one: Narcissa

You look at yourself in your shiny gold-rimmed mirror. Pathetic you think. It is pathetic that you let this happen. It is pathetic that it still goes on. You watch a glittering tear drop stream down your cheek. Pathetic you tell yourself. You ask yourself why you let this happen. You never knew how much pain and hurt you could endure until now.

It was much better then, you are sure. You remember how happy it was between you two. You remember the gifts he gave you. You remember all the 'just becauses.' You realize now that is how he got you. You were selfish then. You were spoiled to the bit. You wanted everything and you got everything. You know he knew how to win you over. It was just a matter of what he would bring you next time. It was just a matter of how much he would spend.

You were naïve then. You didn't realize that anything could be this bad. You thought the worse thing in the world was when you couldn't see him over the summer holiday. You were naïve to think of what he was capable of. You were naïve to think it would always be perfect. You believed that for a long while. You believe that things would stay in a pure bliss.

There was a time when you stopped believing. You tricked yourself into thinking it would all get better. You tricked yourself into thinking that it would all go up from here. But it didn't. And you felt deceived.

It was when the baby was born you first started having second thoughts. You were ecstatic about it. He was just busy. He didn't look at your baby. He just turned away. But it was that one October night when you thought maybe you were wrong about him. It was that one October night when you thought that maybe he did love you.

You remember that night well for some reason. You woke up in the middle of the night alone. You walked down to the kitchen to see if he was there, he wasn't. The bathroom was empty and he wasn't outside. It was the last place you would have thought to check, but he was in there. He was sitting in a rocking chair with a small bundle in his arms. He was rocking to and fro lightly humming to the bundle. You stood quietly and watched him through a crack in the door. He never noticed you were there. He never knew. You walked back to the bedroom and lay back down on the mattress. You smiled to yourself thinking maybe he really did have a heart.

You were only half right. He loved your baby. He loved that bundle of joy with all his heart. But he didn't love you. You told yourself you didn't believe that, but you did. You told yourself he did love you. Why else would you be married? You told yourself it was true, and that you never were happier. You love him. You love everything about him. You love his blue eyes and his silky hair. You love his delicate skin and his soft lips. You love everything about him.

He doesn't notice you anymore. He walks past you as if you weren't even there. He acknowledges you with as few words as possible. You tell yourself he's just tired, but you know he's not. You know he will stay up for hours in his office and you know he will sleep down there. You stand outside the door to watch him. You stand quietly so he doesn't know you're there. You don't know what he does, but you really don't want to know. You admire the back of his head as it gleams in the dim light. You know how he will react if he finds you there watching him, but you can't bring yourself to look away. You can tell when he gets tired. He will occasionally rest his head on his hand. When you see the first sign of this you begin to retreat.

You walk up the stairs alone remembering the way he once carried you up. You sit at your small vanity mirror and brush your hair, remembering the way he once massaged your neck. You sit at the foot of the bed remembering the moments you two had shared in that exact same spot.

You look at yourself in the mirror to see you long silvery blond hair and your thin pale skin. You close your eyes and wipe the two tears from your cheeks. You take a deep breath in and lay back wondering why you are still there.

You wonder why you have stayed all this time. You wonder what really has made you stay.

And you realize it is the obsession that brings you back every time.

A/N: This is going to be a multi-part story, each time about a different character. Hope you liked it and please review!