Never Again

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

~She must have done something wrong tonight~

Draco Malfoy was sitting before his fire place, listening to the sounds of an argument from the couple in the apartment next to his. It was 11 o'clock and it seemed to be a ritual over there for it happened at this time every night. Or at least from what he could tell. He had moved into the apartment a few weeks back after he could no longer stand living in the manor. He lived in the penthouse suit and the only other suit on this side of the tenth floor was that of his two fighters.

He knew exactly who they were: Ginny Weasley and her extremely well off boyfriend, Edward White. He didn't find this out until the week before when he had run into her on the elevator. She had changed quite a bit since he had last seen her at the celebration for Voldemort'sdown fall. She was no longer scrawny and shabby looking but classy and filled out in all the right places. If it hadn't been for the red hair he never would have guessed her to be a Weasley.

But then Draco had probably changed since his last days at Hogwarts as well. He had bulked up and no longer wore the sneer that was once one of his permanent features. During his sixth year, he had realized that he was being misled by his father about becoming a Death Eater. He put it off as long as he could until that faithful day when it had all ended and he, in a sense, had caused his father's death.

But it had all worked out for the better in Draco'seyes. A loving father never would have wanted his son to become a solider of the damned. Instead he had become the opposite, an Auror. He had even managed to put aside his father's drilled in hatred and worked on a few assignments with Harry Potter, who had also become an Auroralong with his two side kicks, Hermione and Ron Weasley.

~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~

There was a sudden crash against the other side of the wall. Someone had thrown a glass object which had shattered on impact. 'They have never thrown things before...' Draco thought, wondering not for the first time as to what they were arguing about all the time. That's when he heard it though, a startled scream of pain.

"What the?" he asked the apartment and stood up. He walked over to the wall and pressed his ear against it in an attempt to figure out what was going on. 'Draco, the building snoop,' he mused and began to listen.

He could hear White's voice yelling and thought he heard the sound of sobbing. He couldn't make out the words the man was saying exactly but he could tell by the lag in speech that he was drunk. The yelling stopped abruptly and he heard a door slam. The yelling started again, but the crying had stopped. Ginny had left.

~I hear her screams from down the hall~

~Amazing she can even talk at all~

Standing there, Draco debated as to whether or not he should go out in the hall and see if she was alright. 'She's a Weasley,' the old part of him hissed. 'Perhaps, but she might need help,' the Auror part of him hissed back and he walked to his door.

At first he didn't see anyone in the hallway. It was void of people,all he could see was the door to his neighbors beside him and the elevator and fire escape at the side of the hall. He could hear someone crying though, and he walked cautiously forward until he came to the large bay window facing the elevator. He saw someone crumpled with their back facing him in front of the grand couch. 'Ginny,' he thought at the sight of the brilliant red hair.

She didn't seem to notice him until he was standing beside her and he had cautiously touched her shoulder. She stopped crying and looked up at him quickly as though scared that he was her boyfriend but seemed to go even paler when she realized who he was. He was startled to see a large mark on the left side her face that seemed to be beginning to bruise. There were also a few small cuts and scrapes along her smooth, pale skin.

"Are you alright?" he asked after he had found his voice.

"Fine," she whispered and turned towards the window, looking out as though she wished she could fly away. "Just go back to bed and pretend you never saw anything."

"I don't think I can do that," he said quietly, crouching down next to her. "What happened?"

"We had a fight," she said and began to sob once more. Not knowing exactly what he was doing, Draco scooped her up into his arms and placed her on the couch. She stopped crying for a moment and he sat down next to her yet she began to shake as she tried to calm herself.

"If it's so bad," he whispered, "Why don't you leave?"

"I have no where to go," she said quietly, "My parents can just support themselves, and I couldn't go to my brothers..." she trailed off and began to cry again.

Before he knew what he was saying he said: "Why don't you stay with me tonight then? Until he sobers up?" At this she stopped crying all together and looked at him as though she was trying to detect a lie.

"No. Thank you, but no," she said shaking her head. "He has probably passed out on the couch by now anyway." With this she got up and walked around the couch behind him then placed her hand on his shoulder. "Thank you." She walked back to her door. Draco saw her hesitate then enter, closing the door behind her.

~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~

Draco sat there for a while, his mind digesting what it had just seen. He had been involved with domestic violence before, but it had never been with anyone he knew. Sure there were his fathers old associates but it had never been a fellow student. He was unsure what to do. He couldn't just barge in there but he couldn't just leave her in there with him.

He listened closely for noises inside the suite. There was nothing. He must have fallen asleep as Ginny had said he would. Slowly standing up, Draco headed back to his apartment. There was nothing he could do if she didn't want his help. All he could do was be there for her if she needed him and to keep an eye on her.

~Been there before but not like this~

~Seen it before but not like this~

~Never before have I ever seen it this bad~

~She's just a woman... never again~

Ginny cautiously walked past her sleeping boyfriend. 'How the hell did I get into this mess?' she asked herself as she headed to the bathroom. She looked numbly into the mirror, realizing she looked worse than she had expected. She couldn't heal herself this time. She would have to go to Saint Mungos and pray no one would ask her too many questions.

She gently touched her skin where the glass had sliced into it and gasped in pain as she brushed a shard that had lodged itself in there. She wanted to cry but wouldn't let the tears come. 'I have cried enough tonight,' she ordered herself. The tears began to run again anyway and she let out a small sob. 'I should have gone with Malfoy,' her mind thought desperately, but a groan from the other room told her that Edward was waking up.

Rushing out of the bathroom and into her room, Ginny closed the door as quietly as she could and locked it with a sticking charm. Turning to her bed she slumped onto it and began to sob, thinking she would never fall asleep again.

She must have though for she was awoken by the sound of gentle knocking on the door. For an instant she thought it was Draco but then reality kicked in and she knew it was the ass hole that had caused her to be locked up here in the first place.

"Come on Gin," she heard him call through the door, "I'm sorry. It will never happen again."

'Yeah right,' she thought grimly. The thought of staying in there for the rest of the day crossed her mind until she moved and everything ached. Her face stung and her left eye was swollen shut. She had to go to the doctor. Reluctantly she got up and opened the door, revealing the creature she loathed most.

"Oh Gin, I'm so sorry," he said quietly and wrapped his arms around her. Ginny felt no warmth or comfort in the hug and just stood there until he released her. Silently he led her to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it in for her.

~Just tell the nurse you slipped and fell~

~It starts to sting as it starts to swell~

Ginny sat on the bed staring blankly at the wall before her. 'How am I going to get away from him?' she asked herself. 'I have no money. Maybe I could go stay with Neville, he wouldn't tell my parents. Or perhaps Harry.' Her thoughts were cut short as the doctor, who gave her a startled look, walked in. She glanced at the clipboard with her file on it then looked back at Ginny and gave her a warm smile.

"What happened?" she asked walking up to her and gently touching her face.

"I dropped a pot of water and slipped into it when I was trying to clean up the mess," Ginny said as easily as though it were the truth. The doctor looked at her and Ginny knew she didn't believe her.

"Uh-huh," she said and pointed her wand at Ginny's face. It didn't take long to repair the damage and she placed a small band-aide on the cut which had once held the glass. As Ginny stood to leave the doctor reached out and touched her arm.

"You don't have to go back you know," she said, looking desperately into Ginny's eyes. "You don't have to live with it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ginny lied curtly. "Thank you, Doctor."

~She looks at you... she wants the truth~

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

~Lookin' just as sweet as he can... never again~

Draco stood in the elevator waiting for the doors to close. It was around six o'clock and the lobby was unusually vacant. Just as the doors were sliding shut, however, a hand shot forward and caused them to open again. Edward White stepped on and shot him a smile.

"Whew!" he said with a laugh, "Just made it!" Draco gave him a weak smile and a nod. He couldn't look at him knowing what he had done to her. He stared at the doors, feeling the man beside him looking at his profile. "Do you live here?" he asked finally, "You look so familiar."

"I live next door to you," Dracoresponded coldly with out looking at the other man.

"I knew I knew you!" White exclaimed, obviously not noticing Draco's cold tone. "You're Draco Malfoy. The late Lucius Malfoy'sson, right?"

Dracolooked at him out of the corner of his eye as though the other man was insane. 'What is he getting at?' he wondered then said: "Yes that's right."

"What do you do for a living?"

With this Draco turned his head and looked White straight in the eye. "I'm an Auror."

"Oh," the other man said dumbly and turned to look at the doors. It seemed that whatever he had been planning to pull had just plummeted to the ground. Draco glared at him.

"I work with Harry Potter some times," he added. "Him and Ginny used to be really good friends back at Hogwarts. But then you probably knew that right?" White paled a few shades.

"No, I didn't know that."

Draco grinned at the fact that the man was refusing to look at him. Then a thought crossed his mind, "I know," he whispered.

"Know what?" he squeaked.

"You know." Rocking back on his heels, Draco looked up at the ceiling. He clenched his hands,he suddenly had this huge urge to scream, to hurt him like he had hurt her. He managed to contain himself though and soon the doors opened and he walked out and towards his door without a second glanced; leaving White to take the few shaky steps to his own door.

~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~

Later that night, Draco felt himself drifting off to sleep on his couch. The fire in front of him was making everything so warm and comfy that he closed his eyes. It had been several days since that night he had found Ginny in the hall. He figured that perhaps he had scared some sense into the ass hole.

'He doesn't deserve her,' he thought tiredly, hazy colors swirling behind his eye lids.

There was a loud bang on the other side of the wall and Dracosat up with a start. The screaming was louder than usual. White had probably drunk more to catch up on the time he had missed while he was sober.

Ginny's voice rose louder in what Draco assumed was an attempt to match the man's drunken audibility. 'Why doesn't she just leave?' he wondered, sitting up. Sleep forgotten, he began to listen to the fight in the room next to his.

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

~Same old shit, just on a different night~

The fighting had been going on for quite awhile. Both of their voices seemed to never end, and not for the first time, Draco wondered what they were fighting about. There was a sudden scream of rage then he heard a door slam back as it was flung into a wall. He could still hear White screaming, so it had to have been Ginny.

She hadn't gone out into the hall though, for he heard her voice once again. White's screams stopped mid shout and everything went silent. It was like they had never been screaming at all.

Suddenly he shouted with rage louder than Draco had ever heard him and there seemed to be loud shuffle of feet. Ginny let out a high pitch scream and Draco stood up.

BANG!

Draco stood still with fear, like a deer caught in a head light. 'A gun shot,' he thought numbly. The whole world seemed to have stopped. There was no sound from the other room or from his own, and nothing moved. He seemed to be caught in a moment, then something clicked inside his head.

"Oh shit!" he cried and ran towards his door. He tore it open and rushed over to Ginny's door. He began to pound on it but no one answered. Pulling out his wand he shouted: "Alohomora!" The door flew opened and slammed into the wall.

Rushing in, Draco looked around and what he saw made him drop his jaw in astonishment. For there, lying spread eagle on his front was Edward White with a large pool of blood forming around his head. His wand was laying a foot away from his right hand and there was a small scorch mark around it.

There was the sound of sobs coming suddenly from behind a door to his right and he walked towards it only to discover a silver object lying near the door. 'A Muggle gun?' he asked himself then gently pushed the door open. It was a closet and there was someone pressed into the corner of it, head in their hands, crying like there was no tomorrow. 'Which there isn't if she did what I think she did.' 'Shut up,' he hissed at himself.

"Ginny?" he asked with caution, kneeling down next to her. He wouldn't believe that she would have murdered someone in cold blood. She looked up at him, her face streaked with tears and blood. Her own, he realized. "What happened?"

"He... he..." she gasped, waving her hands about. She let out another sob, thencried: "He was going to kill me!"

"What?" Draco asked in disbelief. He had tried to kill her and she had killed him instead?

"He said it! He said the first part!" She let out another sob, shaking with what Draco assumed was shock. "He was going to kill me with the killing curse! He said the first part. Avada..." she trailed off and began to shake with uncontrolled sobs. Draco wrapped his arms around her and began to rock her back and forth, making soothing sounds.

~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~

"This is the Ministry!" a voice called into the apartment and Draco realized that one of the other wizard tenants must have called them. He knew that Potter would be with them along with Weasley and his wife, because Ginny was involved. He knew she would be put on trial. Yet at the same time he knew that she would get off. She would get off because he would testify and use every resource he had available to him. For it was not fair for her to be shut away in Azkaban because of that ass hole. He wouldn't allow it.

~Seen it before but not like this~

~Been there before but not like this~

~Never before have I ever seen it this bad~

~She's just a woman... never again~

~*~