His Princess || Draco Malfoy

Chapter 9

I stood in front of the mirror, looking over my outfit. The invitation to Slughorn's dinner said to dress casually, but I didn't want to look too unkempt. I sighed, taking my hair out of its usual bun and letting it hang over my shoulders. Seeing that it sat a bit awkwardly from being up, I ran a brush through it in an attempt to tame my long brown locks. I gave myself one last look. The outfit I had selected for today was simple: a long-sleeved maroon and grey striped shirt, low-waisted jeans, and ankle boots. Satisfied with my appearance, I made my way out to the parlor, hoping to avoid Draco on my way out. 

No such luck. He sat on the couch, doing schoolwork. His hair had grown a bit in the past months. Currently, he was sporting the same haircut as Katy Perry in her Witness era. It looked terrible on him. With his white hair, equally white skin, and his tiny, beady eyes, he reminded me of a maggot.

"Going to Hogsmeade, are we?"

"No, not that it's any of your business," I responded, not giving him the dignity of looking at him as I grabbed a black sweater from my things.

"Where are you going then?" He asked, a snide tone to his voice. "On a date?"

I shot him a look. "Professor Slughorn invited me to a dinner party with some other students."

"That old git? What's he having a dinner party for?"

"Something about wanting to get to know some exceptional students, which explains why you weren't invited."

"Whatever," He scoffed, getting back to whatever he was doing. "Good luck."

I rolled my eyes and left, making my way down the stairs to Slughorn's office. Walking ahead of me I could see Harry and Hermione. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding seeing that they were dressed just as casually as I was. I had reread the invitation a million times over making sure that it was indeed an informal event.

Dinner was not yet out by the time that I arrived. I looked around, hoping to find someone I knew to sit next to at the party. To my surprise, right next to Slughorn's spot at the table sat John. He never mentioned getting invited to this party, even after I had told him and my other friends about it. He didn't seem to notice my presence. He was too invested in the silver goblet in front of him, shoveling what looked like pistachio pudding out of the goblet and into his mouth.

"John, what are you doing here?" I asked as I walked over to him, taking the seat beside him.

John didn't even look up from his pudding. He shrugged, continuing to stuff his face with the gooey treat. 

"He earned his spot here," Slughorn approached from behind, patting John on the back. John nodded in agreement, still refusing to take his eyes off his pudding goblet.

"But he can't do magic."

"He still has great potential, as does everyone else here."

Okay then.

Slughorn sat at the table once it looked like everyone had arrived. Plates upon plates of delicious food were served to each of us. I didn't say much, opting to quietly observe the group as I ate. I didn't recognize most of the people there, but I knew Harry and Hermione. A ginger girl came in late. Harry hardly took his eyes off her the entire night. I don't think John ate anything besides pudding. 

Slughorn did most of the talking. He went around the group, asking about various famous relatives and their accomplishments. It was easy enough to figure out what the purpose of this club was as he went on. He wanted connections. I didn't know how to feel about that.

As the party dragged on, I found my thoughts once again returning to Chloe. To some extent, I think my time studying had been an excuse not to think about her too much. I had seen her hanging around Draco more and more lately. I didn't know what made her ditch us for him. Maybe she was tired of the constant bullying. Maybe she just got bored of us. I wasn't going to ask her, but I certainly could speculate. Thank the Lord she wasn't here. She'd probably be all over the guy that kept making faces at Hermione.