A/N: I wasn't expecting this many reviews! Thanks to you I have over 200 reviews...wow!

I'd like to thank...

colorguard06, wockygal, pinkkutie, bcss, aimeek, phoenixtears12, nevermind2, eosraven, flavagal, sazziboo, kawaii-konichiwa, shiningwishingstar, fieryred20, hiscefit, stargazer starluver, charmedsisters, avi-07, melovedraco, Sxcting, boyluvr250, stella, angelserpent91, ChEEkii MONkEY, suz, krzy-cav-4-christ, ann-marie, macotee, deep blue quill, ilyena kozain, trixie7, griffindor-magic, xxkatherinexx, shellywitch1, Sailor Hermy, elle granger, dragonblood, doggies45, dracinique, rana, thelovelyladylily

Sorry If I missed any names...those are the reviewers that don't have any questions...

Eliria: I just felt like the birds needed a peaceful, subtle color, not red, green or white coz I've used them before. Pansy and Ron aren't secretly dating. I wouldn't do that to poor ronniekins, would I?

Anon11: yup it's enough. Thank you so much.

Sapphire azhalia: I don't know any Latin. I searched upLatin phrases on the net and I looked for one that had significance to my fic.

NOW ON WITH MY STORY! ;)

--

Chapter 20: Never Forget

Hermione woke up with a start the next morning in the hospital wing to find Draco standing over her. Her head was sore, and she held it carefully. She had a hazy memory, and she couldn't bring herself to remember what happened by the lake.

"D-draco", she said with a weak tone, "w-what happened?"

"Shh", Draco said calmly, "Madam Pomfrey said you'd only get weaker if you spoke"

"But how ab-bout you?"

"I've been awake for about an hour"

Then she remembered.

"Draco", she said frantically, "the chain"

Draco's face fell. "Oh", he said, "that"

"Yes, that"

"I was hoping that you'd want to break it with me", he said, pulling out his pendant.

Hermione pulled out hers. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Her pendant had formed a lock. It was silver, with intricate patterns carved into it. She held it tightly, tracing the pattern carefully.

"How do you break it?" asked Hermione, "Just right on open it?"

"Yeah"

"On the count of three?" he suggested.

"Okay", Hermione said, anxious, "one, two--"

"Wait!"

"Draco, what is it?"

"We don't have to break it physically, do we?" he asked with uncertainty.

Draco backed away, a few meters...a few meters?

"But..."

Hermione's voice trailed off. She suddenly realized that they didn't have to break it physically, it was already broken. They were bonded by something deeper already, and they just needed the chain to realize it.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"Down by the lake", Hermione said, carefully choosing her words, "You wanted to tell me something...what was it?"

"Well--"

"Oh good you're up" Madam Pomfrey said, approaching the two. She was holding a small goblet. She held it out to Hermione.

Hermione hesitated and took the goblet from the plump woman. Pepper-up potion.

"Drink up dear", Madam Pomfrey said cheerily, "Draco here already had his"

Once Hermione had finished her potion, Hermione looked up at Draco. Their eyes were locked for a while, and Hermione moved towards Draco.

"It broke", she whispered in his ear, "What made it break?"

"I d-don't know..."

Draco noticed that she was crying. Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Goodbye Draco"

"Hermione," he said slowly, "hasn't anyone ever told you..."

Hermione readied herself for what he was going to say. He paused, and looked into her eyes. Those beautiful golden brown eyes, that sparkled with crystal clear tears.

"...that goodbyes don't exist?" he finished, bringing his hand to wipe away her tears.

Hermione held her breath, and kissed Draco on the cheek. "I...", she started to say. What was Draco going to say...if she said 'I love you?' Her voice trailed off and she sank back down onto her bed.

"What?"

"N-nothing"

Just then, Madam Pomfrey appeared. "You can go dears", she said cheerily, and took the goblet away; "Dumbledore said that you could go back to your dormitories and sleep. Take a rest, he says, and I quite agree..."

Hermione smiled and got up.

"Draco..." she said quietly, "I'll miss you"

"Miss you too", Draco said stiffly, "See you around"

Hermione took her robes that were hanging by the bedside table, and she put them on. With one quick smile, she was gone.

--

Draco sat on the hospital bed and held his pendant. He didn't want it to break. "I still need her", he thought angrily. He didn't want Hermione out of his life. "Too soon", he thought firmly, "too soon...why did it have to break now?"

Draco breathed heavily and without his noticing, a single tear ran down his pale face. He could've told her how he felt, but he was too much of a coward. Telling Hermione he loved her would change everything. He didn't know what he wanted to be, what he should do.

He should be a Malfoy, a pureblood, someone everyone respected. But he really didn't want that did he? He was just expected to be like his father. What did he really want?

"She just left", Draco thought bitterly. There was nothing he could do about that. He silently walked up to his dormitory, thinking about how stupid he was not to tell her how he really felt.

--

Hermione rushed up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. She went inside. No one was there yet. They were all in class. She went up the spiral steps to her own dormitory. She sat down quietly on the bed. She looked around. Her trunk was already there. Everything she owned.

Her hand wandered over to her neck, she clutched the pendant. It was no longer glowing, but she knew what she was feeling. She knew that she loved Draco. She should've told him that. She shouldn't have been such a coward.

"Hermione," she told herself, "for someone who is supposedly clever, you truly are stupid"

Now she didn't have an excuse to be with him. She didn't have a reason to come up to him, and talk with him. She didn't have any reason to kiss him, hug him, and tell him that she loved him. And that was what she wanted to do most. She silently kicked herself for not seizing the moment.

"And now," she thought angrily, "that moment is lost forever"

--

A few hours later, Hermione was awakened by the sound of chattering from the common room. She smoothed out her hair, and quickly ran down. Where were Harry and Ron? She quickly spotted them sitting by the fire. It pained her to remember the times when she and Draco sat by the fire.

"Harry!" she said, "Ron!"

"Hermione!" they said together.

None of them spoke for a while, and then Harry said, "You finally got rid of Malfoy, then?"

"Yes, slept in the hospital wing last night"

"Oh so that's where you were", Ron said, "We couldn't see you at dinner"

Hermione pulled out her pendant. It wasn't glowing, but the ruby was sparkling under the light of the fire.

"Beautiful", Ron whispered, "I bet that'll go for a hundred galleons"

"Ron!" Hermione said, "I'm keeping it"

"Don't tell me you like Draco now..." Harry teased.

"Shut it, Harry" Hermione said, and then her voice fell, "I don't know what to think now"

"Well..." Harry said, "We've missed you...we had to do our own homework the past months"

Hermione looked at him sternly, "Honestly..."

"We're kidding"

Hermione grinned. "I'm feeling a bit mischievous", she said, "Want to go to the kitchen for some late night snacks?"

--

Draco sat by the fire for hours, devouring Honeydukes sweets, and thinking about her. There was a loud creak, and the entrance to the common room swung open. Blaise Zabini came in, looking a bit harassed.

"That McGonagall..." he said under his breath, and then he caught sight of Draco.

"Malfoy!" he said loudly, "Got rid of that Mudblood I see"

"Of course", he said, in his Malfoy-like smoothness, and he pretended to smirk. Blaise bought it, and left for the dormitory.

Draco got up, and left for the kitchen to get something to wash down the sweets.

--

Draco tickled the pear, and got inside, turning to his left to where the drinks were stored.

"Welcome Master Malfoy" squeaked one of the house elves, "What may I getting you this evening?"

"Pumpkin juice", he said icily, and passed a hand through his blonde hair.

The elf scrambled to get him a goblet of chilled pumpkin juice and handed it to him. Draco took it and nodded to the elf. He drank it there, but then he heard some voices.

"Whaddya think...croissants? Or—"

"—those are bigger though"

The voices were coming closer, getting louder, accompanied by footsteps. Then the footsteps stopped.

"Oh", Hermione Granger said, holding a basketful of croissants, "hello Draco"

"Hi", Draco smirked, but not as coldly as he wanted to. His heart sank when he saw her, and now, he had no idea whatsoever of what to say to her, so with a swish of his cloak, he left the kitchen, leaving Hermione dumbfounded, and quite heartbroken.

Hermione didn't know if she should break down and cry, or go after Draco and confront him. Why did he leave just like that? She had no idea why he'd do that. Until the chain broke, it was ever so easy to talk to him. Ask him, and you'll get answers. Worry and you'll be comforted. But now, it was quite different.

Hermione pulled Harry and Ron from out of the kitchen, tears streaming down her cheeks.

When they arrived in the common room, she sank down on her favorite couch. Her cheeks were stained, and Harry and Ron sat down with her. Hermione's head rested on Ron's shoulder, and Harry patted her hand.

"It's okay Hermione..."

"We know how you feel...well, not exactly—but sort of..."

"Ron! Shut it, she's not feeling any better"

"Well, do you want to talk about it?"

"No", came Hermione's voice as hard as steel, and she left for the dormitory.

--

Just as soon as Hermione lied down on her bed, there was a tapping on the window. Some of the girls groaned, and covered their heads with pillows. Hermione sat up again, and saw that it was an owl...Malfoy's owl.

She let him in, and took the envelope from its leg. It was a plain white envelope, no name at all. She opened it, and only one thing came out, a thick blue photograph with a smiling Hermione and a grinning Draco. It was the photograph from last Christmas.

She gazed at it once more, and turned it over. There, written in blood red ink, were the words: never forget.

--

Hermione sneaked out of the Gryffindor common room. This was something that a prefect should never attempt, but what is life without risks?

"It would be nothing", Hermione said under her breath.

--

Draco put on his cloak, and left the Slytherin common room. He had sneaked out on countless occasions. He had gone to the kitchen, to the entrance of the forbidden forest, even took the train to Hogsmeade, and sat in the bar drinking butterbeer.

Today, he faced Merlin's tapestry. He held his pendant tightly. He had never taken it off. A door appeared in front of him, and he turned the knob slowly.

He wanted to sit in front of the fire, but somebody was already there.

--

Hermione was startled by a voice behind her.

"Hermione?" it said, and she turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway.

"Thanks for the picture", she said weakly, still not believing what she was seeing.

"Had it copied", he grinned.

Hermione grinned back. She was surprised at how easily she could smile when he was around. She brushed her bushy hair behind her ear and Draco sat down beside her.

"Sorry", he managed, "for the thing in the kitchen...I was surprised..."

"So was I..."

"Pumpkin Juice..."

"—and croissants...dinner rolls..."

"I missed you"

"So did I"

"I can't believe—"

"—that the chain broke"

"Does it glow?"

"Not anymore..."

They kept on talking, and they just fell silent.

Draco lied down on Hermione's lap, and looked up at her. Awkwardly, she stroked his hair with her right hand, and he held her left.

Once again, they found themselves in a situation that they never wanted to end.

A/N: dudes...sorry I kept you waiting. I really had no way of updating the fic. I am really sorry...please review this one...thank you! :::CHOCOLATE BUNNiES FOR EVERYONE!!:::

I'm also glad that you liked the birds and the significance of the Raven.