A/N: Hello everyone! Hope you guys liked the last chapter. So we made a progress in thinking about the spy, and also, Draco tried making an effort with Hermione, after his mother told him to do so, of course. Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with the chapter!

A few days later.....

"This is going all wrong." Hermione sighed and closed the book she was reading. "It has been a few days since we started this fake marriage and we still have not found anything about the extra horcruxes that Voldemort made."

They had decided to call the Dark Lord by his name, as because they now lived in the Malfoy Manor, it didn't matter whether or not the taboo on his name was still there.

"I had told you to let me do the research on my own, but you had to disturb me." Draco shook his head. "This is why we have not found anything yet."

"Shut up, Malfoy. You clearly don't know how to do anything. If you did, then you would have at least found something rather than just wasting our time here-"

"You are speaking as if you achieved a great feat by just opening the book and staring at it while your mind is not even here. I bet you were busy thinking about your Weasel, weren't you?" Draco sneered at her, letting his emotions get the best of him. "After all, he is your dear boyfriend-"

"JUST SHUT UP, MALFOY!" Hermione yelled as she got up from the couch and stomped her feet. "Do not speak about matters you have no idea about. Just find some useful information instead of loitering around-"

"I will speak and do as I wish, Granger. This is my Manor, in case you have forgotten that. If anyone should stop loitering around then it is you. After all, your mind is clearly thinking about your red headed boyfriend and your next date. And if you cannot focus on the task here, then maybe you should just go back and tell Shacklebolt that you are just a failure and cannot do anything-"

"That's it." Hermione threw the lengthy book she was holding in her hands on the blond wizard's feet, smirking as he hissed in pain. "Watch your mouth the next time you talk with me, Malfoy. Otherwise, I will not hesitate in punching you once again."

With that, the Gryffindor witch huffed and left the library, but not before checking that she had her disguise on. 

"Stupid beaver." The Malfoy Heir muttered as he rubbed his foot. Scoffing, he got up from the couch as well. "I will get her back soon enough. I will show her why one should never mess with Draco Lucius Malfoy."

As he made his way around the library, searching for books that might help in their research about the horcruxes, when he thought about the conversation he just had with his wife.

Well, fake wife, actually. 

Whatever, Draco was not going to mess up his mind while wondering about what actually Hermione Granger, well now Hermione Malfoy, was to him. 

The Slytherin Prince knew that he had crossed a line when he indirectly said that she was just a failure, specially when he knew that it was not true at all. He had used one of her major insecurities against her, and if he was being honest, then he actually felt a little bad about it. 

Only a little, though. For even if he had crossed a line, Draco believed that the Gryffindor witch had no right to snap at him like that. 

Just because they had not found anything which would aid their plan of destructing the remaining horcruxes, it didn't mean that the blond wizard was to be blamed for it. 

He had been doing as much as he could, from pretending to be a betrayer turned loyal Death Eater, and finding ways to get the information which would be helpful for the Order of the Phoenix. 

And the fact that Hermione had told him only one book about the horcruxes, called the Secrets of the Darkest Arts, was known to contain each and every information about one of the darkest forms of magic, didn't help at all.

Even the vast collection of the Malfoy library was not useful to them at that moment.

And while he understood that it was natural that Hermione had taken her frustration out at him, considering their lack of progress, she did not have to throw the book on his foot as well.

And mind you, the book was pretty heavy.

Sighing, Draco arranged all of the books back in their proper places, lest anyone found out what they were trying to do, and exited the library. 

And, not so surprisingly, he found Hermione sitting on the armchair in the small library which was there at the end of the corridor where his room was situated. 

"And just what are you doing here now?" The blond wizard asked her. 

"Can you let me read in peace, Malfoy?" Hermione let out a frustrated sigh and turned towards her fake husband. 

"I am afraid that considering this library belongs to me, you cannot do anything here, without my permission." He smirked, pointing his finger on his name written on the nameplate fixed on the wall of the library. 

"Well, considering that we had our wedding just a few days back, this library now belongs to me as well, Malfoy." The muggle born witch shot him an irritated look and turned back to her book.

Only for the book to be taken away by Draco. 

"But, Malfoy, that marriage was just a part of our plan, right?" The blond Slytherin smirked at her when she narrowed her eyes at his new obsession of calling her using his last name, that is, 'Malfoy'. "And it nowhere states in the plan that my things belong to you. So technically, this library still belongs to me, and only me."

"Fine!" Hermione got up with a huff and walked away from him, saying, "Enjoy loitering around in your library then," over her shoulder.

But Draco was not going to let her go that easily.

He was determined to irritate her as much as possible, as a revenge for the muggle born witch dropping a heavy book on his foot. 

And so, he followed her, all the while whistling loudly, until she abruptly stopped, causing Draco, who was not paying any attention to where they were going, to bump into her. 

Hermione stumbled forwards and grabbed the door handle, which had sharp edges, to steady herself. Everything was alright, except that one of the sharp edges had caused a certain ring to fall off her finger. 

Her wedding ring.

The ring without which she would not be able to wear the disguise. 

Neither of them noticed that the ring had fallen, and started bickering again, obviously like a married couple. Finally growing tired of their argument, Hermione took a deep breath and simply entered her room, unknowingly taking the ring with her, which had been lying just in front of her sandals, leaving the blond wizard staring after her. 

Neither of them noticed a Death Eater, who was standing at the end of the corridor, staring at them. 

A Death Eater who then went to the Dark Lord to tell him everything he had seen. 

--------------

A few hours later.....

Blaise Zabini sighed as he heard someone knocking the door of the guest room he was staying in, at the Malfoy Manor.

Why couldn't anyone let him sleep properly? It was midnight, for Salazar's sake!

Groaning loudly, he got up from the bed, which had one of the plushest mattresses in the world. And when he did open the door of his room, to no one's surprise, he found a brunette wizard standing there.

Theodore Nott Jr.

With two bottles of Lucius Malfoy's best and strongest Firewhiskey in his hands.

"One day, Lucius is going to realise that you steal his alcohol bottles every time you come here," Blaise started as he closed the door after his friend had entered the room, "And he will be so angry that you will run away all the while screaming after just taking a look at his face."

"Oh please." Theo snorted. "Lucius' wine cellar is the biggest in the Wizarding World, and so, he would never realise that I had stolen some of the best bottles."

"And besides," He continued, "Even if he did realise that, then Aunt Cissy would save me, she loves me after all. And as we all know, Lucius would never go against her. So you see, I have got everything planned, my dear Blaise."

"Never call me dear again." The Italian wizard said with a horrified look on his face. "Save that for you looney girlfriend."

"Insult her one more time, and I will kill you as slowly and painfully as possible." He warned his friend. "My Luna is the best."

"Never thought that you would one day talk to your own friend like that just for a girl." Blaise shook his head. "Oh what has this world come to?"

"Like you wouldn't do anything for Pansy." Theo muttered and then flopped down on the bed, opening one of the bottles and giving it to the other wizard as the latter sat down next to him. "Anyways, what should we do the 'Cheers' for this time?"

"Let me think. How about... Cheers to our dear dragon for getting married to the love of his life, all because of a plan? We never got to do this at the wedding."

"Sounds good." He nodded and opened his bottle as well, clinking it with the other bottle. "Cheers!"

The two had just finished downing two-thirds of their respective bottles when they heard a 'thud' sound. Frowning, they turned towards the door and found out that it had open due to wind.

Shaking his head, Blaise got up and closed the door. When his friend told him to put the various charms and spells back on, he answered, "Let it be, Theo. It doesn't matter anyways. I can't work with spells when I am drunk, and no one is going to come here, so it is fine."

With that, he flopped down on the bed as well, and continued drinking. After they had almost finished their bottles, Theo spoke, "How long are you staying in this Manor for?"

"Probably until the Dark Lord decides to stop investigating the Zabini Manor for as many dark artifacts as he can gather. I don't want to wake up to a random Death Eater rummaging through my wardrobe in my room. Besides, both Draco and his parents insisted that I stay here until my Manor is free."

"Hmm." He nodded. "The Dark Lord would have searched the Nott Manor as well, if not for my father to give him the artifacts years ago, and as far as the things belonging to me are concerned, well they know that I don't own anything like that."

They stayed quiet for a while after that, and then eventually, Theo broke the silence once again. "When you said that we didn't get to do cheers on dear dragon's wedding, I realised that we couldn't even give the proper best man speeches, due to the Dark Lord and other death eaters being present there."

"So the speeches we made a while back, they all have gone to waste, haven't they?"

"Not at all." He quickly finished his drink and got up from the bed, holding on to one of the posts of the four poster bed to balance himself. "We can practices the speeches right now, and when our dragon marries Granger for real, we can use them."

"Okay, so I will start." Blaise cleared his throat and stood up on shaky legs. "Witches, and wizards, humans and of course, the great peacocks and any other animals, today we saw Hermione marrying our dragon. For what reason? That I don't know. But what I do know is that our dragon has been in love with the Brightest Witch of Her Age for as long as I can remember. And my dear friend, Theo, can vouch for the many hours of Draco ranting about Hermione this, and Hermione that, we have endured. Right, Theo?"

"Absolutely! And Uncle Lucy, yes we are calling you that, and Aunt Cissy can agree with us as well. So you all may be wondering how this love story, of these once enemies, began."

"Draco's love story began in our first year," Theo continued, spinning around to face his friend who was standing in the direction of the door, "Our dragon was sent to the Forbidden Forest, along with a few Gryffindors, and do you know by whom they were sent there? None other than our dear Mc- Dark Lord?"

"Dark Lord?" Blaise frowned. "No, that is not correct. We were sent by McGonagall. The Dark Lord didn't send us, he was actually in the forest-"

"And he is here now." Theo spun Blaise around, towards the door's direction, which was somehow open, and found the noseless freak standing there.

"D-dark Lord?" The Italian wizard stuttered. 

"Indeed, Mr Zabini." Voldemort said with a sinister smiled as he sauntered forwards. "And now, what exactly were you talking about Draco Malfoy's love story?"

-------------

Next morning.....

Voldemort was a wizard of his words.

Be it following through his deals, or the promises he had made to the leaders of the Death Eaters in various countries. And therefore, if there was anything he hated more than love and betrayal, it was anyone not following his orders.

And who was the culprit this time?

Draco Lucius Malfoy.

When the dark wizard had woken up that morning, last night's events had been going through his mind. 

More specifically, his talk with Draco's two best friends and what the nose less wizard had seen afterwards.

Flashback

When he had first entered the side of the Malfoy Manor where the guests stayed, he had not expected to hear shouts from coming from the room at the end of the hallway. Who would be so stupid to leave the door unlocked and not enchanted with spells?

Curious, he had made his way towards that room, and had heard Blaise and Theo talking about something. Since he knew that only the former was living here until his house had been thoroughly searched, he was confused as to what Nott Jr. was doing here at midnight.

Were they planning to defect?

Voldemort had never trusted the two wizards, specially when they had refused to become Death Eaters officially, and of course, there had been no way of controlling them. Blaise's mother was travelling the world, with no connections to the dark world, and Theo had never been the one to listen to his father. 

If there was anyone whom the two wizards would both kill and die for, then it was Draco, as far as Voldemort knew.

And using the Malfoy Heir as a bait was pointless, for he knew that his best friends would rather die than let that happen. And the Dark Lord didn't want to use any more followers. 

And so with that doubt about them in his mind, Voldemort slowly opened the door of the guest room and if not for the perfect neutral expression on his face, anyone would have believed that he was shocked. 

Why were Blaise and Theo drunkenly talking about some love story of their best friend Draco Malfoy?

When confronted by him, the two struggled to answer. Finally Theo, who could control his alcohol better than the other wizard, told him that they were just talking about how they always teased Draco with a witch's name, and how the blond wizard was a lovesick fool for her.

Well that was not completely a lie actually. 

Though Voldemort still had his doubts on them, he decided to leave the matter there only. Nodding at them, he left the room.

Blaise and Theo's sighs of relief, which they thought had gone unnoticed by the Dark Lord, only made Voldemort even more suspicious.

He would have to keep an eye on the two young wizards.

With that thought in mind, the nose less freak went to the floor where Draco's room was situated and paused just in front of the doors.

One of his followers had told him an interesting thing a few hours back.

The wizard took his wand out and performed a complex charm. When the results confirmed his suspicions, his mouth turned upwards in a sinister smile.

Oh dear.

Draco Lucius Malfoy, you had been warned not to cross the Dark Lord ever again, but of course, you had not learnt the lesson.

Well, the blond wizard would be paying for this the next day.

Flashback over

Voldemort made his way towards the dining room with that thought in his minds. When he saw that Draco and his wife were having breakfast with his parents, he ordered the two older Malfoys to leave the room, and eat their food in the other, secluded dining room.

Narcissa squeezed Hermione's hand before leaving, and Lucius made sure to tell his son to not get scared, with just one look, before he followed his wife out of the room. 

Darkness filled the room as Voldemort sat on the head of the table, his wand making sure that nobody else would be able to enter the room. 

"Draco Malfoy."

"My Lord." The Malfoy Heir nodded towards the wizard.

"How's your marriage life been going? Should I assume that everything is going perfectly between you and your wife?"

"Of course, My Lord." He nodded. "Everything is going on perfectly. We have learnt to live together with each other."

Voldemort didn't respond to that and instead, turned towards the muggle born witch, who was sitting next to her fake husband. "And what are your opinions on this, Mrs Amelia Malfoy?"

"I agree with my husband, My Lord." She said with a purely fake smile. "Although we still have the frostiness among us, I am sure we can work towards being a good couple, they way you want us to be."

The Dark Lord let out an evil chuckle, which was enough to send chills down both Draco and Hermione's spines. 

"You think you two naive wizard and witch can fool me?" Voldemort hissed. "Do not forget that I have eyes and ears in every corner, every area of this Manor."

"My Lord-"

"Quiet." He turned towards the muggle born witch. "Amelia Malfoy, leave the room this instant. And that is an order."

"B-but my Lord-"

"Now." Voldemort narrowed his eyes at her. 

Hermione quietly got up from the chair, discreetly squeezing the hand of the blond wizard who was sitting next to her, and left the room.

As she hadn't managed to finish her breakfast, technically, she should have gone either to the kitchen, or to the dining room where Lucius and Narcissa had gone.

But she knew she would not stop thinking about what was happening inside the room she had just left.

So, she decided to simply stand outside the room, and wait for her husband- 

Oh wait, she actually meant fake husband. Yeah, she definitely did.

-To come out of the room so she could stop worrying about him. 

Half an hour later, the door still hadn't opened and Hermione was growing more and more anxious as each second, which felt like an hour to her, passed.

A few seconds later, she heard footsteps approaching her. Assuming it to be a Death Eater, she quickly left the corridor, and climbed up the stairs to reach her bedroom.

She put the necessary charms back up, and sat down on the bed, thoughts of what was happening with Draco right now, being the only thing on her mind.

-----------

Draco massaged his head as he made his way to his wing. His head was throbbing with pain, despite the fact that he had his Occlumency walls intact when the Dark Lord had unexpectedly decided to use Legilimency on him.

He could remember the dark wizard's red eyes staring into his as Voldemort tried to find out whatever he was looking for.

Draco suddenly shuddered when he felt coldness around him, and a look around made him realize that the current cause of his distress was heading towards the opposite direction. His hand almost reached his wand when he realised that he couldn't produce a patronus, let alone a corporeal one. 

And so, he had no choice but to suffer through the darkness disguised in coldness that the Dark Lord brought with him wherever he went. 

That is, until the protean charmed galleon in his pocket suddenly burned. 

Frowning, Draco took the galleon out, wondering if his fake wife had to tell him something important, only for his frown to deepen ever further when he saw the message. 

Draofbnvke 

That's right. That was what Hermione Granger had sent him through the galleon. Rolling his eyes, the Malfoy Heir quickly made his way to the muggle born witch's room and stopped right in front of the door.

Deciding against knocking on the door, Draco swiftly entered the room, finding no need to remove the charms as the Gryffindor witch had included his name in the people who were allowed to enter through the wards-

-Only to stop short at the sight in front of him. 

Hermione Jean Granger turned Hermione Jean Malfoy, the Brightest Witch of Her Age, and the famous muggle born witch, was sleeping on her bed.

Oh no, that was not the sight that shocked him. 

It was actually the fact that she was lying horizontally across the bed, with her mouth open and drooling on the bedsheet, and in her hand, clutched tightly by her fingers, was a small, yet important thing.

The protean charmed galleon.

As the blond wizard stepped closer, he saw the frown lines on his wife's face. And when his eyes travelled further down, he noticed her muttering something in her sleep.

Okay now, Draco really did not want to cross the privacy limits and hear whatever she was saying, but he was damn curious and wanted to know why she had sent him that weird message.

Suddenly, he shook his head and decided to walk away from the bed. He should not think about whatever she was doing, she was just his spy partner after all. 

And involving his feelings during a war would be nothing but dangerous, for all of them, but specially for Hermione.

But hearing his name come out of the witch's mouth stopped him in his tracks. 

"Mhmm Malfoy... Be safe." Hermione muttered and shifted a little on her side, her fingers tightening even more around the galleon, if that was even possible. 

His eyes widened.

She was telling him to be safe in her sleep?

But why would she do that?

Swallowing, he looked back at the message on the galleon. The first three letters were similar to the starting three letters of his name. 

It seemed as if she was writing his name, and then she felt asleep before she could complete the message. But it still didn't make any sense to the Slytherin Prince.

Her worry lines, the message, her saying his name in his sleep... Were they all indications to the fact that she was worrying about him?

But she had no reason to do so.

Hermione Granger loathed Draco Malfoy. That's how it always had been, and how it would always be.

Though it seemed as if the stars had something else planned for them.

Before his mind could start over thinking again, Draco decided to wake her up.

"Granger." No response. "Granger." Again, she didn't react. Sighing, the blond wizard lightly shook her shoulder and said her name again.

"Wha-Malfoy?" Hermione's eyes widened as she saw him looming over her. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Forgive me for thinking that you might like to know what the Dark Lord told me." He rolled his eyes. "I will just go to-"

"No, wait!" Hermione scrambled towards the edge of the bed and gestured for him to sit down next to her. She still had her galleon clutched tightly by her fingers.

Draco pointed at the coin as he reluctantly sat down, and watched as the brunette witch turned red when she realised what she had sent him through the galleon. 

Only then did she eased her grip on the coin.

"We almost got caught." Draco blurted out.

"What?"

"The Dark Lord," He sighed, "He knows that we don't sleep in the same room, and he looked through my mind."

---------

A few hours later.....

"Oww!"

"Be quiet, Granger. Do you want us to get caught or what?"

"I am not interested in yelling for nothing, Malfoy." Hermione hissed. "You stepped on my toe. And it bloody hurts right now."

"We have more important things to worry about than your toe, my dear fake wife." Draco grabbed her hand and quickly exited the corridor.

Just as they entered another hallway, they saw two Death Eaters standing near the room they desired to go into.

Draco pressed Hermione against the wall, and leaned forwards, resting his hands on her neck. The witch attempted to push him off, but he only pressed her harder.

"The Death Eaters are heading our way, Granger." He whispered as he saw two wizards coming towards them. "Just act like we are kissing each other, okay?"

"We are what? Malfoy, you can't just-"

Draco cut her off by placing his lips on her, and when she tried to kick his leg, he only tightened his grip on her neck, enough to convey his message, but not hard enough to hurt her.

"Get a room, Malfoy." One of the Death Eaters snickered. 

Draco pulled away from her and squeezed her hand, silently telling her to stay silent. "This is my Manor, Rowle. And therefore, I don't need your permission nor your advice."

"If you are so eager to show off your wife, Malfoy, maybe you will let us have-"

"That's my wife you are talking about, Fawley." The Malfoy Heir growled before the sentence could even finish and pushed Hermione behind him. "I will kill you if you even think about being in the same room as her. Leave now before you force me to harm you."

"The Dark Lord won't appreciate your attitude, Malfoy." Rowle glared at him.

"The Dark Lord won't appreciate it if he knew the way you have talked about my wife." Draco took his wand out and pointed it at them. "Leave!"

They walked away after glaring at the pair and the two remaining people exhaled in relief. "You okay, Granger?"

"Y-yeah, I am fine."

"I didn't mean to kiss you, but it was the only way I could think of dodging their questions. I am sorry." 

"It's fine, Malfoy. And thanks for making them leave-"

"Let us just go and search the Dark Lord's office." Draco cut her off and led them towards the said office.

Once they reached the door, he took a key out of his pocket, and used it to open the lock. When he saw Hermione's stunned expression, he smirked and briefly explained that Voldemort had made two keys of his office. The main one stayed with the Dark Lord all the time, but as for the other one, it could be defined as another one of his mistakes. 

The nose less freak had given the other key to whom he thought was one of his most trusted followers, none other than Severus Snape.

Before the Battle of Hogwarts, Snape had hidden the key inside Draco's trunk, as for some reason he knew that if things went wrong for the Order, the Malfoy Heir would not stay on the Dark side for long, and would support Harry and the others to take the Dark Lord down. So, it made perfect sense to hide the key there.

Draco had recently found that key, and as he knew next to nothing about it, he had asked his father. 

Lucius had gasped upon realizing exactly which key it was, and had told his son everything. The latter had immediately decided to search the office to get information about the horcruxes, and take a step further in their plan. 

Another one of Voldemort's mistake to ignore the stuff right in front of him, and assume that Snape would not have gone to huge lengths to betray him. 

Well, the more mistakes he made, the better for the Order. 

Hermione and Draco quickly entered the office, and started searching for anything that would help him in their plan.

While they were busy searching for that, the muggle born witch's mind wandered off to the talk between Voldemort and Draco that the latter had told her a few hours back. 

Flashback 

The blond wizard had shuddered when he had told her how the Dark Lord had caressed his jaw several times and when Draco had tried to move his head away, his ex master had forced the young wizard to look at him.

Hermione truly felt a surge of anger towards Voldemort then. Could he become any worse than how he is now? 

Who knows what Draco had to suffer through ever since the Dark Lord had made the Malfoy Manor his headquarters?

The blond Slytherin had told her how Voldemort had confronted him about the fact that he and his wife didn't stay in the same room.

When asked as to how he knew, Draco told her that he was not told anything about that. Voldemort simply threatened him to stay in the same room as her, because he wanted them to be the perfect couple.

He did not want anything or anyone to jeopardize his plans of gaining support and power in Italy. 

The Dark Lord had told the Malfoy Heir to do as he said, or there would be consequences, which they both knew wouldn't be pretty. 

Hermione had sighed and told her husband that they would have to do as the Dark Lord said, they couldn't risk ruining their plan. 

Draco had nodded and helped her to shift her things into his room then and there. And when they both felt the tension and awkwardness arise in the room, they had made stupid excuses and quickly left the room.

Flashback over 

"Did you find anything, Granger?"

Hermione shook her head to get rid of the thoughts, and answered him no. He sighed and turned back towards the bookshelf he was rummaging through.

The two continued searching for another half an hour before they heard footsteps approaching them and immediately abandoned their tasks. 

By the time they reached the door, the sound became louder and they had no choice but to hide in there.

Hermione and Draco quickly hid next to the bookshelf, and disillusioned themselves just in time. 

The door opened and Voldemort stepped inside along with a Death Eater.

"What did you want to tell me about the horcruxes, my Lord?" The Death Eater asked him. 

A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 5000+ words. Hope you guys liked it. So Hermione and Draco had a bit of an argument earlier, but then Draco discovered that his wife was worrying about him. And both of them forgot to include the word 'fake' while addressing the other person as their wife/husband for once. Random question: Bellatrix or Voldemort? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you!

Next chapter on 4/9/21(Saturday).

Until next time.