"Do you think you'll win?" Ron asked as they left the Gryffindor common room.

Harry sighed, taking his time to answer. "Honestly, I don't know. But I'll have to try my best."

Ron shook his head, climbing down the staircase. "I still can't believe that the third task is speed dating," the tall boy said. "I expected something more … deadly," he finished lamely.

Harry eyed his friend with raised eyebrows. "I think I deserve a break from all the deadly situations for once."

The boys walked in silence for a moment, both lost in their thoughts. Harry noticed some of the girls they were passing by giggling and whispering about him. He looked at his dress robes with embarrassment, checking if everything was in place.

"You know what, maybe something deadly would be a better idea," Harry said.

Ron smiled at his best friend. "That's right, girls are way scarier than dragons," he said.

"I mean, you can fight a dragon somehow, but what can you do about a girl?" he continued but was interrupted by a book smacking into his face.

"Oh, stop it, Harry will do fine," Hermione said and glared at the boys. "Harry, did you finish reading that book that I gave you?" she asked, not noticing Ron's furious expression and red cheeks.

"The Art of Seduction?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I did, but I'm not sure if it will be useful," he said.

Hermione punched him on the shoulder. "Just do what you've learned Harry, and I'm sure you will win," she said and the trio entered the Great Hall.

As much as Harry loved Hogwarts, even the magical ceiling of the Great Hall started to get boring as he got used to seeing it everyday. However, tonight, it was anything but boring. The walls were all painted pink, and instead of stars, big red hearts were flying above their heads.

"Huh, Snape probably hates this," Ron said in awe.

"Honestly, it's a little cheesy, don't you think?" Hermione voiced her thoughts, not really impressed with the decor.

Ron sighed. "Merlin, I love cheese."

Harry was sitting at his table, waiting for his first date. The rules of the task were simple - whoever manages to seduce most people in an hour wins. As Harry was fidgeting in his seat, his first date finally appeared.

"Professor Moody?" Harry asked, not believing his eyes.

"Yes, it's me, what are you, blind?" the man asked as he took a seat at Harry's table.

Harry was too stunned to speak, his mouth hanging open, his eyes staring at his teacher.

"Well, are you going to start talking or not boy?" Moody asked with annoyance in his voice. "Cause you know, you're supposed to talk to your date."

Harry blushed and tried to pull himself together. "What … what are you doing here, professor?" Harry asked.

Moody grimaced and took a sip of wine. "Isn't it obvious, Potter?" he asked. "I haven't been in a relationship for a long time, decided this could be a nice opportunity," he explained.

"Oh, I understand," Harry said, not really understanding. "So are you interested in one of the champions?" the boy asked.

Moody sighed again. "If you ever become an Auror, Potter, I hope you don't do any detective work, cause Merlin, you are stupid," the man said without any true disdain.

Harry couldn't bring himself to be annoyed, he was still too shocked at what exactly was going on here.

The professor continued, not waiting for Harry to say anything. "You know, this eye of mine has some advantages," he said.

"What kind of advantages?" Harry asked, trying to participate in the conversation, no matter how weird.

Moody smiled for the first time. It wasn't a pleasant sight on his scarred face. "Because with its help, I can see everything," he whispered. "And I mean, everything."

Harry blushed when he realized what the man seemed to be implying. "And that made you interested in one of the champions?" he asked again.

Moody nodded. "Yes, Mr Diggory seems to be truly blessed by nature, if you know what I mean," the man explained, just as the ring indicating the end of the first date rang throughout the Great Hall.

The man left Harry's table, and Harry finally started to process what in the world just happened. He definitely would have preferred fighting dragons.

After a not very successful date with a german witch, Harry started to get desperate. Even thought this task was ridiculous, he truly wanted to win the tournament.

Well, third time's the charm, he thought and hoped for the best.

"Hey, Harry," his date greeted him and Harry groaned.

"Fred?" he asked. "Seriously?"

"And George," the second twin entered and Harry was suddenly sitting across two of his friends, who kept grinning at him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Harry asked as he drank some of the wine, deciding this whole thing might be easier if he was drunk.

"Well," one of the twins started. "We both think that Fleur is gorgeous, so we decided to try our luck with her," the other twin continued.

"Both of you?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows.

The twins nodded. "Yeah, we thought it could double our chances, you know," George explained with a grin.

Harry shook his head, but couldn't help a smile. "But how am I supposed to win this now? First I get a date with professor Moody and now with you two."

The twins looked shocked. "You had a date with professor Moody?" they asked at the same time.

Harry sighed and explained what happened during his first date.

It's now or never, Harry thought as his fourth date entered his booth. And for the first time that day, Harry couldn't help but feel excitement.

A girl, seemingly his age, sat gracefully across from him and smiled shyly.

She's gorgeous, Harry thought as he looked at her face. She was pale, her black hair falling on her petite shoulders.

But, however beautiful the rest of her features were, one simply stood out. Her eyes. Her eyes were red, and Harry blushed as they locked with his green ones.

"Hello," Harry greeted the girl, finally finding his voice.

"Hi," she replied, seeming even more nervous than Harry was right now.

Okay, I hope your book is as good as you think, Hermione.

"Are you a wand holster?" Harry decided to go with one of the pick up lines he remembered from Hermione's book.

The girl wasn't sure how to react. "Umm … no?"

Harry grinned. And now for the killing part. "Cause I sure do want to bury my wand inside you," he said and winked at the beautiful girl.

The girl blushed furiously as she processed Harry's words. "Wha …" she tried to say something, but seemed too embarrassed to do so. After a second, she regained her composure.

"Do you maybe …" she started shyly, "do you want to go to my place?" she asked, not meeting Harry's eyes.

Harry was actually surprised. Hermione, thank you so much, he thanked the bushy haired girl in his mind and smiled at his current companion.

"Sure, I'd love to," he said.

The girl smiled at him and held out her slim hand for Harry to grab. "Grab my hand, we'll apparate there," she said.

"Huh, you can apparate at your age?" Harry asked, surprised. "I guess you aren't only beautiful, but also brilliant," he said cheekily and grabbed the girl's hand gently.

She blushed again and the duo apparated away with a loud crack.

Wherever Harry expected to land, it surely wasn't here. He landed painfully on wet grass, his knees protesting when they smacked onto the ground.

"Where are we?" he asked, looking at the girl who stood next to his kneeling form. Based on their surroundings, they were in some sort of graveyard. Harry had a bad feeling about this. His feeling was confirmed when he noticed a group of masked wizards standing a few metres away from him.

Death Eaters. Then the girl has to be…

"We are in Little Hangleton, Harry, and you might want to make yourself comfortable," she said in a high pitched voice. One of the Death Eaters snickered, but was quickly silenced by her glare, shivers running down the masked wizard's spine.

"It seems like in the years of my absence some of you have already forgotten the etiquette," the girly voice whispered. "Not to worry, I'll make sure to … train you properly."

Harry met the red eyes again and his body froze as the pretty face smiled at him. Somehow, this was even more terrifying than seeing Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrell's head during his first year.

"But first things first, Harry, we'll need your hand."

A/N: This was written for the first round of The Houses Competition, year 4.

House: Gryffindor

Year: 2

Category: Standard

Prompt: [Event] Speed Dating

Word Count: 1504