𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑 | draco malfoy

17. like a bludger

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."