HOW TO BE A HEARTBREAKER

MALFOY THING

( Monday 9th February 1998 )

"You're... together?"

Rowan stared back at Theo's startled expression. She'd expected a wide grin, for him to clap his hands together, or to laugh in glee. Instead, his eyebrows furrowed — he looked confused.

"He asked me to be his girlfriend," Rowan repeated.

Pansy's hand smacked over her own mouth. Her green eyes were wide and it took her a moment before she joined in with Blaise's disbelieving laughter. For a single second, Rowan's lips twitched upwards, glad her friends were as happy as she was, until it all came crashing down, and she remembered why she was so nervous to tell them in the first place.

Because Draco had asked her out and she had accepted without an ounce of The Plan on her mind at all.

She hadn't said yes for Theo, she hadn't had all of the other girls Draco had treated poorly in her head. All she was thinking about was Draco. Draco, Draco, Draco. Draco and his stupid smirk and his expensive cologne and large hands and strong arms. The way he looked at her — his love for Quidditch, his witty comments, the way he challenged her.

"And you said yes?" Blaise urged.

Rowan nodded and forced a smile. "Of course. For The Plan, right?"

"For The Plan," Theo agreed, a wavering smile of his own on his face as he sat forwards on his chair. "That's absolutely amazing, Rowan. Brilliant, actually."

"You don't seem too chuffed," Rowan pointed out. "I thought this was exactly what you wanted?"

"It is!" Theo exclaimed, shaking his head quickly. "I am happy. I suppose I was shocked at first. No offence, but maybe part of me thought that this would never work."

"Well it worked alright," Pansy smirked and then grabbed Rowan by the shoulders, squeezing her tighter to her. "Of course Malfoy's whipped for Rowan. Anybody would be."

Rowan rolled her eyes but smiled. "Thanks, Pans. Remember to act surprised if he says something, okay?"

"Obviously," Blaise scoffed, "Merlin, I've been practising my shocked face in the mirror for the past couple of weeks, actually. I can't wait to put it to use."

"You're such a weirdo," Pansy huffed, and then turned to Rowan. "I can't believe it. Or, well, I can. Malfoy would have had to been the biggest homosexual on the planet to not see how amazing you are. I just can't believe we live in a universe where you two are actually together."

"Well, me either," Rowan admitted, a breathless sigh leaving her lips as she leaned back against the couch. "It's strange. But he walked me back here after tryouts last night. Pecked me on the lips outside the common room door, and said he'd see me in the morning."

Her heart fluttered at the thought of Draco leaving his dorm room now. The idea of him sitting down beside her, and then opposite her at breakfast, their eyes meeting, knowing his heart must be beating as fast as hers. Perhaps in time with one another.

"You just can't fall for him," Theo reminded her, nearly making Rowan choke on her own spit, half-worried he could hear her thoughts. "Just because he's going to start treating you differently now, doesn't make him any less of an arsehole."

"That won't be a problem," Rowan replied with as much sincerity as she could feign. "I know everything he's done."

Rowan reminded herself of everything. All of the things he had called her, all of the times he had gone out of his way to make her life that little bit more miserable. The amount of girls he'd sent out of his room crying, how he'd only laughed after, enjoying the sick rush of power it gave him that he could have anybody he wanted. The prejudice he still spat to this day, and how he had treated his very own best friend, Theo.

He'd said he loved Theo like a brother once upon a time, and then he was stabbing him in the back the next moment.

Rowan gripped onto that last thought with a strong hold. He did it to Theo, he could do it to her even easier.

Draco could very easily break her heart before she got the chance to break his. Rowan almost didn't know which way around she'd prefer it now.

There was a sick feeling in her stomach when she heard a familiar voice behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, her eyes bored into a pair of silver ones. She could have cursed out loud at all of the butterflies that suddenly intruded, soaring through her and making her feel like they were pulling her upwards, as if she was weightless, or on a planet where gravity ceased to exist.

"Draco," Blaise smirked.

"I assume Yaxley has told you by the look on your face," Draco said, coming up behind the couch she sat on, his hands resting either side of the back of her seat.

He smelled freshly of his cologne. He'd just sprayed it. Rowan hated him for it.

"What?" Blaise's pitch went up an octave. "Rowan has not told me anything about anything. What are you —"

"You're so shit at acting," Pansy huffed, and then she stood up, facing Draco with her arms folded against her chest and a scowl on her face. "If you even think about hurting Rowan, or treating her like you have every other girl at this school, then I swear to fucking Merlin, Malfoy, I will rip your testicles from your body and feed them to you myself."

Blaise grimaced. "Yuck, Pansy."

However, Draco's face didn't shift as he stared back at her. "I won't hurt Yaxley," he replied, his tone firm and stubborn, and Rowan felt her heart skip a beat.

"Why don't you start by calling her by her first name?" Pansy crinkled her nose. "Will you be moaning her father's surname whilst you're —"

"Okay, Pans, that's enough," Rowan cut her off quickly, standing up beside her best friend, finally laying eyes on Draco for the first time that morning.

Had he done something different or did he just look ten times better now that she was able to call him hers?

Draco's eyes met hers too and she swore she could have giggled like one of the other girls that he had wrapped around his finger a few months back. It was incredibly strange to her how all of these feelings had just hit her suddenly. One moment, she was repulsed by the idea of being with him, the next she wanted him right beside her.

Draco cleared his throat. "Yaxley —"

"Pansy's right," Rowan said, "You should call me by my first name. Not my father's."

Draco gave a firm nod. "Then call me by mine too."

"Is this what heterosexual flirting is?" Pansy asked loudly.

Rowan shot her an annoyed glare.

"Come on, Parkinson," Blaise huffed, standing up to grab her. "Let's let the newlyweds sort themselves out before we are forced to endure the most awkward breakfast to ever exist. Oi, Theo, you too. C'mon, mate."

Theo climbed up as well, glancing over Rowan and Draco one more time, before he let a small smirk cover his face. It made Rowan feel physically ill. She wanted to desperately cry out that these feelings weren't an act. She wasn't this good at pretending, not even with all of the Pureblood training she'd received as a child.

When it was finally just Rowan and Draco alone in the common room area, Rowan exhaled loudly.

"Thank Merlin they're gone," she said.

"They're all as irritating as each other at times," Draco agreed.

There was a short silence.

"I–" Rowan felt her words get caught in her throat and she internally cursed. Never did she lose her cool in front of boys. Ever. "I, er —"

Draco seemed to sense her struggle. He took a long stride forwards, his hands reaching out to grasp her chin between his index finger and his thumb, and then he tilted her head upwards and pressed his lips against hers. Rowan melted against him instantly, her hands falling to his uniform robes, almost tugging at them slightly as if to bring him down even closer.

He hummed as he pulled away. "Cat got your tongue, Ya — Rowan?"

Rowan felt her heart skip a beat at the way her first name tumbled past his lips. She felt herself burn as she smiled at him.

"No, just you, apparently," she replied, earning a small scoff of amusement and a shake of the head from the taller Slytherin boy. "We should head to breakfast before they think we're getting off against the Black Lake window or something."

Draco's silver eyes darkened and his jaw tightened. "Don't tempt me." His tone was light as if he was merely teasing her back, but the way his hand stroked her jaw and his eyes flickered over to the window as if he could picture it vividly in his head said otherwise.

Rowan wetted her lips and welcomed his hand as it slipped down into hers. She hadn't been expecting it— she thought maybe Draco would want to take things slowly. After all, he'd never had a girlfriend before, and people would talk if they thought he'd settled down.

To be fair, Rowan hadn't expected Draco to even want to make Rowan his girlfriend so quickly. She thought he'd want his options open, to be able to still have any girl he wanted. However, he'd been the complete opposite of what she had thought. She felt bad for constantly judging him too quickly.

"Are you sure?" She found herself blurting before she could help herself.

Draco looked slightly alarmed for a second, glancing at her face and then down at their joined hands.

"Sure of what?"

"I want you to know something, Maf — Draco," Rowan said firmly, "Something I probably should have said yesterday. When I told you I was yours, that means you are mine, too. It means if you walk out holding my hand right now, you properly mean it, and you can't just get rid of me in a week like... like other people. I'm not a fling."

Draco's face didn't change, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. "You're mine, and I am yours," he said, with such sincerity that Rowan had no choice but to believe him. "Were the words I said on the pitch yesterday not enough? I meant it when I told you that you make me feel things nobody else ever has."

Rowan cleared her throat. "I just want to be sure. To protect myself."

Surely he would understand that. He was a Slytherin too. It was built in them; it meant nearly as much as protecting the people they cared about.

"You're no fling, Rowan Yaxley," Draco scoffed, "I know that."

"Okay," Rowan breathed and then gave his hand a small squeeze. "This is just a bit strange."

"A bit," Draco replied, "But don't we make so much sense?"

He began to walk towards the exit of the common room, looking down at her, awaiting her response. Rowan pursed her lips together, tilting her head in consideration.

"In which way do you mean?" She wondered as they entered the corridor.

"In every way," Draco replied, "Standing side by side, we look like we belong together. On paper, we make so much fucking sense. And then past the superficial shit, too. Like how all of a sudden this year we're both seeing each other in these... new lights, if you will."

Rowan smiled slightly to herself. "I suppose you're right," she said.

They climbed the stairs up onto the ground floor, heading for the entrance hall.

"I think..." Draco hesitated, looking straight ahead. "I think I really like the fact that you hated me first."

Rowan laughed. "What?"

"I mean it," Draco replied, "I like that you didn't kiss my arse. I like that you've seen sides of me that you've hated, that you've seen every single one of my flaws, but you've managed to... like them now. As in, you see all my flaws, and you still like me."

His face went red. "Does that make any sense? Or am I simply talking out of my arse?"

Rowan felt a bit frozen as they entered the hall, loads of wide eyes glancing over at their joined hands.

"It makes sense," she mumbled, and felt the horrible sickness in her stomach that could only grow from guilt.

She squeezed his hand for comfort, and didn't expect him to do it back. Rowan and Draco headed for the Slytherin table, hand in hand, and where they would normally part and sit in opposite seats, Draco paused and sent a look to Theo and Blaise.

"One of you move. My girlfriend is sitting next to me."

Pansy's mouth dropped open a little and Rowan felt her cheeks burn as her breath hitched in her throat.

"What?" Theo demanded.

Rowan nearly did a double take at him. Wasn't this exactly what he had wanted?

"I said, Rowan's sitting next to me, so one of you needs to sit in her seat," Draco elaborated as if it was obvious.

"Draco —" Rowan went to warn him to be a little politer, only Theo was quickly standing from his seat, taking his bag with him.

"I'm going to the library anyway," he grumbled, and swerved to move out of the way of Draco and Rowan, his head slightly ducked so that he didn't have to look at them.

Rowan's eyes widened, watching him go. "Is... Is he okay?" She hesitated, looking at Blaise as she took Theo's seat.

Draco shrugged, grabbing his usual toast. "He's like that sometimes. Best to just leave him to it."

However, Rowan couldn't shake off the feeling that something was definitely wrong with Theo. Maybe he was starting to feel bad about the whole Plan, just like Rowan was. He must be coming to his senses like she recently had; he must have deep down forgiven Draco, and now that everything was starting to really take action, Theo was seeing how much of a scar The Plan was about to leave.

...

( Wednesday 11th February 1998 )

Rowan gasped against Draco's mouth, moving closer when his hand gripped at her waist, tugging her closer to him on the couch. The common room was empty and a late-night study session had turned into a snogging one instead, their breaths hot and minty against one another, their quills and parchment ditched to the side and bumpy beneath their legs and knees as they leaned on one another.

"So pretty," Draco whispered, pecking her neck.

Rowan exhaled past her nose, holding onto Draco, her hands grazing down his jumper-clad back, her head rolling to the side as if to expose more of her delicate skin to him. She wanted him to leave his mark; to bruise her with proof that his mouth had shown her affection there.

It was bizarre how months ago he had told her he wouldn't go near her if she was the last woman on the planet, and yet, for the past few days, Draco had been acting like the perfect gentleman towards her. He was still his arsehole-ish self with everybody else, but his affection towards her had been like a smack to the face almost.

She'd expected him to be cold, distant — his affection purely sexual. However, that was not the case at all. He liked to touch her without intention in public, a hand next to hers at the table so they brushed, their fingers linked as they walked through busy corridors, his arm around her on the sofa.

Rowan felt confused. Sometimes, a cold, creeping paranoia in the back of her mind told her he was playing her right back. That he didn't mean it, but it would be the ultimate 'fuck you' after all of these years to do the exact same thing as she was supposed to be doing to him.

She carried The Plan around with her like the plague. It made her sick; disgusted with herself.

"So it is true then?" Daphne's shrill voice echoed, causing the pair to snap apart.

Draco glanced over his shoulder and audibly groaned, rolling his eyes and then looking back at Rowan.

"Piss off, Greengrass," he muttered.

"You're a fucking liar, Yaxley!" Daphne huffed, and Rowan saw her eyes welling up with tears. "You lied to me and you lied to Inkwood about not being ready for a relationship."

Before Rowan could open her mouth, Draco turned and glared harder. "I said fuck off, will you?" He raised his voice this time, enough to nearly make Rowan flinch. "Get the fuck out of here, Greengrass. Nothing about this concerns you."

Rowan heard a faint sob and then Daphne took off, running for the dorm rooms. Perhaps Rowan would have felt slightly bad if Daphne wasn't such an awful person to her and Pansy. They heard a door slam and Rowan turned back to Draco with raised eyebrows.

"I'm just surprised it took her this long to say something," Rowan admitted.

"If she gives you shit, let me know," Draco huffed, and stroked the side of her face with his slender fingers.

"Will do," Rowan cracked a small smile as if teasing, but she knew Draco was dead serious. "Um, by the way, has Theo spoken to you yet?"

"Yeah?" Draco shrugged. "Why?"

"Oh," Rowan furrowed her brows. "It must be something I've done or said then."

Draco scrunched his nose. "Is he giving you grief?"

"No, no, not at all," Rowan replied swiftly before Draco could get any ideas. "Just not been as talkative these past few days, is all."

"Hmm," Draco said, sitting back against the couch, his legs parted and his arms along the back, letting Rowan sit right next to him. "Blaise did say he was stressed about NEWTs coming up. Probably just that."

"Yeah, probably," Rowan sighed.

However, a feeling in her gut told her otherwise.

...

( Thursday 12th February 1998 )

"Please don't break Draco's heart."

Rowan flinched, jumping when Blaise's voice came from behind her. She shrugged his hand off of her shoulder immediately, clutching the Quaffle beneath her arm, her brown eyes wide, her heart thudding rapidly as she stared up at him in alarm. Blaise swiped sweat off of his forehead, a grin on his face.

"What?" Rowan's voice cracked, glancing over at Draco who was talking to Goldhorn on the other end of the Quidditch pitch. "What are you talking about, Blaise?" She added a little more angrily, frustrated with all of the stress on her shoulders.

"That was the easiest he's been on us, like, ever," Blaise elaborated, and only then did Rowan realise Blaise had been joking. "If he's this carefree with you around, I need you to stay."

Rowan swallowed harshly and glanced away, trying to ignore the throbbing of her heart. "Yeah, I suppose."

Blaise's brows furrowed and he reached out again, this time turning her head to face him. "What's going on?" He demanded firmly, "Is this about Theo?"

Rowan saw her opportunity. Blaise had practically handed it to her on a golden platter.

"Yeah," she replied, and pursed her lips together. "He's barely said anything to me in nearly a week."

"Can I tell you the truth?"

Rowan looked at Blaise slightly alarmed, but then she heard Draco calling her name. She stepped away from the Zabini boy as if he had burnt her, and looked over to where her boyfriend was heading over. Merlin, it felt weird even a week later referring to him as her boyfriend.

"I'm going to hit the showers," Draco said, "I'll wait around, walk you back when you're done."

"Don't worry about it," Rowan replied, and gave him a tiny smile. "I'm going to head back to the dorms to shower. I forgot to bring a spare change of clothes with me, and I headed down in my Quidditch robes."

"Oh," Draco said, "Fair enough. I will see you later then."

Blaise smirked. "You sound disappointed, mate. Did you plan on sneaking over to the girls' showers or something?"

Draco glared with a scrunched nose. "No, not at all, Zabini. Now hurry up and get your arse over to the changing rooms. You absolutely reek. It's vile."

Rowan laughed a little at Blaise's expression.

"Well you don't smell too great either, Malfoy," he huffed and then took off, blatantly lifting his arm to sniff his armpit as he want.

Rowan shook her head, grinning in amusement after him.

"I'm sorry he said that."

Brown eyes wide, Rowan turned, furrowing her brows at Draco. "Huh? What did he say?"

"The shower comment," Draco said.

"It's just Blaise all over," Rowan scoffed a laugh, but Draco still looked serious.

"May I admit something to you?" He asked.

Rowan felt herself grow nervous. "Yes? I suppose?"

"I worry you'll think I'm in for it for the sex," Draco said, "That's why I haven't persued anything very... sexual with you yet. And I warned Blaise about saying things like that, because I don't want to put things in your head, but..." He shrugged. "I don't know. It's stupid. It's a Malfoy thing."

A Malfoy thing?

"It's not stupid," Rowan's voice managed to crack again. She felt like she might vomit. "That's... That's nice to hear, Draco. What... What do you mean by a Malfoy thing, though?"

"Malfoy men must treat their women with the utmost respect; they must treasure them above all their riches and worship the ground they walk on," Draco said as if speaking a mantra.

Suddenly his affection made sense.

"I know I have treated girls poorly in the past," he said, "But they were not mine. You're another story. I like to follow tradition. I've always liked that bit. A lot. My mother..." He trailed off. "Never mind, that's a story for another time. I just don't want you to think -"

"I think I may pass out," Rowan quickly blurted in a typical dramatised Slytherin way whilst her head spun and her heart pounded harder than ever.

"What?" Draco's eyes enlarged almost comically and he held his hands out when Rowan pressed her fingers over her lips.

"It must be the flying." Rowan waved him off, recovering quickly from her spell of nausea, though her hands felt shaky. "I didn't eat breakfast."

"You should never fly on an empty stomach," Draco snapped, "That's so stupid, Rowan."

"I know," Rowan replied, "I should head back now, grab a bite and shower."

"I'm walking with you," he replied firmly, and reached out to grab her hand, holding it up and cupping it in both of his as they headed off of the pitch.

Rowan needed to talk to Theo as soon as possible. It was not even a week and she was already drowning in the worst feeling ever — guilt.

...

i hate hate hate this chapter which is why it's taken me so long to publish, and also it's literally only 3.9k words long so im even more sorry. im excited to write the next one though! it might not be out for a little bit though bc i'm going to see harry styles on sunday and then i'm having to move out of my uni dorm a few days after, so i'm about to be really busy again!!

i hope this chapter was okay -- dont worry rowan and draco wont always be this awkward it's just a transition !! <333

dyiansobrien.