'I love you.'

Lucius had said those words once, and although it had been years since then, Narcissa still recalled how soft his voice had been and the faint glimmer of something more in the profound depths of his eyes. He had been so gentle in those days, not afraid of laying still and merely holding her close.

She could recall their first meeting, with Bella and Andromeda standing nearby like dutiful sisters. They'd been in the hallway of the Hogwarts Express and he had gazed at her a little longer than he'd needed to. Later, she fancied he'd seen their future and had been caught spellbound by it.

But time had a way of dulling a once precious passion, and she was left with ephemeral touches and even briefer exchanges. In spite of it, she still wanted everything she had seen in his eyes and remained, hoping he too remembered how things used to be.

Each fleeting kiss placed upon her pale cheek sent chills racing through her, reminding him of how his mouth felt, warm and slightly wet against the skin of her bared throat. She would be waiting, always, for another moment like that; when his lips would move perfectly against her jaw to voice the words, "always be mine."

Their portrayal of the faultless family had not always been easy to play, however, for upon his joining of the Death Eaters, he grew cold and distant, obsessing over power and influence. After a meeting with Voldemort, he'd return tense and desperate. His outlet was rage, and so incensed was he that he even went so far as to hit and scream.

But regardless of his occasional behaviour, she stood firm in her position of wife. She would be compliant and loyal, offering all her love and life to him so that he might use them as he wished. It no longer mattered what role he sought to play, or how he felt towards her; she would always be behind him, living as his shadow.

The remembrance of how he used to touch her, hold her, was burned into her mind. It wasn't like a dream, which slipped through her fingers as she sought to recall it. It was like a scar, forever marking her. She could still feel his kisses everywhere, on her skin and against her lips. Sometimes, she could even feel his hands in her hair, slender fingers so gentle as they laced through tresses of gold.

Every inch of her that he had ever touched blazed at the memory, and that was just enough.

Perhaps it was in the gentle smiles he'd always sent her way, or how, at the end of the day, he did small and simple acts which caused her inexpressible pleasure. At Hogwarts, he had always been the one to defend her when another endeavoured to destroy her reputation, or settle down her sisters when disagreement broke out between them.

She remembered his promises and the slight upward-curved corners of his mouth as he smiled. She remembered the steel-grey of his eyes, lost amidst the blonde bangs he always swept aside.

And at the end of the day, she would always remember - be it in her own reflection, in how jaded she had become over the years, or in his own. Despite his capture and his continuous absence, she would never truly be alone for she would never leave his shadow. And though he was so far away, with miles of sea between them, she could still feel his arms around her, soothing her despite all their perfect flaws.

He was her forever and a day and would always remain as such.