my chains are gone, i've been set free [andy]

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Today was the day. Jamie had spent the past two weeks practicing the song she had learned on the violin religiously, devoting at least a half an hour to it every day, though most days she could manage up to forty-five minutes, if she really tried. It was nothing like the hours and hours Liona had said she devoted to practicing in their letters, but considering the simplicity of the song and Jamie's schedule, she was proud of the time she was able to devote to the task. She was pretty sure that the song sounded good, even, though she wasn't enough of an expert on the violin to know what good playing sounded like. The tune was recognizable and she didn't squeak nearly as many times as she had the first time she had played it, so it was a win. All that was left to do now was play the song for Andy, who had been the reason for Jamie learning to play the violin in the first place. Jamie had asked the other girl to meet her in the Room of Requirement, since that was still the only way Jamie knew how to get an instrument, and now that the Hufflepuff was waiting there, she was a bit of a nervous wreck. She had wanted this to be a surprise for Andy, so she hadn't told the Gryffindor the purpose of their meeting, but now Jamie was wondering if she ought to play the song at all, or if she would just end up disappointing Andy - or worse, upsetting her.

@lestrange

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Andy was insanely thrilled when Jamie contacted her about meeting up. She hadn't been able to spend much time with the blonde since getting back, mostly because she kept to herself or with Phil.She actually hadn't even realized she'd missed Jamie so much until her friend asked her to meet her today. She wasn't quite sure why she made the effort, but she took this as an opportunity to dress up a little more than usual. She wore a yellow skirt that went just above her knees (borrowed from another girl in her dorm), and a blue and white striped t shirt. Her hair was wrapped up in a blue scarf with her bangs a little curly coming out of the front.

She arrived outside the room and slipped inside. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Jamie, and then another two or three when she saw the kind of room Jamie had summoned. There was... music. She swallowed and shut the door behind her, finding a smile as she crossed over to her friend. "Jamie," she greeted, the word coming from her lips like sweet relief.

@jamie

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Jamie always had to ignore how warm she felt whenever Andy game into the room. She knew that it was nothing more than a harmless crush – made even more harmless by the fact that Jamie would never try to destroy the happiness that Andy had found with Phil – but it still felt strange to see someone else walk into a room and automatically be glad that she was there, too. Andy’s smile made her feel like she was flushing, and Jamie had to take a moment to let the heat fade before responding. “Hi, Andy.” She said, voice surprisingly shy. “So, one of my friends – Brandon, do you know him? – taught me how to play the violin…” She said, launching into the purpose of the meeting without much preamble for fear of getting cold feet. “And I was wondering if I could play you a song.” Jamie wasn’t going to tell Andy what song it was, though – she wanted to know if her playing was decent enough that the piece could be guessed from the music alone.

@lestrange

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Andy just kept her eyes on Jamie, whose face looked a little pink for a moment, as she waited for Jamie to speak. She said hi, and Andy's smile lifted just a little more. A gentle smile. Then Jamie spoke of Brandon and... the Violin. The Violin. Andy's smile vanished and she swallowed hard. Then Jamie suggested playing a song and Andy's hands started wringing together behind her back. "I..." okay, okay. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe hearing one of her favorite people play her a song could be a good thing. She wasn't playing herself, right? Jamie was. That was fine.

She took in a deep breath and then just gave a short nod. She didn't say anything, she wasn't sure how to use words at the moment.

@jamie

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When Andy first spoke, Jamie felt her heart drop a little. It didn’t look like she was… happy. Jamie tried to puzzle it out – she had thought that Andy loved music, and she knew that Andy liked her, so what was the problem? Before she could think of a million reasons why Andy wouldn’t want to hear the song, the Gryffindor girl nodded. The Hufflepuff wanted to ask if her friend was sure, but Jamie knew that it wouldn’t produce any meaningful results. Instead, she just raised the violin and put the bow against the strings. Jamie began to play. The song was slightly slower than normal, so that Jamie could be sure she wasn’t making any mistakes, but each note was loud and clear and correct. When the song was done, Jamie returned the violin to the resting position. “…Did you like it?” She asked quietly.

@lestrange

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Jamie lifted the violin and began to play. Her form wasn't bad, but Andy actually was surprised that she didn't focus on that. Her eyes were glued to Jamies hands, watching them change the chords and hold the bow. She didn't even realize she hadn't looked anywhere else during the whole song, just switching back and forth between those beautiful hands. She was listening too, of course. As the song played, she felt a million things at once. Sadness, fear, love, admiration, nervousness, attraction, horror and pity. For herself with the pity, not for Jamie. The sound was familiar, the way the bow stroked the strings, and that was maybe the best and worst part of it all.

Once the song was over, Jamie rested the violin and asked if she liked it. Andy didn't even realize her hands had clenched into fists. But... somehow, she smile. Somehow a warmth overcame her and she laughed. Laughed. She bit her lip as she did at first, but then just let the laugh out. It was louder than she expected, and she knew she should have been more reverent about it. She didn't want Jamie to think she was laughing AT her. She let the laugh die down and she nodded. "Gods, Jamie. When did you take the time to learn this? Did you... do it for me?" she asked slowly, her eyes widening a little but her brows furrowed, an expression of awe, unbelieving that this was reality.

@jamie

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There was a long list of things that Jamie Greyback loved about her life, but on that list, Andromeda Lestrange’s smile was near the top. It had been too long since she had seen that smile, Jamie thought, drinking it in like the sunshine that it was. Andy laughed, and that quickly climbed the list of things that Jamie Greyback loved, too, and Jamie felt even warmer, and even sunnier. She had done something good, because she had made someone else happy. More than that, she had made someone who had once been extremely sad happy again. And she loved that. Jamie loved this whole thing, and she loved Andy’s voice when it washed over her, and she loved Andy. Merlin, how she loved Andy. “I started violin lessons with one of my friends a few weeks ago, as a way to learn how to relax.” Jamie explained. “I thought that the violin would be good, because it reminded me of you. And that made it… I don’t know, easier?” Jamie had taken to the violin like a fish to water, and while she wasn’t sure that it was entirely because of Andy, the fact that she had such positive associations with the instrument and with Andy couldn’t have been a bad thing. Jamie smiled at her friend. “But the song… yes, it was for you.” Jamie admitted, not at all phased by that fact. She had done something nice for her friend, and that wasn’t something to be ashamed of.

@lestrange
(post 5000!!!)

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Jamie explained and Andy shook her head in awe. She was glad that Jamie used her memories of Andy to make learning the violin easier. Jamie admitted that the song specifically was for her, and Andy didn't realize her feet were moving. She was closing the gap between her and Jamie, and wrapped her around around Jamies's shoulders upon reaching her, giving her a hug.

She was sure she hadn't hugged Jamie that much, because she rarely hugged anyone. The first person she actually ever really hugged was Neville Longbottom, which was a strange thought now that she looked back. She hadn't even hugged Phil before then. Now, her arms were wrapped around Jamie and it didn't feel at all foreign to her. It felt natural, like it was something they'd always done.

After a moment she pulled back, not having said anything, and brought her arms to her sides. "I don't deserve you," she said, but not in a depressed way. More in an amused way. She glanced at the violin and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before speaking. "It used to relax me too. It was the only thing that I had any control over... may I?" she asked, turning her palms up toward Jamie, asking for the instrument. She just wanted to hold it... for just a moment.

@jamie

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Jamie was never going to say no to hugging someone, especially not someone like Andy, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, she liked Andy. For another, Jamie had a near-constant urge to hug the other girl, and only refrained from doing so because she wasn’t sure how Andy felt about being touched following her hospital stay, and Jamie didn’t want to accidentally cross any boundaries. But Andy’s arms wrapped around her, and the warmth and naturalness of the whole situation, felt good. Really good. Jamie sighed a little, relaxing into Andy’s grip a little before the Gryffindor let go of her.

“You deserve much better than me.” Jamie countered when Andy said that she didn’t deserve the Hufflepuff. The Gryffindor girl had been through hell and back again, and she deserved so much more than a stubborn werewolf with a hidden talent for violin. She deserved the moon and the stars and so many other things that Jamie was never going to be able to give her. Andy said that the violin used to relax her, and then asked for it. Jamie didn’t hesitate for a moment in giving the instrument to Andy, laying the violin and the bow on Andy’s outstretched palms, ready to take them back again when the other girl asked.

@lestrange

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Jamie said Andy deserved much better than her, and Andy just shook her head. But then she stopped abruptly. She was supposed to be thinking positively. That she did deserve to be happy. So she just tried for a small smile.

But that smile vanished as soon as the violin and the bow made contact with her hands. She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes suddenly as flashes of that night crossed her mind... The blood on the bow, the horrified looks on their faces... then she shut her eyes tighter, gripping the instrument as she tried to think of Jamie playing for her instead. Surprisingly, it worked. She pictured Jamies hands, the hands Andy had focused so hard on while her friend had played.

After a few moment, she opened her eyes and let out a breath, holding the violin and bow out to Jamie again. "Thanks," she breathed.

@jamie

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Jamie watched Andy, slightly concerned, when the other girl took the violin. The Gryffindor’s smile had vanished from her face almost the moment the instrument had touched her hands, and that wasn’t a good sign. Jamie didn’t say anything, letting Andy focus on whatever it was that she needed to do. Jamie saw Andy’s eyelids screw up, and was on the verge of intervening when Andy appeared to relax a little bit. Jamie only realized how intently she had been staring at the other girl when Andy opened her eyes, and she was staring into them instead. The Hufflepuff cleared her throat and glanced away from Andy before re-establishing eye contact, this time with a little less intensely. “No problem.” Jamie replied, certain that she hadn’t really understood what had gone on between Andy and the instrument, but not really caring, either. She accepted the violin back, holding it loosely at her sides. “…Do you want to talk about it?” Jamie decided to ask. Obviously something that happened, and Jamie couldn’t let it go until she offered her help to her friend.

@lestrange

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Jamie cleared her throat as Andy made eye contact with her, and looked away for a moment. Andy took that moment to breath a little deeper, before Jamies eyes came back. Jamie took the violin back, thankfully, saying it was no problem and asking if she wanted to talk about it.

Andy took a moment to consider that. Did she really want to tell Jamie what she had done? If anyone would forgive her... would understand... it might be Jamie. She nodded slowly, "I think... I do, actually," she said, somewhat surprised. "But I need to sit down," she said suddenly taking a few steps back and practically falling into the nearest seat. She took a deep breath. "Sit, please," she said.

@jamie

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Jamie was a bit surprised that Andy actually did want to talk. After Andy’s hospital stay, Jamie had been trying hard not to press her friend for too much, despite the fact that she didn’t know anything, really, other than that Andy had needed some help in being restored to her former self. The Hufflepuff wasn’t going to deny the chance to learn a little bit more, though, so when Andy sat, Jamie moved to sit across from her, so close that their knees were almost touching, but not quite. “You know that whatever you have to say to me, I will love you, right?” Jamie asked. She assumed that Andy knew that already, otherwise she wouldn’t have agreed to discuss anything with Jamie in the first place, but reiterating her feelings about the Gryffindor made the Hufflepuff feel better, at least. She didn’t want Andy ever to think that she would abandon her because she had done something that was bad, or wrong. Jamie had done those things, too, and Andy still loved her. It was just more of the same.

@lestrange

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As Jamie sat down, Andy looked down at her own hands... then, Jamie spoke,“You know that whatever you have to say to me, I will love you, right?" Andy's eyes lifted to find hers. "I know," she said firmly, nodding once.

She took a deep breath, looking back down at her hands again. This would be easier without looking directly into Jamie's eyes. "Last November," she started softly, "I... went to this house. I found these people," she took in another deep breath, "muggles. The ones who killed Susans father," she spoke slowly, her voice sounding almost hollow.

"I played a song," she explained, "without touching the violin. You know, with magic. And then..." could she really get the rest of this out? She suddenly wasn't so sure, and she started shaking her head, not realizing her hands were clutching the seat of the chair. 

@jamie

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Andy said that she knew that Jamie would love her no matter what, and the blonde nodded. As long as Andy knew that, she didn’t really care ow the rest of the conversation went. Andy went on to explain that the November previous, she went to a house to find the Muggles who had killed Susan’s father. Jamie’s heart clenched a little, and she couldn’t fathom why. She wanted to tell herself that it was because she didn’t like the idea of Andy going out on her own to find murderers, but Jamie wondered if she would have done the same thing. She had loved Will, and even in their short relationship she had guessed that his father’s death had affected the eldest Windsor child more than he liked to admit… If she had had the opportunity, would Jamie have done the same thing? Tried to track them down? The Hufflepuff didn’t know. Trying to kill her father had been an obsession of hers for a month, and that had been a dark month indeed.

Andy couldn’t finish the story that she was telling, and Jamie just nodded. “It’s fine.” Jamie said quietly. “Andy, I…” She didn’t even know how to finish that sentence. Keep asking for more, or just assure her friend that no matter what came after the song, the Hufflepuff had meant what she said? Instead of speaking, Jamie just scooted forward so her knees were against Andy’s. She offered her hands to hold, since the Gryffindor’s hands were clutching at the chair.

@lestrange