AN: I always find it easier to update when extremely intense scenes are going on. Sorry if you didn't like Theodore's death but I had so many different ideas it was hard to choose just who should kill him. I always knew he would die at Malfoy Manor on the Easter holiday. At first I was thinking Kreacher would do it but I hadn't been able to intertwine him into the story as much. After that I tried to think of a way for Sirius to do it but he never got captured with them and oddly enough when I checked the moon chart for April 1998 the full moon was on Easter. Funny how that worked. Anyways I finally decided on Draco to show that he really is good and not the ferret he once was. Once again anything you recognize is JK Rowling's anything you don't is mine.

Sirius POV

I sat on the couch my head in my hands. Where was my wife? Why couldn't I feel her? A few minutes ago the bond had gone quiet. I couldn't hear Hermione. Not even a peep. She must have passed out from the torture. Because she had been, tortured that is. My poor wife.

"Sirius can you feel her?" Remus asked kneeling in front of me.

"No." How I had even been able to say that single word I had no idea. Whoever had possibly done this to my wife, their days were numbered.

"Sirius!" I looked up dully then gave a start. A patronus of a hare was taking shape.

"Sirius, come to Shell Cottage immediately." It was Ron's voice. I ran out to the front stoop of Grimmauld Place and apparated away ignoring the voices yelling behind me.

When I landed I stumbled on the uneven sand. I looked up slowly and was horrified to see a trail of blood leading to the house. Ron was standing outside waiting for me his face pale and his shirt covered in blood. My wife!

"SIRIUS!" I pushed him out of the way when he tried to stop me and stormed into the house. My wife, I needed to see her. Everyone jumped up when I ran to the house but I didn't stop. I knew she was in the room at the back of the house, the guest room. Fleur was opening the door slowly. I barely registered her startled cry and the tears on her cheeks when I barreled into the room.

My heart stuttered loudly in my chest and I fell next to the bed a sob stuck in my throat.

Hermione was curled up on her side staring blankly at the wall. As if she wasn't wholly there. There were several bruises forming on her and blood seeped through a bandage on her arm. At first I thought I had been mistaken but no, they were words, carved into her beautiful skin. MUDBLOOD. My blood boiled with anger and Hermione whimpered softly.

"Sweetheart?" I leaned forward and stroked her skin softly. An unholy sound that could only be described as pure terror erupted from my wife. She thrashed wildly on the bed and pulled away from me her eyes unfocussed.

"SIRIUS?!" I ignored the others who had stormed into the room and pulled Hermione into my arms.

"Hermione! Your safe! BABY YOUR SAFE!" She froze beneath me and her eyes slowly focused on me.

"S-S-Sirius?" She whispered softly.

"I'm here." I muttered pulling her into my arms. She flinched but I didn't let her go. "Your safe."

"Oh Sirius," and then she was sobbing brokenly into my shirt. I let her cry herself out trying my best to comfort her by stroking her hair. When she was finally quiet I was startled to see that she had fallen asleep.

I looked up and was glad to see Harry and Ron standing in front of me. Both had blood on their clothes and were shaking horrible.

"What happened?" I finally asked.

"It was my fault," Harry said his shoulders slumping in defeat. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes. "I accidentally triggered the taboo."

I wanted to yell at him. Ask him how he could be foolish enough to use his name. From the way he was looking at me it looked like he was expecting it. But I couldn't. This was a mistake. He hadn't wanted Hermione to get hurt.
"We were taken to Malfoy Manor when they finally recognized Harry. It took them awhile since Hermione got him with a pretty good stinging jinx." I smiled down at my wife. She would try to keep Harry safe. It was that Hufflepuff streak of hers. "Nott was there."

Ice filled my stomach. What had he done to my wife?

"He recognized her immediately and he and Bellatrix took turns using the Cruciatus curse on her and carved the word Mudblood into her arm so she would finally know her true place." Ron said running his hands over his face.

"What happened to Nott?" One of them would have tried to kill him. I know they would. The only question was who was the lucky bastard.

"Dead." I smirked. YES! "Draco killed him."

I froze. No! No, I shook my head. "NO!"

"Sirius wait!" But I was already feeling myself lose it. Not my wife. Please not my wife! PLEASE!

"Sirius look at her... she may be beatened and bruised but she's already gained back some weight and her eyes don't look as sunken in. LOOK AT HER!" Ron yelled when I hadn't moved. I did look. She was a little bigger around the middle and through her hips. As if she had gained some weight back. Her bones weren't jutting against her skin in an unnatural way anymore and her cheeks weren't stretched tight against her bones. She looked like she had before she had left on the hunt. But that wasn't possible unless... Was Draco Malfoy in love with my wife?

AN: Please Review! It helps so much more than you realize.