TITLE: Harmony and Melody: Performance Preparation

GENRE: Friendship

RATING: K+

SUMMARY: It's just before their performance, and Hermione and Regulus are (secretly) nervous. Musician!au

AU (Alternate Universe): Muggle!au, musician!au [pianist!Hermione, violinist!Regulus]

WARNING: none

Harmony and Melody: Performance Preparation

By RowenaHermioneRavenclaw

The piano note rings out loudly, cutting sharply through the tense air. It echoes around the concert hall.

"Cut it out, will you?" Regulus Black, violinist, scowls at the pianist.

Hermione giggles behind her hand. "Sorry." she says. "I'm just nervous. This is my first performance! Aren't you nervous at all?"

"I'm not nervous." Regulus says hastily, unwilling to tell the pianist about the butterflies in his stomach. "It's just you."

Hermione shrugs. "Well, if you're telling the truth," she says, clearly skeptical. "Aren't you supposed to be tuning?"

"I tuned my violin before I got here," Regulus says.

"Lucky you," Hermione presses another note. "You get an instrument which you can actually carry around."

"It gives me extra weight, though." Regulus points out.

"I suppose that that's true." Hermione responds, playing a major scale on the grand piano.

Just to change the subject, Regulus says, "Aren't the others supposed to arrive by now?"

Hermione nods, having already finished her scale. "Yes, but you know Sirius has a reputation for being late. And for making his friends late, too."

"Too true." Regulus grumbles.

"Hey, can we rehearse this bit, just the two of us?" Hermione asks, peering at the piano score. Of course, she's already memorised it, but it's better to review and be safe than forget some part of it during the performance.

"Which bit?"

"The lebhaft bit." Hermione responds. "With crescendo. Starting from bar 31."

Regulus nods. "Of course."

The violin has a rest during bar 31, so the piano's notes ring out first.

They're starting in the middle of a song, so there's no build-up before Hermione's high, quick notes. Regulus listens carefully, following her music on his own score.

When bar 31 has finished and bar 32 has started, Regulus plays a slow note on the violin, the harmony to her melody.

Regulus is proud of his playing, and when the ridiculously long song finishes, he drags his bow across the strings of his violin slowly as the music fades away.

"Good job." Hermione tells him with a big smile. "And, Regulus, just wanted you to know -"

But then a door opens and slams loudly.

"But Sirius and the others have arrived."

Performance Directions/Musical Terms

Tuning: Adjusting the pitch and tone of an instrument appropriately (for a violin, twist the tuning pegs)

Major: a form of scale, usually happy-sounding, with sharps

Scale: any set of musical notes (on any instrument) ordered by fundamental pitch/frequency

Lebhaft: [German performance direction] vivace, lively

Crescendo: [Italian performance direction] a gradual increase in sound (getting louder)

Bar: unit of time with a specific number of beats played at a particular tempo (time)

Score: music sheet

Assignment 12: Famous Photographs Task #2: The Pillow Fight - Harry Benson (1964): Write a musician!au.

WC: 366

I may or may not write a sequel to this. If I do, I'll upload it in Strings of Fate under Harmony and Melody: [chapter title].