The Secret's In The Telling by Sakuri

chapter 27

Oh yes, this was what he needed. Pretentious bloody prat…

He turned slowly, as if it was a great bother to be forced to acknowledge someone so far below him. He'd perfected the expression, all removed distaste, one that never failed to infuriate Weasley.

Nott didn't back down, though, much to Draco's surprise. Sure, the idiot was a loud-mouth, but he'd rarely shown spine enough to be this defiant. Uneasy, the blond cast a glance around, discreetly inhaling the scents that surrounded him. He'd always been sceptical that animals could smell emotions, but he'd discovered wolf-senses were quite adept at detecting such things as the adrenaline of fear or excitement. But here, there was nothing. Slytherins were watching him calmly, even coldly, and for the first time since he'd established his own authority at Hogwarts, his housemates weren't afraid of him.

He blanched.

Nott grinned, and it was a cruel, victorious expression that made Draco wonder how long the other had guarded his resentment. He moved to one of the low tables near the armchairs, grabbed the open newspaper there, and flung it in Draco's direction.

A combination of Seeker and wolf reflexes allowed him to swipe the tumbling paper from the air, without embarrassing himself further by fumbling. He cast a frozen glare at his challenger – reminding him, at least a little, of the anger that would meet such an insult – before disdainfully lowering his eyes to the page in front of him.

He scanned it quickly and felt his stomach drop, instantly finding the reason for his less than reverent reception.

Draco Malfoy, the headline read, A Malfoy No Longer!

He didn't have to reads the article that followed to know what his father had done. So this was his latest punishment, was it? For his continued disobedience, he was to be stripped of what little power he had left in the form of his reputation as his father's son. Lucius had gone and made his disownment public knowledge, and consequently, among his fellow Slytherins at least, plummeted him to the lowest of the low. They would realise, with the shrewdness that had helped put them in this House, what it all meant: Draco Malfoy's goodwill, always coveted, was now useless. No money, no might, no influence. His friendship could do nothing for them, his leadership even less. And if their parents were now looking for Lucius's favour, associating with him could even be detrimental, not just useless.

Furious, he tossed the copy of the Prophet to the floor at his feet. Nott was staring at him with overly bright eyes, expectant, waiting for the futile arguments he wanted Draco to voice.

The blond said nothing. He would not resort to begging, even if that meant allowing his power to slip away without a word of protest. So be it.

He turned on his heel, proud in his silence, and left the common room with as much dignity as he could still muster.

xxx

The façade lasted about as long as it took him to reach the safety of the deserted library, where he hurriedly sought out a table hidden behind the bookshelves and flung himself into a chair, head in his hands.

He should have seen this coming, he told himself. Of course Lucius would eventually resort to this, bastard that he was. As if he hadn't already humiliated him enough…

Quite ready to allow himself to spiral downwards into his depression and brood the rest of the day away, he was stopped short by someone scraping back the chair opposite him and taking the seat wordlessly. Slowly, he raised his eyes, narrowing them in silent warning. He was not in the mood for company.

He'd half expected Potter to be sitting there, staring back at him. Instead he found his female Gryffindor counterpart. Granger lifted her chin with false confidence as he put his full force behind a glare, trying simply to will her to disappear. In her arms, she clutched a stack of books pressed to her chest protectively.