HOW TO BE A HEARTBREAKER

SLYTHERIN VS HUFFLEPUFF

( Sunday 9 November 1997 )

Rowan walked into the Great Hall that morning feeling on top of the world.

Her table was decked out in support of the Slytherin quidditch team, and the whole hall was buzzing with excitement. It was the first quidditch game of the school year, and whilst it was probably clear who the winner would be, people were still excited to watch. Hufflepuff had some of their own pre-game activities going on at their table, but Rowan couldn't help noticing some of the players looked nervous — too queasy to touch their food, even.

She grinned as she moved over to her seat. Already dressed in her quidditch uniform and her hair braided back off of her face, Rowan was ready to get some fuel and go. She rarely ever got nervous before games, unless it was the last one of the year, or they were against Gryffindor or something.

Rowan sat with the rest of the quidditch team, but towards the end so that Pansy could slide in next to her. Draco glanced her over once and then turned to everyone.

"Okay, guys. You know how it goes," their Captain said firmly, "Eat up now — but not too much. Does anyone have any problems I need to know about beforehand?"

Nobody said anything. Draco smirked a little, clearly feeling confident, and raised his glass of pumpkin juice to the middle of the table.

"Then here's to our first match of the year," Draco said, "Let it be victorious — our first step to winning the House Cup."

Rowan raised her glass and clinked it in the middle with everybody else's. She stacked her plate with a piece of buttered toast and some scrambled eggs, and downed a glass of water too. Rowan listened as Draco went over a few of the tactics yet again, but she already knew them off by heart. Last night, she'd stayed up until midnight reading about the most impressive quidditch wins, and she wondered if she'd get to try a few of the Chasers' moves out today.

"Good luck, Rowan," Pansy said to her best friend when everybody started to get up to leave. "Not that you need it."

Rowan smiled and grasped the sides of Pansy's head, yanking her forwards to press a peck to her forehead. "Love you, Pans."

Pansy smiled. "I love you too, Rowan. Now go! Quick."

Rowan's eyes widened a little when she realised the boys were already out of the Great Hall. She took off after them, joining Draco and Blaise at the front. Blaise glanced over at her before looking ahead.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Blaise said to both her and Draco. "This is our last first match."

Both Rowan and Draco felt a sort of sinking feeling in their chests. Quidditch had always been a consistency in Rowan's life. It was something that let her feel connected to her mother, who she knew little to nothing about, but she felt like she would still be proud every time Rowan scored a goal or won a match. Rowan chewed on her bottom lip and didn't reply, feeling a little disheartened at the reminder.

"Let's make it a good one, then." Draco ordered.

Walking out onto the pitch was always a surreal feeling. The Hufflepuffs booed them, and so did most of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, but the Slytherin stands all stood and made such an uproar that it cancelled it all out in Rowan's head. She walked in right behind Draco, glancing up at their house. Pansy stood by Theo, cupping her hands over her mouth as she cheered, all decked out in one of Rowan's old jerseys. They waited for the Hufflepuff team who came and stood opposite them. Rowan sent the unknown fifth year girl in front of her a grinning smirk and watched her visibly shrink backwards.

"Welcome to Hogwarts' first quidditch game of the season!" This year's commentator, Ernie Macmillan, called, his voice ringing around the whole pitch and in the stands. "Today's game — Slytherin versus Hufflepuff!"

Whistles and cheers sounded everywhere as Madam Hooch stood between the teams. "Captains, shake hands," she ordered.

Both Draco and Zacharias Smith took a step forward, their hands meeting halfway. Their shake was brief but strong, Draco attempting to intimidate the Hufflepuff boy with some intense eye contact, but Zacharias did everything he could not to look into Draco's icy pools.

"Okay, both teams, please mount your brooms..." Madam Hooch called, and then she placed the whistle into her mouth and blew hard.

Rowan knew that Hufflepuff would be the easiest match they would partake in all year, and she was right. That's not to say the Hufflepuffs were absolutely rubbish, but they didn't want to win half as much as the Slytherins clearly did. She could tell by their performance, with the way they hardly managed to get the Quaffle out of her hands.

She passed it between Blaise and Clay too, though Draco had given them the role of more so distracting Hufflepuff's Chasers so Rowan could try and do all of the throwing. Blaise and Clay worked together to press a Hufflepuff between both of them and drive them out of the way, and Rowan scored points after points, resulting in louder cheers from the Slytherin stands.

"It seems Malfoy and Smith have not yet located the Golden Snitch!" Ernie called from the stands. "However, Yaxley scores again! That's another ten points for the Slytherin team, making it 120-40 to Hufflepuff. Oh, Striker hits a Bludger at Abbott, and oh! She's down! But wait — Bones sweeps in and manages to retrieve the Quaffle from Hufflepuff's Keeper, Jones, and she scores ten points! That's 120-50 to Hufflepuff!"

Rowan exchanged a glance with Blaise. Draco's order before the game was for them to have over half of what Hufflepuff had. It was definitely possible with the right amount of skill and determination. They were doing it so far, but they didn't want it to be close. Draco wanted a heavy defeat, and they would give him it.

"Yaxley!" Clay yelled, chucking the Quaffle to her right as one of Hufflepuff's Beaters knocked him with their brooms.

She kept the Quaffle in her arms, watching out of the corner of her eye as Striker and Crow moved in on the Hufflepuff's Beaters, and chucked it towards the goalpost. It got in. Hufflepuff's Keeper, Megan Jones, was not very good at her job — that much was clear. She must have only blocked three Quaffles maximum in the past forty minutes.

"Yaxley scores — 140-50 now. But it looks like Malfoy has his eyes on the Golden Snitch!" Ernie suddenly yelled, and all heads swivelled to where Draco was leaning forwards, his hand outstretched.

"Come on, Malfoy," Rowan muttered.

A Bludger came in his direction. Rowan sucked in a breath and watched as he swerved at the last second to miss it, Striker and Crow heading around to try and fly with Malfoy and defend him. She surged forward in an effort to score again while Jones was distracted by what was happening with the Snitch, and she scored yet again.

"And Yaxley scores another ten points for Slytherin! 150-50 to Hufflepuff. Merlin! Zabini grabs the Quaffle and, oh! He scores! That's twenty points in the span of about seven seconds! 160-50, Slytherin in the lead. Malfoy still hasn't retrieved the Snitch, but Smith is right behind him! Ow, that must have hurt! Smith is struck by Bludger from Crow. But he's back up again!" Ernie called.

Rowan couldn't see what was going on over there, she could only listen to Ernie. She wasn't sure if it was as close in her head as it sounded, but she swore if Zacharias got the Snitch before Draco did, then she would throw a fit. The Snitch was worth an additional 150 points. If they got it now, all of the points Rowan, Blaise, and Clay had gotten so far wouldn't be worth it.

Another fifty points for the Slytherin team later (and ten for the Hufflepuffs), Ernie was screeching into the microphone once more.

"Smith is so close! He nearly got that one!" Ernie gasped, "Malfoy's been struck by a Bludger! He's back a few paces! It looks like the Hufflepuffs may have a chance this year if Smith can just catch the Snitch... Inkwood scores for Slytherin. 220–60, Slytherin well in the lead."

Rowan took her eyes off of the Quaffle to look over where the Snitch was going around. Malfoy was right behind Smith, but he was very, very quickly catching up.

"We need to do the Dopplebeater tactic! We have both Bludgers on our side right now," Rowan heard Susan Bones yell across to a younger year. "Smith said to do it if this happened — and remember our twist!"

Rowan's eyes widened. Clay threw the Quaffle to her, and she tossed it back to Blaise. He looked slightly confused when she took off in the direction of Draco and Zacharias.

"Malfoy —" She tried calling.

Draco sent her a sharp glance for one moment, barely taking his eyes off of the Snitch fluttering a few feet ahead. "Piss off, Yaxley! Don't distract me!"

"You need to watch out, they're planning —"

"Just go!" Draco waved a hand at her, clearly furious.

Rowan huffed and pulled back on her broom, causing it to come to a stop. She barely missed a Bludger that was sent in her direction a moment later, which had been caught by the other Hufflpuff Beater behind her who now had both Bludgers in his hands. She narrowed her eyes and took back off after Draco.

"Now!" Susan yelled.

Rowan had been watching the Hufflepuff Beater with the two Bludgers, and she dove in front of Draco before he could strike the Slytherin Seeker — especially since Crow and Striker hadn't been paying attention, too busy trying to get the Bludgers back off of them rather than defend their team.

She felt both Bludgers smack into her at once. It wasn't like when Draco had ordered one after the other on her at practice. These hit her at full force and both at once, on the same side of her body. There was a ringing in her ears as her hands came loose on her broom.

"Malfoy has caught the Snitch! Slytherin heavily defeats Hufflepuff with a whopping 370-60 points!"

Rowan steered her broom down, trying to ignore the pain in her side and the wheezy, hollowness of her breathing. Her head throbbed and at the last few feet to the floor, she lost control and rolled off of her broom. The small impact had her groaning in pain, her face scrunched up. Everything was drowning out.

"Yaxley's down!" She faintly heard someone call – she was pretty sure it was Blaise.

Footsteps rushed over to her. Sure enough, Blaise's face entered her line of vision and was quickly followed by the rest of the team, who crouched down around her with concern.

"What the fuck happened?" Draco ordered.

"Yaxley took the hit of two Bludgers so you could get the Snitch," Blaise said, but quickly turned his attention back to Rowan. "Where does it hurt, Rowan?"

"Out of the way! Out of the way!" Madam Hooch ordered, pushing Rowan's team aside so she could crouch by her head. "Let's get you to the infirmary, Miss Yaxley. You look faint."

"I feel it," Rowan grumbled.

Madam Hooch frowned. "You're losing consciousness, Yaxley. Keep your eyes open for a moment."

However, it was such a strain and it felt impossible. Rowan heard the worried gasps of Pansy before everything started to fade around her. There were the British grey skies and then everything seemed to close into a dark pin hole, and there was nothing left behind.

...

Rowan groaned as consciousness seeped in and dragged her out of the dark depths of sleep. She could feel her eyes moving beneath her eyelids as she tried desperately to push them open, however, they felt like they weighed a ton. She felt quick whispers around her, and then a hand on her upper arm.

"Rowan?" Pansy's voice cooed. "Can you hear me?"

She made another little noise, and exhaled through her nose slightly as she finally managed to lift her eyelids. Peering past dark lashes, a hazy world swirled into a more clear and vibrant one, and Rowan quickly realised that she was in the hospital wing, lying on a bed.

"Please take a step back, Miss Parkinson," Madam Pomfrey requested, though firm with her tone as she stepped in to be beside Rowan. "Miss Yaxley, you were hit in the side with two Bludgers. You fractured three of your right ribs and shattered the bone in your shoulder, but it was nothing some magic couldn't fix right back up. You may, however, feel a little sore for a few days. I suggest you stay overnight so I can continue giving you potions to take some of the edge off of it."

Rowan gave a small nod, not really processing what Madam Pomfrey was saying.

"Did we win the game?" Was all she asked.

Rowan heard a small chorus of chuckles around her and turned her neck ever so slightly to find the Slytherin team standing around, still in their gear. Pansy was there too, of course, and even Theo was standing with Blaise.

"Of course that's the first thing you say," Pansy tutted, shaking her head with an amused smile.

"Slytherin won, alright," Blaise grinned. "We completely thrashed Hufflepuff."

Rowan allowed a graceful smile of her own to cross her paled features. "The score?"

"370 - 60 to Hufflepuff. You scored 120 of them," Clay said, inching forwards. "But that's not what's important right now. How do you feel?"

Striker made a mocking cooing noise from behind and Crow and Goldhorn quickly started to laugh. Clay rolled his eyes and turned around.

"Shove off, you three," he snapped.

"I bet go shower anyway," Goldhorn chuckled, "It reeks of sweat in this room now. I saw the look Pomfrey was giving us when we got here."

"Get well soon, Yaxley," the boys all gave her nods and best wishes before turning to leave.

Rowan caught sight of Draco. He had been standing behind them, his arms folded. He stared straight at her now that she was in his line of vision. She had no idea what he was thinking or feeling based on his facial expression, but she reckoned he should be thanking her for what she did. Zacharias had been way too close to the Snitch — if he had been the one to take the hit of the two Bludgers, Slytherin would have been defeated by Hufflepuff in their first game of the season.

"I feel like I got hit in the side with two Bludgers, funnily enough," Rowan replied to Clay. "I'm surprised I managed to steer my broom that far down without crashing."

Pansy shook her head. "You shouldn't have done it, Rowan. That's what the Beaters are for — and they have bats and that special uniform!"

"Striker and Crow were not paying attention," Rowan huffed, "They were too busy trying to off the Hufflepuff team rather than defending ours."

"I'll have words with them," Draco said suddenly, causing everyone to glance over. "They nearly cost us everything."

"I don't care — at least we won," Rowan said, and then winced when she tried to turn.

Clay was by her side quickly, his hands on her arms. "Keep still!" He said, "Don't move too much – you're still recovering."

"I'm fine, Inkwood," Rowan said, brushing his hands away. "I just need some water —" She went to reach for it, but Clay had already grabbed the glass from her bedside table and was handing it to her. "Thank you."

Rowan took a few sips, flinching slightly as it went down her throat. Her chest felt almost like it had taken a hammer to it, which she supposed it sort of had. Before she could put the cup back down, Clay was taking it from her hands and putting it back himself.

"Thank you," Rowan pursed her lips. "I might try and sleep some more. I still feel knackered."

"You were only out for about twenty minutes," Theo said. "You should rest some more. We can bring you some food at dinner time."

"Yeah. Sounds good, thanks," Rowan murmured.

Pansy moved over and squeezed Rowan's hand. "I'll see you in a bit, Ro."

Blaise and Theo also said their farewells and were on their way. Rowan was surprised that Draco was still there — not so much Clay, though. However, he didn't seem to pay any attention to the blond boy behind him. He kneeled down by Rowan's head, stroking back some of her hair.

Rowan pushed her head back, her eyes wide. "Clay —"

"Shh. You should rest, Rowan," he murmured, "You did really well today."

"Thank you," Rowan replied awkwardly, "But, er, I can't say I'm really comfortable with you touching my hair."

Especially not with Draco eyeing them like a hawk for some reason.

Clay retracted his hand as if he had been burnt. "I —" He looked flustered, clambering to his feet. "I'm sorry. I just got the impression that — I don't — I want to be there for you."

"This is painful," Draco deadpanned, and Clay jumped, turning to look at him. "Inkwood, leave Yaxley be. She just woke up."

"Then why are you hovering about like a fly?" Clay said rather passively, folding his arms across his chest.

"Snape asked me to speak with Yaxley. I am Captain of the team, and Yaxley is on it," Draco spoke as if it was obvious.

Clay huffed and then turned back to Rowan. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Rowan. I'll see you later," he said, and then he took off out of the hospital wing.

Draco didn't say anything for a moment, watching the lower year hurry out the door. Then he looked back at Rowan and grabbed the chair by her bed, pulling it backwards so there was a larger amount of distance between them as he sat down.

"Snape told me he will be down in a bit to accommodate any needs you may have," Draco explained, "I'm told to ask whether or not you still feel comfortable playing quidditch —" he rolled his eyes, "-- or if you have any trauma that may stop you playing the game for the rest of the season."

Rowan also rolled her eyes. "I'm perfectly fine, Malfoy. I think you know that."

"Don't shoot the messenger," he replied, "It did look like it hurt."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing I had experience of two Bludgers coming at me at once, then," Rowan replied in a way that was supposed to be a dig, but came out a bit too soft.

Draco scoffed in amusement. "Not like that. There was nowhere near as much force as that — and they shot to get me off my broom. You still didn't fall."

"I worked on myself. Like you told me to during our first practice," Rowan reminded him. "I told you — I want to win this thing. I couldn't let Smith get to the Snitch."

Draco was silent, watching her for a bit. "Well, I suppose you're to thank for our success."

Rowan shrugged. "You're the one that caught the Snitch."

"I wouldn't have," Draco admitted, surprisingly fast. "I'm fucking angry that Smith was so close behind. He shouldn't have been — those Bludgers would have fucked everything up. Striker and Crow should have been there, but they weren't. You were, though. Which you shouldn't have been, but I feel like telling you off for abandoning our plan would be a bit stupid, considering we wouldn't have won without you."

Rowan raised her eyebrows. "No way are you admitting this right now, Malfoy."

He shrugged his shoulders and stood from the chair, flipping it back round with one hand so it was where it had been before. His blond hair was shaggy and slightly sweaty as he glanced at her.

"I give credit where credit is due," Draco muttered, "Besides, everybody saw what happened. I couldn't crown myself the winner even if I wanted to."

The corners of Rowan's lips twitched upwards. "Well, thank you, Malfoy."

He gave a short nod, not really looking at her. "Thank you for thinking quickly."

And Draco took off out of the Great Hall. Rowan watched him go for a moment and then began to face the ceiling above her. She shut her eyes and sleep found her quickly.

...

( Monday 10 November 1997 )

"Well done, Yaxley!"

Rowan smiled at the fifth years congratulating her as soon as she entered the Slytherin common room. Over twenty-four hours later, she had finally managed to be discharged from the hospital wing. Pansy had been by her side since classes had ended, and so she was there to help her take her things back to the dungeon.

"There she is," Blaise called from the couches as he spotted her. "Excited to be back, Rowan?"

Rowan sent him a strange look as she dropped onto the couch that he sat on, Pansy settling right next to her.

"I wasn't gone that long, Blaise," she said. "But yes, I am more than happy to be out of that place. Away from Madam Pomfrey and all of her mollycoddling. She's alright, but Merlin, I just wanted to do something for myself. And she kept going on about how she doesn't get quidditch, and how I shouldn't have been playing so roughly. What does that even mean!?"

Theo gave her a half-smile. "You're back just in time for Snape's exam tomorrow."

Rowan groaned.

"Rowan." Clay appeared from seemingly nowhere.

She sent him a smile. "Hi, Clay. You alright?"

"I'm fine! It's you I've been worried about," Clay admitted, "How are you feeling? Do you need me to help you walk to your dorm?"

Draco scoffed loudly. "She's fine, Inkwood. She walked here all by herself, like a big girl."

Rowan rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, thank you, Clay. I'm all better now. Madam Pomfrey healed me perfectly fine."

"That's good, then," Clay said, scratching the back of his neck, his cheeks reddening a little. "I was hoping to talk to you at some point, actually... If that's alright with you?"

Rowan pursed her lips together. She'd wanted to sit and relax for a bit longer, but she supposed it didn't hurt. Even if he'd been a bit overbearing, he was still only doing it with pure intentions. She still appreciated it all.

"Sure," she muttered, climbing up off of the couch.

"Merlin, who knew Inkwood became a right Hufflepuff when it came to Yaxley?" She heard Draco mutter as she walked away.

Rowan refrained from biting back. She may feel fine, but she was still quite tired from all of the potions.

"I just..." Clay breathed when they found a corner. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to maybe... start seeing each other again? Only... I would like to do more than the whole sex thing. I mean, that's great too — perfect even — but... I really like you, Rowan. A lot."

When she didn't say anything for a moment, Clay winced. "I fucked it, didn't I?" He exhaled.

Rowan sighed heavily and found herself glancing back to where all of her friends sat. Both Theo and Draco seemed to be watching. However, as soon as her eyes met Draco's, he glanced away with a tight jaw.

"I'm so fucking sorry, Clay," Rowan murmured, "You're an amazing guy, really. It's nothing against you — I just really don't want to be in a relationship right now. Seventh year is really stressing me out already, and it's only November. Plus Malfoy has put on all this pressure to break school records this year in quidditch..."

"Ignore Malfoy," Clay said.

"But I want it too," Rowan admitted, "I love quidditch. And as much as I truly hate to admit it, Malfoy's a better Captain than Montague was. We stand a chance this year."

Clay swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Right. Well, I respect your answer, Rowan. Thank you for... well, being honest with me, I suppose."

Rowan felt something tug at her heart. It wasn't the whole truth — not really. And she knew he'd hate her if she did end up winning Malfoy over, and if their relationship became a public thing.

She grabbed Clay into a short hug and then headed back to her friends. Pansy sent her a knowing look.

"I told you," she muttered.

Rowan sighed. "Don't."

"Break his heart did you, Yaxley?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "Poor sod. How could you do that to him?" He mocked.

Rowan glared back. "Shut up, Malfoy."

She knew it would be ten times easier breaking Draco's heart than Clay's when she came round to it.

Or so she thought.

...

not properly proofread, so sorry if there are any mistakes

when i planned this fic, i didnt think about how it might be annoying to have two heavy quidditch chapters back to back, so i hope it wasn't too boring! this was another small turning point for draco, so im excited things are moving along :) this fic will be nowhere near as long as training wheels (im thinking a max of forty chapters?) so we're probably already about 1/4 in!

thanks so much for reading and i hope you all enjoyed <333

word count: 4.2k

dyiansobrien.