The Curse of Curves | Evanlie

Sunday, December 5, 1920
Late Afternoon
♫

"I didn't actually know it was here until late last term," Rosie said over her shoulder as she led the younger boy through the clock tower and to a door in the very back of the space. It was a lovely discovery that she had made, finding out Evander loved music as much as she did. There really wasn't much about; gramophones and muggle radios not exactly being in rich supply around the castle.

But there was, to her pleasant surprise, a piano.

Tucked back in a dusty room that seemed no one even ventured into, it sat. A Steinway. Deep chocolate and grand, as all pianos should be. She pushed open the door, having to give it a little nudge with her shoulder and beckoned the younger boy in.

"It needs some tuning," she said lightly, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "I haven't quite figured out how to do it. Maybe there's a spell or something that could help. But it plays, which is half the battle won." She glanced up, smiling at him, her blue eyes twinkling with excitement.

She slid into the bench, patting it as an invite for Evan to join her. "Any requests? I know exactly three songs and am working on a fourth."

Three years ago, while sleeping through a Divination lesson, Evan got a tap on his shoulder. When he opened his pale eyes, they widened as he gawked at the sight of a literal angel smiling back at him. Her hair was golden, and her smile was as sweet as honey. He hadn't been sure if he was dreaming her or not until she whispered that he'd been snoring.

That was the first time he'd met Rosalie Laurence and, stupidly, he'd basically had a crush on her ever since.

Not that he'd ever acted on it or made his intentions clear. She went on to be in one of those forever relationships while he was only starting to test his charm. For someone who viewed himself as confident, the older Gryffindor girl with the golden hair did little else but make him feel squeezy and he'd probably fumbled his words more with her than in any other given situation combined.

Of course, graceful and carefree as she was, she never seemed to notice or hold it against him.

More than that, she every so often asked him to work with her in school projects even while knowing he was right shit at just about everything. Maybe it was pity or that she was just that much more of a better person than he was.

Which brought them here, his steps falling behind hers as they walked through the Clock Tower to a room he'd never been to before. In it, a giant piano, its back littered with dust, sat in an otherwise empty space. Rose was sliding onto the bench before he said a word, tapping it to have him join her. Evan stood there for a moment, his lips strained into a tight, straight line, before nodding and slowly squatting on the edge of the bench, leaving a very distinct space between them.

He was pretty sure he'd dreamed this before.

"Any requests? I know exactly three songs and am working on a fourth."

"How far along are you on the forth?" He asked. Evan had been a fool to think he could actually play or add anything to this. He'd basically lied to her face when he said he was very interested in music. He had no idea where he'd pulled out the name of all those composers he admired. Honestly, he was pretty sure he'd made half of them up. Still, he was there, and she was there and there wasn't anywhere he would rather be.

"Are you close to finishing or are we going to have to get quite comfortable to see it through?"

Rosalie remembered well the first time she met Evan Whistler. A profound snorer, she found him to be, sawing away logs in the midst of a Divination class they were meant to be meditating in. The Professor had seemed fully perturbed at the noise - though Rosie could hardly blame Evan for passing out in the snooze of a class. She'd taken it upon herself to rouse him, a little tap and everything was right as rain again.

Since then, she'd gotten to know him through shared projects and the times he'd wander into the library seeming completely lost.

Others seemed to count Evan out, always saying he was terrible and a failure at everything. She didn't see it, and luckily for Evan, Rosalie was a staunch supporter of underdogs. She always looked for the potential in people, focusing on the natural gifts she saw in them. It was what drew her to others, finding out what made them shine and allowing her to admire them in all their glory.

Evan claimed that his interest lay in music, and she was happy to sit with a kindred spirit and see where the notes took them.

"How far along are you on the forth? Are you close to finishing or are we going to have to get quite comfortable to see it through?"

"Get comfy," Rosalie said, a grin spreading across her lips. She reached over and tugged on his sleeve, pulling the boy closer so he could actually have access to the far keys and watch the movements of her hands. Why he decided to basically hang off the edge of the bench was beyond her.

She didn't bite, really.

"I've mastered Moonlight Sonata and I'm fairly tired of it now. I've begun working on 'Le Sapin', which really translates to 'The Spruce'. It's one of the five Sibelius pieces. You've heard of it right? He only just wrote them in the last few years. They're rather popular amongst the bougie sort." She opened up the sheet music she'd left on top of the piano and spread it before them.

"There. You take the bottom half, and I'll take the top?"

"Moonlight Sonata," he repeated, nodding. That one he actually knew. He didn't have a clue how to play it, but if she was a master of it, he doubted he would have to prove himself to her and just test to see if she really had mastered it. Unfortunately, she was already moving past it by the time he had thought of the perfect way to go about it.

"Le Sapin?" This time, he blurted back the words in a tone that signaled his unfamiliarity. Even her short explanation did little to give him any context. More than that, Evan had no idea how the song went. Which meant he had no clue how to start it and definitely no idea how to try to play it. His eyes looked back towards the door, even as he could cherish the sense of her warmth pressing against the side of his body.

His mind telling him he needed to leave while his body was forcing him to stay.

"There. You take the bottom half, and I'll take the top?"

"Sure, sure," was all he could say as he gulped. Flexing his fidgeting fingers, he looked back to her and waited for her to start.

As she struck her first key, he touched his. Both of the notes clashed and sounded off, even to his ears, but as she began to play, he tried to follow. They didn't reach the next line of music before she stopped them. He did enough to mask his lack of confidence, even having the gumption to ask what the problem was.

"Why'd you stop?"

Rosalie's eyes widened in amusement as he practically shouted the title of the song back to her. A repressed smile played on her lips. Had he...never heard of it? A music connoisseur like him, having never heard the very popular 'Le Sapin'? Maybe he just needed to hear the tune and he'd pick it up. Lots of people knew tunes without recognizing the name.

Surely that was all that was off.

It wasn't.

She pursed her lips as their notes clashed, grimacing slightly as her eyes dropped to his hands, watching as he continuously hit the wrong keys. He...he could see the sheet music, right? Still moving along the notes with one hand, Rosie nudged the music his way, just in case, but as the second line approached, she realized quickly. The sheet music wasn't the problem either.

"Why'd you stop?"

She perked an eyebrow at him and tilted her head slightly. The silly boy. "Evander Whistler." She couldn't help the way her smiled grew at his attempt at confusion. "You could just say you don't know how to play the piano. I'm happy to just play for you. Or even teach you." She nudged him with her shoulder. "Who are you trying to impress? The mice in the rafters?"

She straightened, reaching for his hands and positioning them correctly over the right keys. "Start here. The white keys are your notes, A through G. The black keys are your sharps and flats." She looked at him to see if he was following. "Or would you rather I just play?"

He held his breath, watching her features turn sour at each note he played. How he thought he could bullshit his way through playing was beyond even his limited understanding. Looking back, it must have been that there wasn’t much blood flowing to his brain to think logically when it was busy flowing in the opposite direction. When she stopped fully, he held his hands over the keys, fingers hovering haphazardly.

Her smile could light an entire continent.

That registered a lot better than her words did. She didn’t fault him for pretending, or basically lying about his expertise. Rosaline seemed to find it amusing. That was a better result than he could have hoped for.

"Who are you trying to impress? The mice in the rafters?”

At that, he exhaled and let out a laugh. Wasn’t it obvious who he was trying to impress? Not that it would ever go anywhere. Evan was just lucky that she was by far the nicest person he’d ever met, going so far as to offer to teach or just play for him if he wished to still spend the time. How could he say no?

The Slytherin couldn’t believe he remained composed and didn’t flinch when she directed his hands, her fingers having a delicate touch that left him tense. He nodded as she explained the keys and where they started. Evan wasn’t so dumb that he didn’t understand the concept of music. The structure was just foreign to him and he never felt the need to put any effort into learning.

“You could just play. I like to watch.”

‘Hear’ might have been the right way to say it, but it slipped. Evan didn’t notice as he wiggled free of her touch and turned his torso to face her completely, egging her on to play as he pointed once his hands were free.