Chapter Text
“So, who’s the mystery man?”
Pansy slid onto the bench next to you in the Great Hall. The smile spread across her face was reminiscent of the cat who caught the canary. She’d been your friend for years, but she wasn’t above watching you squirm.
Shit. Shit. Shit!
What do you mean?” you asked, feigning ignorance. You knew exactly what she meant. The whole school probably knew what she meant.
“This mystery boyfriend of yours that I heard Theo complaining about,” she explained.
Oh, yeah. The whole school knew for sure.
“Draco’s convinced you’re bluffing,” she said, taking a sip of her tea.
“And what about you? Do you think I’m bluffing?” you asked, not looking up from your plate of food.
“I don’t play that game. I just wanted to get here first before Theo, Draco, and the rest of them get here and interrogate you.”
You looked up at her. The sly smile that spread across her face only confirmed that she was telling the truth.
Shit!
They were going to interrogate you all right. You knew they wouldn’t leave until they got a name or you agreed to go out with Theo. Neither option sounded particularly appealing.
Theo had been trying to convince you to go out with him for the past year, but that was not a game you were willing to play. You’d seen the way he was in relationships. Not to mention the number of times he asked you out while dating other women.
But his proposals were getting more frequent—more angry. Yesterday, you told him you couldn’t go out with him because you had a boyfriend. Well, actually, you had been telling him that for the past month, but now it seemed like that lie was finally going to bite you in the ass.
You cleared your throat and lied again, “They can interrogate me all they like. It’s the truth.” You finished with a small head nod.
Pansy didn’t seem convinced or impressed.
“Right. Well, all I know is you have about 2 minutes to find Mr. Perfect before they get here.”
She looked smug. You made a mental note to get her back later. This meant war. But at that moment, finding a boyfriend stand-in was more important. Your mind ran through each possibility.
It couldn’t be a Slytherin because Theo and the rest of them would’ve known about it for sure. A Ravenclaw would’ve been a good idea. Smart, quick-witted. They could go along with this scheme, and it would be plausible that they would be discreet. But you didn’t know many Ravenclaw boys, and the table was too far away to get there, find someone, and convince them to play along all before the Slytherin boys got there.
No. The only option was the Gryffindor table behind you. You had to be careful. It couldn’t be someone like Harry. Draco would’ve known about it. Too prolific. Who was cute enough, low-profile, and easy to control? Those criteria didn’t leave many options, but as your eyes scanned the thin crowd of Gryffindor men, your eyes settled on one.
He was perfect. You’d only spoken to him a few times in classes throughout the years. He was kind, helpful, and cute enough to be convincing. You smirked at Pansy, took a final sip of your tea, and stood up.
It felt like all eyes were on you. They weren’t, but as you turned to walk toward your unwitting accomplice, you saw Theo and the gang walk in. So, some eyes were actually on you, and they narrowed as you sat down at the Gryffindor table.
“Don’t freak out,” you whispered, placing your hand on his and leaning over to whisper into his ear. “I promise to explain everything later, but I really need you to pretend to be my boyfriend for the rest of breakfast. Okay?”
He didn’t say a word but nodded slowly. His face had turned a rather adorable shade of pink, and his right hand shook as he tried to bring his glass of water to his lips. You looked around at the rest of the Gryffindors surrounding you. A few looked puzzled, but the rest continued on with their breakfast as though a Slytherin hadn’t just sat down at their table.
Though you hadn’t been watching him, you knew Theo had taken the seat right behind you. You turned to your new boyfriend and laid it on a bit thick.
“Neville, babe,” you started, but his face had already deepened a shade or two, “could you pass me the sugar? You know how I like my tea—as sweet as you are.” You smiled at him and squeezed his hand.
He stuttered out a “yes” and passed you the sugar. After adding a few cubes to your cup, you thanked him and kissed his cheek.
Maybe you were taking this too far. You couldn’t tell what they were saying, but you could hear Theo and the other boys angrily whispering behind you. You needed to get Nevile to relax, or you weren’t going to survive breakfast.
“Are you looking forward to Herbology class today?”
It seemed to take him a moment to process that you were talking to him, but once he did, your distraction seemed to work. His face went back to its previous light pink color, and his voice didn’t crack as much.
“Y-yes. I believe Professor Sprout said that today we get to handle venomous tentacula! It’s going to be amazing.”
You never really liked Herbology, but his excitement was infectious. He turned to look at you and asked if you were also excited about class.
“While I have no problem learning about them and admiring them from afar, carnivorous plants terrify me,” you admitted sheepishly, smiling at Neville.
The sneers from the Slytherin table made your smile falter. Neville noticed and quickly stole a glance at the offenders before turning his attention back to you. He repositioned his hand so he could interlace his fingers with yours.
“Don’t worry, let’s be partners in class today. That way, I can keep you safe.”
Neville was looking directly into your eyes, his grasp on your hand warm and comforting. Your heart skipped a beat, or two, and heat slowly rose on your cheeks—the kind of heat that compelled you to believe him, but you were the one who asked him to pretend, weren’t you?
“I would love that, Neville,” you replied, fighting to regain your composure.
He beamed at you, and you giggled. You couldn’t remember the last time you felt this relaxed.
After breakfast, you and Neville walked to Herbology together. True to his word, he was your partner during class. You knew he was good at Herbology, but you didn’t know that he was downright impressive. He knew just about everything imaginable about venomous tentacula and happily shared it with you, and seemed to relax even more. His face even returned to its natural color. You were glad you’d chosen him. This was working out better than you could’ve hoped, but you couldn’t ignore how everyone else felt.
You’d never worked with him before, and you could feel people judging the both of you. The Slytherin and the Gryffindor. Two people who seemed never to speak before now acting chummy. But that didn’t matter. If anything, it brought more credibility to your story—a secret fling.
After class, you and Neville stayed back to clean up, giving you some time to explain the situation to him.
“So, you see, I needed a reason—a good reason—to turn Theo down this time, and the only thing I could think of was having a boyfriend,” you finished explaining.
“And I was your first choice?” he asked in disbelief.
“Well, yes and no,” you laughed. “You were my only choice.” He stopped folding the apron in his hands and looked over at you in shock. “Well, there were limited options today,” you sighed, hoping he would understand it was a joke.
He laughed, but something felt a little off about it. It wasn’t quite as loud as the ones you shared earlier. Maybe you were reading too much into it, you thought, going back to sweeping the dirt on the floor.
“Well, well. If it isn’t the two lovebirds.”
Theo’s voice shot through you and chilled you to your core.
Shit.
“Go away, Theo. We’re busy,” you warned, glaring at him as he approached.
“Doesn’t look like it to me. If I were alone in an empty classroom, or greenhouse, with you, do you know what I would do?” he asked.
You didn’t respond but shot a look of concern at Neville, who started to make his way over to you.
“Well, it’s not really something I can talk about in public, but let’s just say we’d be making this place a little messier,” he explained with an arrogant smirk.
Neville reached your side and placed his arm around your back, resting his hand on your shoulder. It was comforting but only served to make Theo angrier.
“And you, who do you think you are, dating one of our girls?” Theo asked, getting in Neville’s face.
Neville didn’t move, but his grip on your shoulder tightened. He was probably scared of Theo, but he seemed to be holding his own.
“She doesn’t belong to you or any of your lackeys, Nott. Now, I kindly ask you not to talk about my girlfriend in such a way ever again, got it?”
It was bold. Bolder than you would have thought Neville could be. There went your heartbeat again.
“Right, like I’m supposed to really believe this charade? You two? Dating? Nah, I’m not buying it,” he said, shaking his head. “You know what? Kiss.”
“What?” you asked reflexively.
That was too much; you couldn’t ask Neville to do that. You didn’t want to cross the line with him.
“Theo, I’m not really comfortable with PDA—” you started to say, but Neville's finger hooked under your chin and cut you short.
He tilted your head up to look at him. He was tall and had to bend down to bring his lips to yours. Before you could process what was happening, you felt the softness of his lips on your own. His lips covered yours in a firm but oh-so-gentle kiss. His one hand remained under your chin while the other grabbed your hand, holding you in place. Which was good because you might have fallen backward.
From surprise, of course.
“Ugh! Whatever!” Theo huffed before turning on his heel and walking out of the greenhouse.
Theo’s outburst caused Neville to pull away, lips and hands. The sudden loss of contact made you feel cold.
“Uh, thanks, Neville,” you stammered. It was your turn to be nervous. Why were you nervous? “I think we’ve convinced him. So, you don’t have to—”
“Oh no! We’re going to be late for Potions. Let’s go!” he exclaimed, grabbing both your bag and his.
You walked together to Potions. There was no getting around it now. People were definitely talking about the two of you. For such a large castle, gossip sure spread quickly.