Kalen knew there was a music room in the castle, his niece of course practically lived there! But he himself had not found the time to visit it yet, his duties had kept him busy enough. But today he found himself with a few extra minutes to spare so the librarian had grabbed his violin case and headed up a floor to the music room.

He paused as he entered and looked around, a slightly nostalgic smile on his face. It hadn't changed much at all. Which was both good and bad.. He slowly walked to the piano where he moved his fingers gently over the keys, the green eyed man seemed to be far away, a soft smile was on his lips as he listened to the notes..

Ahh..

He shook his head and then walked over to a table and opened his violin case, he took the instrument out, and inspected the bow and the strings.. checking to make sure they both looked good..

Seemingly satisfied with the state of things, he tucked the violin under his chin and slowly started to run the bow over the strings, making sure everything was in tune..

With his nose quite literally in a book as he was walking from the Great Hall after eating some bread to the Ravenclaw Common Room, Mason literally paid no attention to his surroundings. This caused him to bump against objects like a statue standing in the corner, a cabinet on the third floor and the open door to the music room was no exception either.

The Ravenclaw bumped his shoulder against it by accident and he stumbled forwards but could luckily find his balance. He turned his head, glaring at the door as if it had tripped him on purpose and losing his concentration on the book when he heard a tune coming from inside the room.

Curious, Mason looked inside of the music room. He had never actually been in here before. He wasn't a musical genius as his piano tutor had told his mother. Unable to be taught the fine arts that is music, or whatever he had meant. But although he couldn't play a tune to save his life, it was still interesting to see if someone else could. So without wanting to disturb the librarian, the seventh year waited for him to play, judging him already.

Was he really good at playing or did he just know how to tune a violin?

Kalen was lost in his own world, and he didn't noticed the boy standing there judging him watching him tune up his violin. Kalen walked over to the piano and played an A note, and then moved his bow over the A string, listening to see how they sounded.. he tuned the tuning peg in the peg box just a smidge before playing the note again..

Satisfied he continued on in this manner, until he ran the bow over the strings and smiled at the sound..

Perfect.

Now that it was in tune, the librarian fixed the violin on his left shoulder and placed his chin firmly on the chin rest, his right hand picked up the bow and his fingers moved to the finger board as he started to warm up..

Kalen was about to launch into a piece by Beethoven when he turned around and found that he had an audience..

He smiled and lowered the violin. "Hello. " He said with a smile.

Gaston needed a distraction from everything that was going on in his life and decided to venture outside the safety of his office for a while. After wandering the corridors aimlessly, he eventually found himself at the music room. This was just the ticket! Some loud, blasting drum beats could be just what he needed to drown out his sad thoughts.

He took the little black book of his original songs that he carried everywhere with him out of his jacket pocket. As he looked around the room, he was glad to see that the drum kit was still here, especially since he'd left his own back home. He started to cross the room to the drum kit, but he suddenly realized he was not alone. "Hello, Kalen, Mr. Winslow," he said, giving each of the other people a polite smile. Then his blue eyes fell to the violin. "Oh, you play?"

Like a deer caught in the headlights, Mason's eyes widened when he realised that the librarian had turned around to face him. He honestly hadn't meant to interupt and had only stopped to watch if he could really play or not. The tuning of the violin had been impressive enough for him. The only thing he could do was read like a couple of music notes and he often mixed them up as well. So yes, even tuning an instrument was concidered impressive from the Ravenclaw as he could not even hear the difference.

"Sorry, i didn't mean to..." he vaguely gestured towards the violin in the man's hand but before he could say anything, another voice made him jump. Turning his head to the side, Mason nodded his head at Professor Marchand in slightly stunned greeting. It was kind of rare meeting a professor outside of their offices because they probably had to make lesson plans and grading their homeworks so meeting two in one room was slightly odd.

"I think he can" he said, answering the question.

Oh! It seemed like there was another joining them. Kalen smiled at Gaston as he entered the room and made his way towards the drums, "Mmm, I can indeed play, I've been playing since I was young. " He explained as he nodded towards the drums.. "Do you play? " He asked curiously as he turned back to the Ravenclaw who seemed to still be regarding him..

Two teachers at once..

That didn't happen often, especially in such a causal setting. Kalen smiled kindly at the boy, "You weren't intruding at all, do you play any instrument? " He asked him.. Maybe a jam session was in order..

If one could indeed "jam" on the violin..

Heh..

After her music lesson, Kay had decided she try to learn how to play at least one instrument. As the weeks passed, however, she had gotten busy because of lesson planning and the IMPs tournament, there had been not much time for her to do so. Luckily she found some time today, having finished doing almost everything she needed to get done.

The room was almost empty and after a moment's pause, Kay made her way to a nearby piano. It was the instrument her mind was set on though she was open to others. Absently, she tapped a few keys. Was there someone here that could offer their professor a few tips?

Mason looked carefully at the librarian's expression when he faced towards him and said that he wasn't intruding at all. He seemed to be sincere about that comment though and the Ravenclaw felt a little better. The last thing he wanted was to interrupt someone, it was one of his pet peeves.

He then looked at the Charm's professor as he walked over to the drums and he wondered how many of the Professor's at Hogwarts could play an instrument. He felt a bit jealous that they seemed to be able to play and he couldn't. He therefore shook his head at the Librarian's question "Let's say i can't play to save a life" he sighed. "I wish i could though" he said, looking over at the piano in the corner of the room.

Gaston couldn't help but notice how Mr. Winslow jumped a little when he spoke, and he felt a bit guilty. "Goodness, I didn't mean to startle you, Mr. Winslow!" he said, his eyes widening in concern. He nodded in reply when the boy answered his question, and he smiled a little as Kalen elaborated in the subject. It was nice to know there was another musician on the school staff, well besides himself and Paul anyway.

"I do," he replied. Then he crossed the room to the drum kit and played a quick solo to back up his claim. "I used to be in a rock band when I was in school." He left out the part about the band going on to achieve international fame, however; he didn't want to brag! "So have I," he said when Kalen mentioned playing since he was young, then added with a slight chuckle, "My father got so tired of me banging on the furniture that he had no choice but to buy me my first drum kit."

His mind wandered back to that day so long ago, then to the fight he'd had with his father. He shook his head to stop the memories. Nope, he wasn't going to think about that now! He'd come here for a break from all the drama in his life. Before he had any more time to think about it, Mr. Winslow spoke again, and Gaston turned his attention back to the Ravenclaw. "Well, it's never too late to learn," he said with an encouraging smile. "I'm sure you could play an instrument; it just takes practice." He'd be glad to teach him if he wanted.

Kalen nodded at Gaston as he spoke and his eyebrows rose a bit as the other Professor mentioned that he had been in a rock band! Well now that was certainly exciting! "Really now? That is always fascinating to me, of course, seeing as I play an orchestral instrument! I've always wanted to play guitar or something like that. " He had played in a few orchestras.. but hasn't since Serena...

Well no need to dwell on the past.

He chuckled though as Gaston spoke about the furniture.. "My parents made a magically sound proof room so I could practice without killing the families ears with my screeches.. " He said with a shake of his head before turning back to look at Mr.Winslow.

"Mmm, Professor Marchand is right, you can start playing at any time, all you need is practice, and perhaps a sound proof room. " Kalen added with a bit of a chuckle.

Gaston chuckled a little at what Kalen said. "I'm the other way around!" he said. "I always wanted to play a more..." Now what was the word he was looking for? "...classical instrument, but I could never quite get the hang of it." Talk about an ironic twist! A violinist who wanted to play a rock instrument and a drummer who wanted to play a more classical one.... what a pair they were! "If you're ever interested in learning, I have a guitarist friend who might help you," he offered.Well, Armand would probably be willing to help sometime when the band wasn't touring anyway...

The chuckle turned into a full blown laugh at the librarian's next words. "I think my parents would've welcomed a soundproof room!" he said. And come to think of it, the neighbors probably would've too! He could recall more than one instance of his father scolding him after the neighbors complained about the noise. He shook his head. No, he wasn't going to think about him right now! "But unfortunately, they're muggles, so they had no choice but to put up with my banging for a few years until I figured out what I was doing." He smiled sheepishly, dropping his gaze.

Then his attention turned back to Mr. Winslow, and he nodded along with what his colleague said. "Which instrument are you most interested in learning?" he asked. He wouldn't be much use at teaching him anything besides the drums, but he had plenty of musical friends who might be willing to help.

"No , it's fine" he said in reply to the Charm's professor's apology before placing his hands in his jeans pockets and finally entered the music room himself. While the two were talking about their prefered instruments , Mason had silently walked over to the piano to the corner of the room.

He turned back, looking surprised and impressed when Professor Marchand told he had been in a rock band while he had been in school and the Ravenclaw was suddenly hit by the obvious fact that they had been students as well. Which was weird, wasn't it? Still, the fact that he had been part of a rock band was very cool even if rock wasn't his style.

He turned back to the piano and sat down on the stool in front of it. He opened up the piano and small pieces of memories from his tutoring classes came back to mind. He placed his fingers on the white keys and pressed but didn't continue because one of them had asked him a question.

He raised an eyebrow, wasn't it obvious which intrument he was interested in? "Piano" obviously. "I had lessons when i was younger but..." he let out a long and loud sigh. "I was horrible" he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal but in reality it made him a bit sad that the instrument he was interested in was the one he was bad at. "Something about my lack of patience or something" or whatever that meant. "How long did it take before you two learned those instruments?" he asked cause ugh at practicing. He wanted to be good right away. Hmm maybe there was a potion for that?

Kalen had to chuckle as Gaston spoke, "Really now? What sort of classical instrument did you want to play?" The Librarian asked curiously as he gently ran his fingers over the sides Of his instrument. "I could help you with violin, and my niece is pretty good at piano, if you are wanting to play either of those.. " Did Leon play guitar? He couldn't even remember right now!

Ahh well..

His green eyes lit up slightly at the offer, "I might have to take you up on that..I've always wanted to learn the guitar actually, and while I think my nephew might play one, he's busy with his YATI training. " He said with a soft chuckle.

Kalen grinned as The Charms professor laughed, it was good to see the man happy, he had looked so gloomy lately.. something Kalen was curious about but he wasn't the type to pry.. after all Kalen had something in his past that he didn't talk about either..

"Ahhh, I see. Sometimes magic can be helpful for things, like saving people's eardrums while we learn to actually carry a tune. " He said with a laugh as he shook his head a bit..

He turned back to Mr.Winslow as well as he sat down at the piano bench and Kalen smiled.. "Well patience is the key to learning an instrument, you won't be great over night. " Kalen said as he ran his fingers gently over the piano keys.. "I started violin lessons when I was six, and was still going to them when I was sixteen. Even now I like to sit in on lessons, just to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything and to see if I can learn anything new. " He said with a smile.

Gaston's eyes widened slightly when Kalen said his niece was good at piano. That was something he hadn't known about Miss Snow! Before he could reply, Mr. Winslow spoke up, and what he said made the professor chuckle a little. "Well, i suppose great minds think alike!" he said. "I always wanted to learn to play the piano myself. I had a friend teach me the basics..." Or at least enough to write a few simple song melodies. "...but I was never able to get good at it."

He nodded along with what his colleague said to the Ravenclaw. "Mr. Kennedy is right; learning an instrument takes a lot of time and patience," he agreed, smiling encouragingly. The question came as a bit of a surprise, but still he answered, "I started playing when I was eight, but I was probably thirteen or fourteen when I started to get good." And by "good", he meant passable enough that his friend Lucien let him join his rock band.

Kalen's reaction to the offer for guitar lessons made Gaston smile. "I can write him and tell him you're interested, if you like," he offered. The mention of Leon was unexpected but nonetheless made his smile grow. He always knew that kid was going places! "Oh? Well, the next time you see him, tell him I said congratulations... and good luck!"