Unofficial Portkey Archive

Author's note: - Thanks a lot auror_lumos09 for editing this fic.

Disclaimer: - I don't own Harry Potter and anyone or anything related.

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Dinner at the Potters' Place

Once Romilda left, Hermione closed the door and took a deep breath.

"What the hell is happening today?" She said looking around her room as though if expecting the answer to jump out from some corner of the room.

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Hermione, her parents, and Romilda were standing outside the house of James and Lily Potter. Jane pressed the doorbell and four of them waited for somebody to open the door.

After waiting for two minutes the door opened, showing a first surprised, and then a happy Lily Potter.

"Jane," Lily said excitedly, hugging Hermione's mum.

After pulling away from Jane, Lily welcomed her guests inside.

The house was a modest one, yet a modern two-story structure with a beautiful garden in the front.

Lily led them through a big and luxurious hallway and into a spacious living room, which was made with a stylish red and white theme. The floor was made of rich wood and the whole room was filled with soft evening sunlight, streaming through the large casement window on the left wall. The couch set was facing towards the window.

"Nice place you've got here." Robert said looking around the living room admiringly.

"Yeah, you have very good taste, Lily." Jane agreed with her husband.

"Thank you Jane." Lily replied gratefully. She gestured for the others to take a seat.

"I hope we aren't too early." Jane asked feeling a little tentative.

"Not at all, dinner is almost ready. Make yourself at home." Lily said.

Robert, Jane and the girls sat on the couch making themselves comfortable.

"Do you need any help?" Jane asked.

"No thank you, all you need to do is make your-self comfortable here. I'll be back in a minute." Lily replied and walked back to the door of the room.

"James!" She shouted loudly.

Hermione almost fell from the couch. She looked at her parents and Romilda. They also had the shocked expressions on their faces.

"Oh sorry," Lily said sheepishly, turning red as she walked back into the living room, "This way he comes faster." She said.

All her guests just stared at her looking stunned, and the next moment Robert started laughing and soon others joined him as well, including their host.

The next minute, Hermione saw how successful Lily Potter's ploy was as James Potter came rushing into the living room, breathing hard.

"You called dear?" He said, coming and standing behind his wife with a fearful look on his face.

Others watched as Lily turned around to look at her husband.

""James, I…" Lily started turning around, but she stopped.

"Did you eat one of my chocolate pastries?" She asked in a threatening voice.

James gulped and shook his head. "No dear, I didn't." He said innocently.

"Really?" Lily said with narrowed eyes. "Then, what is this?" She asked running her finger on the corner of her husband's lips.

Lily showed something brown to her husband, which looked like melted chocolate.

"I...I don't know where it came from." James stammered stepping backwards. Everyone was quiet as Lily stared at her husband, crossing her arms across her chest. It looked like James was going to get a long lecture from his wife.

Robert saved the day for James as he started laughing uncontrollably. "You are completely whipped, James." He said in between his laughs.

Lily turned red as James grinned at Robert.

"Well, it's a very little price to pay for having such a lovely wife." James said in an amused voice, wrapping an arm around his wife's waist and kissing her lightly on the lips.

"True my friend, very true." Robert agreed with a smile, squeezing his wife's hand who was sitting next to him. In return, Jane simply smiled affectionately at her husband.

Hermione looked away for a moment, feeling strange looking at such a private and tender moment between her parents. She felt like an outsider. She berated herself for her childish thinking and looked back at others.

"So how are you doing, Romilda, Hermione?" Lily asked nicely as she got comfortable in her husband's embrace. It was very clear to Hermione that James and Lily Potter were quite comfortable in their public display of affection.

"I'm doing great." Hermione replied.

"Me too." Romilda said in accord with Hermione's answer.

James and Lily also settled themselves on the couch. Hermione and Romilda were sitting quietly lost in their thoughts as adults carried on with their conversation.

It had been more than 10 minutes since Hermione, her parents and Romilda had arrived at Potter's place, but Harry hadn't shown up yet. Hermione wanted to ask his parents about where he was, but couldn't gather the courage to ask about Harry in front of her parents, especially in front of her father. She was already feeling nervous about having her parents, Harry, and Harry's parents in the same room.

Hermione had no idea how Harry's parents felt about their son dating a bookworm like her. From their reaction so far, things were all right. They were treating her nicely; in fact, their attitude was very warm and welcoming. They gave no sign of detest towards her.

"Hermione, are you all right?" Romilda asked quietly, her voice laced with concern.

"What?" Hermione asked coming out of her dazed state.

"I was asking if you were alright. You had this funny look on your face." Romilda tried to explain, bringing some kind of funny expression on her face.

`Oh, yes how could I forget, my world has turned upside down because all of a sudden Romilda has decided to become a caring cousin. She is finally making an effort to think about someone else, other than herself.' Hermione thought ironically.

"I'm all right." Hermione replied shortly and Romilda simply nodded.

Hermione so desperately wanted to ask Lily Potter about where Harry was. Suddenly, it was as though god had decided to grant her wish, through the most unexpected source, her father.

"Where's Harry?" Robert asked unexpectedly.

"He hasn't come from the school yet." James replied.

"Why?" Jane said looking surprised as it was close to nighttime.

"He has to stay there for extra football practice after the school time ends. He's the captain of his school football team and they're going to have a very important match in April." James said feeling a little excited with the hope of talking about football.

"Really? That must be really exciting." Robert said enthusiastically.

Before James could reply, Lily interrupted.

"Anyways, Harry will be joining us in few minutes. His practice ends by 6." She said giving a secretive wink to Hermione.

Hermione could feel the heat spreading over her face as her face turned red. She looked away towards the window as Lily turned back towards others to join in their conversation.

Hermione felt excited and nervous. Harry was going to be there in the next couple of minutes. Did he know she was coming to his home today? If he knew, why he didn't tell her about it yesterday? How should she behave around him?

`Should I kiss him? In front of our parents…nope…no chance,' Thoughts kept swirling around in her mind as she waited for Harry to come home.

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Hermione was lost in her thoughts when a middle-aged woman entered in the living room.

"Madam, dinner has been served." She said to Lily.

"Thank you, Elizabeth. We'll be there in a couple of minutes." Lily replied.

"Very well, Madam." She said and with a slight bow, she left the room.

"Shall we move to dining room?" Lily asked.

Hermione felt confused. Harry hadn't arrived yet.

`Are we not going to wait for him?' She thought.

"We should wait for Harry. I am sure my husband wouldn't mind waiting for some extra minutes." Jane said in a laughing voice.

"Ha...Ha…very funny," Robert said sarcastically making others laugh.

"But I agree with Jane, we should wait for Harry." He said agreeing with his wife.

"Okay," Lily said with a smile.

Soon after, James told Lily that he was taking Robert with him to show their new home movie theater room. He also told her to call them as soon as Harry arrived back from the school.

After James and Robert left, only two teenage girls and two older women were left in the room. Lily turned her attention towards Hermione and Romilda.

"I never really got a chance to have a proper conversation with both of you. Sorry if you're feeling ignored." Lily said with an apologetic smile.

"Of course not Mrs. Potter, you don't have to apologize. We both have each other for company after all." Romilda said with a lovely smile, as she gestured between her and Hermione.

"Isn't it that right, Hermione?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

Hermione took the hint and went along with it. "Yeah, she's right." She added.

"What lovely girls you have Jane." Lily said with delight.

While Hermione felt awkward at being called lovely, Romilda was positively basking in the praise of Lily Potter.

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Potter," She said softly, clearly happy with making a good impression.

Lily asked them about their studies, interests, career choices and many other things. Even though Hermione tried her best to answer her questions without giving away much about her, her mum definitely gave away some of the things about her which earned her more good words from Lily.

Hermione had never been comfortable in handling the praises. For some reason, she always felt awkward and out of place whenever somebody would praise her. She wasn't sure why it was so, but somehow she felt safe whenever people would not pay any attention to her and simply ignore her.

However, ever since the pretending game had started, Hermione had become the center of attention for all the students in her school. In fact, recently even some of the teachers had started making some indirect positive or negative remarks about her.

Definitely, Harry Potter or more like the whole Potter clan, had a strong effect on most of the London population. They also had close contacts with some of the members of royal family. Most of the members of Potter family were quite popular whatever field they worked in.

It was surprise for Hermione that her name wasn't being printed all over the papers, which were published in London. It probably had something to do with the fact that Harry's parents owned one of the most prestigious law firms in England and they had good control over the press where the matter of the personal life of their only son was concerned.

However, what had surprised her most was the fact that when she had agreed to pretend as Harry's girlfriend, she had not given a single thought to the media.

`Maybe Harry Potter's charm is working on me as well… almost as good as his mind-blowing kisses.' Hermione thought with a light blush shading her cheek.

Regardless of her negligence, Hermione was relieved. Ron had once mentioned it to Luna, who in turn had told Hermione that no one from the press was allowed in the New Year Ball organized by Potter family. Given that it was a major family event and only family and friends were allowed, it was kept private.

Hermione pulled herself out of her deep thoughts and tried to concentrate on the current situation. Jane was telling Lily about Hermione's love for the books. Being a book lover, Hermione turned all her attention on her present company.

Lily told Hermione that she too was a bookworm during her school and college days. She told Hermione about the huge library at Potter manor where James' parents lived.

"You know, this Sunday if you're free, you should come with me to the Potter Manor. I'll show you the library. I am sure you will love it. It's huge." Lily said excitedly.

Hermione interest shot up at the invitation. "I would love to, Mrs. Potter." Hermione said eagerly.

Conversation went on.

To Hermione's surprise, Romilda wasn't scowling whenever attention was on Hermione. Instead she looked very content as their host paid more attention towards her cousin.

As the talks continued, a new fear regarding Lily started bubbling in Hermione's mind.

`What would I say if she asked me about my relationship with Harry?' She thought feeling horrified. She could feel the terror settling in her stomach. She felt like running away from this place and going back to her house. She shouldn't have come for the dinner in the first place, and on top of it all Harry wasn't there to support her, in case his mum wanted to know anything about their relationship.

And then, thanks to anyone who was listening to Hermione's request, the doorbell rang.

"That must be, Harry." Lily said.

However, before Lily could leave the room Jane spoke.

"I am sure Hermione won't mind going to get the door." She said slyly, looking at Hermione.

"Oh, thank you so much, dear." Lily said innocently, even though Hermione could see a trace of humor in her eyes.

Hermione gave a `you are just unbelievable' look to her mum, who just smiled impishly in return.

Hermione got up and left the living room. She walked back through the hallway to open the front door.

Hermione grabbed the handle and turned the automatic lock to open the door.

Harry Potter was standing on other side of the door. He was still in his school uniform. He was wearing a plain white buttoned shirt and charcoal gray trousers. Top two buttons of the shirt were open and sleeves were rolled up to elbows. A tie with red and gold thin strips was hanging loosely around his neck giving him a very sexy look. He was holding a charcoal grey knitted v-neck jumper in one hand, and in other hand, he was holding a sports bag. His school bag was hanging off his shoulder and his hair was damp and messy.

Overall he was looking like a Greek god in a school uniform and all Hermione could do was stare at him open-mouthed.

"Hermione," Harry said in a loud voice, looking shocked.

Hermione shook her head to clear her hazy state and looked back at Harry.

"Hi Harry," She said trying to sound casual.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a surprised voice.

Hermione leaned against the door, her arms crossed across her chest.

"Is this the way to treat your guest, Harry?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Guest?" Harry said with a questioning look on his face.

"Well, your family has invited my family for dinner." Hermione said casually. Harry simply nodded in return, wondering why his mum forgot to tell him that Grangers were coming for dinner tonight.

"Would you like to come in?" Hermione asked trying to keep her face straight.

Harry gave her a contemplative look as he entered the house, unintentionally brushing his body against Hermione's side. He didn't realize, but Hermione stopped breathing for a second.

Hermione closed the door once Harry entered into the house.

"Make yourself at home," Hermione said in a manner as though if she was welcoming the guest in her house.

Harry stared incredulously at the girl standing in front of him, telling him to make himself at home, in his own bloody house.

An amused smile crept over his face.

"You're in quite playful mood today." Harry said looking amused.

Hermione stared at him in return realizing that he was actually right. Nothing came out of her mouth except some unintelligible words.

"Uh..Umm…I…" She quickly closed her mouth before making herself look more stupid than she already was.

Fortunately, Hermione was spared from saying anything as she saw Romilda in the hallway. She was walking towards her and Harry. Harry had his back towards Romilda so he couldn't see her coming.

"Romilda," Hermione said. Harry turned around as he saw Hermione looking behind him.

"Hi Harry," Romilda said with a smile as she joined Harry and Hermione.

"Hi," Harry replied. Then he looked at Hermione, "I better go and get changed out of these clothes." He said gesturing towards his uniform.

Hermione simply nodded and saw Harry making his way to the stairs in the hallway.

Hermione turned back to look at Romilda who was looking at her peculiarly. When she realized that Hermione was looking at her she quickly brought a smile on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, I just came to check upon you, to see what was taking you so long." Romilda said sweetly.

Hermione simply nodded and both of them left to go back to the living room. When they reached the living room, Hermione told Lily that Harry had gone to his room to change out of his school uniform. After that, Lily led them further into the house and into the dining room. Then she called Elizabeth and asked her to go and tell Robert and James to come to the dining room.

The dining room in itself was a piece of artwork.

It was a spacious room. Whole area consisted of mainly three colors, white, metallic gray and black. It had an open kitchen in which furniture was made in metallic gray color and a little bit of white color as well.

In front of the kitchen counter, a beautiful dining table was set. It was a large circular white table with eight white hairs around it, which matched well with the white color of the walls and the ceiling. From the ceiling, a coral chandelier was hanging above the table, lighting the table beautifully giving a classic look to the white color of the table. There were two black shelves on the sidewall, which consisted of some decorative dishes and other items.

On other side of the dining table, the side opposite to the entrance of the dining room, there was a small bar where various kinds of bottles filled with different kinds of drinks were placed. In front of the bar, a black colored couch and two comfortable love seats were placed facing towards the fireplace.

Food was already served on the table. Lily gestured others to take a seat. A few minutes after Jane, Lily, Romilda and Hermione arrived in the room, James and Robert joined them.

"Where's Harry?" James asked as he came and sat next to his wife. Robert too sat on the empty chair next to Jane.

Before Lily could answer, Harry joined them.

"I'm here, dad." He said, "Sorry for being late," He said to others with a sheepish look on his face.

"No problem son," James said waving off his apology, as he knew that Harry didn't know about Grangers coming for dinner and Jane nodded on behalf of her family.

Harry greeted Hermione's parents and after hesitating for a second, he finally dared to sit on an empty chair next to where Hermione was sitting. (In case anyone is confused- After everyone sat down, order of the seating was this way, Harry, Hermione, Romilda, James, Lily, Jane, and Robert.)

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Harry Potter had gone through a very tiring practice session today. The team had practiced for five hours continuously. As he was the captain he had to set a good example for his teammates. At least, that's what his coach kept lecturing him about, whenever he mentioned about taking a break.

As soon as practice was over, Harry was first to rush towards the changing room. He was afraid that coach might change his mind about finishing the practice session for the day.

Harry's teammates were planning for a small excursion after the practice was over. However, Harry simply declined the offer. He just wanted to go back to his home, crawl in his warm bed, and not get up until the next morning.

However, all the thoughts of a warm bed evaporated from his mind as soon as door of his house opened. His favorite brunette was standing on other side of the door. For a moment, he thought that he was dreaming. Hermione was standing in front of him clad in black boat-neck sweater, light blue-collared shirt, and dark blue jeans and her hair were tied in a simple ponytail with few tendrils framing her face wonderfully.

If it was a dream, a fantasy his mind had conjured, then she won't mind if he pressed her against the door and kissed her senselessly. Would she? Should he take the chance? It probably wouldn't be such a good idea.

He thought himself to be lucky as he realized that she was really standing there. She was in a very good mood today and even teased him. Moreover, she looked damn cute, making it difficult for him to bring down his desire for her.

He took a deep breath, once he was inside his room. He had no idea what to do now and how to conduct himself around Hermione. Both of their parents were down there. He was especially wary of Hermione's father.

After getting out of his uniform, he quickly wore a white- collared full sleeves shirt and blue jeans and made his way downstairs and towards the dining room.

Blame it to his bad luck, two chairs, which were empty, one was next to Hermione and other was next to her father. Gathering his courage, he sat down next to Hermione and avoided looking directly towards Robert Granger.

Light chatter continued during the dinner. They ate food, shared some funny jokes, and shared some of their personal experiences.

James told about how he convinced Lily to go out with him. Robert told about some of his funny patients. Harry spoke about his football match, which to his relief really improved his communication level with Robert.

Lily and Jane shared some of their secrets about the crushes they had during the school, which aggravated both James and Robert, but a light kiss from Lily to James and a squeeze of hand by Jane to Robert, cheered up their moods. Hermione didn't speak much, instead she heard everyone, amazed by their lives and experiences.

However, the surprise of the evening was what Romilda said. She didn't speak about her life, friends, or school. She talked about her cousin Hermione Granger. Instead of trying to make Hermione feel inferior, Romilda said nice things about her cousin. Romilda praised her cousin's approach about how she would stand against injustice, about how good she was at her studies and some of the other things.

Harry was shocked; he gave a light nudge to Hermione, who just shook her head in return. For rest of the dinner, they avoided any kind of direct conversation in front of their parents. Towards the end of the dinner, Lily Potter had become one of Hermione's favorite people.

"Lily, the food was simply delicious." Robert praised wiping his mouth with the napkin. Jane nodded, agreeing with her husband.

"Thank you," Lily replied sincerely.

Everyone got up from the table.

"You're not in a hurry to leave, are you?" James asked Robert.

Robert looked at Jane, who in return answered for him. "No, we're not." She replied with a smile. Robert's mood immediately perked up and looking at his reaction James started laughing.

"It looks like I am not the only one who's whipped." James teased. Robert simply rolled his eyes at his friend and gave him a light shove.

While James and Robert were busy talking, Lily turned to Jane and asked her if it was alright if Harry took Romilda and Hermione to show them their home library. Jane immediately granted her permission and Harry without any delay, straightaway led Hermione and Romilda to the hallway.

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As soon as they were in the hallway, Harry sighed with relief.

"You know, I think I should stay down here." Romilda said.

Both Harry and Hermione gave her a puzzled look.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Well, I thought both of you would want to spend some time alone." Romilda said with a knowing look in her eyes.

It dawned on Harry what Romilda was implying.

A mischievous smile appeared on his lips as he looked at Hermione, who was looking back at him with wide eyes with a hint of red on her cheeks.

"So, what do you think my dear girlfriend?" Harry asked as he slowly leaned towards Hermione, "Wanna make out with your handsome boyfriend?" He whispered in her ear.

Hermione closed her eyes as she felt his warm breath on her cheek and ear. She just had to turn her face a little and her lips would touch Harry's lips.

Luckily, she remembered that Romilda was still there.

"Just shut up, Harry," Hermione said shyly giving a light push on Harry's chest. Harry just laughed and took her hand.

"Come on, Romilda. You are most welcome to join us." Harry said graciously.

"Okay," Romilda said looking deep in thought.

"Let's go then." Harry said.

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"You have a library?" Hermione asked as Harry led her and Romilda upstairs through a set of wooden stairs.

"Well, it's not exactly a library. It serves different purposes for different people. Mum and dad use it as their office when they are working from home, I sometimes use it as a study room, and we also have a good collection of books, so it's a somewhat all-in-one kind of a thing." Harry explained as they reached at the top of the stairs.

Hermione chuckled lightly at his response as Harry led them to his study room. Harry opened the double doors of the room at the end of the hall and switched on the lights.

Hermione was amazed to see the room. It was relatively small as compared to the living room and dining room downstairs. It was embellished with elegant furniture and the floor was covered with carpet giving a very cozy look to the room.

On the right side of the room, there was a mahogany semi-circular executive desk near the French window, and behind the desk, there was a comfortable looking chair. In front of the table, a cream-colored couch and two wing-back chairs were placed along with a rectangular wooden table. On the wall behind the couch, a huge wooden shelf was fixed on the wall containing many books.

The other side of the room was comparatively empty except another large shelf filled with the books, a couch, and a fireplace.

"Wow!" Hermione said as she entered into the room, "It's amazing," She said with a wide smile as she moved towards the book shelf.

"Looking at your reaction I can assume that you like it." Harry said with a teasing smile.

"Oh yes, absolutely," Hermione replied gleefully, turning around to look at Harry.

Hermione looked at Romilda who was still standing by the door, once again lost in her thoughts.

"What do you think, Romilda?" Hermione asked.

"Hmmm…Oh, yeah, it's really nice." She said looking at Harry and coming further into the room.

"Thanks." Harry replied.

Looking at the books Hermione remembered something.

"Hey, you promised to give me your Hogwarts a history book." Hermione said looking at Harry.

"Oh yes, I have it in my room. I'll just go and get it for you." Harry said turning around to leave the room, but then he stopped and looked at Hermione, "But if you want, you can come with me." He added unexpectedly.

`What the hell am I doing? Inviting a girl to my room, what would she think…' Harry thought berating himself on his own foolhardiness. He looked at Hermione, trying to keep his face straight, keeping a casual demeanor.

Hermione looked conflicted. "Romilda, do you mind…" She started, but Romilda interrupted her before she could finish her question.

"Not at all, I'll just sit here and read this book until you come back." She said winking playfully at Hermione, as she picked up a book from the shelf without looking at the title.

"Okay," Hermione said unsure of Romilda's behavior.

`Will she tell mum and dad about this?' She mused, but then she let the thought drift away from her mind as Harry once again took her hand and led her out of the library.

As Harry started leading Hermione towards the third room from the library, she started giggling softly.

"What?" Harry asked looking amused as he opened the door of his room, ushered Hermione inside, and then, followed her into the room. He closed the door behind him and Hermione didn't seem to mind that.

"We were quite blunt to Romilda." Hermione said in a low voice.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, she'd probably be thinking that we left to have a good snogging session in my room." He said. They both shared a good laugh at this. Then, Hermione looked around the room.

The room was quite big with two twin-sized beds. There was a wardrobe, a glass door cabinet with some books, and a laptop on the table near the window. To Hermione, this room definitely looked like it belonged to a boy, as it was a little messy.

Some clothes were scattered around, a football was lying on the floor near the bed. The bed was un-made, a towel was lying on the bed as well as some papers, notebooks, and books that lay in a disorganized manner on another bed and a few other things here and there.

"Two beds?" Hermione said with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Sometimes Ron stays here for the night." Harry said shrugging his shoulders.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "You mean…pajama party." She asked lightheartedly.

Harry simply rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Aw, you're no fun." Hermione teased sitting on one of the two beds in the room.

"Oh, I'm lots of fun. Want to see, how much?" Harry asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes, as he took a step towards Hermione.

Hermione looked at him suspiciously. "Stop right there, Harry Potter." She said warningly as she saw that Harry was raising his hands in front of him.

"Looks like Miss Granger is quite ticklish." Harry said moving slowly towards Hermione.

"Don't you dare," Hermione threatened him, looking for an escape as he was now standing very close to her. Finding no other solution, Hermione picked up the pillow from the bed and hit Harry on his head.

Harry stared at her looking gobsmacked, his glasses askew, and Hermione was still holding the pillow in her hand in a defensive posture.

"You hit me." Harry said disbelievingly.

"Well, you asked for it." Hermione retorted.

Suddenly, Harry burst out laughing falling on his back, on the bed Hermione was sitting on. "I just don't believe you really did that. I was just joking and you took it so seriously." He said in the midst of his fits of laughter.

"You need to loosen up a bit, Miss Granger." He added playfully.

Hermione simply smiled at him and once again lightly hit him on the face with pillow.

"Stop attacking me woman," Harry said whiningly, covering his face in mock defense.

Hermione laughed at Harry's reaction. "You are such a goof, Harry Potter." She said playfully.

Harry looked at Hermione and grinned roguishly. Hermione could feel her heart beating faster. She just wanted to lean down and kiss him. The set up was perfect. They both were so close to each other and were completely alone in his bedroom. There was just one problem, they weren't the real couple they were just pretending to be a couple.

Oh, how her heart wished, things were different, that all those kisses, touches, and words of affection were real.

"Hey, you ok?" Harry asked bringing himself into sitting position and looking into Hermione's eyes.

"Oh, yeah," Hermione replied with a smile.

Harry wasn't convinced with her answer, but didn't say anything.

"So what's wrong with your cousin? Suddenly she's acting like the best cousin in the world." Harry asked.

"To be honest, I don't know either. This morning she was perfectly normal with me. I mean, usually whenever she sees me in the morning, either she scowls at me or ignores me, and this morning she was ignoring me. But when I came back from the shop, it was like her personality had been turned upside down. Suddenly she was acting all nice, apologizing to me for her rude behavior." Hermione said thinking about Romilda's odd behavior.

"Well, that's odd. I think we should be more careful around her." Harry said thoughtfully.

"Do you think she's plotting against us?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure. But she's friend with Cho. So I wouldn't put anything past her." Harry said.

"I think you're right. I don't trust her either." Hermione said.

"So where's the book?" Hermione asked changing the subject.

"Oh, I forgot the real purpose. It's why we let Romilda think that we were really going to do some naughty things in my room." Harry said mischievously and quickly got up from the bed before Hermione could again hit him with the pillow.

Harry walked towards the cabinet and started looking for the book. While Harry was searching for the book, Hermione started arranging the books, notebooks, and papers on the other bed appropriately.

"Here's your book." Harry said coming and sitting next to Hermione. He handed her a thick book with a picture of an ancient looking castle on it and Hogwarts a history printed above the picture.

"Thanks, I'll return it back to you as soon as possible." Hermione said looking at the book with awe.

"There's no need to return it back." Harry said.

Hermione looked confused. "Why? Won't you need it to prepare for your exams?" She asked.

"I'll buy another copy. Consider it a gift from your handsome boyfriend for our one-month anniversary." Harry said cheekily.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm flattered." She said sarcastically and without thinking, she kissed him on the cheek.

Harry looked surprised and was secretly pleased as well, whereas Hermione was blushing furiously, realizing what she had done.

"What's all this?" Hermione asked gesturing towards books, notebooks, and papers she had arranged.

Harry looked a little deflated. "That's my incomplete Chemistry project. I have to submit it on the upcoming Friday and I have no idea what to do." He said.

Hermione didn't like the dejected looking face of Harry. He looked a lot more handsome when smiling.

"Do you need any kind of help? If you want, I can…" Hermione trailed off looking nervous. She had no idea how Harry would react. She just hoped that he wouldn't think of her as some kind of arrogant know-it-all snob who thinks that she's superior to others because she has more knowledge.

"You mean you'll help me with my Chemistry project?" Harry asked excitedly.

Hermione sighed with relief at his reaction. He was definitely happy that she was offering her help.

"Yeah," Hermione said.

"Would you help me with my other subjects as well, you know help me in my homework and also in preparing for the exams?" Harry asked looking at her with a pleading look in his eyes, making him look very adorable, just like a small child. Oh and how could she resist that face?

"Sure, why not?" Hermione answered, "If I'm not wrong, most of the subjects which are taught in both of our schools have the same course outline. So I can help you with whatever subjects we have in common." She said.

"Thanks a lot, Hermione." Harry said looking grateful and impulsively hugged her. Harry could feel Hermione getting stiff and then relax in his embrace, and returning the hug.

"There's no need to thank me. We are friends now and that's what friends do, they help each other." She said tentatively, pulling back from Harry, a light blush coloring her cheeks. Harry simply grinned at her easing the tension between them.

"I'm glad we're friends." Harry simply replied with a wide smile, making Hermione smile in return.

That night when Hermione Granger went to sleep, she couldn't help but think that one more name was added to the list of her friends making it a total of two. Even though she had known him just for one month, she was tempted to put him in the same category as Luna, the category of the best friend.

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Author's note: - So what do you think? Please tell me through your REVIEWS.

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