A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you guys liked the last chapter. I have always thought that somehow Draco knew about the Order, because of being half Black, so I decided to use that idea. Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with the chapter!

Next Day.....

That day, Draco woke up with a groan, because of various reasons.

First, his body was still paining because of the hours of the Cruciatus and other curses he had endured. He could already feel the tremors starting in his hand, and he did the best he could do to not give in to the aftershocks.

The second reason, well, it was because he was woken up, at this ungodly hour, by his best friend's snoring.

He had forgotten about Blaise's snoring habit, when he had offered his two best friends to sleep on the couches in his room, as they weren't sure which rooms the death eaters were going to take, and he instantly regretted it.

And he was damn tired to use magic this early in the morning.

Sighing, the blond wizard shifted on his bed, and placed a pillow over his ears, as best as he could do with a shaking hand.

But it was to no use, for as soon as he had started to fall asleep again, he felt the bed dip, and opened his grey eyes to look at a brown haired man trying to lie down on his bed.

"What the hell, Theo?" The Malfoy heir groaned and tried to kick his best friend.

He did not like it if anyone slept on his bed without his permission.

But of course, Theo knew this very well and placed his leg over his best friend's, so that Draco won't be able to throw him to the floor.

"Just let me sleep, Draco." His best friend pleaded and snatched the pillow Draco had placed over his ears. "I couldn't sleep all night because of that freaking couch."

"I had asked you to transfigure the couch into a bed, there is plenty of room here for you to do it, but you didn't listen to me." The blond wizard snatched his pillow back.

"Oh please." Theo snorted. "You know perfectly well that your mother would kill me if I ever changed a single piece of furniture. She doesn't like it at all. Do you remember the time when I had changed the carpet of the living room, and she had refused to give me the apple pies for a few days?"

"My mother takes too much pride in her decorating skills." Draco rolled his eyes and shifted again, so that he laid on his back now, and pulled the blanket over his bare chest. "And she literally painted my room yellow. Like can you really believe it? Yellow?"

"Oh to see the great Draco Malfoy, a proud Slytherin, surrounded by yellow coloured things in his yellow room." He snickered. "Such a joy."

"Shut it, Nott." The blond Slytherin warned him. "Well at least she doesn't know that I have charmed this room to just show the yellow colour when she comes here, and to stay green for the rest of the time."

"I mean, I can always tell her this secret piece of information-"

Draco kicked his leg with his leg, which was not trapped under his best friend's leg, to kick him out of the bed. "That's what you get for threatening me."

Theo groaned from his position at the floor. "I will tell Narcissa that you are being mean. She loves me more than you, after all."

"Keep dreaming, Nott." Draco drawled and slung an arm over his head, ready to fall back to sleep.

But who would be Theodore Nott Jr. if he gave up so easily in annoying the hell out of his best friend?

He picked up his wand, and instead of using it to silence Blaise, he increased the volume of his snores to irritate Draco.

An annoyed blond wizard removed his arm from his face, quietly got up from the bed, accioed a bucket filled to the brim with cold water towards him, and emptied it on Theo's head.

"What the-Are you insane?" The said person screamed and and immediately stood up from the floor. He pointed his wand at his best friend, and just as he was about to say something, the two wizards heard a voice.

"Can't you two idiots let me sleep?" Blaise sleepily mumbled from where he was lying on the couch and shifted on his side, ready to start snoring again.

Nodding at each other, their anger towards each other forgotten, Theo and Draco filled the bucket again, accioed another one, and emptied them on Blaise.

The Italian wizard's screamed would have probably woken up everyone in the Manor, if not for the silencing charms that were there in Draco's room. 

Theo and Draco high fived each other. "That's what you get for not letting us sleep whole night, Zabini." They said in unison.

"Wait till I tell Narcissa about this, she will pull your ears." Blaise grumbled and stood up. As he walked towards the door, he muttered, "I swear I have got the worst best friends in the world."

His friends looked at each other and shrugged, and then looked at the mess they had made in the room.

"I am not cleaning it." Theo stated. "It is your room, therefore, you should be the one to clean it, Draco."

As the brown haired wizard left the room, the Malfoy heir rolled his eyes. "I could call a house elf, but then again, I can't let anyone see Blaise and Theo's bags lying here."

Sighing to himself, he cleaned his room and walked towards the adjoined bathroom. It was only when he reached the door, that he suddenly felt dizzy.

Draco grabbed the handle for support, and clutched his head with his other hand. He hadn't eaten anything since before the Battle, and it seemed as if the healing potions hadn't worked perfectly because of that.

"Well," He told himself as the galleon he had kept in his sweatpants burnt and he took it out to see a time appear on it, "I will eat something after coming back from Grimmauld Place."

A few minutes later found Draco cautiously walking down the stairs, looking around again and again in case Voldemort or any Death Eater spotted him, but thankfully, he managed to reach the floo room discreetly.

And there he saw his parents waiting for him.

After his father told him that Voldemort had gone somewhere, and taken his head Death Eaters with him, Draco informed them that Hermione had asked him to come to the Order's Headquarters.

Narcissa frowned and asked him to rest, offering that she and her husband would go, but Draco was as stubborn as his parents, if not more, and he wanted to go to the meeting.

Just as he was about to take the floo powder in his hands, he remembered that floo could be tracked, and so, he decided to apparate to Grimmauld Place.

Draco knew that doing apparation would weaken him even further, and due to that, he stumbled as he arrived on the doorstep.

But before he could even take a step further, he fell down on the doorstep and lost consciousness.

Though before Draco had fainted, he could have sworn that he heard the door open and saw a witch with wide brown eyes and bushy hair looking at him.

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

One day later.....

Hermione sighed as she climbed the stairs with a tray in her hands. She ignored Ron, who was standing outside her room, and when he tried to stop her from entering, she merely gave him a glare which was enough to tell him to back off.

Not wasting another second, the brunette witch quickly crossed the room in five strides, and stopped in front of the bed which was there against the back wall.

Before she could even put the tray down on the adjacent table, she heard a low murmur.

"Granger."

Hermione gasped as she looked at the blond wizard lying on the cot in front of her. Was he awake? 

But when she called his name, he didn't do anything except shift a little bit, and let out a hiss because of the movement.

So if Draco was asleep, then why was he saying her name, well her last name?

Was he somehow able to sense her presence even though he wasn't awake?

That thought was absurd, Hermione shook her head as soon as she thought about that idea. Why would Draco Lucius Malfoy, of all people in the world, say her name in his sleep?

Wasn't she the girl he hated so much?

Sighing in frustration, Hermione put the tray on the table, and took her wand out. She pointed it at the wizard lying in front of her, and began checking his wounds.

While she was doing that, her mind drifted off to the events that had taken place a day before at Grimmauld Place.

Flashback

She still remembered how she had shouted to call everyone for help when she had seen an unconscious Draco lying on the doorstep of the house, his body showing the obvious tremors of the Cruciatus Curse, and blood seeping through his shirt because of a wound.

When almost everyone had just stared at the almost eighteen years old wizard in shock, it had been McGonagall who had yelled at them to get a move, and had immediately sent her patronus to Madam Pomfrey, asking the witch to come here.

So Draco Malfoy had been carried inside the house, and placed on the couch, where Kingsley checked using some spells whether or not he was an imposter while waiting for Madam Pomfrey.

But when the said witch had arrived, there posed a problem. 

There was no extra room available to keep Draco.

Obviously, they couldn't very well keep him in the living room. There were many people who still held grudges against him, and wouldn't waste an opportunity to harm him.

And also, not everyone in the Order knew what Draco had demanded in return for not telling their hiding place to Lord Voldemort. Therefore, they couldn't risk letting them see the unconscious wizard there, both for his and his family's safety and theirs.

So now where to put him in so that Madam Pomfrey could heal him?

No single room was free. At least four to five people were staying in each room, and of course, even if the senior Order members didn't trust the Malfoy Heir much, they couldn't place him in a room full of people who hated him.

Because even though Draco might be a Death Eater, an unwilling one at that, he had helped the Golden Trio as much as he could, and had kept the Order's secret safe from the Dark Lord.

They got the answer when Hermione volunteered to let Draco be in her room.

She usually shared the room with Luna, Hannah and Ginny, but the other witches had gone to the Burrow that day to help out there, and wouldn't return until the next day, so there was space available in her room.

Her suggestion was met with protests.

Mainly from Ron, Harry and a few others, but McGonagall and Kingsley had sided with her, after making sure she was absolutely fine with it, and had put up protective wards around Hermione's bed, so that when Draco woke up, he wouldn't be able to harm her.

Though Harry had backed down from the argument after that, Ron hadn't. 

It was only when McGonagall looked sternly at the red headed wizard and Molly pulled his ear, that he stopped protesting.

But that surely didn't stop him from scowling every time Hermione took the Healing potions up to her room, or insisted that no one was allowed to enter the room except her, Madam Pomfrey and the senior Order members to ensure Draco's safety.

Hermione didn't have much practice with the healing spells, she had never needed to use them, but considering it was important to learn them now that they have suffered so many wounds because of the Battle, the Gryffindor witch decided to stay by Madam Pomfrey's side while the latter healed an unconscious Draco.

Though she did hesitate a little bit when Madam Pomfrey asked Hermione to hold Draco's hands.

But then she remembered that even though they were the hands that had hexed her in fourth year, unintentionally at that, those were also the hands that had saved her from Bellatrix just a day back.

Sighing, Hermione did as she was told, and she had to bit back a whimper when Draco's hands tightened around hers, as the blond let out a loud scream while Madam Pomfrey worked on Draco's scars.

Seems like it wasn't mentioned earlier, but Draco was actually shirtless during the healing process, and Hermione had a hard time trying to ignore that fact.

And it wasn't due of the fact that Draco was insanely handsome, because Hermione knew that perfectly well, she had seen girls trailing after all the time at Hogwarts.

But the real reason was that his scars pained her.

Scars because of several dark spells, Cruciatus Curse, some scratch marks which were clearly from a werewolf, and lastly, a very dark and unique spell.

Sectumsempra.

It pained Hermione to know that her best friend, Harry James Potter, had been responsible for nearly killing the wizard lying in front of her.

How many times had Hermione asked Harry to return the book?

And not to mention their confrontration when the Boy who Lived had used that spell. And what did he get? A bunch of detentions for almost killing a student.

Totally justifiable, right?

Definitely not.

Draco may be a bully, and yes, he was about to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry, but that didn't mean that the Slytherin Prince deserved to be hit by Sectumsempra, a spell invented by his own godfather.

Hermione didn't even think that Harry had apologised to Draco for using that spell.

She wondered how that conversation would be like, that is, if the brunette managed to convince Harry to do that.

Flashback over

Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts when Draco suddenly gasped and opened his grey eyes to look at her.

"Um-I- Malfoy, are you okay?" She asked, and then mentally kicked herself. Should she really ask a person who had been obviously crucioed so much that he lost his consciousness right in front of her, if he was okay?

But Draco didn't seem to mind.

He simply shook his head and weakly pointed his finger towards the glass of water.

The Brightest Witch of Her Age quickly put the glass up to his lips, supporting his head with her other hand and helped him drink the water.

A few seconds later Draco pulled away and stared at her.

Hermione tried not to appear awkward while she adjusted the blanket around his waist, not meeting his eyes at all.

"What are you doing in my room, Granger?" Draco asked her.

"Excuse me?" She raised her eyebrows at him. Did he forget coming here? "This is Grimmauld Place, Malfoy. And you are in my room."

Draco fainted again.

-----------

"What are you doing, Cissa?" Lucius asked as he entered the room near the library and saw his wife sitting in one of the couches, staring at a wall.

"Just looking at our family tree, Lucius." She replied, without taking her eyes of the wall. She leaned forwards and touched a specific branch with her finger. "I can't believe how quickly time passed."

The Malfoy patriarch sighed and took a seat next to his wife. "I agree. It seems like just yesterday our son had taken his first steps, and now he has decided to fight against the evilest wizard in the history."

Narcissa's lips quivered as she touched her son's photo on the family tree and whispered, "I am scared, Lucius. I am scared for my dragon. It has been a day since he went to Grimmauld Place and he hasn't come back yet. What if the order did something to him, Lucius?"

"Cissa." He sighed again and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her towards him. "McGonagall secretly sent a letter to us yesterday, informing us of how Draco had fainted, didn't she? Do you really think she would let something happen to Draco? He might not have been her favorite, but she loves all of her students. And she believes that there is good in everyone, and she wouldn't let anyone harm our son, specially when he is unconscious. Have some faith in her."

"I know that. And I have faith in her, Lucius, I know she won't let anyone harm my baby dragon. She said that she would inform us as soon as he woke up. And we haven't gotten any letter yet. Oh Lucius, I just want to see my dragon. My poor sweet dragon."

"Narcissa-"

"I want to go and see my dragon, Lucius. Please take me there." She pleaded with him. "Please take me to Grimmauld Place, I want to see how my poor innocent dragon is."

"You know I can't do that, Cissa." He said as gently as he could.

"Then let me go there-"

"Cissa, please." Lucius wiped away the tears that had escaped his beloved's eyes and kissed her forehead. "The Dark Lord has come back from wherever he went to, and he wouldn't like us going somewhere. We have already lied to him about Draco's whereabouts, and we can't afford to act any more suspicious. Please try to understand."

"I wish I could contact him somehow." She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "So that I would know how he is. And I just hope that the Order will accept him, even if they don't want us to join them. I don't know for how long my dear dragon would be able to survive this world of darkness. He had already lost himself while trying to complete the task, Lucius, and I don't want Voldemort to ruin him further."

Lucius closed his eyes as he wished he could be as brave as his dear wife.

Though as he opened his eyes after a few seconds and looked at her face, he knew that he had to change the topic to make her smile. 

Now what topic to talk about? 

He mentally smirked as he got the idea, silently thanking his son, and cleared his throat. 

What better thing to talk about other than how Draco would write very long letters to them during his first year, complaining about Hermione all the time? 

Placing his hand where his wife's rested, Lucius said, "Cissa, do you remember how Draco used to write so many letters to us, which included nothing but complaints about that mudblood-"

She glared at him.

Oh shit, he was supposed to make her laugh, not angry.

"-I mean, muggle born Granger?" He sheepishly looked at her. 

Narcissa rolled her eyes at his attempt to change the topic, but allowed a small smile to play on her lips. "How can I possibly forget that, Lucius? I am sure I still have the stack of those letters in our room."

"For a while, I actually thought that Draco was obsessed with her, or that he fancied her." Lucius sighed.

"Well that might actually be true, you know? After all, we both saw how quickly Miss Granger gave Draco that galleon to let him know the time, she didn't even protest."

She continued, "Besides, my dear dragon might think that nobody heard the jealousy clearly evident in his voice when he taunted Mr Weasley by saying that he should learn from his girlfriend, that is, Miss Granger, but I actually did."

Lucius thought for a second that he heard annoyance in his wife's tone when she repeated their son's words about Ron and Hermione's relationship. 

But he quickly shook his head a second later. There was no way that Narcissa would be affected by the muggle born witch's relationship with anyone.

And then, he gasped as he realised what his wife had actually said earlier. "You can't be serious. Draco fancying Granger? Our son liking that mudbl- I mean, muggle born girl? No way."

He would seriously have to think before speaking the next time, because he had no intention of facing his wife's wrath when he chose to continue speaking that foul word.

"Don't look so shocked, Lucius." The Malfoy matriarch once again rolled her eyes at him. "You clearly haven't recognised the way my precious dragon looks at Miss Granger."

"And what way that might be?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"It is the same way you look at me." She grinned at him. "And remember how awkwardly you used to act when we got married because we barely knew each other, and yet you chose to defend me in front of others?"

When he nodded, Narcissa grasped his hand in hers and squeezed it gently. "That is exactly how Draco acts. He chose to protect Miss Granger from my sister Bellatrix, all the while knowing that his skills were no match for her darkness, and that he was putting both himself and Miss Granger at risk. But he still chose to protect her. And that, Lucius, is what I call the first stage of love, protecting your love, while being in denial."

"Draco will prove you wrong when he would tell us that he still hates that Granger girl." Lucius snorted.

"It's a bet then." She nodded at him. "Be prepared to loose then, Lucius. And don't come and whine when you do."

He shook his head, but smiled mentally when he watched his wife look at the family tree again, this time, with happiness clearly evident in her expression.

And Lucius would do anything to make Narcissa smile.

But of course, he knew better than to go near the rose bushes of her. 

They were as precious to her as the albino peacocks. 

Not that Lucius didn't love the peacocks, of course. But his son didn't, not at all. 

And well little moments like this were so precious when the war was going on, and darkness was looming all around you.

--------

Meanwhile.....

"Where the hell are you taking me, Blaise?" Pansy complained as her boyfriend of almost a year led her somewhere, with his hands covering her eyes.

"Try to be patient, my love." He chuckled and finally removed his from her eyes, hoping that she will like the surprise.

And also that it would be enough to distract her from asking about Draco.

"Oh finally. Where have you brought me, Blaise? Wait, why are we in a library?" She frowned at him.

"You didn't like the surprise?" The Italian wizard almost pouted.

"I am not Granger, Blaise." She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't get so excited that I will start jumping up and down like an idiot when I see a library. What would I even do in a library?"

"Oh I don't know, read books perhaps?"

"Blaise." Pansy warned him.

"Joke. It was just a joke." Blaise nervously chuckled when she narrowed her eyes at him. "This magical library is also an entrance to an amazing cafe. And I wanted to show you that."

"And how do you know about that, my dear Blaise?" She crossed her arms in front of her. "Did you come here without me? And why didn't you tell me about it, Blaise?"

He gulped. "Well you see, Pansy-"

"Quick quick." She interrupted him. "I am waiting, Zabini-" 

"It was before we started dating, okay?" He exclaimed in a frightful manner. He had never lied to his girlfriend before, and had never even heard about this cafe until Theo told him a day back. "Draco told me and Theo about this place when seventh year was about to start, he liked to come to this place when he didn't want anyone to find him, as the entrance is a secret, and only those who know about it, can find it."

Well Blaise would let Pansy interrogate Draco after that, and probably yell at the blond wizard as well for not telling him.

After all, Blaise was not telling Pansy that where Draco was, or that he was planning to defect.

Such a nice best friend the Italian wizard was to Draco, wasn't he?

Besides, he didn't tell any secret of Draco's to anyone, except the embarrassing ones. 

Because after all, who wouldn't want to hear how the Slytherin Prince, the great Draco Malfoy, got chased by the peacocks? 

-------

A few hours later.....

"MY DRAGON!" 

Draco had not regained his balance after apparating to his room, when his vision was almost covered by platinum blond hair, and arms wrapped around his body.

Before he could understand what had happened, he heard someone laughing. After straightening to his full height, Draco used one of his hands to brush the hair off his face, he saw his father standing a few feet away, seeming to enjoy Draco's shocked expression.

What was he doing here in Draco's room?

"Don't look so shocked, Draco." Lucius said, as if reading his son's mind. "We have been waiting here for you since hours. And I reckon you hug your mother back, she won't let you go until you do."

It was then that Draco realised that the person whose arms were wrapped around him was none other than his mother, and her hair had been obstructing his vision earlier, for he had bent down to place his hands on his knees, and to take a few deep breaths to not feel sick.

"My stupid oblivious dragon." Narcissa muttered as she clutched her son tighter to her.

But she also reached up to smack his head.

Well, Draco should be thankful that at least, she didn't pull his ear tightly.

"Mother." The blond wizard shook his head and wrapped his arms around her. He frowned when he felt wetness on his shoulder on which his mother had rested her head. "Don't cry, Mother, please."

"Do you have any idea how worried I have been, Draco Lucius Malfoy?" Narcissa exclaimed as she pulled away from her son, furiously wiping her tears away but they just continued their way down on her cheeks. 

The Slytherin Prince flinched when his mother said his full name. On instinct, he raised his hands to cover his ears.

Thankfully, instead of pulling his ears, Narcissa simply shook her head and laughed at him.

"I am not that cruel that I will harm you every time, my stupid dragon." She said to him.

"Says the woman who yelled at me for hours and prevented me from eating chocolates when I had just entered the peacocks area." Draco muttered.

"You had dared to annoy my precious peacocks, my clueless dragon." Narcissa scolded him. "And no one gets to annoys my peacocks, not even my stupid son."

"My father will hear about this." Draco muttered.

And then a second later, he turned to Lucius, who was still laughing. "Are you just going to let her make fun of your precious son, Father?"

Lucius let out a dramatic sigh, but nonetheless walked towards the duo. He hesitantly raised his hands and enveloped Draco in an awkward hug.

Perhaps not more awkward than the hug Voldemort had given him.

"I am glad that you are alright, Draco." Lucius whispered. "You had made us so worried."

Draco froze, not knowing what to do.

It was the first time in his whole life that his father had hugged him. 

Next to them, Narcissa smiled softly as she saw her son raise his hands, as hesitantly as her husband had done, and hug his father back. "I am sorry, Father, I didn't want to make you both worried. I hadn't eaten anything since the Battle, and the potions didn't work because of that. I collapsed as soon as I reached Grimmauld Place."

Lucius pulled away from him after giving him a pat on his back, and then led him towards his bed. He and his wife sat down on the nearby couch while their son put on even more charms around his room. 

"You were treated nicely at the Grimmauld Place, weren't you, my dragon?" Narcissa asked him. "They didn't harm you or anything, right?"

"They treated me fine, Mother." Draco nodded at her. "Granger- I mean, McGonagall and other members made sure I was healed properly, and that no one dared to harm me."

The Malfoy matriarch smiled to herself when she heard her son speak the muggle born witch's name.

Oh she couldn't wait to win the bet.

Next to her, Lucius shook his head and sighed mentally.

Just back from the Order, and his son was already talking about Hermione. Oh boy.

Before his wife could ask anything about the said muggle born girl, Lucius started, "So did the Order have their meeting, Draco?"

Lucius ignored when his wife narrowed her eyes on him.

"They did." Draco nodded once again. "I woke up a day after I had fainted, and after making sure I was healed properly, they gave me breakfast and held the meeting."

Well it was actually Hermione who had brought him breakfast, but the Slytherin Prince thought it was okay to not mention that.

After all, his parents definitely didn't want to hear about her, right?

Taking a deep breath, Draco told his parents everything that had happened after he had woken up.

Excluding the little detail that he had fainted again after Hermione had told him that he was in her room.

Flashback

After Draco had fainted again, Hermione had rolled her eyes and sprinkled some water on his face. "Get up you git, you have to take the potions."

Almost as if he was just acting instead of actually fainting, the blond wizard opened his grey eyes and looked at her narrowed brown eyes.

"I knew you were just acting instead of actually being unconscious because of seeing me here, Malfoy-"

"Don't flatter yourself, Granger." He sneered at her. "You are not a famous actress that I would faint after taking a look at you. Though I guess, everyone faints after looking at my good looking-ness-"

"You and your ego, I swear." Hermione shook her head. "Even after being injured you have to act like an egotistical prat-" 

Draco continued as if she hadn't interrupted him, "And well I fainted from the pain, and also from the shock when you told me I was in your room."

"See!" She exclaimed. "I knew it-"

"Stop boasting about your stupid and annoying Brightest Witch of our Age title, beaver." He snarled at her. "I fainted because I thought that I would get attacked, more probably by you and your dunderheads. I don't trust you Gryffindorks-"

"Well you should be grateful to me because me, being a Gryffindork-" Hermione started, not realising what she had said.

Draco smirked at her. "So finally you have admitted that you are actually a Gryffindork. I am always right, you know? So my dear Gryffindork-"

"Gryffindor." She corrected him, ignoring the blush on her cheek because of her mistake, and the two words he had said before calling her a Gryffindork in the last sentence.

Draco was thankful she didn't react much to him calling her 'my dear'.

Why would he even say that?

It's not like he had a crush on the muggle born Gryffindor-

-He meant Gryffindork-

-Or something, right? He hated Hermione Granger with every fibre of his being.

Yes he definitely did.

Stop rolling your eyes and hiding a secret smile, Mother, I definitely don't have a crush on that bird nest hair beaver, Draco thought as he looked at her brown eyes.

Her beautiful brown eyes which were so mesmerizing that he could get lost in them-

Oh no, Draco. Definitely not. That's a very dangerous territory. Better stay focused on the way she annoys and irritates you, Draco.

Hermione snapped her fingers in front of his face when he didn't answer her question. "Earth to Malfoy?"

"What, beaver?"

"You will respect me, ferret, or so help me that I will not hesitate in hexing you-"

"Injured man here, Granger-"

"-and also, I was asking if your wounds-"

Just then, Hermione stumbled forwards as she tried to pick up the potions and landed on top of him.

Well not really on top of him, Draco sighed thankfully, her torso was almost in contact with his, her hands on either side of his face.

And their faces, well, they were just centimetres apart.

So close that if either of them even just shifted their faces a little bit, their lips would press to the other person's.

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked as she entered the room. 

And immediately stopped when she took in the sight of hers. Though one couldn't be mistaken when they saw a glint in her eyes, mischievous one perhaps.

"I-I was just checking his wounds, Professor." Hermione stuttered and immediately got up. She hastily picked up the potions and helped Draco drink them. 

"Since when does checking someone's wounds include insulting them and giving threatnes of hex?" Draco muttered in between drinking the potions.

"Well whatever you might be doing, please bring Mr Malfoy down to the living room when you are done. He can have breakfast there, and attend the meeting as well." After looking at them once more with a particular expression, McGonagall left the room.

It was only then that Hermione and Draco noticed that they both had similar blushes on their cheeks. 

Half an hour later, when Hermione had finished giving him all the potions and checking his wounds, she helped him walk down the stairs and into the living room, where a tray of food was waiting for him.

When Draco had finished eating, Kingsley called everyone, who knew about the Malfoy heir's presence there, and started the meeting.

"Mr Malfoy," He began in his low voice, "After much deliberation, we have decided to let you and your family join the Order, but-" He held up a hand to stop Draco, who had opened his mouth, from speaking, "-we haven't completely given our trust to you yet. You and your parents did help the Order members, Mr Potter and Miss Granger especially, but it doesn't rule out the fact that you have been serving for the Dark Lord as well. Therefore, we have decided to make you three our spies, double agents to be specific, and you will continue staying at the Manor. If you help us by providing information, we will let you properly join the Order. However, one toe out of line, and you can consider this chance gone."

Flashback over

Draco watched his parents sit in complete silence as they thought about what he had just said. About Kingsley and the Order's decision.

"It sounds fair." Narcissa eventually said. "However, it is a very dangerous job. Are you sure that you want to do it, my dear dragon?"

"I have to, Mother." Draco sighed. "It is the only way I can stop the darkness from consuming me, and forcing me to ruin this world."

"If that is your decision," Lucius told him, "Then we will support you, son."

Draco smiled at them and leaned back on his bed. Voldemort better be on his guard now, because he would have to deal with Slytherin spies now.

A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 5700+ words. Hope you guys liked it. So the Malfoys have joined the Order. Random question: Narcissa or McGonagall? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you!

Next chapter on 31/7/21(Saturday). 

Until next time.