Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Thirty-Two

The Christmas holidays arrived quickly, and I was pleased to find out Harry and Ron had left Hogwarts this Christmas. There was a rumor flying around that something bad had happened to cause them to leave early, but I decided not to look into it, knowing that no matter what I knew, they wouldn't care for my sympathy.

There was almost no one that stayed behind — a drastic change from last year's holidays, when Hogwarts had held the Yule Ball, and nearly everyone in their fourth year and up stayed for the holidays.

The castle was oddly quiet without all the students coming up and down the halls. It was almost eerie, but I found it peaceful. I enjoyed walking to breakfast every morning and passing almost no one in the halls, and having the Slytherin table almost entirely to myself.

But despite having the table to myself, I always sat in the same place every day — right beside Draco.

His parents had been furious when he'd decided to stay at Hogwarts. When his father had ordered him to come home, he very nearly did.

After he'd told me he had to go home, I put up an act, saying I'd be perfectly fine here on my own, but Draco saw right through it. I could tell he felt guilty, and I tried to convince him he should spend Christmas at home, but he insisted upon staying with me.

He wrote back to his parents, saying that he'd made up his mind and was staying at Hogwarts — unless of course they allowed me to stay with them for the duration of the Christmas holidays. Draco knew his father would blatantly refuse to allow a half-blood into his house, and said the matter was therefore settled.

But the morning of the last day of term, I joined Draco at breakfast and saw him staring down at a letter in his hands, a look of utter surprise on his face.

"What is it?" I asked worriedly. Was his father coming to pick him up just to see that he came home for Christmas? Were they threatening him in some way?

But when Draco looked up and met my eyes, he didn't seem frightened or concerned — he looked purely surprised.

"They've invited you to stay for Christmas," he told me, a grin spreading across his face.

"What?!" I exclaimed, ripping the letter from his hands and reading it over quickly.

It was true; his father had written to Draco, saying I was welcome to stay at the Malfoy Manor since Draco insisted upon it — but it was written in a rather begrudging manner, which made it seem like Mr. Malfoy wasn't thrilled with the idea.

Another owl swooped over us, dropping a second letter onto Draco's plate, and he ripped it open, murmuring, "It's from Mother."

His eyes flew across the parchment, and as he read, his eyebrows slowly raised.

I waited for him to look up before asking what it said, and he summarized the letter to me; his mother had convinced Mr. Malfoy to allow me to stay with them for Christmas, but she had to warn us that he wasn't very keen on having me. I was to stay in the guest house and only join the Malfoys for dinner, and I would spend the rest of the time in the guest house or on the grounds — I wasn't allowed within the manor unless given permission.

Therefore, Mrs. Malfoy would understand if we made the decision to stay at Hogwarts to avoid these ridiculous conditions, and she would try her best to talk some sense into Mr. Malfoy if we made that decision.

"She wants our reply as soon as possible — well, that's obvious," Draco finished, setting the letter down and resting his chin in his hand. He shifted to face me, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So... what do you want to do?"

I thought about it. To be completely honest, staying alone in a guest house and not being able to enter the Malfoy Manor without permission didn't seem like a very friendly environment. Besides, it would be a very boring Christmas if I had to spend it on my own.