When Wren was finally allowed to leave the hospital wing, it was rather late in the evening on Monday. She quickly made her way through the common room and up the spiral stairs to her dorm where her roommates were all getting themselves ready for bed.
'Welcome back Wren. We missed you!' Verity cried as Wren entered the room. Within a minute all the girls had swaddled her in a group hug.
'Let her breath, let her breath. She's only just been discharged. You don't want to send her back already.' Rosewaine exclaimed scoldingly as she batted all the girls away from Wren protectively. The warm welcome had been lovely but Rosewaine had been right to intervene. Though Wren was feeling alot better she was still a little unsteady on her feet.
She plopped down on her bed and greeted her very affectionate owl who flew down onto her shoulder and began to nuzzle her head against Wren's cheek.
'I missed you too, ol' girl.' Wren giggled.
As her gaze fell to her night stand she realised that her praising pansy had not only bloomed but were also a delightful shade of deep sapphire blue.
' I praised your pansies for you whilst you were gone.' Rosewaine explained as she sat down on her own bed. 'Our pansies are looking the best in the dorm right now. Freda yelled at her's yesterday because it wasn't changing colour fast enough and now it's as black as night.' She giggled a little.
'Thankyou,' Wren said then added, 'I will be sure not to yell at mine and undo all your hard work.' She then picked up her flower pot and began to talk to the flowers herself. 'Nice to meet you little flowers. You have already done such an excellent job at growing. I have every faith in you that you will become big and strong and most importantly, sky blue.'
Even as she spoke the flowers seemed to lighten in colour. Wren set them back down on her nightstand and readied herself for bed. She didn't really feel like getting into bed after multiple days of being cooped up in one so she sat in bed and read for a long time after the other girls had all fallen asleep until she felt ready to blow out her own candle and settle down. She lay there in the dark for a long time listening to the sniffs and snores around her. A sound she had grown to find quite comforting over the past few weeks. Suddenly she became aware of another, very faint sound joining the quiet slumbering rhythm of the night. Music, so faint that Wren had to strain to hear it but as she sat up and walked to the door, she became sure that it wasn't a figment of her imagination. The soft tones of a lullaby being played on a piano drifted up the stairwell.
Wren edged down the spiral staircase, unable to simply go back to her bed. As she grew closer to the sound, the tune became clearer. The most lonely and gentle melody that broke her heart a little as she listened. When Wren reached the common room, she edged as silently as she could over to the mezzanine bannister to see who could be creating this beautiful, haunting sound at this hour of the night. As her eyes became accustomed to the moonlit room she saw a small boy sitting at the piano keys, his fingers dancing over the ivories with his eyes closed. Erris McGrath seemed to be in his own world as his tune surrounded him like a love song to the night. Each note seemed to relay his desperate loneliness to Wren as she could feel the tune reverberate through her torso. As she listened, the melody became harsher and she could feel his anger and misery and she wanted to cry for this mystery of a boy who seemed to live in a world that only contained himself and his bird.
(If you wish to listen to Erris' melody, please listen to this video and imagen that you are standing in the moonlit Ravenclaw commonroom with Wren.)
She listened for a long time before she made her presence known. She was afraid to break the magic of it all, as if the boy would see her and then disappear like a fantom taking his music with him. When she finally stepped out of the shadows Erris froze, his melody ceasing mid bar. He simply stared at her for a long moment before Wren whispered softly. 'Please don't stop. I love it.'
Erris seemed to wrestle within himself for a moment as if fighting an urge to run before he decided to oblige the little girl's request. His fingers began to dance over the keys once more but his eyes remained wearily on her.
Wren did not attempt to get any closer or speak again. She simply sat and listened, sitting on the steps as Erris told her everything she needed to know through his music.
When a clock on the mantelpiece chimed one Am, the magic was broken. Erris stood up from the piano and wordlessly ascended the stairs. As he passed her she couldn't help but whisper a thankyou and to her surprise, he stopped for a moment and with the smallest smile replied, 'Your welcome.' then turned and disappeared up the stairs.
Wren waited a few minutes before following. Once she climbed back into bed she was finally able to fall asleep. Her mind filled with the memory of Erris' melody.
The next day during class, Erris seemed to be the same silent and withdrawn boy he had always been; however, every now and then Wren caught his eyes trained on her. It seemed that in the most mynute way, his world was opening up just a little bit more.
Over the next few nights Wren found herself creeping down to the common room to hear Erris play and each night he obliged. They never spoke, however night by night Wren got a little closer until one night she picked up the courage to sit on the music stall by his side.
This night, when he finished his song, he did not leave. Instead he turned to her and said in a very shy voice. Sullivan wanted to give this to you but I wouldn't let him.' as he spoke he pulled out a small shiny pebble that gleamed and sparkled in the moonlight. As Wren stared down at the pebble that had been placed into her palm, Erris began to rise to leave once more.
Seeing that Erris was about to disappear again she found herself blurting. 'Please talk to me.' The desperation in her voice caught them both off guard but once again, Erris obliged and retook his seat by her side.
'What do you wish me to say?' He asked in a soft but stilted voice which worked well to cover his nerves.
'Anything, everything.' Wren sighed, a little surprised that he was actually willing to hold a conversation with her. 'Why do you play so late at night?'
'Because I cannot sleep and because you like it.' Erris replied in a very matter of fact tone that sounded like a far more mature way of speaking than should come from an eleven year old.
Wren sat in silence for a moment, rather taken aback that she had any sway on Erris' actions. Then collecting herself she asked, 'Why are you unable to sleep?'
Erris looked down at the piano keys for a long second before answering. 'I dislike what I see when I do.'
'Nightmares?' Wren clarified hesitantly.
'Not exactly. They feel more real than that.' Erris replied as his brow furrowed into a troubled frown. 'Even when I wake, sometimes they follow me, like dark figures in my room.'
'That is horrible.' Wren whispered sympathetically.
'You like to be alone too, don't you?' Erris said suddenly. 'I see you leaving early in the morning sometimes.'
'How-' Wren started before Erris gave her a little smile.
'I often sit at the window in the mornings. I see you walking across the lawn. You look happy when you're out there. A different happiness than when you are with your friends.' He voiced observantly.
'I-i feel free out there. Nature doesn't judge how you move or what you do. It just is and it allows you to just be in it.' Wren found herself saying. She had never really voiced this to anyone before. Her insecurities around communicating with people or the reason she loved being outdoors so much. Slowly she looked up to meet his grey, observant gaze. 'Is that why you don't talk to people? You are afraid of judgement?' she asked tentatively.
'In part.' he replied thoughtfully. 'I never thought that others would wish me to talk to them. They never have before.... Until you.' His tone was very sad and hollow but hopeful at the end.
'You haven't been around very nice people, have you.' It was Wren's turn to be observant now. Erris looked up at her and to her surprise, he snorted a small laugh.
'No I haven't' he confirmed as his mouth became a grim line. 'My step mother and step sisters dislike me heavily and i hardly ever see my father. He dislikes me the most.'
'I'm sure he loves you real-' Wren began to try and comfort him. Coming from such a loving family herself, she couldn't imagine a parent not loving their child.
'He does not. I can assure you and he has every reason to despise me.' Erris' tone sounded matter of fact and final, prompting Wren to move onto another subject.
'Your sisters, they go to Hogwarts too don't they?' Wren asked.
Erris grimaced at her use of the word 'Sisters,' 'They are no true relation of mine, nor do they act it other than to remind me of my inadequacy. Being placed into Ravenclaw was quite dishonour in their eyes.' He said this last part with a small amount of revelry as if becoming a Ravenclaw had been a small act of rebellion on his part.
'I have never understood house snobbery.' Wren mused somberly. It was a phenomena in many old families, valuing one house over others. There were some families who had produced only Slthyerins or Gryffindors for generations.
'My father was a slytherin, as was his father before him. In Fact you would have to search quite a way up the McGrath family tree to find a break in the tradition until me i suppose. My step mother sent me a howler when she found out. I was lucky to be outside when I received it. I drowned it in the lake before it had time to start screaming,' he chuckled to himself. ' I've had enough scoldings from her in my childhood. I decided I didn't need to listen to it at Hogwarts too.'
Wren found herself giggling with him. He had quite the sense of humour in his odd, stiff little way and she found herself rather liking his dry, measured manor.
The clock soon sounded that One Am had arrived and they parted ways as they always did but this time Erris turned at his dormitory door and said, 'Speak tomorrow night?' In a hopeful voice.
'Tomorrow night,' Wren confirmed with a smile before pushing her door open and disappearing inside.