Narcissa sat on the floor staring at her trunks. Her tears caused her vision to blur, but she held them, refusing to let them drop. She'd already shed so many for him and about him. No more. She drew her knees to her chest, dropped her head and closed her eyes. Their argument played out before her, and she questioned whether she'd made the right decision.

She wallowed in her thoughts, losing all sense of time. She was unsure of how long she sat on the cold, hard floor. Her entire body trembled causing her to hug her knees tighter. Eventually, a sharp pain radiating up her backside caught her attention. Alarmed, she rose, stretched her legs, picked her trunks off the floor and placed them on the bed.

She walked back to her open armoire and stared at her robes, shaded in all hues of the rainbow and cut from various fabrics. With shaking hands, she shifted through each piece, painstakingly selecting the ones to take with her. Tears threatened to fall as she fingered the soft silk of the lavender dress robes she wore on the day Lucius proposed. She shoved it back into the depths of her armoire, as if to forget it existed.

She layered robe after robe into her arms, leaving behind pieces that contained too many memories. She carried the robes to the bed, removed the hangers, folded them and placed them into her trunk by hand.

Perhaps this was all one vicious nightmare, and everything would return to normal once she woke. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't how she pictured it coming to an end. They were getting better. He had drastically improved over the course of the past two years.

Or so she thought.

Clearly, it had been one, big lie. The journal shed light on Lucius' dubious, deceitful ways. He assured her that he'd changed. He declared himself a new man; ready to embrace the fresh start he'd been given. He claimed to have learned his lesson. Most importantly, he swore he'd never do what he'd planned.

And, like a perfect Pure-blood wife, she believed him. It hadn't occurred to her to question him or make him prove it. She trusted him that much. And oh, what a fool she'd been allowing herself to think that he'd changed.

After she finished packing, she sat on the bed with both trunks beside her. She stared at the door, her heart beating wildly against her chest. She wished he'd walk through it. He'd tell her it wasn't true. He'd tell her that she'd simply stumbled across something from his past.

But, she knew better. He blatantly dismissed her opinions and concerns as if they didn't matter. He refused to admit any wrongdoing. How typical! And now, he's probably off getting pissed, she thought glancing at the clock on the nightstand. She'd only been up for two hours, and it had all gone to hell.

A soft knock on her window caught her attention. Unlatching the lock, she allowed the dull brown owl into her chambers. She quickly untied the letter attached to its leg, unraveling it and scanning its contents. The response arrived quicker than she imagined. Her face lit up when she reached the end.

Head held high, she strode to the door, trunks in hand. She turned to look at the unmade bed one last time. Her most treasured wedding photograph caught her attention. Setting her trunks on the floor, she walked back to her nightstand. Her fingers shook as she fingered the diamonds that decorated the edges of the frame.

Tears trickled freely down she face as she watched herself dancing in Lucius' arms. At the end of the dance, he gracefully dipped her, and pressed a soft, sensual kiss on her lips. The image replayed while she debated whether to take it with her. Oh, whatever, she mused, shrinking it and placing it into her cloak pocket.

Legs shaking, she carefully descended down the stairs. She paused at the second flight, turning her head to glance at the door to Lucius' study. He'd left her no other choice. She turned her head and moved forward.

"Ready?" a soothing voice whispered into her ear as she reached the bottom of the long, paved driveway. "You're doing the right thing."

A gloved hand reached out to her, ready to take her away.

Narcissa's gaze focused on the orange, red and yellow leaves that hung from the tree branches that swayed in the cool autumn breeze. She thought for a moment to run back inside. But, she knew she had to leave. It'd be for the better.

She glanced up in the warm brown eyes that she'd missed so much. She nodded and took the proffered hand, ready for the next chapter of her life.