Prologue

It was exactly 2 months after the Battle of Hogwarts. The whole wizarding community was still mourning the deaths of numerous friends, family members, and loved ones. The Hogwarts castle was in shambles, just like the minds of the Golden Trio, the Weasley's, and Dumbledore's army. The loss of Fred, Lupin, Tonks, and the Fallen Fifty was still fresh on their minds and was too much to cope with.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were exhausted from the frequent visits to the Ministry of Magic because of the ongoing Death Eater trials. Other then the Death Eaters that died in the Battle, the rest were rounded up in days and were quickly being sentenced to life sentences in Azkaban. Most of the people on the Dark side had already been convicted, the only ones left were the quite influential Pure-Bloods that were refusing arrests by pleading that they had been forced to join the Death Eaters by the Dark Lord himself.

The crowd went silent as soon as the Golden Trio walked into the courtroom. They had become accustomed to the stares and pointings through the years but, it had gotten worse since the last few weeks. They walked to the jury box, more nervous than the others, dreading all that was about to happen. Harry and Ron reached for Hemione's hand, trying both, to comfort her and to find comfort themselves. She looked up and glanced at both the boy's faces before taking a deep breath.

"Bring them in," boomed Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep voice. On cue, a group of Aurors brought in the infamous father-son who were due to get their sentence in today's hearing. "You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law so that we may pass judgment on you for your crimes. Do you have any objections?" he said in a crisp tone, his words carrying to every corner of the room.

"We were forced to do this by the Dark Lord!" shouted Lucius Malfoy at the top of his lungs, desperately trying not to land in Azkaban, while Draco Malfoy stayed silent with his head hanging down. "Do you agree, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Shacklebolt, looking directly at Draco. Draco looked into his eyes and shook his head, "No, he didn't force us. My father joined willingly. He was and still is power-hungry." he said.

There were quite a few audible gasps and hurried whispers erupted all over the room, as the people present took this statement in. Harry's head shot up at his words and he stared right at Draco. His mind wandered back to the day in the Malfoy Manor, how he had refused to identify and hand him over to Voldermort, even though he knew it was Harry, and to that moment in the Forbidden Forest, when his mother Narcissa was standing over his limp body and had refused to tell Voldemort that he was still alive.

Lucius looked at his son in disgust and exclaimed "My son has been traumatized by the events of the war! He doesn't know what he is talking about." The Minister looked at him for a moment before looking down and saying "I would like to call to the stand, Mr. Potter." He glanced at Harry and a hint of an encouraging smile appeared on his lips. Harry looked at Hermione and squeezed her hand before standing up and moving to the stand.

"Mr. Potter, what do you have to say in defense for Mr. Draco Malfoy?" he asked looking into Harry's eyes. the crowd started mumbling, while few people started shouting in amazement. Even Draco looked shocked and was staring at Harry with wide eyes, trying to think of a reason as to why Potter, of all people, was defending him. "It's been 7 years since I first met Malfoy. We never got along. Not even once," Harry started, "I've always seen him as a pure-blood git, prejudiced and hateful. But he has changed. He was just a kid when he was taught that muggle-borns were disgusting and beneath him. But he is not a kid anymore."

"He did whatever he had to to save his family, even if it meant going over to the dark side. Anyone of us would have done the same," he said, looking around. "He realized his mistakes over time and helped us. If he wouldn't have been there, I, Hermione, and Rn wouldn't be alive. People change, and everybody deserves a second chance."

By the time he finished, Hermione was sobbing softly into Ron's shoulder, trying not to remember the events from the Malfoy Manor. Harry looked at Draco and saw his expression had softened. He gave him a small smile and walked back to his place.

After hours of arguing, the Minister stood up. "We have decided that Lucius Malfoy will be sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban. However, Draco Lucius Malfoy has been cleared of all charges," he said. There was a great uproar; Lucius Malfoy had started shouting hysterically and was trying with all his might to throw off the 4 Aurors holding him back. They managed to freeze him using a full body-bind curse and took him away.

The Golden Trio stood up and came face to face with Malfoy, who had water in his eyes. He looked at each of them, took a deep, shaky breath, and said "Thank You." "Look Malfoy. Whatever Harry said up there was true. We really do think you have changed. But if you get in trouble ever again, we won't be there to save your arse." Ron said looking at him apprehensively. He nodded his head and walked away without another word.

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