A New Waltz in A Minor (Savannah)

[Cameron Wilder]

Cameron shrugged. "It's not a big deal." This was exactly why he didn;t usually tell people he was musically inclined. They always got weird about it, surprised that he could do some of the things he could, amazed by how easily it came to him. It never once occured to Cameron that he had a gift in music. His mother had a gift. She was talented and practically spoke in musical notes. Cameron just learned from her. It was a language she had spoken to him as a child, and it became his first language. There wasn't anything impressive about it.

Her next words stopped him from going completely quiet around her, and, hands in his pockets, he looked up at her. It didn't surprise him that her father said such a thing to her. It surprised him that she admitted it, though, and he wasn't sure how to react.

"Do you have any of your sewing supplies here? Because I say we have a bonfire."

[Savannah Lyons]

She was feeling very awkward. She really shouldn't have revealed such a thing, and she couldn't say why she had done it. Not only was it inappropriate to air family issues in such a way, it was wrong to speak ill of the dead. Furthermore, she was quite sure that Cameron really didn't want to hear about her family problems.

Which was why his unexpected comment struck her as being very sweet. She knew he didn't seriously mean that they should set fire to her sweing equipment, but she recognized the expression of support, and it touched her.

Merlin, he was just shattering every illusion she'd ever had of him. Maybe she'd been wrong about him all along.

"Thank you," she said softly, giving him a shy sideways look from behind a curtain of hair. "I actually... I hate sewing."

[Cameron Wilder]

"Of course you do," Cameron said, as if her hatred of sewing was the most obvious thing in the world to him. "It's boring and dull and utterly useless. Why wouldn't you hate it?"

He was actually kind of serious about setting fire to her things. Maybe it would feel liberating to her, and Merlin knew this girl could use something liberating. But even if she wasn't keen on the idea of pyromania, he'd still be there to tell her she was good at things other than sewing.

"You can sing really well. That's worth a lot more than sewing, in my book. For whatever that's worth, I guess."

[Savannah Lyons]

She could feel her cheeks turning pink. She hadn't been fishing for compliments, and she certainly hadn't expected any. Furthermore, she really didn't think that she was such a good singer. She was OK, but there were certainly others who were better than she was.

"Thank you, but I'm not sure I deserve that," she replied. "My father would have said that singing was useless. A frivolous pursuit. He... he didn't think much of the arts, in general. He thought it was more important to work hard."

[Cameron Wilder]

"I thought we already established that your father was wrong?" Cameron replied to her. He wished Elliot had been able to drill that particular bit into her head, but she was more stubborn than she realized.

He frowned though, considering these words. Music was art, wasn't it? Maybe it was more worth it to work hard. Music hadn't gotten his mother anywhere but broke and pregnant, afterall, and he didn't know a single thing he could do after school that involved it.

"Your father would have really hated me, then." he was trying to joke, to get her to smile.

[Savannah Lyons]

No, Savannah was quite certain that her father would not like Cameron very much. But then, she was hard pressed to think of anything that her father did like. He had been an angry, bitter, and unpleasant man, and in the darkest corners of her mind, Savannah was quite certain that she hated him. She never would admit that aloud--it was wrong to speak ill of the dead--but what other legacy had he left her with? He had crushed her spirit, and that of her mother. And then he killed her mother, and himself, leaving her an orphan with no one but an alcoholic uncle to care for her. She was really quite justified in her feelings, even though she felt horribly guilty for it.

"No, I don't think he would like you," she agreed, giving him a sideways glance. "But to tell you the truth, that actually makes me like you just a little bit more."

[Cameron Wilder]

"Hey, I'll take whatever I can get," He said with a little laugh. If music and her father's distaste made her like him... well, then he was all for it. He was best friends with her brother, and he was always a little bothered by the way she would turn her nose up at him. He just never thought she had a right to, considering how very little she knew about him.

"If it makes you feel better at all, and I know it probably won't, I really hate your dad. Wasn't much of a good guy... or so I hear."

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah didn't look at him. She cast her eyes to the floor as she walked, and let out a soft sigh. "I don't like him very much either," she whispered at last, barely audible. "Does that make me a terrible person?"

It was one of the issues she struggled with daily. Was it wrong or evil to hate one's own dead father? Yes, he had helped give her life, but what else had he ever done for her? Cameron had never met the man, but he had him pegged exactly right... he was not a very nice guy.

"I feel like I'm supposed to forgive him.... but it's too much. I can't forgive it all."

[Cameron Wilder]

"No," Cameron was quick to say. "It makes you human. How can anyone fault you for that? Savannah, your father was not a nice guy. Elliot's told me about him. And hey, I get it. I never even met my father... the git heard my mum was pregnant and left her. It happens, and I hate him for what he did to her. I've never met the man."

The difference was that Cameron accepted what had happened, and he wasn't angry about it anymore. She was angry still, but not letting herself really feel it. She would never escape it if she kept burying it. But for now... maybe he could just get her to admit that she was angry.

[Savannah Lyons]

She sighed softly. "I'm sorry," she told him. She was not about to compare their sob stories or anything like that; they had both had problems in the past. Savannah believed in family, but hers had never been the refuge or support system that it was supposed to be. Now it seemed that Cameron had the same problem, and she felt for him.

"It sounds like we're both better off without our fathers," she said.

[Cameron Wilder]

"Us and probably a hundred other kids in our school," Cameron said, never intending for pity. He just never have a very high opinion of fathers. Even the ones who did stick around turned into jerks... Ophelia and Gwen both proved as much with their recent problems. "I'm just trying to say that it's normal to hate the guy. Trust me, he deserves it."

They were close to the Ravenclaw Common Room, and Cameron would be a little sorry to see her go tonight. He felt like maybe they were on slightly more even ground after tonight.

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah had learned something very valuable today. It was wrong to judge people until you really knew them. And it had only taken 5 years or so, but she finally had a better understanding of the kind of person Cameron really was. It was kind of amazing to her to realize that after all this time, she had never really known him at all and had just been going on her own wrong impression of him. It made her feel rather guilty to know that she had misjudged him.

As they approached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, she stopped abruptly and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry I called you a ruffian."

[Cameron Wilder]

Cameron laughed loudly at that apology, and he shook his head. "Think nothing of it, love. And don't go telling everyone that I'm not a ruffian, either. Can't have you ruining my reputation."

He winked, and he was Cameron again, all jokes and laughter and not caring about anything. "You should get some rest, and I have to make it down to the dungeons before Filch catches me out. But I'll see you at breakfast in the morning."

[Savannah Lyons]

Savannah smiled in spite of herself. "No more than it would ruin my reputation if I went around saying nice things about you," she replied, showing a flash of the quick wit that was buried under layers of propriety.

She glanced at the door, then back at him, trying not to notice just what an incredible smile he had. "Your secret is safe with me. And I'm sure I will see you then. Just... um, try not to talk with your mouth full?"

With one quick hint of a playful smile on her lips, she turned around and answered the riddle to get into the common room, then disappeared.

[Cameron Wilder]

"I'll do my best," Cameron replied, still smiling, then, as she turned away, he added, "But I make no promises."

He waited until she was safely in her common room before he turned and headed the rest of the way to his own in the dungeons.