She looked into his eyes, and she could see it.
Regret.
It was never there before, but now, he felt it, and she could see it in his silver eyes. The normally cold gaze was gone from them; they were full of emotion, something she had never seen before, not even on their wedding day, when the coldness in them was softened with the slightest bit of caring.
He had never regretted anything until now—until he had gotten caught. He would spend the rest of his life in a cell, live like a caged animal, maybe go insane. Unless he got Kissed.
And he knew all of this.
And it made him angry.
And it made him sad.
And he regretted it like he had never regretted anything before.
Maybe it wasn't that he regretted becoming a Death Eater, becoming a minion to the Dark Lord, she didn't know, but she hoped he regretted it. Maybe it was allowing himself to get careless, get caught red-handed, that he regretted.
She regretted all of it for him. She always had. She had been a fool to not stop him when she had the chance. She should have talked some sense into him before he went down this pitiful road.
Or maybe she should have just left him and spared herself the misery.
He reached for her with his hand, and she clasped it with both of hers almost desperately before remembering why she came. She stared at a point above his head and spoke in a horse whisper.
"I can't do this anymore. I love you, but this is too much. I should have known this day would come, but I couldn't leave you. I should have stopped you from starting this, love, but it's too late."
A teardrop landed on their hands.
She let go and took a step back, taking his appearance in—the dirt on his skin, the unusual pale shade he was, the clothes that were already looking ragged—and she turned away from him.
"Goodbye, Lucius."
A/N: Another 11 AM one-shot. This started out as a Ginny/Draco thing, but I tossed that idea and turned it into something Lucius/Narcissa. I'm rather proud of it. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.