Closed Heart Strings PV Avery Chen

The late fall chill was already starting to set in on Hogwarts. Avery could already feel the evenings dimming earlier, and the chill biting through his jacket or robes whenever he had to cross the Courtyard to another location in the castle. At 8pm, the sun had already been down for a few hours. Each darkening day, compounded by the fact that Slytherin was located in the basements, almost made Avery wish he were home for winter break already. Almost. But not quite...

Sure, he missed talking about his day with his parents; he missed his mom's home-cooked spicy food; he missed his bedroom with a window that received sunlight that didn't look out into the depths of a dark lake. He supposed that winter really made him question whether his usually cheery self was meant to be a Slytherin -- wouldn't it be nice to be up in a high tower like Gryffindor or Ravenclaw?

...However, he also enjoyed the freedom he had at boarding school. If he got a less-than-satisfactory grade on a paper, he could resolve to make up for it in the next assignment without fear of being found out by his parents. If he felt that he hit a wall during violin practice one day, he could pick his instrument back up the next day, without having to force himself to finish the entire hour of practice while angrily charging through the bars with tripping, stiff fingers and poor intonation. In fact, his more 'self-focused' method of practice was serving him well. His relationship with his violin had undoubtedly improved; he was more likely to be happy while he was playing, instead of frequently wishing that the clock ticked faster. The music expressed his emotions more powerfully and willfully when practice no longer felt like such a chore.

So, as he reached the entrance of the Rehearsal Room, his mood brightened. Despite the darkness of the night and the chill of late fall, he was happy to continue practicing where he left off yesterday. However, as he pushed open the door to the room, the notes of a violin poured out. Goshdarnnit. Someone else was already using the room. He breathed a sigh of exasperation through his nose, thinking that he ought to go back to his prison of a dormitory to practice instead.

Somehow, though, the notes drew him in, and he paused at the entrance. It was a very recognizable tune -- a piece that many violinists aspired to play or had learned to play. However, this particular musician's rendition was ripe with emotion. The melody waxed and waned, with bright, hopeful notes, and then wistful sobriety that tugged at the heartstrings. Irrevocably, he found himself transported back home to the dinner table, as if the musician was pining for home.

So, who was the violinist? In his subconscious will to find the answer to this question, he moved closer to the source of music. Before he new it, he found that he had stepped into the room with his violin case and into the candlelight of the chandelier and the moonlight from the high floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a girl with braided brown hair who looked to be his age, completely entranced within her music. She looked a tad familiar, but he wasn't quite able to put faces to names for each of his classmates yet.

Soon, the piece was coming to an end, and Avery began to panic. If she glanced in his direction, there was no way she would miss seeing him. And what would she think of that? Did he seem like a stalker? Was he being creepy? She had claimed the room first, after all. Multiple musicians couldn't really practice effectively in the same room, and he was obviously intruding at this point. When the notes would come to a smooth ending, Avery did the only thing he could think of: clap. "Brava, brava! That was excellent!" he applauded, authentic in his praise, but obviously embarrassed that he had seemingly snuck up on her. "Great piece and excellent delivery, Olivia!" he continued his nervous spew of words, pretty sure that the girl's name wasn't Olivia, but his mouth didn't always obey his mind. Typical Avery Chen. "I'll-I'll just get out of your way, now, and uh-" he pointed off somewhere into the shadowy hallway behind him, "and leave you be. Great work, by the way! You should keep practicing!" And then it occurred to him that the girl might take it to mean she hadn't practiced well enough. "I mean, you should continue using the Rehearsal Room, as you were!"

He turned to leave in a panic, heart racing at this horrible faux pas.

─────Olivia? Who was that?

Sylvie stared at the boy that had come part way into the Rehearsal Room. He had a violin case, so he clearly had a purpose coming here. Had he reserved the room before her? How embarrassing! She would hate to have stolen someone else’s practice time… or maybe his was just beginning? And she could pack up and let him have it now?

But as these thoughts were beginning to tumble head-over-heels in her head, the boy was continuing his speech (and his applause! How cute! How kind!) and, as he finished, he began to turn away from the room.

“Oh no!” she exclaimed, trying to reach out for him to stop, but just clumsily thrusting her bow in his direction. “Don’t go! Is it your turn in the room? Is there a sign up sheet? I didn’t know about it…” With the approach of winter and the shortening of days—and not to mention her time spent in actual dungeons for class—her skin had grown paler and her blush was prominent.

She stood straighter again, loosely holding her violin and bow vertically in front of her with her bow dangling from a finger. It would be rather nice to make a music friend. She didn’t recognize him from her House, but there was something familiar about him… Had she seen him in Herbology when she’d stood near the Slytherins?

“Are you a musician, too?” she asked, before kicking herself and blushing even brighter. “I mean, of course you are, what a silly question! It’s just—I’ve never really had music friends outside of my pa. He plays the lute.”

Cheeks burning, Avery turned around to go. He knew how irritating it could be if someone else intruded upon his own practice time. Perhaps it was even more irritating if that practice time had just turned into a relaxing play time, and he was particularly emersed within the piece he was playing, as it may have been the case for this girl.

"Oh no! Don’t go!" the girl called out, and Avery half-turned as the words reached him, causing him to stop in his tracks, wondering if he was now going to be reprimanded. However, it was certainly not the case. "Is it your turn in the room? Is there a sign up sheet? I didn’t know about it…" The girl seemed just as flustered as he was, aghast by the idea that she might've intruded upon his practice time instead. Somehow, a weight was lifted from his chest at the girl's honest response. So, she didn't find him intrusive and rude? "Oh, no, not at all!" Avery responded, eyes wide and waving a hand, hoping to dismiss her worries. "I don't think there's a sign up process, actually..." he mused. "But that would be a good idea. There's been a couple times when I've come here only to find the room occupied," he laughed softly. "Usually, I just try to come during lunch break or late in the evenings now," he offered with a shrug. "It just makes me feel so much better to have a dedicated space to practice, you know?" His roommate was like a brother to him, but he was sure that Henry also appreciated peace and quiet in their shared, small space whenever he wasn't in the library or dueling practice. The notes tended to reverberate off their stone walls quite harshly.

As the question escaped the girl's lips, she blushed, but Avery gave her an encouraging smile. "Yup, I've been playing violin since I was about five. It's a love-hate relationship sometimes, really," he responded with a chuckle. Indeed, he was still trying to sort out his relationship with his instrument. All child musicians probably struggled with it at some point, some more than others, but he supposed it depended on how hard you were willing to work on it and how much you loved music in the end, perhaps? "How about you? Have you been playing long? I actually came in because you played Salut d'Amour so well," he admitted. "It seems like you really like the violin," he observed.

As the girl mentioned her pa, his interest was piqued. "The lute?" he asked, almost rhetorically, as the girl mentioned the instrument. He knew what a lute was, but it wasn't an instrument he had seen in any of the junior orchestras or school string ensembles he had played in, so he'd never met an actual lutist or listened to lute music specifically. "That's a unique instrument of choice. I don't think I've ever met a lutist before, so I really don't know much about lutes," he confessed.

All his chatting -- and he suddenly realized that he hadn't even introduced himself! "Oh, I'm Avery, by the way! A first year in Slytherin," he said, holding out a hand. "What's your name? I don't think it's Olivia?" he chuckled, still embarrassed by the fact that he may very well have called her by the wrong name.

─────Sylvie let out a small sigh of relief. Good! She hadn’t been imposing or using the room selfishly. Maybe it should have a sign up sheet, but not having one was just as chaotic as the rest of the castle, so it sort of fit.

“It’s so nice having a dedicated practice place!” Sylvie agreed. “Listening to a violinist practicing is an… acquired taste, I think! Most people prefer to listen to performances.” She smiled and winked a little. “My dorm mates don’t complain, but I’d rather not give them a reason to, y’know? I didn’t even know about this room til today—it’s so nice. Everything in this castle feels so… so grand!” she spread her arms for a moment, violin hanging from the left hand and bow from the right.

“Oh, we’re about the same then!” Sylvie said, brightening. “I’ve been playing for about as long, too. I take lessons from an old man in our village. He’s so sweet and patient, it was always so relaxing to take lessons from him… I kind of miss it.”

Sylvie’s voice trailed off and her gaze fell to the side a little as she remembered the comfy cottage; its windows filled with warm sunshine and gauzy curtains, the couch filled with plush cushions, the smell of dhal simmering on the stove and the sound of her teacher gently tapping his foot to the beat he wanted. This was an evening full of longing for the past, it seemed, and she pushed down the emotion that rushed up in response to her memories.

She smiled shyly at his compliment of her playing. It was a piece her teacher had set for her last spring, one of the last she’d been able to get his continued feedback on. Her technicality had improved over the summer and into the fall, but she’d felt like this time she’d been able to access a bit of the emotion that the piece required. She was a little gratified that someone had been around to hear her improvement.

“Thank you! I don’t normally play this piece so well—it’s so lucky you heard it this time!” she laughed, honestly and easily, like it wasn’t modesty or self-depreciation, just an understood fact of her playing. “I do like the violin! It’s so… so versatile, and there’s so much music for it! You can play lots of movie soundtracks with it!” She blushed a little, like it was a guilty pleasure.

“I don't think I've ever met a lutist before, so I really don't know much about lutes," Avery told her.

“Well, now you have!” Sylvie said, spreading her arms and doing a small dip. She straightened again. “The lute is the first instrument I started learning! I started on it really young—like 3 or 4? My pa is a wizard, so he commissioned a lute that fits to my size as I grow. It was so tiny back then! They don’t really make quarter sized versions of lutes in the muggle world because there’s not the same interest for it as violin. The violin is really just a hobby, I guess… The instrument my pa’s invested in me being good at is the lute. It’s easier to practice in my dorm or common room, though—it’s much quieter than a violin! It’s made for chamber music, so it actually sounds quite lovely in the room of a castle.”

“I’m Sylvie Hawthorne,” she said. “I’m a first year Hufflepuff! I thought I might have recognized you from Herbology. Olivia’s quite a nice name, though!”

Sylvie knew exactly what he was talking about. A practice room of one's own was so important. After moving to boarding school, he no longer had the luxury of practicing terrible, off-key notes or repetitive scales like he had in the comfort of his own bedroom, so the large Rehearsal Room was the perfect place. Back home, when he juggled too many music sheets, it was sometimes easier to lay all his things atop the back of the living room couch whenever his parents weren't watching TV. Even then, it was still a bit nerve-racking knowing that they might be listening for progress and mistakes. "I agree!" he said emphatically. "I feel like I finally found a place to practice where I don't have to worry about sounding good all the time," he mused. "Y'know, I think I've actually gotten better since I came to Hogwarts, just because I can focus on making long-term adjustments to my technique and play style. Back then, I guess I was mostly trying to sound good short-term by just hitting the right notes during practice." Of course, part of his efforts when practicing at home was to appease his parents, and to show them he was improving by simply minimizing note mistakes. As non-musicians themselves, it was the easiest way for them to gauge how well he was doing. But now, he had the leisure of making true progress according to his own pace, without caring how he sounded while practicing, now that his parents weren't listening. "I guess... I feel like I can play for myself a bit more, now."

Indeed, Hogwarts looked so grand. "Yeah, it's like living in a fairytale, isn't it? Floating candles, high towers, stained glass windows, and whatnot."

He listened as the girl reminisced about her violin lessons back home, and the versatility of the violin, which Avery wholeheartedly agreed with. "Wow, your teacher sounds like a great guy," he said, picturing a kind old man demonstrating on a full-size violin while a small girl held hers. While Avery could see why she would miss having lessons with her violin teacher, he couldn't say he shared the same sentiment completely. "Actually, I was usually super nervous during my lessons," he admitted, a bit sheepishly. "Mainly, I'd be worried about slipping up after a week of hard practice, or that my teacher would say I didn't practice enough even if I felt I did. And if that happened, it would make my strict parents super upset with me," he said, smile dropping just a tad bit, even though he tried to keep it up. Sylvie really seemed to love violin, and Avery was half-afraid what she would think if he admitted that he didn't know exactly where he stood on the spectrum of love and hate with his violin. Would she be surprised that someone's feelings could be so ambiguous towards something she cherished? Would he seem ungrateful? However, even though they had just met, Avery felt that he could voice his honest thoughts and feelings. Somehow, he supposed, it was nice to have the opportunity to speak with a fellow violinist about something that was such a big part of his life and identity. "I guess I'm still trying to figure out if practicing violin is something I want to do, or if it's something other people want me to do," he said, gaze drifting into the distance as he spoke, contemplating the idea of what he said. "Not sure if that makes any sense," he chuckled softly, eyes coming back to Sylvie. If she didn't quite understand, he found himself willing to explain further if she had questions, or simply laugh and shrug together before moving on. Either way worked for him. It was complicated -- even for Avery -- after all.

"And wow, you're actually a lutist, too?" His eyes widened a bit at the idea of meeting his first lutist. And to think that it was actually Sylvie's primary instrument. "You know what, I'd love to hear you play the lute sometime! I'm really not familiar with lute music, either, so I'd be curious to hear it and see it," he said earnestly, wondering if any of the composers he knew actually wrote lute music as well. "Does the lute pair well with other instruments? Or does it usually solo?" he asked, wondering if he'd actually heard chamber music with lutes before, but simply hadn't realized it.

He chuckled as Sylvie suggested that they might've seen each other in Herbology. "Well, I'm glad you don't remember my name from Herbology, then, if that's a class we have together. I feel like I've been bitten and snapped at by various plants so many times, that I'm glad the professor hasn't uttered my name as a bad example in front of the class yet." Really, Herbology was quite deadly, but it was part of the fun, he supposed. "If classes in muggle schools could cause students to faint or get burnt, parents would, like, sue!" he mused.

─────Sylvie listened as quietly, as attentively, as thoughtfully as she could. Usually the chatterbox, it was a bit difficult not to jump in any old time, and instead really pay attention to Avery and try to think about what he meant and felt. The way he spoke about the violin, and about music, she knew he must really care about it—but there seemed to be a more complex feeling there than love. Like there was pain and bitterness mixed with the sweetness of hitting the right note or getting lost in the emotion of a song.

Of course, Sylvie had had her share of struggles as well—every musician did—but she supposed that the attitude her pa had taken to music studies was a bit more gentle, a little more encouraging and easy-going than what Avery experienced with his parents. She couldn’t quite picture her pa getting upset at ‘not progressing’. What did that mean with music? Weren’t there up days and down days? Times you set the instrument aside to listen and learn, and times when you picked it back up?

She wondered if she’d be ‘further along’ if her pa had been more strict—or if she’d just feel this conflict herself? She felt shy about performing, and her pa had never pushed her to, but that was different, right?

“I think playing for yourself is the happiest feeling!” said Sylvie, twisting a little on the spot, her toe pointing down at the ground as she fidgeted. “I’m glad you have that at Hogwarts—it’s its own type of magic, isn’t it? The freedom to be yourself here?”

Tilting her head and looking a off to the side a little, she frowned. “It sounds difficult to have a teacher like that—and if your parents are strict, too!” She was silent for a long moment as she considered that Avery might not like or play violin for his own sake. “I wonder I there’s a type of magic for that?” she said, and it was so out of flow with the conversation that it might have taken Avery a moment to figure out where she was going with it. “Like—a potion you can drink to help you think clearly? Or a Sorting Hat that can tell you what instrument to play or what hobby to pursue? Like I overheard a Ravenclaw girl who didn’t know what class to specialize in—you know, try to be number one in? I think that’s a little silly, honestly, because shouldn’t you just do what you love and what’s easy? Like for me I’d go for Charms, because that feels fun and easy, and I’ll just do my best to pass History of Magic, and maybe one day I’ll be good at Potions, but, you know, I’m not going to try to be number one—not that I’d want to be, I think I’d be sad if I ever fell to number two, and then it wouldn’t even be about learning anymore, would it?” Sylvie took a deep breath, now realizing that she’d been rambling. She blushed and twirled the bow of the violin a little.

“Anyway, I think you should do what makes you happy—play the songs you want to, or don’t play, or learn to play something else. Like maybe the cello! You have the look of a cellist to you, at little, like, kind of serious and dreamy—I think that’s how a cellist would feel. Then you could have the cello in front of you like a shield and it’ll protect you from any mean things your teacher says—though if you played the cello it’d probably be a different teacher, maybe a nicer one?”

Though maybe running away from the violin to play the cello wasn’t really the advice a conflicted musician needed or wanted or could even use. It seemed romantic and fun to Sylvie, however, which was the main thing.

“We should play a duet sometime!” she said, smiling. “Well, if you want to. We can pick some songs that you really like and make it easy-going. As for the lute, it can be by itself or together with others. I’ll play it sometime,” she blushed and looked down, fidgeting a bit more than she had when her non-stop chatter had made her forget any nervousness.

“So Herbology isn’t your strong point?” she asked with a grin, changing the subject from music for a moment. “What’s your favourite class? Who’s your favourite teacher? Do you like classes, or do you spend all day waiting for the free time afterwards?”

He was just a tad nervous that Sylvie wouldn't quite understand what he was rambling about, or even judge him for admitting his hesitancies about his relationship with his violin, but he really didn't need to. There was something about her that was so genuine and relatable that Avery found his initial fears slipping away.

"Right?!" Avery expressed emphatically when Sylvie said that playing for oneself was the happiest feeling. Perhaps it really was a type of magic that Hogwarts gave him. "Wow, I hadn't thought of it before, but maybe that's one of the reasons I actually feel so at home here!" Really, by having the magic of freedom to explore new things in the wizarding world as he pleased -- eat unlimited cool snacks that jumped at you, chatting with ghosts on his way to class, joining a sport where you flew in the sky for goodness' sake -- they were certainly things he wouldn't have had the freedom of doing in his old life, which was pretty much dominated by just school, homework, and violin practice.

Was there a potion he could drink that would help him think clearly? A type of Sorting Hat that could know what hobbies Avery should pursue? He blinked in surprise as these ideas hadn't even crossed his mind, and he appreciated the fact that Sylvie was trying very hard to help him come up with a creative solution. "Huh! I don't know," Avery considered this and wondered. "That would make life so much easier, right? Maybe we'll learn things like that in the- um, future-seeing class? Divi-what?" He was still new to this wizarding world thing, and there were just so many amazing classes he had yet to take. "But you're right. It's so easy to lose the fun in learning things if your goal is just to be number one in something, I guess. Also, even if the potion or Sorting Hat told me I should be focusing on one thing, I don't want to be stuck in the situation where I feel like I need to focus on just that thing to be the best in it, and totally miss out on cool opportunities to do other things, you know?" Maybe there was some intrigue and meaning to not having the clearest directions in life, now that Sylvie helped him think through it.

He listened to Sylvie's encouragement to do what naturally made him happy, instead, and felt that it made a lot of sense. "Hmmm, yeah, and it would still be learning, wouldn't it? -- even if I decided I wanted to learn a different instrument, or even play different kinds of violin pieces. I guess people feel best and learn fastest when they're learning what makes them happy, instead of forcing themselves to do what doesn't really make them happy." It seemed that there was just a point where no amount of forcing could make one progress faster than if they practiced something that made them happier. He hadn't quite thought about things in this way before, with his parents' constant nagging about practicing the pieces he'd been assigned, but was definitely something to think about and maybe even talk to them about.

Somehow, he couldn't help but laugh good-naturedly at the idea of hiding behind a big cello, and the fact that he came off as a bit serious and dreamy. He always seemed to be quite serious whenever he discussed anything violin, didn't he? It wasn't a side that our normally silly and easy-going boy showed to everyone, and it must've surprised his friend Ming when he found out, too. "Yeah, who knows! Maybe I'm really meant to play the cello!" he proclaimed, hands on hips and lifting his chin, pumped up by the idea that he could possibly switch instruments one day, and maybe even find a nicer teacher. "Heck, maybe I could even go for a-" cue dramatic gasp "-brass instrument one day and like, play trumpet! And become a whimsical jazz musician! Or something!" He was having fun imagining all the limitless possibilities the world had to offer now. After all, didn't they say the world was an oyster? Wasn't the world actually just so cool? He stood there beaming for a second, looking quite refreshed and reinvigorated.

Speaking of fun things to do, playing a duet together with Sylvie would definitely be very cool. "You know what? I think I have a Canon in D violin duet in my stack. I haven't really played it with anyone else before, but it was just something fun that I thought I'd try out one day, if you're interested? Or even something else?" He looked eagerly at Sylvie, hoping he didn't look too expectant, lest she be pressured into playing with him if she didn't really want to play something right now. He figured Canon in D would be a good piece to try, even though they hadn't played together before, since the tune was already a familiar one to most.

As he shuffled through his things, just trying to reorganize and sift through what else he had, he replied to her questions. "Yeah nah, Herbology is not my strong point. Any class with things that have a mind of their own, really. I swear, potions have brains and they can think. They like, judge you while you're brewing them. Can you feel it? When mine's spouting red gas and no one else's potion is, my potion is just angry I screwed it up, I swear. Classes are generally super cool, though! I love Flying, because I'm on the quidditch team and heights are fun! But Professor Fresnel is the sweetest ever so I like Charms as well. What about you? Do you like the classes here? And who's your favorite teacher?" The more they chatted about Hogwarts things, the more excited he became, and his worries over regular old violin practice began to evaporate with the prospect of doing new, cool things with a potential new friend.