The Slytherin Princess | Draco Malfoy x Reader

Chapter 19: Hidden

Christmas break is right around the corner, but you're mad at Draco...again.

~~~

Days turned into weeks, and before you knew it, Christmas break was right around the corner.

You had just played your final Quidditch game of the season, and you had beaten Hufflepuff by a landslide. You had to admit, seeing the look of utter disgust on Cedric' face had really only made your satisfaction sweeter.

But that wasn't your current focus.

Your immediate problem was that Draco, yet again, had refused to let you even touch him while on the Quidditch pitch.

Really, he'd been refusing to let you interact with him anywhere that wasn't tutoring, his dorm, or your hidey-hole.

And for someone who was supposed to be your boyfriend, it wasn't very boyfriend-y of him.

So, when you met him in his dorm to study for the Potions exam, you decided to ask him about it.

"Hey, Draco?" you asked casually, not looking up from your Potions book as he was standing up to stretch after about an hour of studying.

"Yeah?"

"How come you only act like my boyfriend when we're alone together?"

Draco froze, and you watched him start to fidget with his fingers even as he was turning back to you.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he rushed out, but from the look on his face, even he knew you didn't believe him.

"Cut the shit, Malfoy," you snapped, sitting up. "I try to hold your hand in the Great Hall, you snatch it away. I try to hug you after a Quidditch game, you push me away. I try to lean into you when we're sat on the same couch in the Common Room, you lean the other way. So don't tell me nothing's up, because it is quite clearly much more than nothing."

Draco took a deep breath, his shoulders dropping. "Y/N, you have to let me explain," he started, and you huffed.

"Better start explaining quickly, then," you said, folding your arms. "Because my patience is very quickly running out."

He ran a hand over his hair, refusing to make eye contact with you. This, you realized, had become a norm with the Slytherin boy when he fucked up. He couldn't even look his accuser in the eye.

"I mean really, if you're embarrassed to be seen with me, all you have to do is say so," you said matter-of-factly, picking at your nails absentmindedly.

"I'm not embarrassed of you, y/n, I swear," he said, his eyes panicked.

"Then what could possibly be so bad about me that you don't want people knowing we're together? You broke Cedric's nose over me, but now that you've got me; what, are you disappointed or something?"

"Y/N, I swear it isn't you. I—it's my father."

"Your father?" you asked, incredulous. "Why? I'm a Slytherin, and I'm a pure-blood. There's literally nothing about me that would embarrass your father or hurt his reputation in any way."

Draco sighed. "I know that. But if word gets back to him that I'm running around dating when my marks are as bad as they are, there's no way he'll let me come back after break."

You let out a breath you hadn't realized you were holding. You knew Draco had a point, but you also knew his marks had improved a lot over the past month.

Besides, you could handle disapproval from Lucius Malfoy. What was he going to do to an eighteen-year-old Hogwarts student? You'd already dealt with bullying from his son anyway.