The room dips just slightly quieter. He says it, not loud but enough, and Draco looks up slow from where he’s leaning against the wall, already annoyed, already expecting something stupid.

For a second it just hangs there, the kind of silence that isn’t really silent because everyone’s reacting at once without saying anything. Pansy’s eyes light up. Lucinda goes still. Lorenzo lets out a low damn. Icarus actually sits up for once. Millicent mutters something under her breath. Mattheo watches Draco instead of Adrian, like that’s the real show.

His jaw tightens as he pushes off the wall, already gearing up to argue, already sharp with it.