Written for: The Ultimate Diversity Challenge by SnarkyAndProudHufflepuff

Pairing/Character(s): Draco/Astoria, Narcissa Malfoy

Genre:Romance/Hurt/Comfort

Word Count (sans this): 385

A.N.: I have been in a dark mood for a while now. This is what comes of it.

Their love was stale. Their love was cold. Their love was hate.

When they were in others' presence, they put on their fake smiles and pretended to be the happy couple his father thought them to be. Light touches of false affection and teasing. Fake laughs and conversations that they didn't remember when they got back to their empty mansion. Astoria would sigh as Draco slide the puffed up coat off her shoulders. He would keep a hand on her shoulder to keep it from getting cold to him again. She would turn towards her husband and peck his lips before leaving to her room. Draco would then sigh, a broken sound. He would go into the den and sit in front of the fire with a bottle of Firewhiskey in hand to drink his sorrows away.

Narcissa knew all this from seeing them after weeks after their wedding. She knew this because Draco was just like his father in every way but the darkness inside Lucius' heart. Astoria was a carefree girl when she was young, much like herself. Always running around, smiling at the little things in life, laughing and gossiping with her friends at school, not a care in the world.

Narcissa sighed and looked out her library window to the gray streets below. It hurt her heart to be part of the reason that her daughter in-law's spirit was broken. If she could just break the seal that made their marriage, she would without a hint of doubt.

"Mother?" She closed her eyes at the sound of her sons voice.

"Yes, Draco?" When he didn't answer, she turned in her chair to face him. His eyes were sunken down and rounded with darkness, the once bright silver a dull gray. His hair was long again, a sign that things were worse than they knew. He always liked his hair short. His body was leaner than she remembered, bones poking out at odd angles. Wordlessly, she held her arms out and he sunk down in her arms. She felt the tears staining her blouse and her own eyes started to tear.

"I'm so sorry, Dragon." Narcissa whispered. Her son squeezed her tight, his head buried in her bosom, mouth pulled into a broken man's sadness.

After all, he had his mother's heart.