= Wands High =

Chapter 14 - 12 May 1998, Tuesday

Both of them turned to find that James Padavona was standing at the door, smirking, for the first time ever, face twisted in what resembled somewhat of a smile.

- I believe I wrote that she won't be a distraction to the band practicing – Daynen added, continuing with the good humor. – Didn't say anything about myself in particular.

Hermione did finally let go of him then, face all in various shades of red.

- Two days are left – said James a few moments later, now sitting on one of the desks, wand spinning between his fingers. – And we don't even have a full band yet.

- On the contrary, my friend Orianna has decided to accept my offer, so that issue seems to be solved.

- Has she now? Interesting. You reckon this to be a good idea then, truly?

- Why not? – Daynen said, playing a few standard chords in order to feel the tuning of the guitar a bit better. – We seemed to gel well last time, no?

- Two girls in a rock band. I am not so sure – Padavona added on. – But seeing as there isn't a plethora of options, I can't really argue.

- She is a great bass player, you'll see.

- I don't doubt her quality. I saw it already the other night. Where are the girls, anyway?

Just when Daynen was trying to figure out how to put it, Jessie's ever-smiling face popped out of the hallway.

- Hello there! Look who I found!

- I hate you sometimes, you know – Orianna seemed like someone who had literally been dragged to the room. – And this is one of those times.

- Now, now, Ri. I completely understand what you've told me, but it will all be fine, don't you doubt it – the blond girl promptly took her place behind the drum set, doing her best to keep her long hair from falling all over her face. – Nothing like playing some gut busting music to get your mind off the silly things! Which reminds me – what are we playing tomorrow night?

- Technically it's two nights from now.

- Oh, okay. All the time in the world then, perhaps we should go for a stroll instead? - Jessie proclaimed, before noticing Hermione, who had been sitting at the back of the room all this time. – Oh, hey there, darling, I got the message stating that you will be here too! I'm Jessie, I hit stuff, see! BANG! My, you have lovely hair!

- Easy, there, Monkey Hands – Orianna muttered, slowly taking her bass guitar out of the case and apparently now conceding to the situation. – Don't startle dear Fairylocks there, or Daynen might just finally lose his mind.

- Careful – he said.

- Distractions... – James added almost at the same time.

- Alright, alright! – Daynen shouted a bit. – Straight to the point, let's lay it out there. Less than 48 hours from now, two songs, one after the other, we need to show who we are and what people need to expect from us in the future with them. And since we ourselves don't really quite know what that is yet, I suggest something fast, forceful and to the point. Yes, I know we have nothing still, but here's what I've got so far...

In contrast to what he had just said, what he played were several slow, rather melodic chords.

- Then we go with, something heavy, like this...

He played the same four bars a few times then changed it up a bit, then once more.

- And then in the end it's going to be even faster and more forceful and there will be a solo. Let's call it random shredding.