A Rose By Any Other Name

Chapter 12

His breath felt warm against her pale skin which had been reddened by the piercing wind she had to face on her journey. It felt comforting as he closely approached her. Oh how she had missed this, how she had missed it all. All of the manor's comforts and familiarity.

"Where have you been ? All this time Cissa, where were you ?" His tone of voice confused her. It was concerned and comforting but with a bitter twist on the end. Did he really care about where she had been. Did he even care about her at all ?

"It doesn't matter where I have been, does it Lucius ? I am home, back where I belong again. Isn't that what is important ?" She went to put her hand on his shoulder like she used to do before all of this but he shook her grasp off of his body almost immediately.

"I didn't ask wether it matter or not, I asked where you have been for the last what, 6 months. What happen to you Narcissa ?" Lucius begged but he didn't beg with sympathy or emotion. He was seemingly colder than he had been before.

"I was in Greece if you must know. I had to leave Lucius, I was loosing every opening. Myself, my control. I wasn't who I used to be anymore." Narcissa was stuttering. Any wrong word could push Lucius off of the edge, she could sense how close he was to falling apart. "I am sorry Lucius. I never meant to leave you like this but, I had to go. You must understand. You may not now but in the future you will."

Lucius turned around for his spot on the staircase, utterly bewildered by his wife's statement "Understand. I will never understand you. I never did. You were always so cold, so closed off."

Narcissa felt so helpless and weak. He always knew how to make her feel worthless, he had done it for the past 20 years. "You did that to me Lucius. That's your fault. I tried to explain, I really tried Lucius. I wrote those letters to you. For you, Draco and Evangeline and still you don't understand. Why Lucius. Why ?"

"So what is a few letters going to do." Lucius scoffed, continuing up the stairs.

"I don't know, it might help explain things. Explain why I had to go away. It might have made things clearer, easier."

"You left Narcissa. You didn't 'have to', it was your choice. So whilst you swanned of to Greece on your holiday, I had to stay at home and look after a newborn baby, a house, 2 demanding jobs and a wealthy social status."

Walking into their bedroom, Narcissa slammed the door out of sheer anger. She had decided she was no longer to be civil, if he wanted a fight, she would give him a fight. "Maybe it has slipped your mind but you were the one who forced me out of this house. You were the one who threatened me with death and torture, if I didn't leave this house and abandon my life and who I was. Maybe it has slipped your pathetic, ignorant mind that what you have done for the past couple of months is exactly what I did and have done for the past 15 years, with our son. I looked after him day and night whilst you were out doing god knows what 'work'. I fed him, I took him to see the doctor every time he was sick. I worried myself sick every time you didn't come home for the thought I would have to bring my son up alone, without a father. You treated me like an animal Lucius or some sort of slave. Maybe now you know what it's like to be abandoned by those who are supposed to be there."

Lucius turned towards her, now looking scarily closer to angered lion than a healthy human "I WON'T BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT IN MY OWN HOUSE"

Narcissa shakily felt for her wand that was currently at the bottom of her coat pocket, sensing she would soon need it.

"Those letters are where they belong now. In the bin." Lucius laughed wickedly, he saw this all a joke. A joke at Narcissa's expense.

"Why Lucius. Why did you decide to wipe me out of their lives forever ?" She asked walking over to him.