Serenade for the Sky (Liona)

[Deleted]

Brandon loved playing music. That much was highly obvious to anyone who knew him, even just a little bit. He loved listening as well, but playing was his real forte. Lately he spent most of his time (when he wasn't studying) in the Room of Requirement, practicing with whatever instruments came to his mind. He liked knowing lots of different instruments because it came in handy. Today, however, he didn't want to be inside. He wanted to play outside. It was after dinner and he found himself grabbing his own guitar from the Durmstrang ship and making his way up to the astronomy tower. He didn't expect anyone to be there, and smiled to himself when he arrived and not a soul was in sight. He started playing, closing his eyes as his fingers strummed the familiar guitar. He wasn't really playing a song or even composing a new one, just letting his fingers do as they chose. It was nice to sometimes allow the music to flow out of him, and that was what Brandon did now. He had no idea if others on the grounds could hear him or not, but he didn't care. Right now, he was entirely focused on the music.

@lionaanna

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It had been a stressful two weeks for Liona. She had been studying like a mad women for NEWTs so she decided that, starting today, she would take an extended break from NEWTs specific studying. They had plenty of time left, after all, until they had to sit for the exams and she didn't want to exhaust herself before they arrived. And then there was Jamie. They had finally met. She had finally revealed her identity to Jamie as the person that she had been writing. They had spent some time together in the Room of Requirement and it had been... interesting. And frustrating. It was what happened after the meeting that had stressed her out. Jamie had sent a brief letter stating that it had been nice spending time with her. Nothing else. So she'd sent a letter of her own, politely stating the same thing. She had not received a letter from the Hufflepuff since then. And yes, Liona knew that she would need some time to process everything, but she was really tired of going through the what ifs in her mind. That is how she ended up spending so much time studying, in order to not think about Jamie. Now that she had decided on a break, she needed to distract herself with something fun. She decided to do something she actually wanted to do. It was later in the afternoon, the sun starting to set so she decided this would be a perfect time to go up to the Astronomy Tower and chart the movements of the planets. She could use her charts for Divination purposes so it counted as work and play. As she climbed the stairs to the tower, she could hear the sound of music wafting from the area. Just as she reached the top, she noticed a boy she didn't recognize strumming, quite beautifully, on a guitar. She didn't see any sheet music around him either. Was he playing from memory or was he strumming whatever came to mind? She found herself getting swept up in the music, distracted.

Tag; @brandon
OOTD; Here

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The song flowed through him as he played and Brandon rejoiced in it. There were times like this when he wished muggle technology worked at Hogwarts. If he could record himself playing this song, he had a feeling he could work on it and perfect it, but just playing like this, it was impossible to remember everything he was doing. Oh well. He would just have to enjoy the music as he was playing it. Then later he'd start composing again and maybe he'd come up with something close. Once the song ended, he closed his eyes and sighed, a grin covering his face. Then he stretched, looking around himself and surprised when he saw someone nearby, watching him? He gave a small chuckle. "Sorry, I'm probably in the way of you studying or something. I didn't notice you come up." How long had she been there? Brandon racked his mind, but he couldn't remember hearing anything from earlier. Not a footstep or robes rustling or anything. That's what happened when he got so caught up in his music sometimes.

@lionaanna

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Liona was lost in the chords of the music, the interesting melody a wave that was impossible to ignore. She closed her eyes and continued to listen and didn't even pay attention to how much time had gone by until the music ended. She opened her eyes, a small smile on her face just as the boy spoke out to her, finally noticing that she was there. She got like that too when she played, distracted and unaware of anyone or anything that was around. "Oh this?" she looked to the parchment and things that she had in her hands before looking back up at him. "No this is for leisure, though I think I'd much rather listen to that piece again. You play very well." she stated simply. Her curiosity was piqued because of the fact that she didn't recognize the boy. She hadn't seen him in Orchestra but that didn't mean much. "Was that something you composed yourself?" She hadn't tried composing anything on her viola in a really long time, mostly because she didn't have the time to anymore. Anytime she played now was just to relax or to focus on something else. She suddenly wondered what had the boy up there.

Tag; @brandon
OOTD; Here

[Deleted]

The girl- he didn't know who she was, which was always a little awkward- lifted the parchment in her hand, saying that it was for fun. Brandon nodded, "Oh okay." He ducked itd his head a little when she complimented his music. "Thank you. It, uh- no. I haven't actually composed it. I kind of ... just made it up," he admitted, unsure if she would believe him or not. Most people couldn't just make things up like that, but this was music and it was his thing. No one could blame him for wanting more and more of that. Especially if they enjoyed listening to it. "I could try playing it again, but to be honest, I don't really remember what I was doing. I just kind of ... closed my eyes and let the music take over." That was so weird! Why was he even trying to explain this to someone. He shrugged, "I guess I do that sometimes." Not as often as he'd like. Life was too busy for him to be allowed to play with music all the time, which was a shame.

@lionaanna

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His words were simple but they carried a bit of nervous honesty with him, causing her eyebrows to raise in surprise. He'd actually sat there and strummed out something as lovely as what she'd just caught by accident. He'd done that with no planning. She was incredibly impressed and it was only emphasized with the words that followed his intial admission. He couldn't remember exactly what he had played but the sound of the music had taken over him. She realized that there had been too many seconds of silence from her and she cleared her throat before smiling. "That's incredible and admirable. Not very many people can compose something of substance so effortlessly," she made to take a step forward before she paused. "Would you mind if I joined you? If you mind an audience I can understand that but if not I would like to stay and hear you play," she shouldn't forget her manners, although she really didn't want to leave. He had arrived first but this was an astronomy tower and technically what she'd arrived to do was much more fitting. All of those things aside, listening to someone with skill play like that? She couldn't think of a better way to relax. It would be nice background music for the actual reason she'd come up. They could both maintain their peaces; she wouldn't even need to bother him in order to listen.

Tag; @brandon
OOTD; Here

[Deleted]

Brandon didn't know what the girl was thinking. He'd answered her question and she was just standing there, a semi-surprised look on her face. He wasn't sure how to take that. Was she expecting some other type of excuse for how he came up with his music, because Brandon didn't have one. Then she coughed a little and smiled before starting to compliment him. "Thank you," he said, a little embarrassed. He hoped she didn't think he was trying to brag because that really just wasn't how Brandon worked. Then she asked if she could join him and Brandon nodded. "Of course you can join me." He paused for a second, a little surprised when she said she wanted to just listen to him play. "Well ... do you have any requests? I can play about anything you'd like." Once again, he hoped she didn't take that as him being arrogant, he just didn't want to have her listening to music that bored her.

@lionaanna

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His reply of thanks was a little shy and she smirked a bit. He had to be used to that type of compliment right? Considering he was as good as she heard, she was sure he'd received more compliments than the one she gave on his performing abilities. Or maybe he was just trying to be humble, which she didn't understand. She was great at playing the violin and when the occasion called for it she was not afraid to speak on her abilities."No thanks needed. I'm just recognizing your talent," Liona stated simply. He said she could join him and she walked over nearer to the edge where she could see the sky clearly, closer to him as well. She set up her things to began her charting while he asked if she had any requests. She didn't have anything in particular she wanted to listen to because everything that came to mind needed more than just a guitar in order for him to play it correctly and with as much enthusiasm needed. Until she thought about Jamie, that is. She almost fixed her mouth to ask him to play the song they'd danced to in the Room of Requirement, The Girl from Ipanema. She blew off the thought and shook her head. "Play whatever you like. I'm Liona, by the way. Liona Zabini," she introduced herself gracefully, waiting for him to do the same and wondering if she could recognize his name.

Tag; @brandon
OOTD; Here

[Deleted]

He smiled and nodded when she said she was just recognizing his talent. He was used to getting compliments about his music, but that was normally when he played a song for someone, like when he fulfilled a request or something. He normally didn't let his music go in front of people, just playing what came to his heart and soul. That's what made him embarrassed now, not that he was going to say anything about it. "I'll do that," he said with a smile when she told him to play what he wanted. He was good at that. "Nice to meet you Liona. I'm Brandon Fisher." He doubted that she'd recognize him from when he came to school here, but that didn't matter. He wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. He started messing around with the notes on his guitar. He didn't really know what he wanted to play yet ... so he was going to play around. She said she wouldn't mind, so that should be fine.

@lionaanna

[Deleted]

Just as she finished setting up her parchment for charting, he introduced himself as Brandon Fisher. She wasn't sure why the name rang a bell. She furrowed her brow a bit as she looked up towards the sky that was beginning to darken. Why did that name ring a bell so much? She rummaged through memories to try and pull the name from somewhere. Brandon. Could it be the same Brandon? The one who was supposed to be teaching Jamie to play violin? She wanted to groan, her whole reasoning for coming up here was to distract her from thinking about the blonde. She wasn't sure but she wanted to confirm if he was. "Are you a Durmstrang student or do you go here?" she asked casually, "I'm just curious because I don't think I've seen you around before." Waiting on his answer she took a seat, her legs crossed at the ankles and she placed her hands in her lap. She didn't want to think about Jamie now. She shouldn't think about Jamie now. Even still, how ironic that when she'd come to distract herself she ran into someone that she'd only heard about through her? Well, he was supposed to be a good musician and just from what she'd heard, she agreed.

Tag; @brandon
OOTD; Here

[Deleted]

After he introduced himself, Liona seemed … confused? Or maybe she just didn’t want to talk to him. She looked up at the sky and Brandon started to turn his attention back to his guitar, plucking a few strings, though he didn’t play anything yet. He’d give her a few minutes to say something if she wanted before he started to play. That was the polite way to do it, right? Unless he saw her filling out charts first. If she was obviously working, then he wouldn’t feel guilty playing his music. Especially since Liona told him she liked it.

Then she asked if he was from Durmstrang. Brandon hesitated, then nodded. Yes and no,” he told her. “I transferred to Durmstrang last year, but before that I was in Hufflepuff,” He felt as though he’d been explaining this all year, but he was finally starting to get used to it now. He smiled, “So I haven’t been around here as much as I used to be.” It was interesting to run into someone who didn’t know him before he transferred. It was a refreshing sort of change.

@lionaanna

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He nodded in answer to her question and she exhaled completely. She didn't even need to hear what he was going to say after that because she already knew his story from Jamie. Brandon, who she now knew had the last name of Fisher, had gone to Hogwarts before but had transferred to Durmstrang at some point in the not so recent past. He had gone here before and had been in the same house at the blonde who was apparently filling her head now. Well, not just filling her head now apparently, the fates were putting her friends in Liona's path too. Though she hadn't completely heard what he said she gave a slow understanding nod. He didn't need to elaborate any further than what he may have and she wouldn't ask him to even just to seem interested. She would do so just to be polite. "Oh that is curious. Why did you move, if you don't mind me asking?" She had no plans of bringing up the blonde that the two of them had in common, although she was suddenly curious as to how-- no. It wasn't important now. Right now she needed to concentrate on something else. She didn't want to invest any more time or thought on Jamie if this was going to be the sum of their... she couldn't even call it a relationship, could she? Either way she wasn't going to get in over her head until she felt more secure. Until she had obtained some reassurances. She had told Jamie she didn't like wasting her time.

Tag; @brandon
OOTD; Here

[Deleted]

Liona asked the almost inevitable question and Brandon smiled, though he wanted to cringe. He was used to this, after all. Before he left, he didn't tell any of his friends what he was going to do and why. While he was gone, he refused to answer owls or anything of the sort (to try for a clean break so it wouldn't be so hard), so when he got back he had all sorts of questions to answer from everyone. "There were a few reasons. Part of it was family complications. My mom had a lot to deal with ... and it'd been a while since I spent time with my dad. I knew it would make things easier on everyone if I left, so I did." He smiled, "It's been great getting to know my dad better, actually," he told her honestly. That was very much the short version of what happened, but that was fine. He continued to fiddle with his strings and pluck at his guitar almost absentmindedly. He didn't want to be rude, so he'd wait to see if she wanted to talk more before he really started playing again. The whole situation was new to him. 

@lionaanna

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Liona's attention was divided between listening to his explanation and watching the sky, waiting for the slightest twinkle of stars to appear so she could start her charting. It just wasn't dark enough yet. His answer didn't diverge much from what Jamie had told her about him. Familal struggles had lead him away to Durmstrang and she didn't know why she was a little surprised at the fact he'd moved away only to move in with his father. She kept her eyes trained on the sky as he finished speaking and she nodded slowly in understanding. There wasn't really anything for her to say. His story was interesting but she couldn't really identify with it. She assumed that because his parents lived in different countries that they were separated or divorced. Then again, her parents were often in different countries just because of their careers. The way he spoke about his parents made her lean towards it being more likely that they weren't together. He was playing around with his guitar strings, not really playing anything in particular. She wanted to hear him play more so she spoke. "Play something you like. Or rather, something you love. Something romantic?" she was convinced that she wasn't torturing herself with the request. She'd always been interested in love and romance anyway. There was a basic way of viewing it but there were differences between different people.

Tag; @brandon
OOTD; Here

[Deleted]

Liona didn't say anything when Brandon explained his family situation a little bit and why he decided to switch to Durmstrang. He wasn't sure if she wasn't asking questions because she didn't want to know or because he was trying to be polite, but he was glad that he didn't have to go into more details about it. Brandon basically decided to move on and leave that part of life behind him. He focused on his relationship with his dad, keeping in touch with his mother and things were going quite well. He didn't know what to say until she asked him to play something he loved, something romantic. Brandon smiled and nodded. "Alright. I think I'll start with something classic and then move on to other things," he told her, just so she'd be prepared. He started with a slow, soothing version of "Can't Help Falling In Love". Elvis was one of his mom's favorite muggle artists so he knew this sort of stuff very well. Once the song was over, Brandon just kept playing, much like he had earlier. His fingers picked at the notes and the song sort of flew out of him, which was interesting in and of itself because he didn't have lots of experience with love. He knew familial love, of course, but he hadn't ever been in an official relationship with someone. So this was probably more like what he expected love to be like. Eventually, the song slowed and Brandon paused, glancing over at Liona. For a while there, he forgot he wasn't alone.

@lionaanna