Hola! It's me, Cherish! I've finally thought up a new story. And here it is! There are a few things I want you to know about it:

1. It is AU, some people may not seem in character.

2. This is after the Seventh Book, minus the epilogue.

3. I will only update after I write a new chapter. EX: I have three chapters written, and am in the middle of chapter 4. When I finish chap. 4, I will update.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, no can I even try to take over that world.

Prologue

It was over. Voldemort was dead. People sighed in relief. Those who had died had not given their lives for nothing. They were brave people who had stood up for the good, the right.

Death Eaters who had lived through the war were captured or surrendered themselves. Draco Malfoy was one of them. He was sentenced to death. He had lost hope. He had known he would die. Oddly enough, someone set up a trial for him.

Two people cleared his name. Severus Snape and Harry Potter. Both told their part and Draco's to the judge. The story was fully explained and it seemed because Harry Potter was witnessing, the judge cleared Draco Malfoy's name, and he walked out of the courtroom a free man.

Other Death Eaters were not so fortunate. They were either sentenced to Azkaban for the rest of their lives, or put to death.

Students who had, for some reason or other, missed their seventh year at Hogwarts were allowed to come back if they wanted. Among these people were Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom (who had missed the few last weeks of school), Draco Malfoy, and quite a few others.

For everyone safety had returned to the lifestyle they knew.

He rubbed, scratched, and scrubbed; he tried everything. It wouldn't fade. If anything, it seemed brighter, like it was laughing at him. He took to wearing clothes that covered it. He didn't want anyone to see it, to stare at it and judge him. Not that they didn't already. He was marked, in more ways than one.

Every night, he would dream horrible dreams. Haunting face, a certain one always appearing and laughing at him, mocking him. And then it would appear, the snake twisting around him and glaring. He would wake in a sweat, a cold, shivering sweat. He was thankful it wasn't worse. He could wake up screaming and everyone would know his agony, his fear, and his pain.

And then one day, he saw her, as though he had never noticed her before. She was the answer. She could rid him of it all. His whole body relaxed. He would be free of this mark, the nightmares, and the guilt that shouldn't be there. He would be free from his past, the one that lay on his wrist, killing him.

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Please review!! I want to know if this is any good!

C. A. T.