A/N 1: This is a side fic to my one shot 'New Begginings'. Its a genderbent story where Harry Potter is a female and married the Dark Lord in an attempt to stop the war. It has been written for the Golden Snitch Forum - Twelve days of Christmas with a Grinch Challenge and Through the Universe Challenge.
A/N 2: Words in 'italics' depict flashback in the story.
Elaine, Slytherin, Hogwarts
Prompt: 1. Day 12 - Write about a character taking up music lessons.
2. 206 - X-ray - [words] "My hands are shaking."
Word Count: 970
Harriet was extremely anxious and fidgety, had been the whole afternoon. Here she was, standing in front of an over-enthusiastic audience, including the Death Eaters, who couldn't wait to hear how good their Dark Lady was at playing the violin.
'It was all Narcissa's fault,' Harriet thought. The woman had mistakenly heard Harriet practising one day, and practically begged her to play a beautiful piece at Draco and Astoria's upcoming engagement party. And seeing the hopeful glint in Lady Malfoy's eyes, Harriet couldn't refuse, no matter how badly she wanted to say 'no.'
'No, it was your fault that you couldn't deny her request,' Harriet internally corrected herself. Music was something very personal to her - a kind of therapy that calmed her soul and always brought a sense of comfort. She had been playing the instrument since she could walk, and thankfully the Dursley's weren't against it because it was the most 'normal' thing Harriet could do.
"You're a natural, Harriet," her music teacher would always praise her.
Being good at it, however, didn't mean that she had played it in front of anyone before. Harriet had been kind of protective of her music, enough that even Marvolo hadn't seen her perform. Then how was she supposed to sing in front of so many people? What if she messed up?
Warm hand engulfed hers and Harriet looked up to see her husband smiling encouragingly at her. "My hands are shaking!" She squeezed his hands real tight and voiced her thoughts, "What if I mess up? What if it sounds horrible? What if the others don't like it and start making fun of me? I don't want the Malfoy's party to be ruined because of me."
Marvolo cupped her cheeks lovingly, "You're going to be absolutely brilliant. And I know this because I've seen how hard you've worked for today's performance. If it helps you in any way, our house-elves haven't stopped gushing at how good their mistress is." Marvolo assured his nervous wife.
Since the day she had gotten her present, Harriet had not once stopped practising. She could either be seen studying or reading or playing the violin. She took care of the instrument as if it was the most valuable possession, and sometimes it made Marvolo a little jealous. His jealousy didn't matter though because of the smile grazing upon her face. She was happy, and that was what Marvolo wanted.
"You're just saying it to cheer me up, aren't you?"
"No, I'm saying it because I believe in you." Harriet could only see the sincerity in Marvolo's eyes which somehow eased her nerves. "Now go and show them all on how talented my wife is."
Harriet smiled as Marvolo bent down to give her a quick peck before moving away. She watched with furrowed brows when her husband, instead of taking up the front seat alongside a giddy Narcissa, moved and sat behind the large piano.
Marvolo ignored his wife's concerning glance and took his place. He sat straight and soon enough his fingers started dancing slowly on the keys. He had secretly been taking piano lessons because he wanted to support his wife, knowing how stressed she was at Narcissa's sudden request.
For the past month, he'd been following the routine. He would wake up before Harriet, get done with some of the paperwork and would then apparate to Tennessee where Mrs Gregson proved to be the strictest teacher Marvolo had ever endured. He thought that he knew the woman quite well, but boy he was so wrong. Mrs Gregson made him practise so hard that his fingers would ached, but he didn't give up.
"No, no, no! Not like this!" Mrs Gregson exclaimed dramatically. She couldn't believe that Tommy could be this horrible at something. But Tommy had looked at her so innocently that she had taken it upon herself to train him.
She ushered him out of the seat and got seated comfortably, "Listen carefully, first. You need to focus on the notes. Forcibly hitting your fingers on the keys won't produce music, only noise. And this is a piano, not your enemies face that you wanna squash."
That was the reason he loved Mrs Gregson - she was a brutally honest woman.
She started slowly, stopping every once in a while to instruct him and clear his doubts.
"Music is an art, just like magic. What do you do when you happen to come across a new piece of magic or spell? You study it, understand it. You focus on your wand movements and incantations, and lastly, you feel it." Marvolo heard every word with rapt attention.
"The same thing is with music. Let your mind take control over your body for a while. Let your fingers weave magic on the keys. Understand the meaning behind tunes - both the highs and the lows. And most importantly, feel. Music without emotion is just noise, Tommy. You can't play any instrument if you don't grasp what the song wants to convey."
Marvolo's attention snapped to reality when the harmonious melody of a violin joined his song. He saw his wife staring at him intently - her eyes full of love and happiness.
His mind focussed again on the keyboard as he continued with the song. Harriet too was lost in her own little world, like it always did whenever she played her violin. And their audience was long forgotten by both husband and wife.
The others, however, were in absolute awe at the beautiful performance in front of them. For several moments, they forgot how vague the whole situation seemed to be.
The Girl-who-lived performing alongside the Dark Lord? No one would have seen that coming.
Whoever said that music heals the soul, was absolutely right because of the utter contentment they all felt in that moment.