Description: This imagine was requested by dracoooolover!
House: You Choose
Blood Status: You Choose
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Third Person POV:
A small, nearly unnoticeable bead of sweat forms on Draco Malfoy's forehead as he stands behind his telescope, his large Astronomy textbook in front of him. The dim lamps and fires flicker around them, giving light to the Astronomy tower.
"Now, students, since we have a few minutes left, please open your books to chapter seven. Read to the end of chapter eleven or until the class period is over. If you do not finish the reading now, you will have to complete it as homework. There will be a very important test on the content of these chapters so I suggest you do not choose this reading to comprehend poorly. Off you go," the professor says calmly. The students groan at the amount of reading assigned and whisper to each other complaints. As Draco's friends all spit curse words under their breaths, Draco gulps. He hates assignments like this and always has.
Being dyslexic has always been a struggle for Draco since he was a young kid. As a child, his mother and father would sit him down at a table and teach him to read and write. Each time, Draco would have great difficulty even reading. Eventually, his experiences of sitting in front of his parents, nearly crying over books, caused him to lock himself in his room until his mother promised not to make him read aloud. A while after this, Draco learned to read, but his dyslexia still troubled him greatly. Come Draco's first train ride to Hogwarts, his father had hissed in his ear before he boarded.
"You'd better not let slip your problem, Draco. It would be such a shame if the other families knew that the pureblooded Malfoy heir is retarded," his father spat, causing Draco to shudder and nearly trip into the train car.
Now being in fifth year, Draco's dyslexia has caused even more complications. With his increasing grade level, Draco has begun to break down over the months. He's stopped eating well and sleeping. All he can ever do is worry about what he has to do or read in class next. Despite being smart, his dyslexia has served as a real impediment.
Moments later, the professor dismisses the class from the Astronomy tower. Everyone starts to descend the stairs, yawning after the hours of staying up late for the class. behind all the other Slytherins, not saying anything, Draco stares down at his astronomy textbook, which reads to him "tsmnoyorA" and keeps changing. Entering the common room, Draco sighs deeply and heads down the hall to his dorm room where the other boys are busy changing into their night clothes. He follows their lead and climbs into bed shortly fater them, extinguishing the lamp beside his bed. Drifting off to sleep, the thought of his Astronomy reading looms over his head.
~~~~~
Come Saturday, Draco has hardly worked at all on his Astronomy Homework. Each time he sits down, the words become jumbled and unreadable. He sighs in frustration, slamming his head on top his book.
"Shhh!" Madame Pince hisses from her deks. Draco edges away from her, trying to cover up his actions.
"Draco?" a soft voice says from behind Draco. "What's wrong?"
Draco lifts his head up and sees who it is. It's y/n y/l/n, his crush he's had since first year. He smiles as his stomach and heart begin to flitter.
"Hey, y/n," he says blinking his eyes open and yawning.
"Tired?" she asks and he nods profusely.
"Can't sleep, but that's not unusual," he sighs.
"I'm sorry," she says, sitting down beside him. "If it makes you feel any better, it's not uncommon for people not to get doos sleep, especially with that load of Astronomy work we got the other day."
Draco laughs once halfheartedly, but smiles at y/n, nevertheless.
"How far have you gotten on it?" she asks, taking out her own textbooks and setting them on the table. Draco inhales sharply, trying to find a way out of the situation. "Is something wrong, Draco?"
"N-No!" he stammers. "Everything's just great and dandy... I... Don't say stuff like 'dandy'. Why did I say that? I don't know.... Uhh..."
"Draco," y/n says firmly, reaching across the table to take his hand. "Is something up?"
Drco sighs, leaning against the back of his chair.
"Well... I haven't started on it at all yet...," he admits nervously.
"Why not? It's due Monday. It's nearly seventy pages!" she gasps.
"Can I tell you something? Promise not to tell anyone else?" Draco asks. Y/n nods, leaning back over to move her ear closer to Draco's lips. "Y/n... I-I'm dyslexic. I have it bad. It hurts to read. It's really confusing. I know how to spell and all, but I can't read or correct anything I write. I actually send my essays home to mother for her to proofread so I don't have to. It's really hard to get by in school sometimes. I can't take notes off a chalkboard or read my texts...."
"Oh, Draco...," y/n gasps. "I had no idea!"
"Yeah... It's pretty bad. At this point, I'm going to fail everything. Astronomy first, most likely," Draco sighs in shame.
"No, you won't," y/n says.
"What?" Draco asks.
"No, you won't," y/n says nicely. "I'll help you and make sure that you want. You won't have anything under and Exceeds Expectations after I'm done with you, Draco!" she laughs. "Come on, now. Let's go somewhere where we can e louder. If you can't read, I'll have to read it aloud to you. Let's get started!"
"You sure about this, y/n?" he asks nervously.
"Of course, Draco!" y/n says cheerily.
"...and one more thing?" Draco asks as they head into the hall. "Is the secret safe?"
"Most definitely. I won't tell a soul!"
~~~~~
A week after y/n began to tutor Draco, y/n and he both sit in a secluded classroom, y/n reading the Potions textbook to Draco.
"'Because of the volatile ingredients, the temperature of the potion must not be raised. This would result in the potion taking on a thick consistency,'" y/n reads aloud. Draco nods and sits down on a desk beside her. A few paragraphs later and some quizzing, the clock chimes five o'clock.
"Time for dinner, Draco," y/n says, closing the book. "I'll see you there. I gotta drop the books off at my dorm."
"Sounds good," Draco says with a nod as y/n heads out into the halls. Draco smiles. To Draco's delight, in the past week, he and y/n have become closer than they have ever been. Smiling to himself about their new, stronger friendship he heads down to the Great Hall. When he walks in, he is met by a wall of whispers.
"Did you hear about his problem?" someone says.
"Yep! I didn't know he was that much of an idiot!"
"He's illiterate? The Slytherin Prince?"
Draco gasps and looks around. All eyes are on him. His secret's out. They know. They know he's dyslexic. Tears welling up, Draco flees the Great hall, running down the hallway to the boys' bathroom. As he runs int a stall and locks it frantically, he hears a voice calling after him.
"Draco?! Draco?" the voice says as it comes closer. "Are you in here?"
It's y/n. She comes closer and taps on the stall door.
"Go away, y/n!" Draco cries, sniffling. "I don't want you here!"
"What's going on, Draco? You were happy just minutes ago!"
"You! It's all your fault, y/n!" Draco snaps.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?! Everything! It thought you were my friend! You told everyone about my dyslexia! They're all out there talking about how retarded I am!" Draco gasps, covering his face.
"Draco I would never do that to you! You told me to keep the promise that I'd never tell! I have! It must have been someone else! I wouldn't betray you like that! Never!" y/n says, knocking on the door again. "Please open this door, Draco."
"No!" Draco pouts.
"Draco... You're my best friend. I'd never want to do anything to hurt you. Please trust me when I say 'I didn't do it'. I really didn't," y/n sighs. "The truth is, I like you, Draco. I like you a lot. More than I can say, in fact. You're amazing and I don't want to hear you cry. It hurts. Please trust me. Don't you trust me?"
Draco gets up and unlatches the door. Y/n rushes forward and throws her arms around him.
"Please, Draco! Believe that I didn't do it!" she cries. "I don't want you mad at me because I-I couldn't stand it if you were!"
"I'm not mad. I'm just feeling a lot right now. I know you didn't do it, I just got so freaked out. I don't know what'll happen now. Father will be fuming," Draco sighs. "Oh, well. It is what it is..."
"You gonna be okay?" y/n asks. Draco nods after a second.
"As long as you'll stay with me?"
"Of course, Draco," y/n replies.
Smiling, Draco looks her in the eyes and bends down to kiss her on the cheek. She gasps in surprise and wraps her arms around his neck.
"So. What was that for, huh?" she asks playfully, pulling him in closer.
"To thank you for being the best person in the whole world," Draco says back, kissing her again.
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A/N: This imagine was 1,539 words long! Thanks for reading! More to come!
- Soiea