Silence is Full of Music

It was the middle of the night, the time of night – or technically, morning – when most people were sound asleep in their beds. But Amelia, as the rest of the school seemed to be altogether too aware, was not exactly normal.

Night hadn’t always been Amelia’s chosen time, but over the years she had developed a fondness for the wee hours of the morning, when silence dominated over the usual sounds of the castle and the chances of running into anyone was slim. As she walked up the stairs to the north tower of the castle, Amelia’s footsteps were all that could be heard. It was the kind of quiet that would have spooked most of the students in the building, but Amelia reveled in it. She drank in her solitude like it was her life force, and did not for a moment wish for company. In this situation, she was truly in her element.

The stairs eventually led her to the door of the tower, which she opened slowly and then returned to its frame, pointing her wand at the knob to lock the door in place. She did not want to be disrupted tonight – nor any other time, for that matter – and although the chances of anyone being awake and wandering at this time were slim, she didn’t want to take any chances. She had been interrupted only a few times in the past while on one of her nightly excursions, but Amelia was a quick learner. In her experience, a locked door meant no unexpected visitors.

Having taken caution to prevent intruders, Amelia turned to the circular room, dark and breezy from the glass-less windows that surrounded the tower. This was a little-used room, typically deserted as far as Amelia could tell, probably because it was so out of the way. The windows surrounding the room were arched and empty, leaving a spectacular view of the grounds. Only a single table and two chairs were set against the opposite side of the room, but these were the only furnishings. Amelia had always appreciated the bare-bones decorum of the room, the focus on functionality rather than frivolity, and it was on this table that Amelia set down the black case she had been carried all this way.

The snaps on the case were gold and easily flicked open by Amelia’s nimble fingers. Pushing the lid open, Amelia revealed an instrument that matched the shape of the case that held it. Her violin rested in a nest of velvet, but she was quick to pluck it from its confines, taking up the bow in her right hand as she walked toward the center of the room.

It had only been a few nights since she had last played, but Amelia always missed the blissful mindlessness that seemed to exist only when she was running or playing music. In all other cases, Amelia had a hard time turning her mind off, making it all stop. With the Hogwarts tournament, Raoul’s pressure to participate in said tournament, her parents’ questions about her future, the business with her personal life… it was much easier to just make it all disappear for a while and lose herself in the music, which is exactly what she intended to do tonight.

Standing in the center of the room, Amelia raised the base of her violin to her neck and poised the bow above the strings for just a moment before setting it on the uppermost string and beginning to pull it back and forth slowly, playing the first few notes of a haunting melody she had heard long ago, but had never been able to place. Almost immediately, Amelia’s eyes fell closed as she let herself fall into the melody, allowing her body to move with the music without fear of being watched.

((Cue Adam. Also, the song she is playing is from The Corpse Bride. You can listen to it here.))

Adam...was feeling lonely and worrysome. So naturally he would find himself in the brisk air of the night flying. It was all he seemed to do these days. Mabye he was just home sick....or maybe he just felt like flying. He wondered whether it was some sort of disease to like flying as much as he did but thought it was ridiculous a split second after he thought it. Oi Mate, maybe you should leave the flying for tonight. Just take a walk? the voice in his head told him. He swored his mind was playing tricks on him. But maybe he was crazy. But he shook his head and hopped on the broom. He darted off towards the large castle, he wanted a full scale glimpse of how large it really was. He was zooming around looking left and right. He narrowly missed a tower while he was looking down at the Greenhouses. It was a magnificent castle truly.

He was flying more towards the towers. The view was so amazing he decided to stop and sit on the roof of a tower and just look at the moon. The reflection on the lake was breathtaking. All he needed was some music and perhaps Chase and it would be a perfect situation for him. He closed his eyes imaging Chase beside him. Her hand in his hand, the sweatiness of his palm againts hers. Well maybe that was a little too informative. It was almost creepy to imagine really. But anyway, back to the point. He then began to hear...a violin. Now who would be up this late at night playing a violin. And in one of the tallest towers by all means. The sound was coming from a nearby window. It was a window just to the left of him actually. He left his broomstick sitting on the ledge as he began to inspect the window.

He looked inside and spotted a girl playing the violin. She was a pretty girl as well. The windo was open so he hopped inside silently. "Uh...Bonjour." he said rubbing the back of his neck. He hoped he hadn't scared her or anything. "I'm....Adam." he began to feel awkward. His voice was a little squeeky now. He blushed knowing he probably looked like a fool. But oh well, he was foreign to her anyway. "Zat was a very beautiful song you were playing just now." he told her smiling now. He couldn't here the voice in his head right now. But if he could he was sure it would be saying something insulting. He stiffled a yawn by turning it into a cough that really didn't sound like a cough.

OoC:Sorry if this isn't very good, I was kind of in a rush.

((No worries, it's fine))

Amelia’s music had quickly overtaken the room, filling it with the singular melody of the violin she cradled gently between her neck and palm. Her fingers pressed expertly against the correct strings to produce the right series of notes, having done it so many times that it had become second nature. Perhaps not this particular song, though it was a favorite of hers, but the notes themselves came as naturally to her as breathing.

The song started slowly, but it picked up pace considerably part-way through, and Amelia’s movements became much quicker and choppier in order to play as fast as the music demanded. She had reached the climax of the song now, and her whole body was moving in time with the rhythm which was perforating the air, uninterrupted until a voice from behind her surprised Amelia into pulling the bow down screechily across the strings, producing an awful sounding note in her distraction.

What the hell? Amelia thought, lowering her instrument and whipping around to face the source of the words. It had come from behind her, the direction of the windows, and the person she saw standing in front of her did not look sneaky enough to have come in the door and gotten to the other side of the room without notice. He was much too tall. Amelia knew – as did everyone else – that it was impossible to apparate within Hogwarts grounds, so for a moment Amelia was baffled, at least until she saw the broom he was holding slightly behind his back.

Fantastic, Amelia thought sarcastically to herself, Another heights-happy quidditch player. Just my luck. I can understand running into them on the quidditch pitch, but the towers?

The boy seemed not to have noticed Amelia dislike for being interrupted, or perhaps he had noticed and that was the reason he was talking nervously to fill the silence that seemed to drape the room now that Amelia’s song had been cut short. He introduced himself as Adam, and Amelia had learned from her previous encounter with Peter that his accent meant he was French, and she guessed by his relatively unawareness of her reputation that he was from another school, likely Beauxbatons. Amelia didn’t like making assumptions, but if the shoe fits…

“Um… thank you?” Amelia said awkwardly in response to his comment on her song choice, choosing this instead of the many barbed comments she had poised on her lips. In most other situations, Amelia would not have hesitated to hurl a particularly sarcastic remark in the boy’s direction, but her surprise had not yet worn off and perhaps that was what was making her slightly – and only slightly – more reserved when it came to caustic remarks.

“Is there a particular reason you’re here?” Amelia asked after a long, uncomfortable minute of silence, more of her impatience at being interrupted starting to bubble to the surface. She had come to the towers looking for solitude, and yet even here someone had managed to find her. It seemed like no matter what she did, this school year was determined to force her into fulfilling her mother’s wishes of being more social.

Adam could tell she wasn't too happy with him interrupting her Violin practice. He felt rather sorry, but she was very pretty. The gentleman in him wanted to leave; however the teenage boy wanted to stay. He really didn't know what to do as she sat and he stood in the awkward silence of the night. The song had just been so inviting. It sounded well played and familiar. Yet he couldn't remember anyone ever playing it or even mentioning it to him before. He coughed and began to speak, "Uh, no not really. I just zought your music sounded very good." he told her. That was no lie, it was some of the best-well some of the only Violin music he heard. He didn't listen to it everyday. It was rare he'd even get to hear it twice in a year. He focused on the guitar and the alto saxaphone. He had met someone who played both and was automatically interested in the instruments. His mother blamed the man who Adam had met. He looked cool, so naturally people thought those instruments were cool.

He continued to hold his broom. He didn't want to see like he planned on staying. After all, he had interrupted and was sure she wanted him gone. He was also afraid she'd get up and push him out the window. He was standing right in front of it and was showing no signs of defence right now. He was completely open for an attack. Althought his wand was tucked firmly in his pocket and he was a quick draw. He couldn't curse a girl, that was just rude. Unless she attacked twice and had no intentions of giving up. That was the only time he considered ever trying to duel a girl. Death Eaters and just generally rude girls were the only exception. He wasn't stupid, and he had some common sense. "That's Right! the voice in his head told him. Oh great now the voice could read his-wait..he was already in his head. Oh boy, Peter was rubbing off on him. He grinned faintly at the thought but dropped it as soon as it had come.

Adam was beginning to feel really nervous now. But alas, the anit-sweat charm only lasted 24-hours. It was getting close to midnight as well. He only had a few more hours before it was lifted. He was sure if they actually got along he'd be there for a while. Well...maybe he was over-exaggerating. Yeah that was most likely the truth there. He looked down at his watch, yep twelve-thirty and counting. He was really fighting with himself now. The coward in him was breaking through and wanted to jump out the window. But then what if he saw her around Hogwarts. He was pretty sure he'd remember what she looked like so it was high he'd be seeing her again. Plus she kind of looked like she spent quite a large amount of time in the Library. That was pretty much the only place Adam went to at Hogwarts. Well, besides the Great Hall for breakfast and when he was just exploring.

He hadn't done any exploring yet though. He was waiting for Jack to share some of her secrets with him. When she would be in classes he and Peter would be roaming the halls looking for secret passageways and such. But Hogwarts was so big that it was intimidating even to think of finding your classes. This was why he was going to stick to possibly even joining...maybe two classes. Just cause he wanted to learn how they teach at Hogwarts. As far as he knew Hogwarts and Beauxbatons weren't really too different in means of structure. Beauxbatons did have it's own secrets and seemed smaller than Hogwarts. But the grounds were immense that was for sure. Most teachers would teach outside in the spring and fall. Simply because the grounds were full of colour and it was always just generally nice out.

Adam’s response to her blunt question came hesitantly, and Amelia could tell she had made him uncomfortable by putting him on the spot with such a harsh opening line. Although she was being anything but welcoming, the boy had still managed to compliment Amelia’s music again in his response, which made Amelia feel slightly guilty for having treated him so badly. She felt she was justified in being annoyed at the interruption – she didn’t go bursting in on other people, and yet they so often did it to her – but she probably could have handled the situation with more grace.

Now who sounds like her mother? Amelia’s subconscious asked sarcastically, in reference to her thinking the phrase “handled the situation with more grace.” That is exactly the way Antoinette would have phrased it, and just thinking about her mother’s thoughts on her current situation – not to mention the glare she would have been giving Amelia – made the redhead sigh heavily, knowing that she would not have to resign herself to trying to make up for what she had said. Her mother wasn’t even around and she was still managing to make Amelia do what she wanted.

“Thank you… again,” Amelia repeated, though this time more earnestly. It was flattering to hear people appreciate her music, though she did not often play for an audience by choice. Occasionally, Antoinette would force her into some kind of public appearance, but generally, Amelia played only to an empty room.

“I’m Amelia,” she added, trying to backtrack in the conversation and say the things she ought to have said earlier. Adam had already given his introduction, so hers was late in coming, but better late than never.

With her name given, however, the scales were nearly balanced back to neutral, but Adam had still paid her a compliment that she had not returned. She could not immediately think of anything complimentary to say to the boy who had started her when he came into the tower uninvited, so she found herself looking him over. He was not exceptionally tall, but taller than she was. He had a very European look about him, with fair skin and light eyes. His face had a pleasing symmetry about it, but he was not altogether striking.

I don’t think ‘pleasing facial symmetry’ counts as an acceptable social compliment, Amelia’s subconscious had to reminded her, though this should have been obvious. Clearly Amelia was going to fail in the compliment-doling department, so she forged ahead, trying to sound more pleasant this time, though what she was saying was difficult for her.

“You can stay, if you like,” Amelia said, gesturing to the free chair on the side of the room. She herself was standing, but only because she preferred to stand when she played. Amelia would rather have asked the boy to leave, thereby resurrecting her previous solitude, but she was going for pleasant, and dismissing the foreign student would not really have fallen into that category.

“I even occasionally take requests,” Amelia added, trying to sound conversational and light, but instead managing to sound incredibly awkward, even to her own ears, which magnetized her retinas to the floor almost immediately, darting them up every few seconds to see Adam’s reaction to her social ineptitude. She would not be at all surprised if he got back on his broom and flew out the window, which would not be entirely unwelcome, but it would be further proof that she really was incapable of mastering the social skills her mother was constantly forcing on her.

I think that ship has already sailed… Amelia’s subconscious did not hesitate to add.