Silk and velvet swept through the crowd as the most prominent families of the wizarding world mingled beneath gilded ceilings. The Parkinson family, dripping in emeralds. The Malfoys, platinum and ice. The Notts, shadowed and watchful.

And at the center of it all, a stage of black marble.

Then the music began.

A single violin, plaintive and raw, slicing through the silence. And you appeared at the top of the stairs — a silhouette against the dying light.