Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Never Give Up

No one would notice it. Beside the highway it was right in the open, clearly visible. But everyone knows people rarely see what's right in front of them. He hadn't. It was a simple dirt track that led into a small grove of trees, a peaceful place to spend all of eternity. That day, unremarkable in any normal sense, a young woman visited the spot for the first time, her somewhat bushy honey brown hair hanging limply, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. She stared at the words engraved on the simple white cross that held a small wreath of wildflowers.

Draco Abraxus Malfoy

1971- 1989

She sobbed again and pulled out her wand and engraved final words on the cross, tears blurring her vision.

D.M.+H.G. Never Give Up.

"I love you," she whispered. "But I have to do what I'm supposed to. I have to marry him." Still, she wondered it was worth it. She could Avada Kedavra herself right then and they could really be together forever. She crumbled to the ground with the last of her resolve. Slowly, while crying, she moved her hands to her neck and traced a slender gold chain. At the end of the necklace was a golden key. The top of it was their initials – his in emeralds, hers in rubies – with an ornamental design around it. She removed the necklace and draped it around the cross. She paused for a moment, and then shook her head.

"I thought I could leave this here, but I can't. I need you with me always." Sighing, she picked up the chain and slipped it around her neck. "I'll wear it forever and he'll never see it, never know that I don't want to be with him," she promised. She sat down in a heap and remembered everything that they had had together. Closing her eyes, she could feel him slip the gentle chain around her neck and whisper those meaningful words again, the memories assaulting her as her tears fell.

She smiled as she saw him waiting by the Hogwarts lake that evening. "Draco!" she called, running into his arms. He slowly, gently hugged her back. He seemed uncertain that night; something was very different. Usually he would passionately kiss her, or spin her around until she was screaming with laughter. Confused, she looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

He didn't reply immediately, just looked at her sadly and then finally sighed. "You know what is coming, right?"

"What do you mean?"

He paused. "The war." He looked down.

"Oh. Uh…Yes. I – I …I haven't much thought about it really. I've been too… afraid, I guess." She expected a remark about Gryffindor courage failing her, but it never came. He was bitingly serious as he spoke.

"I understand that. I…I'm afraid, too, honestly. W—We're going to be fighting on separate sides – you know that. And in a war, one side wins and the other is… well, demolished. Killed. Finished. And well, we don't know that we'll come out of this… alive. And… I'm worried," he admitted the last part in a whisper.

"Oh Draco," was all she could manage as she hugged him.

"I hated you once – I thought I wouldn't give a damn if you died, wouldn't care about cursing or hexing you. But … then I really met you and…I love you, Hermione. And if we get out of this alive, I'll propose properly, and buy you a ring…but I wanted you to know, I intend to marry you at the end of this. And… I got you something… uh… symbolic, I guess. 'The Key to my Heart', you know…"

She gasped at the beautiful necklace.

"Do you like it?" he asked nervously.

"I love it!"

He grinned.

"If I die… it's something to remember me by," he said quietly, smile gone.

She looked up at him and replied seriously. "If you die, I'll kill myself."

He eyes widened in horror. "No! You can't. I love you, but I'm not worth your life."

"Yes, you are."

"No. Never give up like that. Tell me you'll never give up – not for me, not for anyone."

She stared at him a moment and then whispered. "Alright. I'll never give up."

That had been the last time she had seen him before the war. And she'd been so happy to see him then, near the end of the battle, although she didn't know it was the final time. It had seemed, then, that they might make it out alive, that she might actually marry this amazing man, the person who would bring her perpetual happiness. He saw her then, too. Relief washed over his face as he grinned, clearly thinking along the same lines as 'perpetual happiness'. She grinned back. This could actually happen – they could actually be together. Not that Harry or Ron would be happy (no, she had not told them, they would crucio her), but that didn't seem very important at that moment. They could live – and even get married, she remembered with a jolt of pleasure. She smiled foolishly, so happy at the prospect, that she didn't notice a Death Eater fighting Ginny nearby.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The Death Eater's curse flew over Ginny's shoulder, as Draco and Hermione turned, a second too late. The curse hit Draco right over the heart. She screamed as he flew backwards.

"Draco!" She ran to his side, not caring about the battle still raging, the spells flying through the air. She was only 18 years old. So was he.

She'd lived though, what she considered a fate worse than death. But, true to her word, sitting there by his grave, she didn't turn her wand on herself and end her own life. In his will, he had wanted a small funeral, which she remembered clearly. Few people had come to see the Death Eater in training be laid to rest. She had cried silently through the entire ceremony in a chair in the back row. He hadn't wanted a headstone, just a small white cross, like Muggle soldiers of war. He was a soldier, to her. He'd died in battle.

He had given all his money to her. His father had died long ago in Azkaban, and his mother had passed away in the war, along with her son. Hermione Granger owned the Malfoy fortune. Her. A mudblood.

Her quiet sigh was lost in the wind. Ron had proposed the day before and she had asked for time to think. So she had come here. It was pathetic, even to her. Coming to the grave of the man you would eternally love, to tell him that you were marrying someone else and remind him that he had asked her not to kill herself, but she would gratefully if he'd allow it. Yes, she was out of her mind, but she needed to say goodbye one final time.

She would marry Ron. She would remember this day, remember him, but never shed another tear for the man she would always love. She would hide behind a mask, like he had. His mask had clearly said he was a dangerous Death Eater, hers a happy wife to Ronald Weasley. She honestly didn't know which was worse.

A final tear slid down her cheek as she stood, turning away from the grave. "You told me to never give up," she whispered. And without a parting glance, she left to become Hermione Weasley, although in her heart she dreamed of what she had almost had, and believed she was always Hermione Malfoy.