#I promise chapter 7 is going to be a whole lotta hinny!

[adenei]

Fake It Til You Make It - Ch. 6

AO3 || FFN

A/N: *Denotes a movie quote (it was too good to leave out). Lyrics belong to Ed Sheeran, not me, or Ron, for that matter. BUT I imagine musician!Ron to be quite like Ed Sheeran. Can't imagine why...

Wrong.

“You’re not giving up, Ginevra,” George warned her over the phone.

“Yes, I am! This is the stupidest, pointless stunt I’ve ever tried,” Ginny was standing her ground. “Come pick me up.”

She’d almost made it a week. It was Thursday. Surely, she could fake Ron being sick for a week before he returned.

“When have you ever given up on something? That’s not like you. So you’ve had a rough week. That’s no reason to give up! We just need to get the guys to like you.”

“And how do you suggest I do that? Clearly acting and talking like the guys is not working in my favor.”

“Hmm. It’s Thursday, right? Are they going out anywhere tonight?” George asked.

“They mentioned something about the Leaky. Neville accidentally let it slip, and all the guys glared at him because I was in earshot. I probably wasn’t meant to hear.”

“I’ve got it!” Fred yelled in the background.

Ginny heard a bunch of muffled muttering before George came back on the line and said, “Text us the time, and we’ll be there with Verity and Leah. Be prepared to act like a player, alright? We’re gonna show those guys that you’re irresistible with the ladies.”

“If you say so,” Ginny said unconvincingly.

She hung up the phone, already dreading what the night was going to bring.

***

Ginny showed up at the Leaky Cauldron a little after seven. She looked around the pub and saw Fred and George in a corner. Her feet instinctively began walking toward them, but they shooed her off in the opposite direction. Harry and the rest of their teammates were on the other side of the room, so she reluctantly made her way over them instead.

It wasn’t lost on her when the guys were trying to rearrange themselves around the table so there wouldn’t be room for her. She was about to turn around and leave when,

“Ron? Ron! Is that you? Over here!” Ginny turned around to see Verity walking toward her.

Here goes nothing, she thought. “Verity! Hey girl, how you doin’?” she said as Verity drew Ginny into a sensual hug.

“I’ve missed you,” she said in her ear.

“I know, baby, I know. But you know how things are. I’ve been busy.”

“Will you be available soon? I’d love to get together,” Verity purred.

“As soon as I have a free night, you’ll be my first call, you know what I’m sayin’?” Ginny added in a head nod.

Ginny played hard to get as Verity puckered her lips and wrapped her arms around her to say goodbye. Verity settled for a kiss on the cheek as Ginny grabbed her arse, per Fred and George’s instructions. She watched Verity walk away before turning back toward Harry’s table with a newfound swagger. Her confidence was spurred on by the gaping looks on their faces. She made it about two steps from the table when she heard another voice call Ron’s name. This time it was Leah.

“Ronnie, baby, I thought that was you!” she said eagerly. 

“Oh, hey Leah, how’s it goin’?” Ginny asked.

“Why didn’t you call me after that night out in London?” Leah pouted.

Ginny gave her a perplexed look. “Babe, you know I have a strict one night rule. What we had was special, but I gotta stay true to who I am, and I’m not one to settle down.”

Leah gave a deep sigh. “I’ll always be here in case you get bored,” she resolved with a wink.

She leaned in and kissed Ginny on the cheek before turning around to sashay away. Ginny awkwardly smacked her on the bum as she walked off. Fred and George were high fiving each other, which Ginny took to mean the mission was successful. When she turned around, Seamus and Dean greeted her with a slow clap.

“Damn, Ron!” Colin said approvingly. “Teach me your ways!”

“I didn’t realize you were quite the, uh—” Harry started to say.

“Player?” Neville finished.

“Er, yeah,” Harry agreed. 

They all moved to make room for Ginny to sit down when she felt a buzz in her pocket. Fred texted her. Code: Purple. Get out of there NOW.

Shit, shit, shit. It couldn’t be—

“Won Won?” 

Fucking hell, of all the nights, Ginny swore to herself. Her phone buzzed again. Do NOT let her see your face. This was not good. She began backing away as Lavender made her way to the guy’s table. 

Seamus, the good bloke that he was, offered an unintended distraction. “Hey sexy, if you get bored with Weasley, I’d be happy to show a good time.”

Ginny froze behind another table to see if she’d take the bait.

Lavender froze and eyed Seamus before letting out a grunt of disgust. “You have got to be kidding me. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but girls with asses like mine do not talk to boys with faces like yours.”*

Ginny found it difficult to stifle her laughter. Lavender was undoubtedly full of herself. Before Ginny could think of all the reasons Lavender was not as hot as she thought she was, the blonde nuisance turned back toward her. 

“RONALD WEASLEY, DON’T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!” Lavender screamed, getting the attention of the whole pub.

Ginny darted toward the back of the restaurant and grabbed a menu to cover her face.

“Lav, leave me alone.”

“No! You’ve been ignoring me for over a week. Be a man and talk to your girlfriend!” 

One of the hosts took the menu from Ginny’s hands, so she spun around and grabbed two pitchers of Coke. “It’s OVER Lav. Why can’t you just take a hint? You’re not as hot as you think you are, and you’re too high maintenance for me.”

Ginny continued to move around towards the bar. She set the pitchers down as Lavender screeched, “IT ISN’T OVER UNTIL I SAY IT’S OVER, AND IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT OVER!” 

Lavender was closing in as Ginny made one last-ditch effort as she skirted between two tables just as another worker was carrying a large stack of boxes. Lav wasn’t paying attention and ran right into the worker, causing all the boxes to collapse into a heap as she fell backward into a random family’s table. A glass of red wine spilled down her front, and Lavender screamed bloody murder.

“THIS ISN’T OVER!” she screeched as she stomped toward the exit.

Harry, Dean, Seamus, Neville and Colin all erupted into cheers as Ginny fell back toward them.

“That was bloody brilliant!” Neville and Colin both shouted.

“How do you do it?” Dean wanted to know as Harry and Seamus looked on with impressed faces.

Ginny didn’t suppress the grin that spread across her face. She was finally one of the boys.

****

The next morning found Harry, Ginny, and Colin in biology. They were starting labs today as Professor Sprout called out, “Gentleman, come pull a name out of the basket to determine your partners for the semester. We’re going to start with identifying organisms under the microscope today.

Harry reached into the basket eagerly and pulled out a slip. “Please be Hermione, please be Hermione, please be—aw man, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Who’d you get?” Colin asked.

“Luna,” Harry said with an eye roll.

“Aw. Er, I mean—she’s not that bad,” Colin said.

The disappointment on Colin’s face did not go unnoticed by Ginny. I wonder if there’s something more there, Ginny wondered as she looked at the blonde. She’d already heard plenty of stories of how she was odd from the guys. 

“Who’d you get?” Harry asked her.

“Huh? Oh, um—Ginny checked her slip—Hermione,” she said as Harry shook his head in disbelief.

“What the hell!”

“Sorry, bro,” Ginny shrugged. 

She walked over to Hermione’s table and sat down.

“Hello again,” Hermione said brightly. 

“Hey,” Ginny said as she set down her books. “So we’re, er, supposed to look for things in the microscope?” 

“Yes, do you have the packet from last week?” Hermione asked.

“Uh, yeah, in that notebook, I think.” Ginny gestured to the notebook.

Hermione shot her a playful smile as she reached for the notebook and looked inside.

Ginny was distracted by Harry attempting to work with Luna and the fact that Draco was hovering a little too close to them for Ginny’s liking. She didn’t see that Hermione had opened the book to one of Ron’s lyric pages.

“What’s this?” Hermione asked in amazement. “So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans. Holding me closer until our eyes meet. You won’t ever be alone, wait for me to come ho—” 

“Nothing! That’s—uh, nothing,” Ginny snatched the notebook back. “Here’s the packet. She pulled out the papers they needed to complete their work for the day.

“You write song lyrics? That’s right, you’re here on a music scholarship, aren’t you?” Hermione said interestedly.

“Er, yeah. How did you…?” 

“I help out in the administration building, remember? I was working when you bumped into me last week,” Hermione reminded Ginny.

“Oh, right,” Ginny said. “Should we get on with the work?”

Hermione nodded as they began completing the assignment. There was no denying it; Hermione was definitely flirting with her. And that wouldn’t go over well. Not while Ginny knew Harry had his eyes on her. The bro-code was sacred. She’d have to play it cool and not let Hermione find any more of Ron’s lyrics. 

That evening, Ginny flopped onto her bed after a grueling training session. She was about to pass out when a pillow hit her in the face. “What the hell was that for?” Ginny asked, tossing the pillow back at Harry.

“That was for flirting with Hermione today! You know I had my eye on her!” he snarled.

“I wasn’t flirting with her! Trust me, she’s not my type.” If she was being honest, she and Ron might make a cute couple, but Ginny was definitely not into girls. 

“Well, why was she giving you the flirty eyes?”

“I don’t know, man. I don’t know! I can put in a good word for you if that’s what you want,” Ginny suggested.

Harry froze and sat on his bed. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. You’d really do that? Talk me up, see if she’s interested?”

“Yeah, sure.” Why not? Ginny thought.

“What do you want in exchange?” Harry asked her.

“Wh-what?” Ginny asked.

“It’s only fair—you help me out, I help you out,” Harry thought for a moment. “You wanted to play in the Beauxbatons game, right? What if I helped you train and get better? Maybe Coach McGonagall will move you up?”

Ginny’s face lit up with excitement. “You really think so?” She realized a second too late that her voice was too high. “I mean, you really think so?” she said again after she lowered it.

“Er, yeah.”

Ginny held out her hand. “Deal.”

As Harry took her hand in his, her phone rang. 

“Ah, bollocks, what does Mum want?” Ginny let it go to voicemail and listened to the message after.

“Hi, Dear! It’s Mum. I’m just calling to remind you about the carnival this weekend! Remember, you and your sister both promised to be there, and Aunt Muriel will have a cow if you’re not there. I’ll be expecting to see you, alright? Okay. See you Sunday. I hope Hogwarts is treating you well. Love you!”

“Ah, that bloody carnival,” Ginny said as she laid back on her bed again.

“The debutante thing?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, my aunt roped my sister into participating in the season. She’s not happy about it. And it looks like I have to go too for some ruddy reason.”

“My Aunt Petunia’s on the board, too. At least Hermione will be there! You can give me pointers,” Harry figured.

“Er, yeah, it’ll be great,” Ginny lied.

How in the bloody hell am I going to pose as Ron and me? Ginny thought as she made a mental note to text the twins tomorrow. If she survived the day with Harry, Hermione, and  Lavender, it’d be a miracle if it wasn’t a disaster.