AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey there, people! It is I once again, Rage…

Most common question/s:

Q. Why did Hermione lie to Draco?

A. It's similar to what happened in the second book. Remember when Harry was hearing voices? When he told his best friends, Ron and Hermione said that 'hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world'. This time, it's Hermione who's seeing things. She thinks that she's the only one who can see those images, and if she tells anyone about it, they might say that she's going crazy…

Besides, why would Hermione tell Draco, of all people? They're not exactly the best of friends, right? (Thank you to wintermoon for helping me with this point!)

So, anyway, I would like to thank all those who reviewed… I can't name you all at the moment; my brother's using the other computer which is the only one that has access to the Internet… You know who you all are, right?

If you have any inquiries or some questions, please tell me in your reviews! I will appreciate it very much!

Here's chapter eight as a thank you… hope you enjoy!

****

A LOVE NOT FORGOTTEN

By Rage

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE PICTURE

****

"Mail's here!"

Everyone looked up. At that very moment, hundreds of owls rushed into the Great Hall and flew down to the students below. Draco's owl Guinevere landed gently in front of him and dropped a medium-sized parcel wrapped in brown paper.

Draco brought the package to his lap and looked up at his pet. "Thanks, Guinevere," he said, stroking his feathers. Guinevere hooted softly and flew back up in the air, joining the other owls once again.

Once Guinevere had disappeared, Draco gazed back at the brown box sitting on his lap. Though there was nothing written outside it, Draco knew what was already inside; his mother's reply and to his luck, the family photo album.

"What's that, an early Christmas gift?" some seventh year asked.

Draco didn't answer. Instead, he turned to Blaise Zabini and asked for the time. If he had a whole lot of minutes to spare, he would go back up to his Common Room and open the long-awaited parcel.

"A quarter to eight," replied Draco's fellow Slytherin.

Shoot. He didn't have enough time. Draco was itching to open it, but his first period was going to start in fifteen minutes. He seriously considered skipping it, but then again… he was after all a school prefect, and he wouldn't dare set a bad example for the younger students.

So, Draco had time only to go back to their dormitory and keep it, which he had done right after breakfast. He kept it in his trunk, beneath his school robes, and guarded the trunk with special security charms and spells.

And so, with that, he proceeded to his first lesson.

****

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the last morning class and the start of lunchtime. Draco exited the Charms classroom with Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him. Lunch was an hour and fifteen minutes long, which was fortunate for Draco. That gave him enough time to eat lunch and open the package with absolutely no hurry. However, eagerness and excitement was already bottled up inside him ever since it came, and he was trembling to go back to his dormitory.

He ate his lunch quite sloppily this time, drank from his goblet quickly and finally headed off for the Slytherin dungeons.

"Jumping Banshee," he said hurriedly to the stone wall, and in seconds, it opened a hole for Draco to climb in. Draco ran through the hole and entered the Common Room. A few first years were there at the moment, and Draco didn't bother to glance at them. He ran down the stone steps leading to his dormitory, strolled to his four-poster bed and opened his wooden trunk.

Draco rummaged under all his clothes and books. Finally, after several seconds, he pulled out the parcel. He sat down on the carpeted floor and looked at it in silence. It was still wrapped in brown paper, and a thin rope bound it. He untied it carefully with ease and, like a young toddler during Christmas morning, he opened the parcel with excitement.

Once unclosing it, an old dusty looking book and an envelope was revealed. Draco picked up the envelope first, and unfolded it slowly. It was the awaited reply from his mother, and Draco read the letter carefully.

Dearest Draco,

I am sorry that it has taken this long for me to reply. Some problems had occurred here at the Manor; several house elves had mysteriously disappeared, so we had to hire a whole new lot of them.

Regarding your question, I do not know whether there ever was another Draco in the family. I asked your father, but he hardly gave me any answer. I'm sorry to disappoint you, dear…

However, here is what you requested for—the family photo album. It took the house elves a whole day to find it in the library, and we were quite fortunate to find it in time. You see, it was included in one of the boxes that were filled with books that were going to be donated to the Ministry.

Anyway, I hope you find the answer to your question. However, why did you ask all of a sudden? Is it part of a project?

Write soon if you want homemade pastries.

With Love,

Your Mother

Draco placed the letter carefully beside him. He analyzed what his mother had just written… So there was no other Draco? He thought, biting his lip.

But that was highly impossible. He was so sure that there was another member of Malfoy named Draco…

Draco turned his attention now to the leather bound book. He brought it to his lap, and opened it on its first page. Written on it was the word, Malfoy in bold, black letters, and Draco traced it with his finger. Below it was a short inscription, and Draco read it silently.

Here in thy hands,

An aged book lies

Kept well for selected eyes.

In each page, an image stays

Of the olden days

Of a Malfoy.

Handle with care this book you hold

Dearly in your hands

For every Malfoy

Has his own tale

Waiting to be told.

Draco smiled. He remembered that inscription well during his childhood, and he used to recite it all the time to anyone who would listen. This book was somewhat his favorite when he was young, and every night, he would skim through its aged pages. However, when he had reached his adolescence, he had somehow forgotten about the book.

But now, it was time to reopen it. Draco turned the crispy pages and scanned each one, looking for the right photograph. Below each picture was the name of the Malfoy, his or her birthday and death day, and a short biography of the person. Draco read through most of it and came across some of the weirdest names and people, even though those people were part of the Malfoy family.

~

Minutes passed, and Draco still hadn't found him. He was close to tearing the book apart out of frustration, and only forty-five minutes of lunch were remaining. A part of him had already been convinced that there was no other Draco and that part was prepared to give up. However, the other half of him was still determined to find the certain person, even if that meant being late for History of Magic.

Draco had reached two thirds of the book. He was already in the late 17th century, and there was still no sign of the other Draco. "Why is it this hard to find one person?" he said out loud, frustrated.

He turned the pages quite violently this time, and caused one page to separate from the album. That page fell to the floor, and sat there gently. Draco looked at it and cursed, knowing that it was going to be difficult to put it back in the book. "Bloody album," he muttered under his breath, picking it up and placing it right in front of his face.

He glanced at the pictures on the page, and gasped.

There it was… the picture he was desperately looking for. Draco blinked, and made sure that it was not he who was in the photograph. The photo was quite yellowish from age, and the sides were creased. Draco set it down on the album and read the small paragraph below.

Sir Draco de Malfoy, son of Count Lucifer of Harrington

Born on April 15th, of the year 1771, and died on October 10th, 1787 at the young age of sixteen

Sir Draco Malfoy was planned to be the next Count of Harrington after his father, and was arranged to marry the Duchess of Hampshire at the age of sixteen. However, he had died before he was able to do so, because of an unknown reason. His father refused to say why and how he had died.

That was all it said. Draco wasn't convinced by what he had just read. It didn't make sense. Sure, he found the other Draco, but now another question was forming in his head. Why had this Draco die all of a sudden at the very young age of sixteen?

He was determined to find out the reason why. But he couldn't do it now. Lunch was about to end. So, Draco kept the picture in his pocket, placed the album back in his trunk, and finally left for his first lesson.

****

It was five past eleven. Hermione and Draco patrolled all around the castle, and were about to reach the end of their prefect duties.

Hermione looked at Draco. He was quiet this evening, and hadn't talked at all. She was sure that something was bothering him.

"Something troubling you?"

Draco glanced at her. He shook his head, and turned away. "What time is it?" he asked quietly.

Hermione flicked her wand and instantly, bright numbers appeared in the air. "Five minutes past eleven," she replied. She waved her wand once again, and the numbers vanished. "Patrolling's done."

"Alright." Draco shot her a quick grin and briskly walked away. "See you tomorrow."

Hermione blinked. He's just going to leave me here? "Wait—"

But he had already disappeared. Hermione sighed heavily, and looked around. "Great." She wanted to have some more of his company, though that didn't sound like her. Though it seemed strange, she wanted to spend time with him…

"Oh well." Hermione shrugged and started heading off to the Gryffindor Tower. However, something caught her attention.

She walked towards it, and kneeled down. On the ground was a small piece of old paper, and Hermione picked it up. "What's this?" she turned the paper over and looked at it.

And her eyes widened.

It was a picture. Of who seemed to be Draco Malfoy.

And oddly, it was familiar.

All of a sudden, Hermione kept it close to her heart. There was a warm feeling inside her, and she knew that this wasn't the Draco Malfoy she knew.

This one, instead, was undoubtedly, and strangely, without her knowing it, the man whom she fell in love with a long, long time ago.

****

A/N: So, did you all like it? I sure hope you all did! This, I think, is one of the good and well-written chapters of this story.

I made it long, and nice, I think…

I hope you tell me your comments, suggestions or questions through your reviews!

I hope I can get a lot this time, not that I'm saying I didn't for the previous chapter…

I hope I can get 85 reviews or more! I worked hard on this one!

Thanks!