A New Waltz in A Minor (Savannah)

[Cameron Wilder]

Cameron smiled sadly. Maybe she would prove him wrong. She already almost did, just by suggesting that she may stay. That meant she wanted to stay, and that was a good sign to him.

He shifted so that he was facing the keys as well. Maybe she would feel more comfortable if he wasn't staring at her. He place his fingers on the keys and began to play Moonlight Sonada softly, in his own way. To anyone else, it may have been the same song, but he heard as clear as day the differences. Even the colors were different. When he played, he saw shades of blue. She had shown him violets and silvers.

"You're beautiful," he told her. "That's my secret." He stopped playing abruptly and his eyes turned back to her. "Running away, yet?"

[Savannah Lyons]

It wasn't what she'd expected him to say. If she was honest with herself, she really had expected him to say something very forward and centered toward him. But instead he called her beautiful. And the way he said it... it sounded more like a statement of fact than mere empty flattery designed to make her swoon.

No one had ever called her beautiful before. In their private moments, her mother had called her pretty but not beautiful. And sometimes her father had actually called her ugly. One time he had complained that he'd never find her a husband, with her prominent nose and large eyes. But when Cameron called her beautiful, it made her actually feel beautiful.

She blushed deeply and avoided his eyes. "I'm still here," she whispered.

[Cameron Wilder]

It was more than Cameron could have hoped for, anyway. He thought she would have been gone long ago, and he never expected to get to tell her that.

He was Cameron. There wasn't a girl alive that wasn't beautiful to him, but his words to Savannah had not been empty. And if asked, he could have listed every quality she had, both physical and otherwise, that made her beautiful, including those big brown eyes.

"Then sing a little more?" he asked, beginning to play the song she sang only moments ago. He knew well enough that she was probably uncomfortable, maybe even scared, and if he kept pushing, she would flee. So he backed off and retreated into the only think he found that made her look at him with something other than a frown... music.

[Savannah Lyons]

She watched him, her eyes fixed on the movements of his hands. How was it possible that he was playing a song that he'd only just heard for the first time a few moments ago with such accuracy? It had taken her months to learn to play it. Surely, Cameron was some kind of musical prodigy. This realization shattered every illusion she'd ever had of him.

The song had a magical effect on her; it always had. It was meant to be sung, as her mother had always said, and without her mother to sing it, Savannah found herself unable to hold back. She sang along, but her voice was soft and hesitant. Unlike last time, when she had not been aware of her singing, this time she was doing it consciously, and as such, she was painfully self-conscious about it. Still, her notes were clear and heartbreakingly sweet.

[Cameron Wilder]

Cameron would have outright laughed if she called him a musical prodigy to his face. He wasn't. At least, he didn't think so. He just knew that he thought in musical tones sometimes. Memories were set to music, personalities were likened to instruments.

When she began to sing, he became a little lighter on the keys. He wanted the music to support her voice, not overpower it.

"I think I just fell in love with you," Cameron teased as both of their notes faded into the still air between them. "Who would have ever guess that under all that pomp and circumstance, you have a heart wild enough for music?"

Although, to her, he mused, music probably meant control. Maybe that's what drew him to it so much... it was whatever you needed it to be. It was the universal language, and so far, it was the only way he could get her to tolerate him.

[Savannah Lyons]

Her eyes widened and she couldn't quite meet his eyes. Did he mean it? He wasn't in love with her, right? Was that something that boys just said to girls? She moved a little further away from him on the bench, but strangely, she still didn't get up and leave, although there was definitely a part of her that wanted to. It was just that the part of her that wanted to stay was stronger.

She lifted her chin and looked at him, but still didn't quite meet his eyes. "Maybe I'm not quite what you think I am," she said.

It was true; deep in her heart she was as wild and passionate as he was. She was just used to keeping it locked up inside and putting on a perfect face for the world. For the first time ever, she was starting to wish that someone would see through the mask to find the girl trapped inside.

[Cameron Wilder]

"Right back atcha, sweetheart," Cameron said, a look on his face that was almost unreadable. He was not ignorant to the fact that Savannah judged him at every turn, and he knew he wasn't exactly what she thought of him. In fact, there were parts to him that no one really knew about. While he let it roll off of his shoulders when he was labled as dumb or a troublemaker, it bothered him a little too. He just wasn't ever going to admit it.

He sighed and finally dropped his hands from the keys. "I think I'm done playing tonight. It's all yours if you want it."

[Savannah Lyons]

She couldn't argue with that. This entire conversation had changed her perspective of him. He had flipped all of her preconceived notions of him upside down today. This Cameron, he was not the one she was familiar with. Or maybe he was, but she had just never seen it. Whatever the case was, she liked this Cameron.

She liked him more than she wanted to admit.

"Maybe you're not quite the ruffian I thought you were," she replied, an almost playful smile on her face. "And maybe.... Maybe I'm not quite the perfect lady that I seem to be."

His next comment seemed to burst the bubble, however, and she pulled away, getting to her feet. "No... no, that's OK. I should... I should probably be going. Elliot will wonder where I've gone."

[Cameron Wilder]

"I'm sure Elliot is managing fine on his own. It's just a school... there are only so many places you can go." Besides, it wasn't like her brother wouldn't trust her. Savannah never did anything wrong. In fact, spending time alone in a room with a boy for however long they had been here was probably the worst thing she had ever done.

He sighed quietly, getting to his feet as well. "Well, Savannah, it was nice while it lasted." He smiled, as if he knew that tomorrow, they'd go back to his class clwon antics, and she'd go back to her disapproving glares and remarks. But they had shared something profound tonight. "I'll walk you back to your common room, if you like."

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah hesitated for a moment. She should say no. She was perfectly capable of walking to the Ravenclaw common room on her own. And someone might see them together and assume something improper.

But she also felt that they had shared something special tonight, and she was very reluctant to let it end. Even if she wasn't sure what any of it meant or how she really felt about it, she just didn't want to let it go.

"Thank you," she replied, her tone formal but hinting at warmth. "That would be very kind of you."

[Cameron Wilder]

Cam hadn't been entirely sure that she would say yes, but he had an argument ready that it was improper for a girl to walk the halls alone at night. He could beat her at her shy game of rules and such.

But he didn't need to. She willing agreed, and Cameron smiled. "All right," he said, grabbing his cloak from the piano bench and putting it over his arm as he gestured towards the door. "After you, Savannah." Really, her common room was on the way to his anyway, so it was only the right thing to do to walk with her. He was a little unsure though, not having anything to say that he didn't think she would shoot down. Now that the music had ended.... what more was there?

[Savannah Lyons]

She stepped out of the room and stood in the hall, waiting for him to join her. She wasn't sure what else to say, either. She felt like they were two different people from the loud, brash, obnoxious boy and the prim, proper princess that everyone thought her to be. She felt a little closer to her true self and she didn't really want to go back to the way things had always been. But they would; it was inevitable.

"Do you... come up here often? To play, I mean?"

[Cameron Wilder]

"Usually every night," Cameron replied candidly. "It helps me unwind, though it's not always the piano I play. But don't tell anyone, all right? My dorm mates would never let it drop."

Dorming with the biggest playboys in the school had both its advantages and its disadvantages, and he'd rather stay as far out of the loop there as possible. He liked to fly under the radar where other students were concerned. He thought, somehow, that knowing he used music as a security blanket or something of the sort, that he'd get made fun of endlessly, and it was just something he didn't want to deal with.

[Savannah Lyons]

"Well, I certainly won't tell your dorm mates," Savannah replied, a note of disdain filling her voice. It was no secret that she disliked the other Slytherin seventh year boys. They were callous playboys, and utter cads. If she was honest with herself, she actually thought Cameron was the best of the bunch. The others were intolerable.

"But really.... I won't tell anyone. Not even Elliot. He'd never believe me, anyway."

[Cameron Wilder]

"No, he probably wouldn't... and your brother knows me better than most anyone else," Cameron replied. He wasn't sure why he kept music a secret. He knew that his dorm mates would make fun of him for it, and he knew that most other people didn't see music the way he did, in colors and shapes. It wasn't normal.

Besides, Cameron tried hard to cover up the things that actually made him likeable to keep others at a safe distance.

"Is the piano your favorite, Savannah? I play other instruments, too. You just caught me on a piano night."

[Savannah Lyons]

But if she had known about his love of music a long time ago, she might have formed a very different opinion of him. As it was, she felt like she had seen an entirely different side of someone she had known for 6 years. It was almost unnerving.

She was a little surprised by the question, and she looked at him. How many other instruments did he play? She had a flash of him with a guitar and found that it was a very appealing image. "The piano is the only one I know how to play," she replied. "What about you? What other instruments do you play?"

[Cameron Wilder]

At least she was admitting now that she knew how to play the piano, rather than just one song. That made Cameron smile.

"Yeah, but what else do you like to listen to? I love the saxophone, but I couldn't play it if my life depended on it," he explained. Actually, outside of classical music and David Bowie, his favorite genre was big band and swing music. He wasn't about to share this with her, though.

"I play a couple. The piano, the violin, guitar... I like the stringed instruments. I can play drums, too, when I'm in the right mood."

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah's eyebrows shot up and she turned to look at Cameron in surprise. The piano she had witnessed, and the guitar did not surprise her. In fact, she could easily imagine him with a guitar in his hands even before she knew about his love of music. But the violin? That was a difficult instrument that required precision, concentration, and even a certain level of fitness.

"The violin?" she repeated. "I'm impressed. Who taught you to play?"

[Cameron Wilder]

"That's what impresses you?" Cameron asked with a laugh. "I wish I had known that years ago," he added, his tone teasing and lighthearted. They were getting along, both themselves, but a different side than they had seen of each other. He liked this side of her... more open, more free. She was still so painfully polite, but maybe he could learn something from her.

"My mum taught me the piano when I was really little... practically before I could walk. She's a musician, and I think I would have broken her heart if I didn't pick it up. Really talented, too, you know? And I don't know... the rest of the instruments I just sort of... learned." No one taught him to play. Especially when he was a kid, he would hear an instrument and decide he liked it, then he'd get his mom to find some way to access the instrument, and he'd just play with it until he understood it. Music was like a language or like math... it was simple, and once you understood how it worked, the rest just came easily.

[Savannah Lyons]

It was funny how, when he said things to her, certain things that were probably off-handed seemed to stick out to her. He was probably teasing when he implied that he wanted to impress her years ago, but it still made her stomach flutter. She had always been sure that he barely even remembered her name until a year ago. Why would he want to impress her? And why did that matter to her?

"You taught yourself to play the violin?" she said, a hint of awe in her voice. "I'd like to see you play sometime. I always thought it was such a difficult instrument to learn. I wanted to learn to play the harp when I was younger, but my father wouldn't allow the expense. Instead, he insisted I learn to sew. He said it was probably all I'd ever be good for."

As soon as this last part slipped from her lips, she wished she could take it back. She never revealed anything about her past to anyone, let alone Cameron. She knew that he knew some of it from Elliot, but it was still something she didn't like to talk about. It was only because she felt surprisingly.... comfortable with him, that the words were able to slip out.

"I didn't... I mean... Forget I said that."