The Sound of Music Finished

Simon had finished his essay due for History of Magic much earlier than he had expected. It wasn't due until Monday and that meant he had this night, Thursday, to work on it, as well as the next night and weekend. His initial intention had been to sit down and just begin some basic research so he could let the ideas swim around in his mind for a day or so, but instead, inspiration and motivation struck him quickly and he got out some parchment and his quill and got straight to work.

In little time, he was completing his final statement and pausing. That hadn't taken long. In fact, it took such a short time that he was pretty sure it would be the worst thing he had ever written in his entire life - until he reread it. Nope, not bad at all. Simon glanced over at his sleeping rat and then down to his wristwatch, figuring it was probably nearing curfew but no, he still had a fair amount of time left.

Not hungry, as usual (well...correction: always hungry but just never satisfying his hunger whether he ate or not), he decided against going to the Great Hall for the past part of supper. Instead, he would head to the Rehearsal Room to feed his love of music.

That plan wouldn't go as well as the essay had, for this time he had the plans but they didn't execute themselves perfectly. In fact, by the time he made his way up to the Fourth Floor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and slowly passed through the large wooden doors, he discovered that someone else was already playing at the piano.

She played nicely, and he entered silently although sent a few enthusiastic waves to some of the portrait people who were waving at him. Another was placing their finger upon their lips to silently tell Simon to be quiet, as someone was practicing.

"You're quite gifted," Simon complimented the girl as he approached at the piano in the room.

Pandora was so immersed. She loved music. She just came to his senses when he heard a male voice calling out to him.

"Thanks. I've been playing since I was little, but there's still something missing in this music."

Pandora took a closer look at the boy. He looked like a vampire with his dark hair and colored eyes. Pandora realized she hadn't introduced herself yet. She extended her hand.

"I forget say my name. My name is Pandora. So what is your name?"

Pandora wondered why he was here. Was he playing an instrument? And she didn't know where this place was.

"Do you play an instrument and do you know where this place is?"

She had never seen this place, and she had never seen it anywhere like it. Pandora wanted to get to know a little more.

"What are your hobbies? What's your favorite music?"

Feeling hungry, Pandora got up from the piano and picked up her bag. She sat down in one of the chairs. And she opened her bag. She took out a sugar cake. She handed one of the cakes to the boy.

"Would you mind, I have too much and it tastes so good."

@Simon Kincaid

Note to Simon:

Note to Pandora:

@Pandora Smith@Simon Kincaid
Cynthia had just finished potion homework when she heard music coming out of the room. Piano? Yes, it sounded like piano. The door was open. She knocked, but allowed herself in anyways. There was a male student standing inside the room. He looked like…Simon Kincaid? The Hufflepuff prefect. But he wasn’t playing. No, it was Pandora. Pandora, her dorm mate. She smiled, for the music was indeed beautiful. The boy, Simon, had just complimented Pandora and Pandora had just asked him a string of questions. Judging by her questions, Pandora did not know who the boy was.
Cynthia thought that she probably shouldn’t disrupt them… but since Pandora was finished…why not join them? Perhaps Pandora would like to be with someone she knew better? Hopefully. She walked in and nodded to Simon and Pandora. ‘Sorry for the bother, but can I join you, Pandora? Prefect Kincaid?’ It looked like she had answered one of Pandora’s questions. She hoped they would say yes. She looked over to Simon, thinking that she’d better explain a few things. ‘Hello Simon. Me and Pandora met in the dormitories. We’re dorm mates. I just heard her wonderful music a few moments ago.’ ‘By the way, very good, Pandora!’

Simon was glad that she wasn't embarrassed by his presence and instead seemed eager to meet a new friend - that was his kind of person! He was always up for meeting someone new. Just as he was about to begin to answer her questions, another Ravenclaw joined them in the Rehearsal Room. The girl at the piano introduced herself as Pandodra and the other referred to his name, so she at least knew of him. Still, there would be none of that Prefect Kincaid stuff. He was just a student as they were!

Simon smiled, looking forward to meeting two new people that evening.

"Hello to the both of you," he said as he stepped back so that Cynthia could join where they were a bit more easily and be welcomed and included. "I know how you feel. I too enjoy writing music and I can be stuck on the same piece for months until inspiration hits - usually right in the middle of one of the professor's lectures. I'm Simon, Simon Kincaid," he said as he extended his hand out to shake first Pandora's and then turned to do the same to her roommate Cynthia. "I too have been playing the piano for many years, as well as guitar and I enjoy singing. Favorite music is music from of the crooners, big band jazz. and American Motown." Not everyone knew all that though, especially there in Britain.

"Other hobbies? There's uhhh...." he paused to think about that a moment. "There's broom racing and learning about all things magic, a love of dragons, writing to my aunt and muggle friends, hanging out with my friends and girlfriend, dancing, socializing, learning about medical stuff, skateboarding, swimming, ice skating, hockey, listening to music, creating music." Surely he was leaving some things out. Simon rarely found himself bored because there was always something he could do.

"That's cool that you're both dormmates. My particular dorm is set up in small little rooms so it's just me there. Works well for me though." Worked well because he could play his guitar without disrupting anyone on sleepless nights, and he didn't have a window so he didn't need to worry about sunlight filtering in. Too much sunlight wasn't a good thing.

"What about you girls? Tell me a little bit about yourselves. Maybe where you're from, what's your family like, what are your hobbies, what is your name?" he pointed to Cynthia on that one because he didn't have one for her yet. He then politely declined the offer of the sugar cake snack. "Kind of you, Pandora, but no thank you. I'm not a fan of sweets." It was one of several things that was odd about Simon Kincaid.

@Simon Kincaid and @Cynthia Beaufort

"Tahank you Cynthia."

Pandora was delighted to see her dorm friend. She was a dear friend, after all.

Pandora squeezed the outstretched hand without thinking. She saw Cynthia squeezing too.

Do you have a girlfriend? wow.

Pandora never wanted a single dormitory to have someone to talk to, or someone to talk to when I couldn't sleep at night. Perhaps Simon is a lone warrior, Pandora thought.

"I live in Welsh with my family. We live in a town close to the forest. That's why we go camping all the time during the summer holidays. That's why I know how to set up tents. My father is a hunter and my mother is an auror. My father taught me at a young age because he knows how to shoot arrows. My mother taught me to play the piano, and I've been playing it since I was little."

Pandora was surprised that Simon had turned the cake. This time he handed the cake to Cynthia.

Would you like a cake, Cynthia? My mom sent it yesterday. its taste is very good." This time she handed the cake to Cynthia and waited for an answer.

-Friends never lie trust them the most-

Cynthia tugged at her clothes self-consciously, showing the prefect her name tag, ‘Cynthia Beaufort. Nice to meet you. I’m from the Oxford countryside — that’s in England. Most pure-bloods don’t live there, since there’s a muggle university close by. But my family has a manor in the area. I don’t have any siblings. My father works in the ministry and my mother homeschools me and writes books. She was once a professor though. Hobbies? I like to read books, write poetry and do watercolour. I also enjoy astronomy class quite a bit.’ She though Simon liked a lot of things.
‘Unfortunately, I can’t make music like you two. Though I once learned how to play the French horn. My skills are rust now though.’ She walked over to the stash of instruments and found one she liked. She replaced the mouthpiece and started to play. She loved music too, but she thought her performance sounded bad. She hadn’t practised in what, six months? She still remember the basic tunes, though. And she loved it. If she was so bad at it, then she wouldn’t have let them hear, but she did, so she can’t be that bad, can she? The tune Cynthia was playing was the one used to welcome French royals back in the old days. It was very traditional and classical, but she liked it. Now since that she has played for a while, maybe she should continue playing. She made a mental note for her mother to mail it to her. She finished. ‘Now since I’ve rediscovered my passion for this, I might play some more later.’
@Simon Kincaid @Pandora Smith

"Great, between both of you girls I'll never have any time on this piano anymore," he said as he flashed a smile to show he was only teasing. "No, no, I kid. I love that there's other lovers of music here at Hogwarts. There needs to be more music in the wizarding world. You know, there's an old gramophone in the corner over there with some music and I've got one of the wizard radio's in my bag. We could get together sometime to listen to some of the programs," and he went to take it out and show them.

He went to his enchanted satchel and slid one hand in and rummaged around a moment. Maybe this wouldn't be so amazing to Cynthia who was a pureblood or even to Pandora who had one parent who was of magic, but to someone like him who grew up in the muggle world - it was fascinating!

He pulled out the radio and placed it gently down on the top of the piano with a smile. It was then he realized he really hadn't gone into detail about his family, or lack there of, but the other two girls had.

"I'm a city boy. London, born and bred. Love it there and hope to always stay," he said with another smile. Simon smiled a lot. "Live there with my Aunt Maggie. She's quite thrown by all this wizarding stuff. My mum was a witch, in the house of Gryffindor, but she met the Lord when I was three. Poor Aunt Maggie didn't know any of this stuff really and she didn't realize it mostly runs in families on whether or not you get into a place like Hogwarts. I grew up not knowing any of this existed."

But, boy, did he love it.

Speaking of love, Pandora mentioned the girlfriend and again, he smiled even brighter. "Yea, I've been with a fellow Hufflepuff of mine since April. Her name is AngelFyre McCubbin. She's more amazing than I could ever describe."

‘Radio? Isn’t that what the muggles use? Even them don’t use it anymore, don’t they. I think I saw one of them in a muggle antique shop once.’ She glanced sideways at the radio. ‘So, there’s programmes on it? Like we can listen to it?’ She wasn’t exactly fascinated with muggles, but they were somewhat interesting. From Simon’s look, she knew she was right. Then Cynthia realised what Simon had said. ‘Oh, I’m sorry for your loss. Your mother must have been very brave, though. Still, I think he would have made a great wizard if he hadn’t turned to the dark arts,’Cynthia said, referring to Tom Riddle. Since he wasn’t alive anymore, she didn’t see the problem with naming him. She wondered if that made Simon unhappy, though. She shouldn’t have said it. There was a silence around the room. She quickly turned the subject away from that. ‘AngelFrye must be a nice person. I think she is very lucky to have you and you her.’ This was better, more relaxed conversation. Cynthia took a look at her watch. ‘Oh, I’m sorry! I haven’t realised I’ve been here for so long! I need to preview some materials. It was nice meeting you, Prefect Kincaid. Please excuse me for now.’ It was a habit to be polite, but it seemed as if she was too polite now. She turned on her heels and walked in the direction of the courtyard.

@Simon Kincaid @Pandora Smith

Cynthia has left the thread.

Pandora had seen a radio in her grandfather's house, but had never seen her employee.

Pandora couldn't help but grieve when she heard what Simon had said. It must have been painful.

"I'm so sorry. It's such a bad feeling."

By Pandora Lord, he understood that he meant Tom Riddle. Her mother had told him. But he was long dead. She thought, is anyone still afraid?

“I don't know, but she seems like a sweet person."

Seeing that Cynthia's hour was running late, she thought of the missing piece. She realized what was missing.

She took the paper and changed some of the notes. This time she found what she was missing. Sh was sure.

She went to the piano, turned off the radio and put it on the floor. She started playing. The notes were getting louder and louder. She had found it at last. Turned to Simon:

"I found it at last. But I have to go too. I don't know the time, but it's too late for sure. Thank you for everything."

Pandora packed her things and went out the door. As she walked down the hall, a new fiction came to mind. She had a fun time.

Pandora has left the thread.

@Simon Kincaid