The teachers were immediately on the scene, ushering children into the dark castle and blocking various curses. Ginny pulled out her wand, as did many other students. Still, she was exhausted. Adrenalin rushed through her system but Ginny knew that it would not be enough.

The section of the grounds that was smoking slowly cleared and Ginny joined her scream to a large number of voices. Voldemort was standing in the blasted crater surrounded by an entire legion of Death Eaters. Harry, Hermione, and Ron rushed up to engage the front line of black-cloaked evil but Ginny could not waste time watching them. The Death Eaters moved into the crowd of students and began to attack. Ginny's wand was flashing everywhere. She was by the forest in a shadow from a huge tree. Neither the Death Eaters nor anybody else could see her but she could see them well enough. She stupefied every Death Eater she could and sent hundreds of shielding charms out to defend her classmates.

Many more people were able to escape into the castle because of her efforts.

With half an eye she watched Harry take down Nagini and she smiled triumphantly as the final Horcrux was eliminated. Now all Harry had to do was finish Voldemort.

"Well, well, well. It seems we have found some Weasley filth."

Ginny gasped and spun to face the voice behind her. A tall man was pulling off his Death Eater mask and Ginny gasped to see the aristocratically turned nose and white blond hair. He was flanked with four more Death Eaters and Ginny knew that she was in trouble.

She held up her wand in a shaking fist and pointed the tip straight as Lucius Malfoy. "Stupefy!" She yelled but wasn't surprised when Malfoy blocked it easily. She was surprised when four jets of light hit the other four Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy escaped the fifth with a quick protego and apparated away before Ginny could react.

Draco Malfoy stepped out of the woods. He was breathing hard, as if he had just run from his tree house to the battle.

"Hello Ginevra." He smirked. "You really ought to be more careful next time." He kicked the wands out of the stunned Death Eater's hands and shot a curse at a Death Eater advancing on Neville Longbottom from behind before he turned his dazzling smile on her.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Well they were hurting you," he smiled quietly, "and you are my friend so I could not allow that."

"Draco, do you know who these people are?" Ginny asked slowly. The boy shook his head and shot another spell at a Death Eater. "Pull up your sleeve please," she said with quite a bit of trepidation. Draco complied and soon the Dark Mark was visible to the night air.

Ginny bent down and pulled up the sleeve of one of the downed Death Eaters and showed Draco the mark.

"Draco, you're a Death Eater. You're just like the evil people who are hurting innocent children." What she said was rough, she knew that, but Draco had to remember and if it took shocking him to do it, she would shock the hell out of him.

"No, no!" Draco backed away from her, from the Death Eaters, and from the battle. He only stopped when his back hit a tree. Draco was staring at the Dark Mark engraved in his arm but he wasn't really seeing it. He was finally remembering those last memories of his sixth year. The tower, Dumbledore, his flight from the castle, and the centaurs; it all came back in one torrent of painful memories.

He screamed and dropped to his knees and Ginny rushed forward to cradle the sobbing boy in her arms. "Shhh, it's alright," she whispered as she rocked his body gently. "You're not like them any longer, Draco you've changed. I can tell that you're a much better person now."

"Ginevra Weasley is correct." Magorian stepped out from behind the trees and placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "My herd would never have taken care of you if we could not see that you were a good person."

"I could feel the mark burning," Draco said with a sigh as he wiped his eyes and gently pulled himself from Ginny's arms. "I suppose instinctively I understood what that meant which is why I didn't bother going to bed. When the explosion came I rushed over here but at first I didn't know whom to attack. It seemed like the black cloaked figures were my allies but they were attacking children! Then, I saw you Ginny and I watched who you attacked and I knew that I had to help you." Draco laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "But know I remember! I'm a Death Eater and I should be out there attacking those kids like the bastard I really am."

"Wrong," Ginny snarled. "I did not just spend so much time with you just to watch you give up on everything you really believe in. I know you are a good person. Perhaps last year you weren't but I know that you have changed!" Ginny wrapped her arms around him again. "I am positive that you are really a good person."

Draco screamed and wrenched himself out of her arms. His hand gripped his mark and Ginny saw that it was glowing an eerie black light.

Ginny heard many other screams across the grounds and turned to see that every Death Eater was kneeling on the ground gripping his or her arm in agony. Order members were rushing about stupefying the helpless Death Eaters to capture them. Harry was standing triumphant over Voldemort's body with Ron and Hermione standing at his side.

As abruptly as the screaming began it stopped and Draco stood up.

"It's over," he intoned quietly. "Voldemort is dead." He walked out of the tree line towards the gathering Order members.

"Draco! What are you doing?" Ginny asked with a worried note in her voice.

"Malfoy! Drop your wand!" Suddenly Lupin was standing in front of Draco, wand raised, and Bill and Charlie were rushing up to support him.

Draco smiled thinly and gently tossed his wand at Lupin's feet. McGonagall rushed up and added her wand to the slew trained on Draco. The blond just raised his hands to show that he was unarmed.

Suddenly there was loud galloping and Magorian skidded to a stop behind Draco. "This boy is under the herd's protection. We will take it remiss if he is harmed."

"Lloyd, Magorian, I am not a child any longer. I do not require the protection of the herd." Draco smiled gently at his guardian and took a step away from his comforting presence.

"Nevertheless, Draco Malfoy," Magorian continued. "You have been adopted into our herd so you cannot forsake our protection. Plus, there is a young lady who will be most unhappy if you leave her."

Draco glanced behind him and saw Ginny clutching Magorian's shoulder and staring at him. Draco gulped.

"Look, it's not like I want to go to Azkaban. I honestly haven't done many horrible things. I haven't killed anybody or tortured anybody. All I've done is corner an innocent and helpless man and hold him there for too long. I had dropped my wand and was letting Dumbledore go where Snape ran up the stairs. But I do have this mark on my arm so I deserve to be punished. Magorian, Ginevra, I have to atone for what I've done."

McGonagall held out a hand to stop anyone from moving. "Magorian, do you mean that the centaurs just took him into their fold without any sort of repercussions?"

The centaur laughed coldly. "We captured him, we tortured him, and Draco Malfoy lost his mind. Once we realized what we had done to this innocent child we adopted him and took care of him. It was only recently, when Ginevra Weasley stumbled upon Draco Malfoy in the woods that the boy began to regain what we had forced out of him." The centaur stepped forward again and placed one hand on Draco's shoulders. "If you are asking whether I think Draco Malfoy has suffered enough for his sins then I would have to answer that he has suffered far more under my hands that he will in Azkaban. It is my belief that there is no need to arrest this boy and make him suffer further."

McGonagall nodded. "Very well, I shall have to think about this. Can I trust that you will take care of Mr. Malfoy in the meantime?" Magorian nodded and McGonagall turned away.

"Wait, do you mean you're just going to let Malfoy run away?" Bill gasped angrily. "He's a Death Eater!"

McGonagall glared at Bill. "Take a good look at Mr. Malfoy before you condemn him. The poor boy is shaking like a leaf and his eyes are not entirely sane right now. I believe that whatever has happened to him this past year is enough for him to have changed into a new and better person. So yes, I do plan on letting him go free."

"Ginny?" Charlie gaped up at his little sister. While McGonagall had been speaking Magorian had picked up Draco and gently placed the boy on his back. Draco was now holding out his shaking hands towards Ginny and to nearly everyone's surprise she took his hands and allowed Draco to help her sit comfortably in front of him.

"I will continue to take care of Draco, as I have been for a while." Ginny said to her brother. "And before you ask," she added with a sad smile, "no, Ron doesn't know about this, and yes the centaurs welcomed me into their forest." Magorian galloped off.

III

"His sleeve was pushed up! You could see the Dark Mark practically glowing on his skin!"

"Wait, where'd Ginny go? Into the forest? With Malfoy! We have to get her out!"

"I saw him shooting spells from the forest. He saved my life!"

"That was Magorian. He's the leader of the centaur herd and Dumbledore's friend. If he says that Malfoy has suffered sufficiently for his crimes then I believe him."

"That boy is a menace to society. He has the Mark, he aided in Dumbledore's death, and he needs to be behind bars!"

"My little girl willingly went into the forest with this boy? I have always trusted her judgment, especially when she chooses her friends and enemies. If my baby girl chose this boy over returning to the castle then I believe that he has changed for the better. Although I will have to have a little talk with her later about this…"

"It's not like we could tell if he was fighting for or against the Death Eaters. He was in the forest when we caught him and all the Death Eaters were wearing their disgusting masks."

McGonagall thumped her hands down on the desk in front of her and waited for silence before she spoke. "I believe we have heard all the facts about this case. I would like to mention before we continue that if we decide to incarcerate Malfoy we will be forced to fight with the centaur herd to get to him." She took a deep breath and waited for the stunned looks to fade from the rest of the Order members. "I believe we should put this to vote. Who thinks we should capture Draco Malfoy and put him on trial for crimes as a Death Eater?"

III

Draco helped Ginny down from Magorians' back with a sad smile. "Why did you stick up for my sorry neck?" He whispered quietly while looking down at her lowed head.

"Because Magorian was right, Draco. I know that you have suffered more for your crimes than many of those captured Death Eaters will suffer." She raised her head and he almost stepped back in shock from the intensity pouring from her eyes. "Besides, you're my friend, Draco. I refuse to abandon a friend."

Draco turned his head away from her and glared at the ground. "Listen Ginevra, I'm a Death Eater. I almost killed an innocent, helpless man! You do not want to be friends with me. He took a step back from Ginny and turned to leave.

His back was just fading into the tree line when Ginny finally found enough strength to call out to Draco, "Please, Draco, please don't leave me."

His shoulders tightened so she knew that he had heard her but he continued walking anyway.

Ginny dropped to her knees in the dirt but didn't cry. She did not have the right to cry for Draco as he was only her friend and could make his own decisions. Ginny knew that he had a lot to think about and needed to be alone while he thought.

Something croaked in front of her and Ginny looked up to see a purple toad staring at her.

She sighed. "You're right Maxi." She reached out and gently picked up the toad. "Lets go wait for Draco in his house." She climbed up the ladder and put the toad on Draco's table before sitting on his bed and settling in to wait. She only looked around the room when she felt the cold wood of a wand brush against her neck.

III

Draco could sense the centaurs following him as he walked. It was a comfort to know that they were there protecting him but also an annoyance as every hoof beat and rustle of leaves made it that much harder for him to think.

At first he thought that he had a choice with what happened with his life. He could decide whether he wanted to turn himself over to the Order and the Ministry or let the centaurs decide what he was going to do. Even when he thought he had that much of a choice, it really had not been a free choice. Now he understood that even those options were closed to him. The Order would decide if they wanted to prosecute him. The centaurs would decide if they were going to allow the Order to even try to capture him. What he wanted would not be taken into consideration; not that he knew what he wanted but it would still be nice to have that illusion.

There was the sound of loud galloping to his left but Draco ignored it to continue fuming.

"…found unconscious…near the human's house…"

Draco stopped and turned towards the voices. Someone was found unconscious near his house? He stomped over to the voices and pushed the branches apart until he could see Magorian and another centaur talking.

"What's going on?" Draco hissed angrily.

"One of my herd was found unconscious near your tree house." Magorian shrugged his human shoulder. "He should be fine when he wakes-"

"What about Ginevra?" Draco snarled. He had left her alone in the forbidden forest. Was he that stupid?

"I have searchers out looking for Ginevra Weasley and the Death Eater who dared to infiltrate our forest right now." Magorian said calmly. "The stars say…" But Draco did not hear what the stars said as he had already taken off at a sprint back to the tree house where he had left Ginevra.

III

Ginny looked up along the length of the wand and caught the cold gray eyes with her own. Lucius Malfoy glared down at the little redhead, malice in his every movement.

"Is this your hovel?" He snarled. "It is something I should expect from a Weasley. Is this bigger than the hut you live in at home?" He laughed cruelly. "At least you'll die in a place that deserves your body." He lifted his wand from her neck and positioned it between her frightened eyes.

This time the flash of magic did not miss it's mark. Lucius Malfoy toppled backwards and fell to the ground with a hard thump.

A blond head and the tip of a wand protruded from the trapdoor and were soon followed by the rest of Draco's body. He rushed across the floor and stopped in front of Ginny.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" He pushed her down onto the bed and gently checked her for any injuries. Ginny just stared up into his worried eyes and slowly smiled.

"I'm fine Draco. He didn't touch me." She lifted her hand a carefully pushed a strand of Draco's silky hair behind his ear. "It's okay, honest."

Suddenly Draco blushed. His eyes flicked towards her lips before he quickly rolled off the bed and stalked over to his father.

"Mobilicorpus," he snarled and forced Lucius' floating body down through the trapdoor. Ginny heard a thud and winced when she realized that Draco had released the floating charm well above the ground.

Draco climbed back up the ladder a few minutes later and shut the trapdoor behind him.

"Lloyd is taking my father up to the castle where the Order will take care of him." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

He sank down onto the floor next to the table and carefully picked up the toad. "I- I'm sorry for leaving you alone in the Forest." His words were almost inaudible and he was starring down at Maximilian but Ginny could see how true his words were. She got up off the bed and went over to sit next to Draco.

"I understand Draco. There is nothing for you to be sorry for." Ginny put a gentle hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

Draco turned to glance at her and the anguished look on his face vanished. He slowly leaned in, giving her every chance to run away, and captured her lips with his. The kiss was sweet and wonderful and Ginny had to wonder why she had never kissed him before. Her hands went to Draco's head and gently began to play with the feathery strands. Draco's hands caressed her back and his tongue carefully swiped her lower lip begging for entrance. She gasped when their tongues touched and her hands drifted down to grip his shoulders for support. His mouth traveled down her neck and Ginny moaned at the suckling love bites he was leaving behind.

He skipped over her chest and pushed the hem of her shirt up so he could continue his path across her stomach and back up towards her neck.

Bang, Bang, Bang!

"Draco Malfoy, Ginevra Weasley, the Order of the Phoenix wishes to have a word," Magorian's voice echoed up the tree and made both Draco and Ginny wince.

Draco regretfully rolled off Ginny but met her lips for one last breathtaking kiss before standing and moving towards the door.

"We'll continue this later Ginevra," Draco said quietly and winked at her as he dropped out of sight. Ginny followed quickly so she would not be left behind.

III

"Mr. Malfoy, the Order and the Ministry has come to an accord on how to handle this unusual situation," McGonagall said as soon as their respective parties reached neutral ground.

Draco nodded but did not move otherwise. He could see just how tense this situation really was. They had decided to meet on the grounds of the school where the grass was still bloody and the remains of the dance lay around them in a mockery of the peace they were striving to achieve.

The centaurs were plainly visible in the forest. They were standing just inside the line of trees, bows in hand and arrows at the ready.

Standing closest to the castle were all the Order members who were not in the hospital wing. They all had wands out but held down at their sides.

McGonagall, Lupin and Charlie Weasley stood closer to the forest and Draco, Ginny, and Magorian walked up to meet them.

"What you have decided does not matter. The centaurs will not relinquish one of our own." Magorian sniffed down his nose at the older woman.

The old headmaster flushed but glared back at the taller being. "That has been taken into consideration; as has the punishment Mr. Malfoy has already received for his crimes. Additionally, I have heard a number of reports of spells coming from the forest, most likely from Mr. Malfoy, that saved more than one life last night.

"Therefore, we have decided that Mr. Malfoy will have full decisions in this matter. Azkaban would be worthless and we have no wish to anger the centaurs, as they are such strong beings. Instead we have decided that Draco Malfoy may do as he wishes."

Magorian nodded thoughtfully. "With no constraints?" He asked quietly.

"His past as a Death Eater cannot be completely ignored by the Ministry. They have asked that Mr. Malfoy allow monthly Auror checks into his dealings. If nothing illegal has been found after five years the Auror checks will drop to twice a year, then once a year, until Mr. Malfoy has been completely clean of all criminal and Death Eater activities for fifteen years."

"That is acceptable to me," Magorian shrugged his shoulders and turned to look at Draco. "What do you say Draco Malfoy?"

Draco looked up from where he had been studying the ground and nodded. Negotiations had gone around him but, even though he was the topic of discussion, he had nothing to add.

"It works for me." He muttered. Ginny squeezed his hand and smiled when he looked at her.

"Excellent!" Professor McGonagall clapped her hands together happily. "Now, Mr. Malfoy, there is one thing I've been meaning to ask you." Draco stiffened as if expecting a painful question. "Why is there a purple toad in your hair?"

Ginny giggled happily and Draco blushed. As he pulled Maximilian out of his tangled hair he smiled softly down at Ginny and knew that from now on, everything would be all right.

Ginny smiled up at Draco and now knew what ten galleons could get you; love.

III

A.N.- That's it! I really hope you like this. Review and tell me everything.

No, there will not be another chapter, or an epilogue, or a sequel. You can ask for one but I will not write one so, sorry in advance.

Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone.

Mell8