BOOK 1, CHAPTER 4: ACTS OF RETRIBUTION

Living off the land for nearly an entire year had changed Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry had grown taller and stronger; over six feet tall and nicely muscled. When he moved, his body seemed to flow like a river. His once round face had elongated handsomely, and he now looked much like his father with his square solid jaw. During their travels, Hermione had learned to trim his hair into a much more manageable cut, and as soon as he could, he traded in his old black-rimmed round glasses for a much more flattering style.

Likewise Ron, having reached 18, now looked like a man instead of a boy. He was a strapping six-foot-three, and by cropping his red hair shorter, managed to have it look more like burnished copper than flame. His face was still craggy and his complexion still freckled, but now he was what the girls liked to call "ruggedly handsome" instead of looking like a living Alfred E. Newman. Ron had developed a broad frame to go with his height, and like Harry, his Quidditch training and survival skills had given him a totally athletic appearance. His arms were long, his hands were huge, his fingers long and delicate; and his rangy legs covered a lot of ground when he walked.

By contrast, a year of eating mushrooms and scrounged food had left Hermione much thinner. However, the result was to make her much more attractive. Her face had thinned out so that now her high cheekbones were emphasized. Over the years, her once frizzy hair had turned curly as she let it grow longer, and she had learned to manage it in very attractive ways, so that if fell in dark waves that framed her lovely face. Her lips were fuller, and that tended to de-emphasize the two little scars under her lower lip, the reminders of a childhood witching accident when she had put her teeth through it.

Never very athletic, constantly moving around the country had toned her muscles. Her arms and legs were now very attractively muscled and shapely, and if she had cared to show off her stomach, the boys would have quickly realized how sexily fit she was. She was now curvy in all the right places, with boobs just about the right size for her small five-foot-six, 110 pound body, and hips that looked like they were made for child-baring. She had become interested in running, and was keeping up her tone with regular runs with Ginny.

Ginny Weasley had also filled out most attractively during her sixth year at Hogwarts. Always under the gun while trying to act like a normal student, but lead Dumbledore's Army in the resistance movement, she too had shed all her girlish baby fat and turned her body into that of a toned, athletic woman. She had continued to play seeker for the Gryffindor house Quidditch team, which left her with a pair of the shapeliest legs any witch had ever used to put a spell on Harry Potter. Her red hair now streamed down her back all the way to her butt, and like Herminone, her round little cheeks had receded enough to let her beautiful facial structure show through.

About two weeks after the funerals, owls arrived at the Burrow to notify the friends, and the Weasley family, when and where the trials of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy would take place. In addition, Arthur Weasley, who had returned to work at the Ministry, told Harry when the hearing for Draco had been scheduled.

Since Harry had set Kreacher to work cleaning up and remodeling Grimmauld Place, all of them decided to move there until the trials were completed. Then, since it did not appear Hermione would be needed in England until school started again, she planned to go to Australia to find her parents.

Harry and Ginny had spent the two weeks at the Burrow getting their relationship back on track. Truly, it wasn't hard. While they might have pretended to be apart, and it might have been hard at first on Ginny, in truth they had always been a couple. Long walks along the hills and heather near the Burrow gave them time to explore one another and their true feelings. When Harry held her, and kissed her deeply, it seemed as if it was the only thing that had ever really mattered to either of them. They had time now to talk about the things they liked and hated, the things that they believed, and the things they dreamed of doing with their futures.

Ginny wanted to complete her seventh year at school, and hoped for a career in professional Quidditch. Harry intended to follow his dream to become an Auror after going back to Hogwarts. Both of them agreed that they would establish careers before thinking about marriage.

In the meantime, Ron Weasley's dreams were coming true. Deeply in like with Hermione for seven years, he was amazed to find how sincerely she now seemed to love him back. For her part, Ron finally showing how much he truly cared had swept Hermione off her feet. The only catch was that she still was not as certain as Ron. For one thing, there was a secret from fourth year she had not yet shared with anyone, not even Ginny. She was terrified what the effect would be when Ron found that out! For another, very quietly, she was still torn somewhat between Ron and Harry, and her love for both of them. She knew Harry loved her only as a sister, and that Ginny was the woman for him. Still, that didn't quiet the little longing for something more she felt in her heart. She thought to herself that she was ready to love Ron, but not ready for commitment.

The four moved to Grimmauld Place in mid-June. It was nice in London that spring, and even the old Black mansion couldn't dampen their spirits. For one thing, Kreacher had managed to brighten the place up considerably. He had somehow managed to get Mrs. Black's portrait moved into the room with the family tree, where, if she was concerned about half bloods and muggle-borns living under her roof once again, at least they didn't hear her screaming. He had repaired the burned portraits of the family members that had once been considered to be blood traitors, and had brightened up all the rooms considerably.

Harry had the girls share the largest room, which had once been the master bedroom, because it had its own bathroom. He took Sirius' old room, and because Ron snored, put him in Regulus's old bedroom.

They partook of Kreacher's wonderful cooking in the kitchen, and then spent several long evenings together. It was actually the first time in several years that the friends could just sit around and laugh and talk. They caught up on the latest music, and Hermione taught them all how to use muggle radio and television.

They watched the football World Cup on television, and marveled at how much it was like Quidditch played with feet. But they couldn't understand how anyone could stand to watch it because there was no scoring, and no snitch. They listened to "Frozen", "My All", "The Boy Is Mine", and even "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It".

When they tired of watching "Friends" and "EastEnders", Ginny suggested they try something they had heard about on radio and TV called "clubbing", so Hermione took them all shopping for muggle fashions. Harry and Hermione had lived for eleven years with muggles, so they had experience with muggle clothing. The Weasleys, on the other hand, were amazed at the concept of style, and all four of them loved the loose fitting casual party clothes they selected. On Saturday night, they hit the hot spots, and danced until dawn.

For as good as he was at Quidditch, Ron sucked at dancing. Ginny and Harry, on the other hand, soon found they loved to dance with each other to slow and moderate tempo disco like "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing", "Deeper Underground", and "Believe". Too often, Ron found himself sitting alone at the table watching his sister and best friend, while Hermione was constantly being asked to dance by strangers. Frankly, it was just his usual lack of confidence. Ron was always afraid he would look like an idiot trying new things. But he was able to content himself with the knowledge that she was going home, eventually, with him, and their laughter and easy conversation was so much fun. They danced and drank the night away, being able for the first time in almost four years to relax and just have fun together. As Harry and Ginny swayed to "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing", Hermione finally was able to drag Ron on the floor, and as the music ended, she kissed him, and whispered "thank you" in his ear.

On Sunday, they all slept in, and agreed later at breakfast that it had never felt so good to have just an ordinary life!

On Monday, the trials began. All four of the friends were called as witnesses against many of the Death Eaters. The proceedings took place in the Ministry of Magic, deep in the bowels of the place, in the same room, Courtroom 10, where Harry himself had once been put on trial for underage use of magic. This courtroom was largely circular in shape, stone walls lit by torches, with high rising seats on both sides of the dais where Kingsley Shacklebolt presided. Wizards and witches of the Wizengamot were seated here, and Percy Weasley was slightly off to the side in his role as Scribe.

Most of the trials were quick and perfunctory. Often, it was just a matter of Harry or one of the others being called on to identify someone they had seen trying to fight on the dark side. There were exceptions, of course. Hermione was called, and spent a great deal of time testifying to what she had seen Dolores Umbridge doing, both in her year at Hogwarts, and while terrifying half-bloods and muggle-borns during the blood purity inquisition. Ginny also spent a great deal of time on the stand testifying about the actions of Dumbledore's Army during the resistance, and how the Carrows had treated students at Hogwarts.

Harry, of course, spent more time testifying than anyone. For one thing, it was the first time he had taken the opportunity to tell anyone other than his friends about how he had spent the year on the run. Choosing his words carefully, so as not to give any of the truly dangerous secrets away, he told the governing witches and wizards about the quest Dumbledore had assigned him, and how he and his friends had carried it out. Since he, more than anyone else, had seen most of Riddle's followers at one time or another, he had many more identifications to make. He also needed to explain, as best he could without mentioning the Elder Wand, or the other two Hallows, how he had survived the killing curses and defeated the evil wizard. Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had spent several evenings working out plausible explanations, and making sure they all had their stories straight.

As the week went on, eventually, it came time to deal with the Malfoys.

"Mr. Potter, can you please give us your overall impression of the role the Malfoy family played as supporters of Tom Riddle," asked Shacklebolt.

"Well, let's be clear about one thing," Harry said. "Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater to the end, even if he chose not to fight against us at Hogwarts. Lucius started out thirsty for more power for his family, but by the end, he was terrified of Riddle and just trying to keep them alive. But for all the time I knew him up to then, no family caused me more trouble or put more obstacles in the way of the prophesy.

"Now, since then, I've had a chance to talk to him, and I think I believe he has had somewhat of a change of heart. I think it's in his nature to try to survive and get the most out of any situation he can, so I don't know how genuine all his changes really are. Lucius is a ruddy git who deserves whatever he gets, and he knows it.

"Narcissa is a different story. In the first place, I'm not sure she would ever have been a Death Eater if she wasn't married to Lucius, and didn't have that insane Belletrix Lestrange for a sister. I actually never saw Narcissa commit a crime or cast a spell against anyone. I think her only motivation was love for her son, and anything she did, she did to try to protect him.

"Here's something you won't know," Harry continued with a very serious look on his face. "When I went into the forest with every intention of dying, and Riddle tried and failed for the second time to kill me, he made Narcissa go to my supposed corpse and check to see if I was really dead. She made a really good job of it too…even dug her nails into my chest to show that I couldn't flinch. So, in that moment, she saved and protected me, because Riddle certainly would have finished me off if she had told the truth.

"I know she didn't really do that for me," Harry said with a smirk. "Her only goal was to get Riddle to let her in the castle so she could find and rescue Draco. But you see, that's what made it possible for me to get another chance at Riddle, so in a way, she helped us win the battle."

It came as no surprise that the trials ended with most of the Death Eaters being given very long terms at Azkaban. Some of the surviving main supporters even received life sentences. Lucius Malfoy was one of those. The fact that he was already convicted once, but had returned to the Death Eaters after the mass escape, weighed more heavily against him than any change of heart he might have displayed.

Narcissa did not entirely escape prison. She was sentenced to six years for her roles, but it was clear the officials had taken Harry's stories into account. More interesting was a secondary ruling that came in relation to Narcissa's sentence; the Ministry placed Draco Malfoy on six years probation with the condition that he would be under the control and guidance of Arthur Weasley and Harry Potter!

"Who do they think they're really punishing?" Harry exclaimed to Mr. Weasley when he heard about that one.

"Not my idea of a fun time, either!" complained Arthur to Molly.

"Yeah, and they're even going to let the git back in school?" Ron asked with a nasty look on his face.

And that became the next question.

Once the Wizengamot decided not to send Draco Malfoy to prison, the remaining debate centered on was whether or not he should be re-admitted to Hogwarts. Most of the Slytherin students, including Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, and those others from the families of the Death Eaters, had already been told they could not come back. However, Harry said that if he was going to supervise Malfoy's probation, he wanted him at school.

Two years under the control of his father and the Dark Lord had not done Draco Malfoy's appearance any favors. The stress of constant fear had worn even more weight off his already thin frame. His complexion, unusually fair to begin with, now was pallid and pasty. His grey eyes were dull, and his platinum blond hair had not been looked after while he had been held at the Ministry.

The Hogwarts Board of Directors, out of consideration for Harry and his friends, decided to hold the hearing in London, and so they brought Draco to 12 Grimmauld Place on the first day of July.

Harry spent a great deal of time talking to the Directors and McGonagall, who had by now been appointed permanent Headmistress, about the kind of boy Draco had been at age 12, how he had tormented them through sixth year, even breaking Harry's nose on the train to school that September, and how he had saved Draco's life, dragging him from the Room of Requirement after Vincent Crabbe set it on fire.

"Draco took no part in the fight from then on," Harry said with a smirk, "because he was off hiding somewhere, cowering in fear. I think this was a key moment in his life because he had to make a choice. He could have chosen to take a chance that Riddle would win and fight on the dark side. He could have chosen to fight with us. In fact, he was too afraid to do either.

"Now some may see that as lacking any redeeming value," Harry continued, with a nod in Draco's direction. "To be honest, I see it as showing him as a blank canvas. He's a bright guy, you know. I think he's second only to Hermione in our year where brains are concerned. So much of what he had thought and done, up to that point, had been drilled into him by his family, and I don't think he ever had much of a choice until the day of the battle. I'm not sure you can blame him for not knowing what to do.

"I've had the chance to talk to him since then. It seems to me that he has made a choice, and that choice is to renounce his father's ways and try to rebuild a good reputation for the Malfoy family. Also, I'm pretty sure he's not acting. Since the Wizengamot wants me to look after him, and since my friends, whether they like it or not, are going to help out, I think we need to keep him close. We are all going back to school, and that's where I think Draco needs to be," Harry concluded.

For his own part, Draco was near tears many times during his interview. His accounts of how Lucius had abused him as a child, and how Narcissa had looked the other way were particularly moving, even if some members of the Board didn't entirely believe them. "Always was a manipulative little creep," one was heard to whisper to another.

"Potter asked me awhile ago if I was willing to help rebuild Hogwarts," Draco said, glancing at Harry for confirmation, and Harry nodded. "He asked me if I understood that many things about Slytherin were going to have to be changed, and I know that now, probably better than anyone. I will promise all of you that if you give me another chance, I will be part of the solution. In fact, I have decided to complete my independent coursework in muggle studies, of all things. I want to work in international relations. I think I have plans and goals on the right side of the law, now. Harry and his friends are not yet my friends, but I am going to work on those relationships, too.

"Am I going to give up on my mother and father?" Draco concluded. "No, I'm not. But I am going to do everything I can to change their view of the world if you will give me a chance. I can do no more today than beg for that chance, and as you know, begging does not come easy to my family."

The Board was split, but in the end the fact that McGonagall said she would like to have Malfoy back at Hogwarts carried the day. Harry sent an owl to Narcissa Malfoy in prison. The note was only two words. "We're even".