Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Fourteen

I made sure to talk to Draco as soon as I got back to Hogwarts.

I found him sitting in his usual spot in the common room, but before I could go and speak to him, Mirah dragged me to our dormitory, insisting I needed to unpack with her. I didn't see him again that night, so I decided to wait until tomorrow.

The next morning at breakfast, he slumped into the dining hall looking tired, yawning as he buttered a piece of toast. I was going to get up and talk to him, but when Crabbe and Goyle went to sit across from him, he glared at them and told them to leave him alone, so I decided it would probably be best to do the same.

In Care of Magical Creatures that morning, while I tried to understand what it was we were supposed to be doing with our salamanders, Mirah nudged me and whispered, "Malfoy's staring at you."

I felt my face heat up as I whirled to meet his eyes, and he looked away instantly, looking rather sour.

By the time lunch arrived, I had almost completely forgotten about Draco, and had been caught up in sharing the happenings of Christmas break with Harry, Hermione, and Ron when I noticed Draco still sat alone at the end of the Slytherin table, and no one sat within three feet of him.

I excused myself from the trio and made my way over to him, planning on demanding what his deal was, but when I'd reached him, I noticed his expression looked rather sad.

"Something bothering you?" I asked, and he jumped, looking up at me with his eyes wide.

He sighed, shaking his head as he slouched over the table, and hand in his messy blonde hair. "Don't do that," he muttered, a hand on his chest as if trying to calm a racing heart.

I chuckled, sitting next to him as I muttered, "Sorry."

"It's all right," Draco replied, waving the apology off.

I stared at his side profile with narrowed eyes, but he stared determinedly at the table, his jaw clenched so that his jawline stood out.

"What's wrong?" I asked when staring at him didn't help. He still didn't seem to want to talk, and I was beginning to worry. "Tell me," I pleaded softly.

Draco sighed, resting his chin in his hand, his elbow on the table. "Can I ask you something?" he asked suddenly, and my stomach flipped as every single question he could possibly ask ran through my mind.

"You just did," I answered to cover up my nervousness.

Draco smirked, shaking his head. He let his hand drop from his chin, staring at his fingers as he drummed them on the table. I wondered what it would feel like for those fingers to entwine with mine....

"Let's say you took a risk and did something that you weren't sure of," Draco said, his eyes not leaving his hand. "And then a week passes, and you don't get a word from the person that the... risk was for," his fingers suddenly stopped drumming, and he turned abruptly to meet my eyes. "How do you go about asking the person about it?"

I looked away from his eyes, uncomfortable with the intensity of which he was gazing.

"Well, if this person means something to you, I would just go and ask them, no matter what they thought about the risk you took," I answered after a moment's thought, curious as to what this risk was, since it obviously wasn't hypothetical.

"And if the gesture wasn't appreciated?" he asked nervously, frowning down at the table once more.

"Well, if it wasn't then I wouldn't consider this person a very good friend," I answered, biting my lip thoughtfully. "But if you took a risk for this gesture, like you said you did, I'm sure it was much appreciated."

I glanced back at Draco, surprised to see him blushing.

"But how would I know, especially since this person hasn't said a word to me since I sent the gesture?" Draco asked, meeting my eyes with a small smirk. Humor danced in his eyes, as if he found this conversation amusing.

Something clicked in my head, and I realized this conversation wasn't hypothetical at all, and had everything to do with me.

I smiled, shrugging. "I suppose you wouldn't know, since you haven't said a word to this person since you sent the gesture, either," I replied, and Draco's smirk grew.

"Well, if I were speaking to said person right now, what would you say they thought about the gesture?" he asked wryly, widening his eyes innocently.

I held back a smile, running a hand through my hair lightly as I thought over my next words carefully.

"I'd say this person thinks the gesture was beautiful, and they were shocked to have received it," I answered honestly, staring at my hands, which were folded in my lap. "It was a very thoughtful gift, and they have been using it more often than expected...." I trailed off, feeling my cheeks heat up. In truth, I had been using the constellation jar to fall asleep nearly every night; it was just bright enough to illuminate the dark, eliminating my fear of the pitch black.

Draco said nothing, and eventually I had to look at him to see if he was still there, he was so quiet.

I was shocked to see that he was staring at me, his expression a mixture of astonishment and relief. His silver eyes met mine, and it surprised me when I noticed a hint of blue swimming in the silver.

Draco blinked curiously, and I brought myself back to the present, taking a slow breath.

"Thank you," I murmured with as much sincerity as I could muster, and Draco's eyebrows raised slightly, as if he hadn't expected me to show him appreciation.

He finally looked away, tilting his head to the side as he said, "Yeah, I thought you'd like it."

I rolled my eyes at his conceit as he continued, "I hadn't thought about getting you a gift, but then I remembered your boggart," he smirked. "I thought you might like something that could chase away the dark," he finished, his eyes suddenly so soft that I had to look away.

I looked down at my hands, feeling guilty for not getting him anything. "Where did you get it?" I asked to distract myself from my guilt, wondering where on Earth he could've found something so beautiful.

"I made it," he said, and my eyebrows shot up as my jaw dropped in shock.

"How?" I asked, bewildered, and Draco chuckled.

"My mother made something similar for me when I was younger," he smiled fondly at a memory, his eyes distant. "Like I said, we stargaze all the time, and she gave me my own galaxy to look at until I fell asleep," his voice grew soft, and I had to lean closer to hear him over the chatter of the Great Hall. "So I just did the same thing she did, but added my own details to it — the one Mother made looked more like a liquid supernova than floating fireflies," he turned to smirk at me.

Just then, everyone remaining in the Great Hall started to get up and head toward the doors, and I guessed it was time to resume our classes.

Draco and I headed to Charms together, but then Mirah caught up with us, and Draco bid me goodbye and hurried ahead to find his group.

I spent the rest of the day studying hard; exams were coming up this term.

Author's note: ew I hate this all of it just ew. Please just stick with me it gets better I promise😂 and if you've made it this far, thank you so much and I literally love you🥰♥️