Author's Note: Hey there people! It is I once again, Rage! I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to be posted up, but as I have said, school's back in business, and I'm stuck every day after school doing my homework/studying/resting from the exhaustion from school. But at least it's here already!!

06-23-03: I just finished Harry Potter Book Five just a while ago, and I'm feeling a bit down… I'm sure all you HP fans know why… one of the most significant characters of Harry Potter has been… you know the word, as well as the person…I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it yet… I'm feeling really sad because I've just realized a while ago that the person who *toot* is my favorite character…well, at least one of them… :-(

Well, life goes on…

Thank you to: I AmAre I, annabanana297, Sabriel4, Chrissy, blue ribbon, Sweet Water, Deimos, Pampers, Oo.DrAcOzAnJeL.Oo, DazzilinAngel555, wintermoon, CrackHead, Serpena, delila-malfoy, fairy-twinkle-winkle, Tammy, Liliath, CarmenSandiego, Andrea, Amy, Kara Black, baby-gurl25, Li-chan, CindyLea, and all those who have reviewed my past chapters! I'm sorry if I can't mention you all, but I'm feeling too lazy to open all the review pages!

I know the ending of the last chapter was sort of cheesy, but I told you that I didn't know how to end it! I apologize deeply!

Anyway, here is chapter ten!

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A LOVE NOT FORGOTTEN

By Rage

CHAPTER TEN

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Draco wondered if his hearing was defaulting. Did Hermione just say what he thought she said or was he just imagining things?

I think I'm in love with him… Her words echoed endlessly in his head. It didn't make sense… didn't make sense at all…

"You're… in love with this… person?" he stuttered, pointing at the man in the photograph.

Hermione turned crimson. "I didn't say I was in love with him, I just said I think I am!"

"But—Hermione, this—this person's… well—dead." Said Draco. "I mean—he lived almost a century ago."

"Yes, I know that." Hermione crossed her arms and turned away. "I… I know that." There was a hint of pain and sadness in her voice, and though she spoke quietly, Draco noticed it very well.

He looked back at the picture and then at Hermione. She seemed to know very well who this person was… it seemed like she'd known him for years. And it did seem like she was truly in love with the Draco look-alike.

"But… how? Why?" Draco asked.

"I don't exactly know the reason," replied Hermione. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and turned away once again. "I just… feel attached to him, that's all. It's like… I've met him before. I don't remember when, though. But I'm sure I did."

There was a moment of silence. The wind quietly rushed through the dark corridor, and the flames flickered every now and then. Hermione had her back turned to Draco, and Draco was still clutching the old photograph tightly in his hand. His thoughts were messed up, and now, he didn't know what to think or do or say. Apparently, Hermione didn't know what to do too.

Luckily, at that very moment, Peeves, the poltergeist appeared out of nowhere. "Whippee!" he cackled, bouncing up and down as he entered the corridor. The two teenagers shifted their attention to him, and he cackled once more. "A bunch of prefects out patrolling… or just two teenagers having some fun in the night?" he said slyly, stopping in midair.

"Shut up, Peeves," Draco hissed. He was in no mood to deal with anything unimportant at the moment; he was still preoccupied with everything else.

Peeves stuck his tongue out and scowled at him. "You can't make me!"

"Get lost or I'll call the Bloody Baron!"

"Killjoy!" And instantly, the poltergeist vanished.

Draco sighed heavily and turned around to face Hermione. However, she was nowhere to be found. She was gone.

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"Six o'clock in the morning!" The magical clock wheezed lazily. "Wake up!!"

Hermione opened her eyes drowsily. The sun's rays went through the windows of the girls' dormitory, making the dark shadows that were present the other night disappear. Everyone was still asleep, and only Hermione was the only one sitting upright.

She stood up and yawned as she stretched her arms. Classes would start in about two hours, and she had enough time to take a bath. So, she fixed her bed, grabbed her toiletries and headed for the prefects' bathroom. She hardly used the exclusive room, and this was the only chance she had to finally occupy it by herself.

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"Squeaky clean," said Hermione to the door beside the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The door creaked open, and Hermione slipped inside carefully as she clumsily carried her toiletries in her arms. She dropped them to the nearest counter and looked around.

"Wow…" she said breathlessly, as she took in everything her eyes met. Harry had told her about it before during their fourth year…

"It's a wonderful room, the prefects' bathroom," Harry had said, "I bet it's the best thing in becoming a prefect…"

And he was right. It was amazing… the chandelier above hung splendidly on the ceiling, and everything was made of white marble… The enormous bathtub in the middle of the room was empty at the moment, and Hermione noted that there were about a hundred taps on its side.

Hermione smiled gleefully and was about to take off her clothes, when—

"Well, if you'd really like to do that in front of me, go ahead," a smug voice said from behind.

Hermione gasped in fright and immediately rebuttoned her clothes. She whirled around, and came face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy. "What in Merlin's sake are you doing here??" she hissed. "At six in the morning?"

Draco walked around her and dropped the things he was carrying. He turned around and faced her. "I'm going to take my daily bath. This is the usual time for me to wake up. I usually take my baths here."

"But… why??"

Draco gave her a flat look. "Unless you didn't know," he said, "I'm a prefect. Plus, I'd like to be hygienic, if you don't mind… cleanliness as everyone knows is of course the next step to godliness. "

"I don't care!" Hermione had gotten in the bathroom first and she perfectly knew that she was entitled to use it first before Malfoy. "I came here first, so I get to use it first."

Draco stared at her. Hermione was still breathing hard, and she threw a glare at him. Finally, after what seemed to be an hour long of silence, Draco shrugged and turned away. "Fine."

He took out his wand out from his robes and flicked it. A second passed, and suddenly, out of thin air, a foldable wall (AN: you know those things in movies/ cartoons where the characters change behind? That's the one…) appeared. Draco grabbed all his things and went behind the wall.

Hermione stood gaping at him. From behind the wall, Draco spoke up. "Well, are you taking a bath or not? I haven't got all morning, y'know…"

"Why can't you just wait outside??" Hermione asked worriedly. "You know, like normal people!"

"It'd be a waste of good time," Draco replied, exasperated.

"You might-- peek!"

Draco popped his head out of the wall. He was wearing an annoyed look, and seemed like he had absolutely no time to waste. "I might be a prat, a villain, a selfish, annoying git," he said, counting the things he called himself with his fingers, "But I never was, am, or ever will be a pervert."

Hermione snorted. She believed that all guys were perverts, even just once in their lives, and she had no reason to give the boy who stood behind the wall the benefit of the doubt.

"Granger, I am not going to peek! My fingers are uncrossed—look!" He held up both his hands. "And besides, what's there to look at anyway?"

Hermione stuck her tongue out and crossed her arms. "Fine," she took her towel and glanced at Draco. "Now, go back behind that wall!"

Draco smirked and disappeared behind the wall.

Hermione made sure that she was completely hidden from Draco's view before she finally took off her clothes. She sneaked towards the water tap and turned it on, and for several minutes, water gushing out was the only thing that could be heard in the room. Hermione turned it off and turned on the other taps. She chose strawberry and vanilla, and as soon as the bubbly liquids poured into the bathtub, there was a wonderful whiff of the scents.

When finally her bath was ready, Hermione climbed into the bathtub that was now full of enormous white bubbles. She sighed contently as she rested her head on one of its sides and closed her eyes. Now this is life, she thought happily. I could do this all day…

"This ring seems awfully familiar to me."

Hermione's train of thought was cut short. She opened her eyes and turned around. Draco was leaning out of the wall, holding the precious ring in his hand, eyeing it very carefully.

"What did I say?" Hermione glared at him, and engulfed her whole body with more bubbles. "Didn't I tell you to hide behind that wall??"

Draco looked up. "Oh—I forgot." He grinned sheepishly and went back to his hiding place. "Pardon me."

"Pervert," Hermione muttered under her breath. She was still fuming inside and at the moment, there was a burning desire in her that wanted to hex the young man. She turned around, and was relieved that Draco wasn't in her view anymore.

"Hermione," she heard him say.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Where'd you get this ring?"

She rolled her eyes. "Didn't I already tell you? It's a family heirloom."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty much."

"…"

Hermione leaned her head on the sink and stared up at the chandelier. She wondered why Draco was again asking things about her stupid ring… what was so important about it that he knew that she didn't know?

"Why?" she suddenly asked.

"It's… familiar, that's all."

"Why?" she repeated, her voice louder.

"Nothing." He replied curtly.

But Hermione was n't satisfied. His answer wasn't the one she was looking for. "Draco—"

"It's already six thirty five, Granger." Draco's head suddenly appeared. "I'm expecting you to be done by six fifty."

"What—oh, all right. Go away, I'm going to get out." Hermione shot an angry look at him, and Draco once again vanished behind the wall. Hermione grabbed her towel, got out, and wrapped it around her. She pulled the silver plug and the water gradually drained into the small hole. She walked over to her clothes, and after about ten minutes, she was finally dressed in her schoolrobes.

"I'm done!" she exclaimed triumphantly, and she walked behind the wall. There she saw Draco, his back leaned on the wall as he sat down. The ring was in his palm, resting quietly as he examined it.

"Can I have my ring back?" Hermione suddenly said.

Draco looked up, and blinked. "What?"

Hermione pointed to the small ring, and Draco quickly understood. "Oh, right—" He stood up and held the ring in front of her. "Just got carried away, that's all… Here."

Hermione opened her right palm to receive it.

"Whoops—" Draco had dropped the ring on the marble floor. He bent down to pick it up. "No damage done on the ring—Here."

He looked up at Hermione, one leg kneeling. Hermione felt herself blush, seeing how Draco was down on one knee… it seemed like he was… proposing… And at that precise moment, she was reminded of the young man in the photograph…

Draco's eyes had softened a bit, and he was gently smiling. The bathroom had dissolved into a shade by a huge meadow, and Hermione wasn't wearing her school robes anymore. Instead she was in a light blue dress, standing in front of the other Draco.

"Hermione," he said in a wonderfully low voice, "What will you say if I asked you to marry me?"

Hermione let out a small gasp. "What??" she squealed, dumbfounded.

The Draco-lookalike smiled and took out a beautiful silver ring, similar to Hermione's… only now it had a diamond stud on it. "Do you see this ring?" he asked. Hermione nodded in reply. "It's for you."

"For me?" stammered Hermione. "But—but—I-I'm only sixteen—"

"No, no, it's not an engagement ring," he laughed. "It's just a symbol of my… well, you know… my 'undying love' for you."

Hermione gaped at him. Undying love? She thought, gaping at the ring he was holding. For me?

"Hold out your hand." The young man said. Hermione did as she was told and gave her left hand to him. Meanwhile, he stood up and wore the ring on her ring finger. "I hope," he said as he put the ring, "that you may never forget that I love you very much… with my heart and soul."

Hermione stood gaping at him as he held her hand tightly. She looked at the ring and immediately, at the first sight of it, she was breathtaken. It was simply beautiful…

She looked up at the young man's smiling face, and she knew that she would never forget him. "I—I—" she struggled for words, but found none. The Draco lookalike put his finger on her lips and cupped her cheek.

"I love you, Hermione," he whispered. He tilted his head… and he kissed her.

Her head was spinning. The moment she had touched his lips, she was in a world full of nothing but pure bliss. She felt like she was under the Imperius curse… she was just floating around, feeling overjoyed.

She opened her eyes, and smiled. The young man had pulled away and she was expecting to see his handsome face. She knew that he was just standing in front of her…

"Oh.Bloody.Hell." said a voice that was definitely not the man she was with a few minutes ago.

Oh.my.goodness.

Hermione knew who owned that voice. But it couldn't be… it wouldn't be… it shouldn't be!

She looked up fearfully. She knew what she had done… He knew what she had done…!

She kissed Draco Malfoy!

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A/N: Ehe… was it okay? The ending? Quite a surprise, doncha think? I hope it was… sorry this took so long… school was the main reason… quizzes, homeworks… bleurgh!

Anyway, not much to say here! You know what you've got to do, right?

REVIEW! Tell me your comments/opinions/suggestions/flames/criticisms/etc.!

Will be waiting…