Music Camp
Chapter Two - A New Friendship, Maybe?
(Revised And Rewritten)
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You just never know until you try.
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Harry sighed and decided to have a break from his searching after about three hours of gathering leaflets and information from the Library, Community Center and Sports Halls as well as various other places.
He walked past the park and the small line of shops to the cafe that sat on the corner. His feet were aching and he desperately wanted somewhere to sit down, relax and perhaps look through the thick pile of information he had gathered.
It was a fairly small but cozy cafe, with full ceiling-to-floor windows and an ornamental stain glass pattered front door. It was exactly as he remembered it as Harry walked down towards the entrance. He had only been in the cafe once before, many years ago.
He opened the door and faintly heard a bell chime as he closed it softly behind him. He was surprised at the noise of the chatter that met his ears. The cafe was more crowded than Harry had ever seen it before in his life. Even walking past and looking in the window when he was younger, he could only see three or four people in at the one time but today almost every table was taken. Teens ranging from about eleven to seventeen sat around in small circles and cliques, chattering away to each other in such a ramble of voices that Harry couldn't make out a single thing that was said, as he walked towards the back of the cafe to one of the few empty sears and sat down, placing his bag under the chair so that it did not get stood on or knocked about.
He then picked up the small, decorative menu and was about to go about choosing something when he felt a shadow fall across the small table.
" Excuse me?" Harry looked up to see a girl about the same age as him looking awkwardly down at him. She had light brown hair that curled in corkscrews and fell halfway down her back neatly. As Harry looked her up and down discreetly he noticed she had the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen, with the exception of his headmaster. She smiled in a amiable but in a slightly strained way.
" Is this seat taken?" She glanced across the small table towards the empty chair. Harry blinked before shaking his head.
" No. It's free." He smiled at her and her own smiled widened a little. She made to sit down but hesitated.
" Do you mind if I - ?"
Harry shook his head once more. " No, no, not at all. Sit."
The girl sat down and place her bag under her chair in a similar manner as Harry had. She placed both hand on the table, wringing them together in an almost anxious way before glancing around and turning back to Harry.
" It's rather busy isn't it?"
Harry nodded. It was strange to be speaking to a muggle girl the same age as he. When he was younger Dudley had scared off most of the people who had tried to be friends with him and his summer holidays every year bar this year he had been swamped down with chores by his Uncle.
In a way, he was glad to have someone to talk to even if he didn't know them.
" It is rather busy." He confirmed, glancing around them. " There must be something going on.."
The brown haired girl nodded.
" Yeah, well, I'm here for the summer camp at Bell's.. Maybe that's why it's so busy. Erm - You can probably tell by my accent that I'm not actually from England."
Harry blinked slightly. How could he have missed the Scottish lilt to her voice? He knew why. Because he himself had a slightly Scottish accent, with quite a few of his friends at Hogwarts being Scottish and the villagers in Hogsmeade. And Professor MacGonagal... He had lost his English accent within months of being at Hogwarts. It was easy to blend in to the people you were around. Harry nodded to the girl, smiling slightly.
" You're Scottish?"
She nodded, smiling also.
" Yep." She tilted her head slightly to the side, thoughtfully. " You have an odd accent... No offense.."
Harry laughed lightly. " None taken. I live with my Aunt and Uncle during Holidays, here, but I go to a boarding school in Scotland... So the two accents kind of.. collide." He cringed at this and the girl laughed. A light, happy sound.
" Oh, don't worry. Your accent isn't bad, just... different."
Harry shook his head, his eyes sparkling with laughter.
" Is that an insult or an compliment?"
She blushed lightly and Harry laughed outright.
" I'm only kidding. I know you didn't mean anything by it." He looked down at the menu. He scanned it quickly before handing it over to the other girl.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before another young woman who looked to be only a few years older than Harry himself, though several inches taller, appeared by his elbow and asked to take their order.
" A strawberry milkshake please." Harry pitched his voice so that he could be heard over the din of the nodded to the girl sitting opposite.
" The same, please." She blushed, again, as the waitress scribbled something on her little notepad then fought her way back through the crowd.
" So.." Harry started, determined to break the awkwardness between them. Though he wasn't sure exactly why he was bothering. It was something to do with the almost feaful look in her eyes as she glanced around the room at the other teenagers. " You said you were here for some kind of camp?"
She smiled, showing perfect white teeth. " Yeah. It's on at Bell's theater - you know the one just around the corner?" She waited for Harry's affirmative nod. " Well, they do a summer - well - summer school thing. But it's all music-orientated."
" Really?" Harry raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
" Mhm." She glanced around once more. " Everyone that gets through the audition stays at the theater for three weeks of the summer, and at the end they put on a show, usually a famous play. I went to see last years show and it was brilliant." She fingered the edge of the tablecloth, as if her enthusiasm was some how offensive.
" So the auditions are today then? What are you doing for it?" That explained her fearful look. She was stuck in the middle of her competition here.
" Playing flute. Well, I think anyway - "
She hesitated and they were interrupted by a sudden outbreak of laughter from a group sitting at a table across the room. Harry sent them an annoyed glance then rolled his eyes when they lapsed into giggles once more. Typical girls.
" You were saying - You think?" He pushed her gently on.
" Well there's quite an audition process, and it changes every year. All we're told is that we have to be able to play at least one piece of grade four standard or higher, then be prepared to sight read, play or sing a piece of music supplied by the judge - and if we get through that theres another test, but that one changes every year and no one is told what it is."
Harry frowned softly. " That seems a bit unfair."
" It is. But thats the point I think - sometimes in acting and performing there are things you can't prepare fully for and things don't always have a definate plan.."
" I see what you mean." He nodded once, smiling politely at the stressed looking waitress as she placed their order on the table, then left again, in a whirlwind of checkered apron. Harry sipped his milkshake, examining the girl over the edge of his glass. She seemed nice enough, if a bit shy.
" I just realized - I haven't even asked your name, sorry. I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Her eyes flickered with something akin to recognition and for a moment Harry felt panic rise in his chest and his thoughts flew to what he would do if she was from the magical world -
" I'm Coralie. Simpson." She cringed slightly. " Though, please, call me Cory. I despise my full name." She sipped her drink. " So - you seem pretty interested in the camp - do you play?"
" I used to." Coralie didn't miss the sadness that tinged his smile. " I gave up a long time ago. I couldn't possibly play after all these years."
" Have you?" She questioned. " Tried - that is."
Harry shook his head.
" Well then how do you know?" She leaned her head on her hand, shifting a stray curl behind her ear with the other. " What instrument did you play?"
" Flute." And violin and piano and - Harry gave her a lopsided smile. " Are you nervous?" He changed the subject swiftly.
She didn't seem to notice.
" Well - Yeah. It's quite a big deal. Erm. I'm going to practice before hand though. The theatre is open for an hour before auditions start to give everyone a fair chance to warm up." She glanced at her watch. " It's not even ten o'clock yet and the auditions don't start til half eleven. Though.."
" You want to practice?" Harry glanced around the room. " You could probably just set up here. I doubt anyone would even notice." He eyed the group of earlier-giggling girls.
" No way!" Her bright blue eyes were wide as she glanced around. " Not here!"
"Why ever not? I'm sure you've played in front of a bigger audience before. Especially if you're past grade four." He added the last as a bit of encouragement but she just shook her head.
" But we're in the middle of a cafe. You cant just randomly get an instrument out and start playing -"
" Sure you can." Harry smiled. "As if anyone is going to care in this rabble. I doubt you'd be able to hear yourself. Though really, how on earth are going to get through that horrible audition if you can't play in front of others?" He hoped she would take the shun and turn it on him. He hadn't heard anyone play the flute in years.
" Fine!" Coralie huffed, pulling her bag up from underneath her chair. She then stood, pulling a folder and a hard black case from it, she opened the latter and began to piece together the instrument quickly but efficiently. Once ready, she hesitated for just a moment, before raising it to her lips and blowing one long note.
The cafe instantly went silent and Harry watched her hands tighten on her flute as she lowered it again, blushing harshly.
" I can't do this." She spoke directly to him, biting her lip as she shied away from the looks directed her way.
" Of course you can." Harry smiled. Crowds didn't scare him anymore. It was just a perk of being the boy-who-lived. Nothing much bothered you once your privacy had been ripped to shreds one too many times.
Coralie sat down and began to pull her flute apart. Harry sighed, and making a sudden decision, he stood up as well, but instead of leaving as he was sure she was expecting him to do, he too pulled his bag from under the seat and placed it on the table with an audible thump.
" Fine. If you won't play then I will." He pulled his case out of his bag, and began to piece the treasured flute together, fighting back the emotions the sight of it brought.
" I thought you hadn't played in -"
" I haven't." Harry sent a quick prayer up before raising the flute up to his lips, sounding out the same note as she had. Quickly, he ran through a simple octave scale. The fingerings felt a little awkward, but that was to be expected.
He smiled at her shocked look and completely ignored the whispers that broke out around them. He nodded once towards her folder.
" Any duets in there?"