A/N: To readers who speak/read italian, I apologise if my translations were wrong. I passed italian at school which was six years ago and haven't spoken a word since the age of sixteen. But I hope you like the chapter :)

October 2000

After whirling around in the air and the nausea having gone away, Draco looked around and was pleased to find himself and Astoria in Rome. Astoria rumaged through her bag and took a swig from the bottle of water she had after finding it. She offered some to Draco and he took a little sip and said his thanks. He picked up his and Astoria's luggage and the two walked to the hotel.

The two walked into the lobby, decorated with purple carpets and silver furniture. Before Draco had even put the bags down, the hotel manager had come to greet them. Sergei Giovanni was an ageing wizard and Draco had stayed at the Giovanni hotel twice before but never had he had business in Rome. The Giovanni hotel was known as the best wizarding hotel in Rome and Draco's trips before now had always had him concluding business deals just outside of the ancient city.

"Ciao Signor Malfoy, benvenuto all'hotel Giovanni. Spero che voi ei vostri ospiti sono ben?" Sergei greeted.

"Ciao Sergei, รจ bello rivederti. Sto molto bene vi ringrazio e posso introdurre il mio amico d'infanzia di Astoria Greengrass? Lei mi accompagna nel mio viaggio d'affari." Draco replied.

Astoria looked between the two, having never learned italian she didn't understand what the two had said to each other. The italian man turned to face her with a warming smile on his face.

"Astoria Greengrass this is Sergei Giovanni, the hotel manager and owner."

"It's a pleasure Sir." said Astoria, returning the old man's smile.

Sergei took ahold of her hand and shook it lightly.

"The pleasure is all mine La Signorina."

"The usual suite Sergei?" asked Draco.

Sergei released Astoria's hand and nodded, handing Draco a keycard. The two left their luggage to be brought up by the staff and headed into the lift. When the bell rang for the ninth floor of the hotel, Draco led the way to their suite and unlocked the door. The interior of the suite had a white fabricated chaise lounge with a matching sofa and side units, a black marble fireplace stood elegantly in front of the sofa. Off the lounge space was two bedrooms with adjoining en-suites and a balcony that connected to each room and was accessible from the lounge area.

Astoria admired the decor of the room before going out onto the balcony to look at the view, Draco left her alone and thanked the staff who had brought their bags up. He took his bag into the bedroom that he had stayed in before and unpacked his clothes, not noticing that Tori was stood in the doorway watching him.

"The view is amazing Draco."

He looked up at her with a small smile, "I'm glad you like it."

"So I was wondering if you had to attend to business straight away?" asked Tori.

Draco shook his head, "No I have this evening free, why?"

"We could get some dinner, go sightseeing?" she suggested.

He finished packing his clothes into the drawers and stood to face her.

"I have a meeting with the business associates tomorrow afternoon, how about we do the sightseeing in the morning? Tonight we could dine out or get room service if you feel tired after taking the port-key?"

"Room service and some wine."

Draco smiled and sent a note down to the lobby of their order for room service and fifteen minutes later, a member of staff arrived fwith two plates of spaghetti bolognaise and a bottle of wine in a bucket of ice. The two ate their dinner on the balcony and called for more bottles of wine after the first was drained dry. The sun was beginning to set and there was a chill in the air so the two moved indoors and sat in front of the fireplace, which Astoria ignited with a flick of her wand.

"You haven't mentioned your parents, how are they?"

Draco's smile faded as he placed his empty wine glass on the table behind them.

"They do fine, my father has become detached since it was all over."

"Have you spoken with him?"

Draco shook his head, "My father always pressured me to succeed and at sixteen I was a stupid boy who was proud to follow in his footsteps and make him proud. When my father escaped Azkaban we argued and he struck me, the first time he has ever done so. My mother was livid, she hated my father for striking me and told me that I should know better than to speak to my father like I would a muggle. We both agreed that although we had our differences, my mother had suffered enough so we get along for her sake. When the Dark Lord was killed, my father felt guilty for the first time in his life and drinks a lot more to take away the pain. He rarely appears in public and pushes my mother away when she tries to get close to him. But they still love each other and try to make the marriage work, how they do so I don't ask."

Astoria nodded her understanding but said no more on the subject, not wanting their trip to become awkward by putting her nose into a sensitive topic. The clock on the mantel above the fireplace struck midnight and she turned back to Draco.

"I'm turning in for the night, we have an early morning."

"Goodnight Tori."

"Sleep well Draco." she replied softly and crossed to her bedroom, shutting the door lightly.

Draco got to his feet and went into his bedroom, changing into a fresh pair of boxers before slipping underneath the duvet. It didn't take him long to get to sleep.

ooOoo

Images. Images of the vanishing cabinet, the night on top of the Astronomy Tower. Charity Burbage's death on his dining table at the manor, the snake eating it. Countless victims being tortured, including his mother and he being forced to watch. In his dreams he could never escape what he had witnessed. Voldemort putting his arm around him when he proposed he become a Death Eater. In his dreams he could never escape the Dark Lord.

ooOoo

Astoria woke up instantly when she heard a scream from Draco's bedroom. She lit her wand and checked the clock on the table, it had been two hours since she had said goodnight to him. She threw off the covers and hurried into his bedroom, worried that something was happening to him. When she pushed the door open and hurried to his bed, she saw him thrashing around and mumbling things about the Dark Lord and torture and death.

She placed a hand softly to his shoulder and gently shook him, "Draco." she said softly, "It's alright Draco, wake up."

It took a few minutes of gently soothing him by telling him that she was there and everything was okay before his eyes finally snapped open. He sat up straight away, shaking slightly as she took both his hands in hers.

"It's okay Draco, it was only a dream." she assured him.

He nodded and she could see the sweat dripping down his forehead in the light from her wand.

"I'm pathetic, I'm weak-

"You are none of those things."

"I'm a pathetic excuse for a man Astoria, the things I was forced to do in my own home-"

He trailed off and extracted his hands from hers, placing his head in his hands and resting them on his knees.

"Draco, talk to me." she whispered.

After a few minutes of silence, the shaking had stopped and Draco looked at her through watery grey eyes.

"I'm not proud of what I've done but I try to be a better person than that. I drink firewhiskey each day because it numbs the pain and makes me feel a bit better about myself, I have nightmares because that is the one place where I can't escape the memories or him despite the fact he's dead. I believe that my father suffers the same as I do but his is a lot worse, he was a Death Eater before I was born and I know he's killed people all because he was following orders. I regret everything I've done with each day that passes, I don't deserve anything good in my life-

Tori placed a hand over his mouth and he fell silent.

"Don't say that, don't you ever say that. We're all guilty of making mistakes Draco. You were a sixteen year old boy who knew no better and wanted to make his father proud. I know how much it tormented you, I could see it in your eyes after Dumbledore died, I knew you had no choice in anything you did but that didn't make me want to stop being your friend. Draco, it's been two years and you've been fully pardoned by the Minister himself. Everyone knows that you're trying to live a normal life and trying to change into a better person, so why do you torture yourself? If you truly want to be happy then you need to forgive yourself for your past mistakes, otherwise you're going to end up detaching yourself away from those who love you, just like your father has done so with you and your mother."

Her words hit him like a blade on flesh. She was right, of course she was right. It had been two years since the battle of Hogwarts and the world had changed for the better. He had been forgiven and his record clean, he had a job at the Ministry and many opportunities to see the world. He didn't know how he was going to start making his life a bit better but he knew it would take time and hopefully, time would prove to be a healer.

He lay back down on the bed and pulled the covers up to his chest. Tori smiled and ran a hand through his silvery blonde hair before rising and turning to leave, but stopped when he called her.

"Tori?"

She turned back to face him with a small smile, "Yes Draco?"

"Stay with me, I feel better when you're around."

Tori hesitated for a few minutes before nodding at his request. She walked to the opposite side of the bed and climbed in next to him, hugging him tightly as he fell asleep on her shoulder. Even when he fell asleep, she couldn't bring herself to go back to her own bed; he needed her and she was going to help him through this, no matter how long it took.