It was 9:20 on a Sunday morning and the sky beyond the common room window was a brilliant, light shade of blue.  Everything from the deep blue over the lake to the soft wisps of white clouds stretched across the sky screamed it was the perfect day to be outside and on the move.  Six weeks!  Six weeks Mairead had been in one place and she was getting restless.  She didn't want to be sitting in this stuffy room - she wanted to be out there!  Running around - letting her feet get cold in the grass as mud oozed between her toes.  Or, letting her knees get scraped on the bark of some tree.  If she were back home on a day like this, Mairead would undoubtedly be down at the edge of some bog or lake, trying to catch frogs or crickets or something with the boys. 

But, no.  Not today.  Mairead was stuck indoors with homework!  What a miserable, stupid, worthless invention.  But, she knew, if she just left and went outside with the intentions of "coming back to it" she'd be showing up to classes on Monday without her assignments.  Again.  And, since she'd agreed to meet Grace at 9:30 for help with her homework.  With the prospects of a broom looming in the future, there was no way Mairead could convince herself to conveniently forget. 

Mairead's collection of ratty, dog-eared textbooks were strewn haphazardly across the table closest to the window.  Despite the seemingly careless manner in which they were scattered across the table, not a single book lay within easy arm's length of the first year.  With the sole exception of her History of Magic textbook which was propped on the table in a tent-like fashion with extreme care so that Ailill, the puffskein, could crawl across the table, burrowing between the pages in a rather mole-like fashion.  The lurcher lay snoozing, contently, under the table - Mairead had recruited a couple of her fellow first years earlier that morning to stand guard as Mairead snuck Eithne up to the Common Room for the day. 

She'd made two feeble attempts at studying already that morning.  One had even gotten her as far as to open her History of Magic book to the chapter she was supposed to read before Monday.  But, it had taken less than four minutes for the book to be relinquished to the role of jungle gym for the puffskein. 

Instead, of homework, Mairead's attention was fixed on the rosewood flute in her hands.  There were others in the common room so Mairead refrained from launching into any fully-fledged tunes.  But, mostly in silence, her fingers crawled slowly up and down the length of the wood, moving through the motions of tune patterns and rhythms - occasionally lingering to move through the motions of ornamentations if her fingers stumbled.  Once or twice - only to verify the movements of her fingers would produce the sounds she was expecting, Mairead lifted the flute to her lips and blew out a few quiet notes.  She'd been in the midst of sounding out a series of soft, slow trills when Mairead became aware of someone standing behind her. 

"I am working," Mairead said, quickly, reaching forward to pull her parchment to her without even looking up to verify it was Grace.  "I just ... got distracted."  Indefinitely.

Grace was in a good spirits as she clammored down the stairs from the dorms and towards the common room, despite the ungodly hour for most of her housemates. Life was pretty good for the Gryffindor Prefect and she was sure her mood would transfer over into her work session with her little protege, Mairead.

Slowing up as she came to the door to the common room, Grace peeked in to see what the younger girl was doing. It was a way for her to indirectly assess Mairead's disposition when it came to working and how to perhaps best cater their study sessions to it. Grace considered that if she didn't want to become a Healer so badly, she might consider becoming a professor, because she did enjoy helping other students.

In her observation, she could tell that Mairead was someone who needed a calming influence and someone to provide structure. With a grin, Grace thought, Not unlike someone else I know....

She also needed constantly motivation, which Grace was happy to provide with subtle reminders of the end goal. On the one hand, Grace knew that she should feel a little remorseful about using a smidge of bribery to that end. She should be wanting to instill a sense of intrinsic motivation for her scholastic endeavors.

But even the ever practical, over achieving Grace Eddy knew that that was an idealistic view of how the world should operate. She knew from experience that it didn't always achieve results--at least not at first. But in time, with enough nudging, even the most haphazard of individuals (like Beth) could find their own inspiration.

Finally stepping fully into the common room, Grace called with a grin, "Hey Squirt. How's it going?" It was more of a rhetorical question as just by glancing over the table, she had her answer. Her eyes fell on the instrument that was in Mairead's hands and smiled again. "Ah, so you like music too, huh?" After a beat, she added, "Well, believe it or not, we can actually use that to study." Catching sight of the History of Magic paperweight, she chuckled. "And it's not hard to get distracted when working on homework for that class."

Plopping down next to the younger girl, Grace asked, "What's the assignment?"

Mairead pulled her parchment towards her only to find the Gryffindor passing by was not Grace.  Whoever it was (really, once it was clear it wasn't Grace, who it was was irrelevant) passed by her table and Mairead tossed the sheet of parchment back on the table.  Again, she turned back to her flute.  Only to quickly pick it up again when more footsteps thumped behind her.  Three times in a row, the parchment found itself in her hand only to get tossed on the table once more. 

Again, footsteps and Mairead darted for the parchment.  With her focus fixed on the flute cradled in her lap, Mairead  was oblivious to the older Gryffindor's observations of her study habits.  Or, lack thereof. 

She shrugged.  "I don't know," she admitted.  Figuring the admittance (and therefore honesty) was bound to earn her some brownie points, she added, "I haven't done much."  It was just so hard to stay focused!  Really, those Ravenclaws must just be wired differently, somehow. 

"Ye, too?"  Mairead asked, looked back up at Grace with a renewed enthusiasm.  So, this older girl wasn't just a quidditch player, she was into music as well?  Mairead was impressed.  "Do ye play something?  I love to play music - and to dance.  It's fun but - use it to study?"  That thought, Mairead was skeptical of.  "I ... what?  Ye mean like - well, we pass on a lot of history in music.  But, I never heard of any songs like that in class." 

Mairead set her flute on the table and resigned herself to the work ahead of them.  Skootching her chair up to the table, she lifted the textbook and scooped the puffskein back in her pocket.  "I'm supposed to read the chapter on ancient wizards and answer these questions on them," Mairead admitted, thwapping the piece of parchment on her textbook unceremoniously. 

Grace hid a smile as Mairead told her about the assignment--or rather, didn't tell her about it. Where had she heard that before? With a nod of her head, she concluded that it was very Beth-like indeed.

Even though it might seem like the topic of music might take over the conversation and allow the young girl a further reprieve from her studies, Grace wasn't to be deterred that easily. But she did indulge Mairead a little by sharing with the girl her thoughts. "Yes, I do like music. I'm actually in the school's Orchestra and Choir. I mostly sing, but I can play a little bit on the piano or the guitar if i wanted. You should join too." Grace paused, inwardly scolding herself from encouraging the girl to get involved in too many things when it was clear she did need to focus on her schoolwork.

Clearing her throat, Grace brought the conversation back to that. "And yeah, music can be used to help you study." One of the reasons why Grace was such a successful student was because she was efficient and used all the tools in her arsenal. There were some classes over the year that she had been more predisposed to like and even she had her Beth-like lapses in attention for those she didn't.

One tool was singing to remember important information. In fact, that had helped her tremendously through her OWLS and she fully planned to utilize it for her NEWTS. Luckily, now she had a slimmer course load. Looking back, it was easy to see how she was so uptight and must've been less fun to be around.

"Well, I like using music to remember things," Grace explained. "I mean, we have the capacity to remember so many musical lyrics because of how pleasing they are. So for tests, or even for a class you want to remember something for to participate in discussion, you can turn the information you need to study and make them into songs...." Raising her brow, she asked, "Don't you think that would be more interesting to learn and remember?" Leaning closer, Grace giggled a little. "People might think you're a little nutty, but hey.....you're the one who is going to be coming out on top." Grace gave the younger girl an assured nod and thumped her huge book with her index finger.
 
Looking over the questions, Grace's lips formed a grim line and she flipped a few pages in the book. "Well, let's get started then. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go practice." Grace averted her gaze to the text on the paper as she said, "You can break in my broom." After a beat, she added, "Errr....I mean....your broom...."

Mairead was only all too thrilled for an excuse to be distracted from questions about Mopsus, Herpo and Cottontail.  The fact that there was a distraction to be found in the subject of music only made it easier and better. 

She lifted the smooth, deep red-brown wooden flute in her lap, slightly - an obvious indication that was Mairead's instrument of choice.  "I'm also learning a little bit of fiddle but I'm not that good, yet." 

"Orchestra?"  Mairead asked, dubiously, her nose wrinkled and she arched an eyebrow in the older Gryffindor's direction.  The term immediately brought the image of rich, uptight people sitting around with violins (not fiddles), shiny brass instruments and metal flutes and reading sheet music.  All being watched by even richer people who were just sitting, quietly, in some big, fancy hall.  Normally, Mairead would have bluntly laughed off the notion of being in an orchestra.  But, she was actually wanting to make a good impression on Grace.  She had something Mairead wanted.  So, for the first time in Mairead didn't  know how long, she tried tact.  "Oh ... I'm not really ... I'm not a orchestra type.  I like music ye can dance to." 

As much as she was trying to follow Grace's lead, Mairead wasn't buying the idea that music could help one study.  Not at all.  And, that doubt was written plainly on her face.  She couldn't see how music could help you remember anything.  And, she certainly didn't see how it'd make learning more interesting.  "But, I don't know any songs about old wizards.  Well, Merlin - kind of.  But, not really - I mean, I don't think it's right.  And we aren't even studying him, yet."  Learning songs about Andros the Invisible didn't sound very exciting - how did someone write anything interesting about someone you couldn't see? 

"But, it's so hard to find out what it is I need to remember," Mairead pointed out, sliding her book closer to her.  She flipped it open to the first page of the chapter she was supposed to read.  She waved her hand over the blocks of text on the page.  "They don't expect us to memorize all this, do they?  I mean, how do I know what they're gonna ask about?"  It just seemed so much - it wasn't like she'd be able to find a song on every little fact.  She wanted to get the over with - wanted to go out and practice with the broom.  Her broom.  It was a shame all this work stuff was in the way. 

"How do I know what's enough? Or where to stop?"  Mairead rested her elbow on the table and leaned over the book.  "When do I know I'm done."

Grace was impressed by the little lion's hidden talents and it occured to her that Mairead must get underestimated quite often. Which is not unusual for a first year, Grace told herself. But even in such a short time of knowing the girl, Grace could see that Mairead clearly was not a typical first year by any stretch of the imagination.
 
Adjusting slightly in her chair, Grace said, "Fiddle, huh? That's pretty neat. Is it difficult to learn two different instruments? I can play a little piano and some guitar, but nothing to brag about." When the younger girl spoke with uncertainty about the school's orchestra, Grace realized that she must have an image of a grandiose production. She really didn't think the Hogwart's Orchestra was going to be competing against the London Philharmonic any time soon. So she went to work dispelling the myth. "Well, most of us aren't the orchestra type. I think we're more like a rag-tag orchestra, if you will." She paused and looked for other suitable references. "In high school, my brother was in band. So maybe it's more like a muggle school band than an orchestra. We basically just play with whatever talents we have." She pointed to Mairead's instrument. "Sooo....I think you'd fit in okay."
 
As for the music, Grace decided that needed addressing as well. "And....we like music you can dance to as well. Maybe you can help us with music selections for our upcoming performance....I've been a little stumped as to what we should do." Grace saying that wasn't just lip service to keep her little companion's attention. She really had been coming up short as to what should be done that was exciting and fresh. And how much more exciting and fresh could one get than the perspective of a first year?
 
But for now, Grace reluctantly turned back to studying and convincing Mairead of the benefits of using music in her approach to it. "Well, you don't always have to use music that already exists," she began slowly. "You can always make something up. It's mostly just a way to remember facts...or make it more interesting than it is now." Grace raised her brows expectantly and then jabbed a finger at some of the text in front of them. "I mean, be honest. What is more interesting? This or a song?" Looking over the parts Mairead had questioned her about, she continued. "Usually the information the professors want you to remember are major dates or accomplishments or even concepts or ideas relating to your subject." Grace smirked. "In the case of History of Magic, it tends to be more dates and important people and knowing what they're famous for."
 
Grace could hardly contain her amusement at Mairead's constant questioning. It could be exhausting if a person didn't have patience. Luckily Grace had a fair amount of it. "Sometimes you don't know. Sometimes all you can do is your best." That sounded so lame, but even Grace didn't study all the time and there were instances that she had to go on a whim and a prayer. She decided to tell her young friend that. "Luckily, a lot of magic involves more than just book learning."

Before Grace could get the wrong impression about Mairead's fiddling capabilities, the younger girl quickly shook her head.  "I really only started playing it a couple months before coming here.  Me da plays a little fiddle - but, Oisin's really good.  Ye can do more with a fiddle, since it'll play in any key but I like the flute better."  She simply loved music - at home, it was a family affair.  Whether she was joining in with her flute, dancing with one of the boys or just sitting off away from the adults, talking with Tito within earshot of the music. 

"Ye don't have to be able to brag," Mairead insisted.  "It's not about that.  I mean, it's nice if ye can - Oisin can, but everyone starts somewhere.  Even Oisin did a lot a scratching long time ago."  Music to Mairead wasn't about status - one of the main concerns she had about the typical suit-and-tie orchestra.  That wasn't where music belonged.  Sure, way back when it was only royalty who were able to afford to hire their own musicians - but, the musicians were usually poor.  And, unless they had a solid gig for some royalty, they were also nomadic.  Travellers.  As Oisin was always quick to point out in his stories. 

Ok, so the orchestra or band or whatever was starting to sound more intriguing (though, really, anything that could be described as rag-tag was bound to have its merits.  But, Mairead's mind was still quick to point out a few hesitations.  Admitting she was wrong wasn't always, exactly, easy.  "I can't read music," Mairead pointed out to the older girl, glancing at her.  "I can learn by ear pretty quick.  But, I can't read." 

What is more interesting? This or a song?

The look Mairead gave Grace made it clear she thought it was a stupid, stupid question.  One which didn't really even need the benefit of an answer.  "So, ye write songs with the information?" Mairead clarified.  Even if it the answer to Grace's question was stupid and obvious, habit and a touch of stubborn pride made it difficult to concede it did sound less drone-like.  "Sure," she offered vaguely and with a slight shrug.  But, it still brought her back to the original, challenging question - how to determine which facts needed to be made into a song.  Which were important?  She couldn't go and write a song that reiterated the whole chapter. 

"Alright," she conceded, a bit less moodily.  They could go practice, they could go practice, Mairead reminded herself as she straightened her book under her nose and started, slowly, sounding out the  paragraph, syllable by syllable.

"I only sing and play the piano," Grace informed her little protege. "Sometimes I wish I could play other instruments and I really admire those who play something other than that." Grace smiled and nodded to Mairead and  her flute. "But you're right. Bragging is really not the point of music. I think what I love about it most is being able to express myself through a song or how it makes me feel. And I like the idea of being able to make others feel something through singing or playing the piano." She shrugged. " think that's why I joined the Choir and Orchestra here. It's a different kind of club at Hogwart's. Most of the others have to so with classes. And I tend to be very focused on my academics. It's nice to have something less stressful to enjoy."

Grace smiled sheepishly when she realized how much she had been babbling. And about stuff the youngster might not want to listen to at that. Quickly addressing the girl's concerns about joining the group, Grace assured her, "Well, I think reading music is overrated. You should give it a go.  If it's something you think you'd enjoy, anyway."

Grace decided that they should probably really focus on the first year's studying. Surprisingly, even the older girl was becoming antsy. Unknowingly echoing Mairead's own thoughts, Grace tapped the the parchment in front of them and suggested, "What do you say we breeze through this real quick so we can catch the most amount of light outside possible for some flying practice?"

"Piano's hard to travel with," Mairead pointed out.  It was one of those obvious statements - though, perhaps, if Grace wasn't aware of Mairead's upbringing, it might be one she might not have considered.  "They're a bit heavy for the horses, ye know?  And, there wouldn't really be room.  Oisin will play, sometimes, if we're staying near a pub or somethin' that has a piano."  All in all, pianos weren't practical instruments for the road.  Which was probably why they didn't seem to show up in their music, much.

The stubbornness not wanting to loosen its hold on the younger girl, Mairead nodded noncommittally.  So, she'd give the whole choir and band thing a try.  But, she'd just have to see whether it'd live up to any expectations. 

But, Grace had said the magic words.  Get through real quick so we can go outside and practice flying.  That was all Mairead needed to hear.  Though, she did wonder if Grace was overestimating Mairead's ability to 'breeze' through her homework. 

Turning her attention to her textbook, Mairead started reading the text allowed.  Slowly and choppily.  Some of the shorter words, Mairead skimmed over easily and quickly - she was starting to recognize the more common shorter words on sight.  Other less familiar words (which History of Magic textbooks were full of) were harder - Mairead had to sound her way, slowly, through the words.  She, slowly, made her way through the first paragraph and paused at the end of it to glance up, apologetically, at Grace.

"I'm sorry - I'm not that fast, yet.  I'm better than I was.  But, I - yeah."  Blushing, slightly, she turned back to the text and started in on the next paragraph.