It had been a while since she last touched a piano. The instrument was one she loved to play dearly when she was younger. However, ever since coming to Hogwarts, she hadn't found it in her to go to the rehearsal room to play the masterpiece that was the instrument. She was always scared of someone finding her in the room and she didn't like performing in front of crowds. It felt suffocating to do so. The constant feeling of being silently judged even if they weren't doing so. She played as an expression of her love for music. Not to impress anyone else. So quite frankly, she would rather play the instrument alone in the room.
Now this was the second time she had worked up the courage to enter the room. Once again, she had resorted to coming here at night. Less people that way. Less people to judge her. She hadn't gotten the chance to play over the course of the summer. With the multiple events she both attended and hosted, the last thing on her mind was going to go play the piano. However now she had the time and a nice empty room to play her favourite instrument in. It was all the perfect conditions she needed.
She entered the lovely rehearsal room and took a deep breath. Was is one of relief? Perhaps one of sheer tiredness? Or maybe just her taking in how beautiful the room was at night. The moonlight entered at the perfect angles, making it look like it was straight out of a fantasy novel. The light scattered in the room, illuminating it well enough for her to see without needing any additional light from her wand.
As she made her way towards the piano, she watched the way the portraits stared. Could they be considered as judging people? Yes. The portraits could even be more so than humans. But unlike humans, she was used to playing around them. She soon reached the instrument in question she had come out of her common room to play at this hour. The beautiful piano sat there in all its glory. Sleek. Elegant. Perfect. It was as if it was calling out to her to come play it, to come produce beautiful melodies using it. She opened up the keys and pulled the stool out before sitting and looking down at the keys.
The first thing she did was play each of the keys individually. This was for two reasons. One, it was to make sure every single key was working and sounding how it was supposed to. The other was to gauge how loud the piano was in the room. It was too loud on her ears so she made sure to place her foot down on the middle pedal and move it to the left to quieten the piano. Now it was much better. Loud enough for only her to hear it and not let the sound carry through the sleeping castle.
Now what to play. She knew a few pieces by heart but it had been a good while since she had practiced them after all. Hesitantly she placed her right hand on E5. It was the one that was an octave above the middle C, C4. She placed her pinky on the note before her fourth finger pressed down on the D Sharp. She repeated this twice before hitting the lower B with her index finger. The next note was the D Natural followed by C5 and lastly A. She repeated the sequence once over, at its proper speed this time.
That was the starting of Für Elise. It was her all time favourite classical piece to play. Also, it was easy to memorise it and learn by heart. There was once a point she was able to do it blindfolded with minimal mistakes. Granted now that it had been a while since she had played it, she wasn't going to attempt it eyes closed. But then again, she was also sitting in the dark so she might as well have done it eyes closed.
She took a deep breathe and placed her left hand on the piano as well. It started after the right had finished an entire bar and a half. But it was important to keep it ready to come in at the right time. She began with the E. She played the earlier sequence and then at the end of it, began with her left hand on the lower A, then E and lastly A again before immediately playing the middle C with her right then going to the higher E and finally the A to complete the chord progression before ending on B.
Just like that she continued to play the Beethoven masterpiece she admired so much. Her foot went up and down at the right moments on the pedal to make each note stretch for longer. Then she reached the verse which was much faster and required more concentration. Her fingers flew across the keys, hitting each and every note with controlled precision. The chord progressions, the arpeggios, every single dynamic done almost near perfectly. It truly was a testament to how much she had practiced this over and over a year or so ago.
Piano to her was similar to many skills like swimming or cycling. Once you learnt how to play, it was ingrained into your very being. Even if you play after a long while, your body just seems to know how the fingers are meant to be placed, how heavy or lightly you had to press down to get the right volume, how to mash everything together to place a wonderful symphony. This was what she enjoyed and loved. This is what reminded her not everything was about Astronomy or academics. There were other things in life she enjoyed just as much.
The final bars of the song. A repeat of what she started with in the first place. This time, it was faster paced than the beginning. But not as fast as the verses. As she reached the end she slowed down her hands and struck the final notes extremely slowly. D4, C5 the B just below that and then finally after an inhale, she struck the A with her right hand and the A octave chord with her left on the exhale.
She just sat there in the silence, letting the last bits of the sound fade away before slowly taking her foot off the pedal. She suddenly felt a rush of fresh air enter her lungs. She hadn't realised she was holding her breath during that whole ordeal. After a few minutes her hands were back on the piano once more. She thought for a moment, trying to think of what to play. Christmas carols? No it was no where near Christmas time to be doing that. With her very limited knowledge on muggle films, she recalled one. The Greatest Showman.
Despite growing up primarily around magic, there were multiple occasions her mother had taken her to either a muggle friend's house or the local theatre to watch some movies. Her mother had stated it was to keep in touch with their muggle side. There was one movie that had caught her attention particularly for the music. The Greatest Showman, much like its name, had some really amazing songs in it. So amazing in fact she took it upon herself to hunt for the sheet music for one of its songs. When she had gotten her hands on it, she had kept playing it over and over again for days until she was asked to stop because no one in the house could deal with hearing the same song on repeat so many times.
This was also one she had the scores memorised for and she was glad. She loved playing it. Even if her parents didn't want to hear it anymore it didn't mean she couldn't play it while at Hogwarts. Her right hand was positioned just above the middle C. This time she started with G before playing B. She alternated between the two notes for a bar. The next bar was the same pattern but a note lower. She continued through the intro of the song. Then she hit the verse.
I close my eyes... and I can see... a world that's waiting up for me. That I call... my... own.... Her voice came out softly and shaky. She didn't normally sing while playing but today she was trying to. Unlike her voice, her hands were steady and played each and every note with confidence. Through the dark.... Through the door... Through where no one's been before.... But it feels like home... She felt this pang of sadness in her heart. Once again like clockwork she had to say goodbye to her cousins at the end of the vacations. She wished they would just stay nearby instead.
They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy. Now the beat was speeding up faster. She began to hum each individual note as it played out. They can say, they can say I've lost my mind. She was now adding more force in her playing to increase the volume. Even with the silent pedal down it was still rather loud. I don't care, I don't care if they call me crazy! Her confidence was increasing now with every line. She let the music disassociate her from reality. She was no longer in the school but rather in a world of her own imagination. We can live in a world that we design!
'Cause every night I lie in bed
The brightest colours fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take
Oh, a million dreams for the world we're gonna make
Once again it became quieter as the song began its second verse. She kept playing into the next verse of the song, keeping her touch light to give it a more dreamy effect.
There's a house we can build
Every room inside is filled
With things from far away
The special things I compile
Each one there to make you smile
On a rainy day
Once again the build up happened as she got into the pre-chorus. The tempo sped up and the volume increased again.
They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy
They can say, they can say we've lost our minds
I don't care, I don't care if they call us crazy
Runaway to a world that we design
Every night I lie in bed
The brightest colours fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take
Oh, a million dreams for the world we're gonna make
Now this was her favourite part. The bridge. It was bouncy and catchy and would get stuck in her head for hours if not days or possibly even weeks. She giggled to herself as she continued to sing.
However big, however small
Let me be part of it all
Share your dreams with me
You may be right, you may be wrong
But say that you'll bring me along
To the world you see
To the world I close my eyes to see
I close my eyes to see
And now it became quiet again. Cause every night I lie in bed.... The brightest colours fill my head... A million dreams are keeping me awake It immediately began to speed up a lot A million dreams, A MILLION DREAMS!
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take
A million dreams for the world we're gonna make!
As the song reached its end she began to slow down again. Oh a million dreams for the world.... we're..... gonna make..... She closed her eyes as she finished playing the song.
When she opened her eyes again, she realised what had just happened. Her face turned red from embarrassment and she looked around to make sure no one had heard her. Well besides the portraits of course. Luckily no one had heard her or if they did, they weren't coming to confront her. Deciding she couldn't stay longer, she got up and left the room in a hurry to return back to her common room. 
