Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Fifty

I bolted up in bed the next morning, freezing cold and... alone. The bed beside me was empty.

I felt the sheets in hope they would be warm, desperate for proof that he'd been there. But they were cold, and this left me feeling colder.

A shiver went down my body as I swung my legs off the side of the bed. Had I really dreamed all of that?

I folded my arms closer to me, and my cardigan slipped off my shoulder.

Hold on, my cardigan! Draco had draped that over my shoulders last night — but how had my arms gotten through the sleeves, then? I'd never stuck them through....

I suddenly remembered why I'd needed the cardigan in the first place and jumped out of bed, searching for my pajama shirt. If it was still covered in his blood, then I'd know I hadn't dreamed it.

Just then, I spotted it — folded up with the rest of my clothes in my trunk. That wasn't where I left it....

I picked it up, and my heart dropped into my stomach as I realized it was clean.

He'd never been here.

It took a moment for this to sink in, but when it did, it almost felt like there was a jagged knife, tearing apart my insides.

I crumpled to the ground at the foot of my four-poster, holding my stomach and trying desperately to breathe. So he'd never been here? I'd just dreamed the whole thing up?

"Great, now I'm going insane," I muttered aloud to myself, taking slow, deep breaths to calm my racing heart. I really didn't need a panic attack at seven o'clock in the morning.

"I'll say," a voice said from behind me, and I whirled to face Mirah as she flung off her blankets, "especially if you're talking to yourself first thing in the morning."

She got up, hugging herself to keep warm as she hurriedly threw on a hoodie over her pajama shirt. She glanced at me curiously, seeming to be about to ask why I was curled in a ball at the foot of my bed, clutching my pajama shirt in my hands.

But then she frowned, noticing my distraught expression. "Hey, you okay?"

I nodded, throwing my pajama shirt back into my trunk and pulling my cardigan off, searching for something warm to put on.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, avoiding her eyes. "I just had a weird dream, that's all...."

Mirah was quiet as I slipped on an oversized knitted sweater which I had always liked for its lush green color.

"Hey, me too!" she said shortly, and I stood to face her, holding myself as tightly as I could to keep warm — the dormitory was freezing! At least my legs were warm in my black sweatpants.

"What about?" I asked with false curiosity, hoping for any distraction from my dream.

"It was confusing; I was flying around the castle on a broomstick, only it wasn't a broomstick, it was a branch of the Whomping Willow, and it kept wriggling and trying to toss me off — I think I was looking for you, and that's why I was flying around...." we started out of the dormitory as she related her dream to me, deciding to let Raylee and Cori sleep in and head to breakfast on our own.

I was finding her dream rather humorous, at least until she said, "And then suddenly I turned around and you were right there in the dormitory! You weren't wearing your pajama shirt for some reason, and you had your wand out, saying you were going to study...."

I stopped in my tracks halfway through the common room, staring at Mirah in surprise.

"Wait, that wasn't a dream, then?" I asked quietly, and Mirah turned to face me, befuddled.