Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's note: - I am back with the new update. Hope you would like it.

Thanks to PazzSkittles for Beta Read this chapter.

And thanks to all who has read and reviewed the fic.

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Hermione Granger was content with her life but that was until someone came in and turned it upside down.

She was the geeky bookworm Granger to everyone in her school. No one bothered to show any interest in her. She was almost invisible to them, but then now why they were suddenly interested in her? Why was she getting invitations from popular students from her class and school, asking her to join them on their table in the canteen? What had changed all of a sudden?

Well, the answer was not in the form of words, but in the form of a body. Not just any body, but the body of a human being, that too of a boy. Not just any boy, but a boy with messy black hair, mischievous and intense emerald green eyes, a stupid but charming grin, strong but athletic body and all in all who was gorgeous. He was Hermione Granger's fake boyfriend, not that everyone in her school knew about the fake part.

Harry Potter was the reason for all the twists and turns that were taking place in Hermione's life.

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Hermione had finally told Luna about the bet and the deal between her and Harry. She had thought that Luna would be angry with her for pretending to be Harry's girlfriend; if she was honest she hadn't expected an exciting squeal.

It was on the day Harry had kissed her. Hermione was not in a very good mood after Harry left without any explanation about why he kissed her. She hardly had spoken to anyone for the whole day.

Others kept coming to her asking about her and Harry but she just dodged them easily during the break as she hid herself in the library.

Finally, the school day ended and Hermione made her way home on the bus. As Hermione and Luna waited at the bus to arrive at their respective stops, Hermione turned to Luna.

"Luna, why don't you come back to my place?" She asked. Luna replied with a simple 'Okay'.

Hermione was relieved that Romilda didn't come back home with them. She had gone with Cho, Lavender and Paravati straight after school let out.

Once they both were off the bus, Hermione and Luna made their way to Hermione's home. Luna didn't say anything on the way to Hermione's house, which made Hermione feel agitated. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Luna." Hermione said quietly.

Luna looked at her friend, surprised. "Why?" she asked, surprise laced in her dreamy voice.

"For the way I was acting today. I shouldn't have left you alone during the break. Did Cho and her friends tried to harass you?" Hermione asked.

Hermione was a little afraid of this one thing. She knew Lavender had a thing for Ron, but he was with Luna now. So, Cho might provoke Lavender to hurt Luna. Cho knew Hermione was protective of Luna. And Hermione had the notion that in order to get back to her Cho would target Luna.

"No, Hermione." Luna replied. Hermione sighed with relief. When they reached the house, Jane was already there.

"Hello Luna dear." Jane said as she opened the door and saw Luna with her daughter.

"Hello Mrs. Granger." Luna replied politely as she entered the house behind Hermione.

"Where's Romilda?" Jane asked as she closed the door.

Hermione turned around to look at her mum. "She's gone out with Cho and her friends. She'll be back at 5." Hermione said half-heartedly. Jane simply nodded.

"Well I've made noodles, it's in the kitchen, I have to go out, and you can heat it up by yourself, right hunny?" Jane asked as she got her purse.

"We have to heat it up?" Hermione asked, slightly panicked. Jane just laughed.

Hermione had never been good at cooking. Once she had tried to make pancakes as a surprise for her mum on her birthday, but ended up burning them and half of the kitchen.

"No dear, I've done it for you. Just hurry up or it'll get cold." Jane said.

"Okay, Come on Luna." Hermione said leading Luna away from the front door. They both dropped their bags in the sitting room and dashed to the bathroom where they freshened up. Once they were ready, they made their way to the kitchen.

"Hermione I'm going." Jane called from the front door.

"Luna you take out the plates from the cabinet. I'll be back in a minute."Hermione said. Luna nodded to her.

As Luna got the plates out of the cabinet Hermione left the kitchen to lock the front door.

She was making her way back to the kitchen when phone rang.

"Hello" Hermione said picking up the receiver.

"Hermione" Robert said from the other side.

"Yeah dad it's me." Hermione said recognizing her father's voice.

"Did your mum left?" he asked in a hurried voice.

"Yeah, she left just a minute ago." Hermione replied.

"Ok then. Bye." Robert said and quickly cut the line.

Hermione put down the receiver and went back to the kitchen.

By the time she came back to the kitchen Luna had already served 2 plates of noodles and had put some tomato sauce on them as well. She had also filled pumpkin juice in two glasses.

"Thanks Luna." Hermione said gratefully as she came and joined Luna on the table.

"You're welcome." Luna said softly.

They began eating in silence. Hermione was caught up in her thoughts of how to tell Luna about the dating deal. After a few minutes she finally decided to tell Luna straight out.

After, Hermione and Luna finished their food they cleaned the plates off and went up to Hermione's room. Sitting on Hermione's bed,

"Luna I have to tell you something." Hermione said her nervousness obvious in her voice.

"Is it about you and Harry?" Luna asked innocently.

Hermione gulped and nodded.

"Are you two getting married? I think you guys are too young to get married but it would be very romantic." Luna said in her dreamy voice.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes. Here she was getting nervous and Luna was already planning her wedding.

"No Luna, we are not getting married." Hermione said in aggravated voice.

"Then what it's about?" Luna asked in her same dreamy voice.

"I'll tell you. But don't interrupt until I am done. Ok?" Hermione said looking at Luna with questioning look.

Luna nodded and put a finger on her lips. "No interruption." She said in serious tone, widening her eyes for the effect.

Hermione laughed, but sobered up instantly. She started telling Luna about everything that happened between her and Harry, from the bet to the kiss.

Luna sat in silence with an expressionless face until finally she spoke.

"So you're just pretending to date?" Luna finally asked. Hermione replied in a low voice with a simple 'yes'.

"So, is that a `no' to the wedding?" Luna asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Luna" Hermione said in stern voice.

"Right! Sorry." Luna apologized sheepishly.

"But are you sure it's just pretend? I mean those kisses looked pretty real to me." Luna said thoughtfully.

"No Luna. It's all fake, nothing more." Hermione said in a firm voice.

"Ok, if you say so." Luna said shrugging her shoulders.

Then something dawned on her.

"But that means you finally got your first kiss? With Harry!" Luna said in an excited voice.

"Yes Luna finally I had my first grand kiss." Hermione smiled seeing her best friend's excitement.

"But it doesn't matter. We're just faking, that's it." Hermione said dejectedly.

"Why, do you want it to be real?" Luna said with a knowing look.

"What? Of course not. Why would you say that?" Hermione asked with shock evident in her tone.

"Oh it's nothing." Luna said dismissively.

"Luna, what is it?" Hermione asked again.

"You know it'll work out in the end." Luna said wistfully. Hermione looked momentarily confused at this.

"What will work out in the end?" she asked.

"You and Harry" Luna replied.

"You don't know what you are talking about. All this is just about a stupid bet and we're pretending." Hermione said unenthusiastically.

"It was your destiny to meet Harry and you just wait and see where it takes you." Luna said dreamily. Hermione shook her head wearily.

'Why did I even bother telling Luna? She's just gonna believe whatever she wants.' Hermione thought.

"You know Luna, I love you dearly but sometimes you aggravate me, A lot." Hermione said rubbing her temple, closing her eyes.

When Luna didn't say anything, Hermione opened her eyes to look at her friend. Luna had a flabbergasted expression on her face.

"Y…You love me" Luna stuttered while looking at Hermione with wide eyes.

"But I love Ron, Hermione." Luna said, looking stricken. Then she hid her face in her hands and her body started shaking with heavy sobs.

"Luna...I…I didn't-" Hermione stammered, not knowing what exactly happened and why Luna was crying. She tried to go back and find out what might have triggered Luna's crying. Then she realized that Luna's body was not shaking due to crying but due to laughter.

"Luna" Hermione said with narrowed eyes and a blush gracing her cheeks.

Luna simply giggled, which turned into a loud laughing, eventually Luna calmed herself into soft giggles.

"Sorry, but you should have seen your face, It was priceless." Luna said in an amused voice. Hermione simply giggled and threw a pillow at Luna.

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Hermione couldn't believe that she had finally gotten her first kiss and second too. And not just a light peck but a mind-blowing kiss!

She had heard other girls including Luna gushing about their first kiss. She never really understood what was so special about it; after all, it was just a kiss.

But now she understood why it was so special for anyone to get their first kiss, especially for a girl.

Kisses that Hermione had shared with Harry Potter had left a fluttering feeling inside her. She could still remember how his lips felt on hers when he kissed her. Moreover, to her surprise she had responded.

Hermione had convinced herself that she had kissed back because they were acting like boyfriend-girlfriend. And usually a girl kisses back when her boyfriend kiss her. Right?

But she also knew deep down in her heart that when she had kissed him back, her mind was not processing what responding to the kiss actually meant. She was just living in the moment. She felt relieved that she hadn't messed up her first kiss, even if it happened for the sake of faking.

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Suddenly Hermione had become the most popular girl at her school. However, Hermione would still spend her time with just Luna and sometimes even Neville would join them. To Hermione's relief Neville didn't say anything about her and Harry.

Almost everyone in school wanted to be her friend now, except those who were Cho's supporters. And Cho and her gang had taken the back seat in the mind of others.

Since the day of the kiss, Cho never spoke to Hermione again. She simply ignored her. Somehow, Hermione had the idea that Cho wasn't going to let it go that easily. Cho was going to get her back when she would be least expecting it.

Hermione just hoped that she would be prepared whenever it happened.

Her schoolmates, especially girls kept on asking her about Harry. Was he a good kisser? Did he take her on a date? How he looked without his clothes on? And other such question which embarrassed Hermione immensely. She never knew a girl's mind could work in such ways.

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If school was getting stuffy for Hermione, due to the uninvited crowd around her, things weren't easy at home either. Romilda was constantly infuriating her with odd glances and queries.

Romilda was convinced that somebody like Harry Potter could never date her cousin. She was sure that all this dating show was just a lie. She didn't even hesitate to point it out to Hermione that Harry wouldn't be interested in her and that all this dating thing was just a big joke to him.

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It was two days after the kissing scene had taken place. Hermione hadn't heard anything from Harry since then. A part of her was glad because she knew at some point they would have to discuss what happened two days prior. But the other part of her was peeved at him for not contacting her straight after what happened at school.

After school ended that day, Romilda and Hermione were back to their house. Jane and Robert were at their dentistry, so Hermione and Romilda were alone at home.

Hermione was sitting in the living room, reading a book. She was trying to distract herself from thinking about Harry, which was very difficult at that moment. Ron had come over that day to meet Luna at school and they both had left together. But Harry hadn't come with him. Surely, others noticed that. They started asking her about whether Harry had broken up with her.

Hermione was lost in her thought when Romilda joined her in the living room. Hermione didn't realize that Romilda was there, until she came and sat in front of her.

"So what happened? Your boyfriend forgot you." Romilda said conceitedly. Hermione looked up from her book and smirked at her cousin.

"Say, he did forget me, but would I tell you?" Hermione said smugly.

Romilda grimaced at her. "You think you're so bloody smart." She said crossly.

Hermione was enjoying this situation more than she should have.

"I know I am smart." Hermione said as she closed her book and sat it on her lap.

"What's the use of being smart when your boyfriend doesn't even give you the time of his day?" Romilda said with an arrogant smirk on her face.

Hermione's insides twitched with hurt. She knew Romilda was right. Even if he was a fake boyfriend, Hermione was expecting him to make an appearance, just like the last time. Now she was regretting the whole 'fake boyfriend' thing. Her insecurities were crawling back into her mind.

'What if he was just making a fool out of me?' Hermione mused unwillingly.

"What happened? Has he already dumped you?" Romilda said with a triumphant look on her face.

Hermione was getting angry now. She wanted nothing more than to throw Romilda out of her house but knew if she did that, she would have to answer to her parents.

'It's better to leave. Otherwise I don't know what I would do to her.' Hermione thought and before she could get up to leave Romilda spoke again.

"Tell me Hermione; is it some kind of a game between you two? Because I know one thing for sure, he would never date someone like you." Romilda said suspiciously.

"And if it's a game, do you honestly expect me to tell you?" Hermione retorted back.

And without waiting for her reply Hermione dashed out of the room.

"Don't think this is over. I'll find out the real story." She heard Romilda shouting at her as she left the room.

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Hermione was getting more and more restless as days passed. There was no news from Harry and Ron wouldn't tell her anything whenever he would come to meet Luna.

In actuality, Hermione had met Harry only four times but now she wanted more. She was a little bit scared about what she was feeling. As all these feelings were fairly new to her, she didn't want to become a captive of her unknown feelings but it was very hard to resist as well.

Finally, her seemingly endless wait ended. It was 2 weeks, after the school started. It was Friday of the third week of the month. After her school day ended, Hermione had come back to her house. She was alone at her place as Romilda was again out with her supposed friends.

Hermione was very uptight today. Now she was almost convinced that Harry had tricked her and she had just made a fool of herself in front of the whole school.

Hermione was watching the television when phone rang.

"Hello. Granger's residence," Hermione said, picking up the receiver.

"Hermione Granger," a deep voice said from the other end.

"Yes. May I know who's speaking?" Hermione asked tentatively. Usually nobody called her except her parents or Luna.

"Hi. It's Harry Potter. Remember me?" the voice said cheekily. All her tentativeness evaporated, hearing the name.

"You?" she exclaimed angrily.

"Yes me. Why? Were you waiting for someone else?" Harry asked humorously.

"You have quite a nerve Potter, after everything that happened." Hermione said heatedly.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you shouting like a banshee?" Harry said annoyingly.

"What's wrong with me? It's you who's wrong here. Firstly, you kiss me out of nowhere, that too in front of the whole school and then you just disappear on me. What do you think others would make of it? The whole school is thinking of me as a fool who just played in the hands of famous Harry Potter." Hermione said furiously. Tears of frustration and anger from last few days welled up in her eyes. But she just blinked them away.

'Thank god, he's on the phone and not here. Otherwise he would have surely laughed at seeing me in tears.' Hermione thought gloomily.

Harry sighed. "Look there's no need to get this hyper, ok? I was busy and didn't have time to contact you." Harry said in calm voice.

"Busy? Where? In finding a new girlfriend?" Hermione said sarcastically. She knew that she was overreacting. But she couldn't help. It felt good to lash out at someone, releasing all the irritation she was feeling for last few days.

"Honestly, is it always necessary for you to be like this whenever we talk? You always have to find some or the other fault in me. Can't you just get past that stage already?" Harry said in an aggravated voice. However, he wasn't finished yet.

"Can't you for just once, talk to me nicely? And for your information I wasn't out searching for some girlfriend. Thanks to you I already have one, who just always has to be at my throat. School has already started, so I was busy. Get this piece of information through your thick head and then talk." Harry finished his speech with a sigh.

Harry had decided to go with the half-truth. If he had told her everything that he wasn't contacting her because he couldn't get that kiss out of his mind, things would have become more complicated.

Hermione was speechless. She just couldn't bring herself to speak.

Hermione took a deep breath and started speaking. "Look I am sorry. Okay. Students in school just kept asking about you and I just felt like you were playing with me and everything you said about the bet was a lie." Hermione said.

Harry was a bit surprised at the change in her tone. "It's okay. I understand. But I assure you that I wasn't lying about the bet. And I am sorry too, for not contacting you sooner." Harry said serenely.

"No problem. School and studies are more important." Hermione said without any trace of anger in her voice.

Harry simply laughed at her innocent statement. "You really are a bookworm and I'm sure your grades are very important for you, more than necessary." Harry said playfully.

"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Of course I am a bookworm and proud to be one. And yes my grades are very important for me, more important than my boyfriend, you know." Hermione replied light heartedly and then started laughing.

Harry liked her laugh. He was surprised at the turn of their conversation. Just a couple of minutes ago they were having a heated conversation and next moment they were teasing each other.

"Ouch! You just broke my heart Hermione. I thought I was the most important person for you, but sadly I will always come second to your grades." Harry said in mock sad voice.

"Don't worry Harry. I am sure you'll get used to it." Hermione said good-humouredly.

She was feeling much better than what she was feeling for last few days.

Harry smiled inwardly. "Well there was another reason I called you." Harry said.

"What?" Hermione asked cautiously.

Harry noticed her tone, but ignored it.

"You know, Ron's sister, Ginny, is going to throw a party for her birthday and dates are invited. Also Seamus knows about us and he wants to see if we are really dating." Harry said.

"And so you want me to come with you as your date." Hermione said.

Harry hesitated a bit. "Well yeah that's the plan. I mean all of my friends from school want to meet you." Harry said.

"Why?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Isn't it obvious? You are my girlfriend. Everyone wants to meet Harry Potter's girlfriend." Harry said without any kind of arrogance in his voice.

"B...But" Before Hermione could continue, Harry interrupted her.

"You know Hogwarts boys are not as bad as everyone makes them out to be." Harry said quietly.

"Except, when they landed themselves into a bet upon a girl." Hermione added ironically to his statement.

"Look I don't want to fight with you. We have already talked about this and don't forget you agreed to help me. I didn't lie to you. You already know everything." Harry said in clear voice.

"Ok, now that I have already jumped off the cliff, I have to bear the consequences." Hermione said in a defeated voice.

"You make it look like it's really a bad thing to go out with me." Harry said feeling slightly hurt, though his voice showed no emotions.

"I didn't mean that. I'm just not feeling comfortable with meeting your friends." Hermione said.

"Don't worry they are friendly guys. I'm sure you will feel comfortable with them." Harry said in a reassuring voice.

"Ok then. So when is the party?" Hermione asked.

"Next week, Sunday" Harry replied.

"Well I would have to ask mum. Then I'll let you know." Hermione said.

"Oh! But what if she said no," Harry asked feeling a bit troubled.

"Ha…Knowing my mum, she would be ecstatic that her daughter would be going out with her boyfriend. She has been trying for ages to get me to go out on a date. She says that I should behave like a normal teenage girl." Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"Okay. And yes one more thing." Harry said.

"What now?" Hermione asked warily.

"It's going to be a pool party." Harry said in an amused voice.

Hermione was silent for a moment, processing in her mind what Harry said and then she burst out,

"What? Is that girl crazy? She is going to give a pool party, when it's so bloody cold." Hermione asked with astonishment.

"Yeah, she's a bit crazy, and yes, it would be a pool party." Harry said with laughing voice. "Well I have to go now, talk to you later." He added.

"Ok then bye." Hermione said. She wanted to ask him about the kisses they shared but refrained from it. It would have just opened the can of worms she wasn't prepared to face yet.

"Yeah bye," Harry said and disconnected the line.

They both sighed with relief at the same time, though they didn't know about it.

'Well that went better than expected.' Harry thought.

'Thank God. I was worrying over nothing.' Hermione thought.

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Harry Potter, who could make girls swoon just with a smile, was having no control over his emotions right now. A girl had just turned everything upside down in his world.

Sometimes he wished he had never met Hermione Granger. She made him feel a different range of emotions, all at once. But somewhere deep in his heart he also felt like wanting to know more about her.

It all was just so confusing for him. He was still trying to figure out why he kissed her that day. Surely, she was looking very delectable but that was no reason to lose his control. Harry always had a very good control on his emotions and actions when around the opposite sex. He was proud of himself for that. But seeing Hermione Granger had made all his control fly out of the window.

He had kissed her not just once but twice and then left without giving any explanations. Somewhere in his mind, he realized that probably kissing her was not the right thing. He had told her that there were hardly any chances that he would kiss her. Then he just went ahead, grabbing her and kissing her. He could have easily avoided the situation but no he had to land himself in this muddle.

But then other part of his brain would protect his actions. After all, she had kissed him back, passionately. Definitely, she was not innocent in this case.

As though if, that mess was not enough. He was now avoiding her since that day. Probably avoiding was a wrong word. He was just trying to forget her completely, not that he was having any success. Instead, he found himself remembering the kisses, about how her lips felt against his own, how her warm body felt in his arms. And now the longing to see her again and kiss her senselessly was growing each day, inside him.

Unknowingly he was waiting for an opportunity so that he could talk to her again. And one of his friend or more like friend's sister gave him the opportunity.

Ginny Weasley, Ronald Weasley's sister, was going to throw a party for her friends on her birthday. Ginny Weasley was the youngest member of the Weasley clan and the only daughter. Of course, she got everything she wanted. Only trouble was that this time she wanted a pool party, that too in the freezing cold of January. And guests were allowed to bring their dates with them.

Seamus and Harry's other friends too had heard of the development between Harry and Hermione and they wanted to meet his girlfriend. Seamus had told Harry that he wanted to see if they were really dating or Harry was just tricking him to win the bet. Harry was furious about his accusation but controlled himself from doing anything irrational.

Then he finally called Hermione on her landline. He had asked Ron to get Hermione's number from Luna. As Luna was Hermione's best friend, he was sure she would be having Hermione's number.

When he heard Hermione's voice on the phone, he felt like someone had lit a fire inside him. He felt like he was stupid to avoid her. Their conversation wasn't very smooth but he had expected much worse since he had kissed her without her permission. Thankfully, she didn't say anything about kissing; he didn't know what he would have said to her. He had believed that all this was just fake to win the bet, but now he wasn't sure anymore.

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