48: Finding You

"Lia..." Draco stared at the newspaper that Hermione handed him.

There was a headline that reads 'Violinist presents legendary pieces and skills at the age of 21.'. and then underneath has an article about everything they need to know about you, or at least... what the media found out.

There was a picture they took, you, on the stage with a violin.

Everyone on the table watched the blonde carefully, afraid of how his reaction will be seeing your current situation from the newspaper.

They didn't know what to tell him, just a few seconds ago they told Draco that he should go look for you, but now... they weren't sure about it anymore.

You were living a luxurious life now, not even needing Draco to find you to make your life better.

Draco scoffed at what he saw in the newspaper, but not at what the other's thought about it.

He quickly figured that it wasn't what you wanted, but instead, your grandmother.

"Where did you get this?" Blaise asked Hermione, basically glaring at Hermione.

"I was visiting my parent before coming here, I was curious about what was happening in the muggle world." She quickly defended herself and turned to Draco

"Not everything is true in the paper, Draco. I'm sure there must be some explanation for this." Hermione tried to assure him, snapping him away from his thoughts.

"Oh, I'm not worried about that." To everyone's surprise, Draco doesn't seem to be mad at you at all.

Everyone stared at the blonde, seeming to be waiting for an explanation from him. But Draco was too caught up in his thoughts cursing a certain old woman to notice them staring.

"Why are you not worried?" Blaise asked, confused as to why his best friend isn't worried at all about you moving on already and forgetting about him.

"Because I know whatever this is." He said, lifting the newspaper showing the article with you in it.

"Was probably her grandmother's doing." Now Draco has a glare in his eyes, a fire within threatening to kill her any moment.

"Her grandmother?" Hermione asked, to which he nodded.

"Why would she do that?" The boy who lived asked this time.

Draco could only sigh at the facts, which made all of them more curious.

"Her grandmother... Lia described her as the pureblood of muggle society. Just like my father, she wanted Lia to become exactly like her." Draco mumbled reliving all the memories where you told him about your coldblooded grandmother.

"And how exactly is like her?" The clueless redhead said.

"Lia was born into a family of prestigious musicians; her grandmother would force her to practice the violin since she was the only one between her siblings who had shown the talent. So..." Draco raised the newspaper again.

"She wants her to be something like this."

Draco lightly threw the newspaper back down to the table, anger showing through.

Of course your grandmother would pull something like this. He should've thought of it himself sooner, he would've already gone to you and help you escape your Grandmother's clutches if he knew.

"I will leave in two days." Draco made up his mind without hesitation.

"Do you need help navigating the muggle world?" Harry and Hermione asked at the same time.

"No, I want to do this on my own. I've made her wait long enough." Draco stood up and left.

He returned home with the newspaper and started planning where he would go to look for you.

-

It didn't take Draco that long to find you since you were someone famous.

Now, here he was, at another party you were attending.

With a little help from Harry's invisibility cloak, he easily snuck into the giant mansion that help the party.

As he snuck in, he saw everyone inside was wearing luxurious clothes and for some reason, a mask too.

To make sure he would blend in, he quickly conjures a random utensil he could find by the tables filled with food into a mask. Thankfully, he already wore a casual black suit, so a simple black mask would do.

As he looked through the crowd, he would notice that there are multiple people glancing to him every time he passes.

He was beginning to feel annoyed so he went to the provided bathrooms.

"Crinus Muto." He muttered and watched as his hair changed from blonde to brown.

He gave out a lingering sigh.

Where are you?

Draco has been searching for you for days, but it would always end with him missing you or gotten the wrong information and went to the wrong place.

He walked out of the bathroom defeated by his failed search for you.

He didn't watch where he was going and bumped into a woman.

"I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Draco froze at the women's voice.

He would recognize that voice anywhere.

He focuses on the women's silver masked face, looking into her eyes.

Those eyes...

They were your eyes...

It's you.

He finally found you.

"Are you alright, Mister? Do you need me to fetch someone for you?" Your panicked voice knocked him from his overjoyed trance from finding you.

"Oh, I'm quite alright." Draco, at a loss for words, came out with the best assurance he could for you.

He stared into your eyes, getting lost in them. They still hold the same elegance from when he first met you, but there was also sorrow lingering behind them.

And from the look on your face even though they were mostly covered by your mask, he could tell you absolutely didn't want to be here.

"Erm..." Draco didn't realize he was staring at you until you spoke up.

"I apologize; I couldn't help but stare because your eyes reminded me of a dear friend of mine." Draco quickly explained, hiding his identity, but also surprised at himself for not revealing who he was.

Draco returned to staring at you when you didn't reply. You didn't reply because you stared into his too.

"Yours remind me of a dear friend too." You just said to him.

Both of you didn't say anything, just stayed in silence and looked into each other's eyes.

Memories came surging for Draco the longer he stared. He was about to tell you who he was when you speak up.

"My apologies, but I'm afraid I have to return. My friend is waiting for me." You excused yourself without even letting Draco have the chance to speak.

But before you left completely, Draco caught the look on your face.

You looked... frustrated.

There were unshed tears in your eyes.

Then, he knew...

You remembered him...

You still loved him.

A huge weight immediately lifted from his heart.

Draco expected that was the case, but it was still very relieving to see it for himself. Somewhere in his mind, he was half expecting you to have already moved on. He doubted the thought but it still wasn't impossible.

He soon followed, but he was very far behind you.

He would notice every so often when you would look around as if searching for someone.

Draco chuckled at your reaction, you were always so sensitive to these kinds of things, it was obvious that you felt his stares. But you never spotted him as Draco would turn away every time you turned in his direction.

Then, came your turn to be on stage.

Draco watched as someone took you away to the backstage. He panicked for a moment when he assumed someone kidnapped you.

But as the lights around dimmed, you appeared underneath the spotlight of the stage.

Your mask glimmered beneath the light, catching everyone's attention.

Only now that Draco noticed that your dress was dark green, pairing with the silver mask and silver earrings. Green and silver, his house colours.

Draco subconsciously glanced at your hands.

You were holding your violin.

Of course, another performance.

But he couldn't help noticing that you weren't wearing his ring.

He looks up to your eyes again, only now that he finally caught how you looked.

Your eyes looked... lifeless.

You held out your violin and started playing.

The melody was quick and jumpy, making everyone around started dancing to them.

Despite the happy tune you were making out from your violin, Draco could tell your emotions would beg to differ.

Draco watched you for years, violin was the one thing that made you felt free and yourself. While your skills definitely did improve, but... you weren't free to be yourself anymore. You were trapped here; you couldn't be free like you used to like back at Hogwarts.

Draco's heart ached for you, he couldn't bear to see you like this.

You clearly didn't want to be here, and yet here you are.

Draco knew that you could have left everything here and just be free from all this.

So why didn't you?

Then, the mood of the music changed.

It took Draco a few seconds to recognize the song.

It was the piece that you wrote for him.

Your eyes that were lifeless slowly came back to life.

Everyone around started to slow dance to your piece.

Draco remained at the sides, watching you quietly, heartbroken for you.

You had every reason to leave.

But why didn't you?

You, playing the sweet melody that you wrote him, clearly still yearned for him.

If you never wanted to be here, why didn't you leave?

If you never wanted fame, why did you stay?

If you still loved him...

Why didn't you come back to him?