Fauna tugged at the hem of her skirt as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, gnawing at her lower lip. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and fussed with the ancient fan whirring in the corner, which only made it sputter and clack more loudly instead of circulate air. Pausing in the doorway, she called down the stairs in a worried voice.

“Gran!”

A clatter of pots and pans sounded, and then the familiar smell of smoke wafted up the second story. Fauna touched her hair, hoping she wouldn’t stink of burnt biscuits, when the smoke detector started blaring. Also familiar. Finally, after a few muffled curses, an ominous rattle, and the stomping of feet, Fauna’s grandma appeared at the bottom steps with a scowl on her normally pleasant face. However, her expression softened when she saw her granddaughter.

“Oh, honey, you look lovely.” She clasped her hands together and beamed up at Fauna. A flicker of confusion crossed her face and she pointed at Fauna’s feet.

“You aren’t going to wear those socks, are you, dear?”

“Oh!” Fauna stared down, wriggled her big toe that poked out of the hole in her sock, and then held onto the railing as she pulled them off. “I forgot,” she told her grandma, embarrassed. “Uh, I need to mend these. And the striped… and the colors don’t really match do they?” The socks were striped orange and black, leftover from last year’s Halloween.

Her grandma shook her head, compressing her lips together to keep from laughing. Then she ran a hand through her frizzy red hair, glanced at the kitchen, and made a shooing motion at Fauna.

“You’d best hurry. You don’t want to be late for your interview!” She sighed happily. “First interview! I can’t believe it.”

Fauna shrugged, trying to appear casual, though her fingers pulled at the hole in her right sock.

“Don’t look so stressed! You’ll be fine. You practically have the job already, don’t you? The woman knows you. She’d be a fool not to ask you to work with her.” Ermelinde called up the stairs before rushing back into the smoky kitchen.

Fauna frowned. Yes, Tilly did know her and had always seemed to like her, but she wasn’t sure that did her any favors. Would Tilly really want a clumsy, nervous employee who almost walked out of the house in her Halloween socks? In addition to that, whatever Jasper had said about her. Fauna groaned, ran in and out of her bedroom to find appropriate shoes, and managed to leave the house in less than a minute.

After flooing to Diagon Alley and resigning herself to the fact that she smelled like smoke (a combination of her Grandma’s biscuits and the Floo), Fauna stood outside Reducto Records and took a deep breath. It was 1:58 and her interview was at 2:00. She pretended to look at the poster on the door, which showed the Three Owl Standard. When someone rudely brushed past her on the street, she decided she couldn’t stall any longer and pushed on inside, the door jingling her entrance. As soon as she stepped in, she was surrounded by music- an upbeat, folksy tune that made her heart beat even faster.

She meandered around the rows of records, feeling a little more at home with the brightly painted walls and animated music posters covering them. Fauna reached the back left corner to see that there was no one behind the counter, though the storage room was open like it normally was. Did Tilly forget about her? Or find someone else? Fauna attempted to squash these worries as her stomach jittered with the beat. Then, she glanced up the stairs and put one foot on the bottom step. She had on nice sandals with a rosy gemstone near the toes that matched her paisley blouse.

“Tilly?” she called up, voice wavering. Fauna doubted she could hear her over the music. She started climbing the stairs, one hesitant step after another, until she reached the top and took a look around.

Matilda froze like the victim of a hex shot squarely at her stomach, though she was by no means paralyzed. It might have made things easier, had she been. The young woman’s bright eyes were the only thing to move as they swept over the domino-like row of wooden guitars lining one wall of the vast room of instruments. She’d brushed the one on the end with her elbow as she’d walked by—something she was usually unconsciously careful not to do, despite a certain love for clumsiness. She knew the place like she knew every flavor of ice-cream in the Fortescue’s freezer. A knack for hitting things when they were actually in their proper areas of rest was a bit less pronounced than a knack for, say, bumping into late-twenties-something single men in need of new music while they simultaneously bumped into her.

If there was ever a good time to have a wand, it was now. She’d gotten over the bitterness ages ago; she wasn’t a very bitter person to begin with. But these heart-stopping moments when waiting for a row of gorgeous guitars to go falling like tipped cattle made a trip to Ollivander’s sound mandatory, magic or no magic.

The gutair on the end only echoed, but was otherwise rooted to its spot. Tilly breathed in relief as her limbs loosened like a rag dolls. “Thank Merlin’s mum,” she murmured. And just in time. Quite used to hearing her name called through the shop, and when she couldn’t always see the voice’s owner, she let her ears do the determining. Ah, yes, her ‘appointment’ with Fauna Blake. (The words Tilly and appointment still clashed like a bad electric pop cover of a favorite blues song. She’d never gotten used to it.)

“Is it time already?” She called back, latching on to a wooden beam in that too-familiar way and swinging into view. The pole, which supported the rafters, was covered with a snaking ribbon of clothes-pinned photographs, some wizarding, and others muggle Polaroid. Tilly’s eyes found Fauna’s feet before they saw the girl’s familiar face. “Look at those shoes! Did you get them around here? And I like your perfume, it reminds me of a campfire."

Finally, her gaze swept up and settled on the girl’s own pretty baby blues. “Let’s go into one of the lesson rooms. It’s quieter in there,” she mused aloud, gesturing with a small toss of her head. Brown locks spilled over her shoulder, refusing to stay in place. They were lighter than usual from soaking up summer sun.

Once in the smaller of the ‘classrooms’, or practice rooms, Tilly offered Fauna a seat and shut the door. The folk music that played throughout the shop was muffled a bit, making the situation unintentionally more formal than Matilda had ever planned.

Sitting down opposite the teenager, Matilda sat up straighter than usual, but still crossing her legs. She grabbed a stack of note cards from a little table beside her—left over bits of handwritten music from the last lesson that had taken place in the room, presumably. She glanced it over interestedly before looking back to Fauna. “I hope your summer has been well. Jasper is staying with me. He’s been talking about you.” There was a knowing twinkle in her eyes, and Tilly almost winked, but didn’t. She was well aware of the phenomenon of teenage exaggeration, but she was curious about what Jasper had said, too.

“So… before we begin this interview, I have a question, and the answer may change everything.” She inclined her brows just a bit, and her mouth became a mellow sort of smile. “If you had to pick between The Barking Banshees’ ‘If Screams Could Kill’ album or their sophomore effort, which would you choose?”

Tilly seemed surprised about the time, which made Fauna smile, though her stomach felt like a niffler had been let loose inside. As she reached the top of the steps Tilly stared at her feet and Fauna tensed, afraid for one moment that she hadn’t changed out of her socks after all, but then she heard the kind comment about her shoes and… perfume? A campfire? She wasn’t wearing… oh no.

“I think I got them… hmmm, with my sister a few years ago. She has good taste,” Fauna said nervously, pulling a strand of hair across her face to test how bad the smell was. It smelled smoky, like her grandma’s cooking mixed with the fragrancy of her shampoo. She let her hair drop and tried not to think about it.

Fauna walked past a row of guitars and followed Tilly into a lesson room, admiring the way her hair curled down her back effortlessly. Tilly always seemed to look fresh and pretty, with a ready smile and friendly attitude towards customers. It wasn’t hard to understand why this music shop thrived.

She took a seat in the room and subconsciously mirrored the woman across from her, crossing her legs and sitting up a little straighter. The walls muffled the music outside, making Fauna paranoid that everyone could hear the thud of her heart, like the frightening muggle story that Miles had found about the heart hidden beneath the floorboards. She swallowed, jiggled her foot, and watched Tilly glance over a stack of notecards. Were there interview questions on those cards? Fauna leaned over slightly and let out a sigh when she saw music notes.

“I hope your summer has been well,” Tilly looked at her and Fauna nodded, attempting a smile.

“Jasper is staying with me. He’s been talking about you.”

Fauna was going to kill him. “Oh?” she replied weakly, letting out a chuckle that sounded pained. “Um, he’s… he’s…” He’s a jerk. He’s full of dragon dung. He spreads ridiculous rumors. All of these things were true, in Fauna’s mind, but she couldn’t say them to Matilda!

“I’m… I’m not sure he knows me very well,” she finished lamely, wiping her clammy hands on her skirt.

Just when she thought she couldn’t feel more nauseous, Tilly piped up with a pre-interview question. Was that even allowed? Fauna’s face paled when she heard the Barking Banshees.

“Erm…” Fauna stalled, trying to conjure up a few of their songs in her mind. All she could think about was the terrifyingly long pause that made the air feel heavy and warm.

“Well…” she wasn’t a fan of the wailing that the Banshees called music, but if she had to choose, she supposed she’d pick their first album.

“I guess… I guess I’d choose ‘If Screams Could Kill’.”

Fauna watched Tilly for her reaction and bit her lip. “I mean, because ‘One More Nail in the Coffin’ seemed a lot grittier. There was, well, more wailing and less lyrics in their second one. But their first album had something exciting, at least…” Fauna murmured with a shrug. More like earsplitting. She thought her answer could have been much clearer, but she hoped that Tilly would let it pass and move on to the actual interview. It was odd, feeling so nervous in front of her, when normally she had no problem chatting about music as Tilly helped her find new bands to listen to or concerts to mark on her calander. With any luck she’d start to feel more comfortable once she knew where she stood with the job.

"It looks like you have good taste, too, since you're wearing them," Tilly offered cheerfully, familiar humor touching her throat. She'd always liked Fauna's sense of style, though she'd mostly only seen her in the summers. It was cute, a bit homey, unpretentious, but quirky. It had always exceptionally... Fauna-ish. From what Tilly knew about the girl, anyway. (And that particular analysis did not include an affection for the bottle.) "You like hats, don't you?"

While good at reading people, Matilda was too busy glancing over the cards to see any terror in Fauna's face. Though, undoubtedly, hints of nervousness had crept in when they'd met on the landing. Who wasn't nervous during a job interview? It would all be alright: Fauna just needed to loosen up and laugh a little. Which, Matilda was sure, would happen if she teased her. Just a bit, and innocently so. Or so she thought.

The topic of Jasper seemed to hit a note. It seemed as if Fauna was doing her best to summarize her relationship, or lack thereof, with Tilly's cousin. The young shopkeeper raised a brow, but her expression did not darken. She knew all to well, on top of the regular dose of teenage drama, there was the distance caused by the four Hogwarts houses. She didn't need to be sorted to know that. "He did mention you're not housemates," she said with an understanding nod, recalling part of a letter. Not that Tilly was shocked to learn that Fauna Blake wasn't a Slytherin. Tilly was only surprised that she hadn't asked the girl in the past, or bumped into her while traipsing through Hogsmeade during the school year. "Not that you can't have friends in other houses," she added, with a knowing grin. That would have been silly, and exactly the sort of thing Matilda would have fought against if she'd been... well, she wasn't. "I guess I'll have to make up my own mind about you, huh?" She winked. She'd always liked Fauna, and saw no reason to stop liking her now, love for whisky or none. (It was worth nothing that the girl hardly seemed like an raging alcoholic by any stretch of the imagination.)

It was a tricky question. Tilly would give her that. It was why she had asked it, to lighten the mood by pretending that the interview would be full of such deeply debatable and almost philosophical topics. It was the sort of thing that made more sense in retrospect, of course. As in, after the interview... which had not even begun. Watching Fauna take her time, Tilly felt a little guilty. Her smiled warmed (not that it had been cold), and she nodded in slow but enthusiastic agreement. "Sounds like that are usually ages better with strong lyrics. "I completely agree. I think they should go back to the sound. It wouldn't hurt to mellow out a little, even," she admitted, laughing lightly.

"So not that you've passed the first task," she added, leaning forward and speaking as if Fauna were a participant in the Triwizard Tournament. "What do you want out of this job? Besides a paycheck." The teenage staple. "Not that I blame anyone. Galleons are galleons."

Fauna appreciated that Tilly tried to put her at ease, even though her nerves still got the best of her. It helped that Tilly acted like her cheerful, sweet self. The thought of being in Slytherin with Jasper was highly comical! Fauna smiled slightly, agreeing with her when she said it was possible to have friends in other houses.

"I guess I'll have to make up my own mind about you, huh?" Tilly winked.

Fauna awkwardly shifted in her seat. At least Tilly hadn’t yet mentioned her so-called drinking habits. It was all Jasper’s fault, she thought, that a few Slytherins teased her about what was really in her morning pumpkin juice.

To her relief, Tilly’s smile widened and she seemed happy with her answer on The Shrieking Banshees. Fauna stopped swinging her foot and looked at the woman gratefully. That was, until, Tilly leaned forward with a mischievous glint in her eye and announced the next question.

Now that Fauna thought about it, the question wasn’t that bad. It didn’t require knowledge of bands that she didn’t even like, either! She just needed to give an honest answer, that was all.

“Well, I love music. I mean, I’m sure… everyone says that,” she admitted, flushing. “But… it’s just… I like to be somewhere where I can learn about new things… styles. Be caught up with what’s going on, like concerts. Or new artists.”

Fauna thought for a moment about her older sister, who was struggling to be a singer in London. If she knew more about the process and how groups became popular, perhaps she could help her, or maybe even ask Tilly for advice. That would have to wait for after the interview, though!

“And… I think… I’d make a decent piano teacher,” she said modestly. Fauna didn’t yet understand how to act confidently during an interview. Unaware of any mistake, she went on.

“When I was a kid, my grandpa taught me the piano, but not everyone has… someone like that. And, it… well, it didn’t come easily. At first. I mean, I could play a song by ear, and I… relied on that, too much, because it was hard for me to read the notes,” Fauna explained. “But I got better. He… was patient with me. It’s just, he had to find new ways to explain normal stuff. Now, I can look at sheet music and it doesn’t…” Fauna wiggled her fingers. “… blur across the page.”

She shrugged, embarrassed to admit all that. “So, anyway, I think I can explain how to play and think of different ways to help someone, if… they need it. Because I can relate, if that makes sense.”

Fauna usually liked helping other people when she could. The piano was an area that she had confidence in, even if she didn’t show it very well!

"Maybe, but everyone loves it in different ways," Tilly offered encouragingly. As adorable as Fauna's blush was, her natural skintone suited her. She was sure the girl did love music and saw nothing wrong with stating the obvious. It was the truth, wasn't it? Pretenses were often overrated. Tilly loved when people were honest and interested in things they hadn't heard yet. Fauna was refreshing break from the holier-than-though-in-my-musical-obscurity attitudes more than one interviewee had displayed earlier that morning. Not that Tilly didn't appreciate hole-in-the-wall venues and unsigned artists. Absolutely, she encouraged listening to new things. But humbleness could go a long way.

Teeth on display in a grin, Tilly settled back again, obviously pleased. "I love hearing about new music, too. Sometimes the most random listeners waltz into the shop and ask for something I totally overlooked-- it's a nice feeling. I think you'll definitely discover a lot here, even if it's not nearly as big as Hogwarts." Oddly enough, Hogwarts didn't offer music lessons. Tilly supposed it was for practical reasons, mostly that the students already a lot on their plates in trying to master new spells, stay on brooms, and dodge exploding cauldrons. "Last week I discovered this Polish band who wrote an entire album inspired by flubberworms. I swear on my grandmother's owl, it's brilliant. It sounds like it would be completely boring, but it's sort of amazing." As she spoke, she moved her hands around, miming nothing in particular.

Tilly continued to nod. She'd heard the girl play a few times in summers past; the upstairs sprawl of instruments was always open for testing. "Well, of course you will. I wouldn't have scheduled an interview otherwise," she laughed. Teachers didn't just have to be stern old people. Some of the better ones were young and still learning. "I did the same thing! I learned by sound first. Notes can be tricky. It's like learning to read all over again," She mused aloud. But when one treated music like its own language, it was a bit easier. "I like that-- we need someone who can use different methods. No more stuffy, scary ladies with rulers. Do you think you'd be able to handle very small children? And what about older people who are learning for the first time?"

"Oh! And," she added, excitement invading her tone. "How do you feel about doing things on the side, besides teaching piano? I know you mentioned concerts. We coordinate a lot summer events, especially on weekends, and we could always use more help." Maybe Fauna did have a bit of a wild side, whether or not it was like whatever Jasper had eluded to. It would be amusing to see. Tilly had a knack for 'adopting' adorable people.

Gesturing to the practice piano in the corner of the quaint room, Tilly added, "Feel free to play something. I'd love to hear what sounds you've been up to lately... Whatever's on your mind."

Fauna laughed about the flobberworms, though she thought that the album would probably be more hilarious than amazing. Or, amazing in its hilarity. Finally, Fauna started to relax a little, drawn in by Tilly’s casual, conversational style that barely felt like an interview now that the ‘tough’ questions were over. Her eyebrows shot up when Tilly told her that she’d also learned by ear first and understood where she was coming from. Fauna smiled. The piano had been a little like learning to read. Being able to discern one letter from another was, for her, a lot like reading music notes. It had just taken her more time to decipher than other kids.

“…Do you think you'd be able to handle very small children? And what about older people who are learning for the first time?"

Still blushing from Tilly’s compliments and reassurances earlier, Fauna looked up and nodded slowly. “The elderly… definitely,” she said. If she could handle her eccentric grandmother and her friends, than she could handle the rest! “Small children? Well, I haven’t been around really young ones much.” She was the youngest in her family and she didn’t think the first-years at Hogwarts counted. “But, I’ve babysat a few times…” Fauna trailed off, trying not to wince. There was a reason she’d only babysat a few times. “I… think I’ll be okay though.”  It would be a one-on-one lesson, after all, not a duo of devils sneaking off with their older brother’s broom. That was an experience she did not want to remember!

Concerts? Did Tilly just mention concerts? Fauna’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! I mean, um, I’d… definitely be interested in that. I… I like the background stuff. Like setting up stages and making sets…” She stared off into space, thinking about it. “I did some work on sets during the last Hogwarts play,” she added. “Though… it’s probably nothing like setting up a real concert.”

When Tilly gestured towards the piano and asked her to play something, Fauna froze at first, the familiar kick of nausea setting in. She stood up slowly, her legs feeling somewhat disconnected from her body, and sat on the piano bench. Before she put her fingers on the keys, she wiped her palms on her skirt and tried to give herself a mini pep-talk. This was Tilly- she wasn’t going to laugh at her, or throw her out of the piano room. She was one of the nicest, most pleasant people Fauna had ever met, so Fauna had no reason to be nervous.

Her heart still hammered, ignoring her reasonable stream of consciousness, but Fauna glanced back once at the woman to smile. Letting out a small sigh, Fauna turned back to the piano, closed her eyes, and tried to pick a song.

As soon she she’d decided, she took a deep breath and started to play. At the beginning the melody was slow, peaceful, and lighthearted. After a minute of the steady, comfortable tune, the tempo sped up and became more exciting. There were low, dramatic chords, and high, frantic ones, signaling change and upheaval. Sorrow, surprises, and joy all at once. That’s what the song meant to her. In the past few months time seemed to be hurrying along, pushing towards something big, bigger than her, but too far in the future for her to see or predict. Sometimes it felt like she had no control over her own fate. Yet, Fauna knew she was making decisions everyday that would have an impact on her life, even if she didn’t know what that impact would be.

Her fingers slipped occasionally and she missed a couple notes. Fauna kept moving forward though, focusing on the music. It was better to play something with feeling and make a few mistakes than to play it with technical perfection and no emotion. That was what her Grandpa had always told her. Sometimes her shyness and hesitancy got in the way, making her afraid to try, but when that happened she tried to remember him and what he’d taught her. He was always there, somehow, whenever she played. Just now she could imagine the smile crinkling up his eyes and the smell of pipe smoke wafting around the room. The music slowed again, like the beginning of the song, but with a slight change in tune.

When she was done, she rested her fingers on the keys for a moment, much calmer than she’d been before. Her hands felt steady, her heart thumped at a normal pace, and sweat no longer trickled down her blouse. She felt like she was at home, practicing. Fauna slid around on the bench to face Tilly with the start of an embarrassed, but happy, grin.

It was amusing, that she seemed to assume old people would be easier to tackle than children. Tilly already liked Fauna's quirky way of thinking. "I love kids, so I'll help you there," she said with a laugh. She'd met quite a few interesting characters this summer, too. The wand shop, for starters, had been quite the trip... "I used to babysit all the time when I first started working here. Look, we're already twins." Winking, she thought of Quincy, whose children she loved as if they were her nieces and nephews. And then there was Tavin's adorable daughter Samantha, whom she already adored and hoped to get to know better. "Really, just have confidence in yourself, and the people you're teaching will have confidence in you-- and in themselves." That was important, she'd discovered.

"Great! We have a thing with Woodcroft in August-- lots of that lovely backstage stuff. I'll get you a V.I.P. pass if you promise to help me lug all of the promotional materials through the fireplace," she laughed. The Floo network was could be a problem when traveling with heavy boxes. Particularly when one didn't have a wand to charm those boxes smaller, and when, presumably, everyone else was an underage witch or wizard who could neither use magic nor Apparate outside of school. "The play..." She murmured. To Tilly, a smaller production wasn't any less exciting-- granted, she tended to be most enamored with those that involved music. "The one for Remembering Day? I think I heard about that! Jasper said something-- was there a female Voldemort? That's a very modern spin. I'd have liked to see that."

She could see that Fauna was still nervous, and, though she tried hard to make the girl comfortable, it was entirely understandable. This was akin to a first job interview, in a way. And not everyone interviewed the same. There were times when Tilly's dad would look at her, smile, and tell her she would have been a Gryffindor-- or her mother would say the same in a resigned sigh, followed by a slighter smile. Fauna Blake possessed every quality Tilly knew to be associated with those students called Hufflepuffs. And she was glad to have someone like that around. Someone earnest, and sincere.

Waiting patiently, but with an eager and intrigued ear, Tilly absorbed the silence that preceded Fauna's selection. It was soft to the senses when the notes first danced into the air, and Tilly found herself inclining forward a little, intrigued, and then stretching back to enjoy it in comfort. As the tempo climbed, and the tune reverberated, Matilda raised a brow and grinned. The girl was really talented; she'd picked the perfect piece to show her range, too, which Tilly appreciated. She was always looking for musicians-- real ones. The minor faults were to her benefit. They were human and endearing, and exactly the sort of thing that could be used as a teaching technique. It taking Matilda a while to learn that, having once been sixteen and eager to impress.

Tilly was still smiling when Fauna turned around. Her own grin widened, infected by the girl's obviously happy expression. "Well, I only have one more question--" She stood up and walked over to the piano bench, looming over the girl. From her pocket, she pulled out folded scheduled with a name and time printed on it. "Can you start today?"