dang. this is so unexpected but good. o_o i love the idea of narcissa living amongst the muggles... gotta be a "new" experience. i think you really captured well the inner transformations that outer transformations can cause! intriguing..

**solemnly claps** beautifully written. She grows her wings and takes flight, still missing the nest but having the courage to go on.

interesting take on nacrissa.

Kirixchi said all that I would have said so I won't go very deep. Most Narcissa fiction protrays her as cold, emotionless. I have doubts the size of Texas that she is that way. I've always felt she slid into the role of trophy wife because that was what she had been groomed to be, a lot like when a business man marries the pretty model to show off "look what I have" to all the other unfortunate men.

Narcissa has always reminded me of a volcano under ice. You know the passion, drive, ambition (she did marry a Malfoy) are there but hidden under a thin layer of ice. Being a Malfoy requires - no, better it demands - an aloofness of those around you. It's being bred that you're better than most, if not everyone, and once you marry into the family you are forced into that mask as well.

Wonderful job showing the change of the perfect wife to hidden lady to wishing to be perfect for the sake of love again. Life is one large cycle after all.

This is so lovely I can hardly read it without envy! Your style is impressive, and unforgettable.
~Darcie Delano

Interesting Its well-written and all that, but its also really good. You have written it so that it seems almost as though you actually know Narcissa and can see it all unfolding...

Morgane:

First of all, thank you so much for letting me see a draft of this story. It is always a really cool experience to see it “fresh from the oven”, and then again later when the author has had time to revise and reflect. It was nearly flawless from the get-go, of course. I am so envious of all these non-native speakers who have better English than I do!

There are so many things that I love about this story. First, as Aulizia commented, it is a cool idea that Narcissa naturally had black hair. It makes a great symbol of her “liberation” from her earlier life and signifies, visually, her change.

It was so achingly tender the way that you described her unfulfilled need to have Lucius back. It is clear from your writing that she loved him so completely, that all the subtle changes that she made to herself didn’t even seem like sacrifices.

There is a clear sense in your story of Narcissa’s movement from “girl” to “woman”- a movement which was, perhaps, stunted a bit by Lucius’s desire/ability to take care of everything for her. My FAVORITE part in the story is when she thinks “if fate allows them to see each other again one day, her husband will find a woman that could be so much more for him than the insecure blonde she was throughout their marriage, so much more than she herself had ever dreamed she could be. If, oh if only, one day...” because that’s really the crux of it, isn’t it?

The first time I read through this, I thought that the “point” was that the /real/ Narcissa had been stifled by Lucius, and was only getting a chance to show through now that Lucius was gone. However, on a second reading, I had a very different idea. The /pain/ and /emptiness/ of her new life- the fraternizing with Muggles and working her new job, seems...confining...when you consider that it isn’t what she really wants after all- even if it /is/ some women’s idea of freedom. The second time through, I saw the “new Narcissa” as a game she was playing- a role that she could cast herself into to forget, for a time, the horrible pain that “perfect” Narcissa was in...in that way, even her “natural” hair seems like a bit of a disguise.

Then again, maybe the point is that the “real” Narcissa is so lost that there is no way to

tell...perhaps the “real” Narcissa is, by her nature, a chameleon...but in my gut, I think that hanging out around Muggles is her equivalent of hiding under a rock- the same reason people watch “trash TV”- so that they can feel better about their own lives (and isn’t a symbol too of how the “magic” of her love is gone now?).

I ALWAYS love people who portray the Malfoys as evil, yes- but loving and passionate too. Making them human makes them a lot more interesting.

Finally, (not really sure where this fits in), the comments about Draco (though few) had a sort of sadness in them. It almost seems as if he is annoyed with/embarrassed of his mother- that he either wants her to move on and forget Lucius, or remain in the Manor, trying to pretend that nothing had changed. If you ever write a sequel, perhaps you could explore that more?

I ADORED this!

Thanks so much!

-Kiri

Oh this is breathtaking! So hauntingly beautiful that it made me want to weep! The style you chose to write this in worked brilliantly! I would never, ever, in a million years have been able to come up with even the shadow of this idea – originality is a rare gift – and it all falls into place so wonderfully well. :c)

Lol, I must also say that for some reason I have often thought Narcissa should have black hair! Even before I discovered she was in fact a Black. ;c) It always seemed *too* perfect that she slotted so flawlessly into the ideal picture of what it entailed to be a true ‘Malfoy’. So, I loved the fact it played such an integral part in your fanfic!

Well done! I loved this vignette! :c)

Interesting. I can't really see Narcissa so easily adapting to a normal life and being that comfortable around Muggles. But then again, I WANT to imagine she'd be capable of becoming the woman in this story, and it is nice how you've illustrated everything here.