Pairing Diversity Prompt: Eerie.

Challenges/Comps: Pairing Diversity Boot Camp Challenge, The Great Maze competition.

Alone in her house, Narcissa wishes, not for the first time, that she had a young child. She misses the days she spent with Draco, blowing bubbles in the garden and reading aloud story books. Now, with Draco off at Hogwarts and Lucius working all the time, she often finds herself alone, with nothing to do. Like today.

She wanders around the house for an hour or so, wondering when Lucius will be back from his important luncheon with the Minister of Magic. The house is eerie and silent. She longs for the laugh of a child, the pattering of small feet running down the hallway.

Finally, it becomes too much for her to bear. She throws on a jacket, grabs her wand, and twirls into oblivion, re-appearing in her sister's house. It's rare for her to seek out Bella's company, but today, she's desperate.

Like her own, the house seems empty and silent. "Bella?" she calls out. "Hello? Is anyone home?"

She thinks that she hears a voice from somewhere up above and hurries up the staircase, eager for company. Walking down the hallway that leads to her sister's room, she is certain she hears voices. She lifts her hand to knock on the door, hears someone murmur "Are you sure you didn't hear anything?" and freezes.

Lucius.

She would know his voice anywhere.

On the other side of the door, Bellatrix laughs. "Of course I'm sure," she says. "There is no one here but the two of us." And then, unmistakably, comes the sound of kissing.

Narcissa closes her eyes and takes a deep, shuddering breath.

Then she turns and walks away, down the hall.

She will not be pitied.

She will tell no one.

She will not play the forgotten wife.

She will return to her house, her empty, eerie house, filled with ghosts and silence.

She will not be pitied.

She is Narcissa Malfoy.