Narcissa Malfoy sat contentedly in her favourite armchair, enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee without having to worry about Lucius bursting in on her. He was at work and, as usual, Narcissa had no reason to believe that he would be arriving home any time before mid-night. Probably with one of his…clients.

"Mother?" Cissa looked up to see her young son hovering nervously between the drawing room and the hall. She gestured for him to shut the door and come closer, to which Draco meekly complied and then went to kneel by his mother as she petted his hair. A routine that had always been in place.

"What can I do for you, my darling?" She crooned, enjoying the feel of her son's soft, baby like hair as she ran it through her fingers. Draco hesitated before saying slowly,

"I was, umm…wondering if-if you might help me with something. I-I know I ought not ask but…but this project Father set me is so hard…" He gabbled on, but suddenly froze as he caught sight of the innocent blue mug clutched in his mother's hand, "I thought you'd stopped." He whispered, never for a moment taking his eyes off it, "You promised you wouldn't drink that stuff anymore. You promised." Narcissa sighed,

"It's just one cup, Draco. He won't know." But Draco just shook his head, growing more and more agitated by the second.

"He will! He always does, you know that! Please Mother…"

"Stop being so silly!" Cissa snapped, taking another exaggerated gulp of the brown liquid, "It's just a drink, for Merlin's sake."

"Please, you know what he'll do! You know what he's like! Give it to me!" Draco made a snatch for it, but missed as she held it away from her at arm's length.

"Do you want me to tell father that you're being bad?" She demanded fiercely, standing up.

"Do you want me to tell Father that you've been disregarding his rules?" Draco retorted. They glowered at each other, both realising that they were, once again, at a stalemate.

Then Draco threw himself at her, desperate and determined to get that cup off her before Father returned home,

"Give it to me!"

"Draco! Get off me!"

"No! Not until you let go! Not until you give it to me!" Never had she seen her son so persistent and down right violent as he was being now. His normally quiet and withdrawn nature had all but vanished, revealing a new, hidden temperament, one that he had clearly inherited from Lucius.

Then suddenly, the mug was knocked from her grasp. It flew through the air as though in slow motion in the eyes of Draco and Narcissa, and landed with a plumph on the opposite couch. The remainder of it's contents spreading slowly across the creamy material, staining it badly.

"You stupid little boy!" Narcissa screamed, wheeling around to face her son, who was staring at the stain as though hypnotised with terror, knowing that there was no way that this would escape his father's attention now, "This is all you fault!" Her voice snapped Draco out of his trance, but no sooner had he looked up at her, than Narcissa's hand flew towards his face and slapped him. The blow was not a strong one, nor was it particularly painful, but the mere shock of being hit by his mother was enough to cause tears to form in his eyes. Instantly, Narcissa was by his side,

"Oh, Draco…I'm so sorry…I swear, it was an accident…" Draco looked up at her, hand resting gingerly on his cheek,

"You-you hit me." He said uncertainly, almost as though he didn't quite believe it happened and needed reassurance that it did,

"I know Darling, and I'm so sorry. Father doesn't need to hear of this, does he?" Draco looked away from her. It was a well-known fact, that although Lucius felt no qualms about knocking his son around, Merlin help anyone else who tried to lay a hand on Draco

"No Mother. Of course not." She smiled and stroked his face,

"Good boy. We wouldn't want to get into any more trouble, now would we?"

"No Mother." Suddenly, both mother and son froze.

The sound of the front door opening.

Footsteps in the hall.

Draco and Narcissa looked at each other, each sending the same silent message: 'He's home early!'

"Quickly Draco, on to the couch!" Draco quickly obeyed all thoughts of The Incident swept clear from his mind. All that remained now was cold terror that his father was sure to find out what had happened. Draco curled up on the sofa, letting his hair fall down, hiding his face, giving him at least a tiny bit of protection.

The door handle turned.

And Lucius Malfoy strode in, superior in his movement, surveying the clearly guilty scene imperiously, Narcissa quickly stood up and swept elegantly over to him, trying to shield Draco from his view

"You're home early, Darling. Have you had a good day-?" But Lucius brushed her aside and went to stand over Draco, his head still bent, and eyes fixed on the floor, determined not to look at his father.

"What are you hiding, boy?" Lucius demanded, his voice dangerously low,

"Nothing Father." Draco whispered, "I'm not hiding anything." Lucius waited a moment for his son to look at him. When he did not, Lucius snarled and grabbed Draco's hair yanking his head up painfully, forcing Draco to look at him,

"Perhaps a lesson on respect is in order?" He hissed, "It appears you have forgotten your last?" He gave Draco a hard shake, causing him to wince as hair was pulled out, "That aside: I thought you knew better than to lie to me? But it appears that I am mistaken. Now, I will ask you once and not again. What are you hiding?" Draco's eyes flicked to his mother, who was watching the sideline, begging him with a shake of her head not to give her away. Draco looked down.

"Nothing Father."

"Liar!" Lucius spat, pulling the little boy roughly to his feet and immediately threw him to the floor. Draco's head hit the ground with a sickening thud and he began to cry,

"I'm sorry Papa…please…I'm sorry…" Lucius nudged him contemptuously with his cane,

"Pathetic," He sneered, "How dare you, a Malfoy, cower there like an animal, like a muggle. Get up, boy!" But Draco didn't move. He just lay there at his father's feet, sobbing into the carpet, "I said, GET UP!" Lucius raised the cane to strike his son, who instantly tensed himself and flung his hands across his face to shield himself from the blow…which never came.

"Lucius! No!" Narcissa flew at her husband and grabbed his raised arm, forcing him to drop the cane,

"Narcissa get off of me!" He tried to pull his arm out of her grasp, but her hold was strong and she held on.

"Lucius…listen! It's my fault! I asked him to lie for me, I-I didn't want you to find out that I'd…I'd been drinking coffee again. Please, Lucius, Draco's not to blame. Please don't hit him anymore." Lucius cast his son a disdainful glare then turned furiously on his wife,

"So, not only do you deliberately go against my commands, but you tell your son to lie for you so that he will be punished instead?" He smirked, "What kind of a mother does that make you?" Narcissa glared at him resentfully, but kept her mouth shut and lowered her gaze submissively. Draco looked up nervously, his gaze darting fearfully from one parent to the other.

A storm was coming.

He could feel it.

"Draco…I think it would be best if you go to your room for the rest of the evening." Narcissa said slowly, not looking at him. Draco frowned,

"But Mama…"

"You heard you mother," Lucius snarled, taking a threatening step towards his son, "Get upstairs now!" Draco flinched and scrambled quickly to his feet, which wobbled unsteadily beneath him. He looked to his mother, who shook her head,

"Just go." Was all the reassurance he received. Draco bowed his head and raced from the room, running as fast as he could, not stopping until he reached his room.

He slammed the door shut and, feeling his way in the darkness, crawled shakily under the deep, heavy covers of his bed.

He could already hear the shouting and crashing coming from downstairs.

Draco pulled his pillow tightly over his head, squeezing his eyes shut to block out the chaos.

'This is my fault.' Draco reflected miserably, 'I should've been stronger. I should've protected her. It's all my fault.'