Written For:

- Day 7 of 366 Days of Writing Challenge: Mirror

- Gringotts Prompt Bank: Charmed: (Dialogue) "You're up early." / "I never went to sleep."

Pairing/Characters: Cygnus/Druella

Word Count: 337


Paranoia

My man is crazy and his mind is a knife, but I like him—fact, I love him.

When Druella entered the kitchen and lit up the room, she was surprised to discover her husband, Cygnus, sitting at the table. He looked rough and dishevelled; his smart suit robes were hanging open at the neck, the shadow of stubble was fresh around his chin and neck, and there were heavy purple bags beneath his eyes. He was nursing a tumbler of Firewhiskey, with the nearly empty bottle sitting in the middle of the table.

Druella was appalled. Cygnus was usually a refined and controlled man; he never allowed himself to appear anything other than pristine, and he rarely ever drankespecially not to this level. She carefully edged over to the table and sat down opposite him. "You're up early."

"I never went to sleep," snapped Cygnus.

"Cygnus, dear?" Druella continued in a delicate voice, reaching over to remove the Firewhiskey bottle from his reach. "Are you okay?"

"It's time you told the truth, Druella," he slurred, throwing a dark glare in his wife's direction. She sat back, her eyes widening.

"I'm sorry?"

"She's not mine, is she?"

"Iwhat are you talking about, Cygnus?"

Cygnus whirled around in his chair, pointing over to the picture of their three young daughters that sat above the pantry cupboard. Bellatrix and Andromeda, the older two, stood either side of their youngest sister, Narcissa. Unlike her older sisters, Narcissa had pale blonde hair and wide blue eyescompletely opposite to Bellatrix and Andromeda's thick, dark locks and ebony eyes.

"When I look at Bella and Andromeda, it's like looking into a mirror," Cygnus went on, his voice cracking. "But not Narcissa. Whose is she, Druella? When did you do it?"

Druella stood up sharply, glaring down at her husband. "You're drunk," she snapped, her mouth pressing into a thin line. She turned to walk away from him, but stopped at the doorway. "I don't know how you could think so little of me."