The Music In Me (Irina)

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Brandon was sitting in the Room of Requirement, moving from instrument to instrument as he tried to come up with a new song. He wasn't entirely sure what he was trying to accomplish, but he was bored, so playing was definitely something that he wanted to do. He'd left the door open, somewhat hoping that someone would want to join him and maybe assist him, or just play with him. He just didn't want to be on his own anymore. And his muse was flowing better than he could have imagined. He cringed when he hit a chord that sounded terrible. Oops.

[Irina Rose Krum]

After listening to Louisa play so beautifully the other night, Irina had the itch to pick up her flute and play again. The castle was cramped though from all the delegates who stuck around for the Triwizard Tournament, so she had some difficulty finding a place to practice.  Even empty classrooms were full of other students; some were studying and some...well she just wished she hadn't decided to walk in on that. 

As she walked past the Room of Requirement, she was surprised to see the door was there and ajar.  She crept closer and winced involuntarily as whoever was playing the guitar struck a chord wrong.  It had sounded amazing...until that point.  She knocked and called out.  "Can I come in?"  she poked her head around the door; the boy with the guitar looked familiar but wore the blood red robes of Durmstrang.  "The door was ajar, I wasn't sure if you meant it to be," she said hesitantly, holding her flute close like a child.


@brandon

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Brandon jumped when he heard someone's voice come in from behind him. Turning around, he recognized Irina Krum instantly. They hadn't been in the same house when he went to Hogwarts, but they were in the same year, so he knew her. He ducked his head a little, embarrassed that someone he knew heard that terrible chord. "You heard that, didn't you?" he asked, sure she had. Something made her want to come in the room; maybe it was to see who butchered such a nice melody. No, he didn't think it was that, but he wasn't used to messing up musically in front of people.

"Of course you can come in," he added, not wanting to make her feel unwelcome. After all, the room was there for everyone and he did leave the door open. "I was hoping someone would want to play with me," he admitted with a smile, which widened when he saw the flute. "Would you like to join me?" he asked curiously. If she said yes, the room would provide whatever music they needed and he was excited for the opportunity.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina smiled at Brandon. "I heard nothing," she said, feigning innocence before chuckling lightly.  She came in to the room more, but left the door ajar still.  If anyone else wanted to join they would be welcome.  "I'm glad to see you're still playing; Durmstrang hasn't changed you too much," she added teasingly.  She took a seat opposite Brandon and swept her long dark hair up into a ponytail; she'd once gotten a small lock of hair stuck in one of her flute keys and it had not been a pleasant experience.

Irina pulled her flute case towards her and opened the silver clasps.  She couldn't help but smile a little when she saw the silver instrument nestled in its blue velvet casing.  She remembered going with Louisa to pick it out at the store five years ago, now that had been a fun day.  Swiftly, Irina picked up the three pieces of the flute and assembled it properly as she had so many times before.  She hesitated, then pulled out some sheet music.  "Do you know any of these?" she asked him curiously, handing over the music.  She'd done plenty of piano and flute duets due to Louisa, but she'd heard guitar and flute duets less frequently -- she was interested to see how it'd turn out.


@brandon



LET IT GO

[Deleted]

Brandon smiled back when Irina said she didn't hear anything. He was positive she had, but she was too polite to say anything about it. Then he laughed when she mentioned him still playing. "Yeah, that's me. I can't seem to stop playing, no matter where I am. I will say, the people from Durmstrang don't seem to appreciate it as much as everyone in Hogwarts does." That was true, for sure. He'd annoyed more than one fellow student during his last year of studying and practicing his music there.

He smiled when she pulled out her flute and held out some music. Brandon looked at it curiously and then nodded his head. He knew more music than he could express and hers was no exception. Besides, if he wasn't familiar with it, he would just listen for a few seconds and then join in. "I do. You ready to see how a guitar and flute sound together?" He teased with a small laugh. If it didn't sound good he could always move over to the piano. After all, when it came to the piano he was an expert.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina smiled and gave a soft laugh at Brandon's quip.  "I'm only sorry you never got to meet Louisa Hoh; she's a Durmstrang alumni and one of the most gifted pianists I've ever met," she told him, then hesitated only slightly before continuing.  "I attended a concert of hers last night; her playing inspired me to try and find a place to practice the flute.  It's been a month or so since I had last played with the Orchestra club, so you'll have to forgive me if I am a bit rusty," she told him.

At his question, Irina nodded and held the flute up to her lips.  Together they played, the stringed and the woodwind combined.  It was unlike the violin which Irina had grown accustomed to accompanying with Andromeda, but it had its' own strange beauty about it.  When the melody was finished, she set her flute in her lap with a smile.  "I'm glad to hear you've kept your talents.  Have you thought of coming to a club meeting?  I'm sure Andy wouldn't mind if you came," she suggested to him.


@brandon

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Brandon's jaw dropped slightly when Irina started describing Louisa ... Hoh? She must be related to Daniel, who he did know. "Well if you ever hear of another one of her concerts, I would love to attend," he told her honestly. Brandon loved anything to do with music, whether or not he was playing it. So if he ever heard of Louisa Hoh playing he would definitely attend. He rolled his eyes when Irina talked about being rusty. "I'm sure you'll play just fine," he told her with a smile. 

It was an interesting combination, the flute and guitar, but Brandon actually liked it. He thought it added another layer of depth to the music, something that wasn't normally heard and he was glad that he'd gotten to do. Once they were done, he looked over at Irina, smiling at her suggestion. "I hadn't thought of that. I should talk to her about that," he answered, getting lost in his thoughts. After a while he came back. "Well do you want to try another one or do you want to talk or what?" Brandon asked with a smile. He was ready for whatever. Honestly, it was a while since he last talked with her. They knew one another but were never particularly close.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

"Of course; she's playing in London through...at least January from what she said. I'll ask her if she has any more spare tickets," Irina told him, then realized he probably had no idea what was going on.  "I grew up with the Hohs - their mother is best friends with my father, and Dan's best friends with my brother Nikolai," she paused, then chuckled.  "And now Dan and I are in a relationship," she said, suddenly shy with the information.  Last night had gone well, rather amusing for Irina seeing Dan get overprotective over Louisa and Freddie.  But they weren't out of the woods yet, and sometimes she wondered if there was worse to come.  "Lou is also the one who got me playing the flute; so you could say she's quite inspirational," she added.    "I've been meaning to try out this piece for awhile now; can we do this one, and then you can tell me about all the crazy happenings at Durmstrang?" she suggested, her teasing grin back on her face.  She held her flute patiently, waiting for his cue.


@brandon

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Brandon smiled when Irina said she might be able to get him tickets. "I would love that!" He answered, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. Whatever. When it came to music, Brandon was enthusiastic. No question about it. He loved everything to do with music and the opportunity to watch a master musician at work was not one he wanted to pass over. He nodded as she described her connection to the Hoh's. Brandon didn't really mind, but it was interesting in the least. He looked when she pulled out another piece. "Sure, let's try it," he said. Brandon was always ready to try something new out when it came to music. Then he laughed. "There aren't many crazy happenings at Durmstrang, but I'll see what I can tell you," he answered before turning his attention back to the music. "Alright, let's start on three: one, two, three." He started playing, surprised by how fluidly it seemed to come to him. He glanced over at Irina, wondering if she felt the same or if she was having to work hard to make it sound as good as it did.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina smiled at Brandon's enthusiasm; it was nice to converse with someone who shared a passion of music.  "Good, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to promote the love of music with concert tickets," she told him with a small nod.  Louisa had always been great with nurturing Irina's love of music, and though she didn't know much of the elder Hoh's life at Durmstrang, her quiet nature would have done wonders for anyone who felt nervous about anything.  

She held her instrument to her lips and played along with Brandon.  She was glad she had suggested this one; the way this sounded was even better than she could have expected.  She closed her eyes, her fingers flying over the keys.  She'd played this song by herself several times so she knew the notes; now she just wanted to listen to the combined melody.  As the song finished, she opened her eyes and set her flute down in her lap with a small smile.  "Well then, let's hear about Durmstrang and all the happenings there," she asked him.


@brandon

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"I sure hope so," Brandon agreed with a happy smile. He loved concerts. Not only did they get him out of the castle- which sometimes felt a bit confining- but they also let him appreciate music more. He got to hear and appreciate it and the experience often made him want to play and create new songs of his own, which was a sensation that he loved. 

The song was perfect. This was exactly what Brandon wanted to be doing right now. He was so glad Irina came and brought some of her personal music along with her because he was having a great time with it. Then the song ended and Irina turned her attention to him, asking about Durmstrang. He couldn't help but shrug a little, "Well, I don't really know what to tell you. I was only there for a year and the school is a lot different than Hogwarts, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Most of them seem very ... determined in whatever matters to them. It's easy to think they're mad at you, but I'm not there anymore. It's weird being here as a foreign student," he admitted. "I'm pretty sure you have more interesting stories than I," Brandon started softly. He knew this was a sensitive topic, but he was curious. "How have things been here?" He knew general stories, but Brandon wanted more than that. He wanted someone's perspective.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina was very glad she had decided to walk into the Room of Requirement when she head Brandon playing; they had never been great friends or anything like that, but they'd had the shared musical talent and interest.  He was by far the most enthusiastic about it too; since Phil had gone to Brazil, Andy seemed sullen, quiet, not as interested.  It didn't help of course that Irina had had a vision of Andy crawling in rubble writing help in her own blood in a journal.  She nodded along as Brandon described his year at Durmstrang; she knew it couldn't be so different than Hogwarts, but with how far north it was that had to be different.  "Any glacier incidents?" she asked him teasingly.

Her smile faded a little when Brandon asked about what had been going on since he'd left.  "Well...you know about the kidnappings, and Ethans' death," she said softly.  She hadn't seen the body, for which she was immensely grateful.  But she had witnessed one of her closest friends kill a man before being taken; that was a sight that wouldn't ever leave her.  "It's a different atmosphere, now that it's known Elaine was behind it all.  I think people are more wary; there are a lot more Aurors here now.  They even brought in first year trainees," she told him.


@brandon

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Brandon actually laughed when Irina asked about glacier incidents. He was positive that she didn't really mean it, but it was still funny. "No," he told her, rolling his eyes a little. "Honestly though, things are pretty chill up there. They do their schoolwork, it's really cold, but things seem to go at a slower pace than they do here at Hogwarts. It's not a bad thing, it's just different."

Yeah, he expected this kind of reaction when he asked her how things were. Bad. He knew that. He knew that last year from his letters to Callie and his mothers. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know about that. It seems to be almost back to a normal attitude here though, other than the aurors." And he'd noticed a few other things. Younger students moved in packs and seemed jumpier than he remembered from his last year here, his fifth year. Still, that wasn't really his business. "Yeah, I'd have to agree with you on that," he commented when she brought up things that changed as well. "It's good though, right? As long as it keeps people safe and makes it so the tournament can happen." Really, that's what he was glad for. He wanted to be here, and thanks to the tournament he could be. "Do you think she's planning something else?" Brandon asked. He didn't want to, but he couldn't help himself. He never knew Elaine, but he knew of her and was worried for everyone, inside the school and not.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina nodded in agreement. "Among the students yes, at least the ones who weren't directly involved with the kidnappings.  Those of us who were...who saw things that night, well..let's just say it's not an easy image to forget."  Irina shuddered involuntarily, remembering the image of the lifeless corpse that Mori had disposed of.  If that image were ever to escape her, the thestrals that were now visible needed only to remind her of what transgressed.  "They do.  She's been quiet for too long and you can tell people are nervous they haven't heard anything from her in awhile.  With Desirae Rousseaus' death they expected immediate retaliation, but the not-knowing thing...I think it's beginning to get to people."  Which is likely what Dupree wanted, Irina thought to herself.  Shaking her head slightly, she shuffled some of the music she had brought with her.  "You played piano too from what I recall, do you want to do a duet that's a little different?" she asked, smiling again.  They didn't need to continue talking about things that were dark and depressing.  Alright, and downright terrifying too.


@brandon

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Nothing that Irina was telling him was news. In fact, if Brandon had been here for any of it, he was sure that he would have felt the exact same. When she shuddered at the memory of what happened during the kidnappings, Brandon reached forward and touched her arm lightly. He didn't want to make her remember hard things, but he also wanted to know what happened. "I can understand that. I'm nervous that nothing has happened yet. Happy about it, but also nervous." Brandon was happy when she changed the subject. It was easier to talk about music than it was to talk about Elaine Dupree. He smiled wryly, "I play the piano, guitar and basically anything else you could possibly want," he told Irina confidently. He wasn't trying to brag, but ... music was his thing. Brandon knew all about it and was confident in his abilities.

Irina Rose Krum