Magic | D. Malfoy

30. Suspence makes the Outcome Sweeter

In all the years they had known her, Sophia and Ashley knew Nicole's concerts meant a great deal to her. She practiced every day for hours on end, just so she could have the best possible result in a performance that would be over almost as soon as it began.

It was the same for all performers. No one saw the process behind each show, they only judged the result and they had learnt to ensure there were no short-comings in their performance. Out of all of them, Nicole was the one that practiced the most. She somehow beat the countless hours Ashley spent in the dance studio and Sophia's muttering of lines over and over – the month before the concert for her was just that, a month before a concert, and nothing else mattered during that period. Sophia admired her greatly for her resolve and dedication. That was part of the reason Nicole was always proud of her performances and always sent word to friends and family in case they could watch her. As had become tradition, Ashley and Sophia always were present for her concerts. Nicole had invited some of her other friends too but only two of them had shown up and they had kept their distance from them on purpose. With most of her family in Lyon, they were Nicole's greatest supporters in all concerts.

Sophia would never get tired of watching Nicole's concerts. Through the years, she had come to realize she liked classical music quite a bit so the sounds of the orchestra were captivating to her. Ashley sitting next to her clearly felt the same. As a dancer who had started dancing because of ballet, she was rather familiar with classical music and she had liked it long before she had met Nicole. There had been occasions the three roommates had accompanied each other to concerts of classical music instead of the bar even though Nicole wasn't the one playing, although those instances were far and between. Sophia supposed that was one of the little things that had brought the three of them together so quickly.

As soon as the concert was over they headed backstage and Nicole's friends trailed after them so that they could congratulate her as well, evidently not as familiar with the setting as they were. Sophia wondered why they were even here – they didn't attempt to speak to either her or Ashley as they followed them backstage, muttering among themselves in a tone she couldn't hear. They didn't even speak to them when they stopped by the door that would lead backstage to let the musicians get out. Sophia and Ashley murmured their praises as the musicians passed them by and before they could get inside, Nicole appeared, walking side by side with one of the cellists. As soon as she saw them, she waved her friend goodbye and walked over.

"You were so good, Nicole," her friends gushed as Ashley pulled her in for a hug and then pulled back to let Sophia do the same.

"I had missed seeing you at concerts," Sophia admitted as she pulled back, effectively managing to make Nicole a bit flustered as she chuckled and looked away. Her other friends rushed to hug her as well as Ashley and Sophia hang back and exchanged knowing looks. Nicole's friends weren't the best – that was as much of a given as someone claiming Sophia's exes were terrible. For some reason, Nicole still refused to cut them off completely and tried to be as accommodating as possible. Sophia blamed her good heart.

As she had predicted, her friends left quickly after that although they did stay until they had to head to a different direction at the exit. The three of them called for a cab and waited by the exit of the venue. It was the end of February by now, and even though spring was right around the corner, Sophia still felt cold. She drew her coat tighter around her as Ashley and Nicole got in a deep conversation regarding the works of Tchaikovsky, of whom some of the music her orchestra had performed tonight. Sophia did not know nearly as much about music as they did so she kept quiet, listened in carefully and kept an eye out for the taxi she thought should be arriving any moment now.

They got in the backseat as the taxi finally arrived and when the driver asked for directions, Sophia took the lead and gave him the address of the bar they used to frequent up to a few months ago. Ashley and Nicole looked at her with wide eyes as she turned to them with a small smile.