This is being cross-posted from Ao3. It was originally posted on 16 February 2021.
This was written for starrnobella for the Marvelously Magical Bloody Fic Fest event. This prompt was amazing and i can't wait to add the rest of it! Thank you so much for listening and being a friend in this fandom and out. I know we've had our differences, but you know I'm always there for you. I hope you love this fic! Happy reading! xxDustNight
Huge thank you to GaeilgeRua for allowing me the use of her Grammarly subscription to read this over. Any other mistakes are definitely my own.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, and Warner Bros. Marvel belongs to Disney. No copyright infringement is intended.
Prompt: Last year, she thought he was going to propose at the most beautiful restaurant in town on Valentine's Day. The perfect proposal, right? That's what she thought, but then he told her that he never wanted to see her again. From that night on, she began plotting her revenge and making his life a living hell. Now, one year later, she is ready to finish what she started after he broke her heart.
It had taken three full years to get to this point, Natasha thought as she entered the fancy wizarding restaurant. She should have been more nervous, but honestly, there was an excitement that filled her veins. Tonight, she would get engaged and finally have the chance to settle down with someone she loved and who loved her back. No more missions and near-death experiences. It was time to retire, relax, and just live.
The maître d' led her through the busy restaurant, full of witches, wizards, and even muggles like herself who were there celebrating Valentine's day. The scent of fresh roses filled the room, accompanied by the smell of the exquisite multicultural cuisine. Natasha rubbed her lips together, making sure her red lipstick was perfect as they neared the private room Draco has reserved for the two of them.
Draco stood as she entered the private room, moving to kiss her cheek and help her into the chair across from his own. She smiled, her heart pounding so loud in her chest that she was sure they heard it back in the States. Nevertheless, Natasha took a few calming breaths and then smiled at the wizard who had stolen her heart three years ago.
"Draco," she said, his name falling from her lips in her raspy voice with ease. "I'm glad we were able to have dinner tonight. I know how busy you've been lately." She thought back to the rumors of Draco buying an engagement ring to understand why he had been away so much.
"Yes," Draco said, speaking at last. "Life has been, uh, interesting, lately to say the least."
Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair, scratching at the back of his head. For the first time, Natasha felt her smile falter, and her excitement turn into uneasiness. She was skilled in reading people, and right now, she knew in her heart that something was wrong. Clearing her throat, Natasha leaned forward and met Draco's stunning grey eyes.
"Is something wrong?" she asked in a whisper. "Is your mother well? Your father?" Both his parents were getting up there in years, and Natasha wondered if something horrible had happened.
Shaking his head, Draco reached forward to take a sip of water. The clear glass was sweating nearly as much as he was at this point. "My parents are well, thank you for asking, though." As he replaced the glass on the table, he was unable to meet her eyes. "This is about us, actually."
Natasha's heart prayed that this was an introduction to an engagement, but Draco's entire demeanor wreaked of something far worse. Under the table, her hands clenched into fists as she waited for the inevitable. "What about us, Draco?" she asked, urging him to get it over with already.
"I was talking with my father recently, and he and I decided that for me to continue as the heir of the Malfoy estate, I can no longer continue this charade," he said all in a rush. "I have to marry someone from my own world, and of the same blood status."
Blinking, Natasha took it all in and tried to make sense of the nonsense he was throwing her way. It was all she could do not to jump up from the table in anger, but somehow she managed. "I do not understand. Everything was going so well between us," she said slowly, the fog in her mind lifting slightly as she shook her head. "You said that you loved me."
Draco opened and closed his mouth a few times before replying, "I don't wish to see you any longer, Natasha. I'm sure you can understand. People grow apart."
Heart beginning to harden, Natasha carefully pushed her chair back and stood. Her bright eyes never left his face as she did this, causing him to grow paler than he already was. The broken-hearted fool in her wanted to beg for answers and for him to change his mind, but the rational part of her knew there was no going back. Whatever ring he'd purchased, it wasn't for her, but for whoever if father deemed more appropriate a match.
"Very well, Draco," she said, carefully stepping away from the table. The blond hurried to stand and walk towards her, but she ignored him.
"I'm really quite sorry about this, Natasha. I know this isn't what you expected when you came here tonight."
Draco stood by the table awkwardly, and for the first time, Natasha noticed that aside from glasses of water, there was nothing yet on the table. No basket of bread or menus. Clearly, whatever Draco had planned for this private room had never included her, and that made her broken heartburn in anguish.
"I'll see myself out," she said, turning away from her former lover. The sooner she left this place, she would be able to begin planning her revenge. Most people would just cry for a few days and move on, but Natasha was different. It had taken a lot for her to allow Draco into her heart. He'd promised time and time again that he loved her truly and that this was the real deal.
Clearly, that had all been nothing but a fucking lie, and for that, he would pay. Dearly. Holding her chin high, Natasha opened the door before grabbing her long gown. She intended to storm out of this restaurant with as much of her dignity as she could manage, and to do that she needed to be swift before the tears could fall.
"Natasha," Draco said, reaching out to touch her hand. "I want you to know this has nothing to do with you. You are- I- We were-" He never finished any of his sentences, his grey eyes betraying the lies that trickled from his lips.
Snatching her hand away from Draco, she hissed, "Do not touch me." Draco stumbled back, clearly affected by her harsh demand. "You made me believe that you loved you, and for that, you will be sorry."
Then, she turned and exited the room, leaving Draco to wonder what the former assassin meant by her last words. It wasn't until Natasha reached the safety of Clint Barton's farmhouse.
"What are you doing?"
Huffing Natasha tossed aside her notebook and pen before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Planning my revenge." She was currently sitting on Barton's sofa, half-empty mugs of cold coffee on the table in front of her and a blanket on her legs.
"Revenge will get you nowhere, Nat," Clint said, sipping his coffee from the doorway of the kitchen. "It will eat you alive and make you miserable."
"More miserable than I am now?" she snapped, still not moving from her spot on the living room sofa.
"Right now your heart is broken," Clint said as he came into the room. He quickly lifted her legs and then sat down, laying her legs across his lap. Gently, he rubbed her ankle, still sipping thoughtfully at his coffee. "When I went rogue after the snap, I was full of unimaginable rage with nothing but the thirst of revenge on my mind. It took you finding me to calm me down and bring me purpose again. You just need purpose."
"I have a purpose," Natasha said, eyes sliding closed before Clint could see the tears there. "My purpose is to destroy Draco's happiness like he destroyed mine. He is going to pay for making me believe he loved me."
Clint sighed heavily but said nothing further. There clearly was no talking to Nat when she was infuriated like this. "Maybe he loved you, maybe he didn't. Either way, the dude's an ass for breaking up to you on Valentine's day like that."
"I think 'ass' is putting it too lightly," Nat said, glaring at her best friend.
"Perhaps," Clint said, humming and drinking another sip of coffee. Nodding toward her notebook, he asked, "So what kind of revenge are we going for here?"
"The worst kind," Natasha said without preamble.
Clint's eyes went wide. "That bad, huh? Well, then, by all means, don't let me stop you. I will say this one last thing, though."
"What's that?" Nat asked, glancing his way.
"When it goes south, or you need to disappear, please promise you'll keep in touch with me." Clint placed a gentle hand on her thigh and squeezed.
Coinciding the request for a moment, Natasha finally sighed and covered his hand with her own. "I promise."
Finding out all the details of Draco's upcoming nuptials had been more than easy. The pureblood was one of the most popular and fawned about wizards in his secretive community. That meant the wizarding papers reported every single detail from where he and his gold-digging bride-to-be had lunch all the way to where they like to take walks at night.
Throughout the entire engagement, Natasha watched from the shadows, using her skills to make sure that every single thing went wrong. Wizards had wards and magic to protect them from outsiders, but they were no match for the Black Widow now that she knew what magic was and what to look for in regards to it. If anything, Natasha's skills had grown since being exposed to Draco and the other witches and wizards.
Each special moment of Draco and Astoria's engagement found Natasha one step ahead, making sure that it was miserable. Engagement party? The venue flooded. The cake tasting? All the cakes melted. Astoria was getting fitted for the perfect dress? The shipment of antique lace and fabric went missing on its way from Paris. The engagement ring needed to be resized? The order vanished for three weeks with a note that the groom had signed off on it.
While all of this seemed to annoy Draco and Astoria, it never really threw them for a loop. They were always able to fix the situation, and so Natasha decided to take things a bit further. She swapped out Draco's stash of Elf made wine with a spoiled brew that left him in the hospital for three days. She made sure the heels on Astoria's bridal shower shoes broke, effectively causing her ankle to do the same. And that balcony that cracked on their weekend getaway to Paris? Quite possibly tampered with, but there was no proving it.
By the time the day of the rehearsal dinner arrived, both Draco and Astoria were in such a state of worry that they hardly slept. Natasha watched with a satisfied smile as the paranoid couple prepared to practice for their ceremony. Quietly, she slid her gun from its holster, checked to make sure it was loaded and made sure she was hidden from view of her former lover. She'd made a vow to ruin him for what he'd done to her, and she intended to make good on that promise.
In the distance, Draco could easily be seen chatting amicably with his dark-haired bride-to-be. The dark-haired witch fawned over her fiance, obviously engrossed in their plans of the ceremony that would never take place the next day. The corner of Natasha's mouth twitched, but she suppressed the desire to sneer. Instead, she took a deep breath, removed the safety on her gun, and took aim. Eyes on her target, Natasha slowly exhaled.
"Three… Two... One…" She trailed off, her finger hitting the trigger as she whispered 'one.'
The sound of the gun echoed through the clearing as a body hit the cobblestone. By the time someone screamed, and people began to loom around, Natasha was already gone. She'd told Draco she meant to get him one way or another, and this was the first step in that game. There was more to come, but she would lay low until then and get ready for the next match. No one broke a Romanov's heart and lived to tell the tale.