Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I woke up with a wild gasp, my eyes shooting open as I bolted up in bed. What a horrid nightmare....

I looked around the room, my heartbeat speeding up as I realized I didn't recognize anything.

I was sitting in a large, king-sized bed with black silk sheets and a puffy white comforter. The room was furnished with expensive-looking items, and the walls were decorated with a few paintings and photos here and there, but were otherwise bare.

It was dark, aside from the pale, bluish-white light filtering into the room through a pair of sheer white curtains.

My breathing quickened as I started to panic. Where was I? Why couldn't I remember anything from yesterday? I searched through my memory for something, anything. I'd been on my way home from Malfoy Manor....

I gasped sharply. Flashes of fire, running, and jets of green light suddenly streaked before my eyes, and I flinched, whimpering.

No, that was a nightmare. That hadn't actually happened — had it?

"NO!" I shrieked, my stomach clenching. I bent over the side of the bed, gagging and retching, but nothing came out. I could feel myself losing my grip, and I laid back down shakily, trembling head to toe.

Someone suddenly burst through the doors, and I bolted up, too terrified to make a noise.

But I knew I was in no danger as I recognized the figure standing in the doorway.

"What's wrong? Has something happened?" Draco was breathless, and his face was unusually pale.

I sat motionless, shaking violently. "I don't know... I — I can't — there're these flashes, and — it was a nightmare, it had to have been —" I cut off with another gag, and Draco hurried forward.

He sat down beside me, pulling me into his embrace. "You're safe, I promise," he murmured, and I could feel his heart racing beneath his chest.

I didn't realize I was crying until I let out a sob, and Draco squeezed me tighter, burying his face in my shoulder as I was in his.

"Shh...." he whispered into my shoulder, his breath warm against my bare skin — someone had removed my shirt and put a clean spaghetti-strap on me. "I won't let anything happen to you, you hear me?" he asked, and it seemed like he was promising this to himself, too.

I nodded, unable to control my sobbing, and it was a while before I was breathing normally again. Draco held me tightly the whole time, never loosening his grip on me, and I wondered what had happened to make him act as though he was going to lose me.

"What happened?" I voiced my thoughts, refusing to pull away from him.

He sighed heavily, rubbing my back as he answered, "I don't know if you're ready to hear it."

At this, I yanked away from him, meeting his eyes defiantly.

"What do you mean?" I asked angrily, wiping the tears away from my face. "I think I deserve to know what happened to —" I cut off, my eyes widening.

Mum. Dad.

Where were they? Were they all right? Had Mum still been in the house when....

And what about Dad, was he still on the run from those people? Or had they....

I clamped a hand over my mouth, feeling the urge to retch again. I was shaking all over, and Draco watched me nervously. I tried to catch my breath, but I was hyperventilating, and my head was starting to spin.

"Brianna...." Draco started cautiously, fear in his eyes, and when I met his gaze, my erratic heart rate slowed.

I realized he was scared, not just for me, but of me. He was scared of the way I was acting — he had no idea what to do, what to say... I knew he felt helpless, and that must've terrified him.