Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Brianna!" A familiar voice broke through my dreams, and I groaned, opening my eyes groggily to see Draco peering down at me.

It took a moment for my mind to catch up, but once it did, I bolted up in bed, yanking my blankets over me.

"Holy —" my face burned as a smirk spread across Draco's face. "What the hell are you doing in here?!" I cried, hiding my face in my blankets.

Draco just chuckled. I felt him sit at the foot of my bed, and he pulled the blanket gently away from my face, still grinning.

"Sorry," he murmured once I met his eyes, clearly unapologetic, "meet me in the common room in five minutes," he told me, standing up.

I blinked the bleariness out of my eyes, staring at him, feeling affronted. "You came into my dormitory and woke me up just to tell me that?" I asked, beginning to grow annoyed.

He shot me a lopsided smile, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah," he turned toward the door and paused. "Oh, and make sure you put on something warm."

"Warm? What for?" I asked, yawning hugely, and Draco just smiled, murmuring, "You'll see."

I groaned, swinging my legs off the side of my bed and staring down at the floor, willing myself to wake up fully. How early was it?

I glanced out the window. The lake was as dark as usual, although it seemed bluer... was the sun even out yet?

I looked back up to ask Draco and noticed the doorway was empty; he'd already left.

Sighing off my irritation, I got out of bed, shivering in the morning cold. I glanced down at the foot of my bed and realized, with a shock, that multiple presents sat there, stacked messily into a pile.

Today was Christmas!

I nearly slapped myself. How could I have forgotten?

I put off the presents until later, remembering that Draco was waiting for me, and hurriedly opened my trunk to dress.

I made sure to put on my warmest sweater and decided, after a long minute of contemplation, that I was going to wear my fuzzy sweatpants — they were warm, okay?

After pulling on my mittens, fuzzy socks, coat, and warm boots, I trudged out of my dormitory, stumbling tiredly into the common room.

Draco glanced up from the sofa at my entrance, and he smiled, jumping up and meeting me. "You took longer than five minutes, but I'm willing to let that slide," he said sternly, looking me over.

I yawned tiredly, and he smiled softly, brushing my hair gently from my face with his fingertips. His hand lingered on my face, and I met his eyes, feeling myself begin to blush.

"This better be good," I muttered, surprised at how sleepy my voice sounded, and Draco grinned wider.

"Trust me, it will be," the excitement that danced in his eyes suddenly dimmed as he added, "I hope...."

I sighed, reminded strongly of a puppy as I looked into his silver-blue eyes. "It'll be great," I insisted, and he smiled appreciatively, nodding.

"Follow me," he picked up two boxes from the sofa, took my gloved hand, and led me out of the Slytherin common room, out of the dungeons, down the corridors, out into the courtyard, and then out onto the snowy castle grounds.

"Where are we going?" I asked, the winter air biting at my nose, but at that moment, Draco stopped.

"Here," he replied proudly. I looked around. We were standing knee-deep in the snow, looking out across the vast, empty grounds.