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[albus severus potter]

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Though Albus had his job working at Dominic Maestro's, he also played little shows here and there that helped pay for his music hobby. You might not have thought it to be all too expensive, but when you were like Albus and felt the need to own every type of instrument under the sun, it grew to be a rather costly endeavour. An endeavour that he insisted on paying himself, since he didn't think it right to let his parents just pay for everything in his life. As easy as that would have been, the Potter's valued hard work and that was a trait that Albus was more than happy to carry on. He would never be against working for what he got, especially when it came to his music. He worked a few minor gigs here and there, but he had to admit that his absolute favorite thing that he did was on the weekends when he was able to perform at the closest theme park, The Owl's Eyes.

There were places set up all throughout the park for live music and twice every month on a Saturday, Albus was given the chance to play a few sets of music that he had either written or covered from another band. He didn't really spread the word that he had such a job, since he didn't really like to brag about what he did, so he usually just popped over there on his own and did his thing while various people walked past. Sometimes they stopped to chat, give him a few compliments, but usually he was just background noise unless there were kids around. Albus was great with kids. Probably better with kids that he was with actual people, even. He was very interactive with kids and just loved to joke around, make up little songs on the spot, whatever it took to keep them entertained and having the best time possible while they were there. His goofyness just added to the fun and he adored every minute that he spent there.

Albus had already packed up his things to head over to the park and he was more than ready to get started with the day. He arrived a bit before the park opened, giving him ample time to set up before people started milling about and expecting to hear his music playing throughout his section. He was a bit off to the corner of the park and not in a place that a ton of people passed through every second, but it was still a gig at a theme park and so Albus that he didn't even care. Besides, he was sure that the longer he was there, the more he would work his way up and maybe he'd even get to headline at one of the larger venues at the park eventually. That, more than anything at the time, was his goal for his career. He wasn't the kind of guy that looked eons ahead and just liked to live his life one step at a time. It worked for Albus and he was perfectly okay with the way things were.

When he arrived at his designated staging area, Albus started setting up his various instruments in their proper locations so that when the time came for him to start performing he would have everything where it needed to be. He was the kind of performer that liked to move around, jump from instrument to instrument, and generally just have a good time of it all. He wasn't a very serious sort of guy and generally liked to make light of everything, since that just seemed easier. The Potter's were usually so busy with the whole war and what not that Albus just liked to make the best of everything that he was given and keep a smile on throughout his day. Watching the clock, Albus sat himself down with his guitar as soon as the time came and when he saw the first waves of people coming, started to strum at his guitar, providing a cheerful background music to begin with. That's what he did for the most of his day, until his scheduled performance hours.

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[james sirius potter]

James’ brother loved music, and though he didn’t necessarily share this love, he couldn’t help but admire the way the Albus could coax songs from an instrument that would probably never give James a single note. It was like a special kind of magic that anyone determined enough to learn could do, and James knew his brother was determined, he owned every instrument that James had ever heard of, probably more. He bought them all himself too, apparently their parents’ go get ‘em attitude was not wasted on him as it was on James. James always wondered how he afforded all of his equipment, though he heard from a several sources that Albus had gotten a job at a local amusement park. But it was one of those “I heard from him that he heard from her that she heard form a friend that she heard from her brother that his girlfriend had seen his name of some program for the park.” Things, so he really didn’t put much stock into the claims. That was until he saw Albus leaving the Gryffindor common room with several cases, and thought it wouldn’t hurt to at least see where he was going.

James was surprised that his brother didn’t see him at several points during the trip off campus and the entire way to The Owls Eyes. When they arrived, the park wasn’t open to the public for the day yet, so when he so his brother let in James knew that the rumor was true. He didn’t know how to feel about the fact that his brother would keep something like that from him, this was something that he would freak out about. Maybe if it had been anyone else, but with Albus, it just made him feel exasperated. He probably just thought it wasn’t important enough to mention, or that James wouldn’t be interested, at least that’s what James guessed. Albus wasn’t a show off like his brother could be, he just did whatever it was that he was doing. No complaints. No bragging. It almost annoyed James, because people far less talented bragged all the time, but not Albus. Never saintly Albus, he always had to be so perfectly modest. James sighed audibly as he waited for the park to open.

It was only a fifteen minute wait, give or take. And there was a line of admission by the time the park opened it’s doors. James wandered around for a while, keeping an eye out for his brother. When he couldn’t find him (it was a pretty big park) he got a program, that included times and locations of major shows, a map, and a list of performers; this list included none other than Albus Potter. However it did not specify where he would be playing. Again James sighed. He found the nearest staff member and asked where he could find his brother. The staff girl looked at him with an entirely apathetic look, thought about his question for a moment, pointed to a spot on the map, and gave him some terribly vague direction.

After Merlin knows how long of getting lost and being to prideful to ask for directions again, James saw his younger brother. Happily playing his music for a group of children. James hated kids, even when he was one. Okay, maybe that was a hyperbole, but he still didn’t like kids. They were too slow, too short, they didn’t think anything but poop jokes were funny, and not a single child James had ever met understood sarcasm. In short, they were stupid and short. James waited for Albus to finish his song, and the little devil children left, scurrying away to complain to their parents about wanting candy floss or something. Now that he thought of it, candy floss would probably be pretty good at the moment. Point being, the smelly troll kids left and James approached his younger brother “Good morning, Al.” he said, almost as if he had not been expecting to see Albus here “Fancy seeing you here.”

[albus severus potter]

The first part of his day there at the park, as per usual, was fairly quiet. He was usually finished setting up right in time for the park to open, but it took a bit longer after that for people to actually get back to his section. Of course, usually they just walked right on by while he was strumming along or what have you, but some people stopped to have a quick chat or request a certain song. Albus was always open to suggestions, since he was really just there to make sure that everyone was having the best time that they could possibly have. If his music could help brighten the day of even just one person, than Albus would have felt like he had succeeded with his job there. Sure, he'd prefer to have a large crowd in front of him to charm, but that would come within about ten minutes when his first scheduled set would begin.

Just a bit before the set began, a small crowd started to gather around his stage with an eager buzz throughout them. That was Albus' favorite moment when he was on stage. Right before he was about to start playing, the buzz of the crowd gave him that adrenaline boost to do everything he could to make it the best show they had ever seen. When the clock chimed again, Albus put on his best smile, looked out into the crowd and started with his show. Like usual, it started off with him just talking to the crowd a bit. He liked to try and warm them up to him before playing, just in case. Usually they responded pretty well to his jokes and were smiling before he even began. A few minutes later, he was ready to start playing. Most of his songs were geared towards kids, since he was working at a theme park, but he threw in a few of his more serious songs for the adults as well.

Once he had exhausted a good portion of his songs, Albus changed gears once more. At that point, he was mostly just goofing around with the crowd, inviting some of the kids up to attempt joining in and singing songs based on what he saw around him. Though it was the most informal part of his show, it was usually the biggest hit. People liked the whole improv thing and Albus was slowly starting to become really good at it. He wasn't a pro by any means, but he wasn't bad at all and it really was starting to come along a bit more. At the very least, the kids got a thrill out of it, which brought an even bigger smile to Albus' face. He joked around for a few more minutes and as the clock chimed again, signalling the end of his first hour of play, Albus made his goodbyes and waved them away with a grin. Not a bad start for the day.

Albus would have been happy to leave his first set just like that. It had gone well and nothing seemed to be holding him back, until he spotted an unfortunately familiar figure striding over towards him. Albus loved his family, he really did, and he would be happy to see them on any other occasion. However, since he had more or less kept his job at the park a secret, seeing James come over with that look on his face brought a slight pout to Albus' features. "Ah, 'lo there James. What brings you to the park all alone on a Saturday?" Albus asked, keeping his voice light as he spoke. Obviously he couldn't really lie and say that he had just stumbled into the park himself and decided to play music, but maybe James would just drop the subject and pretend that he hadn't seen anything. Unlikely.

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