𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑 | draco malfoy

3. quick rendezvous

HOW TO BE A HEARTBREAKER

QUICK RENDEZVOUS

( Friday 22 September 1997 )

Rowan slipped back into the girls' dormitory the following morning, cautious of the third floorboard out that creaked under any sort of weight. Both hands lay flat against the door as she carefully pushed it shut, but she was immediately frozen in place by the sound of a lamp flickering on. Rowan turned swiftly, her heart dropping when she realised it wasn't Pansy that had woken up.

"Yaxley?" Daphne rubbed her eyes. "Why are you sneaking back in at six in the morning?"

Rowan hushed her with a finger to the lips. "I just went out for some fresh air. Go back to sleep."

Daphne's eyes narrowed as she flipped her duvet off of her body. "Nuh-huh. I know for a fact that you didn't come back from your prefect duties last night. Where were you?" Her eyes widened. "Who were you with?"

"We're not friends, Greengrass," Rowan stated as she slid into her own bed. "Why should I tell you?"

"Oh, come on, Yaxley." Daphne sat on her knees on the mattress. "You know I love to know things like this. Spare me the yearning."

"What's all this about?" A grumbled yawn came from Tracey's bed.

"I think Yaxley was hooking up with someone last night," Millicent murmured against her pillow, and Rowan realised quickly that everybody had woken up.

"Fuck off, you lot," Pansy snapped, "I'm trying to get some fucking sleep."

"Who were you with?" Daphne pressed. "Come on, Yaxley. I swear it can stay between us Slytherin girls."

Rowan sighed, laying her head against her pillow. "You really want to know?"

"Yes!" Came three separate cries. Pansy only groaned louder.

"I was with nobody," Rowan answered smugly, "I told Malfoy it was best we split up during our prefect duties so I could go and do the Herbology essay due this morning. Ended up falling asleep, woke up about fifteen minutes ago, wandered back here."

"Oh, yeah?" Tracey sat up. "Where's the Herbology essay?"

Rowan pulled the curled parchment out of the pocket of her robes and tossed it at Tracey. "As you can see, only half-written because I fell asleep. Sprout's going to kick my arse."

Rowan handed over her work. Tracey unrolled it to reveal neat cursive writing in paragraphs, however, it only reached about three quarters of the page. It was nowhere near finished, and Tracey knew so because all of the girls had stayed up doing last minute touches the evening before.

Tracey sighed deeply and chucked Rowan's parchment back to her. "Yaxley's telling the truth."

Daphne groaned. "And here I was thinking that something interesting was actually happening." She glanced Rowan over. "Aren't you going to change out of your uniform?"

Rowan huffed. "I might as well keep it on and go to breakfast early."

Daphne wrinkled her nose in what was most likely disgust.

"I'll cast a Scourgify charm if it makes you happy, Greengrass. And don't worry — I'll go wash my face and brush my teeth."

"Do something about your hair while you're at it. It looks like someone has had their hands in it all night, Yaxley," Daphne huffed and then dropped back under her covers for an extra half an hour of shut eye.