music to my ears [chun]

[DANTE TIAN-NING AU-YONG]

Normally, he looked forward to his and Chun’s sessions every week. It was a time for him to play his violin, which was rare enough as it was. But it was an even rare treat—at home anyway—to have the opportunity to play with someone as skilled as his cousin, Chun. Merlin knows that his sister was an absolute disaster at it… although harshly worded; his sister could only ever master some very basic stuff that wasn’t at all fun to play with. In fact, playing with his sister made him realize just how much he appreciated Chun’s skill and finesse with the piano .While he himself had received practical lessons with it, he was nowhere as good as his cousin. The mere thought of their playing session would send joy running through his body. However, this week was different.

Last week, Dante had been under a great deal of stress. His dad had owled him again. And because he had, so had his mother. Having two parents who loved each other as much as they did, but had such polar opposite views often gave him a headache. Half the time he didn’t even know if they were really arguing or not. On top of his crazy family, his fiancee, Olivia, had been acting strange lately. Ever since they had known of their arranged marriage, they had made their best efforts to cooperate and ensure that they had good marriage. However, something had changed recently. Olivia had becoming increasingly distant and brushed off his concerns with promises of later explanation, yet thus far, he had not received any explanations. To say the least, Dante was concerned in more than one way.

He had hoped that the regular playing session would have been able to calm him down a bit. It had; but at the same time, it hadn’t. The point is that, he had filched Chun's diary. Almost as soon as he knew that he had gotten away with it, he was awash with an unbearable guilt and quite a bit of terror. He knew what her temper was like, having witnessed it multiple times, and each and every time, Dante promised never to be on the pointy-end of it. At least he didn’t open it—he couldn’t even as the guilt was far too overwhelming… but that was a small comfort with the promise of Chun’s anger should she ever find out that he took it in the first place.

And so Dante slowly approached the Room of Requirement with trepidation, just a little jumpy as if it expected his cousin to pounce on him or something. After all, she didn’t know that he had her diary right? Dear Lord, he hoped she didn’t know. For the entire week before and even now, her diary burned a whole in his pocket as he made the walk of doom towards his destination with his violin case in his hand. As required, Dante paced in front of the supposed doorway and imagined their usual setup; although whether his pacing was due to great anxiety or out of necessity.

With great anxiety, Dante slowly opened the door to find their customary setup with the piano at the center of the room and a music stand close by for his own use. For some reason, he breathed a sigh of relief to see that Chun had not yet arrived. Even so, he gently closed the door behind him before proceeding further into the room. Slowly, he drew out his violin and tuned. He had perfect pitch, so the feat wasn’t difficult for him. While waiting for his cousin's arrival, Dante began to play a familiar song that was long ago memorized from his childhood.

[CHUN CUAN AU-YONG]

It should be a good week. She supposed, all and all, it was, but the one problem with it could turn into a very big one if she didn't find the journal soon. Chun knew it wasn't a smart idea to just put all the plans and her to-do list inside a journal, but it was entirely in Chinese. For all intents and purposes, there were only about three people in the entire school that could even read the stupid thing. However, one of them was a freaking gryffindor (relative or not, she wouldn't dare trust a gryffindor) and the other, she knew, would not be comfortable with the fact that his cousin and fiancee were involved in such a dangerous plan.

The Asian could at least be thankful for the fact that the journal was stolen before she heard about the basilisk.There was still plenty of evidence inside that book that could condemn all three of them to a life of Azkaban-- if they were lucky. Then, there was an entirely personal reason why Chun didn't want her family to come across it. She didn't try to hide her sexuality in that book in the slightest. While she loved Dante dearly as the family member he was, she knew he probably wouldn't take the news very well. She wasn't expecting any better with Charmian. While it was unlikely, Chun knew that the slight chance could be extremely detrimental.

With that, the slytherin was understandably looking forward to their jam session. Her thoughts could clear away so easily when the music flowed between them. Dante was a wonderful violinist, and there were times where the Asian was simply content to listen to him. The melodies helped her to stop thinking, which was a miracle in itself. Sometimes she knew that she dwelled on too much. Emotions outside of anger struck her hard typically, and it could overwhelm her at times. With the music between them, it was simply a wholesome content feeling that filled her-- tranquility. She didn't have to think about anything but the keys in front of her.

There was just one question she needed to ask. It was a dramatic transition as soon as she stepped inside of the Chamber of Secrets, her muscles loosening as soon as the violin song reached her ears. Chun recognized the tune almost immediately, and with a gentle smile over to Dante, she slid into the bench and picked up with the song on the piano. If there was anything she would allow from her childhood, it was the music. She allowed herself to focus on her fingers dancing along the keys for a while, but it wasn't long before the question came to the forefront of her mind, glancing a bit uncertainly to Dante. ”Hey... I think I left a leather-bound book here last week,” she mumbled, ”You haven't happened to have seen it, have you?”

[DANTE TIAN-NING AU-YONG]

There were so many reasons why Dante loved these times every week. For one, it allowed Dante a legitimate reason to play around with his violin. Second, he got to do it with someone who understood. Most of everybody can stare in awe, but not all of them understood what he was doing, the complexities behind it. Fortunately, his cousin did, and that's what he loves about her.

Dante was so lost in the music that he was playing that he scarcely heard his cousin enter the room. The first that he took note of her presence was when she started playing the piano. Immediately, Dante switched to a duet version of the song so as to let his cousin play the melody at times. From the years that they had practiced, they had learned the interleaving of their mutual parts for maximal harmony between their respective instruments. There was no doubt about it, Chun was a talented pianist. In his opinion, she was one of the best. Of course, Dante was biased by the fact that they had been playing so long together that they knew each other well enough to know what musical turn the other would take. As such, there was no one better who played accompanied to him. He didn't know what he would do without her to play with weekly.

There was a brief unintentional twang as he accidentally played the wrong note in the middle of the song almost immediately after Chun asked her question. For most regular audiences, the sound would be insignificant, but to the trained ear, it was noticeable. Quite noticeable, especially when the mistake was performed by someone as practiced as Dante. To hear his cousin ask the very thing that he had fretting about earlier was more than a bit shocking, not to mention more than a bit relieving. After all, she had just given him a way to return her journal safely and with no complications. “Actually, yes,” he responded steadily just above the sound of a murmur much like Chun had. “I've got it in my bag.”

As soon as the song was finished, Dante reached into his hand to retrieve the aforementioned leather-bound book. Pausing for a moment, he looked into his bag without really seeing it. There was something else on his mind... and it seemed like since Chun and Olivia had evidently become fast friends in the past while... “Hey Chun... I don't suppose you know what's going on Olivia. She's been... well, distant lately. I haven't been able to get a hold of her recently.”

Even as he relieved his burdened mind so to speak, Dante felt a slight rush of shame. After all, he should have been able to communicate with his own fiancee without resorting to such infantile tactics of consulting with her friend. Admittedly, his fiancee seemed almost as if she were simply refusing to speak to him as of late, but in his mind, that was no excuse.

[CHUN CUAN AU-YONG]

There was something that Chun could never find in anyone else other than Dante. The transition to a different version of the song was seamless, barely a note out of place. She let a smile dance on her lips, enjoying the companionable silence for what it was. She enjoyed her cousin's skill more than anything in these sessions. He was always incredibly skilled, and the two were a natural combination. Though, she rarely did music without Dante nearby. It just didn't have the same ring to her with the piano alone (and maybe singing if she was in an especially good mood; she admitted to rarely doing that these days). At the barest, it was a routine the Chinese girl was used to, enjoying the constant presence Dante provided. It was rare for her to have a positive relationship with anyone family, much less one she was able to see often.

Then there was that twang when she asked about the journal, and Chun's heart sank. Oh no, of course the Ravenclaw had it. She did what she could to be careful with that book, even when there were only three people that could read it at the school. The slytherin didn't want to think that she had screwed Olivia over just because she let her guard down once. Even a more uncomfortable thought, the Asian girl didn't think she could bring herself to kill her own cousin. It was the first rule she had made for herself in the dark lady's plans: don't form attachments. Such a rule was too late when it came to Dante. At the very least, she would have to bring him over to Olivia, and from there, decide whether or not he could be trusted. She hoped he would be.

As the song ended and Dante reached over to grab the book from his bag, options flew through Chun's mind. So far, the ravenclaw seemed to give little indication of what was inside it-- outside of that twang earlier. ”... Dante...” the slytherin began hesitantly, ”Did you read the book at all?” At least, those first few entries were probably a little harmless, other than detailing her not so hidden crush on his fiancee, and ideas on how to get out of their family. She thought that it was around the sixth entry that the plans really started to show in the book. Chun liked to think her cousin wouldn't get that far, but if he just happened to flip to a random page...

Her worry grew at his next question, frowning deeply as his words. She didn't answer at first, playing with a small tune on the piano as she thought about what to say next. Oh yes, she had a good idea of what was going on with Olivia, but she couldn't say anything that could put the boy at ease. Not without giving something away anyway. ”Has she been avoiding you?” Chun asked a bit vaguely, ”I do see her pretty often, but...” She bit her lip a bit nervously, ”Seems to be the same as always to me.”

[DANTE TIAN-NING AU-YONG]

While he was reaching for the notebook in question, Dante heard the hesitancy in his cousin's voice as she spoke, which was odd for her thus causing him to look over to her with a polite questioning look. Although Dante was well aware that he got to see a different side of his cousin, she was always confident about herself and her own actions. He had never really known her to be uncertain.

At the suggestion that he would do such a boorish thing as invade her privacy, he looked back up at her. “Of course not!” he said, seemingly at least a bit offended that she had thought he might do such a thing as read her personal diary. That would be such an invasion of privacy, and Dante knew just how sacred a thing privacy was. Due to his own personal issues with kleptomania, Dante bestowed a great deal of importance on one's own privacy, particularly his own. He had his own issues that he wanted no one to know about, including his favourite cousin. Unfortunately, there are those who are aware of his condition, but they were even more eager than him to hush it all up, which suit Dante perfectly fine.

Since Dante was more focused on his own personal shame at having to ask his cousin about such a personal matter, the Ravenclaw did not see his cousin's deeply-set frown. Such a worrying facial expression would have given him reason to investigate a bit more deeply in the matter. But as the case may be, Dante had not due to his glancing over to the side to hide the shame in his eyes. Hearing her response, Dante nodded glumly. “I suppose I shouldn't be so hasty to presume that she's avoiding me, but she's found plenty of excuses to not be around. And... she's broken off a few of our dates.” If the Asian were truthful to himself, she had much too many excuses to not be around him in particular. In fact, there had been one time that Olivia had excused herself only for him to have seen her chatting it up with that fellow Warrington in her house. The Ravenclaw decided to put very little thought into the matter since he knew little could come of it due to their betrothal, and he knew that Olivia had not opposed the union just as he.

As a nervous gesture, Dante rubbed the back of his neck. His relationship with his cousin had never really taken this direction before. Their relationship mostly consisted of them playing music together, bonding over their common interest and mutual talents. They rarely ever departed from the topic of music. Dante had always felt that his cousin had very little interest in talking about their family affairs. “You will let me know if you hear of anything, right? It's just that... I'm concerned. She hasn't been herself lately, from what little I have seen of her anyway,” he said with a frown. For the first time since beginning this line of conversation, Dante turned his dark eyes back over to his cousin. “I just want to make sure she's all right.”

[CHUN CUAN AU-YONG]

It wasn't the denial itself that relieved Chun. Anyone could deny something. The slytherin had done it more than a few times herself when dealing with others (family in particular) when it came to her personal life. However, it was much harder to inflict a genuine tone when denying something. She liked to think she knew her cousin well enough to know when he was telling the truth on something. He had taken offense to her question. Honestly, it was probably a little justified to take offense in it, but with the information inside that little book, the Chinese girl could afford to be a little more than paranoid about that book. She wouldn't be able to handle the mess with Dante. ”Uh... sorry,” she spoke quietly, ducking her eyes for a moment. ”Thanks for holding onto it though.”

The Chinese girl nodded understandingly as Dante spoke of his troubles with Olivia. It was ironic, though certainly not surprising, that things were going terribly with his relationship, while her... development with the same woman was going fantastic. It hadn't been that long since she had received a kiss from her dark lady, and the agreement to secretly date. The excitement that had come in that development was still very fresh on her mind. Now that she was facing Dante though and holding a conversation with him about Olivia allowed reality to come crashing down. She would need to lie to Dante about something that was going to hurt him either way-- deeply, depending on how close the two had gotten. That, in itself, killed her.

Well, it wasn't the only secret she had that would be hurting Dante in the end, for better or for worse. Though she certainly didn't regret her choice in being involved in Olvia's personal and.. business life, she couldn't help feeling a bit of shame in Dante's concern. For right now at least, Olivia was probably more fine than either of them. Plans were going very well, and she had landed herself a girlfriend a the same time. She lowered her eyes, not entirely comfortable with the conversation. ”I... I will, Dante,” she assured her cousin, ”But... I think she'll be fine.” Chun would do what she could to ensure that.

[DANTE TIAN-NING AU-YONG]

Needless to say, Dante was a bit surprised by the lack of accusation. She had just simply... accepted that she had accidentally left her diary here, and not that he had stolen it, regardless of whether or not he really wanted to. Despite his surprise, he was predominantly relieved that his favourite cousin, Chun, had not caught onto his condition. There were no accusations of stealing her diary of any kind. It was one of the calmest returns that he has ever had. It was... strange. Yet, Chun seemed preoccupied with something. With what, he wasn't sure, but she didn't seem to be looking into the matter deeply, which he was more or less relieved about. “No problem.” The Ravenclaw shifted awkwardly, which he masked as he was standing up again.

There were many reasons why Dante considered Chun to be one of his favourite cousins. Sometimes, it was hard to choose due to the fact that the Au-Yong family was so large and extended. But her emotional capacity to understand. There was none of the responses that his sister would have given him: 'Why do you even care? It's not like you're married. And it was unlike the responses that other more stout family members would have given him: 'Do not worry about such nonsense. It is her duty to complete the union between our families. She cannot run away from duty.' However, Dante took comfort in neither of those explanations. Despite their obvious differences, Dante had always felt that the two of them had understood each other in a way that no other in their family did.

Somewhere at the back of his mind, Dante registered the fact that Chun was avoiding eye contact with him, and doing so quite purposefully too. She was also being quite awkward and hesitant about this whole matter as well, but Dante could hardly blame her for that. After all, he was asking her to spy on his fiancee for him in the loosest sense. Split loyalties so to speak; a family member versus a house member. And besides, sometimes, there was such a thing as knowing too much about a family member's relationship problem. Thus was how he brushed aside Chun's strange behaviour. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. “I know that it might just be me being paranoid, but I'd just like to be sure.”

Dante moved back to his previous position with his violin in one hand and his bow in the other. “Do you want to lead this next one?” he offered kindly. “Since I technically picked the first song.”

[CHUN CUAN AU-YONG]

No questions for now at least. Chun could almost sigh in relief at that. Dante was a dear friend, if she were to be honest with herself. They connected in a way she couldn't with anyone else in her family. Deep down though, she knew this was likely only a temporary truth. She cared for her cousin greatly, but it didn't blind her to his loyalties. Loyalties she frankly didn't have. The Chinese girl could at least buy time though by respecting boundaries. She could feel the awkward air between them, but the slytherin was willing to let it go to an extent. She believed her relative in that he didn't read the journal, and that was was good enough for her. Dante was worth keeping a few secrets between them. She certainly didn't have any say on trying to get them out in the open.

It didn't stop her from feeling a great deal of guilt over the current matter though. Her cousin didn't seem to have the slightest idea of the true nature of her fiancee and her's relationship. If there was anything that was going to place distance between the two, it was going to be that. There were days Chun had humored the idea of how she would come out to her family, and Dante had been one of the first she would've told about it. Of course, that wasn't going to be the case now. Still, when things spiralled into a spectacular fashion after graduation, hopefully ending in her living with her dark lady. Of course, there would be a price to pay for both her and her cousin in this fashion.

She wasn't sure if she liked that idea. At least, it seemed as though Dante was respecting boundaries as well, even if he was justified in knowing about it. Oh... it was probably for the best she didn't think of it in that fashion. ”It's not paranoia,” Chun responded vaguely, ”Its good that you're showing concern for her. She uh... I'm sure she'd be happy to know it. She has been quite busy lately.” Hopefully enough to satisfy his curiosity, validating it-- but not implicating herself in any fashion. At worst, she likely sounded a bit defensive with a small nibble of her lips.

The slytherin was more than a little thankful when it turned to music. ”Sure, I'll lead,” she muttered with an easier smile than it had been since the start of their conversation. It only took a deep breath and a moment of hesitance before her fingers were dancing on the keys once more, playing a slower melody this time. However, she knew it would still be familiar to her friend, if a bit more challenging.

[DANTE TIAN-NING AU-YONG]

Hearing her tell him that he wasn't being paranoid comforted him to degree such that he smiled wanly at his cousin. It was enough that he was paranoid about his kleptomania kicking in whenever his defenses were down. He didn't want to be paranoid in other aspects of his life as well. If there was something that he learned from his kleptomania was that paranoia was very stressful and tiresome. Dante chuckled at the idea that a headstrong girl like Olivia would be happy that someone was concerned about her well-being. On all their dates together, she hardly seemed like the type of girl who would appreciate needless worry.

“Yes. Of course. It is our last year at Hogwarts. It's imperative that we do well now so that we can continue on into the real world with a good, fresh start.” He even noted that the coursework was even slightly heavier in comparison to their previous years of education. That would be enough to occupy a person who was not quite used to working and studying on a regular basis. Yes, that had to be it. In many ways, their last year was a turning point in more ways than Dante could possibly imagine. Although he was speaking aloud, it seemed that Dante was speaking to himself in a way to convince himself that everything was perfectly fine; despite his fiancee pulling a bit of a disappearing act.

Dante could not help but be glad that his cousin had relaxed a bit once the subject had been moved off the topic of Olivia. It would have been rather difficult to resume their regular music sessions if the tenseness continued to hang in the air. He himself thought that the topic was rather awkward. One should not be inquiring after matter of one's own affairs to a completely unrelated party, even if this party and the subject of his affair resided in the same house and thus had easier access to one another. Of course. It was inexcusable. He was simply trying to take a shortcut. It was clear to him that he should be talking to Olivia about the matter. But... it could be so tempting to take such a shortcut when his fiancee was refusing to see much of him at all. All in all, he was rather glad that they were no longer talking about it.

For a moment, Dante simply closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the song. A small smile emerged at the corner of his lips as he recognized the song she had chosen. Tucking his violin into position under his chin and his bow raised, the Ravenclaw followed his cousin into the song.

In some dark corner of his mind, his cousin's relief arose some suspicion. While he was glad to not be speaking on the topic of his fiancee, it seemed that Chun had been more evasive to answer. His discomfort came from pride and the inappropriateness of asking his cousin for help on such matters. However, it wasn't entirely certain why she was quite discomfited by the topic. Sure, it wasn't quite appropriate as a discussion topic, but it didn't seem to warrant the amount of awkwardness that she had demonstrated. He didn't know what it was, but it seemed to point to Chun hiding something from him, something she desperately wanted to hide from him. However, there was another side that denied the possibility. If there was something worthy of being told, his cousin would say so.

Unfortunately, due to his distraction, Dante failed to take note that Chun had changed keys. Naturally, this led to a couple of rather jarring bars before quickly he changed to playing in the right key.

[/justify]

[CHUN CUAN AU-YONG]

A fresh start into the real world... there was something entirely bitter that had arisen in her with those words. Chun knew Dante meant nothing about that. It was the truth, after all, in that they could no longer live in the fantasy of student life once they graduated. She knew that when it came time for those final months, she couldn't just allow herself to continue straddling the two lives she had been in these past few years. She thought she knew her choice, and the one Olivia wanted her to take, but the struggles were still there. The slytherin couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment for simply being forced into that position, even outside being part of the Dark Knights. Frankly, the real world was ugly, and Chun was more than content in ignoring it for now.

If she really thought about it, the choice wasn't even all that great. She could graduate, marry into a very obviously loveless marriage that Jaycen would probably forever resent her and her family for. There was a possibility that she still would've been able to serve Olivia, maybe go into herbology like she wanted, and if she was lucky, still maintain some sort of contact with Dante. It was all uncertainty though and not worth the potential heartache. On the other hand, she could convince Olivia to break away from her family with her, serve her lady full-time, and have the potential to rule. However, it also guaranteed a straining in her friendship with Dante (and many other school friends if she were to seriously think about it), and the constant threat of a one-way trip to Azkaban.

Now that she thought about it, their friendship really didn't have a good ending. Yeah, the real world kinda sucked. Chun pushed that to the back of her mind and merely concentrated on the music. It worked for a little while. The melody had quickly washed out her thoughts, merely appreciating the combination her cousin and she created together. It was easy to remember why she admired Dante's skill so much. However, it also made it very jarring when her normally very talented cousin began to miss a few bars. While it was a bit more challenging, this certainly wasn't the first time they had played the piece, something that should've been played near flawlessly.

As such, it concerned her greatly. Upon realizing that she had lost her focus (likely playing a few wrong bars herself), the Chinese girl merely stopped, looking over to her cousin with a concerned expression. ”That wasn't like you. We've played this plenty of times before,” she muttered simply, ”Something else is on your mind. What's wrong?”

[DANTE TIAN-NING AU-YONG]

Not quite like Chun, Dante was both terrified and excited for their life after Hogwarts. His terror arose from the fact that he could no longer hide behind the facade of studying so easily, that is unless his employment allowed him to do so. But Dante wanted to continue to pursue his musical career. Dante would objectively rate himself as being a talented musician. Like Chun, Dante was torn between two possible careers, which he personally thought he could enjoy and thrive. He could hardly manage to pursue two separate careers simultaneously... could he? Despite his terror, Dante was excited because it meant they would be given more responsibilities. Perhaps grandmother would start treating him less like a child. He was sure that in comparison to her, he was an infant, but as a highly intelligent Ravenclaw, Dante couldn't help but feel a bit stung by her actions and words that seemed to be directed to a child. The finishing of school would meant that he would finally lead his engagement to a marriage. But most of all, Dante was excited to be out on his own if only to prove that he could.

Everytime he played with Chun, Dante was reminded of the joy of playing music. The very experience would make him desire a musical career above all else and give up all other possible avenues of work. However, an opposite reaction would occur when Dante found himself pouring over ancient texts for fun and looking out the window and the lit sconces to realize that hours had passed without his notice. A career that allowed him to use his carefully cultivated skills, honed through years of practice, that would most certainly be ideal to satisfy a portion of himself.

Although he himself had played a number of wrong notes, Dante was still able to discern that she had also similarly played wrong notes during the song, which was a worrying matter by itself. His cousin was quite talented and practiced sufficiently on the piano such that these little mistakes just didn't happen. The fact that they were happening was unthinkable. He winced uncomfortably, hearing the jarring notes from his own mistakes as well as Chun's. To any musician, such sounds were never comfortable, which was why it was a bit of a relief when they stopped playing. Two people who were so capable of creating beautiful music together should know to stop when they start creating ugly noise.

He looked at her sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I apologize. I've just been a bit distracted with this whole Olivia business. I realize it's a terrible excuse to not play correctly. But I can't help but think that there's something that she's hiding from me, and quite purposely too. It's a cause for some concern. As you know, we have always been on relatively good terms...” The Ravenclaw was feeling more and more awkward and foolish as he continued speaking. Dante shook his head as if the simple action was enough to remove his doubts and worry from his head.

[/justify]