If asked, he'd tell you he didn't know why he did it; He'd claim he hadn't a clue as to just what exactly it was that made him deflect during the final battle. That it was simply a split second decision to turn his wand on Pucey once they'd engaged in dueling Granger together, that he figured saving the golden girl would earn him a few extra brownie points with the ministry after Potter won. He'd say the torture curse he took to protect Ginny Weasley had been accidental, that shoving her brother away from the wall before it collapsed was purely instinctual, that he'd made a rather fortunate mistake when he'd missed his intended target and hit Crabbe with a stunner in the room of requirement; He'd never admit the truth to anybody but Granger, though she already knew he owed her a life debt that he's intending to spend the rest of time repaying.
She'd come across he and Pucey, barely an hour before midnight after being separated from Weasley during the final battle, her clothes had been blood stained and he can still to this day remember looking at the exposed bone peaking through the gash she'd gotten on her right shoulder. Pucey had turned his wand on Granger as soon as they'd spotted her, having every intention to kill her himself and earn the favor of the Dark Lord. Marcus had faltered in his movements in favor of watching the blossoming battle in-front of him, rather unfortunately however his hesitation had been noticed by a passing Greyback. The werewolf had pounced upon him, Marcus had been certain that it would be the last moments of his life before suddenly Greyback was blasted out a nearby window thanks to a powerful blow from an unknown spell Granger had sent flying their direction. As soon as the threat to his life had been banished he'd leapt to his feet and turned his wand on Adrian, the betrayal he'd felt after being abandoned to die, especially at the hands of such a monster, by the man who was supposed to be his brother in all but blood had been enough to flip a switch within him. In that Moment all he knew was that Granger had saved his life, so now it was his duty to save hers.
The battle between the two of them against Pucey had been quick, Marcus and Hermione had overcome one livid Adrian Pucey in a mere matter of minuets. She'd been about to run back off into the battle when he'd grabbed her wrist, asking her to wait a bloody moment before she got herself killed. It was in the immediate forty five seconds following that he realized if he wanted to deflect then that was his only chance, that owing Hermione Granger a life debt would surely be one hell of a task to live up to- and he'd determined it was worth it, that she was worth deflecting for. She'd saved him when his own friend had left him to die, without her he'd have been in the stomach of Greyback within the hour. She'd come to his aid when he'd most needed help, it was something he vowed to never forget. He practically glued himself to her hip for the following six hours of the battle, only leaving her side to aid others who needed it most. Without Marcus then the Weasley family would be two members short today: he'd taken a torture curse from the business end of Dolohov's wand so that Ginny would have enough time to overpower the man, and he'd tackled Fred Weasley from beneath a collapsing wall at a speed Marcus had never even realized he could reach without the aid of his broom.
They'd fought their way through the castle almost back to back, never leaving the other without cover. Classmates from both sides stared at the duo in confusion once they crossed paths, unable to fully comprehend what was going on. Most of his housemates took it to mean he'd betrayed the cause, some saw it as a way to avoid Azkaban, and a very select few saw it as their final call to do the right thing. The first time he'd left her side it had been to aid Ginny Weasley, whom had been locked in a very intense duel with Antonin Dolohov; He'd been trained by Dolohov after his recruitment and had been anticipating the crucio before it'd been cast, launching himself in-front of the curse to earn her the time needed to take him down. In those short moments when the curse was inflicted upon him Marcus got a first hand taste of just what exactly he'd been doing to people, the ones that'd been stupid enough to reject The Dark Lord's advances. He'd hardly recovered from the aftereffects of the curse when he'd spotted one of the Weasley twins and another of their brothers dueling the minister and Bellatrix Lestrange.
When a stray bombarda maxima hit the wall above Fred Weasley, he hadn't had another choice but to swallow down the pain from the torture curse and and take off in a sprint, launching his full weight into the Weasley twin to knock him away from the collapse. Once they were sure everyone around them was okay, the two had taken off towards the room of requirement to meet up with Ron and Harry. Marcus hadn't been sure what to expect in the ROR, but seeing one of his closest childhood friends fall to his death, consumed by fiendfyre, after failing to cook Weasley alive wasn't it. He hadn't expected to save Blaise Zabini's life while he and the trio had made to escape, and he certainly hadn't been expecting Potter to rescue Malfoy from an impending fiery death. To say his former housemates had been surprised to see him clinging so close to Granger would've been the understatement of the century, he hadn't been one that anybody would've expected to swap sides- his father was much like Draco's afterall, an inner circle death eater without any sense of human emotion. They didn't have time to dwell on it though as they watched him run off after the trio back into battle.
When the ceasefire was called, Marcus had been led by the hand into the great hall behind Hermione; not once did her hand leave his, it was her way of showing he wasn't a threat. They'd found the bodies of Professor Lupin and his wife placed amongst the fallen, it'd taken everything in Marcus not to cry. Lupin was the best Professor he'd ever had, werewolf or not that man had gone above and beyond for his students; Taken because some couldn't be bothered to let go of the old ways. Hermione had followed after Harry when he'd gone to turn himself over in the forest, Marcus decided to get to know Molly Weasley in the short time he was without Hermione before the craziness could resume. In that moment he'd wished his own Mother could've been so kind, maybe he'd have never ended up with that blasted mark on his arm. Hermione returned to him a short time later, the two conversed about the battle that was sure to come if Harry didn't survive... In that conversation, Marcus pledged to put her life before his own if it came down to it; The world would need her regardless of how this war turned out, he was nothing to the revolution- or so he thought at the time...
Though the speech he gave when Voldemort returned with Harry saved many of his housemates lives. His words would be later recanted in the daily profit, his speech immortalized within the pages in history of magic textbooks around the world; It had happened seemingly out of nowhere, Voldemort had been calling out to Draco Malfoy one moment and the next Marcus had begun speaking- his words halting the young Malfoy in his steps. It was this speech that gave several of his housemates the courage to deflect and do right by the world, to stop being sheep and start being independent. Former housemates and current Slytherin students alike, the latter of which most had never even met Marcus, stopped in their tracks to listen to him. Draco Malfoy even stopping halfway to meet Voldemort's embrace in order to listen to his former quidditch captain. His grasp on Hermione's hand tightened ever so slightly with every word he spoke, every word stinging his throat as it clawed its way up from the depths of his heart; He needed them to understand just what they were doing, and that they had a choice to change their minds if they wanted to... they couldn't be defined by the choices their parent's had made for them.
"I know it feels like the sky is falling in on us right now, and that there's nothing we can do but fall back into what we know; but everything is caving in around us and I'm not sure if we'll make it through this if we continue on the way we are. The time has come when we all need to stop and think for ourselves and ask ourselves is there light beyond the dark? Could we find our fire deep within our hearts and finally do right by ourselves, by the classmates we've known since we were eleven years old? I'm sure by now you've all learned that death has a very certain fragrance, though how much longer can any of you honestly stand to smell it? The fear you're all feeling right now? I can taste the bitterness of it, but I know we could rise above it and escape it- there must be another way, a better way. Our once noble house has fallen to it's knees at the hands of Voldemort, but I'm asking you all to please rise the bloody fuck up. Your future has almost been stolen from you, don't let this man take a moment more than he already has; It's too late for your parents, but it's not too late for to save yourselves. Gather up all the broken bits and pieces inside of you, use them to cover up the scars of the past and prepare to defend your home. Hogwarts has housed every one of us, it is now our duty to defend it- to defend everything it stands for as well. I need you all to show me what it's going to be; Is this the end? Or is this just the beginning?"
Voldemort had been livid by the time Marcus had finished speaking, though he never thought any of his young recruits would be brave enough to betray he and his cause. It was Pansy Parkinson who'd first found her courage, stepping forward with her wand raised in the direction of Voldemort's Army. It wasn't but mere seconds after Pansy made the first move to change allegiance did others begin to step forth from the shadows and place themselves between the dark army and the castle. Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Terence Higgs, Cassius Warrington, Graham Montague, Daphne Greengrass, and her little sister Astoria to name a few- each of them having made the decision to protect the beautiful castle they once called home, to fight for what is right instead of what is easy and turn their backs on everything they've ever known. The biggest surprise however came from Draco Malfoy, who'd sprinted towards Harry Potter to toss the Chosen One a wand after he'd rolled from the arms of the half giant. The recommencement of the battle brought out a side of the Slytherin house nobody had ever seen before, several students and former students earning themselves a spot in the history books thanks to their acts in this final hour of the battle.
Theodore Nott had joined Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas to help defend a group of fourth years from the Lestrange Brothers, Pansy Parkinson had taken on three of the dark lords followers on her own so Oliver Wood could be transported to the great hall for medical attention, Cassius Warrington and Graham Montague took a combined nine stunners whilst defending the entrance of the hall from being breeched, Astoria Greengrass provided medical attention to those in need in the middle of the chaos of battle as her sister Daphne provided cover- the pair of them providing care to more than thirty people that last hour before Potter defeated the Dark Lord. Many others deflected, grouping themselves with others from the light and fighting with everything they had in them; Some forced to fight their own parents in the name of a better world for themselves. Marcus stuck close to Hermione during this final hour, not letting a curse come within a foot of her as she fought like the warrior he'd discovered her to be. When Potter had, once and for all, defeated Voldemort it came time for the Auror's to begin rounding up the death eaters remaining on castle grounds.
They'd gone for Marcus first, and Hermione had placed herself infront of him with absolutely no regard for her own safety in interfering with an arrest. In the end they'd taken him to the ministry for holding, right along with all the others who'd waited until the last moment to deflect. Most had assumed they'd be sentenced to Azkaban without even being granted the respect of a trial, however when their council had arrived they'd all been greeted with good news: People had been asking to testify on their behalf since the very moment they'd been put in cuffs, the golden trio the very first volunteers on every list. Marcus's trial had been the very first to take place, and it had taken less than an hour for him to be pardoned of all charges due to his actions during the final battle. The rest of the trials for those who'd deflected during the battle had occurred in similar fashion, most every one of them being completely pardoned of all charges, however the longest trial belonged to that of Draco Malfoy whom ended up sentenced to only a years house arrest when all was said and done.
Once he'd been pardoned, Marcus found himself often in the company of Hermione; The two had become fast friends following the battle and he couldn't deny he enjoyed her company more so than anybody's. It was six months to the day after the battle that he'd plucked up the courage to ask her on a date, it'd taken a bit of convincing but she'd accepted his invitation and the following week the pair met for their first date. He'd taken her to a small Italian place Blaise had once shown him, she absolutely loved it; After that first initial date the two began meeting for lunch several times a week, their slowly blossoming relationship a hot topic amongst the gossip columns of the Daily Profit and Witch Weekly. She'd been the first to know after Marcus tried out for Puddlemere, alongside his newfound friend Oliver Wood, and made the team. He made sure she was in the family box during his first game and every match for the rest of the season. A year after the final battle he'd asked her to officially become his girlfriend, and she'd happily agreed- he made her happier than she ever thought she could be. Nearly three years later the two are married, Marcus once more giving a speech to their friends and family... though, as the Profit would later report, it was much more heartfelt than the last.
"When I decided to deflect on this day four years ago, during the final battle, I couldn't have predicted my life would turn out to be as fantastic as it has. I owe my very life to the woman who's allowed me the honor to call her my wife, without her I would've never made the right decision and I know that for a fact. I was lost before her, nothing more than a sheep in the flock. I did only as I was told, and I did these things without question because it was all I had ever known. I remember coming across her like it was yesterday, I'll never forget the way she looked as she raised her wand to defend herself against Adrian. I'll never forget the way I hesitated when I saw her, of the way she put herself in danger to protect me from Grayback after he'd seen me spare her a fight. It was in that moment I decided I owed her a life debt, one I would spend the rest of my time on this earth repaying. She hadn't just saved my life in that moment, she'd saved me from becoming my father. She made me question everything I'd ever been taught in less time than it took to counter a jinx, and she made me realize I didn't have to go down with the ship if I didn't want to. I'd stopped believing in his cause months before the battle, but without her I'd never have found the courage to leave it all behind and become the person I am today. Thank you, Hermione, for saving me from myself. I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never have to fight another day of yours, I love you. Always."