SIMON

I don't know anything about symphonies in general or the London Symphony in particular so I look them up online to see if I can learn anything helpful before the concert. They have a FAQ page on their website, so I bookmark it in case I want to come back to it later, then I look through the questions quickly to see if they sell snacks during the interval. They don't.

I may not know much yet about orchestras, but I do know a thing or two about what it takes to excel at an instrument, after all, I spent a lot of time in the corridor listening to Baz's violin lessons over the years. I usually only heard the playing, not what was being said. I did try casting speak up once so that I could hear what Baz and his violin instructor were saying to each other, just to be sure that the violin lessons were real and not a cover for one of the Families' plans, but with my magic as wild as it was, my head was flooded with all the talking of everyone from the floor I was on as well as the ones above and below. It gave me a massive headache and I never tried it again.

Just hearing the sound of the violin, though, was enough to give me a sense of what it takes to become an exceptional musician. I don't have much to compare with, but I believe Baz really is quite good. I don't think he'd allow anything less from himself. He practices in his flat sometimes when I'm there. I usually put my headphones in to give him some privacy, but I often don't have anything playing through them. When I listen to him practice, I hear what he's playing, but I also notice what he's doing. The repetition, the slowing down of a difficult sequence and doing it again and again until his muscles can do it on their own. It's not all that different to developing strong swordsmanship skills, so I have a pretty good idea of the dedication it takes, and how good it must feel when the work starts to pay off and it begins to come more easily. I tried that same approach to learning magic too, but, well, that didn't work.

Baz doesn't know how much I enjoy listening to him play, because he's shite at accepting compliments. Even though I like listening in on the occasional practice session, I'd never really entertained the thought of hunting down this type of music on my own. Now that it's come up, though, the idea of hearing dozens of musicians, all of whom are at least as good as Baz, playing together sounds pretty exciting. I find some lists online of good things for people who are new to classical music to start with. I make sure not to listen to recordings of any of the pieces we're actually going to hear at the concert though, because I want it to feel new when I hear them there. It's not what I'm used to, but I find myself thinking that a lot of these pieces are really quite enjoyable, especially if I turn the volume up nice and loud.

BAZ

I let myself into Simon's flat a couple of days after The Great Orchestra Freak Out, as Penny's taken to calling it. I owe her one, so I'm letting it slide. Simon's at his computer. He swivels in his seat when I walk in.

"Look at this, Baz," he says, with a sparkle in his eyes. Whatever he's looking at, he's clearly excited about it. "The LSO - that's the London Symphony Orchestra,"

I roll my eyes.

"They have their own website with loads of information. You can find out practically anything you want on here!"

"Welcome to the internet, Snow."

He ignores me. "Did you know that they don't just have one conductor, they have six? And that it was the London Symphony that recorded the sound track for the Star Wars movies? And that there are several restaurants nearby that are open before and after concerts?"

"Am I going to have to feed you twice? You're turning out to be an expensive date."

"Well, they don't serve refreshments at the interval, so..."

I laugh. I can't help myself. He actually looks a touch worried, like going an hour and a half without food might be a problem.

"Why don't you see if their illuminating website has information about the quantity of scones per capita permissible in the hall."

He huffs, but turns back to his computer. He's not actually looking that up, is he?

A new page loads. From where I am, I can see that it has a picture of orchestra musicians spread across the top and the LSO's logo in the corner. He looks at it for a moment, then snorts, which seems incongruous. "What's so funny, Snow?" I move around behind him and lean over his head, my lower torso pressed up against his back and my hands on his shoulders, to get a closer look at the screen. It's the London Symphony Orchestra's main welcome page. It looks fairly basic, but he seems to be having a hard time keeping a straight face, which is irking me. This isn't making me feel fantastic about my decision to take him along. I try to step away from him, but he reaches back and grabs my wrist, turning his laughing face up to look at mine.

There's a thumbnail image of the concert guide on the page he's looking at that reads: "The LSO at its best is a terrifying, glamorous, beast." Simon is full on laughing now, like an idiot, and pointing at it. "Look Baz, it's you! You're a terrifying, glamorous, beast!"

A massive sneer is the only retort I can manage before Penny walks in from the kitchen, also laughing. I give in and have a laugh too, I even flash a bit of fang at Simon to show that I really do find it amusing. He's right, laughing at myself with him and Penny is better than fighting. He's always right about that. Every single thing I've done with him since the 23rd of December, year before last, has been better than fighting. I wish I didn't need to be to reminded of that so often.

SIMON

Baz is loosening up about the whole bringing me to the symphony thing, but I can tell that inside he's still really wound up about it. What he could possibly be so worried about is a mystery to me, so I just keep on doing what I'm doing and hope I don't screw anything up and make him regret it. I did try to take my own advice and address what seemed like a still simmering problem, but he just shook it off and told me to relax.

I'm glad he's able to laugh about the glamorous beast thing. I think it's progress, but he definitely looked annoyed before Penny walked in and added her laugh to the mix. I decide to change the topic.

"So what's the theme for this concert?"

"The theme, Snow? this isn't a primary school fete."

Maybe this isn't an improvement after all, but I keep going.

"No, really! I've been doing some reasearch and it says that conductors sometimes choose their repertoire around a certain theme for each concert. They're doing the Bruch violin concerto in G minor, Fauré's Pavane, and Beethoven's seventh symphony. What do they all have in common?"

"Nothing Snow, it's just music, orchestral music," Baz snaps, at the same moment that Penny says, "They're all pieces Baz really likes." Baz frowns at her.

"Maybe the theme is 'Music My Boyfriend Really Likes,'" I laugh.

"Give it a rest, Simon."

"Seriously, though, could you do that? Could you find out where the conductor lives and stand outside his house with your wand and..."

"I said, give it a rest!" Baz repeats, this time with magic, and my voice is suddenly gone.

BAZ

Simon's voice comes back in less than three seconds, nothing like cat got your tongue, but it works, Simon's done with his inane line of quesioning. I can see a hurt look beginning to take over his face, then I remember that I did actually cast cat got your tongue on him during our third year at Watford, twice. It must be a sore memory still, but he masters his expression and settles for knocking me backwards onto the couch. I reach up for him with my hands and my mouth, and make it worth his while.