-1She sighed as she scrubbed the worn wooden table. She liked physically stimulating activities but this was a far cry from what she was used to. Glancing over at her child in the cradle caused another fissure in her already cracked heart. She was making a decision between her two loves; her child and her Freedom.

Her husband did not play into this equation. She had not felt affection for him for many months. She knew that he realized she no longer loved him, but being the undyingly loyal and loving person he was, did not desert her or the child. However, in her mind he stood for something that she could no longer tolerate; magic. Magic had wronged her and her people for hundreds of years. Magic used by enslaving witches and wizards against her ancient race. She knew that her husband had never used magic against her but he worked for that Ministry. That same Ministry who had declared her husband a fool for wanting to wed her, saying that he would end up dead because she, his bride, was declared "unstable" and "prone to fits of reckless fury". She had never once attacked or harmed her husband. She had loved him at one time. He was the father of her child.

She had loved him once. They had met when he, an explorer, was touring the mountains in the south of France. She, an avid outdoors-woman, had soon fallen in love with his blatant love of nature and respect for its creatures. They were married after a whirlwind courtship and soon she bore the child. Her family did not approve of her wedding a wizard and she had been forced to leave her childhood home. However, supported by her husband with the promise of his undying love and devotion, they bought a home in the countryside.

Four years had passed. She had long tired of being a housewife and mother. She was meant for the outdoors, for freedom. She longed to see her family again, to live in her mountains. She longed to hunt her own game again; Buck, Mountain Goat and Wild Hog. She longed to sleep under the stars, away from civilization, away from conformity, away from Magic.

However, there was the matter of her child. She loved him fiercely, as any mother would. She had contemplated bringing him with her, but knew that he could never survive in the wild after being house-bred for four years. She doubted her family would accept him, his father was a wizard. He too might bear the ability to do magic. She doubted they would accept her, she having lived four years as a Muggle.

She had to try though. Another month cooped up like a caged bird and she knew that she would become reckless with want of freedom.

Coming over the crib, she gazed upon her child. He was sleeping soundly, his fists clutching his quilt. She had made the quilt for him. Blue base with over twenty pictures of magical beasts sewn all over it. A centaur leaping over a fallen log. A snow white Unicorn drinking form a crystal blue pond. A grey Dragon, soaring in the clouds. She was proud of this quilt, this delicate sewing being the one skill she valued above all else. Her ability to make pretty things. Her people were not masters of needle and thread. They sewed for function, only making the essentials.

She tucked the quilt around him and softly touched his dark hair. Turning, she began to put a few food items in a sack. She went into the bedroom and donned her old clothes, sturdy clothes she had made. These furs would last out the coldest night and keep her dry in the pouring rain. Returning from the bedroom she went to the front door and undid the latch. Her husband would be home in half and hour, and she did not worry about her child, sleeping safety in his crib. Opening the door, she took a breath of outdoor air and the sense of adventure invigorated her.

"Mama," said a small voice from the crib. She turned, startled and saw her child standing in the crib, his creature quilt draped around his shoulders like a cape. Now he was awake it would be much harder to leave. She went over to the crib and held her child, cradling him softy. "Where are you going?"

"Home," she replied, kissing his cheek.

"Am I coming?"

"No, it isn't a place you would want to be."

"Then why are you going Mama?" At these words, her heart broke. This was the hardest moment of all. She reminded herself; she was leaving because it was her instinct, instinct to be free. You cannot challenge instinct.

"Because I have to darling," she replied simply, hugging her baby boy for the last time. Her heart was warmed slightly at her decision for leaving him here. He was safe here. "But I will always love you."

"I love you too Mama."

She put the child back down in the crib and he laid down. With a last look, she turned and left.

Half and hour later her husband arrived home. Upon questioning the child the child simply replied, "Mama said she will always love me." The husband knew that his wife's natural instinct and triumphed over her love for him. He had somehow sensed this would happen, but even so, tears began streaming from his eyes.

"Mama does love you, Rubeus. That's why she left you with me."

Hope you liked my first fic. Please Read and Review! Thanks, love Veritis