Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING! Do you honestly think I'd be writing if I did? Seriously, though, Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, and any other HP characters belong to J.K. Rowling and the lyrics belong to Nickelback, the song is 'Never Again' off of their Silver Side Up album.

Summary: Just a short songfic to the song "Never Again" by Nickelback about Draco, Lucius, and Narcissa Malfoy. Takes place over Christmas Break during fifth year.

Spoilers: None really, I guess up through book 4, meaning Voldie is back and that Sirius is still alive, though I don't think that really matters much, I just like him and don't want him to be dead.

I was listening to this song the other day and I got this idea in my head and finally decided to write it down. This is only my second fic and my first ever songfic so please be gentle when reviewing. Italics indicate lyrics.

Ok, now on with the story! Enjoy!

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Never Again

He's drunk again, it's time to fight

She must have done something wrong tonight,

The living room becomes a boxing ring

It's time to run when you see him clenching his hands,

She's just a woman…Never again

It was late when Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince and Heir to the Malfoy Millions, was roused from his sleep by the sounds of shouting and breaking glass coming from the Mansion's main living which was located just down the hall on the floor below his room.

Draco groaned and rolled over to check the time. "Damn, nearly 2 a.m. I wonder how long he's been home? Probably not long or I would have woken up before now. Damn him and his drinking and his stupid Dark Lord!" He said to himself before rolling the rest of the way out of bed. Draco paused on his way out of the room only long enough to grab a robe and pull it on over his black silk boxers, which had Slytherin green snakes on them and hung low on his hips. He swept out of his room and down the hall to the stairs leading to the first floor of Malfoy Manor, not bothering to do up the robe, leaving it open and exposing his bare chest and nicely toned abs. As he slowly descended the stairs, he couldn't help but think about the last few months.

At the end of Draco's fourth year back in June, his father's master, the Dark Lord Voldemort, had risen again with the help of that rat of a Death Eater, Peter Pettigrew a.k.a. Wormtail. Wormtail had performed a ritual using his flesh, the bones of Voldemort's father and blood from The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, Voldemort's #1 enemy. Ever since Voldemort had been brought back, Draco's father, Lucius, had become even more violent then normal; sure, he had hit Draco and Draco's mother, Narcissa, before, but not nearly as often as he had been since June. Before, he had only hit them occasionally and never more than one hit at a time. Never before could it be said that Lucius abused or beat his wife or son. Though, when the Dark Lord was brought back and Lucius returned to his side, he started to get more and more violent. At first nothing changed, then slowly, Lucius started hitting Draco and Narcissa more and more; he would beat Draco more than Narcissa because Draco would protect his mother and do something to transfer Lucius's anger from Narcissa to himself. The beatings only got worse and more frequent when Lucius started drinking. He would often go out to a pub to drink, only returning late into the night and very drunk. Therefore, when school started again in September and Draco left for his fifth year at Hogwarts, he worried for his mother and hoped she would find a way to avoid Lucius's anger and fists. Draco and his mother wrote to each other constantly, mainly so that Draco would know that his mother was okay and that Lucius hadn't beaten her to death yet. Now it was Christmas Break and Draco had come home for the holiday, hoping to give his mother a reprieve from the beatings.

As Draco stepped off the stairs he shook his head and mumbled to himself, "Damn him! How can he do this to her? She's just a woman!"

I hear her scream from down the hall,

Amazing she can even talk at all,

She cries to me…"Go back to bed,"

I'm terrified that she'll wind up dead in his hands,

She's just a woman…Never again

As Draco started for the main living room he heard a his mother scream yet again and picked up his pace. A few minutes later he turned a corner and gained sight of the living room door, which was open. He was about halfway down the hall when a loud Crack! Of flesh on flesh rang out followed shortly by yet another scream and the sight of a beaten and bloodied Narcissa Malfoy falling to the floor just inside the door.

As Narcissa slowly opened her eyes she saw her son standing at the end of the hall making his way to the living room. Narcissa's eyes widened the slightest bit, not wanting her son to have to endure yet another beating at the hands of her husband. As Lucius continued screaming and throwing things at her and Draco neared the door, she quickly cried out to her son, "Go back to bed."

At the sound of his wife's voice Lucius got even angrier before pulling her up by her hair and slapping her yet again. Draco had froze in place a few steps from the doorway when his mother had cried out to him. Narcissa was thrown into the wall and slid to the floor. Her eyes met Draco's around her husband, silently begging him to leave and go back to bed. Draco stood there frozen, staring into his mother's eyes, terrified that if he left Lucius would end up killing her.

Been there before but not like this,

Seen it before but not like this,

Never before have I seen it this bad,

She's just a woman…Never again

Draco stared into his mother's pleading eyes before slowly shaking his head and pulling his wand from the pocket of his robe and slowly creeping to the door. When Draco reached the doorway, he slowly peered around it to see where his father was. After a moment he carefully aimed his wand before whispering a single spell, "Stupify!" And with that Lucius collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

With Lusius no longer a problem at the moment Draco slipped into the room, going straight to his mother. When he reached her and got a good look at her he gaped in shock. She was covered in blood and cuts and bruises. Never before had Draco seen his mother beaten this bad. Carefully he scooped her up and carried her upstairs to her bathroom so that she could shower wash the blood off before he dressed her wounds. A couple hours later when Narcissa's wounds had been tended to the best of his abilities and he had tucked his mother in to bed, staying with her until she drifted off to sleep, and with Lucius still unconscious in the living room down stairs, Draco finally slipped back beneath his covers on his large bed in his room, hoping to get at least a few more hours sleep before getting back up.

Just tell the nurse you slipped and fell,

It starts to sting as it starts to swell,

She looks at you…she wants the truth,

It's right out there in the waiting room with those hands,

She's just a woman…Never again

The next morning it became obvious that although Draco had done his best to heal his mother's cuts and bruises, it wasn't enough and she would need to go to St. Mungo's to get her wounds treated properly. Just as Draco and Narcissa were about to step in to the fire to floo to the Wizarding hospital Lucius walked into the room. After finding out where his wife and son were going he walked over to the fireplace, and grabbing a handful of floo powder, announced that he was going too. At St. Mungo's Lucius and Draco were told to wait in the waiting room while the healers saw to the Malfoy Matriarch. When the nurse asked what happened Narcissa merely said that she slipped and fell at the Manor. The nurse just looked at her, wanting the truth. Narcissa said nothing more and just closed her eyes waiting for the healers to finish their work so that she could leave and hopefully spend the day with her son – preferably far, far away from her husband.

Been there before but not like this,

Seen it before but not like this,

Never before have I seen it this bad,

She's just a woman…Never again…Never again…

Father's a name you haven't earned yet,

You're just a child with a temper,

Haven't you heard "Don't hit a lady,"

Kickin' your ass would be a pleasure oh ohhh…

That night Lucius once again came home drunk, but this time Draco was waiting up for him. Lucius stumbled into his study only to find his son seated at his desk, feet resting atop the desk. As Lucius entered the room Draco swiftly and gracefully removed his feet from the desk and stood up to face his father.

"What the hell ar you ding in here boy?" Lucius growled, attempting to stalk across the room.

Draco looked at Lucius in digust before replying. "I'm just here to talk. Do you think you're capable of speech right now, Lucius? Or are you too drunk to even form a coherent thought?"

Lucius growled low in his throat, his eyes narrowing to slits as he looked at his son. "How dare you –"

Draco swiftly interrupted Lucius. "No! How dare you? How dare you beat me! How dare you even think of laying a single finger on Mother! How dare you! You are pathetic! You bow down before you Master and take orders from him. What a great master you have, Lucius! I mean, really, that thing was defeated by a one year old little boy, how powerful can he really be? Huh? You are pathetic, you are unworthy of the name Malfoy! No man should ever hit a woman! Especially if that woman is his wife!" Draco growled out, very clearly angry and barely holding on to his temper.

Lucius angrily grabbed Draco by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against the wall before snarling in his face, "How dare you speak to me that way! I am your Father and as such you will treat me with respect!"

Draco pushed Lucius away from him causing the elder Malfoy to stumble before falling and landing on his ass in the middle of the study. Draco glared at the man on the floor as he spoke. "Listen up, Lucius, you say that I should treat you with respect because you are my father? Well, guess what, Lucius. Father's a name you haven't earned yet! You're just a child with a temper! You go and get drunk on a nightly basis and come home angry and take out you drunken anger out on me and Mother! Kickin' your ass would be a pleasure! Come on, Lucius, haven't you heard 'don't hit a lady?' It really doesn't seem like you have. You really are pathetic." With one last sneer at the elder Malfoy, who was still sprawled on the study floor, Draco strode out of the room. After slipping into his mother's room to place a kiss on her forehead he headed for his room and hopefully a sleep that would go uninterrupted by screaming.

He's drunk again, it's time to fight,

Same old shit just on a different night,

She grabs the gun, she's had enough,

Tonight she'll find out how fuckin tough is this man,

Pulls the trigger fast as she can…Never again

It was now only two days before Draco boarded the train for Hogwarts. In just two days he would be gone and his mother would be left to fend for herself against the monster that is Lucius Malfoy. It had been a long day for Draco, filled with last minute homework assignments that had left him exhausted and in desperate need of sleep. Only about an hour after Draco slipped off to sleep the screaming and yelling started, waking Draco instantly. Hurriedly Draco threw on his robe and raced down to the living room. As he entered the room he saw Lucius straddling Narcissa, pounding his fist into here face over and over. Not even pausing and letting his momentum carry him, Draco threw himself at Lucius knocking him off of Narcissa. As Draco and Lucius fought Narcissa weakly dragged herself of to an end table by the couch, carefully opening the drawer, hoping not to draw Lucius's attention. She reached into the drawer, all the way to the very back and pulled out a shiny metal object before pulling herself to a standing position. She faced the fighting forms of Lucius and Draco just as Lucius threw their son into the wall before started toward him.

"Don't you dare take another step toward him, you bastard!" Narcissa ground

out, aiming the object from the drawer at her husband.

Lucius whirled around to see Narcissa standing defiantly before him, aiming a gun at his chest.

"One step, Lucius, one step and I pull the trigger." Narcissa said. "I'm sick and tired of being your punching bag, Lucius, and having you beat our son. I've had enough. I guess tonight we'll find out just how fuckin tough you are." And with that Narcissa pulled the trigger.

After Lucius fell to the floor, blood flowing from the wound in his chest and most definitely dead, Narcissa collapsed to the living room floor, shaking and sobbing. Draco slowly made his way to his mother before pulling her into his arms and holding her, trying to comfort her. "Shhh, its ok, he's dead, he'll never hurt you agin. It's over." He whispered.

After a few minutes Narcissa stopped crying. And as the last of her tears dried she looked over at the body of her husband and a slow smile spread over her face. "We're free. He can't do anything to us ever again. We can do whatever we want now. He'll never hit us or hurt us again," She whispered. She snuggled deeper into her son's lap and started to drift off to sleep, exhausted but happy to finally be able to live her life with out fear of her husband. She smiled a soft peaceful smile and succumbed to sleep with one last whisper, "Never Again."

Seen it before but not like this,

Been there before but not like this,

Never before have I seen it this bad,

She's just a woman…Never again

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Well, I hope you liked it! Please review! This is my first ever songfic, so anything you have to say will be greatly appreciated! Just no all out flames please, constructive criticism is okay, though. Anyway, let me know what you think.

Demon-Childe619