The Act

Disclaimer: Don't own em.

Author's Notes: Takes place during the trio's 6^th year at Hogwarts. This is probably just going to be a one chapter story but we'll see… As always, please review.

It was a Saturday night, in the middle of January, and all of the sixth year Gryffindor girls were fast asleep in their beds. The complete darkness of the room was disturbed, however, when the door cracked open ever so slightly, letting in some light from the hall. Crookshanks, Hermione Granger's loveable cat, came slinking in and quickly pounced on his owner's bed. He walked up to her face and began to purr against her cheek until she began to stir.

“What?” She said, very drowsily. She sat up ever so slightly and patted her cat on the head. She then realized a note attached around his collar and sat up to read it. It was from Harry. “Good boy.” She whispered to her cat as she patted him on his head. She got up and walked down the stairs. She didn't bother to put anything on over her night gown. It was only Harry after all- he had seen her in it a million times at the Burrow.

She reached the top of the stairs and looked down into the common room to see Harry sitting on couch. He was gazing into the fire, but looked up when he heard her approach.

“Hey, Beautiful.” He said with a smirk.

“Ooh!” Hermione said, walking down the stairs. “What are you buttering me up for?” She asked as she sat down next to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I take offense to that Hermione!” Harry told her. “All I did was to tell my best friend in the whole world that she looked beautiful! Because she does! Is that a crime, Miss Granger? Is giving compliments to those you love a crime?” Hermione smirked, but still did not believe him.

“I'm sorry.” She lied as she snuggled next to him on the couch. “I guess I'm just used to Ron causing trouble all by himself!” Harry chuckled lightly and stayed silent for minute… Only a minute…

“How was your date tonight?” He asked as nonchalantly as possible.

Hermione had gone to Hogsmeade with a rather attractive seventh year in Ravenclaw. Harry couldn't for the life of him figure out what was so great about this guy… Not that he invested any time or worry into the issue. He didn't care that Hermione went on a date with some guy… As long as he treated her properly… Nope, other than that he didn't care at all…

“Harry, don't you dare!” Hermione scolded, her eyes still closed and her head still resting comfortably against his chest. “I've been spending the last few hours trying to forget about it. Don't make me start thinking about it now!”

“That bad, huh?” Hermione shrugged. It actually hadn't been that bad. Well, at least it could have been worse. It's not that anything went wrong exactly. It's just that… nothing went right, either. `He wasn't Harry.' Hermione thought. `Whoa! Where did that come from?'

“How about you and Lavender?” Hermione teased, trying to change the subject.

Lavender had liked Harry for quite a while now. So much so, in fact, that she had been driving Ginny mad talking about him all the time. So as a favor to Ginny, he agreed to take Lavender out… once! Unfortunately for Harry, Lavender kept wanting to go out again. And again. And again. And again. Harry was just too sweet a guy to say no.

“So are you two, officially an item now?” Hermione asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

“You think you're funny don't you?” Harry asked causing Hermione to laugh. “I'm in a pretty tight bind you know. I've told her I'm not interested but she just won't hear it!” Harry continued. “But I have a plan. Only thing is, I kind of need your help.” He added nervously. Hermione's eyes bugged out of her head and she shot straight up.

“I knew it! I knew you were buttering me up for something.” She pretended to be offended.

“My plan will fix your problem too! With that guy from Ravenclaw. You won't have to go out with him again.” Harry said quickly, hoping to get Hermione on his side.

“Well, let's hear this brilliant plan of yours then.” Hermione said, settling back down next to Harry…

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The next day, directly after lunch, Hermione and Harry were walking back to the common room.

“Does Ron know?” Hermione asked.

“I couldn't get him alone to talk to him.” Harry replied regrettably. “But he won't be back to the common room for hours so we'll tell him about it afterwards.”

“It's probably better that way.” Hermione thought out loud. “He'd probably try to talk you out of it.”

“He probably should.”

“Hey, do you want Lavender off your case or not?” Harry sighed.

“I guess this is the only way to do it, huh?”

The pair walked through the portrait hole and into the common room. Dean, Seamus, and Neville were on the couch talking, while Lavender and Parvati shared the oversized chair by the fireplace. The two girls giggled as soon as Harry walked in. Hermione turned her back to them and rolled her eyes at Harry before sitting taking a seat in an available chair. Everyone gave their greetings, but then immediately went back to what their own conversations. Harry was sitting next to Hermione who was reading her potions book. Harry took a deep, nervous breath before putting their plan into action.

`I still can't believe Hermione agreed to this!' He thought.

“How did your date go last night?” He spoke soft enough for everyone to think it was a private conversation, but loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone instantly perked up their ears, waiting for her response.

“Honestly Harry!” Hermione responded in an angry tone. “Haven't we already had this discussion?”

“What are you getting so defensive about?” Harry's tone just as bitter as hers. “I was making small talk. I'll never ask about it again.”

“Yes you will. Because you asked about it when I got back. And you asked about it later that night. And you asked this morning. And you asked after lunch. I don't know what your problem is Harry, but whatever it is- cut it out!” Dean, Neville, and Seamus eagerly repositioned themselves in their seats to face the pair directly, getting a good view of the fight. Lavender and Parvati seemed to lean in too.

“My problem!” Harry asked incredulously. “My caring about you is a problem?”

“Caring about me! You don't care about me! If you did, you wouldn't have let me go out with him in the first place!”

“I tried to tell you not to go out with him! And you yelled at me then too because I was being controlling!”

“You were.” Hermione stated bluntly. “You really just don't get it do you? Just because you're my best friend doesn't mean you can dictate the terms of my life! Honestly Harry, this is so unlike you! When did you turn into Ron?”

“This is just like you Hermione! Every time someone tries to get close enough to care about you, you just push them away!”

“I can't push them away! You and Ron always scare people off before they get to that point.” She took a deep breath before screaming out. “You are so infuriating!” She stood up in a huff.

“I'm infuriating?” Harry stood up next to her. He began to unconsciously move closer to her as he continued shouting. By now, they were both were breathing heavier than usual from all of the shouting. Their lips were just inches away from each other.

“You're the one who's infuriating!” He instantly tilted his head down and passionately kissed Hermione before she could respond. She didn't hesitate to return it. The boys stared at them dumbfounded. How come such a direct approach never worked for them? Parvati worked hard to hold in a shriek and Lavender… Lavender was mad. Sure he had mentioned once or twice that he didn't think they should get involved. That he didn't think it would work out. Still, that didn't mean he had to go around kiss other girls in front of her! One thing was for sure, Hermione's date was certainly going to hear about this! She was brought back to reality when Harry and Hermione finally broke the kiss.

`That wasn't part of the plan!' Hermione thought.

`Wish I knew what to do now!' Harry thought. They just stood there, staring at each other. The others began to look around the room, uncomfortably.

“I think we're off.” Neville said, motioning to Dean and Seamus.

“Yeah we got…” Dean stumbled over his words. “We got stuff to do.” At the same the time they got up, Paravti took Lavender's hand and led her away from the common room. Harry and Hermione continued to stare at each other until they were sure the others were gone.

“Well, I think it worked.” Hermione breathed.

“Yeah… Yeah.” Was all Harry could get out. His hands were still resting on her waist and couldn't stop gazing into her eyes. Hermione could feel herself moving even closer to Harry. She was going to kiss him now. She could feel it. Why would she do that? He's her best friend!

“I'm going to go find Ron!” Hermione said quickly. She brushed Harry's hands off of her waist and ran to the door, not giving him time to argue. Once she was gone, Harry took a deep breath and frustratingly ran his fingers through his hair.

`Kissing her wasn't part of the plan!' He thought. `You should always stick to plan!' Harry plopped himself back down on the chair and sighed. At least he had solved his Lavender problem. Now he had a Hermione problem! That was probably worse. And that's not all. He learned something new that day… His best friend is an amazing kisser.

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He closed his eyes and remembered what it felt like to kiss her. He remembered feeling her breath on his lips while they were arguing. He remembered her chest and her shoulders, moving up and down as she tried to catch her breath. It was enticing. It didn't occur to him to kiss her until he did it. It wasn't something he had planned. It was as if he was acting on pure instinct, or as if desire itself had taken complete control of his body. This kiss itself was incredible. She initially had her hands by his neck, but then slid them slowly behind his head and through his hair. Her touch was amazing. She had ran her fingers through his hair many times before…but never like that. Her lips were warm and lush and felt perfect against his own. She tasted so good. He began to wonder if the rest of her tasted that good…

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by the portrait door swinging open. Hermione rushed in at full speed and shouted over her shoulder to Harry while frantically running up the staircase. She spoke so quickly he was almost unable to understand her.

“Ron's right behind me, I told him, he's not happy, you deal with it!”

“Hermione Granger, don't you run away from me!” Ron shouted angrily as he ran through the portrait hole. He rushed across the common room but stopped when he saw Harry sitting by the fireplace.

“Have you gone mad?” Ron shouted towards his friend.

“Ron,” Harry said gently as he eased his way out of his chair. “I think you should calm down, Mate.”

“You and Hermione are prancing around making people think you're interested in each other! What were you thinking?” Ron looked at Harry as if he suddenly grown three heads.

“We had a problem. We handled it.” Harry explained very slowly.

“And now you have a new problem! Everyone in this school is going to think you two are dating or interested or whatever!”

“Half the school already does!” Harry shouted, as if his statement made all the difference in the world.

“True.” Ron shrugged, suddenly seeming calmer. “The other half thinks she's dating me.”

“See!” Harry exclaimed, “Now you'll go on more dates because girls will know Hermione's not an issue! We fixed your problem too! So stop yelling! I actually think a “thank you” is in order. Anytime you're ready Ron.” Ron began to chuckle then, calming down a great deal.

“This is bloody insane.”

“You're telling me.” Both friends plopped down on the couch, both much more relaxed than they were moments before.

“Rumors are going to start circulating.” Ron speculated. “How are you going to handle it?”

“Same way we handled all of the other rumors. We ignore them, and hope that just seeing what she saw is enough to get Lavender off of my back.”

“You're a stupid prat for throwing away a girl like that.” Ron said, very casually, almost as if he had said it a dozen times before… Perhaps that's because he had. “Honestly, you've got all these girls practically throwing themselves at your feet! How is it that you find nothing appealing about any of them?”

Harry's mind then flashed back to the kiss. He again remembered the feeling of her hands moving up his neck, into his hair. He remembered how her body pressed against his as the kiss deepened. He remembered the way it felt when--

“Harry!” Ron's voice brought Harry back to reality.

“Sorry.” Harry said softly. “I uh, I caught up in a thought.”

“What kind of thought?” Harry's mind raced, he barely even heard Ron's question. All he wanted to do was find Hermione and kiss her again; only this time with no one else in the room.

“What kind of thought Harry?” Ron repeated himself, trying to get his friend's attention. Harry stood up and ran his fingers though his hair wondering what to do.

“The kind… you… think… about.” He answered awkwardly. “I'm going to bed.” With that he left Ron in the common room alone and very confused.

The next morning, all of the Gryffindors were gathered around their table in the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione and Harry sat next to each other and kept sneaking each other nervous glances throughout the entire meal. They knew Lavender would say something soon, they just wished she would get it over with.

“She kept giving me the evil eye all night, last night.” Hermione told Harry and Ron as they left the Great Hall to go to Transfiguration. “She was irking me out so much that I had to pull the covers over my head when I went to sleep.”

“You know Hermione, you really should try to make friends with your dorm mates.” Ron snickered as they took their seats in the classroom.

“Well Ron, that's a little difficult when their leader hates me!” Hermione huffed as she opened her text book. It was then that Lavender, Parvati, and a few other Gryffindor girls entered the room. Lavender was at the head of the pack. The girls were showing off, as if they thought they were marching in a parade… They wanted their presence to be noticed.

“Ready or not, here comes trouble.” Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

“Sharing lover's secrets?” Lavender asked, sharply as she took her seat behind Harry.

“It's really none of your business what they're talking about, is it?” Ron snapped at her.

“Excuse me, I don't believe I was addressing you.” Lavender snapped back. “In fact, I don't believe the likes of myself should ever be addressing the likes of yourself.”

“Perhaps that's because Ron's too good for you.” Hermione whipped around, infuriated

that this crude, unintelligent person, would dare speak to her best friend like that.

“And just why would you care about what I say to him?” Lavender motioned towards Ron as if he was undeserving of her even saying his name. “Harry's your guy… Isn't he? Hasn't he always been yours?” Lavender asked suggestively. “I knew that whole bookworm thing was a cover up for something! You were just trying to cover up what a whore you really are!”

Harry couldn't take it anymore! He immediately stood up and started talking.

“Don't you dare talk to her like that! She doesn't deserve it and you know it.” By the look in Lavender's eye he could see that this approach wasn't going to get him anywhere. When he suggested his plan he never thought Hermione's reputation would be compromised… And he wouldn't allow it. The only way to get passed that would be to come clean.

“Hermione and I never…” He was cut short, however, when Hermione realized what he was about to do. She abruptly stood up and grabbed his hand.

“She doesn't deserve any explanations about anything, Sweetheart.” Hermione said lovingly to Harry. “She's entitled to think what she wants.” She then did the last thing anyone expected. She reached over and kissed him. It wasn't like the kiss they had shared the previous night. That kiss had been raw passion. This kiss was soft and tender. It was gentle and showed emotion and love. They entire classroom was silent. Everyone watched in awe as two people they had always believed to have a platonic relationship, shared such an amazingly romantic moment. As they parted ways, Harry lightly squeezed Hermione's hand. They smiled and returned to their seats without another word from Lavender.

It was then that McGonagall decided to reveal herself. She witnessed the entire scene and everyone wondered what she would do. Surely she would not permit such a display in her classroom.

“Good morning class.” She said cheerfully, as if nothing at all had happened. “If you would all please open your books to page 346 we'll get started with today's class. Yes?” McGonagall directed towards Parvati whom had raised her hand in defense of her friend.

“You can't really pretend you didn't see that?” Parvati said incredulously. “There are strict rules about students fooling around in class. Surely, being prefect, Miss Granger would hate the idea of you ignoring the rules.” McGonagall closed her eyes and pondered for a moment.

“You're absolutely right.” She admitted. “Miss Granger will see me after class to discuss her detention.” Harry's eyes bugged out of his head.

“You're punishing her and not me? That's not fair to Hermione!”

“Don't tempt me, Mr. Potter.” McGonagall warned before beginning her lesson.

At the end of class Hermione turned to Harry and Ron and told them not to wait for her.

“Don't want to be late for Trelawny.” She teased. “You might miss an important detail about your next death.” Her friends chuckled and walked out the door. Hermione slowly approached McGonagall's desk, wondering what was in store for her.

“Miss Granger,” McGonagall began. “How would define the term `detention?'” Hermione gave her a confused look before answering.

“I would define it as a punishment for ruling breaking in which rule-breaker reports to a certain location upon the rule-enforcer's request.” McGonagall nodded as she pondered the statement.

“As the rule-enforcer,” She began slowly, “I am requesting that you, being the rule-breaker, meet me in my office at two o'clock Saturday afternoon. Do you find that fitting to your definition?”

“Well yes,” Hermione answered. “Must it's hardly ordin-”

“Technically, that is your detention and I'm not breaking any rules. What no one else will know, is that we will be enjoying a delicious afternoon tea.” McGonagall grinned. Hermione smiled.

“I would love that.”

“Good.” McGonagall said, regaining a businesslike composure. “Now, off with you!”

In the halls, Ron and Harry were walking to their next class.

“Wow.” Was all Harry could manage to say.

“If it makes you feel any better.” Ron grinned. “You had me fooled.”

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Many hours later, Hermione was dressed and ready for bed. She turned the covers down and gave a quick pat on the head to Crookshanks.

“Goodnight.” She said to her dorm mates. Some opened their mouths to return the polite gesture, but when Lavender shot them a menacing glance, they halted. Hermione shook her head and crawled under the covers. Crookshanks soon cuddled up next to her and she gently stroked him until she fell asleep.

Hermione began to stir in her sleep a few hours later. She groggily picked up her head and looked over to her cat, sitting on Hermione's desk by the window. She could have sworn she had heard a tapping noise.

“Was that you?” She whispered to Crookshanks, not happy that she had woken. “Come on, back to bed.” Hermione said, getting up and picking up her cat. She was about to walk them back to bed when she turned towards the window.

“Ah!” She jumped back. Harry was outside her window, smiling and waving to her. She looked around, no one else woke up. “Harry!” She whispered as she opened the window.

“What on earth are you doing?”

“Kidnapping you, actually.” He said that charming smirk of his. Hermione had to smile.

“You're not getting me on that thing!” She said, pointing to the broom.

“Don't you trust me?”

“You are not the issue, Harry! The plummeting fall to my death is the issue!” Harry chuckled.

“There will be no plummeting. I promise!” He reached out his hand for her. “Come on, Hermione!” He pleaded. She hesitated for a moment.

“You'll go slow?”

“Slow as you desire.”

“And we won't be long?”

“No one will know we're gone.” A mischievous smile ran across Hermione's face. Normally she hated rule breaking, but every now and then one of her boys was able to coax her into it. Her hands shook as she climbed onto Harry's broom, sitting just in front of him. Her body tensed up and she pushed as far back as she could, her back now leaning against his chest. Harry put one arm around her waist.

“Don't worry.” He whispered into her ear. “I'm here.” As they began to fly away from the window Hermione remained stiff and had a terrified look in her eye.

“I hate flying! I hate flying! I hate flying!” She whispered over and over again. Harry chuckled and quickly kissed the back of her head for reassurance.

They finally landed by the lake and Hermione was more than grateful to be back on land.

“How do I let you talk me into these things?” She shouted now that they were far enough away from Hogwarts.

“It wasn't that bad.” Harry said.

“Why did you feel the need to bring me out here anyway?” Hermione asked as she looked up at the sky.

“I actually thought we should talk about what we're going to do.” Harry replied nervously. “The act, I mean.”

“Well it's obvious isn't it? We keep it up until Lavender develops other interests.”

“Really? You'd do that for me?”

“Harry don't be ridiculous! You know I would!” Hermione was getting a little agitated now. Why would she want to help him? Harry shook his head, he certainly didn't mean to upset her.

“I just mean… If we're acting like we're together then, if you fancied someone else, you wouldn't be able to…” Harry let out a frustrated sigh, this wasn't coming out right.

“Harry James Potter.” Hermione said sternly, but softly as she walked over and took his hands in hers. “If that were going to be a problem then I wouldn't have agreed to this in the first place. Besides,” She smirked. “I'm having fun watching Lavender squirm!”

So it was settled then. Harry and Hermione would keep their charade up as long as they needed to. They had both actually decided it would be fun. It was no secret to anyone that they had always been very affectionate towards one another. Now they would be able to remain so without the annoying whispers in the background… It would be expected. It would be fun…

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