was cast and she gave him a birthday present he wasn't likely to forget anytime soon. He realised it had been months since he had last needed to occlude, the memory was stored with the rest of the ones including Hermione, for the nights where they did not fall asleep together on the dungeon couch. Although they were still holding out on fulfilling their bond's most desperate plea for consummation, Draco was more than satisfied at how their relationship was developing. If he knew what it felt like to be in love, he may have said it already but since it was such a new concept to him, he held back the words when they tried to slip from his lips with Hermione near enough to hear. He saw it in her eyes too, she often started a sentence and then changed the subject, her Gryffindor bravery apparently only stretched to riding Dragons and fighting trolls, not matters of the heart. 