Draco felt like he was going to vomit. He wouldn't, of course, but the feeling was there nonetheless. Instead, he paced the small room that was off to the side of the of the courtroom where his trial would preside, while his mother sat in one of the stiff chairs along the wall.

Ten minutes. In ten minutes he would step into the other room where his fate would be decided.

Merlin, he hoped Potter's plan will work.

Speaking of Potter, he thought to himself, where is that good-for-nothin-

"Sorry I'm late," Harry said from the door.

"About time," Draco snarled quietly. "Where have you been?"

"I uh, I was with Teddy. He's teething and not letting Andromeda sleep so I went over to help and-"

Narcissa lifted her head at the sound of her sisters name. "'Dromeda? She's… she's still alive?"

Harry looked at the woman and nodded. "Yes. She's taking care of Teddy alone since... since her daughter, son-in-law, and husband all died during the war."

"Oh.. I see," said Narcissa, looking down.

Harry walked over and sat in a chair next to her. "You know, if you wanted to meet up with her, I could probably arrange something?"

Narcissa looked back up at Harry, her ice blue eyes looking at his dark green ones. "I'll… I'll think about it. It's been so long, I wouldn't even know what to say."

Harry shrugged. "You can always start with 'hello'?"

Narcissa chuckled and was about to say something when Draco cleared his throat, loudly.

"If you are done, can we focus on the fact that my trial is about to start in," he glanced at his watch, "five minutes?"

Narcissa stood up and walked over to her son, placing a hand on his cheek. "It'll be fine, darling. I have complete faith in Mr. Potter."

Draco quirked a brow but didn't say anything as Harry walked over. "I have my speech all prepared, Hermione helped me fine tune it the other day. And we went over the questions that we suspect they will ask you, and you know what to say, right?"

Draco nodded as he let out a sigh. "Yeah."

"I should go and take my seat," Narcissa said. She kissed her son's cheek and smiled down at him. "I'll see you in a few moments."

Draco nodded and watched as his mother left. Both he and Harry took a seat and sat in silence for the remaining few minutes until they were finally called to enter the courtroom.

Meanwhile…

Hermione sat in her office, looking at the clock and let out a breath when it finally read ten in the morning. Draco's trial had started. She was a bundle of nerves and really wanted to be down in the courtroom, hearing what was happening. They all agreed however, that it was best she stay away from the trial. She glanced down at her belly and smiled when her son gave a slight kick. "Worried for your father, hm? I'm sure everything will be alright," she murmured as she rubbed her swell, not sure who she was trying to convince.

"Disciplinary hearing of the fourteenth of September, into offences of acts of dark magic and aiding of Voldemort committed by Draco Lucius Malfoy, resident at Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England. Interrogators: Myself, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister for Magic; Nickolas Michael Jones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Marianne Pauline Hall, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Peter Matthew Stevens. Witness for the Defence?"

Merryweather stood from his seat that was on one side of the room, facing Shacklebolt. "Myself, his lawyer, Benjamin Thomas Merryweather, as well as Harry James Potter."

Murmurs could be heard throughout the room at the name of the Chosen One. Kingsley had to bang his gavel a few times to return order to the courtroom. "Thank you, Mr. Merryweather, you may take your seat."

Draco, who was glad that they no longer made the accused sit in the middle of room, chained to a chair, fidgeted slightly between Merryweather and Potter.

"The charges against Mr. Malfoy are as follows: The use of an Unforgivable Curse on one Madam Rosmerta, proprietor of the Three Broomsticks pub in Hogsmeade Village; Attempted murder of one Katherine Margaret Bell; Attempted Murder of one Ron Bilius Weasley; Attempted Murder of one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; That he knowingly and willingly formed a way to let Death Eaters, as well as a known werewolf, into Hogwarts; and Acquired the Dark Mark, marking him a Death Eater." Kingsley looked over at Draco and sighed. "These charges do not bode well with you, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco nodded. "Yes, sir, I know."

"We'll start with the last charge; is it true that you have been marked with the Dark Mark, given to you by Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort?"

Draco nodded. "Yes, sir."

"And when did you obtain this Mark?"

"In July of 1996, right before I started my 6th year at Hogwarts, sir."

"And did you take this Mark willingly and of your choosing?"

Draco, knowing this answer would most likely secure him cell in Azkaban, swallowed audibly and said. "I did."

"Do you care to elaborate?" Kingsley asked with a quirked brow.

Draco nodded and stood, wanting to make sure everyone in the room, which was currently filled, heard him. "Growing up, I wanted to be just like my father. I wanted to look like him, act like him; do everything he did. I heard of stories, of the great Dark Lord. I heard of what he did and how my father was a part of it. I grew up idolizing the Dark Mark upon my father's left forearm for as long as I could remember." Draco stopped and sighed. "After what happened at the Ministry during 5th year, and my Father was imprisoned, the Dark Lord decided to take up residence at our Manor in Wiltshire. He needed someone to help infiltrate Hogwarts - to get inside somehow. What better way than a student? As punishment for my father being unable to obtain the prophecy regarding Harry Potter and himself, he chose me. He branded me, which I willing took, hoping that I could fulfill this deed, free my father, and that he would be proud of my accomplishments."

"And how did that go? Your… task?" asked Nickolas Jones, who was sitting to the left of Kingsley. He had long, dark blond hair that was pulled back in a ponytail with rectangle glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose.

"Turns out, I'm a rubbish Death Eater. I attempted a few times, and each time it harmed someone else. Miss Bell with a cursed necklace and Mr. Weasley with poisoned mead, both of which were meant for the Headmaster, but somehow were put in the wrong hands."

"And how did you get Death Eaters into Hogwarts?" This question was asked by Marianne Hall, a petite woman with short, brown hair sitting on Kingsley's right.

"There was a vanishing cabinet in the Room of the Lost Things at Hogwarts, with it's brother at the shop Borgin and Burkes, located in Nocturnally. My task was to the fix the broken cabinet at Hogwarts so that the Death Eaters waiting at the shop could come through. I.. I didn't know that Fenrir Greyback was with them."

"Do you regret any of it?" asked Kingsley?

Draco looked up at him and looked him straight in the eye. "Every day."

Hermione glanced at the clock again, noting that a half hour had passed. She wondered how long a hearing like these could take. She knew that with Kingsley residing as judge, that they wouldn't just toss Malfoy in a cell like Fudge would have; that he'd actually hear him out and listen to the facts.

Her stomach growled and she sighed. She started putting snacks in her bag so she wouldn't have to keep leaving her office to get food every hour or so. She fished around inside her charmed purse and pulled out an apple.

"Sorry love, no chocolate right now. Let's have a nice apple instead."

The baby inside her kicked as if throwing a fit.

Hermione smiled as she bit into the ripe fruit and returned to the work at her desk.

"We will now hear from the defence," Kingsley said.

Merryweather stood up. "Thank you sir. "

Merryweather walked around the desk until he was standing in front of Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy, what would have happened if either of your tasks weren't completed by the end of your 6th year term?"

"I, along with my mother, would be tortured before being killed," Draco said, glancing at his mother who gave him a reassuring nod.

"So it was either kill, or be killed, correct?"

"Yes," Draco answered, his voice cracking slightly.

"I don't know about you," Merryweather said, turning around to address the room. "But it seems to me that this young Malfoy here didn't really have a choice." He waited a beat before turning back to the table. "Mr. Potter. You were there on the night that Dumbledore was killed, is that correct?"

Harry nodded. "I was."

"Can you please let the people of the court know exactly what happened?"

Harry nodded and stood up from his seat, but didn't leave Draco's side. "The moment we entered the Astronomy tower, Dumbledore petrified me and tossed an invisibility cloak over myself so I couldn't intervene or be seen. But could still hear and see, and I saw exactly what happened. Draco Malfoy had every opportunity to kill the Headmaster that night. They were alone and he had the advantage, seeing as how Dumbledore didn't have his wand because Malfoy took it. I could tell that Malfoy didn't want kill Albus Dumbledore. He was….. shaking and crying." Draco flinched at that part, but didn't interrupt. "He even lowered his wand. And I think, if the other Death Eaters hadn't came in at that very moment, that Malfoy might have actually taken up the protection that Dumbledore was trying to offer him."

The murmuring throughout the room increased and Kingsley gave them a full minute before clearing his voice and the room quieted once again. He nodded at Merryweather to continue.

"Thank you, Harry." The lawyer paced in front of the desk a few times before turning back to Draco. "Tell me about what happened with Madam Rosmerta, Katie Bell, and Ron Weasley."

"Yes, sir," Draco said. "I was worried about my mother; wondering if she was being tortured the longer I took to complete my task."

"The one to kill Dumbledore?"

"Yes, that is correct, as well as the cabinet, which I was having a large amount of trouble fixing and causing me a great deal of stress turmoil I attempted a few times to kill the Headmaster, like I said, but made mistakes… mistakes I genuinely regret. I had to prove that I was trying, though. I had to send reports back home, hoping they were satisfactory enough. I procured a cursed opal necklace from Borgin and Burkes and I.. I imperiused Madam Rosmerta and gave her directions to imperious a female Hogwarts student who had just entered the girl's lavatory, to deliver the necklace to Dumbledore. That student was Katie Bell. I don't honestly know what happened after that, but I heard that one of her friends tried to take it from her and something happened where the necklace became unwrapped and Katie touched it, which cursed her."

"What do you think would have happened if that didn't happen? What if Miss Bell got the necklace to Dumbledore?"

Draco took a breath. "Honestly? I know he was smart. Too smart sometimes. I think he would have seen that she was imperiused... and probably suspect the necklace as well."

"Yet, you sent it anyways, knowing that it might not work?"

Draco nodded. "Yes."

"And the poisoned mead?"

"I made the poison myself while I was still at the Manor, on orders from Voldemort. I gave the mead to Madam Rosmerta who gave it to Professor Slughorn and told him that it was for Dumbledore. Part of me knew Dumbledore wouldn't drink it, but again, I had to try. I thought he would just tuck it away somewhere, but apparently Professor Slughorn never gave it to him, who then in turn shared it with Potter and Weasley. Weasley drank some first and was immediately affected so Potter and Slughorn didn't have any, thankfully."

"Mr. Potter, can you explain why Professor Slughorn gave two students mead in the first place?" Kingsley asked with a raised brow. "Is this something I need to be concerned about?"

Harry stood up next again. "Er, no, sir. You see, Ron ate some chocolates that were meant for me and they were laced with a … a love potion. Ron was acting crazy, and the potency of the potion was very strong as they had been sitting for a long time, so I took him to Slughorn to get a remedy. Once Ron wasn't under the potion anymore, Slughorn offered a drink to… To make us feel better and calm the nerves, I suppose."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Kingsley said and Harry took his seat once more. "Mr. Merryweather, do you have any closing statements?"

Draco looked up nervously. Surely the trial can't be over already….

Merryweather nodded and gestured to Harry. "Yes sir. However, Mr. Potter would like to do it." Kingsley gestured for Harry to start. The raven haired man left Draco side to stand in the middle of the room.

"I'm not sure if many of you know this, but Malfoy and I, we've disliked each other since we were 11 years old. In fact, I still can't stand him sometimes," Harry paused while a few people in the room chuckled. "However, no matter how much of a git he was at school, and even though the charges are stacked against him, I don't believe he deserves to go to Azkaban, and I think when I'm done here, you'll see why."

Harry took a moment to pause. "The name Malfoy is very well-known here in London, especially among the Purebloods. They pride themselves on their blood status and it wasn't really a surprise when Draco Malfoy, the only child and heir to the Malfoy family, looked down on those who weren't of the same status; it was what he was taught his whole life and he honestly didn't know any other way. In school, we were adversaries due to either our blood status or our feuding houses. We argued about anything and everything. However… I knew he changed when Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and myself were captured by Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. They presented us to Draco and he had every opportunity to confirm our identity. But he didn't. In fact, when we were in the middle of escaping, he didn't even put up a fight when I tried to take his wand." Harry sighed and looked over at Draco briefly before looking around the room again. "It took me far too long to realize that everything he did during our 6th year and beyond, he did because he was forced too and he was under duress. It's like what Mr. Merryweather said earlier, that his choices were either to kill or be killed. What would you do," Harry asked, pointing around the room. "If you were faced with those same ultimatums? Where your only choices were do what you were told or be tortured and killed?"

"Draco Malfoy, he's not a Death Eater. Not in the sense that you all think of when you hear the word; he was put in that position. And yes, he told us he took the Mark willingly, but really, what other choice did he have? He was just barely 16 when it happened, not even of age according to the Wizarding World. I want you all to think about that when you decide his verdict. Thank you."

Harry went back to the table and sat down again while the noise level surrounding them increased. Draco regarded Harry briefly, feeling a sense of gratitude towards the man next to him. His attention was brought back to the front when Kingsley cleared his throat and the room quieted once more.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. If that is all, then will you, Mr. Merryweather, and Mr. Malfoy please return to the waiting room where you were first taken too? Lunch has been served and we will reconvene once we have chosen our verdict."

A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful support and reviews! I just love them! Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up in a few days so you aren't wondering for TOO long how the trail went! ~HufflepuffMommy