Hunter

'I have to get out of here.'

Those seven words swam round and round in her brain as she got ready to go to the ball being held by some Ministry officials. She didn't know how, she didn't know when, but she had to escape from her prison.

Narcissa Malfoy. Beautiful trophy wife of Lucius Malfoy. Her entire purpose in life had been to look pretty, manage the servants, and produce an heir.

But had she wanted so much more.

Of course she loved her husband dearly, he had always been kind to her, but she couldn't help but think that he saw her as nothing more than a possession, a pretty little toy for him to show off to his friends.

Then there was her son. Little Draco. Heir to the Malfoy estate. He was so much like his father it was scary, the same pale complexion, the same grey eyes, the same cold heart. He was growing up into a little tyrant like Lucius. She had never wanted children, but she loved him regardless.

She missed the old days, before she had gotten married. The days when she had spent her evenings going to clubs and bars with her friends, and her weekends and holidays wandering around exotic foreign countries, taking in all the rich pageantry and colour that life had to offer. Coming and going as she pleased. Doing whatever she wanted, not having to watch what she said around company, making decisions without having to worry about damaging her family's reputation.

She wanted to get back out there, to experience life again. To do things her way, in her own time. She had gotten married when she was only twenty-two; she had missed out on so much. She had only had a few years in-between graduating from Hogwarts and being tied down with a family. Now she couldn't go out anywhere on her own. If she did, Lucius would wait for her to come home and bombard her with questions about where she'd been, who she'd seen, what she'd said. She had no freedom.

She pretended to be happy for the sake of the family. She smiled along and dressed up nicely for parties. She didn't let anyone know how miserable she was. She didn't want to hurt them, but deep down she knew that she could only deny her feelings for so long.

"Are you ready yet dear?" came Lucius' impatient voice from downstairs, "We've got to get going! The ball starts in ten minutes!"

"I'm coming dear!" she called. She took one last look at her reflection in the full-length mirror. She was wearing a long black satin dress with white elbow length gloves. Her long blond hair was tied back in an elegant bun showing off her swanlike neck. She looked every bit the perfect trophy bride, a trinket that was meant to be admired.

"Someday I'll get out of here," she said quietly to herself, and with that she left the bedroom to join her husband.