a musical day (open)

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A music shop wasn't an entirely odd place to find Hannah Longbottom, but it wasn't one of her regular places to be found either. In fact, anywhere outside of the Leaky Cauldron was a rare place to find the blonde mother of the Longbottom children. It was early morning, and Hannah had come out to Hogsmeade in order to be in town when the Hogwarts children had a vacation day. She arrived a little before the Hogwarts students would be coming, wanting to surprise her kids and other loved ones. Soon, she found herself wondering the shelves of Dominic Meastro's.

Hannah loved music. Listening to it, even occasionally playing it. She didn't have much time to just sit and listen to music anymore, though she often played music in the Leaky Pub when the mood called for it. The shelves were magical, in the literal sense and figuratively. Music played throughout the shop, but the genre or artist changed depending on where you stood. However, it was never jumbled strangely nor did it overlap. It just seemed to float into place, finding root in your heart and ears.

So, here she was, getting lost in the sound and shelves of the music shop, finding a rare moment of peace in her busy and crazy life.

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@hannah

walking into dominic's archer smiled slightly as she made her way to one of her favourite places in the small village. it was the grand piano that stood in the middle of the shop, light streaming down from the sunroof above it and she moved to take the place on the seat in front of the keys. it was an enchanted piano, only those who wanted to hear the music could. archer still han't worked out how the old charmer had done it, but it worked and kept people in the store who weren't interested in it happy. she ran her fingers over the keys, the feel of them familiar as she worked her fingers into a simple song. it had been a little while since she'd had the time to come down and use the piano. when her fingers had relaxed into playing and dancing over the keys she started paying a more difficult number, her finegrs flying over the piano before her. she had learned to play at the age of six. her neighbour at the time had had an old piano that she had been allowed to use whenever her and her parents were over in the house, but it had been gone for years and this was the only one that she knew of. she began to sing softly to the song she was playing, forgetting that she was in the middle of a shop for a moment and in a world all her own, far away from the people around her.

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Suddenly, Hannah noticed the sound of a piano being played nearby. She smiled, crossing through the aisles until she could see the girl who had taken a seat on the bench and was running her fingers swiftly over the keys. The girls voice was lovely, and Hannah stood there, hands clasped in front of her, listening to the music. As the song ended, Hannah approached the girl giving soft applause. "That was lovely! Where did you learn to play?" she said, a soft kind smile taking place on her face.

She didn't know the girl, nor her family, but there was something familiar about her. Soon, she noticed the hint of yellow on the girls clothing. Hannahs smile spread even wider as she assumed this girl must have been a Hufflepuff. It made Hannah wonder if the girl knew Alice, but then again Alice didn't seem really apt to making friends with anyone. Still, it would be nice to talk to a current youngster from Hannahs old house. A house she was proud of.

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@hannah

hearing the sound of someone's soft applause archer turned on the small stool and smiled. she knew the woman right away. never had they met but archer had known alice since her first year in the house, had known her long enough to have seen a picture of her mother and to have spoken to her friend about her family. "mrs longbottom? you're alice's mother aren't you?" she said with her friendly smile slipping onto her face as she moved to stand up from the piano.

"my next door neighbour let me play on her old piano for a few years" she said, running her fingers over the keys again lightly before she moved to close the piano cover softly. "i'm archer perry. i'm friends with alice" she said as she brushed her hair back over her shoulder, her brown waves having tumbled forward over her shoulders as she had played. "do you play?"

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"Yes, that's me," Hannah answered proudly as the girl guessed her identity. "It's nice to meet you Archer," it was also nice to hear that Alice had a friend, but she wasn't going to say that out loud. That would not end well. "Well, your neighbor made a wise choice in letting you play there. As for myself, I only play a little," there had been a time in her life when Hannah was more interested in trying the piano out, but she had gotten too interested in learning medicine and other things to focus on it too much.

She reached down brushing over the keys slightly before pulling her hand back. "I could never play quite like you. Do you practice here often?" she knew the school had a music room of sorts, and this girl hopefully knew about that too. If not, Hannah would have to give her the news.

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@hannah

"it's lovely to meet you too!" archer said with a smile. she considered alice a friend, could put up with her when she had an attitude and could still want to hang out with her after. growing up in a house full of boys you learned how to appreciate any female company. no matter what it was. she smiled as she worked her fingers over the keys again without thinking. she loved the piano she really did. "she used to tell me she liked hearing me play. did you have lessons?" archer asked as she leaned her arms down against the wood of the piano, careful not to touch any of the keys as hannah ran her fingers along them. "i used to play till my fingers would blister. i never wanted to leave the piano. mostly because my brothers were at home" she said with a laugh as she shifted a little on the bench. "only when we're allowed away from the school"

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"A pleasure as well!" Hannah said, smiling just as brightly at the girl. "Aw, no. I tried when I was younger but got involved in other things. Plus, music was scarce in those days," she added with a grim smile. Not that her first five years were that bad, but after that things were quite different and music wasn't really something that crossed her mind anymore. It was sad, really, but it led her to her true calling of helping others. Not that music wasn't helpful! It was. Heaven knows, it was.

"Do your brothers play, too?" Hannh had only brothers as well, at least that's what the girl was implying. Hannah nodded, "well, there's going to be a little less being allowed out of school, isn't there? I'm sorry about that." She frowned. "But hey, at least you have music to give you something to look forward to every day. You're obviously very dedicated."

@archer