Written for the 'My Personal Quote Challenge' with the quote "there is no cage for love" and the ship Cissy/Rodolphus.
There was no cage for love. Narcissa Malfoy was sure that was the case, because, if people could put a lock on their feelings and contain them, she was sure that everything would not be in tangles. She was sure she never would have stopped smiling at her husband. As well she was sure that, after three years of marriage that seemed filled with worry for his life and stress brought about their attempts to conceive, she never would have felt her heart cease to react in his presence. Then she would have only felt a tingling under her robes at the sight of him. No one else would have aroused her.
As well, she would not have stepped into her sister and her husband's home with puffy eyes that she had been unable to be hidden. She would not have called for a house elf to fetch her sister and she would not have been led into a sitting room to meet Rodolphus and not her sister.
She and Rodolphus had not been overly close. Of course they had spoken, but it was always curt and always brief. It did not mean she had not noticed him. He was hard to avoid. While Lucius had cold grey eyes, Rodolphus' eyes shone a piercing mesmerising blue. While Lucius' form was slim and lanky, Rodolphus was just as tall, but with a wide chest, large hands and strong arms that always caught her eye.
There was a reason why she did not like talking to him.
"Oh, hello Rodolphus," she said softly trying to keep the scratchy quality out of her voice that had been produced from her previous tears. He was sitting by the fire as she entered and he titled his face that was covered in stubble in her direction. She tried not to think about how it would feel against her skin. "I was looking for Bella."
"She is not home," he said, his voice even more sombre than her own. He clutched a glass of what looked like fire whisky in his hand and she could have sworn she heard what sounded like a slur in his normally perfectly composed speech. "She left."
"Left?" Narcissa asked as she drew closer to Rodolphus. She hoped the dimly lit room would hide the bags under her eyes. "What do you mean left? When will she be back?"
Slumping back into his chair, Rodolphus finished the rest of his drink in one gulp. "Dawn probably smelling of blood and sex like always."
Cissy blinked quickly mentally checking that she had heard right. "Se- You can't mean she is having an affair? She would ne-"
"Don't worry, Cissy. I don't expect you to understand our twisted marriage." Her heart leaped at her nickname sliding over his lips. He patted the lounge beside him and refilled his glass and another that had mysteriously appeared. "I barely understand it myself. I barely understand how I still bloody care about her."
His eyes frosted over and, before she could stop herself, she dropped down into the lounge beside him and took the drink that was offered to her. "I- It will be alright, Rodolphus. Bella can not mean to act this way. I'm sure if you tal-"
"She loves the Dark Lord!" He cut through her speech with a desperate voice. His hands shook and he quickly took a long sip of his glass. "I can see it in her eyes. I can hear it in her voice. I can even know it by the way she moans in her sleep. I once thought it was just that, but, then I was naive. It is so obvious she is sleeping with him from the bruises on her thighs and the bite marks over her breasts and neck."
Narcissa shuddered despite herself and took a sip of her drink as she tried to bat away the horrifying thought. The burning sensation was painful and unappealing, but it was less so than the image of her sister in such a position. She knew her sister was a Death Eater and she knew she was fanatically loyal, but to think she would lower herself to such an extent...
She could only imagine how poor Rodolphus must be suffering.
Unsure of what to do, she rested a sympathetic hand on his muscular shoulder. "It will be alright," she tried to say in a soothing way.
He chuckled darkly and finished his drink in another sip. However, after he had placed it down, he only turned to look at her. His blue eyes swept over her face.
"You really are very beautiful," he said half out of the blue in a sad tone, "I should have just married you and not Bella. You're the good girl."
Narcissa knew he was probably too drunk and too filled with grief to be thinking rationally but it still made her cheeks flush. "It has been a long time since I have been complimented."
His face scrunched up in confusion. "How?" he murmured sounding genuinely perplexed. "How could anyone not say that? If I was your husband I would call you beautiful every day."
She knew it was stupid and foolish, but she felt her heart squeeze pleasantly as she rubbed his shoulder comforting. "And if I was your wife you would not need to worry about me visiting any other bed other than yours."
Her face was so close to his and his head was lolled to the side. Her body was tingling and her heart was racing. It would have been so easy to lean in and kiss him. They both could have forgotten about the problems of their spouses and find comfort in one another.
But that was not Narcissa and she suspected that was not Rodolphus.
"However, we are not." She smiled sadly and patted him on the shoulder. Standing quickly before she could back away from her decision, she beckoned the elf that was still lingering in the corridor. "Take your Maser upstairs and ensure he is comfortable and tucked up into bed." Trying to keep calm and supportive she turned to face Rodolphus. "Everything will be alright I know it will."
With that she turned on her heel and left the room.
There was certainly no containing love, but one could contain a person's actions and, after tonight, she was feeling much less frustrated and critical of her own marriage. At least she had controlled herself. At least she could look her husband in the eye. Maybe they could sort everything out.
Maybe.