Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Eighteen

Draco found me the next morning at breakfast and sat across from me, looking excited and proud.

"'Slytherdor'," was all he said as he waved his hands out before him, as if plastering the word into the air. He then let his hands fall, asking, "What do you think?"

I raised my eyebrows, returning to my porridge. "Very creative," I muttered sarcastically, and he groaned.

"Hey, coming up with nicknames is not as easy as it sounds."

"That's because they have to come naturally," I told him sternly, almost as if I was lecturing him on the subject. "Most nicknames are either invented during a memorable moment between people, or they're just a shortened version of the person's name."

"Thank you, professor," Draco said, rolling his eyes, and I shook my head, fighting a smile.

Draco sighed, crossing his arms on the table and resting his chin in his hand. "I guess we'll just have to create some memorable moments, then," he said, looking up at me through his eyelashes.

I blushed, averting my eyes to my bowl of porridge and not responding.

I finished breakfast and then headed off to the first class of the term, Draco walking all the way to Charms class with me. Even when Mirah caught up with us, he continued to walk with us, even apologizing to Mirah about what he'd said on the train. Mirah didn't accept his apology, but later told me it was nice of him to do so, even if it was strange to her.

The schoolyear passed more quickly than I could've ever imagined. It seemed like we were getting more and more schoolwork each week, and behind that, there was the triwizard tournament going on, distracting the majority of us from schoolwork altogether.

With the second challenge on the way and the Yule Ball growing nearer, schoolwork was hectic, and I was just barely able to keep up with my homework, mostly thanks to Hermione and, shockingly, Draco — to my great surprise, Draco was really smart, and he actually cared about getting good marks in all his classes.

Since he'd tutored me last year, I thought I'd be able to stay afloat in Potions, but I was terribly mistaken; once again, I was wavering near a failing grade.

Draco noticed me struggling with my antidote one day, and he teased me about still managing to fail even after being tutored for a whole year.

But although he made fun of me, when the next potions class came around, instead of standing in his usual spot next to Parkinson, Draco placed his cauldron beside mine, and he shared the table with me for the rest of the year, which resulted in me getting nearly full marks by the end of term.

Everyone was beyond relieved when school was released for the holidays, but nearly everyone in their fourth year and up were staying at Hogwarts; I didn't think the school had ever known so many students to stay over Christmas.

I'd questioned it for at least ten minutes for it struck me, and I was shocked I had forgotten in the first place — the Yule Ball.

Immediately, I panicked, sprinting through the common room and bursting into the dormitory Mirah and I shared with two other Slytherin girls, who were surprisingly much nicer than the majority of the Slytherins, and actually talked to Mirah and I — of course, I had no way of knowing if their kindness was genuine.

To my relief, Mirah was sitting on her bed, rummaging through her trunk.

"Mirah!" I exclaimed, horrified to the point of hysteria. "I don't have a gown!"

Mirah kept her eyes on her trunk as she dug through her mess of clothes to the very bottom. "You can borrow one of mine," she replied in an almost offhand manner, as if she had expected me to not have a dress and freak out about it, and I nearly collapsed in relief.