A/N: Things will soon start to make sense after this chapter. Enjoy :)

Working in the Auror Department of the Ministry of Magic, Harry had many, perhaps even unlimited, resources at his disposal. Just then, the Minister himself apparated into the house through the wardings.

"Minister," Harry greeted. "I didn't realize you were coming."

"It's okay, Harry. I suppose Miss Granger sent you both a Patronus?" Kingsley asked, and the best friends nodded in reply. "Very well. I will tell you I was the last to see her in person because I asked her to come to my office to talk about her research. She left about ten minutes later, and from what I know, she apparated directly home sometime between 5:25 and 5:30."

"She sent the Patronus' to us just a few minutes after six. It's now 6:34." Harry said while checking the time on his watch.

"What do you need, Harry? Just say the word, and the Ministry will be more than happy to help you."

"Thank you, Minister. First, we need to check what other wards Hermione put up on top of the ones already in place and why. She mentioned something about there being people, two or three individuals, at the door who knocked just as she was about to get in the bath."

"Yeah, Hermione likes it at a certain temperature. I checked the water in the tub, and it is probably cold by now," Ron interjected.

"Ron, why don't you go see your family? Ginny's probably worried about you." Harry bounced back with worry in his voice.

"No, mate. I need to stay here and find out what happened to Hermione," Ron refused, his stubbornness showing.

"And we will, Ron. But first, we need to do our job to do that. Please, as a favor to me, go home to Ginny and tell her I love her, and I'll be home when this is over."

Ron looked at Harry and knew he was right. He could not do anything to help Harry, even if he tried. Ron just wanted Hermione back home and safe in his arms again. "Okay," he gave in, sounding defeated. "I'll go back to the Burrow. You better give me updates when you can."

"I will, mate. Go home and rest." Harry gave his word as he pats Ron on his back. With one last look at his and Hermione's house, he apparated to the Burrow.

"Ron!" Ginny screamed with extreme worry as soon as she saw her brother walk through the door. "What happened to Hermione? You were sent that same Patronus as Harry?"

"Yeah, I was, and so was the Minister."

"Wait, what? She sent it to the Minister too?" Ron could only nod in response.

"'Arry was the one who told me to come here because now they're treating my bloody house as a crime scene!"

"Ronald, lower your voice this instant. Teddy is sleeping upstairs!" Molly Weasley's voice echoed through the kitchen.

"Mum, have you not heard? Someone kidnapped Hermione! And we don't know who took her!"

"Now, Ron, I know this is difficult for you. It is for all of us. Hermione's a tough girl. She is more than capable of handling herself in a dangerous situation. You should know, you and Harry were the ones always getting in trouble at Hogwarts, and she was always there to help you and Harry out. Even when she was petrified." Ginny comforted her brother, and while he shuddered at the thought of that memory, it did help calm him down.

"Feeling better now?" He nodded sleepily. "Good. Why don't you go have a lie down in bed and turn in for the night?" His mother guided him up the stairs to his old room.

"Get some sleep, Ron. You're going to need it," he heard his mother say before walking out and closed the door behind her.

The following morning, Harry sent an owl with parchment to the Weasleys, giving them the updates. He knew they have been waiting all night.

Weasleys,

I have spoken with Kingsley, and he permitted me to allow Ron back to his house. We have collected the information and evidence we need for our investigation. If anything changes, I will speak to everyone personally.

Harry

"Well, that's good. The Aurors are doing everything they can to find her." Ginny says, hugging her brother.

"Yeah," he responded, looking distant and with worry.

The last thing Hermione remembered was strengthening the wards at her house. She found herself in an unfamiliar, luxurious bedroom. Hermione's head throbbed while looking around to find some clues as to where this stranger has taken her. Then she gained this sense of familiarity as if she has been in this place before. None of this was making sense. How did she end up here when she made it so only Ron, Harry, and Kingsley would have been able to come through the wards she put into place?

She took off the bed covers. They felt like silk. Looking around the room, she noticed sparkles of silver and green. A terrible feeling struck her, and she froze in place. No, no, no, no, no. She could not believe she was back here again!

She saw her wand and robes on the lounging chair in the room. She grabbed her belongings, then ran out of the room and bumped into Draco Malfoy.

Oh Merlin, please help me. She thought to herself, looking wide-eyed at the former Slytherin and Death Eater. While she half expected him to obliviate her, he held out his hand to help her up off the floor.

"Now, Granger, is running away from your savior something you do to be grateful?" He said without any sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Savior? What are you talking about, Malfoy? You kidnapped and brought me to the place where your aunt tortured me!" She spat back.

"That's where you're wrong," he said as he walked back to and opened the bedroom doors she had just run out of a few moments before. "Please, allow me to get some tea for us, and I'll explain everything."

Hermione was hesitant to trust or believe anything that came out of his mouth, but she did not have much choice. She walked over to the chairs in front of the fireplace and waited for him to explain things.

"What am I doing here, Malfoy?" Hermione started to ask, but he cut her off as a house-elf popped in with tea for two on a tray. She watched the elf quietly pour tea into each of the cups and asked, "Any sugar or milk for the miss?"

"Two sugars, please." She politely replied, wondering why there was a house-elf working for Malfoy. He looked at her and smirked.

"I know what you're thinking, Granger. 'Why does Malfoy have a house-elf when his family treated their last elf-like trash?' It is because I have moved on from those ways of thinking, and so has my mother. My father has not, which is why he is in Azkaban. But other than that, Potter testified for my mother and against him during their trials. Why he did that, I'll never know." Draco trailed off, cleared his throat, and drank some tea. "Thank you, Winnie. The tea is perfect as always."

"Winnie is happy to serve master Draco," the little elf squeaked.

"Harry did it because she lied to Voldemort to protect you and him." Draco stared at her.

"She did what?"

"It's true when Harry came back, your mother was standing over him and asked if you were still alive. She lied to protect Harry to give him that chance to defeat him." Hermione said quietly, thinking back to that night.

"Right, of course, she did. Saved by a mother's love once again." Draco took a sip of tea then cleared his throat again. "I owe you an explanation as to why you are here, Hermione. I'm sure the last thing you do remember were those knocks at your doorstep?"

"Yes, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"It was my father. He somehow escaped from Azkaban and thought going after the Gryffindor princess would get Potter's attention. It seems to have worked."

"How did I end up here then?"

"As soon as I got word that my father escaped, I found out where he was hiding, then I followed him. He was going to kidnap and possibly kill you if I hadn't intervened."

Hermione stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say to her rescuer. She let out a short sigh and teasingly said, "What do I owe to the great Slytherin Prince Draco Malfoy for the rescue?"

"Just a cup of tea and a public appearance of gratitude," he chuckled. "Looks like the cup of tea is already checked off."

"Yes, I suppose it is," she said quietly with the slightest blush of rose rising on her cheeks as she took a long sip of tea.

"Come on, Granger, you're not getting soft on me now, are you?" He laughed at her reaction.

"No, I'm still that stubborn, book-loving Mudblood you used to love to hate back at Hogwarts," she stood up, looked away from him, and said with a slightly more serious tone than before.

"Ouch, Granger. But surely you must know that I am not like that anymore. I am not the same boy with whom you went to school. I could've let my father have his way with you, but knowing Potter and Weasley, they would never forgive me if I had let him do that to you." He stood his ground yet softly still tried to reach out to her.

"And bringing me back here was just as bad!" she cried, nearly running out of arm's reach from him. "How do I know this isn't a trick, Malfoy!?"

"Don't you think you'd know by now if it were?" Draco countered. She stopped and turned around. "How can I prove to you that I have changed since then?"

"You already have, Malfoy." He gave a massive sigh of relief. "Now, may I ask said rescuer to return me to my home? Everyone is probably worried sick about me."

"As you wish," he offered his arm to grab hold of, and with a POP! they appeared into the middle of her living room. Then she saw the former Slytherin was pounced on by almost the entire Auror department.

Then Harry stood walking from the kitchen at the commotion going on in the living room, wondering why his entire department would be attacking a single person in front of the individual they were searching for all night.

"HERMIONE!" Harry yelled across the room, gaining the attention of the Aurors in the room as well. She ran to him and embraced each other. "Ron and I, we've been so worried about you! What in Merlin's name happened?" He asked her as he got his team to let up on Malfoy and gave him a hand to get up.

"Malfoy is the one who saved me from his father earlier this evening. Without doing so, Lucius Malfoy may as well have killed me," she gave him the information she could as he wrote it down.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Potter. He went after her to get to you." Everyone turned around to stare at him in silence and some in disbelief as well. "What? It's true."

To be continued...

I hope you enjoy the extra-long chapter. It took me a while to write it, but it's also my longest chapter for anything ever to date (even for college papers, lol)