italic = flashback
Betalove to viv-heart

Warning: This is a story about the effects of the trauma these characters went through. It will talk about symptoms of PTSD, Depression and Anxiety. Those symptoms warrant the M rating in at least three cases. But this is by no definition a dark story! It's a story about survivors and learning to actually live (and not just survive) again. Please take care and feel free to message me if you want a more detailed warning!

As soon as the battle ended and the Dark Lord fell, dead like any other human, the Ministry officials decided that every Death Eater who had used an Unforgiveable during the battle was to be punished with death. They arrived the moment You-Know-Who died and claimed the power he had left for themselves. The Aurors arrested everyone who had a Dark Mark and checked their wands.

The moment they came to him to check his wand he knew his fate was sealed. Draco Malfoy had fucked up his life completely. He was glad that at least his parents would survive as neither of them had had a wand during the battle. He had his mother's wand, which he had used to kill some Death Eaters, but that wasn't important. It wasn't relevant that he had defected in the middle of the battle. He had the Dark Mark and he would die today. He was lined up with everyone else, a black sack over his head. Anonymous. No one would know who had been killed, no one could ask for mercy.

Draco fell from the broom as soon as they left the Room of Hidden Things. He gasped for air and clutched his wand tightly, knowing that he was lucky that he still had it. A stunner which was aimed at Crabbe nearly hit it but he was able to move away fast enough. He still tried to get his breath under control, when he heard the trio talking. He lifted himself up and was nearly impaled by the Weasel's wand. The blond raised his hands to show that he didn't mean to attack.

"I want to defect," he said, his voice still quivering from the near death experience.

The trio narrowed their eyes suspiciously at him but nodded and started down the hall not caring what would happen to him.

Hermione seethed. Hadn't they learned anything from Sirius' case? Death sentence without trial! She had used Avada Kedavra as well and the only reason she hadn't a black sack on her head was that she was officially a 'good one'. She stormed into the courtyard were the Death eaters waited for their death but also those who were set to deliver the sentence.

When she spotted Kingsley Shaklebolt she knew that she would be able to help. While she walked to him the Death Eaters were forced to stand. She suddenly felt a sense of dread curl in her stomach when she recognised a pair of hands. Just hours before she had reached for exactly those hands in the Room of Hidden Things to pull him from the Fiendfyre Crabbe had let loose.

But he had defected! Why was he here with everyone else?

When she reached Kingsley she called his name and he turned around.

"Hermione! What are you doing out here? You should rest!" His voice was concerned and pleasant, but she was far too angry.

"What are you doing out here? Death sentence without trial?! Didn't you learn anything from Sirius' and Pettigrew's story? You should have stopped this! The Ministry may not know the story, but everyone in the Order does! Why didn't you intervene? They may be Death Eaters, but they are still human! You can't just kill them!" she screeched and gestured to the people behind them.

Kingsley became serious within seconds. "Do you think they would treat us any better if they had won? We would have been killed without being asked whether we deserve death or not!"

Hermione bristled. "So we are no better than them? Giving them the same treatment they would have given us? I didn't fight for an arbitrary jurisdiction!"

"The decision is made, you can't change it now. If you still want to change the law system after this you should become a lawyer," Kingsley answered mildly annoyed.

"For a corrupted ministry, no thanks. No one there was elected, why should I work in a system which was mainly build by pure-blooded bigots who hate me and my 'kind'? You should rebuild it with trustworthy people before you make any decision!" Hermione argued.

"We don't have time for that, we have to make a decision to reassure the public that we are taking action against those who wronged them!" Kingsley replied calmly.

Hermione went silent for a moment, contemplating her possibilities.

"Are the Malfoys to be killed?" she asked finally and Kingsley answered that only Draco had a wand and used it for Unforgivables. She resumed her contemplating and finally had an idea.

"I, Hermione Granger, want to call in my life debt from Draco Malfoy! I saved him from the Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement that means his life is mine to decide about." She looked at Kingsley with fierce determination and when he tried to speak up she continued. "He defected after the destruction of the Room of Requirement and is therefore to be treated like any other fighter on the side of the Order of the Phoenix. I forbid him to be killed." From the corner of her eye she saw his head shoot up but she held her gaze on Kingsley.

"But…That's not possible! There is no such law." Kingsley answered looking quite distraught over the fact that Hermione Granger wanted to save her lifelong bully.

Hermione narrowed her gaze at him. "There is no law for what you are doing! A life debt on the other hand is ancient magic and ancient law, from a time the laws weren't written down yet. You can find it in any tome about old magic and I thought, you as an auror would be informed better about these laws! I saved his life, therefore he owes me a life. To be more precise: his life!"

Draco didn't believe what he had just heard. Hermione Granger calling in a life debt from him, demanding that he was to be treated like the traitor he was. Of course she wanted trials. She was utterly fair even towards people who had tortured her and tried to kill her. And yet she tried to save at least his life. Why would she do that? What did she want in exchange? Or was it her bloody Gryffindor mentality that made her help him? Whatever the reason was, he was being lifted from the ground and levitated, probably to Granger.

The sack was removed from his head and he was forced on his knees by a spell. It didn't allow him to lift his head to look Granger in the eyes to find out what she planned. He kneeled at her feet like he had at the feet of the Dark Lord but he feared more for his life now than he ever had at the meetings. She had the key to his freedom, although he knew if she asked for his life as a life debt it was hers, he would be hers. He started to hyperventilate at the thought until he felt a soft hand on his shoulder and was finally able to look up.

"Calm down, Malfoy. Breathe!" she whispered and looked at him with her big brown eyes. Granger seemed to be worried and angry, but at least showed no pity. He could deal with everything but not pity. She turned away from him and talked to Shaklebolt again. Draco wondered whether she could really save him. He certainly hoped so, for the sake of his parents. His mother would probably go crazy if he was killed. His father wouldn't care and hopefully he would get a trial which send him to Azkaban.

His train of thoughts was interrupted, when he felt the magic binding his hands and keeping him down vanish and Granger lifting him up.

"You will need medical attention. Hopefully Madam Pomfrey isn't as prejudiced as these Ministry officials or certain Order members!" she spat furiously and brought him to the Great Hall. The moment Draco and Hermione walked in everything went silent and a white blond flash nearly knocked the air out of his lungs.

"Oh darling, I thought you were going to die!" his mother sobbed into his shoulder. He was utterly terrified. Never, not even when he was brandished with the Mark he had seen his mother cry.

After a few moments she gathered herself and looked up at Granger gratefully.

She stepped to her and held her hand out. "Thank you for saving my son, Miss Granger. I know I, and my family as well, have been terrible to you and I am truly sorry for that. I was raised to believe that purebloods are superior. By looking past your hatred for my son and saving his life although he treated you more than badly for so long, you have shown real greatness. I'd like to have a fresh start, at least with you. I'm Narcissa Black Malfoy, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Draco frowned over his mother's maiden name, she never used it to introduce herself. She probably wanted to distance herself from the Malfoys. Interesting.

Granger looked at her completely in shock and didn't react until Saint Potter put his hand on her arm. That seemed to jolt her out of her stupor and she took his mother's hand.

"A fresh start sounds like a good idea, Mrs. Malfoy. I am Hermione Granger and I'd like to thank you for saving Harry so he could save everyone."

Narcissa looked like she would start to cry all over again and shook the hand of the Muggle-born witch like it was the most normal thing to do for her.

"May I ask you a question, Miss Granger?"

The younger witch nodded. "What did you do to save my son?"

Draco turned to look at her completely and caught the light blush on her features.

"I called in a life debt. I saved him from the Room of Hidden Things and therefore his life is mine according to ancient laws. I am sure you are rather familiar with them."

Mrs. Malfoy nodded and looked with interest at the small witch in front of her.

"He won't have to live with me or serve me, but I'd like to see him completing his education and working for his living in a job he enjoys. I won't accept if he throws away the life I gave him either by not using it or by using it to work for nefarious purposes such as leading or participating in a terrorist group." Hermione finished her speech and waited for the objections to her demands, but there were none. At least not from the Malfoys. Ron on the other hand looked like he was going to explode at any given second.

Mrs. Malfoy looked pleased. "I think that shouldn't be a problem. I never wanted to participate in anything my deranged sister Bellatrix thought to be fun, but I was too weak. That's different now. I won't allow that he falls in the abyss again. But I think I'd like to get to know you a bit better. Not many know the old laws well enough to use them to save lives in the middle of such despair and chaos. Maybe I could owl you about tea sometimes?"

Hermione nodded and smiled at Draco.

"You know that I will find out if you step as much as a toe out of line and I will make sure that it won't happen again," she said eerily calm to Draco before she snatched Ron and dragged him out of the Great Hall so he wouldn't make an idiot out of himself while everyone was mourning and celebrating.

"Why did you save that mean, little ferret? He deserved to die! He watched you being tortured and didn't do anything!" Ron yelled at her as soon as they were at the first floor and relatively alone.

"What could he have done? Kill Bellatrix?" Hermione asked angrily. "It needed four witches to kill her and he wasn't even able to kill Dumbledore! She was his aunt, no matter how deranged she was, no matter how much he possibly hated her! And do you really think he had a choice to disobey Voldemort while that monster lived in his house, with his parents! He would have probably killed them if Malfoy didn't do what he wanted." Hermione had never in her whole life been so furious with Ron. The problems over Viktor and Lavender were a close second but never had he been so prejudiced and cruel over something so small.

"He would have tortured us to death in front of Draco," a cold, male voice said behind them. "But basically Miss Granger is right, Mr Weasley. He had no choice and we were too terrified to call for help."

Hermione turned around and saw Mr and Mrs Malfoy standing behind her, Draco nowhere in sight.

"What are you doing here?" she asked a bit confused. Mrs Malfoy smiled gently at her and freed her arm from the grip of her husband to come closer and take Hermione's hands.

"I wanted to say good bye. We are send to holding cells in the Ministry as we are understandably not allowed to go back to the Manor. Our trial will be probably sometime next week and I wanted to ask you whether you would be so kind to attend. It would mean quite a lot to me." The older witch looked at her hopefully and although Hermione was sure it was a well-played game to keep her husband out of prison she accepted. She would wait for the owl about the exact time and date.

"Where is Draco?" Hermione asked before the Malfoys could go.

"He didn't want to be drawn into the argument between you and Mr Weasley and he used the time to get his wounds healed," Mrs Malfoy answered and swept back to the Entrance Hall where Draco Malfoy stood with some Aurors, who were already waiting for them.

"Do you think she is genuine?" Ron asked after the Malfoys had been apparated away.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. But I will owl her and maybe I can find out. I really hope she was. I'd like to ask her more about these old laws as I didn't find much about them in the library." Ron chuckled even after she glared at him.

"It's good to see you still love your books and knowledge 'Mione," he said, with a big smile still on his face.

Two days later Hermione was back at Grimmauld Place to take some time off. She had helped those who were wounded the worst and she made a plan for the rebuilding of Hogwarts at Professor McGonagall's suggestion. She had also written to Mrs Malfoy the previous day to let her know her address and had gotten a reply in the morning not only from Mrs Malfoy, who had asked her to call her Narcissa, but from Draco, who had thanked her again for saving him and his mother's sanity, as well. He had also apologised for not saying good bye properly as he knew that Ron wouldn't have calmed down at the sight of Draco thanks to their long lasting hostility.

Hermione retreated to her room to answer the letter when another owl picked at her window.

The letter was from the Ministry and asked her to come to the trial of the Malfoy family the following week as a witness for the Wizengamot.

The Aurors had asked her for a statement the day after the battle and now they wanted to use her against the Malfoys. She remembered her wish to research ancient laws and decided that she should just in case know them by heart in time for the hearing.

a/n: I hope you like it, the next chapter will be up in about a week. Cya!