to have spent much too long on. Now quantity wasn't the goal, but at one point or another you'd be pushing it. Zara wished that her mother was here, a first since her coming to Hogwarts-- Not that she didn't love her mother, no, but the freedom at school was absolutely delectable. If her mother was here she would tell her exactly what she needed to do to practice and perfect the piece, she would give her a guide, she would give her some assistance on the freaking piano.

That's what she needed, a piano player. This piece was meant for accompaniment, and without her mother's graceful fingers gliding across the piano, the slight tick of the metronome might as well be nonexistent. Her mother was her guide, her mentor; although a professional violinist, her mother was also a pianist virtuoso. And gosh, did she miss it. It would take thrice as long for her to learn anything now, one of the downsides of attending Hogwarts. Not wanting to waste any more time, Zara resumed her playing, picking up from one of the quieter bars. Had she missed dinner? Ack, what did it matter. Straight spine, shoulder relaxed. Okay, time to give this one more shot. ​

 

[Noelle Seung]

Eavesdropping was an unfortunate habit of Noelle's but she never eavesdropped with malicious intent as it was often portrayed in movies. No, Noelle eavesdropped because she simply could not help it. She was a musical girl, with a natural rhythm in her steps and well trained ears to different tones and frequencies, and eavesdropping without intending to was the price paid for it. It was both a blessing and a curse to eavesdrop against her will because she was cursed by often learning too much about others, and blessed when the eavesdropping revealed something of use to her. The latter occurred on that evening during dinner and as soon as her plate was clean the young Ravenclaw departed the great hall to walk through the courtyard so she could make her way to this 'arts room'.

Her guitar was not with her as she wanted it to be and was instead safely lying on her bed in her dorm. If this room she heard about was true she wished she brought it with her so she could get in a few extra hours of practice before curfew. The Ravenclaw common room was adequate but after certain times in the evening other Ravenclaws would yell at her to be quiet as they were either trying to sleep, reading or studying and she always stopped at that point. As a poor, defenseless first year she was at the bottom of the food chain and aggravating students older than her seemed to be a one way ticket to torment for at least the rest of the year. So a practice room would have been the light at the end of tunnel for Noelle as her current practicing never exceeded a few minutes if she wasn't sitting alone in some secluded area of the school grounds. It was not something she could do at night and all she wanted was for this room to exist. When Noelle heard the sounds of string music echoing around her, she almost thought it was her imagination playing tricks on her but as she continued walking the sound began to crescendo and hit a peak when she reached a closed door.

She assumed this was the arts room and knocked on the door twice out of politeness to who or whatever was making the music before waiting for a few moments. Noelle received no response so she bit her bottom lip and knocked again, throwing caution to the wind immediately afterwards and opening the wooden door. She looked around the room, taking in the atmosphere and then noticing the girl who she could only assume was the source of the string sounds she heard in the courtyard. "Sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to know if this room really existed." She explained, suddenly feeling rude for interrupting the girl's practice but not completely regretting it because she was now standing in the arts room in all its glory.

 

[Zara Lovette]

And at last, the young violinist felt like she was finally getting somewhere. The concerto started finally sounding like... A concerto, grace and all. Zara's eyes fluttered close as she arrived at a familiar part, and she let her emotions do the work. The violin was not only about technique but about emotion, finesse, and focus. She was more than glad that the last couple of painters occupying the room had left to eat, as she was left to play by herself. It allowed her the utmost focus in the world, surrounded by nothing but art and her music, which in itself was the best of art.

She was coming to the climax of the song, and opened her eyes again as she came to a harder section, eyes squinting as she focused. Zara could practically taste both the success and rosin on her tongue. No literally, she put a little too much rosin on her bow. But that was no matter in the grand scheme of the piece. Her vibrato was tactful, finger placements accurate, and bow control measured. With only a page left to go, she knew that her focus couldn't break or else the whole piece would as well. Almost, almost, almost--

"Sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to know if this room really existed."

Damn. Zara whipped around, clench tight on her bow as she let out a sigh of frustration. "Excuse me?" the girl directed snappily, despite having heard her clearly. It wasn't like Zar to snap but when it came to her music she wasn't Zar. She was Zara Lovette, daughter of violinist Kuhukura and sister to prodigy Xavier. Most knew better than to interrupt. She was annoyed, upset... But at the look on the girl's face as she took in the beauty of the room around them, totally defeated. Feeling slightly guilty, she quickly corrected herself. "No, no, that's alright. I'm sorry, didn't mean to snap. The room isn't just for me, it's for everybody. But it's beautiful, isn't it?" Yes, the conglomerated arts room was quite possible her favourite room in the castle. Art, of all different sorts surrounded the girls, and Zara was reminded of her reaction when she first found it. Awed, astonished. Gently placing down her violin and her bow, she made her way over to the girl. "Zara, but call me Zar. You''re in my Potions class, right?" Along with her flying class of course, so she felt a bit bad for not having a clue as to her name. But hey, there were a lot of kids. She smiled, holding her hand out. Any arts-lover was a friend of Zar's. Unless, like, they were a murderer or something. But this eaglet here looked nothing like a murderer. ​

 

[Noelle Seung]

Noelle flinched at the girl's snappy response. She was certain that if the roles were reversed, she too would have been annoyed at her practice being suddenly interrupted because the minutes she spent practicing since living in the castle walls were few and far between. What caused her to flinch, though, was how contrasted the harsh, annoyed tone of the girl's voice was to the delightful string music she was playing moments ago. It echoed throughout the room and all Noelle could do was swallow, not say anything in response until the girl apologized because Noelle was simply clueless to how she could respond. "No. It's okay. I'm sorry to have interrupted." She said softly, smiling in all politeness. "I am a musician too, I also get snappy when someone interrupts while I'm practicing." She continued. The art in the room was indeed beautiful as well as the general atmosphere surrounding them. Noelle simply nodded in agreement when the girl approached her.

She was unsure of what else she could say in that moment, so she simply looked to the room again. Taking in the instruments against each of the walls and the hard wood floors that she assumed would give the perfect amount of reverberation to make the sound of instruments flawless and allow vocalists to easily pitch their notes. Hearing about this room clearly was not enough for the young Ravenclaw so she was glad she ventured to find it that night irregardless of how rudely she interrupted the other girl practicing. "Nice to meet you, Zar. I'm Noelle." Noelle said as the girl introduced herself. She, too recognized the girl from her classes and nodded before saying "I am in your potions class." and smiling wider. Clearly, Zara was not bothered enough by her interruption to ask her to leave and Noelle was thankful. She could see the arts room with her own to eyes and she may possibly make a friend. At least an acquaintance because Noelle could not avoid someone else musically inclined even if she wanted to. Noelle shook Zar's hand before asking "So, you play violin? You're very good." To keep the conversation going. The sounds she heard while walking through the courtyard were beautiful to say the least and learning that they were made by this girl and the movement of her bow on violin strings intrigued Noelle to no end. She was not a violin player but there was no harm in talking to one, understanding more about the instrument and hopefully hearing more lovely music as she continued to spend time in the room.

 

[Zara Lovette]

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Zara felt as if the peaceful atmosphere was ruined after she started off with that vex response. First impressions were always important in making friends, but now she would have to start over. She blamed Wieniawski and his toughie of a piece... Yeah, that was the problem. "You're a musician?" Zara asked in surprise. She didn't meet any musicians so far during her time at Hogwarts, at least none to her recollection. It was exciting and relieving in a way; if she could get to know this girl, she could finally have someone understand all her musical speak. "What do you play?" Zar asked, earlier awkwardness forgotten and replaced by surprise. It would be super duper cool if she played the violin or piano but she knew there were a plethora of other instruments that kids often learnt growing up.

Noelle introduced herself and confirmed Zar's suspicions, and Zara knew that she could work with this. Now that she knew the girl was a musician this was a friend that she most definitely needed to make. "Thanks!" Zara grinned, glancing towards her prized possession and picking it up from where she left it. Her violin was a beauty, handcrafted and painted. "I do try, but it's pretty hard to practice with no one to teach. My mum taught me, she was a soloist. My brother was too." Was. He was a soloist, but now he couldn't play. Well, Zara would just have to play for him. "Who taught you how to play?" She asked, taking a seat at a nearby table. The talk was nice, but soon she'd have to resume her practice. She could probably play something for her, something she'd been itching to show off since the start of the year. Looking over at one of the available guitars on the wall, Zara thought that just maybe she could get Noelle to play something too. Now that would be fun.​

 

[Noelle Seung]

Noelle understood why the girl had snapped moments earlier. Practice was more important to her than breathing sometimes and she could admit there were instances where she swore offhandedly to whoever interrupted her in the middle of a song. Her swearing was especially vulgar when she was interrupted in the midst of playing a bridge because a change in key or time signature easily threw her playing off kilter. Luckily, however, Zara was not continually bothered and Noelle was thankful the ill fated moment was over because they could now partake in conversation. "I play guitar, mostly. Otherwise I dabble." Noelle answered before she turned to the door of the room that still hung open from her untimely entrance. She moved to close it and turned back to Zara before saying "I'm not classically trained, but I can sort of sight read because I know a little piano." as an additional piece of information while she stepped to where she previously stood, beginning to twiddle her thumbs.

Politely, Noelle nodded along to what Zar was saying. Her eyebrows raised curiously when the other girl mentioned her family members were soloists but she held back her urge to ask about it, bidding it appropriate for another time and day when neither of them were caught in the arts room after dinner by mere happenstance. An organized meeting seemed better for them to get to know each other better and to talk about their family and Noelle made a mental note to talk to Zar again later to at least spend more time with her. She cleared her throat when Zar asked who taught her to play, pondering her answer for a moment before saying "I had a teacher once, but not since I moved to New Zealand. I self teach now." Clearly both girls were musical but on either end of the spectrum with Noelle being more contemporary with her music and Zar being more classical in every way if her violin playing and the fact her family were soloists was enough to go by. "Do you play anything else besides the Violin?" The Ravenclaw asked to keep up the conversation. In a way she felt out of her limit speaking to someone who was more classically trained than her but she hoped the girl wasn't a snob in regards to music like many others Noelle unfortunately crossed paths with.

 

[Zara Lovette]

Now that those bad moments were behind, Zara was excited to discover another musician and listened attentively while she spoke. Guitar, was it? Zara could remember a guitar player in her class at elementary. He was the centre of many of the other kid's attentions, and many of her girl (and even one or two of her guy) friends would spend much of their time swooning and gossiping about him, dreaming of the chance to hold hands or be the lucky one to be serenaded. In other words, the class heartthrob. Zar thought that the romance part was kind of gross, but had to admit that he was a very likeable kid. Based on those experiences Zara had thought of the guitar as cool, and anyone who played it cool as well. "Amazing!" She chirped, looking at the girl with wide eyes. "All your friends back home must think you're just the coolest because you're a guitarist!" She announced, as if that was an explanation in itself. Which to Zara, it was.

Noelle didn't seem at all like the extremely talkative type, reminding Zara of her last encounter with a Ravenclaw in this room. Noemie was quieter as well, and she wondered if many Ravenclaws were like this. Many of her Gryffindor friends were just booming with energy, much like herself. And obviously they were at least fairly smart, if Noemie's studying and Noelle's self-teaching were anything to go by. "Really? That's awesome. I tried to teach myself the guitar when I was younger but I sucked at it." She got all the blisters and none of the skills, so she respected the boy from her class --and now Noelle-- more than she would've probably prior. The guitar certainly looked easier than she expected it to be, that was for sure. "Yes! I also play the piano and I really love to sing, but I'm no songwriter or anything like that." Although it was an idea worth exploring, that was for sure. "And you play a bit of piano as well, so that's another thing we have in common!"

As they spoke, Zara felt herself getting more and more curious of the girl's actual abilities, and put down her violin once more before running to get a guitar. When she returned with a decent sized acoustic one, she held it out for the Ravenclaw to take. "So since you interrupted my practice, I think you should make up for it by playing a song!" Her voice lilting, she made sure it was clear that she wasn't actually still angry and rather jokingly trying to get her to play a song. Now if she took the friendly bait was the real question.​

 

[Noelle Seung]

Playing guitar was romanticized an exceptional amount. So much that sometimes Noelle didn't even admit to being a guitar player simply because she was made out to be some sort of songstress, a person that wrote songs specifically to 'woo' people despite being eleven years old. It was not only a dumb assumption but an inappropriate one as well because Noelle only played guitar for herself and was far from brave enough to venture into song writing. She nodded when Zar said she also played Piano and sang. Noelle too dabbled in singing but like her piano playing she was a perfectionist and believed her talents were lesser than everyone else's. "I'm sure you're much better at playing Piano than I am." She said, honestly believing what she was saying because knowing a few major chords that popped up in most mainstream songs and being able to hold notes with her voice akin to that, was nothing compared to classical piano playing and training. The Ravenclaw wondered if Zar was classically trained in Piano as she evidently was with the violin, letting her thoughts momentarily run away with her before an acoustic guitar was shoved towards her and she was urged to play.

Noelle hesitantly took the guitar from the other girl and slid the leather strap over her shoulder to hold the guitar in place. She cleared her throat, feeling awkward and as if she was being judged in the silence that fell before she began to play the first thing that came to her mind. It was a simple riff that consisted of plucking strings in four different major chords that appeared within a lot of popular songs. Really, it was nothing special and something an amateur could play. But it was all Noelle could manage with the pressure to play well on her shoulders in front of another musician, a classically trained one at that. When Noelle finished the riff she let out a breath she was unconsciously holding and looked from the frets of the guitar to Zar with a sheepish expression. "There you go. Sorry it wasn't very good." She said. Awkwardly, Noelle cleared her throat and rested her hands on the guitars body, not wanting to put it down just yet in case Zar asked her to play more. "Do you want to play something for me now?" She asked as a smile crept back onto her features. The string music she heard in the lead up to discovering the arts room was much more pleasing to Noelle's ear than that of her own guitar playing and she was eager to see more of what Zar could do because her skills exceeded anything Noelle could even dream of playing.

 

[Zara Lovette]

Zara took Noelle's silence as an agreement to her assumptions, what she thought were reasonable deductions from what she had seen from guitarists. She almost found the girl lucky in a way, to have an instrument that could very casually be played in public without questioning. It was much more common in her town to see a guitar busker than a violin busker, which was a shame. Growing in a family where showing off musical talent was not only encouraged but expected, Zara thought everyone to be the same. It came as a surprise to the young girl when the Ravenclaw was quick to disregard her musical talents, and Zar didn't know how to respond to the statement, so she smiled and shrugged. "I'm not the best myself," she chuckled, letting the topic rest. Was it a lack of confidence? Or perhaps Noelle hadn't played piano for too long or for any length of time.

Zara clapped as the girl finished her little performance, although Zara was sure she could ply more than that. She could tell it was a bit simple, but with the way the Ravenclaw was holding herself Zara expected that she knew so as well. Perhaps it really was a lack of confidence. "No no! That's much better than I've ever played, and trust me when I say I've attempted... But you seemed a bit nervous? Ack no that's not what I'm trying-- what I mean to... Er, I'm sorry if I made you do something you didn't want to." If possible when apologetic Zara babbled for even longer, and it was her turn to offer a sheepish smile. "I'll just play then," Zara quickly rushed, picking up her bow and tightening it a bit more and fiddling with the tuning a bit before taking a breath. There was a silence as she decided what to play before deciding to go with a more popular piece. Expressionless as she played, she focused all her attention in to her song, making sure to crescendo at all the right times and to make it flow as she wanted. Cutting off the song about half-way at a pause as she realized it was fairly long, Zara made sure to hold her position before giving a slight bow. Standard procedure. "Vivaldi's Winter. You probably heard that one before." Zara smiled, putting down her violin gently. "That was fun! We could totally do a duet sometime, hm? A violin and guitar could be fun to play around with."