The Bachelor

Summary: Sirius is sick of seeing his best friend not dating. So Arabella and he come up with a plan. They make him send in an application and audition for the Bachelor on ABC. They also try to convince another person to become one of the bachelorettes. See if their plan plays out or goes completely wrong.

Chapter 1: The Acceptances

"James, open the bloody letter!" pleaded Sirius.

Here I was, a twenty-three year old Auror. I am a hardworking person that doesn't have time for many distractions. I'm not involved with anyone at the moment. Being Auror takes up a lot of my time. I'm not complaining though, it's my two best friends that are. My best friends, Sirius Black and Arabella Manchmal, think that I need to settle down with someone. They say I'm no fun anymore. Whatever the bloody hell that is supposed to mean.

So here I was now, sitting around our kitchen table, holding what could change my life forever.

"Come on James," complained Ari. "Just open the damn letter. Maybe you will finally meet someone, and you can finally stop being such a boring person."

"Ha, ha," I said sourly.

"Just open it up Prongs," begged Sirius giving me his ever so famous puppy eyes.

"Hold your tail Padfoot," I said sarcastically.

I tore open the letter and stared at the contents in mock terror. Sirius ripped the letter out of my grip and glanced at it. He turned to Ari and gave her a high five.

Ari began, "Congratulations Mr. James Potter on being selected as our 9th Bachelor on ABC's The Bachelor. Enclosed we have times and dates of your departure. This is excellent James!"

"Aw, our little Prongsie is finally growing up," cooed Sirius.

"It says here that you will take a nonstop British Airway 283 flight. It leaves this Sunday at 9:55 am and will arrive in L.A. at 12:55 pm," explained Ari.

"How long is the flight?" wondered Sirius.

I took the letter and read, "11 hours."

"Wow, you have fun with that! It would probably be easier to Apparate," said Sirius.

"Well genius, they don't know James is a wizard," said Ari.

"Oh," he said. "They don't?"

I shook my head at him. "Well I have three days to change my mind."

Ari stared at him. "I will drag you to that airport if I have to. Sirius and I have to go check on something. Come on Sirius, let's go."

I looked at them pointedly. "Are you not going to tell me where you are going?"

"No," was the answer from Sirius right before he Apparated.

"Lily my dear!" called Ari as Sirius and she stepped into their flat.

"Yes Ari," Lily replied coming out of the kitchen with a book in her hand.

"What are you reading?" asked Sirius.

"A book," said Lily stating the obvious.

"I would never have guessed," cried Sirius.

"Did the mail come yet?" asked Ari.

"Yeah, it just came. It's sitting on the counter," said Lily still absorbed in her reading. "I haven't looked through it yet."

Ari walked into the kitchen and started sorting through their mail. 'Bill, bill, invitation, wedding, bill, come on be in here!' Ari thought to herself. 'Eureka.'

"Here's your letters," said Ari as she handed Lily some envelopes.

Lily glazed her eyes to the materials in front of her and shifted through her mail. Then she stopped on one, and Ari knew that it was probably the one she found.

Lily opened the envelope tentatively. Her eyes scanned the letter until her face broke into a grin.

"What?" Ari asked impatiently.

"I was picked as one of the twenty-five Bachelorettes," gaped Lily.

"Bloody hell!" shouted Sirius. "Damn, we're good aren't we Ari?"

"Yes, we are."

Lily said, "I'm leaving in a week!"

"Excellent, what day?"

"Wednesday."

"Are you going to start packing?" wondered Sirius.

"I have a week Sirius," laughed Lily, "I'll pack in five days."

"This is exciting!" exclaimed Ari.

"I'm going to have one of the best times of my life," said Lily as she turned on the TV. One of her favorite shows was on, CSI. She certianly loved this show, it might be because that Lily is an Auror. Or maybe just because she liked the guys on the show.

"I love this show!" shouted Lily.

"That's lovely," muttered Ari.

This CSI episode was about a sexual predator on the loose, and Sara's friend, Melissa and how her husband died. It was nearing the end of the show and they still hadn't figured out either situation.

Lily spoke up, "Reed is the sexual predator, no doubt about it. He can make up some damn good stories though."

"But he works during the day though."

"That's just his story; really, he peeks in on the girls when they are getting ready for bed. He watches them every night so he knows their schedule. Melissa also killed her husband," said Lily.

"How do you know that?"

"Well if you think about it, since the guy that broke into their house told them what happened, he didn't kill him. If he was guilty then why would he tell them that he broke an entry? Also if you look at the blood stain on the shirt it doesn't describe Sara's description."

"How are you so good at this?" asked Ari.

"I am an Auror, aren't I?" Lily looked at her friends with confusion.

"I thought you were a singer," Sirius said.

"That's my cover up," Lily said happily, "Moody wants me to travel the world to see if Voldemort has influenced any other part of the world other than most of Europe." Sirius nodded dumbly, pretending to understand.

"Well ladies I must be going," announced Sirius. "Good luck Lily, I'll be there to see you off ma'dear."

"Thanks," smiled Lily. "Bye Sirius."

Sunday

I woke up at 6:30 am since I had to be there at 7:45. Sirius woke up early and finished helping me pack my bags. I was all set at 7:15 and my stomach was grumbling. The bacon in my freezer looked very tempting but I decided to go with some cereal instead. I was so anxious to get to the airport.

At 7:30, Sirius and I drove to the airport. Sirius was making a scene as usual. He was pretending to weep and hang all over me. I laughed and gave him a quick hug. I was going to miss Sirius. He wasn't allowed to pass the metal detectors, so I gave him one last wave and started my new adventure.

For a couple hours I sat around the gate. I bought a coffee and a newspaper. Our flight was on time. Around 9:00, the plane began boarding. I was seated in 14C.

The lady at the entrance of the gate called out, "Rows 1 – 10 are being seated at this time."

Everyone that was Row 1 – 10 rose and lined up behind the gate.

Ten minutes later, the lady called again, "Rows 11 – 20 are now being seated."

I rose from my seat and made my way to the gate. I handed the lady my ticket.

She tore off part of it and handed it back to me. "Have a nice flight."

"Thank you," I told her and continued down the hall.

It took another half an hour to get everyone seated on the plane. By 9:50, everyone was finally seated. Kids were quieted. Parents were relaxing in their seats. Loners were staring out the windows. And old people were trying to make conversation with the people sitting next to them.

I was seated next to the window. I immediately pulled out my music. Ten minutes later the Captain announced that we were flying high above the Atlantic Ocean and that we would have our first movie in about ten minutes.

The first movie was X-Men. It was a movie that I have seen on numerous occasions. So I listened to my music through that movie. Around 11:00 London time, the Hostess passed around some drinks.

Another movie came on at 2:00; Charlie's Angels. I watched this movie. I fell asleep around 4:15 and didn't walk up until there was an hour left of our flight. I caught the tail end of Return of the King.

"This is your Captain speaking," sounded the voice over the movie, "we are scheduled to land at 12:55 pm Los Angeles time. Right now it is 12:30 pm. We are right on time, and will be arriving in LAX in twenty-five minutes. Thank you for flying British Airways and enjoy your time in Los Angeles, California."

The sign above the seats blinked; Buckle Up. Our landing was smooth. It took awhile to actually get off the plane, but I was there nonetheless. I gathered my luggage at the conveyor belt, and walked around looking for some sort of sign as to where I should go.

Speak of a sign. There was an elderly man with graying hair in a black suit with a sign that read 'James Potter'. He looked more like a grandfather than someone to work on something like this.

I walked up to him and said, "Hello, I'm James Potter."

"Welcome to Los Angeles Mr. Potter. I am your driver Ned Warner," said the gentlemen, extending his hand forward.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," he said. "Come this way. There is a limo waiting for you."

"Okay," I said, following Ned.

The limo was a plain, black stretch. It was gleaming in the afternoon sunlight of Los Angeles. I took in the sight around me. There were palm trees that lined the streets, blue skies were filtered with fluffy white clouds.

"Mr. Potter, would you care for a bite to eat before I take you to your house?" asked Ned politely. "You are not expected at the house for another two hours."

"I would love that," I said. "I missed the food on the plane."

Fifteen minutes later, Ned pulled up to a restaurant called Big Daddy's Barbeque. How American. The food was excellent. I had barbeque ribs. They were amazing.

From there, Ned drove me to the house. It took about forty minutes. I didn't know where we were going, or how this place was going to look. I thought it was going to be a normal sized house.

Ned pulled into an ancient looking Chateau mansion. It was beautiful. The outside walls were covered in stones. Flowers and trees were planted everywhere. The Chateau was practically hidden.

Inside was even more glorious than the outside. There was a grand staircase that was made of marble and twisted all the way up the stairs. Ned led me into the deliberation room where Chris was seated.

"Thank you," I whispered to Ned.

"No problem Mr. Potter," said Ned.

"Mr. Potter is my father, please call me James," I pleaded. "My friends also call me Prongs from time to time."

"Alright Prongs," he said with a wink and walked back outside.

"Good evening James," said Chris. "This is your deliberation room. As you know twenty-five beautiful women are going to be arriving here on Wednesday evening. One of the girls is your friend and also the spy. She will be filling you in on what's going on in the house. Now I advise you to rest up for Wednesday. Enjoy the Hidden Chateau, it's all yours."

I took my liberty and roamed through "The Castle" as I liked to call it. Not as grand as Hogwarts, but somewhat as luxurious. I could get used to this place.

Wednesday

Ari was overly excited and woke me up at about 6:00 this morning. She was rather helpful until it was time for her to go to work.

"Now Lily, be a good little girl and write me lots," said Ari, hugging me tightly.

"Oh, I will Ari," I said. "I am so excited!"

"I'm excited for you!" she squealed. "Sirius will meet you at the airport to see you off. Bye love!"

"Bye," I said hugging her.

Then she disappeared with a quick pop.

Soon enough I arrived at the airport. My butterflies began to dance around in my stomach. Sirius was there waiting for me. He saw me off and I hugged him.

"Thank you so much for coming to see me off," I said thanking him again.

"It's not a problem Lily," he said. "Have a good time!"

I waved to him. At 9:15, they started boarding the plane. I slept through most of the flight.

We arrived in Los Angeles a little later than planned. It was 1:30 pm, and we were twenty-five minutes late. But I didn't feel rushed at all. At the moment I was quite calm. From here I was going to the hotel where all the girls were staying until we went to the Hidden Chateau.

I gathered my belongings and set off to find the limo that was supposed to take me to the hotel. Half-way through my investigation, I met Beth, a very tall basketball player from Ohio. She was wearing an OSU shirt, and her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was going to be in the Bachelor too. We hit it off very well and started talking immediately.

We soon found the main lounge of the airport. A dozen or so more girls were waiting there. There was a young man in a crisp black suit standing in the front calling out names.

The man called, "These limos will take you to the hotels you will be staying in until tonight. Don't forget what limo you are in because it will be the same one tonight. Limo One; Adriana, Coral, Paula, Sasha, and Yolanda. You may now exit through the double doors. The limo is waiting just outside." Five beautiful girls made their way to the limo.

"Limo Two is now here," preceded the Man. "Beth M., Dani, Molly, Ursula, and Wilma please go to the limo." Beth whispered a quick bye and she left.

"Limo Three; Beth W., Gabriella, Isabella, Opal, and Tanya. Limo Four; Emily, Fawn, Kendal, Raquel, and Valerie. And Limo Five; Heidi, Jocelyn, Lily, Nicole, and Queen. Good luck," finished the announcer.

I grabbed my bags and nervously made my way to the last limo. On the way I met a pretty ash brown haired, blue-green eyed girl. She was Jocelyn, and we made small talk on our way to the hotel. The other three girls were all fighting about something.

"Are you as nervous as I am?" wondered Jocelyn.

"I'm getting there," I said.

The limo stopped at a hotel. All the girls got out and went to their respected rooms. We weren't supposed to leave until 7:30. It was now 5:45. I decided to go wander around the hotel. I met up with some other girls; Beth, Jocelyn, Emily, and Gabriella. We talked around the pool for about a half an hour. Then we went back to our rooms to get ready.

"Hm," I said tapping my chin, "the green dress, the red dress, or the black dress?"

I answered my own question by picking the green dress. It was a deep emerald green color that matched my eyes perfectly. It fit snug to my figure. The neck was a plunging V-Neck that exposed my creamy white skin. The bottom of the dress ended right before the knees and flared out. It was my favorite dress of all times.

At 7:15, someone knocked on my door and told me that we were leaving in fifteen minutes, and to meet in the lobby.

The drive to the Hidden Chateau was about twenty minutes. The girls were fighting over who would get out of the limo first. They finally decided on this order; Queen, Nicole, Heidi, Jocelyn, and then me. We were the last limo too. So I would be the last person of the night.

The driver told us that we would be arriving at the mansion in five minutes. My nerves skyrocketed.