The rest of the weekend had been spent celebrating Gryffindor's win, but as it was now Monday morning the talk had been turned to the next match in four weeks. There had been some conflict with a couple of the house's schedules, causing the order of the quidditch games to be rearranged. Where, usually, the Gryffindors wouldn't play another match until sometime in March, they were now to play against Slytherin in early December. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were discussing this odd turn of events at breakfast when a rather old barn owl flew into the Great Hall, lost control, and landed with a resounding splat into Harry's food, covering him in cereal.

Ron burst out laughing, Hermione lifted the owl up out of Harry's bowl, removing the letter tied to it's leg, and Ginny attempted to help Harry clean up. "Errol, look at the mess you've made!" Ginny said to the owl in Hermione's arms, but she wasn't truly mad at him. Errol was a very sweet owl even if he was clumsy most of the time.

"Why'd he bring me a letter?" Harry asked, wiping his glasses on his robes.

"He didn't," Hermione read the address on the letter, "it's for Ginny."

Ginny laughed, "Could you dry it off while I help Harry?"

Harry felt his breathing turn shallow as Ginny grabbed his chin, turning him to face her as she used a napkin to wipe the milk off his face. Her brow was slightly wrinkled and her eyes were focused on getting Harry's face cleaned, allowing Harry free reign to stare at her beautiful face. All too soon, Ginny finished and placed the napkin on the table, reaching for the now dry letter in Hermione's hand.

"It's from Fred and George."

"Oh, no," Ron looked nervous.

"What's wrong with that? Maybe they just missed you." Hermione was very confused by her two friend's behavior.

"Well, you see, whenever Fred and George write to us it usually means they need help with something to do with their work," Ginny explained.

"They probably want us to test a new product, and with my luck it'll make me lose all my hair and turn my freckles bright blue," Ron put his head in his hands. Hermione snorted, but clamped a hand over her mouth at Ron's glare.

"What else does it say?" Harry asked.

"It doesn't give any details, it just asks if we can talk to them later tonight. They're going to use the common room fireplace around eight."

"This can't be good," Ron said as he dropped his head onto the table.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After reading the letter that morning, Ginny had resigned herself to her fate while Ron had become jumpy for the rest of the day. Ginny knew that no matter what Fred and George asked them to do, she'd agree. They were her brothers, after all, and she loved them...no matter how insane they were.

Ginny was about to lose her temper, though, just not with the twins. "Ron, I swear, if you don't stop pacing, I'm going to stun you!"

"You wouldn't dare," He shot back.

Everyone in the common room knew this was the wrong thing to say. Ginny slowly stood up from the chair she'd been sitting in and raised her wand, causing several people to run out of the room or up to their dormitory. Harry stepped back out of Ginny's way, while Hermione tried to make peace between the two. As Ginny's wand became level with Ron's head, he did the only thing he could think of.

"Ronald Weasley, put me down!" Hermione screeched.

"You wouldn't stun me knowing that I'd drop Hermione, would you?" Ron challenged.

Ginny pursed her lips, but lowered her wand, "You're lucky that I like Hermione."

"Yes, well," came Hermione's diplomatic voice, "will you please put me down now!"

Ron blushed bright red, remembering that he was holding Hermione in his arms. "Right, sorry," he mumbled as he placed her back on her feet. Hermione acted a little put out, but Ginny could tell she was secretly pleased about it. Ginny caught her eye, sending her a quick wink. Hermione made a face at her, but smiled.

"Hello children!"

"Being good little witches and wizards, are we?" The four of them jumped, turning around to face the fireplace. Hovering within the flames were the glowing faces of Fred and George.

Ginny and Ron crouched in front of the fire with Harry and Hermione hanging over their shoulders. "Hey, guys! How's work?" Harry questioned.

"Not bad if we do say so ourselves," Fred answered.

"Yeah, and we're almost done with the final product of the necklace we showed you over the Summer. Do you remember it?"

Hermione nodded, "The Cordis Captavi, right?"

"Right you are. Always knew you were the smart one."

"Okay," Ginny said, getting to the point, "why did you want to speak to us? What's the new invention and what do we have to do?"

"Maybe she was the smart one, Fred."

"Could be, George. Always did know things she shouldn't."

"That's true, you know. Like that time—."

"Oh, for the love of Merlin's crooked—!

"Ron, language!" Hermione scolded.

"—hat," Ron finished lamely. "Just tell us already, will you?"

"So sorry, right you are. Anyway, Fred and I have come up with our own version of that muggle activity, 'speed dating', and we need your help with a practice run." The boys beamed.

Ginny and Ron looked at each other in complete confusion, then looked over their shoulders at Harry and Hermione. "What's speed dating?" They asked.

"It's where boys and girls go on a bunch of minnie dates. There are tons of tables where the couples will sit, they spend a few minutes talking, someone rings a bell, and that's the signal for the boys to move on to the next table. If you like someone, you give them your information and at the end of the night you can decide if you'd like to take them on a real date," Hermione explained.

"And we're supposed to help you with this how?" Ginny turned back to the twins.

"Well," Fred answered, "we'd like you guys to set up our new speed dating product in the common room and invite other Gryffindors to attend. At the end of the night, we want you to ask people what they thought and give us their responses, so we can see if it's worth pursuing."

"That sounds...interesting," Ron said.

"There's just one more thing. We want one of you to be a part of the event. You know, go on the dates and try the product. What do you say?" George asked hopefully. Four sets of eyes just stared back at them, making Fred and George stick out their lower lips and widen their eyes.

If she thought about it, Ginny didn't really see the harm in volunteering for it. It'd basically be like eating with her friends at lunch, since she knew all the Gryffindors so well. And, she thought, I'd rather be the one going on the dates instead of Harry. Ginny wouldn't be able to bear to watch him talk with all those girls.

"I'll do it," Ginny volunteered.

"That's great, Ginny!"

"We really appreciate it!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just send the instructions and we'll do it," Ginny smiled.

"We'll send them tomorrow! Bye!" The twins smiled at them all and within seconds they were gone with a quick flash of fire.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Harry lay awake late into the night, thinking over the twins' plot and the fact that Ginny had said she'd be a part of it. When he'd heard Ginny volunteer, it was all Harry could do to not lose his temper. He'd been filled with such rage at the thought of having to watch her go on date after date with other guys. Why was I so stupid? Why didn't I just tell her how I felt back at the Burrow? These thoughts streamed through Harry's head until he fell into a disturbed sleep.

The next morning, Harry dragged himself from his bed, threw on some robes, and went down to the common room. Noticing a piece of parchment with neat handwriting on the bulletin board, he read it to find that Professor Bovin had set another date for the advanced dark arts class.

"What's that?" Ron asked, coming over.

"Bovin set a date for the advanced class."

"When is it?"

"Friday at four o'clock."

"I hope we do more than stunning and disarming."

The boys told Hermione and Ginny about the next class date on the way to breakfast, all of them agreeing with Ron about wanting to learn more than the basics. Screeching from above made them look up to see hundreds of owls swooping over the tables to deliver letters and packages to their owners. Looking around for signs of Errol, Hermione pointed off in the distance, "There!"

They were all ready this time, though. They each held their arms up and slightly in front of them, ready to catch Errol before he could cover them in their breakfast. Swaying vastly off course as he flew to them, Errol was snatched by Ron before he could do any damage. Hermione pulled the letter from around his leg, handing it to Ginny while Ron deposited Errol on the table and pushed a bowl of water towards him.

"It's the instructions for their speed dating product," Ginny scanned the letter. "It doesn't look too complicated," She handed the letter to Hermione. "I'm thinking we should do it this weekend. We're going to be busy with quidditch practice after that."

Hermione nodded as she finished the letter, "That's a good idea. We should start asking people if they want to sign up. Harry, Ron, do you want to be in charge of the 'date-swapping'?

"What would we have to do?" Ron asked warily.

"You'd send the signal that it was time to switch dates, make sure people were following the rules, stuff like that."

After mulling it over for a second, Ron nodded, "Alright, that's not too bad. Harry?" Harry nodded, too filled with dread at the prospect of the coming weekend to say anything else.

The girls finished their food quickly, leaving to find people to sign up for the twins' 'practice run', as they'd put it. By the time lunch rolled around, every spot was filled. The only name on the list that Harry could focus on, though, was Ginny's. It taunted him, telling him that she was going to find a new boyfriend during the dates, that he'd lost out. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that in Transfiguration he turned the lizard they'd been given into a spider instead of the pocket watch they were supposed to. Needless to say, Ron had gone very pale and backed away from their table as fast as he could. McGonagall transfigured the spider back into a lizard, asking that Harry kindly pay more attention in the future. It took Hermione another ten minutes to convince Ron to come back to the table

By the time Potions came around, Harry forced himself to concentrate. He figured he'd traumatized his friend enough for the day, he didn't want to add on to it by accidentally causing Ron or Hermione to sprout a tail. His absentmindedness continued for the next week, however: he caused so many accidents in his classes that the professors finally told him to work with Hermione and let her do most of the work, deciding that he must simply be coming down with a bad cold. On top of that, Snape had taken fifty points from Gryffindor when Harry had spilled his potion all over the dungeon floor. By the time Professor Bovin's advanced class came that Friday, Harry was miserable. The only thing that made him feel better was when Ginny stood next to him during the class.

"Today we will be practicing a very difficult form of magic called the Patronus Charm," Professor Bovin smiled at the excited murmurs from the group. "I am, however, aware that one of you is already able to cast a corporeal Patronus," He turned to face Harry. "Mr. Potter, would you be so kind as to demonstrate for us?"

All eyes were on Harry, who was fast turning a very fine pink color, as he stepped forward. Raising his wand, he took a deep breath and ran through his memories, trying to find one that filled him with joy. He smiled as he remembered the night that Ginny had sat with him after he'd had the nightmare about Sirius. "Expecto Patronum!" a stream of silver shot from the tip of his wand. It took the form of a magnificent stag, which cantered around the room. This time, though, something was very different. Usually, Harry's Patronus exuded calm and power, but the one walking amongst the students in the room had a wild look on its face, almost as though it was panicked or distraught. It whipped its head back and forth, searching every corner of the room before rearing up on its hind legs and disappearing.

The room broke into enthusiastic voices that wanted to try their hand at the charm. Only Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Professor Bovin had any idea that something odd had occurred. Ron looked confused, Ginny seemed surprised, and Hermione and Bovin both wore expressions that said they were deep in thought.

"Excellent, Mr. Potter, excellent! Now, I'd like to have each of you take a turn at the charm. After, we will divide into groups to help each other practice some more. There is one more person in this room that I suspect will be able to perform this charm, so I am very interested to see if I am correct. Now, Miss Granger, if you please?"

One by one the class stepped forward to cast the charm. Harry smiled as Hermione and Ron were able to produce an outline of their animals, and those who had been members of the D.A. the year before were able to get some silvery mist to come from their wands. Malfoy and Zabini were unable to produce so much as a wisp of a Patronus, making them scowl and glare even more than they already were. Ginny went last, taking a step forward and thinking for a moment. She smiled to herself as she raised her wand, "Expecto Patronum!" She shouted in a loud, clear voice.

A current of solid silver flowed from the tip of Ginny's wand. A corporeal Patronus in the form of a beautiful doe landed gracefully on its hooves and stared at the faces of those in the room. Suddenly, a horrified look came over it's lovely face and it raced around the room before coming back to the center, where it sadly lowered its head and disappeared.

"It would seem that my suspicions were correct, Miss Weasley," Professor Bovin beamed at Ginny, who blushed and took a step back. Most of the room was now staring at her with awe and respect, including Harry and Ron. Hermione, however, had a wide smile on her face as though she'd just discovered the answer to a centuries old problem in Ancient Runes.

Professor Bovin divided them into groups, asking Harry and Ginny to assist Ron and Hermione since they "obviously didn't need to practice," as he put it. An hour later, Bovin called an end to the class, saying he'd let them know when the next one would be. Most of the students had been able to produce a slightly thicker stream of silvery mist at the end of the hour and Ron and Hermione's Patronuses were almost fully corporeal, delighting them to no end.

"You go ahead, I'll meet you at dinner," Hermione told them as they started to leave the room. She walked back into the classroom, shutting the door behind her. The others decided to wait in the hall for her, watching as students drifted past them on their way to dinner. Several minutes later, Hermione emerged from the classroom with a satisfied smirk on her face, telling them that she'd simply wanted to ask Professor Bovin for tips on the Patronus Charm. None of them fully believed her, but knew she wouldn't say anything if they pressed her, so they let it drop.

They entered the Great Hall to hundreds of heads swiveling in their direction. They continued walking to their table, sat down, and pulled different bowls towards them as they filled their plates. "Bloody hell," Ron said rather loudly, "what are they staring at now?"

"If my suspicions are correct," Hermione smiled, "they're looking at your sister again."

Harry tensed and Ron's eyes narrowed as he looked at Hermione, "What do you mean they're looking at Ginny?"

"Well, I do believe that Ginny has now become the most desirable girl at Hogwarts."