The Slytherin Princess

𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓲𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝓵

Once we all got back to school, the months passed by and life carried on as normal. I hadn't heard anything about Uncle Sirius lately, having not seen much of Uncle Remus outside of class. He had been spending a lot of time with Harry, tutoring him in the Patronus charm. I had gotten a lot closer to Draco though, spending more and more time with him as the weeks flew by. He was always so sweet to me and I definitely felt myself developing quite the crush on him, but whenever my friends from other houses were around, he became that snooty boy that annoyed me so much. That was my only hesitation with him...

I was sat on the ground, in front of a tree in the sparsely populated courtyard with just Draco, Theo, Blaise and Millie, resting my head against Draco's shoulder as he softly read aloud a French, muggle book I had given him to read.

"Et maintenant voici mon secret, un secret très simple: ce n'est qu'avec le cœur que l'on peut voir correctement; l'essentiel est invisible aux yeux"
(And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye)

Just then, I saw Harry, Hermione and Ron step into the courtyard, glancing around before spotting me and heading over. I sat up with a smile.

"Hey guys", I said, hearing Draco sigh dramatically beside me and close the book.

"Hey, Annabelle. I was wondering if you might be able to come to my lesson with...", he said, cautiously looking to Draco before back to me, "You know... To help... I haven't quite got it down just yet and our professor thinks you might be able to help", Harry smiled awkwardly.

"What's the matter, Potter? Cant keep up with your own lessons? Third year a bit beyond your reach?", Draco grumbled with a humourless chuckle.

"Draco. Don't be so rude", I grumbled, standing up and brushing off my skirt.

"Don't worry about it, AB. We are used to the childish remarks", Hermione growled more to Draco than me. Draco looked furious as he stood up, slamming the book to the ground and stepping towards my friends, only stopping when I got in the way with my hand on his chest to push him back.

"You better watch what you say to me, you filthy little mud blood", he spat at her. I gasped, dropping my hands and stepping away from him like he had burned me. He seemed to realise it immediately and his scowl switched to apologetic frown, to me though, not Hermione.

"How dare you!", I growled, feeling the anger brewing in my finger tips, "How dare you call someone a disgusting name like that!", I shot, feeling a tremor in the ground just under my feet.
"Hermione, I am so sorry you had to hear that", I said as Hermione shook her head at me.

"Dont worry, AB... I am used to it", she said.

That just made me even more angry as I turned to Harry, "I would be happy to help, Harry... I will see you in our... Session... tomorrow", I said, hinting at them to leave.

They all nodded and headed off, leaving me with Theo, Blaise and Millie watching Draco and I as my fists clenched and I looked back at him. He looked very embarrassed, but I didn't care. How awful... Of all the things to call another human being, I thought.
I crouch down, picking up my books and turned, storming off to the common room, wanting distance between Draco and I. We had made so much progress as friends and he had just squashed all of it over some petty nonsense about blood purity.

"Bells, wait!", I heard him call but I kept walking.

Once I got to the common room, I thought he might have gotten the message that I didn't want to talk to him. But as he stepped cautiously into the common room, I knew I was wrong.