A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you guys liked the last chapter. So Voldemort definitely has his doubts on Hermione and Draco, do you think they will be able to escape him this time? Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with the chapter!

*Sentences in italics in the first scene depict a past event. Italic lines in the beginning of the scene have been directly taken from the Deathly Hallows book.

"So Draco and Amelia Malfoy," Voldemort spoke, "Tell me, who broke into my office yesterday?"

Everything that happened next, was a blur for Draco. 

One moment, his wife was standing next to him, clutching his hand so tightly as if her life depended on it.

And the next second, the muggle born witch was on the floor in front of him, screams escaping her mouth as tears fell from her eyes.

All the while a red colour spell kept hitting her.

It was too similar to the day when the Brightest Witch of Her Age had been tortured mercilessly in the same drawing room, by Bellatrix Lestrange.

Draco had been helpless then-

-And he was helpless now. 

"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"

"Don't force me to repeat my question, witch. Answer me right now!" Voldemort hissed. 

"We found it — we found it — PLEASE!" Hermione screamed again.

"We didn't enter your office- PLEASE!- I am not lyin- Ahh!" Hermione shouted, her body twitching on the floor.

"Crucio!"

"CRUCIO!"

"You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"

"You are lying, you witch! That is why even your own husband is not coming forwards to help you." Voldemort smiled in a sinister way. "It is true, isn't it?"

Hermione's head lolled on the floor towards the fireplace, next to which a blond Slytherin, her classmate, was standing.

Hermione shifted her head, as much as the pain would allow her to, towards the fireplace, where her blond haired husband was standing.

'Help me, Malfoy, please.' She thought.

'Don't blow our cover, Draco, please. Don't give in to this.' The Gryffindor witch thought. 

"Crucio!"

"CRUCIO!"

"Granger..." Draco whispered.

"Hermione..." His fists clenched, his nails drawing blood from his palm. 

"How did you get into my vault?" Bellatrix screamed. 

"How did you get into my office?" Voldemort snarled, hitting her with yet another Cruciatus Curse. 

"Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"

"Did your dear husband help you in this? Is he going against the Dark side again?"

"We only met him tonight!" Hermione sobbed. "We've never been inside your vault. . . . It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!

"Draco has not done anything against the Dark side!" The muggle born witch cried. "He is innocent- We are innocent- we did not do anything, I swear! Don't do anything to him- Ahh!"

"You don't get to give me orders, you foolish witch." The Dark Lord tortured her again. "Look at young Malfoy there, he believes you are the culprit as well."

Draco felt helpless.

Draco felt the pain she was feeling.

Draco closed his eyes and found the way to help her and the other two Gryffindors.

Draco closed his eyes and found himself to be determined to save his wife from his ex master. 

The blond wizard used his wandless nonverbal magic to remove the Anti- apparation wards from around the Manor, so that the Golden Trio could escape. 

The Malfoy Heir shot his parents a quick glance and immediately ran towards the centre of the room, where his wife was lying on the ground, so close to become unconscious because of the torture.

Draco placed herself in front of him just in time as yet another Cruciatus Curse shot out of Voldemort's wand in their direction, and gritted his teeth so as to not scream because of the pain.

"Draco..." Hermione whispered as she saw the wizard in front of her contorting his face in pain. Still, he did not let out any scream.

Finally after a few minutes, the Dark Lord lowered his wand and the Malfoy Heir let out a breath he did not know he was holding, and slumped down on the floor in front of him, leaning on his elbows so as to not crush the witch lying below him. 

"I want everyone else to leave this room immediately." The nose less wizard looked around the room at the Death Eaters. "Now."

Slowly one by one, the Death Eaters left the room until the only remaining people were the Dark Lord, the two young people on lying on the floor and the older Malfoys. 

"You two come under everyone else as well, Lucius and Narcissa." Voldemort gestured towards the door. "Leave. I want to have an important talk with your son and his wife."

Narcissa whimpered and looked at her son. Draco slightly moved his head towards her direction, and nodded, indicating that he would be fine.

After looking at their son and his wife once more, Lucius squeezed Narcissa's shoulders and led her out of the room. 

The Malfoy Heir sighed and dropped his head, careful not to let his face be in contact with his wife. "You okay, dear wife?" He whispered.

"You saved me." The muggle born witch whispered back, slowly lifting her hand to touch the wizard's cheek, which had a small scar on it.

"I should have done it earlier." Draco sighed. "You were tortured unnecessarily because of me and, I was too late to take action-"

Suddenly, he felt a pull on his neck and a second later found himself standing on his feet, a cold breath on his neck sending chills down his spine. 

"You can talk with your wife as much as you want later on, Draco Malfoy," Voldemort said, using one of his fingers to trace the other wizard's jawline, "But you better answer my question right now. Who broke into my office yesterday?".

"I  have no idea about that, my Lord." He answered.

"We will see about that soon." The Dark Lord hissed and immediately pointed his wand at the blond wizard's head, using the spell non verbally. 

Draco immediately clenched his fists as he felt his ex master probe into his mind. He hoped against hope that his Occlumency walls would hold on, as his strength had already been drained by getting tortured just a few minutes earlier.

He found peace when he saw Voldemort's face showing an angry expression.

Voldemort finally stopped using the spell and bent his head down, whispering a warning in the other wizard's ear.

Draco's eyes almost widened as he heard that, but he controlled himself just in time.

"Your games will end soon, young Malfoy, and that day is not far away." The Dark Lord furiously said and turned around to leave the room, his dark robes sweeping the floor behind him.

The Malfoy Heir sighed in relief and allowed his body to drop down on his knees. Slowly, he held his hand out towards the witch still lying on the floor.

This time, Hermione did not even waste a second in placing her hand in his.

Squeezing her hand, Draco asked, "Can I call the house elves to help us to our room this time, Granger? If your royal snobness allows it, of course."

Hermione's weak chuckles could be heard as they heard cracks of apparition around them, after she had given him permission to call the house elves.

--------------

A few hours later.....

Draco groaned as he shifted on his side on the bed, and opened his eyes-

-Only to let out a frustrated sigh as he saw Hermione Malfoy née Granger sleeping beside him, her hand lying close to his chest. 

Suddenly, memories of what had happened a few hours back came swirling back in his mind.

Flashback

When the Dark Lord had asked them the question as to who had broken into his office, Draco's mind had become blank.

What was he supposed to say now?

How were they supposed to get out of this situation without botching up the Order's plan?

While Draco had been trying to find an answer then, he saw Hermione's breathing become ragged.

The blond wizard knew she was thinking about what had happened the last time she was in this room.

She had been tortured that time, while Bellatrix had been asking her questions, as the latter was damn furious.

The situation looked the same now to Draco. 

And just like last time, he had not been able to save her quickly.

Draco Lucius Malfoy hated himself.

Even more so when he had heard Hermione requesting the Dark Lord to not do anything to him, all the while she was getting tortured because the blond wizard had been too slow to answer the question.

The Malfoy Heir had not missed it when the muggle born witch had called him by his first name-

-Nor did he miss himself saying her first name. 

Salazar, he was falling deeper and deeper for her day by day. 

And the Slytherin Prince did not know how he would live without her when she would eventually leave him after the war would end.

But for now, Hermione's safety was more important than his feelings.

So as the blond heir ran towards the witch, he only had one thought in his mind.

And Draco knew that Voldemort was torturing Hermione, in disguise of Amelia, because the Dark Lord knew that it would make the blond wizard answer his questions. 

I would do anything for you, Granger, absolutely anything, so you can live in a peaceful and happy world after the war.

Even if that mean I have to sacrifice my life. 

Draco would not let her down once again.

Flashback over 

The Slytherin Prince sighed and looked towards his wife's shoulder, where the Healer had applied band aid to heal the cut she had gotten because of a broken nail on the floor.

Hesitantly, Draco lifted his hand towards her and gently touched her shoulder. 

"Draco?"

His eyes widened and he looked down to see wide brown eyes, full of curiosity and some another emotions which he did not recognise, staring at him. 

Draco was honestly glad when a few days back, Kingsley had sent them a spell, through the protean charmed galleon, which was a modified version of the glamour charm.

They had immediately used the spell, and his eyes had widened when Hermione had turned around to look at him. 

She was looking exactly like herself then. 

When they had searched about the spell later on, they found out that the spell would allow only the person who had cast the spell, and the one in whose presence it was cast, to look at the real person instead of the disguise.

Draco had been getting tired of looking at the unfamiliar face of Amelia Malfoy née Romano.

However, the spell had a downside, which they noticed only after they had entered the drawing room a few hours back that day. 

They would not know the disguise was off unless and until they kept checking the ring every second. 

And the worst thing? A simple glamour charm could not be performed on top of it, so the only way to remove the modified spell would be to remove the wedding ring, which they could not do until the war ended. 

"You should sleep, Granger. You were tortured for quite long." He withdrew his hand and awkwardly tried to shift away from her.

The muggle born witch sighed and grabbed his cold fingers, which seemed to sooth her nerves for a reason she did not understand. 

"I-I did not get to thank you that time, Draco. You saved my life after all-"

Draco recognised the unknown emotions now. 

She was feeling a sense of safety in his presence. She thought she could trust him with her life. 

Hermione trusted Draco.

And he did not want her to feel like that towards him. 

He was dangerous for her. 

"You could have died because of me, Granger!" The blond heir snarled. "You could have been tortured to insanity and all because of me! Because of my cowardice-"

"Whose cowardice are you talking about?" Hermione frowned. "Because-"

"You have clearly become delusional, Granger-"

"-I think that the man who put himself in front of me just as You Know Who tried to torture me again, and did not even give in to the pain, is not at all a coward." She continued, "The man who decided to go against the Dark side, knowing fully well the consequences if he was discovered as a traitor, is not a coward. The man who went to You Know Who's office at midnight just so that I would not have to go, is not a coward."

Draco ignored her monologue and instead focused on the last statement. "Don't tell me you were awake when I had come back from the office."

"Okay, I won't tell you." His wife weakly smiled at him. 

"You are not funny, Granger." The Malfoy Heir rolled his eyes and slowly got up from the bed, shaking his head at his wife when she tried to do the same. "Get some rest, Granger, I have some work to do."

"Draco." She stopped him yet again. "I-"

"It is Malfoy to you, Granger." He coldly said. 

She ignored him. "You saved me, Draco, just like you did in my nightmare."

This was news to Draco. 

He frowned. "I thought I was in your worst nightmare-"

"And you tried to save me." Hermione cut him off. "Just like you did when I... I was tortured here a few months back. But this time, you did not succeed, and instead your aunt... She... tortured you along with me, and carved 'Blood Traitor' in your arm... She had called the Dark Lord and we all had been killed then and there, in a brutal way, specially you. I-I was just so scared, Draco."

He did not say anything.

"You are not a monster, Draco. You are not a villain." She insisted. 

"You will feel like that when you will know how I almost ruined our plan." He shook his head and leaned forwards to directly look into her eyes. "Do you know what the Dark Lord whispered into my ear a few hours back?"

Hermione shook her head. 

"The Dark Lord said," Draco sighed, "That a Death Eater had seen me talking with a witch who looked like Hermione Granger."

-----------

Meanwhile.....

"Can you hurry up, Zabini?" Harry shouted as they trudged up the hill. "We have only got time till sunset, and look,  the people are already closing the doors of the resort."

"If only you would have allowed me to use magic, Potter." The Italian wizard rolled his eyes. "We would have reached to the top where that sodding resort is located in just a few minutes. But no, you are the great Chosen One and loves doing idiotic things."

"Zabini, if you speak nonsense for one more time, I swear I will kill you and nobody will be able to stop me-"

"Except your girlfriend." When the other wizard frowned at him, Blaise shrugged and continued, "What? Red does not think that we Slytherins are annoying like you do, and she would not want you to kill me."

"Can you stop calling my girlfriend 'Red'?" Harry asked him. 

"Let me think- No. Absolutely not."

"Then do stay away from Ginny. She does not need your bad influence on her." The Chosen One hissed and started walking faster. 

"You are only irritated at me because of what I said at the Order's Headquarters yesterday, Potter." Blaise called after him. "But we both know that it is a huge possibility that-"

"Do learn to keep your mouth shut, Zabini. We are in a muggle area, for Godric's sake!"

"If you do not listen to me, then I will really disclose the secrets of the Wizarding World right now." Blaise took a deep breath and shouted, "Listen here, fellow people. We are the wizards of the-"

"Damnit, stop!" Harry shouted and crossed his arms in front of him, choosing to stay silent and ignore the infuriating smirk on the Slytherin wizard's face. 

When finally Blaise reached the other wizard, he grabbed his hand and pulled him behind a tree. He gestured Harry to sit down on the big rock lying nearby and himself leant against the tree. "You need to hear my point, Potter, which you did not do yesterday and simply allowed Weaselbee to argue with me and Theo which made us leave the house."

"Fine, you have five minutes. Speak now, or I am going to continue climbing the hill."

"Do you remember the main part of our conversation which we had yesterday, Potter?"

"Weaselbee," Theo started, "Can you tell us what exactly happened with you when you had left in between the horcrux hunt? I mean to say, what all places you had gone to and who all you met and all of that stuff."

"I don't really remember that much." Ron admitted.

"You are acting as if someone Obliviated you, Ron." Harry rolled his eyes as he attempted to joke to lighten the mood.

"Or," Blaise's tone suddenly grew serious, "As if you were under an Imperius Curse, Weaselbee."

The Boy Who Lived closed his eyes and nodded, opening them a second later to look at the other wizard. "Of course I do. There is no way on Earth that I will forget such a crazy assumption you made, Zabini, and-"

"Potter." The Slytherin wizard cut him off. "Just think about my point. There is a high chance that Weaselbee might have been under the Imperius Curse."

"How so?"

"Look, I am not saying that he had been supporting the Dark side, because that is highly unlikely. But, what proof do you have that when Weaselbee had left you and Granger in between the horcrux hunt, that he did not encounter any Death Eater?"

"I know he did not meet them, he just saw a few snatchers."

"That is exactly what I am asking. How do you know that, Potter?"

"Ron told me and Hermione everything after he returned."

"Exactly." Blaise nodded. "You know that only because Weaselbee told you. Did you ever even think about asking him to show his memories or just checking them yourself?"

"We did not have a pensieve to check and none of us are a Legilimens so-"

"Excuses, Potter. Those are just excuses." He shook his head. "You do not need to be a perfect Legilimens to check someone's memory, specially if the other person is simply offering you to check them, which I assume Weaselbee would have done if you had asked him, right?"

After Harry nodded, Blaise continued, "The thing is, Potter, the thought about checking Weaselbee's memories to see if he was telling the truth did not even cross your mind because you simply believed him. You would have never doubted him, am I right?"

"You are right." Harry sighed. He was beginning to see how another one of their small mistake had likely impacted the outcome of the Battle of Hogwarts. 

"You cannot even trust your own self properly when you are in a war, Potter, let alone any one else. There is a high chance that Weaselbee would have met a few Death Eaters when he was away, and they might have done something to him, but you would not know about that."

"Like placing him under an Imperius Curse." The raven haired wizard gasped.

"Bang on." Blaise smirked at him. "And no, I am not saying that our suspicion is correct, even though it seems like it is because of the way Weaselbee has been acting. Specially, if you consider how he does not even remember what he did and where went when he had left the horcrux hunt."

"Do you have any way to check if your theory is correct or not?"

"I do." The Italian wizard nodded and stood straight. "But we will discuss that later, we should go to the resort now. And until we know whether or not Weaselbee was under the Imperius Curse, you will not talk about this with anyone else. Got it?"

Harry nodded as he stood up and they started climbing the hill again. They were currently in a small village of Italy, trying to find a few Death Eaters who had fled from London after the Battle.

Kingsley had received an intel earlier that day, informing him that those Death Eaters were hiding in a specific muggle resort. And so, he had chosen Blaise, who was from Italy, and Harry had offered to go with him. 

When they finally reached the resort, Harry quickly and discreetly used the Confundus spell on the receptionist, while Blaise made a copy of the register in which the names of all the guests and their other details were written, using his wand.

They might not find the desired names on the register, and both of the wizards knew that perfectly, but still, they had to try it.

Harry and Blaise quickly left the resort, and climbed the hill down halfway, choosing to rest in an area which was completely secluded there.

When Blaise opened the register and read the first page, his eyes widened.

"What?" Harry asked him. "Did you find the names of those Death Eaters?"

"I found something worse. Potter, what is the chance that a person, who has the exact same name as another person, or perhaps a fake name, exists in the world at the same time as that other person does?"

"The heck are you talking about, Zabini?"

In response, Blaise simply passed him the register, and pointed his finger at a specific name.

Blood drained from Harry's face as he read it.

For there written on the bottom of the page, was- Amelia Marie Romano, age 19, lives in Rome, Italy. 

-------------

"Very well." Kingsley nodded as he stood up from his chair. "I have made my decision. We will accept you as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, but our condition is the same as we put in front of the other defected Death Eaters, your friends. You will have to prove yourself."

Pansy Parkinson nodded. 

"I will not let you down, Shacklebolt. Can I leave now?" The pure blooded witch asked and after she got his permission, she stood up to leave.

"Oh and Shacklebolt," She said just as she reached the door, "Please do not tell anyone here how I became an Order member. Please do not tell them who helped me in contacting you and meeting you here."

Kingsley nodded again. He understood why she did not want to reveal that to anyone. If someone got to know about that, everyone would raise questions.

How could an Order member, one who actually had a rivalry with Pansy, just simply trust her without testing her?

That would be what the people would ask. But of course, they did not know the whole story. 

They did not know about a secret friendship that had blossomed between Pansy and an Order member during the former's seventh year at Hogwarts, while the Golden Trio had been away for finding and destroying the Dark Lord's horcruxes. 

Outside the door, Pansy marched towards the living room where she found the wizard she was really frustrated at the moment, casually lounging on the couch, while eating some snacks. 

"THEODORE NOTT JR.!" The witch yelled. "HOW DARE YOU HIDE THIS FROM ME? DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS WHEN I SEARCHED YOUR WHOLE MANOR AND DIDN'T FIND YOU? YOU COULD NOT HAVE TOLD ME THAT YOU WERE AN ORDER MEMBER, COULD YOU?"

Theo gasped and immediately stood up, causing all the snacks to fall down on the floor. "Pansy? What are you doing here?"

"First tell me why didn't you tell me you had defected?" She walked forwards until she stood directly in front of him and pulled his ear harshly. "Answer me!"

"Oww, woman!" The brunette wizard rubbed his ear when she finally let go of it. "Why are you yelling at me? Go and scream at your boyfriend, he should have been the one to tell you."

"Blaise is in Italy for some important work-"

"He is in Italy along with Potter for an Order mission." Theo rolled his eyes at her. "See how much your boyfriend lies to you, and here you are, yelling at an innocent wizard like me."

"I will deal with my boyfriend as well as with dear Drakie later on." Pansy gritted her teeth as she thought about those two wizards. "But for now, you are going to face my wrath, Nott."

"Pansy, please." The wizard pleaded, he was actually quite scared of her. If there was any witch he was familiar with who was as scary as Hermione and Narcissa, then it was Pansy.

Thank Salazar his dear girlfriend Luna was nothing like them. 

"Nothing can save you from me, Theo, specially now that I am an Order member." The witch smirked at him. "Well I still need to prove myself to become an official member-"

"I can help you there." He quickly said. Anything to not face her wrath, was good for him. "I will soon be going on a mission, and you can join me there. Will that work for you?"

Pansy thought about it for a couple of minutes when she finally nodded. "Alright. But don't think that it will save you from my wrath. I will deal with you and your best friends later on."

"You are such a nice friend, Pansy." Theo grinned at her. "Now come on, tell me how you became an Order member, because I do not think that Kingsley would have simply allowed you to come here without any proof of you actually wanting to help the Order."

"It is actually quite a long story. You see, it all started when during our seventh year I and-"

"Nott!" Ginny yelled as she quickly walked towards him. "Where is Luna? I need to discuss something important with-"

"Why are you asking me, Weaslette?" Theo frowned. "She had gone to Diagon Alley with you a few hours back, so she should be with you."

"She left hours before I finished my work, Nott. And she had told me that she would be visiting her father, who is at the Burrow. But when I went to my home, I found out that Luna had never come there today, so I though that she must have come here."

"I have not seen Luna since she left with you, Weaslette. And I have been here ever since. And if she had gone to the Nott Manor, I would have been alerted." Theo told her. 

"She is not at Hogwarts either." Pansy interjected. "I was there only before I came here."

It was then Ginny noticed that the Slytherin witch had been standing there all along. "Pansy? What are you- Oh so you finally- Wait, we will talk later. We need to find Luna right now."

"If she is not at any of the safe houses and did not inform any of us about where she is," Theo began as fear settled in his light brown eyes, "I think Luna has been kidnapped by the Death Eaters."

-----------

After they had finished their dinner, Hermione and Draco excused themselves to their room and the latter immediately locked the door after them, securing it with several charms and spells to ensure that no one would come in.

"I am so tired." Hermione groaned as she flopped down on the bed and yawned. "I am sleeping on the bed tonight as well. If you want, you can conjure another bed for you, Draco-"

"Need I remind you that it is my room, Granger? I will sleep on my own bed only. If you have any problems, then you can sleep on the couch-"

"Oh I don't have any problems actually, Draco, but-"

"How many times must I tell you to not call me that?" Draco rolled his eyes. "It is Malfoy to you, Granger."

"We are not some enemies that I have to call you that, Draco." The muggle born witch rolled her eyes at him. 

"Then we are not some kind of friends either that you have to call me by my name." He cut her off. "We are just spy-"

"Partners and so therefore we should learn to cooperate with each other, so should probably become friends as well. It would be good for the plan and the Order-"

"Miss Law and Order, do learn to shut up." The blond wizard cut her off once again. 

"I am a married witch now, Draco." The Brightest Witch of Her Age grinned at him. "In case you have forgotten, we had our wedding just a few days back."

"You did not marry me, Granger." He looked away from her. "I married your disguise. And so, you are nothing but my fake wife." 

"Well, good for you. I know you would not want a muggle born witch to be with you in real, anyways." Hermione shrugged as the tension between them filled the room. 

"Granger, I-" Draco sighed. "If you still think that I believe in any of those blood prejudice bullshit, then let me tell you that you are very, very wrong. I stopped believing in it a long time back, around the time you had punched me. Yes, it made me angry at you, but also, it made me think that how can a person who is supposed to be inferior to me, and someone whom I had learnt to hate at a young age, could stand up to me like that?"

"I did not abandon those ideas completely that time," He continued. "It is not easy to leave behind years of beliefs, specially what your parents have told you. But I did begin to question them. Your shocking reaction when you had got to know how Barty Crouch Jr had turned me into a ferret, made me want to question those ideas more."

Before he could continue further, Hermione sighed and removed her wedding ring from her finger. She felt like she wanted to have that conversation with him without the reminder of their plan being in her mind every second.

"Granger, I-"

Just then the door opened. 

And Hermione and Draco were too late to react.

"My baby dragon!" Narcissa smiled as she entered her son's room along with her husband. "We wanted-"

Just then, they noticed the muggle born witch sitting next to their son on the bed. 

"Hermione Granger?" The Malfoy matriarch gasped.

"Mudblood Granger girl?" Lucius' jaw dropped. 

A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 5100+ words. Hope you guys liked it. So Hermione got tortured again, and Draco saved her. Blaise explained his point to Harry and discovered something. Random question: Favourite Wizarding Sweet? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you! 

Next chapter on 11/9/21(Saturday). 

Until next time.