Symphony

The freshly tightened bow ran over Max's violin, producing horribly high pitched and slightly out of tune sounds. The instrument gleamed in his arms after layers of polishing had been applied to restore the appearance of a much younger instrument. Max had bought the violin on a whim when he had been taking a tour of a muggle shop last week. The Morrison man had no music talent to speak of. He had played triangle to accompany the Hogwarts Choir while in school but beyond being able to hold a beat he had never attempted to learn an instrument. The gentle screeching continued to emanate from the violin, floating through the house in the least graceful way possible. Max was quite proud that he was trying something new and was determined to become proficient as quickly as possible. He eagerly awaited the small amounts of free time he had to practice and thought he was doing quite well for just having started. (He wasn't.)

Max stared at the sheet music propped before him with intense concentration. He was stuck in his room - the Dyllans had made it perfectly clear that the door was to be closed whenever he had the inclination to practice. Max thought this was quite the overreaction on their part. There was no way he was so bad that he needed to be isolated to one part of the house. (He was.) The open window let in a sudden gust of autumn air, scattering his papers across the floor. Max frowned slightly, setting down his precious violin and picking up the sheet music. He stacked it all up on the stand. Not that there were that many papers to pick up. Out of the small amounts it music that Max had purchased there was an even smaller percentage that he could play.

Max hadn't really given too much thought as to why a he had picked up the new hobby but it was helpful to have something that took his mind off of work. Problems from the marriage law were spilling into the muggle world and Max had personally talked to the muggle Minister twice in the last week to try and subtly help with damage control. It wasn't as if muggles were being forced to marry but it was the angry, vocal wizards that were drawing attention. Max had been drawn back into more Ministry work too and found himself in the office more often than even. The days were long and more often than not he ended up with extra paperwork that needed to be brought home at the end of the day.

Jack had been a mess since her letter, Maisie had been writing more often than ever with updates from Hogwarts, and he had just attended the wedding of his seventeen year old cousin. Even though he had not yet received his own letter, the law was already a central part of his life. And he knew it was going to get worse before it got better. With a slight sigh Max picked up his instrument again and settled his chin on it, starting again. Instantly he felt more at ease as his mind worked over the notes and his ears filled with the pleasant sounds of music. (No.)