The Selection

For anyone who hasn't read The Selection, it's basically a competition set in a sort of futuristic time period where there's one prince, and 35 girls from across the country are selected to go to the palace, and over the course of about six months (give or take) he is expected to choose one of them to marry. A little like the Bachelor, I guess.

This will be like that, except there will 2 Selections, one for Harry and one for Hermione, who are twins and the prince and princess in this story. The reasons it won't be a crossover are

I'm using NO characters from the original Selection.

The only place titles I'm using are New Asia and Illéa.

While some of the events will be the same or similar, those will be very few and far in between.

There will be no references to the original Selection. (If there are I'll explain them in the A/N.

Hermione fidgeted in her seat. She was anxious. Today was the day she met the Selected. Her twin, Harry put hand on her shoulder. "Don't be so nervous, 'Mione."

70 girls had arrived the previous night, and they'd be meeting them during breakfast. It had been decided that Harry's and Hermione's Selections would each be held in separate wings of the palace, so as not to cause any confusion or mix-ups. They had ten minutes until they had to report to their separate breakfasts.

"This will be the most interaction with girls I've ever had, Harry," she whispered.

"I know. It's the same for me. Don't worry, Hermione, with 35 girls, you can't possibly screw it up," he said.

"He's right, you know," said their mother, Lily. "Your father and I are confident you'll both find the one."

Hermione nodded, reassured as her father echoed the sentiments. A glance at the clock revealed it was time to leave, and Hermione and her mother departed.

It had been decided that since they couldn't eat their meals all together for the moment, their parents would alternate. Lily would have breakfast with Hermione, James would come for lunch, and Lily would return for dinner, and the following day would be flopped, and so on.

Hermione smoothed down the violet dress she was wearing, and entered the breakfast hall in that wing of the palace.

The girls all turned their attention to the princess (although they too were considered princesses until they were dismissed from the Selection.)

Hermione looked over the array of faces, fixing a charming smile onto her face. "Good morning ladies. I trust you all slept well?"

There was a collective "Good morning, Your Highness" followed by a collective "Yes, Your Highness."

Hermione took her seat next to her mother, and muttered in an undertone "Anything I should know?"

She was asking for any information that would help prepare her for the one-on-one meetings after breakfast.

"There are too girls with New Asian roots, one Japanese and one Indian, so be mindful of their customs," her mother warned. "And, just for your knowledge, the Indian girl has a twin sister in your brother's Selection."

"That's interesting," Hermione replied. "Anything else?"

"Not off the top of my head, my dear. Don't fret, you'll do fine. They're all here for you."

Hermione nodded, and discreetly studied the girls as she ate.

The Indian girl was laughing quietly with a curly-haired blonde girl, there was a girl with classically beautiful looks that the others didn't seem to like much, the Japanese girl barely spoke, and there was a platinum-blonde girl that everyone gave strange looks. And a loud, dark-skinned girl, who seemed very friendly, and all the others seemed to like. Amongst others.

Hermione certainly had her work cut out for her.

After breakfast, they were shown to the Ladies' Room, and while it was for Ladies, Hermione was not allowed in unless expressly invited by the Selected girls, although her mother was. Hermione supposed that was to help them bond.

So she knocked politely at the door, and asked for Lady Parvati, who her first one-on-one was scheduled with. Lady Parvati was the Indian girl, and Hermione couldn't deny she was very beautiful. Her maids had dressed her in traditional Indian garb, and it was vivid scarlet trimmed with gold. Hermione supposed the maids had all dressed their charges in vivid colors, knowing that Hermione liked them best. It was a sublte tactic, but it certainly showed the maids' dedication.

Parvati seemed a little reserved, but Hermione was sure she'd gotten a genuine smile or two by the time it was over. She coaxed the girl into talking about herself, and her family, and what living in Godric's Hollow was like.

Another girl that stuck out in Hermione's mind was Luna Lovegood. Whiile Hermione wasn't sure she could really have a romantic relationship with her, the girl was very honest, while still being polite. Hermione decided to keep her around for a while, as a sort of insider. She felt she could trust the strange girl.

Then there was Angelina Johnson, the loud girl with lovely dark skin and a dazzling smile. She'd been dressed in deep sapphire blue, and she was absolutely wonderful. Hermione was certain she wanted to keep this girl around for a while, although she wasn't sure yet who would make it to the Elite (the final six). But she had at least a month before anyone expected her to get that far.

The Japanese girl, Cho Chang, was very beautiful, and very graceful. Her mother murmured to her at dinner that the girl would make an excellant queen if Hermione were to fall in love with her.

HARRY'S POV

When he entered the breakfast room after parting ways with his mother and sister, all the girls turned their eyes to him almost expectantly.

"It's absolutely lovely to have each of you here," he began, "I hope you all slept well?"

There was a collective "Yes, Your Highness."

"Well, I hope you all have a lovely morning, and after breakfast we'll begin one-on-one meetings with each of you."

They bid him a good morning and Harry sat next to his father at the head of the table.

"Be very kind to them, Harry," his father murmured so only Harry could hear, "Young girls are very sensitive. You'd not believe how many burst into tears because I'd said the wrong thing."

"Of course, Dad," Harry replied.

After breakfast, the girls were shown to their Womens' Parlor, which Harry and James were expressly forbidden to enter unless invited in.

"It's meant to help them bond with each other," James told him, "and your mother as well, though she won't be joining them until later, once she's done meeting your sister's Selected."

Harry nodded, and asked from the doorway to meet with Lady Daphne.

Daphne Greengrass seemed perfectly lovely to Harry, but to be honest, so did all the ones after that. Padma, Ginevra, Alicia, Hannah, Marietta, and so on and so on. He had no idea who to dismiss, and he was expected to dismiss at least five within the first three days, although after that the pace slowed down.

He wished he could speak to Hermione. Hermione was always very decisive. But this had to be his decision, and his decision alone. His family was allowed to tell them who they liked or disliked, and allowed to give their input, but at the end of the day only Harry was allowed to dismiss or keep girls.

During dinner that night, his father told him that a girl like Padma or Hannah would be a very good queen. They seemed very pliable and very well-mannered. Of course, that was only if Harry fell in love with one of them. Above all he should choose for love, his parents were both clear about that.

He also told him Hermione had already dismissed five girls, leaving her at thirty. Harry had yet to dismiss a single one, and it'd look bad if he took to long to decide, he knew. So he, after much deliberating and wondering, picked five girls to send home. Since none of them really stuck out in his mind, he was confident he wasn't making a mistake.

ANGELINA'S POV

On the second morning, Angelina was once again woken up early. But she didn't mind. She was glad to see the princess again.

She had two maids, Alice and Cara, and they dressed her in an emerald green sundress for the day, as it was expected to be warm, despite the beginning of October. "The princess adores bright colors," Alice told her confidentially.

"Yes," Cara followed, "we're hoping this will help attract her attention, although all the other maids are doing it as well."

"But none of the other ladies are as beautiful as our charge, are they? I'm sure Princess Hermione already adores you," Alice assured her.

Angelina gave a nervous smile. "I hope so. She's absolutely wonderful."

"So are you, Lady Angelina," said Alice, "we're sure she'll love you."

"Oh," said Cara, "some of the other maids were telling us about one of the Selected, Lady Pansy."

"Yes, I met her. She seems rather mean," Angelina said.

"The way we heard it, she is," Cara agreed, "be wary of her. Girls like that just want to get inside your head. Do not let her."

"Eyes on the prize, if you will," Alice followed.

"Of course," Angelina said, before they sent her off to breakfast.

PARVATI'S POV

That morning, they dressed her once again in an Indian style dress, and told her it was to make her stand out.

"Embrace your roots. All the other girls will be in normal Illéan dresses. You can stand out," one of her maids, Eliza, told her.

"Of course, they're doing the same thing with Lady Cho now that they know they can. She'll be mainly in kimonos and such now," Gabby told her.

"Do you think the princess notices me?" Parvati asked nervously. She'd seemed very nice yesterday, but Parvati was sure she'd seemed nice to everybody.

"Of course she does," Eliza assured her.

"After all, how could she not?" asked Gabby encouragingly.

LUNA'S POV

They dressed Luna in a bright purple dress that morning, saying it went very well with her skin tone.

"Absolutely lovely," said her maid, China, as she looked her over.

China seemed so confident in Luna, that the blonde didn't have the heart to tell her she wasn't interested in the princess, and was only being kept around as a sort of friend to help the princess.

Well, at least the food was good. Not to mention for every week that she stayed, there would be a check sent home to compensate her father.

So Luna pulled on the matching purple sandals and headed to breakfast, giving China a cheery smile as she left.

A/N: So if anyone wants to submit their own character, I encourage you to, for either Harry's or Hermione's Selection. Also, I myself have not even decided who will end up with who, so if you have any preferences feel free to tell me. This will be kinda interactive, I think.

Also, yes, Hermione's gay in this story. Don't make it a big deal. Obviously there's going to be slash. If you don't like that just stop reading and find a hetero story.

Any questions/comments/constructive criticisms?