{{Of A Different Kind}}

Narcissa

Prompt: What Could've

What could've been?

It's hard to tell, really. But I never did have as much courage as my sisters. Bella was always brave, but dark and dangerous. Andy was what I wanted to be. She fell in love and followed her heart, defying our family's wishes.

But me? I fell in love too. But I had my arranged marriage to Lucius, and I couldn't betray my lineage.

So I didn't, and I wish I had followed Andy's path, and been brave enough to live a life of love.

But then, without Lucius, I suppose Draco would never have been born…

)O(

Regret?

Do I regret what I did?

I'm not sure I really do, at heart. Yes, I did love before Lucius, but I have definitely grown to love him in my own way.

And Draco is the most important thing in my life. I live and would die for him, and so for that reason, I can never regret marrying Lucius.

I do wonder sometimes, though.

What would my children with my first love have been like?

Not as perfect as my Draco, I'd wager.

No, I wouldn't change my life for anything. It's turned out perfect as it is.

)O(

Mask.

I always wear a mask. Not a literal one, of course. But I could never let Lucius see the real me.

I couldn't let him find out that I had loved before, that he wasn't the first one to hold my heart.

I couldn't tell how he would react either. I'm not the only one with a mask. I wasn't even sure he really loved me.

But it didn't matter, at heart.

We just needed to be there, and seem like a happy, normal husband and wife to our little Draco.

It was him who was important after all.

)O(

Hope.

That's what we have at the end of this war.

Most of us do, anyway.

We do, for sure.

Our family had been shunned by so many, but in the end, those who had seen us as enemies finally saw us as allies… Not friends, definitely not, but not people to oppose.

Is this hope?

I'd like to think so.

After all, what is life without hope, other than a world full of darkness and empty promises?

Bella is dead, Andy lost almost everyone, and I'm the one who gets to keep my family.

I think that says something.