AN1: This one is sad. You know why? Because I feel sad due to the extreme lack of reviews! Something happy and fluffy will come next...if there are at least four reviews. Otherwise I will continue to make you all sad!

Disclaimer: Bahaha, you're joking right? You really need me to tell you that I DON'T own Harry Potter?

NOTE: Italics are flashbacks!

ANOTHER NOTE: Listen to 'Goodbye' by Miley Cyrus. 'Tis worth it, I swear! NO seriously, listen to it now! No joke.

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She could honestly say he'd been on her mind since she woke up today. She looked at her favorite photograph of him and smiled softly; the memories came back to life as they did all the time, but she didn't mind.

At a methodical pace, Hermione got up and dressed in the green sundress that she knew Draco liked. Today she took extra care with her hair and makeup. Before she left the house, she went out to the garden and carefully cut a small bouquet of flowers. Hermione walked briskly through the small wizarding town she resided in and let memories and happy thoughts weave in and out of her mind.

Everything that they had ever done together was so much fun. Hermione didn't want to admit it, but it was true. Draco was such a gentleman and he really knew how to treat a lady. It was sweet, funny, charming, handsome and romantic...and just every female's dream. To top it off, he was a brilliant kisser! Draco also drove Hermione mad! He knew what power he had over her and yes, sometimes, he abused it. But that was fine. It wasn't hurting either of them; just another form of teasing.

Hermione laughed, tears of mirth began to stream down her cheeks.

"Okay, fine! You win." She announced as they reached the doorstep of her flat after their date.

Draco smirked in a fashion that Hermione had quickly become accustomed to, "I always do!" He leaned forward and joined their lips for a sensuous kiss. His lips moved against hers and his hands slowly slid down as hers fingered his gorgeous locks of blond.

Hermione made a sound of pleasure, and that was when Draco pulled away; Hermione's eyes were glazed over.

"Sorry, I've got to go now."

Hermione looked crestfallen. "Won't you stay for coffee or something?"

"I can't I have to get up early tomorrow."

"But I won't keep you up the whole night...just the majority of it."

"So sorry, love, no can do. But I shall see you tomorrow." Draco left one last sweet kiss on Hermione's mouth and apparated away. Hermione leaned backwards against the front door of her flat and put her right hand to her mouth. She could still feel his lips on hers.

He always knew how to drive her insane, and that's what he did frequently. On the outside, Hermione feigned hurt, but in reality, she loved when he teased her like that, almost as much as she loved when he took her out to dinner and made her feel as if she were the most special person in the world.

That date that they had had just a week ago had been one of the best ever. They went to eat at a fancy Italian restaurant and afterwards went to see a movie. The movie was absolutely amazing, but to Hermione, dinner was the highlight of her night. Hermione ate a delicious plate of fettuccini alfredo and Draco ordered a plate of spaghetti and meatballs; while the food had been incredible, that still wasn't what had made her night.

After the couple had finished eating, Draco stood up and offered her his hand; no not in marriage, but to dance. Hermione smiled shyly but declined.

"Draco, there's no music!"

He just grinned. "Who needs music?" Draco took her hand and pulled her to him, holding her close. "I'm holding everything that I'll ever need right now."

Hermione couldn't argue with that and so she followed him to a space with empty tables. He charmed them to fold themselves and lean against the nearest wall. Now they had a dance floor. He held her close to him and the swayed to absolutely no music. Hermione supposed that they looked ridiculous, but she didn't care in the least.

And it wasn't just the extravagant and elaborate things they did that made Hermione happy; it was also the simple things. Those she recalled the most often. The way he would sit with her outside on nice days with his arm around her, the look in his eyes when he was watching her and he thought she wasn't looking, the way his hair was all rumpled after he woke up, just the little things that seemed insignificant. Those things meant the most to her. Tears ran down her cheeks as she continued to remember the little things that he did for her.

That date at the Italian restaurant had been a fun night, definitely one of their more romantic dates. There were other nights though, others that definitely had not been so fun. One night, back when they were at Hogwarts and they had just passed their two month anniversary in 7th year, they had a conversation about S.P.E.W. and it turned into a quite awful altercation.

"Why do you care so much?! Nobody should care this much about those infernal creatures!"

"They deserve to have rights too, Draco! I don't know how you don't see that!" She paused. "Oh wait, yes I do! You Draco Malfoy, you are a spoiled, rich aristocrat who doesn't do anything but whine and complain. 'Oh no, Potter has a broom, Potter's on the Quidditch team! Father you should buy me a better broom and help me buy my way onto the team!'"

Hermione voice slowly rose to a scream and her face turned beet red from yelling. "You've never known what it's like to have to work for a living! Everything you have has been given to you and you haven't had to earn anything!"

Draco looked at her as if the Hermione he knew disappeared, as if he didn't recognize who was standing in front of him at all. His beautiful blue-grey eyes turned dark and stormy.

"Shut up. Just shut up you pathetic Mudblood! You don't understand anything about my life, so don't act like you do. It isn't fitting for impure people such as yourself to think that they have opinions of any importance."

Hermione gasped and her eyes widened and began to fill with tears. "I thought you had changed, Draco Malfoy, but I guess I was wrong." She let out a sob and fled back to her room.

Draco flopped onto the couch and let his head fall into his hands. "What have I done?"

That certainly had been an awful night that he never wanted to relive, in his mind or for real. Neither of them spoke of it anymore, but it was still there. He said to her that that was one of his biggest regrets. He told her that she wished that she'd forget that night and that argument. Although that night had been painful for both of them, Hermione could recall a much more painful memory.

Opening the gates quickly so they wouldn't creak, Hermione entered the small grassy area that was littered with solemn markers.

The doorbell rang loudly startling Hermione. She looked at the clock and found that it was a little past eleven. This was the normal time that Draco came to take her out to lunch. She opened the door and saw a healer and an auror.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes," The auror started, "we're looking for a Miss Hermione J. Granger."

"That's me. What is going on?"

"Do you know of a Mr. Draco L. Malfoy?"

"Yes I do, why do you ask?" Hermione tilted her head in confusion.

"I'm sorry to say that he was found this morning outside of a jewelry store in very bad shape. It appeared as if someone had cursed him. We rushed him to St. Mungo's but there was nothing we could do. This was found in his pocket; does it mean anything to you?"

The auror took out a little black box and opened it. Inside, nestled on a small cushion, was a diamond ring. It took all of Hermione's control to stay composed.

"N-no, but I think that after today it would have re-resided on my left hand."

The auror and the healer both looked very uncomfortable at the situation they found themselves in. "I offer you my truest and most sincere condolences Ms. Granger." Hermione wiped away a tear that was inching its way down her cheek.

"Thank you."

"Would you like to come down to St. Mungo's to identify the body?"

"No, I don't think I could—f." Hermione broke off her sentence, but the two workers seemed to understand.

"I see. Would you like us to make er, funeral arrangements?"

"I can manage that on my own, thanks though."

They bid her adieu and turned to leave, but Hermione stopped them. "Do you think...if it's not too much trouble...do you think I could have that ring?" The auror handed it to her and gave her a sympathetic look before turning away again. Hermione slipped the ring onto her finger—a perfect fit. She went into her house and waited a couple of seconds before she let herself break down.

Hermione counted the rows and turned down the fifth one and kept going until she reached a large marble figure.

The day the auror and healer came to her door had been a month ago. Today, she kneeled at the foot of her beloved's resting place with the precious ring on her finger and tried to hold back tears. Her efforts were futile. The floodgates broke and Hermione burst into pitiful wails.

"Oh Draco!" She cried, sobs wracking her body. "Why did you leave me?" Hermione held onto the marble figure that had been made in his honor for dear life: as if letting go would sever her connection to life and sever her connection to him forever.

Gathering her wits, Hermione got to her feet and brushed the dirt off of her clothes. She knew that he wouldn't want her to be miserable. He would want her to move on. Watching her fall apart would hurt him as much as it hurt her. He would want her to remember the good times. She knew Draco well enough to know that the one thing he'd wish she'd forget, the memory he'd want her to forget, would be saying goodbye.

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AN2: So, you should pretty much review. At least four before the next chapter...that's not asking for much!! Just four! Remember, the next one will be super fluffy if you do!

PS: LISTEN TO THE SONG 'GOODBYE' BY MILEY CYRUS. IF YOU AREN'T A FAN OF HER, DO IT ANYWAY! TRUST ME. LISTEN TO IT AND THEN RECALL TO LIFE MY STORY! (ehehe recalled to life. Woot. A Tale of Two Cities.)

lovelove, Amanda