The Slytherin common room was unnaturally quiet for a Tuesday night. Not the comfortable quiet of everyone studying or the sleepy quiet of a late evening—no, this was the suspicious kind of quiet.
Draco Malfoy had his feet propped up on the worn leather ottoman, a half-empty butterbeer in hand, when Theodore Nott walked in—face illuminated by the glow of his phone, eyes wide, lips pressed into a thin line that suggested he was holding back something momentous.
Theodore Nott
slowly lowering his phone So. Malfoy. You're viral.
???
from the corner armchair, not looking up from his own phone Oh, he's so viral. I'd say trending, really.
Blaise Zabini stretched his long legs out, the smirk on his face audible in his voice.
Theodore Nott
crossing the room, turning his phone to face Draco Have you seen this?
On the screen: a video, just a few seconds long. It was Draco in the Great Hall, three days ago, flicking his hair out of his face with an irritated precision while Pansy said something to him. The caption above it read:
"he's literally the bad boy of my dreams i would let him ruin my life"
The video had four hundred thousand views.
Theodore Nott
You have a fan club, Draco. They're calling you—
???
interjecting from the doorway, voice flat A "toxic king," I believe. And a "walking red flag," which is impressive given our robes are green.
Mattheo Riddle sauntered in, shoving his own phone into his pocket, an unreadable expression on his face.
Mattheo Riddle
There's also one of Blaise that's got a hundred thousand views. Something about "mysterious foreign prince energy."
Blaise Zabini
finally looking up I'm not foreign. I'm cosmopolitan.
Mattheo Riddle
Doesn't matter. They've decided you're exotic.
A beat of silence.
Then, from the staircase that led to the boys' dormitories, the sound of footsteps. Lorenzo Berkshire appeared, bedhead prominent, looking like he'd just woken up despite it being barely nine at night.
Lorenzo Berkshire
rubbing his eyes Why is everyone being weirdly quiet? Also why is Pansy cackling alone in the girls' dormitory? I can hear her through the wall.
He looked at Theo's phone. He looked at Draco.
Lorenzo Berkshire
flatly Oh no.
A notification pinged from Draco's own pocket.
Then another.
Then a series of them, rapid-fire, like an owl pecking relentlessly at a window.
Theodore Nott
That's going to be the group chat. Pansy found them all. She's going to be insufferable for the rest of term.
???
from the doorway, a new voice, dry and amused You say that like she wasn't going to be anyway.
Daphne Greengrass leaned against the frame, her own phone in hand, her expression the closest thing to delight she ever showed in public.
Daphne Greengrass
Draco, you should know—there's a girl in the library right now editing a "Malfoy morning routine" compilation. She's using clips from your first year.
Mattheo Riddle
quietly That's impressive. That's genuinely disturbing.
Blaise Zabini
tilting his head And what do they call it?
Daphne Greengrass
"From Bully to Billionaire."
Theodore Nott
wheezing
Draco's phone buzzed again.
And again.
A steady, unrelenting rhythm from the pocket of his robes—the sound of an entire digital world that had apparently decided, in the span of a single Tuesday evening, that Draco Malfoy was the internet's newest obsession.
He hadn't even touched his phone yet.
The common room fire crackled. Blaise took a long, deliberate drink. Mattheo watched him with that unreadable stillness. Lorenzo had gone to look over Daphne's shoulder at her phone, muttering "wait, that's the one from Charms, I sat next to her" under his breath.
Theodore Nott just stood there, still holding up his phone, arm extended, waiting.
Theodore Nott
softly, almost reverently Well? Are you going to look at it?