Music Classroom
 

Noelle/Candice
 

Noelle knew Az's safe spots. So when she wasn't in her dorm, thanks for that information from a younger year, She went to the next place to find her. The music room.

Yep. There she was.

Noelle grinned and leaned against the door, letting her be at peace. As had been through a lot the last few terms and this week had been a tough one already and school had just started.

"Is that you Az? I barely recognize you with that hair." Noelle said giggling as she headed into the room to sit by her.

Arm to arm, Noelle nudged her. "How you holding up?"

Az/Thea
 

Noelle had heard Az play numerous times and this time, she could tell there was somethng wrong with the music. There was an undertone to it that... wasn't her.

Az's giggles were contagious though and Noelle flicked her fingers through her bet friend's new hair cut. " I love it. So free and flowy. Kind of like yourself" Awww look at her being all sentimental.

Noelle studied her friend though and put an arm around her, almost as to keep her together. "HAve you figured anything else out? And you're not acting on anything right now right? Just thinking and deciding on what YOU want right?" Because that was important. Key factor here.

Noelle smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind Az's ear. ' Im worried about you and Mel. But Im fine." Which was the truth. She was great in fact. She just wanted to help her friends. She also had news but would share later, if it happened.

Az's hair looked amazing. It fit. It was springy and light. And it made her eyes pop more than they already did. Noelle loved it.

"im still debating on doing anything with my hair but I love how natural it is." Noelle told Az, while keeping her arm around her. Still holding her together if she needed it.

Chris and Az. Noelle...... Did not have the best view of the guy. She didn't like how he seemed to play with Az's heart. And Az loved him so it was a battle to see anything good about him. But if that's what Az wanted, Noelle would try to like him. No promises though.

"I know, it sucks." Noelle had gone through something similar. She'd broken up with Sabbie a while ago and it had hurt her bad. But, it was for the best. He was her first boyfriend, kiss, and experience. It had been tough to let him go.

"I don't know....... Nothing definite yet, but keep your ear out for her, okay?" Mel was part of the group. The Mermaid Sisters.

for kerri!liv
 

One minute, Olivia had been packing her things away, hoping Tak would wait up so she could assure him that he'd done nothing wrong. That all was well. But she'd turned around only to discover that he'd disappeared on her.

Something her new friendsie probably didn't know about this particular girl ... Liv could be quite determined. And quite was an understatement.

So, hitching the bag strap higher up onto her shoulder, she'd quickly made for the door; mind racing for possibilities of where he might've run off to. In fact, the blonde was purposefully striding down the Runes corridor (RECALLING ALL THEIR SUMMER OWLS) when she suddenly passed an opened door. Had she not been paying attention, she might've missed the fact that Tak was standing right there, facing a wall, but luck must've been on her side! THANK YOU GOOD KARMA!

There was a certain care being taken as she announced herself. "Tak .... you okay?"

The third year pushed off the wall slightly. Mouth turned downwards into a frown. His head was still spinning a little but being alone for the short amount of time already made him feel better. This wasn't a big thing anyways. This was a little thing. He had gone through so much worse in his other schools. Little thing.

He was about ready to leave when a voice called his name.

Glancing over he blinked a couple of times, surprised to see Liv at the door frame. "I'm fine." The words slipped out before he even thought about it, and he really didn't need to think about it. He was fine. He was simply annoyed that the boy was here, annoyed at the look that the fire girl had given him like what he said didn't matter.

For some reason, she didn't believe his words. If he were 'fine', why had he basically put himself in the corner?

Hmmm.

"I was hoping you'd wait for me." Liv walked further into the room, moving to shut the door as she did so.

"Why? Couldn't your other friends wait for you?" His words were a little sharp. But his tone was not exactly venomous. Tak was actually curious.

Why would she want him to wait for her over friends that she had known for at least three years. Much longer than she had known him for.

That wasn't untrue. Olivia had known Charlotte Kettleburn since she was barely out of nappies, and Trixie Jenkins had been her BFF since their very first night at the castle almost three years ago. So, yea, she had a lot of love for them, but .... that didn't mean anything here.

"I suppose they could have, but I wanted to talk to you." Yup, she detected his sass, but NEVER FEAR. She had sass all her own. "I guess you should wait around and give a girl the option next time." Tak was her friend, too, now.

Once she'd properly shut the door, Liv settled her bag on the floor, hopping up onto a desk and crossing her legs.

Tak crossed his arms over his chest and really tried to digest what Liv was saying. She wanted to talk to him, over her other friends?

Uh....why?

Really- seriously- why?

If it was him vs other kids, other kids always won out, he had been in enough foster homes to learn that. But this girl in front of him......Tak watched as Liv hopped into a desk. After a few seconds he slowly made his way over and sat beside her. "Well then, next time I'll give you an option." He didn't know why, but he has a good feeling about Liv and so maybe he was sort of believing her.

Liv had always gotten the sense that Tak was especially guarded, but it'd never mattered too much to her. He could be suspicious of her intentions all he wanted to. It wouldn't change a thing.

She'd just keep pushing. Insisting. Asserting herself. In that wonderful, kinda annoying Liv way.

Like now, once he'd finally deemed her safe to sit next to. Slyly grinning, she scooted closer to the Slytherin, resting her blonde head atop his shoulder. "Good, because I enjoy you." It wasn't meant to beromantic or anything; just a comforting moment between friends. Warning: she was known to be an affectionate gal.

Ahem, switching gears a little ... Attention span. "So, why the music room?"

Weird.

It was still so weird.

First Jael and now Liv.

As the small Gryffindor rested her head on his shoulder like she had done back when they first met, Tak stared.

It wasn't like he didn't want any friends. He had always been hopeful when he was younger, probably up until his first year at Mahoutokoro school. But after some instances..... it was kind of hard not to notice that people were jerks who need not be trusted.

"Why?" She enjoyed him? That was a weird thing to say. Weird. Like this.

His gaze lifted up away from her and turned to the instruments up at the front. "I'm taking this class. I like music." He said simply. There was nothing complicated or big about it.

When people played with her hair, Noelle loved it. She sighed and nodded. "Only something temporary. You know my hair... besides, mom will never let me keep it." Which is a shame because if she probably would look good with her mermaid hair.

"Are we still making potions for our hair?" NOelle asked in an attempt to change the subject off of Chris. She promised to try and like the guy but in all honesty, she didnt know if she could. He didnt treat Az the way she should be treated.

Noelle saw the tears in Az's eyes and put her head on her shoulder. "It'll be okay. You have me." She wasnt much but they were besties. Always and forever. Even when she left her.

"By the way, have you heard from WADA or Julliard?" Az had been trying to get into their programs. Noelle needed to get on the ball and start applying for programs to help her get into a good Auror program.

"Because you're unlike all of my other friends. I love that you're unique." It wasn't meant as an insult, just so he knew. She liked that he was different. It made him special. A rarity. Without him even having realized it, Olivia had collected him, as she did with most things that were special to her. Collected in the hopes of protecting what was, indeed, so unique about him.

That couldn't be helped. She was a natural collector of all the things.

"Do you play an instrument?" She shifted around a bit to get a better look at his face, smiling at his bewildered, suspicious expression. "You can relax, you know. I promise I'm not trying to put you on" She'd seen movies where that had happened, and wondered if it was a thing that people did in real life. Pretending to be friends with someone only to hurt them or gain something.

She would NEVER. "Would you like to hold my hand?" She smiled some more.

Anyone can snag him
 

Azura smiled warmly as she kept playing with Noelle's hair, even braiding small pieces of it as they talked. "Of course, it'll only be something temporary.. nothing permanent, I don't know how my mom would take to me having mermaid hair either.. But leaving it in for a few days should be fun hmm?" She said with a smile

"Yes, I still want too. Soon yeah?" She said as she smiled again at her bestie, grateful for a bit of a subject change.. Anything to take her mind off of Chris at the moment.. She gently braided more of Noelle's hair as they sat together, happy for something to do with her hands.

Az nodded and she took a deep breath and swallowed back her tears, "I'm so lucky to have a best friend like you." She said with a warm smile. "You are one of the greatest people in the world." Besides a few other people, but Noelle was totally top five!

Az sighed a little as Noelle spoke.. "No.. not yet.. hopefully soon! I'm going crazy over here waiting.." She was super stressed out about her auditions.. or well pending auditions..

He was unique. Hah. Maybe that was why he thought things with Liv were more than strange. Because she said things like that. Things that weren't exactly bad- but he had never heard them before.

"I play Ren." Tak stated quietly. Mind still hung up on the being unique thing. "He's a ukulele.". Simply mentioning Ren made his lips curl into a smile. His eyes floated up to he drum set and the guitar and sure those were cool instruments but not as cool as Ren.

Relaxing was a big no. Heck no. But for some reason he believed Liv's words. She was nice and full of energy and seemed honest. And one thing was certain; if she lied to him, he would make her pay. "It's not easy."

Eyes still focused on the instruments her next words startled him. Badly. Quickly his head whipped over to meet Olivia's eyes. Hold her hand? Letting the question sink in for a few seconds he didn't hesitate before holding his hand out.

A ukulele?! And had that been a smile.....? "That's a really great look for you, Tak." Gosh, his smile was a lovely one. More people needed to bear witness to it.

.... And any talk of music immediately grabbed her undivided attention. What exactly was a ukulele?

"Would you mind playing Ren for me sometime? I don't think I've ever heard anything like that before." music from a ukulele, she'd meant. Pausing briefly, Liv readjusted her legs so that they were dangling over the sides of the desk. It was difficult to sit with them crossed for too long, as her knees always started throbbing. Stupid growing pains. "I have friends who play piano, and they usually do so while I dance." Ballet was very interesting in that way, at least. it was best suited for basic, stripped down melodies. No words, just notes and feeling..

...And it pleased her so much that he was holding out his hand for her to take. Also without hesitation, she took the proffered hand, giving it a little squeeze. "Thank you for giving me a chance." Friendships could be scary sometimes. Olivia understood this. To make someone a friend, it was like offering them a bit of your soul. Or, at least, that's how she viewed (and treated) her friendships. It was very serious business.

It was during Art's walk back to his office, from the Gryffindor common room, that he passed the music room. He loved music of all types, but had never heard someone playing music from the room. Mostly because he rarely came down this corridor, but now, he made multiple trips up from the dungeon to the seventh floor. He poked his head in to see one of the students tuning a guitar. "Oh d-do you play?" he asked, then laughed. "Bit of an obvious answer, I think. H-how long have you played for?"

The smile was not the only rare thing currently on his face. With that compliment he couldn't help it as his cheeks began to turn a slight pink. "Oh, I know. I don't do it often because if I do then I might blind everyone with my beauty." It was a joke. Yeah. Sarcastic, but he was the one who the sarcasm was sort of revolved around. So it wasn't meant to undermine what Liv said.

Play Ren?? The Slytherin simply shrugged. "Sure. I love playing. You can come into my common room and I can play for you." It wasn't anything special to be honest. He played all the time, and whoever was around was just forced to listen.

Why did it not surprise him that she had friends who could play the piano? That thought bugged him. Pianos were big, and the person had to have constant access to something like that to even get good at playing. "I don't really think the ukulele goes with ballet. The sound isn't.......grand enough."

The squeeze made him smile waver, just for a second. It felt strange to have her hand in his. Touching people wasn't something that he normally did and this was so sudden. At the same time it didn't feel wrong. Strange yes, wrong no. So it seemed like a good sign. Like a sign that Liv, perhaps, could be the second real friend."I'm only giving you a chance because I get good feelings from you." He was even being honest with her. And that never happened.