Trina Quinn had been with Three Owl Standard for the past year or so. And it was quite a trip. A lot of fun, getting to know the guys, touring, and making music.  But after getting them back up, the group and Trina decided to split for a little. She and Dennis had a talk, and both thought it would be appropriate.  And this also gave Trina some time to do her own thing and perhaps put out her own record. And thanks to the convincing talk with an old friend, she had just recorded the first track.

Jasper Marsh was that friend, and also happened to be a very talented pianist.  She had watched him rise as a musician and artist after they left school, where they had been acquaintances.  They’d kept in contact since Hogwarts, where he was a year ahead of Trina. He was a Slytherin, and she a Ravenclaw.  Both, however, had always been interested in music and would play at school events.   But this was the first time they’d played together. Sure it had been a thought back in school, but had never manifested.  And what they’d done, they’d done well.

“Jasper, I think we’ve got a hit.” Trina said, and smiled. “This was brilliant. I can’t believe we hadn’t done it before!”

She was feeling the after-recording joy. The song, I Stand was one that had been written by Trina a few years back, and she was ecstatic that it had finally made it’s way to the studio.  While she always was so excited after laying down tracks with the boys of Three Owl Standard, it was a little different doing it on her own. Though, not quite on her own, but for her own album.  The song was one she’d poured her soul into, and was feeling like it was something others could relate to.

Now, she was sitting in the “celebration room” in the recording studio she’d rented out with Jasper.  They’d just listened to the finished product of the song.  Trina was feeling like getting back in and doing more, now incredibly excited for her album to get going.  Having the leading track with someone like Jasper was amazing, and she was even more excited for the community to hear it.

“If you’re up for it, I’ve got more songs that we could collaborate on in the future. I think your magic hands on the piano, and my voice and guitar, we could rule the world.” Trina let out a light laugh, still reeling from her excitement.  This had been one of the best nights she’d had in a while and wasn’t sure what could top it.



**The song I Stand is property of Idina Menzel. She's awesome and wrote and sang it. yay her!

Lately music had taken a backseat to his art work, so when the chance to collaborate on a track with Trina came up, Jasper had leapt at the chance.  He’d been pushing for her to do a little solo work since he found out about the spilt with Three Owl Standard.  She was too talented to not take advantage of the time she would have while the band worked on whatever their current project was and he hadn’t been about to see talent wasted.

Back in Hogwarts there had always been this idea that at some point it would be fun to work together on something.  She’d earned his respect in the musical realm after the first time he heard her sing at a school event so it had felt natural to finally try to join forced on a track.  It was an experiment, and it had gone incredibly well.

He returned her grin relaxing on one of the overstuffed chairs in the ‘celebration room.’  It was a comfortable space, a few couches and chairs and an upright piano in one corner.  It wasn’t quite the same as the instrument he played in the recording area, but he imagined it saw a lot of use after tracks were laid down and people were looking to simply blow off a little steam musically.

“You’ve got a gift, Trina,” he said.  “Real talent doesn’t show up that often…and people should hear what you’ve got to say in your music.  It’s obvious your songs come from a very honest place and that’s what people respond to.  And, I think that is cause for a toast to mark the occasion.”

His grin turned a little mischievous as he reached into the black music bag he always brought with him and he pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey he had purchased to celebrate what he had been certain would be a success.  Either that or they would have used it to ease any frustration…thankfully the former had been the outcome.  As much as he might have gotten something artistically out of this collaboration, he had mostly wanted to help her find her solo voice.  She was well on her way, and he felt a sense of pride for his friend and peer.

“If you’re up for it, I’ve got more songs that we could collaborate on in the future. I think your magic hands on the piano, and my voice and guitar, we could rule the world.”

He chuckled a little as he poured two firewhiskeys, handing her a glass.  Most of his work in the past was solo or with an orchestra and rarely did he get to record tracks that might reach a broader audience.  It was refreshing, exciting, and he was completely willing to see what else they might come up with.

“I think this could be the start of a beautiful musical relationship,” he said with a wink raising his glass a bit as a toast.  “I’d love to hear some of what you have so far.”

Trina found herself blushing at the compliment Jasper gave her.  She had always known, hopefully with out being too narcissistically, that she had a good voice and was talented with the guitar.  But she’d never really gotten her own lyrics and songs out to know how good they were.  Despite Jasper being a Slytherin, she did trust him and his taste in music to know he was being honest.

“Thank you. It really means a lot to have you behind me on this.” Trina smiled, and then laughed a little as he pulled out the firewhiskey. “Well, didn’t you come prepared.

She smiled as he poured two glasses.  A thought of Hunter came through her mind for a moment, but she pushed it aside, hoping he wouldn’t mind.  Trina hoped he would realize it was good for her career.  Of course, she had yet to mention anything to Hunter about her recording session.  But this was also because the two hadn’t been able to spend too much time with each other lately.  The holidays had been kind of crazy between family and other events, but Trina did miss him.

But for now, she was incredibly happy about her album, and Trina figured she deserved to celebrate. She accepted the glass and raised it in acceptance of the toast.  This most definitely going to be the start of something amazing.  After the toast, she took a drink, enjoying it.

“I could play a little for you if you’d like. Let me just grab my guitar over here.” Trina set the drink down and went to grab her guitar.

She then sat back down, guitar in her lap and started playing Brave and singing to it.  Trina was already in a good mood from the success of the day, that she was all about sharing her music.  Hopefully Jasper would approve of this song, as he had I Stand. And this would be another song for her album that would be out eventually.  She just needed to get a few meetings down and talk to people about it.

“So, what do you think? Will it work?” Trina asked once she’d finished the song. 

She was very happy at the moment for having someone else she could talk music with. Trina hadn’t had too much talk time with the guys from Three Owl Standard, or even her cousin Tilly.  Of course, both Dennis and Tilly were both a little preoccupied with a small parasite growing in Tilly’s stomach.  Otherwise known as a baby.  But Trina was happy for them. And she knew they’d be happy for her about her new album, when it got together.

There was a time in the not so distant past when he had gone through the process of trying to make something of his music career as a soloist.  The most difficult part was being willing to constantly talk about yourself, your work, what you wanted to be able to do, and hope that you were telling the right people.  In his mind he was already going through his connections to try to determine who might be able to get the work they were doing out there for people to hear.  Trina was already a name thanks to her work with the guys in Three Owl Standard, but trying to make it on her own with her music was going to be a completely different world.  While he might have his own ambitions in his work, this was purely about the music.

With a slight smirk he responded, “I always come prepared.”

He took a sip and nodded when she mentioned playing another song.  She had grabbed her guitar a moment later, settling into one of the seats before starting to play.  He sat on the arm of the couch listening, a smile playing at his lips.  In his mind he was already making notes of the chord progressions and patterns trying to hear how he might best accentuate the beauty of the song.

When she finished he set his drink down before standing and starting to head towards the upright piano.  There was probably a story behind the song, but the lyrics seemed to once again be something that would speak to most people.   There was likely a story behind it, but a listener could relate it to their own and that was key in his opinion.

“Let me try something,” he said with a grin, settling himself on the bench.  His fingers started to move over the keys; following the chord pattern he had picked up on a moment earlier.  He kept it relatively simple, knowing his job was to accent the song not overpower it.  When he reached the end of the refrain he repeated the pattern glancing over at her, “How does that sound?”