A/N: I'm back! I'm so sorry it's been a month since I updated, but the last month of school was insane, and this chapter needed some major editing before it was fit to be read. I've tweaked and poked and prodded at it for a while, so I'm hoping it all worked out. Thank you so much to everyone for being so supportive of this story! I promise it'll all be done by the end of the summer hols. :) And also, we've got a lot of mind communication here I this chapter, so I hope it's all formatted properly to help you figure out who's doing the 'talking'. Enjoy!

*** 23 – The 'Surprise' Guest ***

Liz spent the next few hours being grilled for information on her whereabouts over the last few weeks. She maintained her story about travelling to avoid being caught by the people who'd held her before, and that she'd planned on leaving London a few days after meeting Blake. She made sure to ask questions at many of their statements, especially when they referred to her as Miss Granger. Liz had to make sure that they believed that she couldn't remember her past, otherwise they'd never let Draco near her once he arrived.

After much questioning, she was finally taken to a small room with a cot in it. The man guiding her told her to enjoy her stay, and that they'd be back for her in the morning. As the door slammed behind her, she forced herself not to cry in fear. She sat stiffly on the cot, only taking comfort in the fact that her wand was still safely attached to her inner calf. She silently cast a Disillusionment charm on it, and allowed herself to sink to the ground so she could hide it easily in the frame of the cot. She could always Accio it if she needed it, but she couldn't take the chance of keeping it attached to her body.

Liz?

Her head shot up at the familiar voice in her mind. Draco?

Don't react at all, he hissed gently. They may have a camera in the room.

Liz forced herself to keep a neutral expression. What's going on? I thought we all agreed to not communicate like this.

Blaise came back and told us that all they'd done was question you so far, so there's no way they could know we're doing this. I just really needed to know you were ok.

I'm scared.

I know. I'll be there with you soon.

You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to it, even though I won't be able to show it.

I do know, because I feel the same. But it's always nice to hear it.

She smiled slightly. How is everyone?

Worried about you and nervous about sending me in too. Molly still feels like I'm abandoning Isabel.

I'm sorry.

She'll be fine. We've been through this sort of thing before.

Ginny will watch her, and we'll be back before they know it.

That's the positive attitude I was looking for. Glad to see you haven't lost that optimism.

I almost did earlier.

Why?

They've got the place guarded by Dementors.

Dementors?!

I saw them flying around on the other side of the complex.

I'll let everyone know. The sooner we start planning our breakout, the better.

Agreed. Silence, then, Draco?

Yeah?

I never did thank you for last night.

I still feel bad for losing control like that.

Please don't. I don't regret a second of it.

Really?

Really. I can't remember ever feeling that way before.

It's been five years since I've felt that way.

It was incredible.

I couldn't agree more.

She smiled slightly, and knew he was doing the same. A sound in the hallway jarred her from her thoughts. I'd better go, she sent, regretfully. I'll see you soon.

Longest two days of my life, he replied. Stay safe.

You too. Give everyone a hug for me.

I will. And I promise to give you one as soon as I see you.

How? They'll figure out what we're doing!

Trust me.

She hesitated a second, and then sighed. Ok. Bye for now, Draco.

Bye, he whispered in her mind, and was gone.

Liz sighed deeply, but jumped as the door opened. Blaise entered, a malicious look on his face. She forced herself to put on an angry expression of betrayal. "What do you want?" she hissed.

He held up his hands, which held a tray of food, and she almost missed the slight, subtle shake of his head as he spoke. "Just keeping the prisoner alive." He placed the tray on the floor near the door, and went to leave.

"I can't believe I trusted you," she spat bitterly, wanting desperately to drop the act, but knowing she couldn't.

He turned slowly and she could see the love in his eyes despite the angry smirk on his face. "I can be extremely persuasive," he informed her before spinning on his heel once more and slamming the door behind him.

Liz sighed again, and looked at the tray. He'd shaken his head at it. They must have put something in the food. She was suddenly very scared, and made no move towards the door. Instead, she climbed up onto her cot and curled herself into a ball. She let her thoughts consume her until she finally fell into a fitful sleep.

The next two days passed very much the same way. Lots of questions, some physical tests, ignored meals. Liz had discovered the camera in her room (near the door), and made sure to remember that for the future. Blaise had continued to bring her tainted food, but always left some normal food near the door when he would pick her untouched tray up. It was only a little, for that's all he could smuggle in, but it was safe and consistent, and she loved him for it.

Her third day at the compound arrived and, and she steeled herself for what would happen that day. Everything seemed normal at first, except for the fact that a stranger brought her breakfast today due to Blaise's mission. She'd gone through the day's round of tests and questions, and was finally being taken back to her room for lunch when it happened.

She rounded the corner with her guards, and found the hallway in chaos. Men were running everywhere, and sparks and jets of light were flying in every direction. One of Liz's guards ran into the fray to help while the other kept a firm grip on Liz's arm.

As the guards reached the crowd, Liz finally saw the source of the commotion. Two men were holding Draco's arms as he fought half-heartedly against their grip. He had stunned several of the men, but Liz's guard now had his wand. Draco had been instructed not to use wordless or wandless magic (this secret information would hopefully give them an edge later), so the fight was quickly over. He was kicked in the stomach by one of the guards, and Liz couldn't help but cry out at the action.

He raised his head and his eyes met hers. Dawning realization spread across his face as he wrenched himself away from his captors and ran to her. "Mione!" he shouted as he threw himself at her and wrapped her in a warm embrace.

Liz could have cried at that moment. There, with him wrapped around her, she wanted nothing more than to hug him back with all her strength and never let go. But she forced her arms to remain limp, and tried her very best to keep a shocked expression on her face as he spoke.

"I thought I'd lost you forever! Where have you been? We've all been searching for you for ages! And now I've got you back!" If his hug and his declarations of love hadn't tested her willpower enough, his next action did. Draco pulled back to look into her confused face, and proceeded to kiss her with the same love and passion he'd demonstrated the night before. As his mouth gently yet desperately clung to hers, she once again called on everything she had in her to keep her in character. "Mi?" he asked as he pulled away, puzzled.

"Who are you?" Liz asked, shaking her head. The defeated look on Draco's face was almost her undoing, but she forced herself to stand neutral. She wanted to be with him so badly, but the only way that would happen was if she played it off now.

"Mi? It's me, Draco."

"I don't know a Draco, and why are you calling me Mi?"

"You do know a Draco, you married one. And I'm calling you Mi because that's my nickname for you. It's a short form of your name."

"My name is Liz, and I'm not married."

"You're name is Hermione, and we are married."

"I am not. I don't know you."

Liz felt a tug on her arm, and noticed her guard trying to draw her away from the scene. Draco fixed his eyes on her in a desperate gaze, and she nearly cried at not being able to return it. He was held back as she passed by, but he struggled with the grip of his captors just enough to gently brush her hand with his fingers. She felt shivers slide up her arm and she had to turn her face away from him so that she wouldn't fall under his spell the way she wanted to.

As they went around another corner, Liz caught a glimpse of Blaise speaking in low tones with the doctor in charge of the facility. She couldn't hear much, but she managed to catch a few words. "Granger…memory…Malfoy…together…remember…" All through the conversation, the doctor was nodding silently. Liz sent a silent prayer heavenward, hoping that things would work out in her favour.

Nothing else happened, and she didn't see Draco for the rest of the day. Blaise delivered her 'dinner' as usual, as well as her normal food, but left her a very brief note explaining that the doctor had agreed to put her and Draco together in an attempt to jog her memory. It would be happening fairly soon too. Liz breathed a sigh of relief and went to sleep that night feeling just a little safer.

When she woke up, she cried out in surprise at the sight in front of her. Another cot had been rolled in while she slept, and she saw the back of a platinum blond head facing her. In her half-awake state, she didn't realize who it was in the room with her, so she jumped up in her bed and curled into a ball against the wall. At her shriek, the person jumped up as well, only out of the bed entirely and stared around the room looking for the source of the disturbance. It was only then that Liz realized who he was.

He faced her and her eyes pleaded with him to maintain their act. "Mione?" he asked.

Liz shook her head vehemently. "I told you, my name is Liz. You've mistaken me for someone else."

"I'd know my wife anywhere," he said passionately, taking a step toward her.

She pulled herself into a tighter ball on the bed. "I'm not her."

He paused midstep, and spun when the door opened behind him. "Good morning Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger," said a man in a white lab coat.

"She's Mrs. Malfoy, actually," Draco hissed at him.

"It's Miss Cooper, thank you," Liz spat angrily.

"Either way, I trust you both slept well." Without waiting for a reply, he continued. "I'm Dr. Moore."

"Why are we here?" Liz demanded without preamble.

"I assure you, all will be revealed in due time," Dr. Moore replied. "In the meantime, I need Mr. Malfoy to come with me."

"Why?" Draco and Liz asked in unison. They looked at each other, shocked, then turned their attention back to Dr. Moore.

"Just some simple tests," the doctor replied. "We just want to make sure you weren't injured in the scuffle yesterday."

"Shouldn't you have done that yesterday?" Draco shot back, bitterly.

"Perhaps." The doctor nodded briefly, and motioned to the door. "Shall we?"

"What about me?" Liz asked.

"We're still waiting on some of your test results from yesterday, so you will have the day to yourself. We'll address any issues tomorrow."

"So I'm to stay locked in here for the day?"

"Of course not, my dear, I am not a cruel man. Someone will be along in a moment to take you for a nice long walk around the grounds." With that, the doctor took Draco's arm and made to move towards the door. Draco yanked his arm back and stared angrily at the doctor. "Mr. Malfoy, I will use force to remove you, but I don't think you want your wife to see it." Draco's eyes flew to Liz's face, before he sighed and trudged out of the room.

As the door closed, Liz shouted after them, "I'm not his wife!" before dropping to the floor in a silent fit of tears.

Moments later, the door opened again. Liz looked up through her tear-filled eyes, and saw Blaise standing above her. "Come on," he said gruffly, holding out his hand. With a timid expression etched on her face, she took his hand and allowed him to help her up. He removed her from the room and took her through several halls before finally leading her outside. They walked in silence for a few minutes before he spoke. "It's safe to talk out here," he whispered. "The facility's wired for video, but not for sound."

"So they can only ever see us?" Liz asked.

"Exactly." He paused. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm ok I guess. Just scared. Yesterday really freaked me out."

"I know, and I'm sorry it had to go down like that, but we needed to make it convincing."

I know."

"You weren't hurt though?"

She paused before answering. "Not physically."

"Oh." Silence again.

"Where did they take him?"

"To one of the testing rooms."

"What are they going to do to him?"

"I honestly don't know."

Fear gripped Liz's heart at the idea of Draco facing an unknown enemy with no wand to help him. Blaise, sensing her distress, spoke again.

"They won't do anything too harsh," he offered. "They need him around to help you remember your life." She nodded, and gazed around the grounds.

"What kind of magical wards do they have on this place?"

Blaise smiled. She'd always been keen to know everything possible about any situation so she could use the information to her advantage later. "They had me set up anti-apparition wards inside the main building, and make this place unplottable. But out here, there's nothing except the Dementors. The bigwigs figured that if someone tried to escape, the alarms inside would ready the Dementors for when the person got outside the complex. They were also guarding the facility in Toronto where I found you."

"Is that why the storm started?" Liz asked. "I know Dementors have no official effect on the weather, but given how they can make the atmosphere around their victims cold and dark, it's not that big of a stretch for rain to start, right?"

"How did you know all of that?" Blaise asked, a hint of humour in his voice.

Liz shrugged. "I've been researching as much as I can since I got to Grimmauld Place. They came up in some of the books."

Blaise shook his head, the smile present in his voice alone. "I should have guessed."

"So that's it?"

"That's it. Again, there's Muggle security cameras inside, and I'm pretty sure that the fence around the field is electric. Security guards patrol the corridors and the grounds every hour."

"So what can I do?"

"For right now, keep your head down and stay out of trouble. I'm supposed to be watching you when Draco can't. He'll kill me if anything happens to you."

"I think we can all admit that I can fend for myself," she replied lightly.

He chuckled. "True enough. Speaking of fending for yourself, where's your wand?"

"In my room, under my bed. I can Accio it if I really need it. Where's Draco's?"

"Under lock and key in Dr. Moore's office."

"So we'd have to Accio that as well if we needed it."

"I hope you're not planning on doing anything dangerous."

"Me? Never!" she replied, fixing him with an innocent look that made him laugh. "I'm not planning anything yet," she confessed. "I'm just preparing for the worst. If we have to get out of here in a hurry, I want to have as few surprises as possible."

"Understandable."

"Tell me more about the grounds."

"There's not much to tell. There's nothing outside of the complex, other than the small shack that houses the Dementors. They, like the Muggle security guards inside, patrol once an hour, and of course in emergencies. There's a special alarm inside that goes off when someone tries to escape. Only the Dementors can hear it, which is how they can sneak up on you."

"Good to know."

The rest of their walk was spent in silence. The Dementors came out to patrol a little while later, and Blaise easily expelled them with his fox Patronus. Shortly thereafter, he brought Liz back inside and deposited her in a room on the second floor of the building.

She examined her new environment, trying to take in as much detail as she could. It looked as though she was in some sort of conference room, as a long wooden table stretched over the majority of the floor. Chairs were dispersed sporadically around it, with a beautiful leather chair at one end of the table. She looked out of the long bank of windows that covered one wall, and deduced that she was facing west, judging by the current position of the sun. Other than the tables and chairs, the room was bare. Nothing adorned the walls, no cupboards were present. It was a very sterile room.

The door behind her creaked, and she spun on the spot to face it.

"Hello, Miss Granger."

"Dr. Moore, I don't know why you keep calling me that. My name is Liz Cooper."

"I'm afraid that's what I'm here to talk about, my dear. Would you please have a seat?" he asked kindly.

Not wanting to tip him off she obliged, sitting in a small chair near the window. He took the leather chair at the head of the table, and folded his hands in front of him before speaking.

"I'm afraid you've been misinformed."

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Malfoy was speaking the truth earlier. Your name is not Liz, but Hermione."

Forcing a shocked look onto her suspicious face, Liz spoke. "You're lying."

"I'm afraid not. You were born Hermione Jean Granger to parents Michael and Katherine in London, England. You went off to private school at age 11, coming home only for Christmas and summer vacation. It was there, at school, that you met Mr. Malfoy, who is the son of one of England's wealthiest families. You married not even a year out of school."

"I was born in Toronto, Canada to parents Patricia and Roger. I have never been to boarding school, and have never been married. The longest relationship I've had lasted three years. I have very distinct memories of growing up. If I was who you say I am, how could I have these memories?"

"I do have a theory for that. According to my research, there were some people who were not happy about the relationship you shared with Mr. Malfoy back at school, including an ex-girlfriend of his, as well as his father. I can't say for sure, but I believe that one of them may have orchestrated a very intricate plan that involved your kidnapping and the removal of your memories."

"But how is that even possible? And how did I get all these other memories then?"

"That's why we've brought you here. Your real parents are dear friends of mine, and came to me shortly after you disappeared. We've had people searching for you for years, and when we finally found you, I had my best man bring you here so that we could try to really bring you back."

Liz shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"I can understand why you wouldn't, but I assure you that I mean you no harm. We will not force you to do anything until you're ready."

"And if I don't want anything to be done at all?"

"I promised your parents that I would do everything in my power to help you, and I will not break that promise to them."

"Where is he?"

"Mr. Malfoy? As I said earlier, he is undergoing some tests to ensure that he wasn't harmed in yesterday's scuffle."

"Why did he look so angry at being here?"

"Your parents never told him about trying to find you because they didn't want to get his hopes up unnecessarily. Blake found him and told him why he was needed here, but he refused to believe it. But as I believe that his presence here will help you greatly, we had no choice but to bring him here by force."

Liz looked at him warily. This guy was smooth, and had a somewhat logical answer for everything. But that was the least of her worries. "How will his presence help me if I can't remember him?"

"We're hopeful that spending time with Mr. Malfoy will help jog some of your memories. In many cases, familiar faces and situations can pose as a catalyst for memory retrieval." Moore leaned forward in his chair. "I'm on your side, Miss Cooper. My only concern is returning you to your right state of mind."

After that disturbing statement, the good doctor led Liz back to her 'room' so she could think, and think she did. She'd taken in a lot of information that day, and had much to ponder. But all of the questions she had floating in her head disappeared the next time the door opened.

She was on her feet with a panicked cry as an unconscious Draco was dragged into the room and dropped unceremoniously onto the floor before the goons carrying him exited. As the door closed, she was at his side and feeling for a pulse.

She found one, and let out the breath she'd been holding. Nearly crying with relief, she began an inventory of his visible injuries. He had a few small cuts on his hands, as well as some scratches on his left cheek. She could see bruises on his arms, with one particularly nasty-looking black bruise that was half-hidden under the sleeve of his t-shirt. The hem of his shirt had ridden up a bit, and she could see inflamed skin on his stomach, in the shape of a very long line. What had they done to him?

Draco let out a soft groan, and tried to move. Liz placed her hands on his shoulders, immobilizing him. "Stay still. You don't want to hurt yourself more."

"I really don't think that's possible," he replied, flinching.

Liz grabbed a pillow from his cot, and gently placed it under his head. "Where does it hurt?"

"I think the easier question would be where doesn't it hurt?"

They both let out a chuckle, and Draco gasped in pain. Liz sobered immediately, and returned to her assessment. "What did they do to you?"

"They convinced me that it would be a bad idea to fight or try to escape. I think they left quite an impression on me."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that because of me."

"After seeing what they did to me, I'm even more relieved that you're not alone here."

"So am I," she whispered, running her fingers over the angry red mark on his stomach. She saw him wince, and suck in a breath at her intimate touch.

"You shouldn't be touching me like that. They're watching."

"And thankfully not listening," she added. "Besides, all they'll see is me trying to assess your injuries. Roommates are allowed to do that, even if they don't know each other."

"You should stop." She registered the strained tone in his voice, and raised her eyes to his. It was only then that she noticed they'd darkened at her actions for the third time in two weeks. She sucked in a ragged breath and tried to fight the sparks that his gaze had ignited inside of her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, regretfully removing her hands from his torso.

"It's ok," he replied, sitting up slowly. "Believe me, if they weren't watching, I'd have no objection whatsoever," he said flirtatiously. "But we have a cover to maintain."

"Sadly, yes." She helped him up onto his cot, and sat down on the edge of her own so she could face him.

"So what did you do today?"

She explained about her walk and talk with Blaise, and about everything he told her about the facility. Liz then delved into her encounter with Dr. Moore, and the lies he'd tried to feed her. After acknowledging that staying on Moore's side would be in everyone's best interest, the conversation gradually shifted to Draco telling Liz about what she'd missed in her few days away from Grimmauld. As she saw him slowly falling asleep, she gently helped him into the change of clothes that had been left for them.

Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, exhausted from his day. Liz stayed awake for a long time after, her mind whirling with though. She thought of Moore's lies, and how she could use them to her advantage. She pondered Blaise's words, and formed a rough plan of escape. But mostly, her mind strayed back to the passionate look that had resided in Draco's eyes earlier. Despite all he'd been through, she was still his priority. As she herself changed, she made a silent vow to do everything she could so that he wouldn't again have to go through the torture he'd endured thus far. Finally sleep claimed her, and her mind relaxed into nothingness.