"He's at a friends." I concluded. Hermione looked relieved, whilst Ron looked like his whole family had been torn apart, which I couldn't understand as it was only Draco to go amiss. "I'm gonna go find him, will you guys be okay?"

Ron nodded slowly, and Hermione looked as if she was going to protest. I shook my head no at her actions, but she still took it upon herself to interfere; "Harry, if he is at a friends he is probably asleep, it's too early in the morning. Just go home and rest for a while." Damn It, I thought, Hermione is always right. I nodded and took my leave, resting all my hopes of finding Draco safe on my shoulder for the time being. Even though Hermione was right, I knew there was something really wrong with Draco and I needed to find him.

Sleep came easier than I thought it would, the glide of my body as it sunk into my sheets compelled me to waste a few hours in sleep, which I abided to dutifully with my mind as sore as it was. I barely thought of either Calix or Draco the whole time I rested, my mind to raw with both of their antics that I couldn't be in the slightest bit bothered to remedy my situation with thoughts of them.

Upon awakening, I was met with a sea of sunshine, ghosting over my bed in happy waves. I nearly killed the feeling it gave, because things just weren't right, and I knew instinctively that there was something different with Draco, something that hadn't been there before. I pushed myself out of bed, my feet landing on the carpet with a thud, before I pushed myself up to get dressed. My hands shook on the buttons of my shirt, the realisation that all was adrift in my life crashing through my nerves, my trousers coming up my legs emotionlessly. There I was, in desperate attempt to change a situation I didn't really care for in the beginning, and looking back now I think I believed having Draco back would seal the wounds left by Calix. I thought that my life was defined by Draco, and that I loved Calix when Draco was there and if I had him back things might be different.

I looked into my mirror, and nodded at my normal reflection. I could pull this off; I could find Draco and save him and in turn save myself. I knew I was lonely in the thought process, and that my house didn't sound quite right and Merlin I just wanted that fixed. When I got downstairs, I grabbed the note that Draco had left for me and watched his handwriting float through my eyes; it said no location of where he was but somehow I just knew that he was where this all began. The Malfoy manor had been vacant ever since Draco left it, and as far as I knew, the house was still in his name. It was quite a way to travel, but nothing was a deterrent to that fact.

He had said he was at friends, but believing that would be no use as the man was tricky and unpredictable when he wanted to be; Merlin only knew how quick the curse would rip him apart now he had disobeyed its rules. I fled from my house, intent on running all the way to the nearest apparation spot, so I could portkey to Wiltshire in attempts to find Draco, but upon opening the door I was met with the tired face of Kingsley Shacklebolt. His dark skin was slightly greying, and his smile slowly fading and I was surprised to hear his voice cracking. "Harry, the Ministry requires you assistance."

"I can't Kingsley," I protested, "I have to go find someone!" I made to push past him, but there was no possible chance as he had gripped hold of my shoulder.

"Yes… you're looking for Draco, we know. Right now he is safe, we have found him but you need to come and help us capture Ginny."

I loosely stepped back, my mouth agape. "Ginny?" I questioned, "Why are we looking for her?" I wondered what mischief the young woman had gotten into. Kingsley shook his head at me, knocking the light hearted feel out of me.

"She is wanted for the misuse of memory modification, the unfair torture of a Wizard and consorting with criminals." I must have looked confused, because the face of Kingsley said I wasn't quite getting what he was saying. Kingsley sighed, "Ginny and her boyfriend tortured Draco, modified his memory and other things she shouldn't have done!"

I knew I hadn't been feeling right! I knew I wasn't just a foolish nit! There had been something wrong with Draco and that's what it was… but oh, I couldn't comfort the blonde. Instead I was being shipped off to find a criminal. "I'll go, but when do I get to see Draco?" I asked.

"At the trial, until then he is being kept in solitary care." Kingsley replied, before he let me gather some stuff. I followed him dutifully, shutting the door behind me and reeling in the soft click of the lock.

AxAx

I barely acknowledged the weeping Weasleys on my way into the courtroom, and neither did they raise their heads to greet me. I couldn't care right then, as we were all in our own worlds that day. My world was to see Draco alive and safe, after all these months away from each other. Another of my reasons to ignore the Weasleys, was Hermione had recently stopped to see me, where she found the time to question me over my supposed apparent love for Draco. It was true that I did love him; I just didn't love him in that way.

I sat in my designated seat, shuffling slightly as my presence was being noted by every official eye in the building. It was such a circus when I showed up anywhere, because I was the fame to apply yourself too, and I knew dramatics would be at an all time high in court because I was there.

People began filing in all over the place, and soon I felt not so exposed to the world. The judging minister looked over the collective persons, and the bailiff nodded for all respective parties to sit down. I felt relieved to see Ron smile at me from across the room, because I didn't want them to think I was the cause of this; I was in a way though.

"We are called today, by the Ministry of Magic, to witness the incarceration of Ms. Ginny Weasley and Mr. Theodore Knott, for the crimes as follows: Misuse of Memory Modification, one hundred counts. Abuse and Torture, two hundred counts. Consorting with Dark Wizards, five counts. The Murder of Samuel Hill and Lucy White." Molly Weasleys weeping could be heard all over the room, and the soft hushes from her step daughter were heard as a comforting gesture to everyone present, not just Molly. The judging Minister raised a hand, whispered a few words before looking directly at Ginny, who paled in significance to the bright light of the room. "Miss Weasley, can you step forward to the plea post?" Ginny nodded and looked around the room nervously, which is where I caught the signs of truth in her eyes. Accordingly, the Ministry had laced Ginny with Veritaserum in order for her to truthfully comply with every question she may be asked. I could see fear in her eyes, whilst I knew the feeling of ice shoot through her, as she realised the one thing that had kept her from incarceration was now eradicated: her lies.

Ginny stepped up the to the post, where she placed her hands gently on the wood. My thoughts were running a mile a minute by now, as I saw her quivering. I could have told anyone that Ginny was a suppressed, small girl had they of listened, but everyone had her pinned for a very sweet tomboy. Sitting there, looking at her shivering, I couldn't understand why it escaped me, during my sixth year of Hogwarts, that there was that obvious malicious streak in Ginny. I kissed her, held her and by Merlin did I spend time with that girl, and she always scared me a slight bit with her playful punches, but I always put it down to her being the only girl in the Weasley clan. I sighed softly, as I looked at Molly prepare herself adequately.

"Miss Weasley, are you aware of the terms you are being sentenced for?" The judging Minister looked heavily at the young woman, who opened her mouth slowly and gasped.

"I was brainwashed!" Ginny shrieked, and I almost laughed as I watched her recoil in pain as the truth vice, she now had wrapped around her, reprimanded her for such behaviour. I remembered that feeling.

"I will ask you again, Miss Weasley. Are you aware of the charges you are being sentenced for?" The Ministers voice was cold and tired. Ginny stood stock still and opened her mouth slowly. Inside her head, I knew, she was trying to word her answer in her favour, but like anyone under the spell of Veritaserum you become like a text book: Informing factually and precisely.

"For the misuse of memory modification, for torture and abuse, for consorting with criminals and for the murder of Lucy White." Ginny was monotonous when she answered, and I was angry as her then because it was officially true that she had abused Draco. I wanted to strangle Ginny.

"How do you intend to justify your actions, Miss Weasley?" I listened to the wording of the question, knowing that any Minister would trick the criminal into telling every dirty secret. Ginny answered quicker this time.

"I was trying to kill off the enemy."

"And who exactly are the enemy, Miss Weasley?" The Minister asked quick, which I reasoned as his tactic to get the interrogation over quickly. I silently rooted the Minister, my eye forever floating over to Molly to check how she was handling everything.

"The Death Eaters." Ginny concluded. Rage inside of me shot through the roof, and I could almost sense my emotions shake the chair next to me. It couldn't occur to the pathetic girl, standing on her own in front of her future, that Draco Malfoy was not a Death Eater? It sickened and horrified me, that someone I grew up with and was in my inner circle and someone who knew the rules set down on the side that lived to eradicate the Death Eaters, could go against such rules. I was pissed that Ginny betrayed me, most of all.

"Are you aware that there is laws against the acts you have committed?"

"Yes."

"That protect even the bad, so the government can punish them as we see fit? In the best interests of the Magical and Muggle community?"

"I was aware." Ginny breathed in slowly, her back moving upwards, before she looked over to Molly.

"You say you wished to kill Death Eaters, are you aware that Lucy White was a Muggle, who did not have access to the information of this world?" The whole room gasped, as the judge let that piece of information slip.

"Yes, I was aware."

"Why did you kill Lucy White?"

"The act was a split decision because she witnessed Theodore Knott kill Samuel Hill. I killed her to cover up his act."

The judge nodded, probably already knowing the truth about the case. I wondered what pulled Ginny into her horrid world, and what could have caused her to do the things she did. I think, suddenly, as to why I sit here writing this. It confuses and excites me as my pen runs over the page, ink spilling slightly on my fingertips. Ideas are such a wonderful thing, when you have the power to put them into order. I have waited for the sun to shine so long.

"Which criminals did you consort with, Miss Weasley?" The Minister asked softly. I looked over to the shuffling of Theodore, which I had previously ignored. He was bound and gagged, which frightened me with a tingle up my spine.

"Harriet Malfoy and Dante Arteneno."

"For which purposes?"

"To gain information on the whereabouts of Draco Malfoy."

"Did you ever commit anymore crimes, other than the ones you are charged with?"

"Underage magic."

The Minister looked quizzically at Ginny, and sighed. "Wipe that from the record." He said before dismissing the weary version of my first, real girlfriend. Molly choked on a sob somewhere along the line, and all heads turned away from the broken mother. I watched as Theodore Knott came to the post, his gag removed but his bounds still tight, and the smell of dark magic wafted through my senses. It was poison to my grace, such pollution clogging my head with anger. I smell you on the air around me, lighting the grey that's left in my skies. I'm dizzy and aching, currently battling the effects of a silence I fought for to long. I'm dying, like the flowers in the wind and it's all because I stayed silent for so long. If only you had come to my rescue earlier, then the life I lead wouldn't have been so tainted by my feeble attempts to cover my problems.

"Theodore Knott," The Minister addressed, "Are you aware of the charges you are here being sentenced for?"

"Misuse of memory modification, consorting with dark wizards, murder and torture and abuse of one Draco Malfoy." Suddenly I became aware that Theo had done this before. Unlike Ginny, who was totally void of any adlibbing or connection to her feelings, Theo was turning the truth into his own statement.

The judge looked unhopeful, and weary. I knew he must have been on this case for many months, spending his own time on the interrogation of these filthy idiots. I wondered where Draco was, where he might be alone and frightened of his impending confessions. Time alone can be a good thing, I think. So much time with you caused my head to blur a little, thinking of every romantic thing that life could bring. I wished I could bring it all to you, lavish you in all the treats you deserve. I had become so dependant on us, that I forgot what it was like to be me. Time alone can be a good thing.

I must have zoned out, because I was aroused from my reverie by the court in uproar. The Minister looked aghast and Ginny was holding her hand to her mouth, her eyes watery yet void of emotion. I knew then that the cow was only guilty for betraying herself, and for not causing harm on others. What a bitch she had become. My thoughts were verified when the Minister next spoke. "Repeat what you just said, for the record, Mister Knott."

"My actions were committed as the last order from my Lord, Voldemort." I opened my eyes wide, in horror of the irony of both Draco's and Theodore's situation. Voldemort sounds like such a funny name now. I'm sitting here, with paper, writing out that name with a smile on my lips. What an idiot. And for the record, everyone was cursed by his presence. They were both under the spell of Voldemort in different, horrible ways.

"In a previous interview, you showed great obsession with Draco Malfoy. Are you obsessed with him, Mister Knott?" The Ministers eyes had turned cold again.

"Yes." The answer was drawled. And I'm obsessed with you.

"Why?"

"Because I love him."

"Do you think it is okay to hurt people that you love?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ginny cry, her bottom jaw shaking with the vibrations of truth. I knew the feeling well, the ribcage near breaking from the chemical reaction one feels from betrayal. I hoped that she now felt at least sorry for someone else, but in her eyes was the ultimate confession of self indulgence and importance.

"I was ordered to kill Draco by my Lord." Theodore suddenly strained his neck backwards, nearly going over the whole way. My eyes nearly burst as a sunbeam hits me. I wonder where it has come from, but pay no heed to the infuriating sunshine that hurt my tired eyes. Gasping, he tried his best to ignore the icy hand of truth grip him, and I could almost feel the same clutch around my head as he did. "He never paid me any attention! He hated me! He didn't notice me!" Theodore shouted, seemingly all at once but decipherable none the less. I think I can hear your voice somewhere, but the muffled sounds keep confusing me.

"Is this your way of revenge, because he hurt your feelings?"

"Yes!" Theodore shouted out painfully, and I wished he wouldn't keep denying the inevitability that was his fate. It hurt to watch him like that, because I knew what it felt like. I hated you once.

"Why did you kill Samuel Hill?"

"He was the first person to sleep with Draco." Theodore's voice was strained and gravely now. I recognised the story; the guy who used the poor blonde for his own sick desire.

"Why did you commit memory modification, unauthorised, on Mister Malfoy?"

"Because I wanted him to forget some of the things he has been through. I thought that if I could get him so weak, he would die faster because no one would love him." And there is that feeling, that feeling of despair. No beams of sunlight can rest here, in my head, as I sit here alone. "But I cannot speak for Ginny, she has her own reasons."

The Minister turned to Ginny, whose eyes went void and wide in fear. "What were your reasons for the misuse of memory modification, on Draco Malfoy?"

"I was told he was evil. I was told that he needed punishment for being evil."

"Do you both realise the implications of your torture?"

"Yes." They both answered in sloppy unison.

Molly choked again, and my attention was diverted for a moment before shuffling around the room began again. Cold with no wind around. I look left and right, but still I keep a careful sense on Molly. After all, she was nearly my mother by adoption and something inside of me wished she was, had it not of hindered my enjoyment of exploring Ginny when I was into girls. To the left, at the front where the Minister is, a short man came running out of a side door in worry. I opened my eyes wide, because I could sense high adrenalin on the man. I'll shut my eyes for a while, I think, because time passes fast in the mass production of truth spilling. The sky may be battling between blue and grey, but today is my birthday and I will shut my eyes if my needs should be met. To the right of me is a wall, with paintings that reflect the pandemonium now going on in the courtroom.

They are all whispering about the sudden unconsciously form of Draco Malfoy, who had been awaiting his return to the outside world. Apparently, from the whispers, Draco's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed right outside the small door that the short man had come through. "Shit." I muttered.

And then a breeze of slow time fell upon the room in silence, as the Minister stood to assess the situation. "It would be no good for the prime witness to fall dead!" I heard someone behind me whisper. I froze in the silent breeze then.

I thought to stand up and rush to Draco. I thought to stop this parade of criminals and kill the lot of them for bringing Draco to such measures. I thought I might be overreacting and I looked to Molly once again. She was sobbing quietly, occasionally glancing at a whisper of her daughter.

When time returned to normal, I was sitting stock still. "Bring Mister Malfoy forward." Ordered the newly sitting Minister, who glanced my way. I gulped, and looked thickly at the oak door, where Draco might return from. He was alright, that I knew and it came to pass that he suddenly looked great too. He walked through the doors in arrogance, and it scared me heavily. Thank Merlin, I'm still here. He shone in the faint beam of light that came through the window. It was a funny thing, Veritaserum, because the ingredients had healing affects as well as honesty inducing strengths. It didn't matter how though, it just mattered that he was there. A shut eye crescendo and it's no noise that wakes me up now.

"Mister Malfoy, are you aware that you are here to testify against Ginerva Weasley and Theodore Knott?" The Minister addressed.

"Yes." Again, there was personalisation in the tone given from Draco. It was silky and smooth and I wondered with a pang in my heart what might have happened to him these last few months. In his eyes, his wonderful eyes, he was scared and experiencing fatigue. Tired from not seeing you, and now the romance might be forgotten for a while. It's only the writing on the book of memories that relates me now to you, but there you always are in my mind.

"Have you been listening to the justification of both parties you are testifying against?"

"Yes." I wonder if you watch me, here all on my own.

"Do you believe that Mister Knott and Miss Weasley are justified in their actions against you and others?"

Draco sounded so kind, so arrogant and so full of himself when he spoke, "I do not. However much Theo might love me, I do not thing love is important enough to end someone else's life. It is true that I was a whore and a slave, but I accepted my fate and it was mine to deal with and leaving the fact I was forced to solicit sex was my decision, Theo had no business interfering in such an irrational way."

"You were sold to both Muggles and Wizards, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Your first place of residence, after the curse Voldemort placed on you took affect, was a in a Wizarding district of Reading, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then, how come a Muggle paid for you?" I felt unease at the wording the Minister used, and saw that reflected in Draco's eyes. We are not where we were before.

"I was told that I didn't deserve a Wizard. They needed the money though, the whorehouse that is, and would gain that in anyway they could."

"Could you explain to me the curse you were placed with?" The Minister sounded caring when he asked that of Draco, but still the blonde tensed. I'm tense in remembrance.

"On my eighteenth birthday, Voldemort cursed me with a sentence to slavery with a ten year time limit to find true love, otherwise I would die." Shit. Shit. Whispers were everywhere but my eyes stayed firmly on Draco.

"What day is your birthday, Mister Malfoy?"

"Today, the fifth of June." I gasped. Everyone gasped. Like winds whispers wailing.

"And have you found love, Mister Malfoy?" It was the question on everybody's lips. I could feel it, I could hear it, I can still hear it, I can still feel it.

I feel you behind me, by instinct. Was I that stupid ever? Was I always in love? Could it have been that the first time I saw you, I just knew that there would be a day where I confessed my love for you to the whole world? Madame Malkin will turn in her grave as we feel each others magical pulses merge to one, because Merlin knows the woman never forget our spat with each other. The whole world turned it's head when I repeated for the papers what I had said that day, I can remember it heavily. The taste of the bitter words said in the courtroom taint my lips, sting my ears and shoot my skin with goose bumps. I look to the sky, the beams settling down scarcely and I remember there is never a beam of light in Heaven.

"Happy Birthday, Harry." You call from behind me, and I stop my hand from returning to writing my memoirs. My story, on paper. I smile because your behind me, a colourful blonde with his own story to tell.

"Morning…" I breathe deeply, your hands around my body so quick. I know my early mornings disturb you, but recently it's becoming hard to sleep with the knowledge that soon I will marry you and make us official to the world. I often come out here to think, and thinking I have been doing. So much damn thinking, so much recollection of times gone.

"What you doing?" You ask me softly, your mouth near my ear. You kiss it tenderly, your forgotten past no barrier between us now. My suppression of emotion no fault except to me, who deals with our problems accordingly.

"I'm thinking about writing a biography, you know? The real boy who lived!" I laugh, and look down at the essay I have written about my life so far. Somehow, remembering the past five years is easier that remembering my childhood, but so be it.

You laugh with me and the breath you breathe is a devil against my ear. I want you to sit on my lap and fuck me, as I sit at the table that's in our garden. Our garden, our life, our happiness. "Your not dead yet, Harry. Why not leave that till there is nothing left to do?"

I reply hastily, "I want to get it started now, so I don't forget. I was thinking about asking Luna to help me?" I want your opinion, because I love you. Such love, such romance and such honesty between us now that it becomes a little hot headed sometimes. Never mind, I still want your opinion.

"Well, darling if you want to then go for it!" Your still so young and were so un-supressed now. I'm free, your free.

But one more question, because it bugs me a little to not ask it. If I didn't I might marry you not knowing and I want to know everything about you. "After all of it, from the first day we met, till right now… is that still you Draco, or have you changed because of me?"

You smile at my insanity. Of course it's still you and I'm a daft idiot, totally in love with the man on my lap, kissing me incessantly.

And to that little thing that listens to my thoughts, you should know that Draco was rather much free from his curse the moment I tugged up his jeans and accepted him into my home. He is, after all, my silly mewling kitten. After all, he is and always has been and is still, my Draco.

Well, this took me two hours to write. I should be doing homework, but never mind that, I can blag it I'm sure. I know there may be many unanswered questions about this fic, and you're free to ask them but bear in mind that this story has been written as such because I wanted it to be and I'm not sure I know how to answer them.

I have had the best time writing this fic, it has been one of my most explorative pieces and it's certainly defined a writing style for me. I hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as me. I hope you guys understand it.

Thank you to all my reviewers, my boyfriend and my life; without you I wouldn't be able to write from the heart. So much of me is in this, and my ego certainly needed all of you to keep this going. Thank you.

The Ashes of Stars: Tisha…