Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Twenty-One

Mirah found me in the dorm room not ten minutes after I'd gotten there.

I didn't have the guts to tell her why I was sobbing, but for once, she didn't ask. She just sat beside me on my bed, comforting me. I had a feeling Draco sent her after me; but she wouldn't say.

I fell asleep on top of my blankets, still wearing the ball gown, wrapped warmly in Draco's cloak.

I sat by myself at breakfast the next morning, feeling awfully guilty and disgusted.

My friends all hated Draco — or most of them did; Mirah was actually starting to take a liking to him.

But everyone else.... What would they say if they'd found out I'd gone off and kissed him, especially when I was supposed to be Ron's date?

Well, in my defense, Ron was acting extremely rude, and wouldn't dance with me....

I buried my face in my hands. What a stupid excuse.

I shoved my plate of eggs away, feeling suddenly sick.

"Brianna?" I looked up to see Mirah sitting across from me, staring at me worriedly.

I sighed, opening my mouth to speak, but just then, I saw an approaching figure.

I jumped up, excusing myself, and hurried off to the girl's laveratories; the only place Draco couldn't follow.

I spent the rest of Christmas break avoiding Draco; I even sent back the gown he gave me by owl, along with his dress cloak — I couldn't accept the gown in the first place; I didn't deserve it.

But no matter how hard I tried to avoid him, I always somehow bumped into him, and I would keep my eyes downcast until I managed to evade him — if I looked him in the eye, I was almost positive I'd kiss him again, whether he wanted it or not.

Two days until school started up again, I was hiding in my dormitory, per usual, and Mirah came in, followed closely by Cori and Raylee. They sat down and talked to me, convincing me to come with them to the common room — there were games and snacks for the entire house; a final party before the start of second term.

It was actually pretty fun; I started to regret spending my entire break stressing out about Draco.

But naturally, I couldn't let my guard down; Draco was in Slytherin, too.

I hid behind Mirah whenever I spotted him, and eventually, an acceptable time neared for me to retire to bed. I bid Mirah and the others goodnight, and headed off down the corridor that would lead to my dormitory.

"Brianna."

His voice caught me off guard, and I jumped, my heart dropping into my stomach.

Crap, what was I supposed to do now?

Refusing to turn around, I bit my lip, knowing I would have had to face him eventually, but couldn't it have waited just a little longer? It would have been much easier to stay away from him had I been in Gryffindor — in fact, if I had been sorted into Gryffindor, maybe I wouldn't have had to put up with any of this in the first place.

"Look at me," he said, his voice wavering uncertainly. I wanted to so badly, but I forced myself not to turn.

"Please?" Draco tried, his voice quiet, but I still didn't turn, even when every part of me wanted to.

His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked closer to me, and suddenly, I felt his hand on my shoulder as he gently turned me around himself, dropping his arm once I faced him.

"You've been avoiding me," he said quietly, trying to catch my eye, but I stared at the ground, knowing that if I met his eyes, I wouldn't be able to control my emotions. "I think I deserve to know why."