A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone. I had to ignore a couple of lessons at school to write this for you. Thanks again to everybody who reviewed me. (This chapter has a vague mention of Draco's past)

Chapter Three

Thud. Draco dusted off the soot from his robes. He stepped into the hallway, where he could see the rest of the adjoining fireplaces, all part of the well connected Floo system the hospital had recently acquired. It was quiet, except for the odd harassed wizard or witch coming out. Draco hadn't expected much bustle, as it was after visiting hours now. St. Mungo's was connected before of course, but it was destroyed during the war, and it had taken all of two years of peace to build it up from scratch. The war had destroyed almost everything, and for Draco, it had destroyed what he had known as his life.

Naturally, he had lost both parents, one to the Kiss and the other during battle. But it had hurt him so much, more than he had ever showed. Contrary to what people believed, his parents loved him. He wasn't the rich poor boy everyone must take pity on because his parents were distant and cold. Of course his father was distant, but that was just the way he was raised to treat his children. They had wanted the best for Draco, and the best to them, or at least his father was to become a death eater. Draco realized, too late, how wrong this was, and how much it tore him apart. So during the war, he hid away, and resolved to be neutral, the Switzerland between wizards.

But one girl, the Gryffindor know-it-all, had changed all that. She found him and started to talk to him. She was lonely as well since her parents had been killed by Death Eaters. She was the one who discovered his devotion and love for his mother, and his desperate attempts to save what left of his father. She was the one who knew about all those years of trying to please his father and where that took him. She knew about the Dark Mark, and to his surprise, didn't run away or shrink from him. Instead she took it as her mission to discover the kind soul hidden in him, under all his guilt, sin and his darkest secrets.

She was the one who was the reason behind his change from Switzerland, to spy. He had fallen for her, fallen so hard that the only thing that pushed him to coming out of hiding and spying for the Light, was that he didn't want Hermione to end up a mudblood slave. And Draco's help was one of the major points of the Order's victory against Voldemort. Every time he was forced to torture some innocent person, or was tortured himself for failing (whenever he could) or just for the plain amusement of it, he would escape to his dreams. Where Hermione loved him; where her lovely dark brown eyes were filled with tenderness and ardor, instead of disdain or pity.

Then when the war was over, Draco was left to gather broken pieces of what he could from his past life. He kept Malfoy Manor, and donated large sums of money to patch up the wizard community, anonymously. No one knew of his grants, and Draco wanted to keep it that way.

His parents dead, left lonely with all the chaos and destruction around him, the only thing that helped him come out of the whole ordeal unscathed, was Hermione's help.

Hermione had seen through all the layers and walls he had put up for protection, to the compassionate, loving, arrogant, proud person Draco really was. She introduced him to Harry, and convinced them both to drop the past. She had made the real Draco shine when, out of continuous badgering from her, he spent a fortnight at the Weasley's. As much as that visit was hell (Fred and George had decided to reopen their shop again and they were trying some new tricks), it was a blessing from heaven. From that day on, Mrs.Weasley, taking pity on him, decided to embrace him as if he was her own flesh and blood. Actually, most of the Weasley family had forgotten the past and adopted Draco as a son, next to Harry, and Draco had felt guilty about all the foul things he had said to this amazing family. He spent Christmases, Easters and his birthday at the Burrow. He helped Bill with breaking charms, visited Charlie in Romania, and made fun of Percy, who was still avoiding the family. The formalities between him and Harry slipped away and they became close friends once they discovered they had a lot in common. It's true that he and Ron didn't start off too well; it was harder for Ron to forget childhood memories than it was for everyone else. He also had seen Draco as a threat, between him and Harry and at the same time Hermione. But now things were good. It wasn't picture perfect, but at least when Ron settled down with Luna, the hexes that used to fly whenever they were in the same room were non-existent. But all that didn't matter anymore. He had lost her now.

Draco stopped at the end of the corridor and scratched his head. Which way was it? Damn these hospitals and their never ending mazes! Suddenly he spotted a white robe. A nurse! Salvation from all this sickness! Draco forgot what had made him come in the first place. It held so many memories. Blaise…so near death. His mother…He shook his head to dispel the memories. He had never told anybody. No, the memories were hidden deep in his soul, where all his darkest and most valuable secrets lay.

"Excuse me? Excuse me, miss?" The white robe withdrew from the door marked 'storage', and with it came a man's head.

"Do you need anything?" The nurse asked curtly, his eyes falling on Draco's somewhat vampire look, with his handsome pale face and hair, and his black cloak with the collar upturned.

Oh. She's…I mean he's a Mr., not a Ms. How I supposed to know he was a guy? His back didn't help much.

"Yeeees…could you tell me where room 402 is located?"

"It's after visiting hours, and you need a permit to enter that room. Visiting hours start tomorrow at eight o'clock." The man narrowed his eyes.

"Draco Malfoy, Auror department, Ministry of Magic. I don't need a permit anywhere, and visiting hours for me is around the clock." Draco drawled, in that unfazed, calm but cold manner of his, which demanded obedience from everyone who received it. It always worked too. He flashed his identification badge, which had a scowling, dark-clothed Draco, glaring at this moment, at the nurse.

"You might be able to enter, but that's up to security. But interrogation is banned until Healer Barnaby arrives next morning to determine the condition of the patient."

"I won't do anything. Just going to give my condolence to the vict…patient." Draco snapped.

"If you say so. Doesn't seem like you have to ask me." The nurse commented dryly. "Second room on the left." The nurse pointed his finger in the right direction, and then turned his back to Draco and back to his work.

"Thank you." Draco left to find his way.

Yikes. Talk about sensitive. You weren't being helpful either were you? He was just doing his job. Oh, don't give me that.

Draco made his way past a lot of halls and doors, until he reached what had to be the second door on the left.

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Why did he need to steady his nerves? He was a Malfoy for Merlin's sake; calm, cool and collected. With that resolve, he turned the doorknob and stepped inside. Darkness. Draco stopped. He hoped that he hadn't come at an inappropriate time, or made all this trip for nothing. He hovered near the door, hesitating, debating whether he should leave or not.

"Come in." A frail, tired voice that had a certain familiarity about it. His heart suddenly became heavy. The voice was so sad, so hurt that Draco backed to the door, his brain racing. It was like his mother again… no, he mustn't think that. How could he have thought that he could handle this? It was his greatest weakness. He couldn't handle pain. He just couldn't. Suddenly it hit him. This wasn't just a victim. This was a woman, a live, breathing, feeling woman that has just been stabbed 7 times!

Don't panic. You have to do this, you came this far already. It's time you faced your fears. And think of all those attacks, and all those innocent dead people. Do it for them.

"Hello? I'm Draco Malfoy, Auror at the Ministry of Magic." He said to know one in particular. Why was the room so dark? He walked a few steps to where there was a sliver of moonlight, and he could faintly make out a head. "I apologize for coming at this hour, but I thought…"

Draco trailed off, stunned. His beat wildly. He tried to say something but his voice had disappeared.

"Her…Hermione?!"

To be continued.

A/N: Finally. I thought this chapter would never end. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but chapie 4 is coming very soon! I can't wait. I was originally planning 2 put it all in one chapie, but it was so long and I was really anxious to put this one up, so I split them. Your comments are welcome. Tell me what you think, cuz I thought this chapter was quite boring (except for the end, teeheehee).