HOW TO BE A HEARTBREAKER

LIKE A BLUDGER

( Thursday 22nd January 1998 )

Prefect duties with Draco the next evening proved to be quite awkward. He didn't say much, but they'd spoken a little bit about Quidditch as they moved around the empty corridors. Draco seemed to be a little embarrassed about the kiss, and Rowan was embarrassed about sleeping with Theo — even if Draco didn't know that she had. She decided she wasn't really cut out for this whole Plan thing. Rowan couldn't hurt Draco like she thought she'd be able to when she'd accepted Theo's request.

She expected Draco to say something. Anything. To tell her to forget they'd ever kissed, or maybe kiss her again. He never did. He acted like they were nothing more than peers, which was frustrating. Rowan had no idea where she actually stood with Draco, They weren't exactly enemies anymore, but not friends either. They kissed, but never confessed. It was nearly making her yank her hair out every evening.

When she returned to the dorm rooms, Daphne wasn't there but Millicent was plaiting Tracey's hair by the heaters in the room. Pansy was out, and Rowan could only assume it had something to do with Nancy Bridget, Pansy's potential new girlfriend.

"How were prefect duties, Rowan?" Tracey asked.

Rowan glanced up, sending her a small smile as she pulled off her shoes. "It was fine, thank you. Didn't find anybody wandering the halls or anything."

"Oh, that's good then," Tracey hummed, "Oh, and don't worry — Daphne's not here. She's found the next best thing after Malfoy apparently. She's off with him right now."

"Oh really?" Rowan raised an eyebrow as she flopped down onto her bed. She'd yet to take her school uniform off, but she couldn't be bothered right now. She'd do it in a minute. "Who is the lucky guy?"

"The Seeker from the Ravenclaw team," Millicent answered, "We think she did it to make Malfoy jealous, but Slytherin literally beat Ravenclaw, so it makes no sense... But there's no stopping Daphne once she has a picture in her head."

Rowan released a small laugh. "Godson? Is she aware that the odour problem isn't just down to excessive Quidditch playing? Like he actually smells like that?"

Tracey shrugged and gave a grin in return. "She bought him some cologne apparently. She says he's been using it and it's made a complete difference. I don't know, though."

Again, Rowan laughed. If Daphne really thought being with Godson would make Draco jealous, then she had no brains whatsoever. Rowan's eyebrows furrowed.

"Greengrass really likes Malfoy, doesn't she?"

"Daphne does, yeah," Millicent replied, concentrating on Tracey's hair. "Though if you ask us, she likes the idea of taking the Malfoy name for herself and owning him. She barely reacts when Malfoy shags girls that Daphne knows are below her. But if it's someone worthy of being a potential wife one day, like, if they're beautiful and Pureblood and Slytherin... she loses her mind."

"How come she's friends with you two then?" Rowan asked, "You two are all those things."

Millicent blushed. "Oh, thank you, Rowan."

"We've never been with Malfoy," Tracey answered, "Daphne would never allow it! Not that he's really my type anyway. Just like she doesn't let Astoria anywhere near him."

"You guys haven't even kissed him?" Rowan furrowed her brows. "I would have thought at least that."

Tracey snorted. "Malfoy doesn't kiss!"

Millicent laughed too and Rowan felt her confusion grow.

"What do you mean?" Rowan asked, "He gets with so many girls though."

"Yeah, but Malfoy doesn't, like, kiss them," Millicent shot Rowan a disbelieving look. "Didn't you know that? I mean, apparently, according to Daphne, he used to at the start, when he was like in fourth year, but he stopped. Said it was too intimate or something. She was upset for a long while after that."

Rowan was stunned into silence. "Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah," Tracey scoffed. "It makes no sense to me either. How can you put your dick in someone and then turn around and say kissing them is too intimate? Every girl that's ever spoken to me about him has said the same. It makes no sense."

Rowan shook her head, slowly, dazed. "Yeah..." She muttered, and stared up at the four poster bed's ceiling above her. "That is quite odd."

Fuck.

...

( Saturday 24th January 1998 )

Rowan's head was swimming, her eyes hazy, her body heavy as she moved through the crowds of people. The music was loud and pounding, ringing in her ears, and all she could smell was alcohol mixed with dozens of different perfumes and colognes and sweat. The Slytherin common room was packed with Slytherins and any close friends from other houses, all to celebrate the Quidditch team's victory from the Tuesday before.

It was only eleven in the evening, and Rowan was already more pissed than she had ever been in her life. Her lips pursed, her mouth dry. She wanted another drink. She'd only just finished her vodka and coke, which had been definitely more than a double shot, but she couldn't even taste the alcohol anymore. Once she reached the table filled with alcoholic beverages, she filled her cup with some sort of fruity cider.

Pansy furrowed her eyebrows when she appeared next to her best friend. "You were drinking vodka earlier."

"Yeah?" Rowan mumbled, drinking at the cider. It was delicious, but somehow made her thirstier.

"You don't do well with mixing, Rowan," Pansy reminded her.

"I have come to the opinion that that is merely a mindset," Rowan replied as she leaned against the wall. "Getting sick after mixing alcohol is a myth."

"Then how do you explain the amount of times you've been sick after mixing?"

"Because it was all in my head..." Rowan slurred, and then slumped her head back against the wall. "It's not in my head anymore."

"You've drank too much," Pansy scolded, and then reached to grasp the cider out of Rowan's hands.

Rowan quickly pulled it closer to her, protecting it. "No I haven't. I'm celebrating. Don't you know? I gained 220 points in our last match. I'm a good Quidditch player, Pansy. I could have been Captain, I was good."

Pansy's eyebrows furrowed. She recognised the compliments as the ones Rowan had told her Draco had said before. She grabbed Rowan's wrist and tugged her into a more private corner of the common room.

"What is wrong with you?" Pansy asked.

"You're manhandling me." Rowan yanked herself away. "Nothing is wrong with me. I'm perfectly fine. Other than the fact that I am a shit person and I have made a huge fucking mistake."

"What are you on about, Rowan? You're not a bad person."

"I feel bad for Malfoy," Rowan muttered, moving closer to Pansy, her face saddening. "For Malfoy! Do you know how stupid I feel? Malfoy likes me. He likes me, Pansy, and I am a big fat liar. I'm a pawn in Theo's revenge, but —" she hiccupped, and then winced. "-- I don't really want to hurt him anymore."

Pansy looked genuinely confused. "Rowan, have you fallen for Malfoy or something?"

"No," Rowan replied, "I don't think so. I just feel... bad all of the time."

"You can't back down," Pansy reminded her, "You made an Unbreakable Vow with Theo."

"I know," Rowan murmured, "I know. I wish I didn't. I wish Malfoy still hated me. I can't be bothered to teach him a lesson anymore, Pansy. I don't want to be the one to do it."

Pansy sighed and leaned forward to stroke Rowan's shaggy hair. "Rowan, you've been getting closer to him. But remember all of the things he's done, the things he's said. He kept sleeping with Greengrass even after she called me a dyke and made fun of me for being gay. He's said awful things about both of us. He's no innocent angel. He's hurt countless people -- sends girls out of his room sobbing their hearts out, tells them their special to get in their pants... Just because he's started actually showing some sort of humanness towards you, doesn't make him better."

Rowan swallowed thickly and nodded, thinking Pansy's words through. She was right. Just because he was being slightly nicer to her didn't mean he was being nicer to everyone. It didn't excuse everything he'd done in the past.

"But I —"

"Don't even think about all of that tonight, Rowan," Pansy sighed, "This is about celebrating you as a Quidditch player. About celebrating being a Slytherin. Whatever happens, happens. Tonight, though? Tonight, we party. And I actually have somebody I would like you to meet."

Pansy grasped Rowan's wrist, and then with the other hand she grabbed the cider. She tipped it into a nearby plant pot, ignoring the shriek that the plant inside made back, and dragged Rowan over to where all of the food was. Rowan stumbled, watching her feet on the dark floor, muttering an apology to someone she managed to bump into.

Rowan blinked when Pansy finally released her. Pansy moved to stand next to a girl who was, at first, unfamiliar, but then Rowan recognised her. Dark skin, braids with glittery golden tinsel that sparkled beneath the strobe lights, and a black dress — it was Pansy's friend, Nancy Bridget.

"You're Rowan Yaxley," Nancy grinned, and extended her hand for Rowan to shake. "Pansy's told me so much about you. And I watched the Slytherin versus Ravenclaw game on Tuesday. You were amazing."

Rowan shook Nancy's hand. "I — Thank you. You must be Bridget."

She didn't want to meet new people. She wanted to drift about.

"Please, call me Nancy," the Hufflepuff girl giggled, and only then did Rowan realise Nancy was holding Pansy's hand.

"Are you two...?"

"We are," Pansy exclaimed, "Since this morning actually! I asked Nancy to be my girlfriend on top of the Astronomy Tower. She's really into planets. She took me up there early so we'd get a good view of four planets on the skyline."

Pansy had someone. Rowan was happy for Pansy. But Rowan had nobody.

"Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and Venus," Nancy elaborated.

Rowan had nobody at all.

"Venus was my mother's name," Rowan murmured, and Pansy gave Rowan an unsure look, watching as the smile wiped from her face.

Nancy immediately looked alarmed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to —"

"I'm going to get some water," Rowan muttered.

Why was she thinking of a mother she never got to know? Why was every bad thought clinging to her brain and dragging her under?

"Rowan!" Pansy caught up with her a few steps later, grabbing her shoulder. "Rowan, what was that? You're not okay. Let me take you to our dorm."

Rowan shook her head. "No, I'm celebrating."

"You've drunk too much!" Pansy cried, "I've never seen you like this before."

Suddenly, there was another hand on Rowan's shoulder. She barely processed it with the pounding music and the vibrations running through her body. Everything was buzzing. She thought she might be sick in a moment.

"Is she okay?"

It was Draco. Draco was there, looking at Pansy, asking if Rowan was okay.

Why did he smell so nice? Why did that shirt look so good on him?

Rowan blinked, and nodded her head. "I'm fine," she called before Pansy could answer. "I'm getting some water."

Draco's grip on her shoulder tightened, keeping her in place. "I was asking Parkinson."

"I don't know," Pansy sighed stressfully, running a hand through her hair and glancing back to where Nancy was alone, glancing around nervously. "She's acting odd. Rowan normally handles her drink much better than this."

"I can take care of her, if you want," Draco said, not missing the look Pansy gave him. "Look —"

"Both of you get off of me." Rowan shrugged them off, feeling completely overstimulated by the hands on her, the music, the people, the alcohol in her system — everything.

She stumbled away, not missing the calls of her name, pushing through crowds of bodies, getting lost among them, not bothering to apologise to those who shot her dirty looks.

"It's our star Yaxley!" She heard someone call, but Rowan merely blinked and pushed past them. Someone tried to hand her a shot, but she ignored it.

It felt like her body wasn't her own. She made it out of the common room, leaving the booming music behind her. Her ears rang and she swore she could hear her blood rushing around her body. Her legs stumbled beneath her and she carried herself over to a bench. She slumped down onto it, resting her head back against the cool stone wall behind her.

"You shouldn't go places alone when you're this drunk," Draco scolded her.

Rowan groaned and didn't open her eyes. She thought she'd left him with Pansy; she didn't realise he had been right behind her, following her. Rowan felt him take the seat next to her.

"Do you think you've been drugged?" Draco asked, and his palm touching her forehead to check her temperature made her jump, her brown eyes snapping open.

"No!" Rowan exclaimed, "I've just drunk a whole bottle of vodka to myself. And to top things off, I've barely eaten today."

Draco shook his head, clenching his jaw. "That's dangerous shit, Yaxley."

"I don't care," she muttered, nestling her cheek against the wall as if it were her pillow, or as comfortable as one. "I just want to..."

"You just want to do what?"

"Don't know," she exhaled loudly.

"Why did you get this drunk, Yaxley?" Draco demanded.

Rowan fidgeted uncomfortably. "Why do you care?"

Draco seemed to hesitate. But then he snapped, "Because believe it or not, Yaxley, but I do fucking care about you."

Rowan's breath hitched. "No you don't."

"Yes, I fucking do," Draco growled angrily, "I wouldn't be sat out here arguing against you if I didn't. Now come back inside with me and let me get you some water. Then you're heading straight to bed."

"You're not my dad," Rowan hissed, yanking her arm when he tried to grab a hold of her wrist.

Draco gritted his teeth. "I know I'm not. I'd like to think I'm ten times better than him too."

Rowan's face crumbled ever so slightly, but she built it back up and exhaled through her nose. "Go away, Malfoy. I can handle myself. I want to be alone."

"You shouldn't be alone right now."

"What do you know?"

"Not a lot, apparently!" Draco yelled, "Especially recently, Yaxley. I know nothing when it comes to you. Would you just make my life the slightest bit easier and listen to what I'm telling you to do?"

"No."

Draco's eyes darkened. "No?" He repeated.

"No!" Rowan exclaimed, and found herself stumbling to her feet, away from him. "Leave me alone. I don't want you to look after me. I don't need looking after."

"You're stumbling about as if you need someone!" Draco snapped, and followed behind her again. "Yaxley, just sit back down."

"No," she muttered.

Hands grabbed her and steered her back around. Rowan weakly thought him back, panic rising in her chest when she felt the tears start to fill her eyes, spilling over. She fought him back a little harder, not wanting him to see her cry. However, Draco was much stronger and a lot less drunk, and within seconds she was forced to sit on a different bench, her back against the wall.

"Why are you crying?" He sighed.

"I'm not!"

He rolled his silver eyes. "You're such a pain in the arse."

Rowan pulled her knees up to her chest and put her face into them. Her shoulders began to shake as she cried.

Draco gave a heavier sigh but took the seat next to her. "Yaxley, why are you crying?"

"Everything," Rowan muttered, her voice muffled against her skin. "I hate everything."

Draco didn't say anything for a while but leaned back against the wall with her. Eventually, her crying ceased and she wiped away all of the tear stains with her hands. She bet her eyeliner was smudged. She felt stupid and ridiculous with the slightest bit of sobriety that came from crying in front of Draco Malfoy.

"I don't cry all of the time," she disclaimed weakly.

"It's fine," he replied.

There was more silence.

"Did something happen?" Draco asked.

Rowan shook her head. "No. Just drank too much."

There was a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. I was worried I'd have to go hex someone."

Rowan felt something stir in her stomach and she shook her head. "You don't need to defend me."

Draco paused, considering what she had said. "I feel like I should."

It took everything inside of Rowan not to demand why. Either she'd get some sort of confession out of him, or he'd lie. Rowan didn't want a confession tonight. Not when she had been feeling so fragile and guilty and sad. If he declared his feelings for her right now, she was pretty sure that she would break down again.

Rowan could hear the music vibrating from the common room, and the muffled sound of lyrics. The thought of returning made her heart skip a beat with anxiety. Rowan played with the rings on her fingers, twisting them and running her thumb over any of the jewels.

"Malfoy..." Rowan began and then decided against it. "Never mind."

"Don't do that," Draco scoffed, "That's one of the most annoying things a person can do."

"I just..." Rowan chewed on her bottom lip for a few moments.

She wanted to warn him away. To forbid him from falling further for her, if that was possible. However, the Unbreakable Vow made that impossible. She'd sworn she'd follow through with The Plan until the end.

"I forgot what I was going to say," she whispered.

Draco exhaled through his nose out of amusement. "You really are pissed. Maybe it's time for you to go to bed for real now, Yaxley. And no protesting this time. I don't have the energy for it."

"Yeah, okay..."

Rowan stood up and was surprised by how heavy her head felt. Draco stuck a hand out, almost as if he thought she would topple over, but Rowan was fine. She'd regret drinking so much in the morning, but for now she didn't feel sick at least.

...

( Sunday 25th January 1998 )

Rowan couldn't be bothered for her eyeliner the next morning. She could barely remember the night before — snippets of drinking, meeting Nancy (who Rowan knew she owed an apology to), parts of talking to Draco, Pansy helping her into bed... She was never going to drink that much again. Waking up with no memory of how she got into her pyjamas or how her makeup had been taken off perfectly was honestly quite scary.

She took a potion for her hangover, but it didn't stop the tiredness and grogginess in her bones. So, even if she felt like she looked naked without her usual dark eye makeup, Rowan drifted down to the Great Hall and slumped down in her seat. She didn't bother reacting to Blaise's eyebrow raise, but reached out for a piece of toast which she began to halfheartedly butter up.

"I left you in bed because I thought you could do with the rest," Pansy said, "How are you feeling?"

"Perfect," Rowan muttered sarcastically, and then took off a large bite, despite her stomach protesting.

"Party hard last night, Rowan?" Theo asked her.

Rowan glanced up at him. Since they'd had sex in the library, they hadn't really hung out properly, but somehow it wasn't awkward. There seemed to be this mutual agreement and understanding that it was something that had happened purely in the heat of the moment, and that neither of them wanted to explore it any further. It had put an end to any tension that had been there before, whether Rowan had realised until that day or not.

"I'd say that's a bit of an understatement." Draco's voice nearly made Rowan groan.

He dropped down into his usual seat opposite her and Rowan suddenly regretted not putting on her eyeliner as his silver eyes met hers. She felt naked and vulnerable, and Rowan knew she wasn't ugly, yet she felt less than. Draco had somehow managed to turn up to breakfast with not a hair out of place, his skin perfect, not a single piece of thread of fluff tarnishing his black suit.

Her stomach turned. She didn't like whatever that feeling was, or rather she didn't like not knowing what Draco was thinking of her right now. Was he shocked by the dark circles under her eyes? Disgusted by the messy plaits she'd slept in last night?

"Fuck off," Rowan muttered at Draco's previous statement, though there was not a single ounce of harshness behind her tone.

"I wish I had as much fun as you did," Blaise scoffed, "The rest of team made me do suicide shots. I ended up throwing up in the fireplace and then passing out in the corner of the room."

The corner of Rowan's lips twitched upwards at that.

"Classic Zabini," Pansy scoffed.

"I wanted to apologise to you, actually," Rowan said, turning to face her best friend. "I don't know why my drink wasn't agreeing with me so much last night. I'm sorry if I put Bridget off. I'll apologise to her myself if —"

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Nancy wasn't upset with you, stupid. She was worried about you, but you didn't put her off whatsoever. She helped me come looking for you. That's when I found you out in the corridor with Malfoy."

Rowan's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh. I don't really remember you coming to get me. Or Bridget being with you."

Draco pursed his lips together. "How much of last night do you remember, Yaxley?"

"Why?" Theo perked up. "Something happen in the corridor?"

"No," Draco scoffed as if the idea was repulsive. "Just wondering."

Rowan frowned a little.

"Well?" Pansy asked, "Do you remember the part where I had to stop you from lighting Greengrass' bedsheets on fire?"

"No!" Rowan gasped, her eyes widening as the rest of their friends all laughed. "I didn't!"

"You tried!" Pansy laughed, "I had to tackle you to get your wand. By the way, it's locked in my bedroom drawer. I didn't trust you — you were adamant on doing it, and I was half-scared you'd light Greengrass herself on fire when she got back from the party."

Blaise snickered and shook his head.

"I didn't even notice my wand was gone," Rowan frowned, and then placed her face into her hands on the table. "I need to go back to sleep."

"You need to eat more carbs," Pansy pointed out, and then grabbed another piece of toast to drop onto Rowan's plate.

"Yes, mummy," Rowan huffed sarcastically, lifting her head just in time to watch Theo and Blaise start to cackle yet again.

Draco didn't laugh but he looked thoroughly amused, and Pansy's cheeks grew bright red as she elbowed Rowan hard in the arm.

"Not like that," Rowan whined, but smiled slightly at Pansy's reaction. "But I didn't know you were into that shit, Pansy."

Pansy scowled. "Just shut up and eat your toast, Yaxley."

...

( Monday 2nd February 1998 )

Over the past week, Draco had cut down to two Quidditch practices a week, considering their next match wasn't for a little while now. However, he had warned them that they didn't have too long of a 'break' left before he'd amp it up again. After all, their final match was against Gryffindor. They wouldn't be an easy defeat, but with the amount of points that Slytherin had already racked up, it was certainly more than possible.

However, Gryffindor definitely knew this too, and Draco knew that meant Harry would be boosting up their practice, so Draco had to as well. It was a vicious cycle, really. In the end, it would be the team who wanted it the most, Rowan presumed. And she prayed that her teammates wanted it as much as she did, and as much as Draco did too.

Rowan used her free time to catch up on some revision. Exams were coming around soon after the final match against Gryffindor, so it was about finding a balance. And over the past few weeks, Rowan had let her homework slip in order to ensure a heavy victory against Ravenclaw.

She'd also met Nancy for the second time — and this time she was much more sober, of course. Rowan discovered that Pansy's girlfriend was the epitome of Hufflepuff really — a complete ray of sunshine standing next to Pansy. She also expressed her love for astronomy and she had a knack for Divination, apparently. Supposedly, her great grandmother had been a Seer, but the talented had died with her. Rowan liked Nancy for Pansy.

"Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw today," Draco said, dropping into the seat in front of Rowan at the Slytherin table.

Rowan scoffed. "Worst match every year."

"I know," Draco said, "It's quite literally watching a bunch of losers fight off another bunch of losers so they'll both get the bottom two spots. Pathetic, really. If I were in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, Merlin forbid of course, I wouldn't even bother joining their Quidditch teams."

"Hey," Pansy frowned. "Leave Hufflepuff alone."

"Your girlfriend being in Hufflepuff means nothing to me, Parkinson," Draco muttered and rolled his eyes. "I assume you will be going to watch though?"

"Yeah," Pansy replied, and looked to her best friend. "I'm sitting with her. Sorry."

"No worries," Rowan replied.

The Slytherin Quidditch team always sat together at the front of their stands to watch games they weren't in anyway. They had sat together for the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match before Christmas too. Draco spent half of his time mocking them and half of it writing down tactics that he saw them all using, or who their weakest and best players were, stuff like that.

"There's no point in going though," Blaise said as he joined them with Theo. "We've played both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw this year. That's it for us against them. Never again."

"Exactly why we should go and watch," Rowan replied, "It will be the last Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff match we ever get to watch. Make the most of secondary school Quidditch games, Blaise. Soon, you'll be in some office pretending to care about whatever."

Blaise looked a little freaked out by the realisation.

"Also you get the morning off of lessons if you go," Pansy droned.

"Okay. I'll be there."

And a couple of hours later, Blaise was. He sat on the other side of Rowan, who sat between him and Draco, the rest of the team sat around them, either on the benches above or beside. It was cold so they were all wrapped up in their Slytherin scarves and hats. Rowan rubbed her hands together and watched as Hufflepuff scored yet another ten points against Ravenclaw.

"Losing so bad only a couple of weeks ago has obviously been bad for team morale," Rowan muttered, raising her eyebrows when Boot was very nearly knocked off his broom by a Bludger from the Hufflepuffs. "And the Hufflepuffs are really trying today."

"They're trying to distract Ravenclaw's Seeker," Draco mumbled back, leaning closer to Rowan so she'd hear him, his silver eyes trained on the game. "Look. They have a Chaser flying around him at all times. Putting him off. I reckon the Hufflepuffs are trying to rack up as many points from the Quaffles as they can before they find the Snitch to end the game."

Draco was right about Hufflepuff's tactic. When the Snitch was finally located by the Seekers, Hufflepuff had their Beaters and a Chaser flying about to get in the way of Ravenclaw's Seeker whilst they racked up points with the Quaffles. Eventually, when Susan Bones called it, Hufflepuff's Seeker stopped delaying the capture of the Snitch and reached out to grasp it, ending the game with Hufflepuff at 320 points and Ravenclaw with 230.

Draco laughed when they made it to the Slytherin changing rooms. Rowan joined the boys in there, folding her arms against her chest as she watched him use chalk to write down the new points of both teams that had just played.

"We're so far in the lead that it's pathetic the others even bother," Draco sneered, dusting his hands off from the white powder.

Rowan glanced at the board proudly, knowing she'd managed to score a majority of Slytherin's points.

SLYTHERIN

370

+ 480

= 850

GRYFFINDOR

330

HUFFLEPUFF

60

+ 320

= 380

RAVENCLAW

70

+ 150

+ 230

= 450

"That's comical!" Blaise howled, "Ravenclaw have officially finished playing for the year, and they have about half of the points that we do!"

"They've lost for sure," Clay added, "It's Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor next. Gryffindor will definitely win, but I reckon Hufflepuff can get another eighty points so they've come third place."

Rowan nodded in agreement. "It's Gryffindor we have to watch out for. They've only played one game, but we know they're decent."

"We'll be fine," Draco said, "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't all still be practicing. I've been reading more autobiographies on the greatest Quidditch players. You know, Eunice Murray, Fabius Watkins, Angus Campbell —"

"So just old Montrose Magpies players?" Goldhorn huffed.

"Yes, of course. They're the best team statistically, and I'm not going to read any of your team's shit," Draco huffed, and straightened himself back up. "Anyway, I think we should all go on diets until the match. Like all of them did before theirs —"

"You realise we're not a professional team, right?" Clay furrowed his eyebrows. "Dieting and stuff like that's a bit far."

"It's not too far if you want to win, Inkwood," Draco snapped angrily, "A Quidditch diet consists of healthy food and protein — and lots of water. If anything, it's just being healthy. It will help your body prepare for the big day, so we're as agile and lean as possible. Anyway, I didn't come in here to talk about diets specifically, and I can't force anyone on one and I won't, but if you want to improve your game, there's a suggestion for you all. Hufflepuff played quite well today, but still not good enough for Gryffindor. Their match is not until March now. Gryffindor has had the benefit of plenty of rest between every game too."

"Probably Dumbledore and McGonagall's doing," Blaise huffed.

"Most likely," Draco agreed, "But I'll give it another week of practice twice a week, and then I'm upping it to three. When April rolls around, we'll be on as many days as Snape can book as the pitch for. It may be seven, it may be five. If we have to fly around the common room for practice, then so be it."

"When's the Gryffindor match again?" Crabbe asked.

Draco's eyes visibly twitched. He didn't look at Crabbe, but his jaw clenched. "You did not seriously just ask me that?"

Rowan winced. "It's April twentieth," she answered for Draco. "Midday exactly."

"Thank you, Rowan," Draco huffed, and the room suddenly went stiff. It took Draco a second to notice. "Yaxley. I meant Yaxley."

Nobody said anything, as if scared of Draco's tetchy mood anyway.

"Anyway," Blaise whistled, "I'm heading out. I need to get some lunch before afternoon classes start."

But Rowan was frozen in place. Because it had hit her like a Bludger to the chest. The way his perfect voice had said her name, so smooth coming from his lips, as if he was made to say it. The way his silver eyes had found hers when he realised the mistake he had made, how she'd wanted to smile and tell him that it was okay that he called her by her real name.

It made sense why she had been feeling so guilty for The Plan, and why she'd been worried about the way she had looked in front of him the other week.

Rowan had fallen for Draco Malfoy.

...

ahh! rowan's realised her feelings for draco! also, i have officially finished my first year of uni, so until i get a summer job, i have a lot of spare time on my hands to be updating this fic i reckon!

thanks so much for reading and i hope this was enjoyable :)

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dyiansobrien.