A/N: Happy Wednesday! Oh my gosh, I am so excited by the amazing response to this story and I can't wait to share what I've got planned with you! You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions. Huge thank you to SynnDagger for beta reading this chapter!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter three and be on the lookout for chapter four tomorrow!
Hermione spent the remainder of the week wondering what she'd gotten herself into. Had she really convinced Marcus Flint of all people to play the role of her secret boyfriend? What had she been thinking exactly, approaching him at the Hag's Head?
Well, she hadn't been thinking exactly. She'd let the wine do most of the talking, twisting his arm to see dating her as some sort of public relations win. She wondered if he would still think it was worth the trouble once he faced Harry and Ron and the press. Certain members of the press corps seemed to have it out for her no matter what she did.
It did strain credulity a bit to think that she had crossed paths with Flint and that they had hit it off so well that they decided to date. They didn't have a positive history, but it wasn't as fraught as her interactions with Malfoy or Parkinson. In fact, Hermione might have said that Flint had no idea who she was before that night at the bar.
Now that Saturday had arrived, though, Hermione knew that there was no turning back. Marcus was due to pick her up to attend the engagement party together.
Hermione took a look in the mirror at her selected dress, making sure there was not a seam out of place or an unsightly wrinkle in the fabric. With the clingy purple fabric, she was sure to turn heads, but not overshadow the loveliness of the bride-to-be. She wondered what Marcus would make of her outfit. After all, they were meant to be dating, so she would hope that her boyfriend thought she looked sexy in the short dress.
Godric, she needed a drink. All these thoughts were making her head spin.
Pouring herself a small glass of wine to take the edge off, she waited for Flint in the parlor. She did not have to wait long, as Flint Floo'ed into her living room at exactly the time she'd given him.
She took a moment to look at him, her eyes trailing down the length of his body. He was definitely tall, almost certainly taller than Ron. With his broad shoulders, he seemed to take up most of the room in her parlor. He cut a dashing figure in tailored grey dress robes, probably used to these sorts of glamorous parties.
"Already getting into it, then, Granger?" he teased, seeing the wine glass in her hand. "You can still back out of this. Being tangled up with me can't really be worth it to get one over on your friends."
The thought of being tangled up with Marcus invaded her mind and Hermione was temporarily stunned. She hadn't thought about Flint in that way before, but now the seed was planted. "Just trying to bolster my Gryffindor courage," she countered. "And it's just Hermione. We've been dating for months, after all."
"Okay, Hermione," he said her name, testing out every syllable in that deep voice of his.
"Shall we go, Marcus?" she asked, suddenly feeling more confident.
With his consent, Hermione placed her arm in his so that she could Side-Along them to Ron and Lavender's party. They collected themselves for a second before walking into the ballroom. Just as they walked in the doors, Marcus slung his arm casually around her waist.
"I didn't tell you how absolutely sexy you look tonight, Hermione," he whispered to her. "The dress is really nice. I'm sure people will be taking bets on how long I last before I take you home to have my way with you."
Hermione felt her cheeks go red at his bold statement. She had certainly not been expecting something like that. "Thank you," she managed to squeak out, trying to force the visual out of her mind. "I doubt that, though."
"Why not?" Marcus asked, steering her towards the bar. "You are my girlfriend. And I'm not stupid. I know these people think of me as little more than a possessive caveman."
She swallowed, realizing that he hadn't really meant that he wanted her, he was just complimenting her as her secret boyfriend would. Try as she might, she remained transfixed on the idea of him throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her out of here for an evening of passion.
Merlin knew that would be better than whatever Ron and Lavender had thought up.
Hermione was happy to order a champagne, as it gave her a little more time to gather her thoughts before she came across either Ron or Harry. She was simultaneously looking forward to and dreading introducing her best friends to Marcus. But she was content to stand on the periphery, drinking in the expensive decorations, until they could no longer hide.
"Salazar, this must have cost a bloody fortune," Marcus said, a bit disdainfully, as he looked around the ballroom and all the guests stuffed inside.
"Don't you fancy spending a lot on your wedding?" Hermione questioned. "You'll only do it once, you'd hope. It seems reasonable to go all out to celebrate."
"Well, I wouldn't have so many friends to invite, for one," he answered. "But I think there is a difference between having a memorable wedding and whatever this is."
Hermione could hardly disagree. Lavender, who was so very obsessed with popularity, seemed to have invited everyone and their grandmother to celebrate her engagement. Some of the decorations really crossed the line. The centerpiece of the whole party looked to be two massive statues of Lavender and Ron kissing each other over a chocolate fountain.
"It's a bit much," Hermione agreed, although she did feel bad for criticizing what her friend wanted. Just because she and Lavender had different tastes didn't mean that one or the other was better.
"At least they went for an open bar," Marcus complimented.
Across the room, Hermione saw Harry and Ron were standing together and decided that now was probably the best time to get this over with. It would be better to introduce Marcus to both of them at once to minimize mistakes in their story. Belatedly, she realized that they hadn't really gotten their story straight. If they messed up with so many people here, maybe Ron wouldn't totally lose his marbles.
Suddenly, Hermione was aware of the enormity of what she was walking into. What if Ron made a huge scene? Nerves got the better of her and she realized she was shaking like a leaf.
"You okay?" Marcus's deep voice asked from beside her.
"I'm freaking out a bit," she admitted, knowing that Marcus was her partner in this, even if she didn't really know him that well.
"I'll be with you the whole way," he promised, surprisingly reassuring. "Want to get it over with?"
Just then, Ron saw her through the crowd. It seemed as if the decision was taken out of her hands.
"Might as well rip off the bandaid," she agreed, taking a decisive step forward.
True to his word, Marcus fell in step with her, slipping his arm around her waist again. He acted as a protective shield as they made their way through the partygoers. Ron's face was growing more red by the second. Hermione's stomach was rioting in a mess of knots.
"Harry, Ron," she greeted the two wizards pleasantly when they finally met, standing next to the garish statue of Lavender standing over the chocolate fountain.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here, Flint?" Ron demanded, pointedly ignoring the way that he was possessively wrapped around Hermione.
Marcus just looked amused at the overly tough way that Ron was trying to act, but didn't respond. Instead, it seemed as if he was waiting for Hermione to take the lead.
"Oh, good," Hermione said, directing a coy smile at Ron. "I wasn't sure if you would remember Marcus."
"Marcus?" Harry asked, stunned.
"Why is he here, Hermione?" Ron asked again, agitated.
Hermione leaned her head against Marcus's chest once again, taking comfort in the steady sound of his heart. "Well, I thought that was obvious," she said. "I told you that I was going to be bringing someone to your party. And here he is." She looked up at the burly Chaser with a look of absolute adoration in her eyes, hoping to convince them.
They were silent for a few beats before Ron started laughing. "You have got to be kidding me," he said, shaking his head. "Hermione, I don't know how you ever thought this was going to fool me. But okay, you've made your point. Now make him leave."
Marcus's hand moved from her waist down to her arse and gave her an affectionate squeeze. He leaned down so he could whisper into her ear. "I wouldn't mind going back to yours, babe," he said, knowing full well that Ron and Harry could hear. "Should have known letting you get all dressed up was a total waste of time."
Her cheeks went bright red at the way Marcus was holding her in front of her friends. He was obviously very demonstrative and Hermione had never really been one for public displays of affection, but he wouldn't know that. Despite this being a new experience for Hermione, she couldn't let Harry and Ron know that anything was amiss.
She bit her lower lip. "Supporting my friends is important to me. We don't have to stay all night, though," she told him sweetly, before rounding on Ron once again. "I'm not making a point, Ronald. Marcus is my boyfriend and you have to accept that."
Harry choked on his firewhiskey at hearing the word boyfriend, as though the implication of walking in on Marcus Flint's arm had only just sunk in. "He's your secret boyfriend?" he asked.
"Yes, and I knew that you two would react like this," Hermione explained, acting very annoyed. "This is why I've waited so long to introduce you to him again."
"How can you possibly be dating him? He's a bloody Slytherin!" Ron argued. "Not to mention that his father was a bloody Death Eater."
"Well, Marcus wasn't," Hermione insisted. "Unlike you, I'm able to look past House affiliation. After all, it's not as if any of us had a choice in where we ended up. An ancient hat puts us somewhere and then we have to hate people for the rest of our lives just because they weren't in the same House as us."
Ron looked ready to argue some more, but Harry stopped him. It was no secret that Harry was the more reasonable of the two; he knew that Ron often said things without realizing how hurtful they were. He also knew that Hermione took things much harder than she usually let on.
"Come on, Ron," he said, pressing his hand to the redhead's shoulder. "Flint has been out of Hogwarts for years. If Hermione is dating him, he must be alright."
She could see the muscles in Ron's jaw working away, trying to hold back from saying whatever terrible thing was on his mind.
"Fine, I'll play along," he agreed, taking a large swig of his drink. It was obvious that he was still incredibly suspicious of Hermione's new relationship.
"So, how did you two get reacquainted?" Harry asked, playing nice.
Hermione felt her stomach twist even more when she was reminded that she and Marcus hadn't discussed this. She hoped that he would follow her lead and not say anything too outlandish.
"You know how I bought my cottage last year," Hermione started, thinking of the sleepy little village she had settled into.
"Yes, when you abandoned London," Ron prompted. He seemed to take her decision to live out in the country personally, thinking of it as a condemnation of his life choices.
"Yes," Hermione agreed tersely, not wanting to revisit that argument again. "Well, before I went back to Hogwarts last summer, I was at my local and Marcus happened to be there, too."
"Do you live in the same village as Hermione?" Harry asked. "I thought that you were with Montrose."
Marcus shook his head. "Not yet," he said, giving Hermione a sly smile. "But I was visiting my sister and her husband. She's only a few blocks away from Hermione."
"And his sister's name is?" Ron asked, waiting for Hermione to answer.
Before she could flounder, though, Marcus was swooping in to save her. "I don't mind if you talk to me, Weasley. You don't have to act like I'm not here," he said, rolling his eyes derisively. "My sister Lavinia and her husband Duncan have lived in Hermione's village since they were married."
Wanting to get the conversation away from Marcus's family members that she didn't know anything about, Hermione continued to regal Harry and Ron with their first meeting. "We got to talking at the local and we decided we wanted to see each other more," she said, flashing Marcus an indulgent smile.
"What did you have to talk about? Not as if you have anything in common," Ron pestered, wanting to nail down every precise detail.
"If you must know," Hermione said, drawing out the syllables, trying to think of how they would have started talking. "I complimented Marcus on his teeth, though at first I think he thought I was making fun of him. I explained how I had my own teeth fixed at Hogwarts."
"Then, we spent some time talking about how much of a prat Malfoy is," Marcus added, his hand heavy and hot against her body.
Harry snorted. "That could take a whole evening," he agreed.
"Before we realized it, we had talked until closing," Marcus finished with finality.
"So your relationship is founded on Malfoy?" Ron asked, incredulous.
"I'm not going to give you every detail of my flirting skills, Ron," Hermione cut him off. "Of course we had other things to talk about other than Malfoy. There was just a spark."
Harry seemed convinced, though Ron was still obviously very skeptical. "And then you saw each other for the rest of the summer?"
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "Until I had to go back to Hogwarts."
"But we kept a correspondence," Marcus explained.
"I wasn't sure how things were going to go while I was at school. I wasn't sure if Marcus was going to get annoyed with long distance or if our feelings would simply fizzle out," Hermione lied, doing her best to not over explain. "But after graduation, we found that the feelings were still very much there. And so, I decided that it was time for the two of us to go public."
"Well, I'm happy for you, Hermione," Harry said with a weak grin. "I can't say that I know too much about you, Flint, but if you make Hermione happy, then I'm willing to start over."
Harry held his hand out and waited until Marcus extricated himself from around Hermione to give him a handshake. It was stilted and awkward, but Hermione was glad that she wouldn't hear any more questions about the veracity of her very fake relationship — from Harry, at least. Ron was an entirely different story.
Marcus finished what was left in his glass. "I'll go get us another round," he said, looking at Hermione's mostly empty glass. "Another for you, babe?"
Appreciative of how attentive her fake boyfriend was, Hermione gave him a shy smile. "Yes, please," she agreed, knowing that she would need more than one glass of champagne to get through the rest of the night.
Before he could walk away, Marcus pulled her body flush against hers, dipping his head to catch her lips in a kiss. Hermione gasped at the sudden move, but at least Marcus didn't take advantage and deepen the kiss. When he pulled away, he gave her a quick wink and a smirk.
Hermione felt her cheeks go hot from the unexpected kiss. She knew that Marcus was meant to be her boyfriend, but they had very different ideas on what that meant when it came to touching and kissing. He was a pretty good kisser, though, Hermione thought, fighting a smile.
When she looked up, Harry and Ron were looking at her like she'd grown a second head.
"It's a bit hot in here, isn't it?" she asked, feeling her flush creeping down her neck.
"A bit?" Ron asked, clearly annoyed. "Maybe if you and Flint were steaming things up."
Harry looked at her contemplatively, but he seemed pleased. "I've got to say, Hermione, I wasn't sure when you said you were bringing a boyfriend," he revealed. "But I haven't seen you look this excited about anyone. I like you and Flint together."
"Ugh, if you are going to fawn over Flint, too, I'll go find Lavender," Ron complained, before stomping off to look for his fiancee.
"Actually, I see Ginny waving for me as well," Harry said, apologetically before leaving her alone.
Hermione wasn't alone for long, Marcus was pressing a new glass of champagne into her hands a moment later.
"It seemed like the three of you could use a minute alone," he said, taking a sip of his firewhiskey.
"Well, good news is I think that they both bought it. Harry is pleased. Ron is just annoyed that I would deign to date a Slytherin," she said contemplatively. "But I think that we need to talk, to hammer out some details about our relationship."
Like how she could still feel the memory of his lips on hers.
"Alright," he agreed with a nod. "Brunch tomorrow?"
"Works for me," Hermione agreed. "Now, come on. We've got to talk to a few more people before we can leave."