The Slytherin Princess | Draco Malfoy x Reader

Chapter 26: Draco's Disappearance & Dumbledore's Office

Draco has left the castle. You don't know where he is for sure, even though you have an inkling.

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True to his word, Draco had disappeared from the castle. None of the teachers asked questions, they seemed to know where he had gone. However, all of your friends had questions, and you had no answers for any of them.

Even though you had an inkling about where your Slytherin Prince might be, you knew you couldn't talk to anyone about it. You wondered how quickly the rest of your friends would disappear if any of them found out about Draco becoming a Death Eater.

Due to his absence, your nights had been filled with a lot of thoughts swirling around in your head. You had found yourself wondering what to do when it came to the Malfoy heir, whether you should leave to protect yourself (and potentially your family) or what it would mean for you, your family, and your reputation to stay with him.

Granted, your relationship was still currently a secret, but you knew that it was inevitable that someone would find out and that you would be forced to choose between Draco and a reputation that wasn't associated with the most powerful dark wizard of your time.

You tried to keep yourself busy to keep your mind off of Draco and his whereabouts, but that only served to make you think about it more. It was only when Snape dismissed you from Potions to go meet with Headmaster Dumbledore that you were able to focus on something besides the white-blond boy that plagued your dreams.

"Miss Everglade," Dumbledore spoke as you entered his office. "Please, come sit down."

He held out a dish of yellow candy as you did so, his eyes twinkling. "Would you like a lemon drop?"

You nodded, taking one from the dish and popping it into your mouth. It practically melted on your tongue, and the mix of sweet and sour flavors was absolutely heavenly.

"Lemon drops are actually a Muggle sweet, but I've grown quite fond of them," the headmaster remarked as he set the dish back on his desk. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you to my office."

You nodded, knowing deep down you weren't really in trouble, but anxiously wondering about it anyway. "Am I failing a class or something?" you asked timidly, your hands folded tightly in your lap.

Dumbledore chuckled, a deep, reverberating sound. "Of course not, dear child," he said kindly. "Your marks are actually some of the highest of your year. You've raised the bar for almost every professor regarding your O.W.Ls next year."

You smiled despite yourself. You had worked hard for those marks, you'd more than earned them.

"The real reason I called you up here today was to discuss your recent actions in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class," he said then, the twinkle in his eye never leaving. "Professor Lupin was quite beside himself at your ability to produce a corporeal Patronus so quickly."

"Well, Headmaster, Harry Potter and I have been practicing with each other," you reasoned.

"Even so," the headmaster continued, "you've only been learning the spell for a couple of weeks now. It's not uncommon to have students still unable to produce a full Patronus by the end of their semester. Someone with your power and your ability is quite frankly unheard of."

You felt your chest swell with pride as you heard those words from Dumbledore.

"If I may ask, what form did your Patronus take?" he asked.

"A tiger, sir."

Dumbledore paused then, his large hand coming up to stroke his beard thoughtfully. "A rare Patronus form, produced so quickly into learning to cast the spell, that's incredible," he mused, and you sat there, unsure what to do with all of the praise being heaped upon you.