A/N: I don't own anything.

Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black) was a woman of many talents. The best of them was her ability to hide her emotions. While her beautiful straight blond hair and petite face allured everyone around her, her cold piercing blue eyes told them to always maintain their distance. She never let anyone in, not her sisters, not her parents, not even her husband.

A Black lady was not supposed to show her feelings. With dignity and poise she must attend to her family without once revealing how she felt. Narcissa was taught this from when she was 5 years old and her cousin Regulus had been born. She had squealed with excitement when he had held her little finger and her mother had promptly scolded her for such boorish behaviour. She never squealed again.

She was not supposed to do anything that would make her seem unlike a lady. She learnt this when she was 6 years old and had wanted to play quidditch with her uncles and little Sirius. Her mother had told her that playing quidditch was only for the men of the house and it is forbidden for girls. So after her first lesson of flying in her first year, Narcissa never touched a broomstick.

She must never disgrace the name of her family. Her parents had ingrained this into her since she was 7, when she had smiled at a Muggle boy. Her mother explained to her the difference between their family and the filthy mudbloods and how they were unworthy of even acknowledgement, let alone magic. So Narcissa never spoke to them, she never looked their way, she never mentioned them and never ever disgraced the name of her family.

A Black lady must carry herself with grace, never raising her voice, never laughing too loudly and never sitting down before her elders. She was 9 when she learnt this lesson. She had been playing with her dolls when Sirius came in flying on his broomstick and knocking her down. At this, she had yelled loudly and chased after him, tearing her skirt in the process. Druella had told her in a calm voice that she would not have supper that night for her behaviour. So Narcissa never yelled, even when her husband went to Azkaban, even when Draco had to kill his headmaster. She simply spoke in a soft whisper telling him to be careful.

At all times, she must remain loyal to her husband, ever faithful, ever ready to serve him. Her mother told her this when she was 11 and she had had her first crush. Her mother had said she had been betrothed to the Malfoy boy many years ago and to him alone she would belong. So she forgot her first love and remained forever loyal to Lucius.

She knew she mustn't question anybody's actions, always simply do what others told her. She was 13 when she learnt this. When her mother told her that she wasn't to tell anybody at school that her oldest sister was joining the Death Eaters, she asked why. She never did get a reply, but she was told that if she told anyone she would be punished severely. So she never told anyone anything, she never told them that Bella returned with scars, never once mentioned that Bella had killed muggles, she never said that Bellatrix was going crazy. She never said anything and never asked a question again. Not when her husband was sent to prison, not when Draco returned home paler and weaker than ever, not even when Bella escaped from Azkaban and came to her house.

She learnt she mustn't ever do something that wasn't expected of her. Although never said explicitly she learnt when she was 15 that doing something you aren't supposed to, is a sin. She learnt this when her cousin was sorted into Gryffindor received 4 howlers from both her parents and his for tarnishing the Black name. Her belief was further confirmed when her sister married a muggle-born boy in her year and was blasted off the tapestry at her aunt's house.

She learnt that she couldn't have dreams of her own. She figured this out when she was 17 and had wanted to become a Healer. Her mother had told her she was being silly and that her job would be to be a good wife, her tone was serious and Narcissa never brought the topic up again. So when one year later she was married off, she remained at home and looked after her house as was her duty.

To the world she was Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black), the beautiful daughter of Druella and Cygnus Black, the perfect house wife of Lucius Malfoy and the doting mother of Draco Malfoy. She wasn't a blood traitor like Andromeda, she wasn't on the wrong side of the war like Sirius, she wasn't dead like Regulus, she wasn't imprisoned like Bellatrix, yet she knew what was good for her, to everyone she was the Perfect Pureblood.

But to Narcissa, she was simply a girl living in the shadows of her sisters who had enough courage to follow their heart, in the shadow of her death eater husband. She was one who could never follow her dreams but accepted things as they were. She was the one who never broke a rule, always loyal and dutiful. She was the one who never broke the mould, respected her parents, followed their every wish, and remained beautiful through it all. To the world she was the Perfect Pureblood but to herself she was the Lady who never lived.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW IT. I LOVE READING THEM AND IT REALLY HELPS ME TO KNOW WHAT THE READER FEELS. CRITICAL REVIEWS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!