It's your friendly neighborhood Slytherin HOH, back with another Houses story! This is my round 2 drabble, and I just happen to be writing this on my birthday! Enjoy the story y'all!

For my prompt, I have decided to go with (location) kitchen! Lets goooo!!

Note: this is the next installment in my Alice Dandrige anthology, which also includes A Royal Secret, Dares, Coronation Day, and Benefit of the Doubt (originally published as Beauty of family because I just used the first thing that came to mind since I forgot the title I wanted to use)

Word Count: 601

Betas: Dhrish, AshJuillet

Alice Dandridge was sitting in the kitchens late one evening, trying to finish some notes for the upcoming charity auction that her father had asked her to organize for the holidays. Ever since the end of second year, and the birth of her now two-year-old brother, the King had been entrusting Alice with more and more tasks of this sort.

She knew that it was important for her to know these things, because sooner or later, she would ascend the throne and have to do them on her own. She couldn't deny that it put a ton of strain on her already limited free time. She barely had enough time to do her homework most nights.

She liked to come to the kitchens, because the House Elves almost always kept her supplied with a hot mug of tea. It helped that she preferred the heat and slight noise of the kitchen to the incessant chatter of the Ravenclaw Common Room.

"Oi, Dandridge," a voice spoke from a few feet away. She jumped, slightly started, turning towards the voice, and noticed that it was Draco Malfoy.

She hadn't spoken a word to him since the end of last school year when he'd discovered that she was the crown princess of Britain, and he nearly divulged the information to the entire wizarding world, and afterwards he had attempted to tell the Muggle world that she was a witch, which would have put her in serious danger. She had only to look at their own history to know that.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Alice demanded. "Speak up or leave me alone."

"I just came to tell you that the elves want you to leave. Rainy told me to drag you out if necessary."

Surprised, Alice checked her watch. "Oh, wow! I didn't realize it was so late."

Determined to ignore Malfoy, she packed her things up. Draco ended up being difficult to ignore, though. "Um, looks like you've got a lot going on."

Alice nodded shortly. "Yes, so I'd appreciate it if you let me do my work."

Draco seemed to be struggling with words. "You know… you know, I didn't try to divulge your secret on purpose, Dandridge. It just ended up… almost happening." Even he could tell it was a pointless effort to try and convince her.

"Oh, yes?" Alice demanded, turning on him. All the last few months of resentment and worrying were finally boiling over as she let her frustrations out on the person responsible for most of it. "Yeah, right. Like you didn't do it to try and get one over on me. I had to beat you to the punch or you'd have told the Muggle world that I'm magical, and that would have ruined everything!"

Draco turned snide. "Oh, well, I thought you'd enjoy the attention. Surely you always needed more of it."

Alice rounded on him in a fury. Surely, he couldn't actually think that. "That's where you're wrong, Malfoy. I didn't want the whole Wizarding World to know that I'm a princess. Everything else in my life seems to come just because I'm royal. I want this world to be a place where I'm appreciated for just being me. Think about that next time, why don't you?"

And with that, she stormed out of the warm kitchen, fuming the whole way. How dare he? She thought. He is the most insufferable boy! But she thought back to the moment she'd turned on him. For just a brief second, his expression had been dumbstruck, and she had noticed that he, like her, wasn't above vulnerability.