Bumping into you ((Harmony))

[ksmilesallroundk]

Richard walked into the Student Lounge, whistling softly to himself. He clutched his books to his chest, and felt comfort in knowing that his inner most thoughts would not be taken away from him. It was strange how much he hated anyone except Rachel reading his journal or work, but he was content with the idea. It just meant he trusted her. Not even Patricia had read anything of his yet, and Richard frowned. He'd have to show some to her sometime. Something not too personal.

Sitting down in an empty seat, he opened his poetry book and drew inspiration from the crackling fire before him. Absorbed in his work, he didn't realise anyone was next to him until he heard his name being called. Jumping, he turned to look at the girl, and felt his heartbeat slow.
"Hi, how are you?" He asked, smiling, and motioning towards the chair next to him.

[Harmony Chan H6]

Hm. The student lounge. Again. People would begin to think her mad, spending most of her week day evenings, and many of her week end ones too, sitting in her usual spot beside the fire, head bent over a mass of papers, quill forever moving as she wrote continuously. Sighing, Harmony knew her evening tonight would, as usual, be filled with piles of homework needing to be finished, and knew well she'd be sitting there alone, with no one to accompany her. Why did it seem like everyone else was coping fine with their studies, yet they were always out playing and being carefree?

Not that Harmony never did, because she loved her share of relaxation and hanging out with friends, but... where was the time nowadays? She could barely imagine what the years after this would be like, and grimaced in thought. Urgh... revising for the OWLs would be... hell. Definitely. But Harmony would get it done, even if it meant sacrificing all her free time to sit studiously in the student lounge. Harmony knew afterwards she'd be contented with herself, and have no regrets. She felt a little hope after Ari and Aurora had assured her fourth year wasn't so bad, and came to the conclusion she should really confront her teachers about her amounts of homework. Perhaps she was taking too many subjects...

At least Harmony did other things aside from homework still... It wasn't as if her life contained nothing but that. She read and wrote sometimes, usually before bed or during week end mornings. She practised a few ballet steps when taking one of her night strolls... just to clear her head. This reminded her of the promise she made to Rachel concerning dance practice, and reminded herself to catch the older Slytherin some time soon to arrange a time. Plus she had yet to ask Aurora for a suitable song...

Dismissing her thoughts with a keen expression, Harmony entered the typically warm student lounge, a small smile creeping up onto her face as she swept her eyes round the room swiftly, hoping to find someone she recognised. Finally, her eyes alighted upon an older Ravenclaw boy sitting near her usual spot, writing with obvious concentration. A grin began to form on Harmony's lips, and immediately made her way over to him, hoping he didn't mind her company. Whilst strolling along, she was reminded of her recent conversation with Rachel, about her feelings for him. Feeling a sense of sadness for the Slytherin rise within her, Harmony quickly dispelled it as she approached Richard, who had yet to notice her presence, so absorped in his work.

Smiling friendlily at the sight of him, Harmony began to speak, a coy tone lacing through her voice. She had yet to become used to hanging around boys, being an unconfident socialiser when it came to strangers. Although Richard was certainly not a stranger, he was one of the only guys Harmony had ever spoken to on a friendly basis for a long time, having a secluded childhood, and even though she enjoyed his company, she was wary of coming across as weird to him. However, it helped he wasn't a Slytherin, otherwise Harmony may have been even more scared... "Richard, hi! Long time no see! How are you?" Harmony began with a smile, and gladly accepted the seat beside him when he waved at it and greeted her with a returning smile. "I'm fine thanks. Lots of work, but I'll survive..." Harmony laughed softly, placing her work onto the table beside Richard's, a large book following suit to flaten the paper, "What are you working on? I'm guessing you're not doing homework, but writing." A twinkle gleamed in Harmony's eyes in amusement, "You sure wouldn't look so keen if it was an essay for Professor Snape."

[ksmilesallroundk]

Richard laughed at the suggestion.
"Absolutely not. Snape kills me with his essays. I was just writing a poem about someone," he said smiling, closing his book and placing it in his bag. Richard was glad Harmony was here, ever since their last encounter in the Student Lounge he had wanted to catch up with her again. She was really nice and interesting, and RB had told him they had met up as well.

"So, Rach tells me you guys bumped into each other and had a really good talk. She really likes you, Harmony," he said smiling. Richard was glad his best friend liked Harmony, because he wanted to become good friends with her too.
"So what did you guys talk about?" He asked, interesting. Knowing RB it was probably dance related, but maybe they connected on another subject as well. He was really excited at the thought.

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony grinned in understanding as Richard nodded in affirmation that he was indeed writing. She laughed at the thought of Professor Snape and essays on Potions, and half groaned, half laughed, "I know what you mean. I hate the essays he sets. I never get good marks on them, and he thinks I'm annoying and pathetic. Actually, I have one piece of Potions work to be done in this pile of papers..." Harmony gestured with a slightly irritated expression at her books, ignoring them for now rather contentedly. Richard would come first before that silly homework. "Oh, so who were you writing about?" Harmony winked at Richard suggestively, though her mind whirled with possibilities. She was reminded yet again of the triangle between Patrica, Richard, and Richard, and tried not to think about it. It only made Harmony nervous around Richard, and she didn't want to blurt anything ridiculous out. "Patrica? Rachel?"

"Oh yes, I did bump into Rachel the other day!" Harmony smiled happily, though worry began to rise as they touched onto the topics they conversed about. This wasn't good at all. She couldn't tell Richard anything about their discussion involving him, so with a slight flush and nervousness running through her mind, she smiled as brightly as she could, "Oh, we talked about a lot of stuff. Dancing mainly, like you guessed!" Harmony gave a short laugh, and remembered her appointment with Rachel for the coming Sunday evening, "I'm going to meet up with her on Sunday and we're going to start composing a song for us to dance to. I can't wait. I really need to practise... We talked for quite a while, and we got on pretty well too!" Harmony shied away from thoughts of the other things they discussed, focusing on dancing only. "She's very nice. I'm glad she got on so well with me." Harmony beamed genuinely this time, glad to have made another friend, one who she'd hopefully keep for a long time.

[ksmilesallroundk]

((Sorry about replying so late!))

"I'm so glad," Richard said, smiling. He really was too, it made him very happy to know that his best friend was getting along with someone he hoped he'd become great friends with.
"And how did I know you'd talk about dancing," he laughed. RB was so predictable.

He glanced down at his journal, wondering whether he should tell Harmony the truth about what he was writing. It felt so wrong confessing something so private, but he had felt comfortable with Rachel knowing. Maybe it would be OK. Blushing, he reached out and opened to the page he had been writing a poem.
"It's about Rach, actually," he said quietly. The poem in itself wasn't too embarrassing; although he would never admit it, he was quite proud of it. It was the fact that he was actually sharing his work to someone other than RB that he found disconcerting.
"What do you think?" Richard asked nervously after a few minutes passed.

[Harmony Chan H6]

((Don’t worry, I’m sorry for my own uncharacteristically late reply. I have finally come to my senses that I also have work to attend to too!))

Harmony laughed along with Richard at the mention of dancing, pleased that this subject was predictable to him, and not the other topic they had wandered to during their conversation. Harmony speculated absentmindedly whether Richard felt anything towards Rachel; perhaps he did. However, Harmony shook her head to herself in disbelief; she highly doubted it… After all, Richard was going out with Patrica… right? But it suddenly occurred to Harmony that Richard tended to talk about Rachel a lot more than Patrica; even though she had barely been able to speak to this boy and get to know him more, Rachel was always brought up with a smile on his face. He constantly praised her thoroughly and loved to talk about his “best friend”. Pondering this thought, Harmony barely knew what to think, but she was intent on staying impartial to the situation. She couldn’t want Richard to like either Rachel or Patrica, they were both her friends. At the end of the day, one of them was bound to be hurt. Suppressing an unhappy sigh, Harmony wondered for not the first time why love turned out to be so complicated.

It was then Richard shook her out of her short reverie as she heard the name “Rachel”, and turned to find Richard pressing his writing with a nervous smile into her hands. Staring for a second at the older boy in utter surprise that he would even show his work to her, she politely inclined her head away to glimpse the poem before her. Did Richard just say this was about Rachel…? Ah. Hm. This was what Harmony had just been thinking about. Everything surrounding Richard’s happiness seemed to involve Rachel. Rachel this and Rachel that. Although Harmony did not feel distressed for Rachel, she was rather pained as she wondered how Patrica might feel… How Richard really felt about Patrica. Or more to the point, Rachel. Harmony doubted Richard would ever cheat on her, but what if he actually liked Rachel more than her? Blinking away worry reflected in her warm brown eyes, Harmony scanned the poem with interest, trying not to think with too much distress about the situation. It wasn’t even any of her business, and therefore she shouldn’t need to worry about it. She shouldn’t even be suspecting Richard, she barely knew him!

Taking her time reading, Harmony’s frown slowly faded as an appreciative smile graced her features instead. What a lovely poem… It was truly beautiful, and Harmony would have been in bliss for Richard at his writing skills, if it wasn’t for that little nagging voice at the back of her mind. The tiny whispers that kept hissing from the dark corner, persistently gaining her attention. “He likes Rachel. He likes Rachel.” The evidence was sitting right in front of her eyes, she couldn’t deny that, and the signs, even for a dense girl like her, were obvious. Harmony ran her fingers down the page gently, her heart beating numbly as she tried to say something. Such a beautiful piece. All about Rachel. No, he didn’t like Rachel, Harmony tried to convince herself. “No, don’t even think like that. You don’t know, neither do you care, who Richard prefers and actually likes. It’s not as if you’d go running to Rachel or Patrica with your suspicions. It’s none of my business. At all.” Grinding her teeth together resolutely, Harmony raised her head again and plastered a very bright smile on her face; she was pleased and honoured to have had the chance to view Richard’s work, and she enjoyed it thoroughly, but her doubts had ruined it, yet she still had to appear civil and impressed. “Richard, it’s lovely.” Harmony grinned part-forcefully, running her hands nervously through her hair as she twiddled with a short end, spinning it round fingers that moved restlessly. “It’s really very good. Honestly. I didn’t know you were so good! I wish I could write like you.” Harmony added earnestly, genuinely impressed. Just because she had her suspicions and anxieties about it, didn’t mean she could ruin Richard’s trust and not tell him the truth that the poem was indeed very good.

Clenching her hands together, Harmony lifted her eyes to gaze deep into the fire burning brightly near them, trying to immerse herself from lurking thoughts, “Thank you very much for showing the poem to me, Richard.” Harmony smiled faintly, finding it hard to turn back to look him straight in the eyes. “Have you showed Rachel that poem yet?” Harmony ventured cautiously; even she didn’t know what or where she was going with this conversation, but she hoped to steer clear of anything concerning the three older students relationships-wise. Even though it had nothing to do with Harmony, she could already sense her drifting inevitably into a painful struggle with no choice in the matter, could already see that she might end up learning way too much than she needed to know.

[ksmilesallroundk]

((haha))

Richard watched anxiously as Harmony read his poem, his heart beat increasing every time her face moved. She hates it, he thought miserably, as he saw her starting to look anxious. There's something wrong with it; maybe she doesn't understand the style I wrote it in. The thoughts continued to run through his mind, and he held his breath as she began speaking. With a sigh of relief, he began to feel reassured again. Harmony liked it, and had even complimented him.
"Thanks Harmony," he said, beaming. He looked down at his notebook and remembered writing it after spending a fantastic day with Rachel. It had been a day when she had confided in him, and they had just been able to be there for each other. Lakes and dinners were fun, but the talks they had were what made their relationship special. Richard smiled, and then looked at Harmony.
"No, I haven't. Do you think I should? I'm a bit embarrassed. She's read some of my other stuff, and only one about her once. But then she didn't realise it was about her so that doesn't really count," he said, laughing. He thought about it, and then shook his head.
"Maybe a bit later. Anyway, I'd love to read some of your writing sometime," Richard continued.
"I'm sure it's much better than mine. I just write whatever pops into my head," he said laughing. Then, he frowned.
"Hey, have you see Patrica around anywhere? I wanted to meet up with her sometime today, but I haven't been able to find her," he said.

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony smiled at Richard laughed, and nodded enthusiastically, “Of course you should show Rachel! She’d love to read it, I’m sure. Plus she’ll be so pleased…” Harmony nodded more to herself than Richard, repeatedly telling herself that she was not making their situation any worse than it already was. She was merely saying what she would’ve said had Rachel not told Harmony her true feelings. But now that this knowledge was in her head, why was it bugging her so much? It changed her perspective, made her worry incessantly what she should or shouldn’t say. All Harmony wanted to be was a good friend; all she wanted to do was the right thing. But what was the right thing? How was she meant to know this? “Oh, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. She’s your best friend, right? You can show her anything.” Harmony smiled encouragingly, trying to push away that tingling sensation of nervousness. Stepping into dangerous territory, here. Harmony had to be careful.

“Oh, um…” Thank goodness Richard had switched the topic back to just writing, not writing and Rachel too. Giving a sigh of relief which was disguised by a bright grin, Harmony’s eyes fluttered downwards to her piles of work, hearing that Richard wanted to read her own work. Harmony was very, very shy about showing others her writing, thinking that they’d disapprove or not like it. She even felt strange letting Ari and Aurora read them, as these were things that Harmony preferred to keep to herself. However, Richard had taken the chance with her and let her read a poem of his, and Harmony felt honoured. It was obvious he had been very worried about her reaction before she had given him a straight verdict, and Harmony felt she had to return the favour. It was only a song or poem, right? It couldn’t hurt. Richard was very nice… Anyway, Harmony had told herself to make amends to shyness, so here was one of her baby steps towards her goal.

“Um, I think I have something of mine around here…” Harmony trailed off as she delved with an anxious expression into her piles of paper and books. Shuffling the load around calmly, Harmony tried to talk to Richard at the same time with a little frown, “Please don’t laugh if you don’t like it. Like I said to Ra—Er, never mind.” Here Harmony was again, bringing up the Slytherin girl for the umpteenth time. Mentally she reprimanded herself for her tactless mistake, and continued with a strained smile as she ravaged her parchment, glimpsing between each piece. “Yeah, anyway, like I said, I’m not very good at writing. My cousin got me into it in the first place. I’m more of a… dancing person.” Surely talking about dancing wouldn’t bring Rachel up again? They were on the topic of writing… shouldn’t be a problem. Finally catching eye of one of her works, Harmony lifted it out of the pile with a sound of triumph, a smile of victory, yet apprehension, filling her face. “Here it is.” Harmony glanced down at it to make sure it wasn’t too… inappropriate, and good enough for public viewing. Well, none of them, in Harmony’s opinion, were good enough for anyone’s viewing (although Aurora, who could not be persuaded otherwise, took some of her song lyrics now and again and made a really good tune out of it). “It’s a song.” Harmony explained to Richard with a twitch of a smile on her lips. “No tune with it yet… That’s what my cousin does. She turns my song lyrics into proper songs. She’s very talented… I write poems and stories too… But this is one of my lyrics for a song.” Gazing at her neatly scrawled words, Harmony scanned it rapidly, reading over the words with a beating heart.

Never Change

Time goes so quickly
It just passes us by
Please don’t forget me
Don’t say goodbye

Hold time in your hand
Don’t let it go away
It’s precious, believe me
Please let them stay

(Chorus)
So many choices, just one chance
So much joy, so much romance
Feeling the darkness eat me up inside
Why can’t it stop? Where did it go?
My memories were all I had
One moment I’m happy, then I’m sad
I wish it would stay like this forever
And never, oh never change

You think you’ve all
The time in the world
Then you find you’ve been left behind
All alone, completely blind

Running to catch up
But I can never reach
Stretch my fingers out
Can’t hear my cries and shouts

(Chorus)

Watching it helplessly
Crying hopelessly
Falling mournfully
Dying sorrowfully
Remembering lovingly
Oh please, please don’t go away

(Chorus)

Okay, it was fine. Not her best, but it’d do. Nervously, Harmony passed Richard the piece of parchment over to him, making a mental note to file it away with the rest of her writing notes. She had a whole folder of them now from writing frequently, whenever she felt like it. These particular song lyrics she had made up this morning, the idea hitting her head as she had woken up from a strange but memorable dream. It seemed the inspiration came and went rather oddly, but Harmony didn’t complain. If she felt the familiar urge eating her, she’d just whip out a quill and a piece of parchment and write as quickly as possible. “Tell me what you think, but I don’t mind if you don’t like it… I’m just no good at writing...” Harmony laughed anxiously, eyes staring intently at Richard’s expression.

[ksmilesallroundk]

Richard smiled as he watched Harmony anxiously searching for something to show him. They had more in common than he had thought. He remembered when he had been too shy to even show Rachel some of his work, and was so thankful that he had gotten over that. Now, some of his favourite moments were showing RB his newest poems or stories for her to give her honest opinion. She was never critical, and always positive, but she gave her opinion about what sounded good and what should be changed, and that made him trust her even more. Rach wasn't scared to tell him what she really thought.

He took the piece of parchment carefully and began reading, his expression serious. As he continued to read, he felt a smile spread across his face. It was amazing. What she had written fit in so well without coming across as fake. It seemed simply like a happy coincidence that the words had rhymed, instead of the time and effort it had undoubtedly have taken. When Richard finished reading, he placed it in his lap and grinned.
"Harmony, if you say ever again you are not a good writer I'll have to set Rachel onto you. This is equisite work. It seems effortless, yet you can tell how much heart you put into it. It's very special," he commended, handing the parchment back.
"I'm actually quite jealous of your talent!" He said honestly, thinking back to his pathetic excuse at writing that he had just shown his friend. Richard paused for a moment, and then looked up at Harmony.
"Has this been put to music already by Aurora? Because if it has, I would love to hear it. Or, if it's going to be, would I be able to? I honestly loved it, Harmony," Richard said, smiling warmly, meaning every word he was saying. He really hoped Harmony would say yes, that he could hear it, because although he was no musician, he could almost imagine how it would sound. And it sounded fantastic.

[Harmony Chan H6]

Harmony gave a relieved laugh at Richard’s appreciative words, and blushed bright red at the wonderful comments he was showering onto her. “Really? Oh, thank you… All right, all right, just don’t set Rachel on me!” she laughed good naturedly, and hid her nervousness at bringing up the Slytherin girl again well. “I don’t think I’m terrible at writing. I’ve never felt it was one of my skills. But you and everyone else who have had the chance to read my stuff have always been so supportive and kind, and I’m eternally grateful for that boost of confidence.” Harmony smiled genuinely, feeling a little proud that Richard really liked her song this much. Although she had never lacked confidence, she didn’t carry much of an ego either. Harmony was outwardly very modest, but inside she had just enough self-esteem to get her through life. Laughing loudly at Richard saying he was jealous, Harmony shook her head in disbelief, and gently patted his arm assuringly. “Don’t be silly, Richard. My work is nothing compared to yours. Honest. Well… that’s my point of view, anyway. We always think we’re not as good as other people, right? I definitely think your writing is much, much better than mine.” Harmony nodded truthfully.

“Hm?” Harmony cocked her head to one side, blinking, “Ah, no, like I said, I haven’t had the chance to give this to Aurora… Well, technically I don’t actually give them to her. She just goes right for my file without even asking and grabs the ones under ‘song lyrics’. But I don’t mind, I’m used to it by now.” Harmony chuckled with a roll of her brown eyes about her cousin’s behaviour. The fourth year Hufflepuff had on many occasion delved her way through Harmony’s stack of parchment, knowing exactly where to find the song lyrics. Harmony didn’t find this irritating though, and she loved Aurora very much. Even if Harmony found her cousin’s actions offensive, she would tolerate it, but Harmony knew well that Aurora Chan barely ever insulted anyone in her life; that was Aurora for you. She had an infinity for reading people’s minds and understanding their emotions. “Aurora is quite bold in that kind of sense, since we are close… Anyway, she’ll probably find this song later and do something for me. I only wrote it this morning when I woke up… The inspiration hit me like a hurricane.” Harmony joked with a small smile, fingering the parchment fondly and returning it carefully to the piles of books. “Oh, of course you can hear it when it’s done. I’ll have Aurora perform the song live to you… She doesn’t mind performing, not because she likes the attention, but because she wants everyone to hear her music. I wouldn’t mind feeling shy about that either. Most people will just hear the tune, not my lyrics. There’s nothing to feel embarrassed about!” Harmony laughed. “I’m sure you will like the music though, Aurora just invents the most amazing things…”

“I don’t know if you’re interested in music, Richard, but I’m sure my cousin can whip up a CD or something. Maybe she’ll even offer to create something with some of your writing. That is, if you want her to. She’s just so enthusiastic about this kind of stuff, and loves doing it too… Aurora collaborates with anyone, since she works well with… well, almost everyone! She’ll probably offer when she meets you, knowing her, so I might as well ask you now.” Harmony grinned at the thought, a wry expression on her face. “I think you’ll like her… Most people do. She’s very loud and friendly, though slightly hyper and scary at times…” Harmony chuckled and scratched her head a little nervously. Aurora freaked people out a little with her overbearing boldness and happy laughter, though when she settled down, they found she wasn’t as weird as perspective proved. This brought Harmony back to how she had promised Rachel to choreograph a song sometime soon with Aurora, and then the dance, of course. ”Back to Aurora…” Oh, her cousin was proving to be a wonderful topic to go on about, since Richard knew nothing about her. “So, what kind of music do you like?” Harmony asked Richard curiously, seeing as they were on the subject track of songs.

[ksmilesallroundk]

"I love music, particularly piano based songs. I'm hopeless myself at piano, but I love ballads with piano and strings. I also like rockier stuff, but as long as it's not too over the top. Like, if they're not screaming," Richard said, laughing. He hoped Harmony liked the same, or if she didn't, that she wasn't upset that he didn't like what she did. He instantly started panicing, wondering if he had accidently offended her. Perhaps her favourite type of music was the screaming rock albums, and she hated piano ballads. Richard gulped.
"Uh, but, then again, screaming is also...good," he said, trying to backtrack. Then, deciding it was useless, he gave her a rueful grin.
"No, it's true. I dont' like screaming music. If this is the end of our friendship, I understand," he said dramatically, lifting a hand to his forehead.
"But I'd love to hear some of Aurora's stuff. Even if it is screaming," he joked, beginning to feel more relaxed. He shouldn't have worried about Harmony, she was so accepting and generally nice.
"And I'd love to meet her! Where is she? Is she at home, a different school, Hogwarts?" Richard asked, smiling.

[Harmony Chan H6]

((I'm sorry, I forgot to reply to the Patrica question! I don't really know how to integrate that now... so... How about asking Harmony again when the chance comes up? Sorry again!))

Harmony laughed at Richard flustering, and waved off his words with a large smile, "Oh, no, no, I like the same kind of music too, don't worry. My favourite genre is pop... well, to be honest, that's the only type of music I like at all. I don't like all the rapping, and hip hopping music that so many people enjoy nowadays. I am so old fashioned! I just like my slow, sweet songs, particularly those with piano backings! I play the piano after all. I just never practise." Harmony stated with a soft chuckle. "It seems me and you have a lot in common! It's not only Rachel that I get on well with." This was a nice thought, Harmony pondered warmly, though she wondered how long this friendship would last. She didn't want any tears and sadness, but there was something about the whole situation that made the consequences feel inevitably bad. However, realising she was straying once again to Rachel, who was always brought up, Harmony changed her path swfitly back to music. "So you like rock, huh? Must say that's not my kind of thing either. I'm just so fussy." Harmony flashed a half-apologetic smile. "I don't seem the type to like screaming music, do I?"

Turning away from music and back to her cousin, Harmony shook her head with a gentle smile, "Oh no, Aurora's composed music is all piano-based music, because that's how she composes: on the piano. She has composed on a guitar before, and has written parts for a whole orchestra and her band, but all my songs are turned into ballads on the piano, because she knows that's my kind of thing. Aurora likes all sorts of music... she's too musical! But um... I don't think she likes screaming songs, you'll be pleased to know." Harmony laughed cheerfully. "She likes rock though, I'm sure of it. She's in a band... I think she's the lead singer... I don't know much about it, since she only mentioned it once... Maybe it's a muggle band, I'm not sure. But it sure sounds fun." Harmony grinned at the thought, and made a mental note to ask her cousin about it soon. She then shook her head slowly in response to Aurora's whereabouts with a small smile, "No, Aurora's here, at Hogwarts! I forgot to mention that, how silly of me. She's in Hufflepuff like me, in fourth year. She's best friends with my sister, Ari... Ariane. But Ari's in Gryffindor. I didn't even realise Aurora was my cousin until the end of last year... Apparently we're long lost family." Harmony grinned at the drama of their situation. "I'd love to introduce you soon. Especially if you want to hear the song."

((Dead thread.))