A/N: It's here, it's here, it's finally here! Chapter 14 has finally arrived, everyone! Thank you so so much for sticking around and dealing with such sporadic updates while I've been working through my issues.

Anyway, without further ado, here's chapter 14!

Draco woke up the next day warmer than he remembered when falling asleep. There was an unexpected heat source coming from somewhere in front of him. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, reluctant to actually wake up and remove himself from his comfortable position. Instead of getting up, he burrowed himself closer to the source of his warmth, pulling it towards his body even more.

A few seconds passed before Draco's eyes shot open, wide, with the sudden realization of just what that heat source was. When he opened his eyes, he found himself looking directly into the back of Hermione's head, mere inches from his own face. Draco looked down and found that his arms were wrapped around her stomach, her arms wrapped around his. It was clear to him she hadn't woken up, either, since she had yet to move or realize their position.

Before they had gone to sleep, their cushions had been close, yes, but not nearly that close. He tried to remember waking up at all during the night, but couldn't recall waking up. As far as Draco remembered, he had slept soundly through the night. He wondered if, in his sleep, he had gotten up and moved them closer, but he was never one to sleep walk. In all his years he had rarely even moved more than once or twice throughout the night, so he doubt he was the one who moved them. Which only left Hermione. He wondered when she had moved the two of them directly next to each other and also why she had done it to begin with.

Knowing he most likely wouldn't know how they had gotten so close while they were sleeping, Draco chose to stay where he was. Again, he burrowed closer to Hermione, grabbing her closer and digging his face into her hair. He had never been this comfortable before, nor had he ever slept as well as he did that night. Draco blamed this on being so close to Hermione, and he truly enjoyed that. He honestly didn't want this moment to end.

At some point Draco had fallen back to sleep, for when he opened his eyes again it was later in the morning and he was alone. He sat up on his cushion, finding the room empty aside from himself. He momentarily asked himself where Hermione could have gone off to when a piece of parchment off to his right caught his eye. Lying back down, he picked up the note and read it quickly.

I went to shower and change real quick. I shouldn't be gone very long. Before I left I added a few needed ingredients to the potions, so you shouldn't have to do anything right away.

Hermione.

Draco sighed. I should probably go and shower, too, he thought as he stood up and stretched. Yawning slightly, he exited the classroom, magically locked the door, and set off down the corridor. The hallways and stairs were all empty as he walked towards the Slytherin common room, since first lessons of the day were currently going on.

He quickly showered and changed his clothes, wanting to get back to the classroom as soon as possible. Draco was starving, so he hoped there would be food when he returned. He hadn't checked the tables at all when he left, so he didn't know if food had already been there before. Either way, Draco knew he needed something to eat soon.

Draco had made it back to the classroom door and saw that it was still locked. He unlocked the door and entered the room, searching quickly to see if Hermione had come back yet. Finding the room was still empty, he sighed again as he walked to the fireplace. Everything that had happened last night had left Draco with even stronger feelings towards Hermione, which is why he had hoped she would be back when he returned.

With Professor McGonagall called with the fire about breakfast, Draco waited anxiously at one of the tables to see what she would be sending. Thankfully he didn't have to wait very long. With a loud POP, two platters appeared before him on the table, both completely full of food. Bacon, eggs, toast, and potatoes were crammed on one platter, porridge, oatmeal, and three different cereals were on the other. A pitcher and two goblets had also appeared along with the food, and Draco couldn't wait to dig in. He loaded up his own plate and started eating ravenously, as if he hadn't eaten in days.

His mouth was full of food when he heard the door open behind him. Draco swallowed and looked around quickly to find Hermione standing in the doorway. She looked amazing. The upper half of her hair was pulled back into a braid, and the rest hung loosely around her shoulders. She was wearing a light blue striped muggle sweater and a pair of jeans. He could swear he noticed the slightest tint of pink powder along her cheek bones and a small line of black around her eyes. Draco could do nothing but stare at her, his mouth still hanging open.

The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like ages before Hermione's grumbling stomach brought them back to reality. She sat down next to Draco and they began eating, neither of them saying anything to the other. Finally, Draco couldn't keep his mouth closed any longer.

"You look nice, Hermione."

"T-thank you, Draco."

Draco only nodded in return without looking at her, keeping his eyes on his plate. They continued to eat in silence, only the occasional popping from the fire to be heard. Once the two were finished, the platters and goblets disappeared once more, and they turned their attention to their task at hand.

"It looks like we don't really have to do anything to either of the potions for another few hours," Hermione said, both parchments of instructions in front of her face. "For the Revive potions, we just have two more ingredients to add, both three hours apart, then let it brew for another 4 before it's finished. I already added the first ingredient before I left this morning, so we don't have to worry about that one."

Draco moved behind Hermione, leaning over her shoulder to read the instructions as well. "The Memory potion still requires a lot more work from what I can tell, but it shouldn't be too difficult for us to handle."

It was hard for Draco to concentrate on what he was saying and reading being this close to Hermione. His face was once again only a few inches from her own, his chest hovering above her right shoulder. He tried his hardest not to breathe in deeply, though the scent permeating from her was intoxicating. Draco had never smelled anything like it before, and he was completely entranced by it.

Hermione hadn't reacted to their closeness, either, trying her best not to seem phased by it. She simply nodded an agreement and continued to stare at the parchments held in her hand. The overwhelming closeness finally got to Draco. He turned his head, moved in so he was only a few centimeters way, closed his eyes, and placed a small kiss upon her cheek before he even realized what he was doing.

His thoughts came back to him quickly, his eyes shooting open. He stood up and backed away from her as fast as he could, completely and utterly shocked at what he had done. Draco began stuttering an apology when he was suddenly cut off by Hermione. She didn't say anything to him, just held up her hand to silence him.

"Let's just concentrate on our work, okay?" Hermione said, ignoring the event totally. She acted as if Draco had done nothing out of the ordinary, even though the vibrant red tint to her face giving her feelings away.

Draco's breaths were shallow and fast, his nerves still out of control. You idiot! He screamed at himself in his mind. What the bloody hell were you thinking?! He kept his eyes closed, standing behind and slightly to the right of Hermione, his head tilted to the floor. Draco didn't think he could look at her right now. He felt awful for what he had done. He didn't know what exactly came over him, and now, to him, he was a complete fool. A total idiot.

Draco sat down, his eyes tightly shut, his hands in his lap. He used all of his concentration on one thing, and one thing only: compartmentalizing his mind and clearing all his thoughts from his feelings and what he had done. Hermione sat in silence, watching Draco from the corner of her eyes, curious to see what he was doing. Soon, Draco's facial expression began to change, softening and relaxing until he looked completely calm. His shoulders slumped, his back rounded, his head dropping to his chest. At first, Hermione assumed he had fallen asleep sitting up, but soon Draco stirred. Draco lifted his head, opened his eyes, and looked totally calm and collected.

When Draco stood up and faced Hermione, she noticed there was a change to his eyes. There no longer was a shine to them, it was like she could no longer see into Draco's mind and heart through his eyes. They were blank and empty, as if they were flat and drawn on paper. Draco moved back to the table and sat back down next to Hermione without a word. He picked up the forgotten about parchment that had fallen to the floor and began reading over the instructions for the Memory potion a little more closely.

The next few hours passed by with little words said between the two. They only talked about what they were working on, Draco's eyes still oddly empty. Occulomency had been something Draco learned at a young age, something he had perfected early on. Growing up in his family, with his father always demanding absolute perfection, occulomency was something needed. During the time Lord Voldemort had been using Draco's home as his "base", Draco had relied on compartmentalizing his mind more than ever before. Knowing Voldemort's powers and abilities to enter anyone's mind at will, occulomency had kept Draco alive in the most dire of moments.

Now, occulomency had been needed to keep his thoughts straight, his mind clear of anything related to kissing Hermione's cheek and his growing feelings towards her. Whenever he used this skill, his mind went absolutely blank aside from whatever task was at hand. He felt guilty being able to forget the day's events and the feelings he had, but he stamped the feeling quickly. He wanted nothing more than to forget what he did, afraid of what Hermione had been thinking about it, slightly angered at her lack of reaction to the kiss.

Author's note: So, I'm officially back everyone! Here's the long awaited Chapter 14! I'm so happy to finally be back in the game of writing and posting for all of you to read. I promised you guys I'd be back, didn't I? I'm not one to break my promises ;)

I'm still working through stuff but things have definitely improved from where I was before. I'm not entirely sure when the next chapter will be posted, but I promise it will not take nearly as long as this chapter did!

As I said above, thank you all so so very much for staying with me during these times. I can't even begin to describe how amazing it feels to know you all are still here, still anticipating when the next chapter will be posted. I also wanted to personally thank pgoodrichboggs for your kind words in the review you wrote. You all rock my world!