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Astoria sat in Charms near Ron and just watched— she had had a crush on him for so long and she had finally worked up the courage to talk to him.
“Hey Astoria,” Ron said.
“Hey Ron, what are you up to?” Astoria asked. It was the most she had been able to say to him since she first developed her crush on him.
“Oh nothing. Just going to sneak into Hogsmeade and watch a movie at the new cinema they created,” Ron said.
“Oh. What are you watching?”
“The new Chudley Cannons movie,” Ron said excitedly.
“Sounds like fun,” she said. Knowing she wouldn’t be interested at all but she knew going to the cinemas would be a way to have a date without him realising until he was having fun and wanted to go on more.
Decision made, Astoria wished him a good night and waited for class to end before getting ready.
That night Astoria walked into the cinema and walked over to the group where Ron was hanging with once she bought a ticket.
When she got there she noticed that he had his arm around a girl in line.
“Hey Ron,” Astoria greeted him.
“Hey Astoria, you came to see the movie?” Ron asked.
“Yeah I thought it would be interesting,” Astoria smiled.
“Have you met Hannah? She’s in our year,” Ron said, gesturing to the girl he still had his arm around .
“I can’t say that I have,” Astoria replied.
“Oh, this is Hannah. My Girlfriend, Hannah, this is Astoria,” Ron said awkwardly.
“Nice to meet you,” Astoria said.
“Is it? Why are you here anyway? You followed Ron here? How pathetic,” Hannah said laughing with her friends.
xXx
Neville walked into the cinema prepared to watch anything. When he peered around the entrance he noticed his ex hanging of Ron and scowled.
Then he saw Astoria looking awkward as she talked to them and a plan formulated in his head.
Going over to the concession stand he asked the attendant to have him sit next to Astoria and grabbed some popcorn and drinks.
Taking a deep breath, Neville walked over to the group and smiled at Astoria, “There you are ‘Stori’, I told you to meet me at the concession stand.”
Astoria paused a moment before catching on, “Oh Neville, I’m so sorry I just thought I’d say hello to Ron while I waited for you.”
“That’s okay, let’s go in,” Neville said and led her into the cinema and found their seats.
He put his arm around her and pulled her close, “Go with it.”
“I planned to, but thank you,” Astoria said, smiling at him.
Halfway through the movie they were both bored out of their mind and decided to leave.
Neville lead her down to the Three Broomsticks and got them both a butter beer before joining her in a quiet booth.
“Now, I have an idea and I hope you’ll go along with it as it suits us both,” Neville said as he sat down.
“What’s this great plan and how will it benefit us both?” Astoria asked.
“You like Ron and would rather he be with you and I want Hannah back. So if we act as if we are in a relationship it’ll make them both jealous, they’ll break up and then we can break up and be with who we want to be with,” Neville explained.
“You want to enter into a fake relationship?” Astoria asked.
“Yes, it will suit us both,” Neville said, “it'll only be until they see what they are missing out on.”
“Fine, but I want some guidelines and rules first. No kissing,” Astoria stated.
“But holding hands, sitting together at every opportunity and cuddling,” Neville said.
“That sounds okay,” Astoria said.
Neville held out his hand and shook hers to seal the deal.
Heading back to Hogwarts together they held hands and he walked her back to the Common Room.
And then headed back to his tower and settled down for the night. They had made plans that he would pick her up for breakfast and they would sit together in classes.
xXx
They had been ‘dating’ for two weeks now and Hannah was definitely jealous. She kept bumping into Astoria and knocking her off her feet.
One Tuesday she cornered Astoria, “I don’t think you are actually with Neville, I think it’s just to make me and Ron jealous. I mean you haven’t even kissed in public.”
Astoria scowled, “Just because we prefer private displays doesn’t mean we aren’t dating.”
“I know for a fact Neville loves public displays of affection so stop the bullshit,” Hannah spat and walked off.
Astoria took a deep breath before running off to the Gryffindor tower and demanding to be let in or Neville come out.
A second later Neville appeared from within and came up to her, “What’s wrong Astoria?”
“Hannah just cornered me, she knows. She knows we are only faking because we haven’t kissed in public. She knows Neville,” Astoria stressed.
“We can fix this. But we will have to kiss at some point in view,” Neville suggested.
“But I’ve never kissed anyone, I don’t know what to do,” Astoria admitted.
“Oh, that’s alright we can practice kiss until you are confident enough,” Neville suggested awkwardly.
Astoria nodded and stood there shifting from foot to foot.
“No time like the presence, let’s go to the Room of Requirement and do this in private,” Neville said, grabbing her hand and dragging her through the castle to the room.
Letting go, he did the required pass by three times and then dragged her into the room. Not even giving a moment to hesitate.
Neville stepped in front of Astoria where she was still standing by the wall and placed one hand on the wall near her head to brace himself, leaning closer.
He could tell from the deepening of Astoria’s breathing that he was affecting her.
Ducking his head down to come to eye level, “Are you sure you want to take this next step, we can always stage our break up now?”
“I’m ready,” Astoria said.
Neville ran his thumb down her cheek and moved her head so it was pointing upwards and closed the distance between their lips. Pulling her closer he got lost in the feeling of kissing her.
Coaxing her lips to move slowly with his. Kissing her gently, he thought to himself even if it was just for their fake relationship he wanted to make her first kiss perfect.
The kiss sparked through his very being.
He knew then that he no longer wanted this to just be for their plan anymore. He wanted to make this real.
He liked her. And he couldn’t imagine not being with her.
But he didn’t have the courage to say that.
Pulling back from the kiss, he smiled down at her.
“How was that?” Astoria asked.
“That was perfect. I don’t think we need anymore practice. Unless you feel we need to,” Neville rushed.
“I think just a few more just to really make sure.” Astoria said breathlessly.
Neville nodded and kissed her again, once again feeling as if he had been burned through.
They practised for another hour before he escorted her back to her common room and practised once more for prosperity.
They planned to have their first public kiss in the library and then have a few more before slowing things down and breaking up.
xXx
One week of kissing each other non stop and Astoria regretted ever getting into this fake relationship. She didn’t want Ron anymore. But from all appearances Neville seemed to still want to break up seeing as Hannah and Ron had broken up the first day that Neville had kissed Astoria in public.
It seemed Ron couldn’t deal with Hannah’s reaction to seeing them kiss anymore.
But Astoria knew today was the day they were going to break up.
Walking down to lunch to meet Neville felt like heading towards the gallows. She couldn’t stop thinking of how she felt herself come alive when she was with him.
Neville was waiting for her and they went and hid in an alcove waiting for everyone to come to the Great Hall so they could walk in and sit with their separate friends and start telling everyone they had broken up.
The moment they had waited long enough they said their goodbyes and went in.
Astoria went and sat with Daphne and Pansy and told them. Knowing they would get the rumour passed around quickly.
She didn’t feel like she could breath as she sat there telling them and when they suggested they all go back to the Dungeons she agreed and followed behind.
Glancing over to Neville, she saw that Hannah was already hanging all over him.
Obviously he didn’t feel the same if he could move so quickly into Hannah’s arms.
Astoria moved quicker through the room and down to the dungeons. Barely sitting before she began to cry.
xXx
It was a few weeks later that Astoria confessed to Pansy and Daphne what they had done and how she truly felt.
They consoled her and said to take her time. They brought her all of her class work for a while to let her recuperate.
Daphne spent most of her time with her sister but Pansy hadn’t been around for a few days and Astoria was feeling kind of abandoned by her friend. Especially when she found out she was spending so much time with Neville.
She felt betrayed by her friend but didn’t let on when she saw her, taking the opportunity to ask how Neville was.
Pansy said he hadn’t gotten back with Hannah. That the first day Hannah came up to him and he had pushed her away just after Astoria left the Great Hall.
xXx
Pansy took the time with Neville to tell him how much of an idiot he was and that he needed to put himself out there and tell Astoria how he really felt because she was miserable without him.
Neville finally picked up the courage to go and talk to her but she wouldn’t come out of the common room. Pansy did however and escorted him in.
As soon as Neville entered the room his eyes were drawn to Astoria sitting with her sister.
Her eyes were red rimmed and Neville felt guilty for making her feel like this.
Walking over to her, he got down on his knees and pulled her to him, “Astoria, forgive me for not telling you sooner that I didn’t want the relationship to be fake anymore. I grew to love you in those weeks, will you forgive me?”
“Of course I will,” Astoria cried.
“Then let me do something first and then can we go somewhere and talk?” Neville asked.
“Yes,” Astoria said.
Neville pulled her closer and kissed her deeply, pulling back he smiled and pulled her with him.
Pansy watched the two walk away and smiled. She wished she could find someone and be like they were.
Maybe it was time to stop chasing after Draco and find someone that she could actually love.