It's their next potions class, and once again, Robb can't keep his eyes off of Daenerys and Jon.

This time, though, it's not because he's pining , or because he's annoyed that his cousin's getting to spend so much time with his crush. He's just curious, really, to see if Jon's behavior will change at all now that Robb's done everything in his power to remove himself from the equation and give Jon the all-clear to pursue his feelings.

"Robb, dear," Margaery scolds him, tapping her fingernails on their desk until he turns his head towards her instead.

"Huh?" Robb asks her, distracted. He hasn't forgotten she's there, the way he had those first weeks when they'd been forced to work together; he'd just expected her to be watching Jon and Dany, too, waiting for some sign that their schemes were starting to work.

"It's rude to stare at people," she teases him, rolling her eyes in a way that he's come to recognize is more fond than actually annoyed.

"But I have to see if Jon makes his move," Robb points out, leaning his head closer to hers so that they can't be overheard. It's perfect for their ruse anyway, the scooting closer together, the talking in low whispers. He can't see them from the outside, but he's sure if he could, they'd look like the couple they're supposed to be.

"I'm sure you can look away for a few minutes to work on our assignment," Margaery tuts as she starts chopping one of the assorted roots on the table beside them. "It's not as though these things happen instantly, anyway."

Robb blinks in confusion, because he hadn't considered that. He'd assumed that he would pretend to like someone else, that Jon and Dany would just magically fall together, and that his work here would be done.

Margaery can tell he's puzzled by her words, and fixes with him a pointed glare. "You liked her for how long without asking her out? I don't know why you expect Jon will do it within one day ," she informs him, and Robb lets out a groan as he runs a hand through his mess of curls.

"Merlin, I didn't think of that . If he's as bad as me, we're going to be fake dating through graduation," he says, although idly, he thinks it's odd to hear Margaery talking about his crush on Dany in the past tense. Liked . As if his feelings have just magically gone away overnight.

They haven't, Robb doesn't think. They're still there, lingering, but his love for Jon is far greater than his infatuation for Daenerys could ever be. He'll just have to start thinking of the whole situation as confidently as Margaery does; then maybe he can convince himself that it all meant nothing, and that seeing Jon and Dany together when this is all through won't be hard .

Margaery giggles at his dramatics, tossing her perfectly even ingredient to the cauldron as she pushes some root or another to him to chop.

When she laughs like that, and distracts him, at least Robb feels like it's all a little easier.

"While that wouldn't be the most horrible thing in the word, I'm sure we can find some way to speed things along," she assures him, and then they start working on their potion in earnest, Jon and Dany in the back of his mind for the rest of the class period.

Robb's gotten quite used to seeing Margaery outside of classes now, too; they make a point to do their homework together in the library some afternoons, so that people can see them and remember they're together. He goes over to the Slytherin table and eats with Theon sometimes, and Margaery's always quick to leave her gaggle of friends to come down and sit by (or often on ) him instead. They go for strolls around the lake, or play gobstones in the courtyard, and more often than not, she finds herself with him and his siblings over at the Gryffindor table instead.

The more days go past without spotting Jon and Daenerys together, though, the more often Margaery and Robb find ways to sneak off on their own, somewhere private where they can't be heard. It sort of defeats the purpose of fake dating a little bit, to be tucked into corners where no one can see them or in empty classrooms where no one's watching, but it's fine.

They're scheming . And he quite likes Margaery Tyrell at this point, too; Robb hopes that when their schemes have worked and they no longer have to pretend like this, they'll find an excuse to still be friends. Not all couples hate each other after a breakup, right? Margaery's almost obnoxiously brilliant, he's sure she'll find some excuse for them to still be amicable.

One particular afternoon, they're inside of an unused greenhouse, because Margaery says she likes the flowers that are growing in this one. He wouldn't have imagined her as the sort of person who comes and spends time alone in the greenhouses, but he supposes he's learning lots of things about her now that he wouldn't have guessed before.

In a greenhouse full of flowers, though, with their heads bent together trying to figure out how to nudge Jon and Dany together faster, Robb finds that the nicest smelling thing is still Margaery and that floral scent that's always clinging gently to her whenever he's close enough by to notice.

"Robb, your ideas are ridiculous," Margaery tells him when he proposes that they curse Daenerys's broom and have it fly her right into Jon's arms at the next Quidditch match. He's proposed all number of useless suggestions like this one, but Margaery's barely hiding a smile at worst and giggling at them at best, so Robb doesn't plan on suggesting anything more genuinely helpful anytime soon.

"Ridiculous? No way, this one's fool proof! I mean, sure, I feel like Daenerys is the kind of girl who'd rather be saving Jon than the other way around, but… we can't fly him off the pitch during a Gryffindor game, my team needs him!"

Robb waits to see if he gets a laugh or a smile for that, but instead, Margaery has a thoughtful look. "That's coming up soon, isn't it? Your first match of the season?"

"Wait, are you actually considering this?" Robb asks, disbelieving, and Margaery quickly shakes her head, her hair fanning around her shoulders in soft waves as she does.

"Of course not, we'll think of something else," Margaery says, "But I'll need to borrow something of yours for the game. A scarf, a tie — I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend if I weren't dressed up supporting you, now would I?"

Robb grins, because Merlin, she really does think of everything, doesn't she? He wouldn't have even considered wanting her to dress up in Gryffindor garb to cheer for him against Ravenclaw, but now that he is , he can picture it all too easily. Her long neck kept warm by a red and gold scarf around it, one of Sansa's red and gold headbands keeping her brown hair from blowing into her face, maybe even holding up a banner with a direwolf on it in his honor. That only makes his smile grow ; even if it's not real, the idea of her out there supporting him makes his face feel warm.

"Whatever you want, you've got it. Good thing you're not on the team, though; nothing in the world could make me wear Slytherin colors," he teases, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Not even Daenerys?" Margaery asks, and he wonders if the answer would have been yes, before all this started and he'd had to temper his feelings for his rival captain.

"Not even for Daenerys," Robb agrees, then wrinkles his nose. "And let's bloody hope Jon doesn't start wearing Slytherin colors for her when this all works, either; I can't have a traitor on my team!"

Margaery bumps his shoulder lightly, then they resume their plotting, trying to find an actual viable plan to nudge Jon and Dany together this time lest they be out here all day.

In the end, they stumble across their plan almost entirely by accident. They'd gone back to talking about Margaery's attire for the upcoming Quidditch game, with Robb joking about how they could go to Hogsmeade and buy her a lion head to wear to really sell her support, and then suddenly Margaery snaps her fingers and tells him that's it .

All they have to do is frame it as a group hangout to get Jon and Daenerys spending time with each other outside of class, and what better place to have a not-date than Hogsmeade?

It's too obvious to just have Robb, Margaery, Dany, and Jon there; Jon will know it's a set up instantly, and he won't thank Robb for it. He usually spends Hogsmeade weekends with Theon, too, though, so they'll invite him along as well, and Sansa, who seems fonder of Margaery by the day now and would keep Theon from interrupting their matchmaking too much.

As they part ways, Robb tells Margaery to keep him posted on whether Daenerys agrees to hang out with them or not, and only then does their plan start to seem a little bit difficult. Margaery points out that she and Dany are hardly close, and it would seem wildly random if she invited her to hang out after years and years of not .

"But you have to," Robb protests, and Margaery shakes her head.

"It'll be less obvious coming from you, trust me ," Margaery says, pressing a performative kiss to his cheek as they part ways and she heads towards the Slytherin common room, leaving him wondering how in the seven hells he's supposed to pull this off.

Asking Daenerys Targaryen to hang out is something that Robb's thought about for ages . When he imagined it, though, he always imagined himself doing something charming, or impressive, and that she'd fall for him on the spot, before they'd ever even gone anywhere or done anything together.

He supposes it should be easier now, when it's not his own feelings or pride at stake if she says no. She can't be a girl he wants to date anymore, after all; she's the girl Jon fancies, and if Robb wants Jon to be able to act on his feelings, then he can't be the way he's been for ages, mooning and nervous and tripping over himself at the sight of Dany.

Still, that sense of awe he feels every time he sees her doesn't just go away overnight. He passes her in the hall, the library, even on the way back to the castle from Quidditch practice, and he still hasn't gone up and just talked to her like he's promised Margaery he would.

His fake-girlfriend tuts in disapproval everytime she asks about his progress, too, and somehow, that's more annoying than his lingering crush could ever be.

"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave," Margaery prods him. They've spent so much time together by now that she knows precisely how to get under his skin, and it's that final comment that pushes him past his limit.

"Being brave doesn't mean not being scared ," Robb replies through gritted teeth, paraphrasing something his father had once told him, leaving out the bit where he's meant to actually do the thing he's afraid of. He will . Time before their Hogsmeade weekend is dwindling, and he can't let Margaery be right . She's so smug about it when she is, and the only way to wipe the smirk off of her face is to not let her be right.

And he owes this to Jon, besides.

"Forgive me, I must have forgotten how terrifying tiny blonde girls can be," Margaery quips, and Robb grumbles under his breath, "It'll be done before the next time I see you,"

Margaery narrows her eyes as if she doesn't believe him, but doesn't say whatever it is she wants to in response.

Robb doubts he would have wanted to hear it much anyway — Margaery's nearly always right, and she enjoys it entirely too much. He wants to be right this time, that he can just do it , so he decides after potions, he'll go and find Dany.

Robb's not creepy , he hopes, but he has admired Daenerys for a long time, so he's picked up on some of her habits. Like the fact that during her free period, she often goes down to the creature pens on the outskirts of the forest. He's heard her talk about how much she likes dragons, and though they aren't usually on campus, he imagines that maybe she wants to learn more about them, or maybe she just likes the other creatures, too.

Either way, he's never been so bold as to follow her out there before, and he spends the whole walk across the green trying to think of an excuse for being there. He still wants her to take him seriously, and not think ill of him. If all goes well, she'll be his cousin's girlfriend, after all — and if there's any lingering other reason he wants to seem completely normal to her, well, he'll forget it with time, he's sure.

By the time he's there, he hasn't thought of a good excuse to be here. Extra credit? He just likes the animals? Someone cast a spell on him that made him walk this direction? He's out of time, though; Dany is there, just like he'd guessed, watching a knarl scurry around a pen, and she glances up at the sound of his feet crunching against the grass.

"Hi, Robb," she says brightly, and he remembers not too long ago when such a simple greeting was enough to make his stomach swoop.

He won't call what happens now a swoop, but her smile is infectious, and he grins back at her. "Hullo," he echoes her sentiment, all pretense forgotten as he walks over to where she's standing, leaning against the fence.

"He seems like he's in a good mood; you must not have tried to feed him," Robb says, reminding himself mentally that he does not like Daenerys in that way anymore. There's no need to be nervous; he can talk to her like a regular person, just like she's anyone else.

"He's surprisingly more interesting when he's not savagely attacking people," Dany admits, then adds, "Well, most people anyway. I'm sure there's some who'd deserve to have him set on them."

"Too bad Joffrey's not around, I'd love to toss him a snack," Robb replies, his nose wrinkling at the thought of Margaery's shit ex-boyfriend. He's not particularly popular around the castle, and he's rewarded with a laugh from Daenerys.

She does have a lovely laugh; it's just as satisfying as amusing Margaery has come to be, and Robb's shocked to find it's almost effortless, too. He's not overthinking, he's not trying too hard, he's just… being himself. Dany isn't put out by his presence, she doesn't even question it, and Robb wonders if it would have been like this, before. If he'd just talked to her like anyone else when he'd still fancied himself head over heels for her, would it have been this easy?

"I'd love to see that, honestly. Think he'd actually come if we owled him?" There's something mischievous, almost a little dangerous twinkling in her eyes, and it still excites him, the way it always did from afar. The way he can never quite tell if she's joking or serious — she has always seemed willing to stand up for those who can't defend themselves. Maybe she would set a dangerous creature on Joffrey if he was here. Robb would hardly blame her. Maybe she just wants to scare him. Maybe she's only teasing after all.

He doesn't know her well enough to read the situation completely, but maybe if he hadn't been such a prat, he could have, by now. Maybe Jon would know, if he were the one here instead.

He's not, though; Jon's not taking any action for himself as far as Robb can tell, and that's why he's here, after all.

"Not sure that would work, but I'm sure we could find a thing or two to use on him at Zonko's this weekend," Robb segues, and it flows smoothly, the way he's always able to talk to Dany in his imagination but not so much when he actually sees her. He doesn't pause to revel in the fact that he's managed to bring up Hogsmeade without stumbling over the invitation; instead, he continues easily. "A few of us are going together — Margaery, Theon, my little sister Sansa, Jon. If you'd like to join us."

Dany's eyes don't look fiery and unpredictable and full of surprises anymore. They sparkle — Merlin, she's beautiful when they sparkle, but Robb can't afford to think that, because the reason they look like that is because he's mentioned Jon. She'd already been offering him a warm smile at the fact that he was offering at all, but he can read it on her face, that it's the mention of Jon that really has her sold.

"I'd love to," she agrees. "With such great minds combined, I'm sure we could really give that Joffrey a rotten day… or three."

She winks at him, and Robb has to remind himself that he's not the boy who's hung up on Daenerys Targaryen anymore. He's Margaery Tyrell's fake boyfriend, and he's a supportive cousin, and his legs don't feel like jelly because of Dany anymore.

"Brilliant! Meet us in the front corridor around 10 am on Saturday, then?" Dany nods, and then Robb gives her a wave, heading back towards the castle as if he'd just been out for a walk, and hadn't planned this at all.

He casts a glance over his shoulder, where Daenerys is still leaning against the fence, watching the creatures, her silver-blonde hair shining in the sun. For a second, he marvels at how easy that had been, at how she's just a person like anyone else, approachable and fun to talk to and not nearly as untouchable as she seems.

It's too late, though. Robb hadn't worked up the nerve when he might have had a chance, and he's past that, now.

Still, as he jerks his head back towards the castle and focuses on going to tell Margaery their plan has worked, he gives himself the briefest of moments to wallow.

What if he'd talked to her sooner? What if he'd gotten to know her, really and truly know her, before she'd been paired with Jon that fateful day in class? What if...?

What if indeed .