𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙎𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 ―𝐣𝐬𝐩

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞 - 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲

James

The second we walked into the Potions classroom, Nate and Dom slid into the seats at the back, completely absorbed in each other. Nate had his arm draped casually over the back of Dom's chair, his hand already creeping toward her thigh like they hadn't just spent the last few minutes glued to each other. I rolled my eyes, not that I could blame him. Dom looked ridiculous today, all red lipstick and legs for days. But I was too distracted by the girl next to me to give them more than a passing thought.

Martha Aurum—the bane of my existence, the seeker I hated more than anything, and the girl who for some godforsaken reason had asked me to sit with her today. I'd agreed, only because her tits looked fantastic in that tight school shirt and, okay, maybe also because she'd grabbed me last night and roped me into some ridiculous fake-boyfriend scheme. I should've been getting laid, but she'd ruined that by dragging me into her mess.

She led me to a seat near the front, and I reluctantly dropped down next to her, sighing as I leaned back in my chair. Slughorn was already at the front of the room, droning on about whatever the hell he thought was important today. I didn't need to listen. I never did. I'd read the material once and it stuck in my head like glue. I had a photographic memory, and it drove people like Martha and my little brother Albus crazy. They were both overachievers, working their arses off for top marks, while I did fuck-all and still beat them.

Martha, as expected, had her quill out, taking notes with meticulous attention. She always took Potions seriously, every line of her face etched in concentration. I couldn't help but stare, though not for the reasons I should've been. It was hard to focus when her shirt strained against her chest every time she bent forward slightly to scribble something down. Merlin, I needed a distraction before I lost my mind.

She glanced at me, noticing my silence. "Potter, are you even listening?"

"Not to Slughorn," I smirked, leaning closer. "But I'm definitely paying attention to you."

Her eyes narrowed, lips pressing into a tight line as she tried to ignore me. "Good, because we need to talk."

"I'm all ears," I said, leaning back lazily, stretching out my legs. If I wasn't going to get laid last night, I might as well enjoy teasing her now. "What could possibly be so important that you dragged me to sit with you today? Is it because of my beautiful face?"

Her glare sharpened. "I'm serious."

I held my hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. What's so important you need me to sit with you in Potions?"

She paused, looking around quickly to make sure no one was listening. "You need to be my fake boyfriend."

I blinked, caught off guard for a second. Of all the things she could've said, that wasn't one of them. "Come again?"

"I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend," she repeated, her voice low but firm. "Xavier's back, and if he finds out I lied, it's going to be a disaster."

I raised an eyebrow, intrigued despite myself. "Nate told me Xavier was your ex."

Her eyes flicked away, and she clenched her jaw. "He is. But I was drunk and panicked, alright? I didn't know he'd show up here again, and I needed something to make him back off."

I snorted. "So you told him we were dating? That's rich."

Her glare was back, full force. "I didn't plan it. He was flirting with me like he used to, but the asshole has a girlfriend now. It pissed me off, and before I knew it, I said we were together."

I leaned in, my smirk widening. "So, let me get this straight—you want me to play pretend because you couldn't handle your ex flirting with you while dating someone else?"