Sense of Escape [Grace/Laguna]

[Laguna Lestrange]

Timeline: Fall, shortly after the initial incident with the mirror incident in the forest.

Music is the sweetest escape. Or so he'd overheard a couple of seventh years saying just this morning. An escape was exactly what he needed, and not one of those times he was just looking for an excuse to sneak off to the quidditch pitch with his teammates. This time he was looking for a way to silence the world around him, including the nightmares that had been haunting him since the awful dilemma in the forest the other day. He wondered, often, if it was actually over or if the creepy reflection was just waiting for the right moment to present itself again. The last few nights had been sleepless either way. Normally, the music room was not his scene...at all. In fact, he found himself wandering the castle for quite some time before he finally found it. But finally, he'd arrived, and much to his relief, he was the only one in the room for now.

With a quick scan of the room, he made his way up to a bench toward the back corner of the room. The enchanted instruments must have sensed that there was a need for music, as they began to play a tune very lightly. "Okay, maybe this will help after all," he said, finding relief in the peaceful melody. He sat down and let his mind wander, though the music seemed to be helping him settle his thoughts of the reflection for now. Instead, he was visualizing a big open field, students flying around in the background. There was a glint of gold that appeared and then suddenly he was on his broom chasing the snitch in the field. Ironically, though he didn't /think/ quidditch would be his escape, somehow it still was in his little dream world as he dozed off to the soft music.

[Grace Concord]

There weren’t very many places in the castle you could go to be alone, a place where you wouldn’t be disturbed by the other students, teachers or even the ghosts who called the castle their home. For such a large building it was surprisingly packed with people filling its every space, nook and cranny. It was hard to find a place to be alone, to unwind with all the noise and constant interruptions, not that Grace didn’t enjoy the company of other students…it was just sometimes you needed a little time to yourself.

Everyone needed it.

Everyone had their spots around the castle, places where they could go with their friends or to be alone, but that just made it even harder to get away and find a quiet place. Or…that was mostly true. The thing about it was that there were some corners of the castle that most people forgot about, that they seemed to ignore. Ok, so some of them were more than a little hard to get to although she was sure that the headmaster’s office would be wonderfully quiet. But then there was the music room, a little treasure that almost everyone overlooked. An out-of-the-way classroom only really used for music class, an elective that few enough students took, a secret few enough students knew about.

Which is why the music drifting down the corridor was so unusual, the notes lending the stone corridor an almost eerie quality. For a moment Grace paused, a slim hand pressed against the wall as she listened to the tune, that almost perfect rendition that spoke of magic. The spell that meant someone else had gotten there first. She knew she should have turned around and left, should have given them their privacy only…only she was kind of curious to see who was in the room. Quiet steps took her forward towards the door but, sadly, she hadn’t been born with x-ray powers, with the ability to see through the door. Instead, she had to resort to pushing herself up onto her tiptoes, trying to peer through the glass set into the door, to spot the occupant.

She wasn’t expecting the door to give under the weight, swinging open as she tottered unbalanced for a moment before falling forward, landing on the ground with an audible “oof.” Dark eyes flicked up, a guilty look dancing across her face as she tried to put on her most disarming smile.

“Hi there.”

[Laguna Lestrange]

After a while, Laguna found himself humming along lightly to the tune that he recognized. It was one of the songs his mother played on the piano quite frequently and one that he held a fond memory of his childhood from. As he closed his eyes and enjoyed the tune, one of his hands moved into the air to play along on an invisible piano and before he knew it, all of the weight he'd carried coming into the music room seemed to dance away. Nothing could interrupt the little moment he was having, a reminder of the isolation and peace of mind he could sometimes only find within the walls of the family home. His idea that this moment could not be interrupted was suddenly shot down as a surprise came tumbling through the door.

At once, his eyes shot open to find his guest sprawled out on the floor before him. There was a puzzled look that was fleeting and almost immediately replaced with a sort of smug little smile at the discovery of the perpetrator. He recognized her instantly, and if being quite honest, felt he knew her quite well being as they both played quidditch and crossed paths rather often during classes and matches. His amusement grew as she smiled in his direction and greeted him.

"Were you spying on me, Concord?" It was clear through his tone that his accusation was nothing more than a playful jest, possibly just a slight tease to see a little reaction.

Laguna stood from his spot and approached her, looking down with a perked eyebrow. There was a slight pause and then he extended his hand out to her, clearly unable to wipe the little smirk from his face.

[Grace Concord]

“Me. No! I would never.”

Large dark eyes blinked up owlishly at Laguna as Grace’s hands pressed down onto the floor to lever herself up off the ground. For a moment she looked striken, like a deer caught in headlights bearing down on it before she shook herself an innocent smile painted itself on her face. Delicate hands brushed the dust off her clothes and the floor as the teenager sat up.

“I’m just…preforming an inspection, you know these old doors they’ll swing open and ruing the acoustics of the room if you’re not careful. I’ll need to talk to one of the professors about this, imagine if it did that during an examination or when you were in the middle of a piece, it would totally wreck your concentration! I’m very disappointed.”

A sage nod accompanied the spiel as Grace risked twitching her gaze over to stand on Laguna’s face for a moment to examine his face for any reaction. She honestly didn’t know if his presence was a good or a bad thing, she knew the boy, somewhat at least, and would be able to gauge his reaction, on the other hand she was going to see him again in class or o the Quidditch pitch. She just knew this was going to come back to bite her in the future. Still, all she could do was fall back on one of the lessons her brother had taught her to try to get out of trouble, try to act confident and like you know what you’re doing, sometimes people would buy it too. On the other hand, considering the amount of trouble he managed to get into…maybe he wasn’t the best role model to look upto.

A wry smile touched the brunette’s lips as she lifted a hand to place it in the boy’s, letting Laguna help her up before she began to dust off her skirt. It wasn’t that she was avoiding his gaze, or that smirk she could still see on his features. No, nothing like that it was just…appearance was important and no-one wanted to walk around the school with a dusty skirt. That was just it.

“Ahh, thanks. I guess one of us has good manners at least. Not that I was spying or anything mind you…”

[Laguna Lestrange]

Her reaction to being caught was amusing. But moreso it was impressive how she was so dedicated to playing it off with no hint of giving up her story. "An inspection," Laguna raised both brows as she spoke, simply nodding, though his face also clearly communicated that he was simply indulging her efforts at this point. "Quite. I'm sure it would wreck your concentration if you were in the middle of something and then someone just happened to fall through the doorway..." The smirk was back.

"I'm sure the Headteacher will be anxious to hear your report. In fact, timing must be on your side. You could tell him now,"
Laguna nodded to the door. "Just kidding..." He gave her a joking little grin once it was apparent that nobody else was entering the room.

Once she took his hand, he helped pull her up, deciding he wouldn't tease her any further. For now. He took a step back as she dusted off her skirt, his facial expressions finally rid of the smirks and confident grins. An airy chuckle slipped as she noted the spying again. "You're welcome," he shrugged his shoulders, "Always happy to assist people who are...not...spying on me."

Then he gave her a curious look, "What were you actually doing up here anyway? I hardly ever see people around this part of the castle unless there's some class or something." He hopped up so he was sitting on a nearby table, clearly not intending to leave the room yet despite that Grace probably actually had a good reason to be in here.

[Grace Concord]

There was no stopping her reaction, the way her head snapped around to glance at the doorway behind her, fully expecting to see the headmaster or one of the other teachers standing there, hands resting on their hips and a glare on their face. Grace could feel words of excuse and explanation dancing across her lips against the oncoming tirade.

Only there was no one there.

It took Grace a moment for her brain to catch up with her eyes, to realise what had happened before she turned back to Laguna, outrage dancing through her dark eyes.

“You! That was…that was…”

Chagrin touched her eyes, softening the glare that speared the young man as the ghost of a smile turned up the corner of her lips. He head incln to the side, a loose strand of errant hair falling to brush across her nose as the girl lifted a hand to tuck the hair behind an ear as the ghost of a smile fought the dance across her lips.

“Ok, fine that wasn’t bad, you got me.”

Credit where credit was due, she hadn’t been expecting Laguna to pull a fast one on her, that just meant that revenge was required. It was the way of things, a necessity to balance the universe or something, a rule! She wasn’t just a tiny bit embarrassed about how easy it had been for him to catch her out. Slender fingers finished brushing down her skirt before she looked up, a small smile curling up the corner of her lips.

“Totally not spying, absolutely.” Dark eyes flicked towards the door for a moment before Grace shrugged and raised a hand to point at the bag that had fallen to the floor. “I was actually looking for somewhere to practice. It’s a little cool outside and well you know, music room. I figured there woulnd’t be that many people who were that interested in playing music out of class so I figured it was a decent hiding spot. Actually, now you mention it…what’re you doing here? It’s not exactly where I’d excpect to run into you.”

[Laguna Lestrange]

"Brilliant!" He chimed in as she tried to find the words to describe his little joke. "Thank you," He gave little bows as she admitted that he got her with his little stunt. Sometimes he just couldn't help himself but to seize an opportunity when it arose, and this one was just too sweet to dismiss. Laguna had a side of him that heavily relied on joking and pranks. The time spent with Zeke and Ryan year after year certainly didn't help the mischievous side of him. In fact, over the years it probably only got worse. Some didn't appreciate it, but most found it amusing. He wasn't sure which Grace was, but her reaction seemed to indicate that she could appreciate good humor, which made him like her a little more.

"Practice?"

Laguna seemed intrigued by the notion. Though he was sure Grace was someone with plenty of talents, he wasn't aware of any musical talents. "What sort of practice?" He inquired. Laguna simply shrugged at her question before he offered his explanation. "Typically people don't come in here unless there is a music class or choir going on. Neither of which are scheduled for today." He smiled. "So now I guess you're either stuck with the cool outside or with me." The Gryffindor casually leaned against a table, crossing his arms across his chest.