A/N: Hey guys Yay, I'm still alive! This fic has been sitting in my comp for a while, being written and rewritten, edited, scrapped, adjusted… you name it. And now, it's out. Hope you like my strange choice of characters, it was a bit hard to assign them all roles. Now enough said- read and enjoy .

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Nor do I own this plot... really, I own nothing. Kinda sad, innit?

Chapter 1

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife.

When the man is also young, handsome, smart and pure-blooded, it is also a truth that many would-be wives must be in want of him.

Indeed, such a man was very sought after. Not a day passed without some giggling, scantily dressed girl approaching with sonnets of undying love. Sometimes, there'd be a bit of variety and it'd be a sleazy, oily guy approaching with psalms of praise and worship.

Such was life for Blaise Zabini.

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When word got out that Blaise was in fact, promised at birth to top socialite Deanna Diamante, there was a bit of an uproar. Only a little bit.

It was nothing compared to what happened next.

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Dearest Blaisey,

Sugar-pie, how are you? I trust that you've received that simply delightful robe I sent you. Don't worry about its length- it's charmed to adjust to your size. I hope that you will understand that given the circumstances, it was the best that I could do.

How's school life? As usual? I'm sure that Dumbledore has been taking wonderful care of matters at your school. If there are any problems just owl us and I'll send Dad over to have a little chat with your headmaster.

Oh, and feel free to owl me if you need more dress robes. I hear that the prefects welcoming ball is coming up; you'll want to look your best!

Speaking of balls, this is the reason I owled you. I'm afraid that I'm the bearer of bad news. That sly, conniving, two-faced Diamante girl has eloped! Yes, eloped! With a bartender, of all people! I always knew that those pub visits would be the end of that girl. Why that slippery, back-stabbing son-of-a…

Oh honey, I'm so, so sorry to have to be the one to tell you the horrible news. My poor Blaisey, snubbed! By a Diamante no less! I will have to have a serious chat with your father about those people.

Oh, and please don't get too upset. Mummy will sort it all out for you, ok?

Your loving Mummikins

Snarling, Blaise crumpled up the piece of parchment and hurled it across the corridor.

"And a good riddance to you!"

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Late! She was never late!

Cho was running down the transfiguration corridor, sleek black locks flying and book-bag trailing along. Her normally spotless robes were wrinkled and crooked and her prefect badge was falling off. She was cursing her alarm clock when she slipped on a crumpled piece of parchment lying on the floor, skidding along for a couple of metres before landing in an undignified heap. She promptly started cursing the piece of parchment.

That is, until she got a closer look at it.

She could just make out 2 words scrawled along the top. Dearest Blaisey.

"What the…?" Cho, being a naturally gossip-loving girl, was always open for new rumours to spread. And anything to do with Blaise Zabini made an especially delicious story.

Now Cho was not one to leave good gossip lying around. She had to know it, and she had to know it now. So she unfurled the piece of parchment and began to read…

A few minutes later…

Blaise Zabini. Dumped. Single! Yes- Blaise Zabini, one of the leading contestants in the 'top ten hottest guys' polls, the filthy rich, dreamy, all-around good-guy bad-boy Slytherin. Oh, her nerves were all a-flutter! Just thinking of all the possibilities…

By this stage, Cho's mind was wandering a great deal. If the reader had been able to look inside Cho's mind, they would have seen something like this…

Blaise Zabini. THE Blaise Zabini. Broken up with his girlfriend, which means he must be single now… money! Wealth! Think of how envious everyone else would be if I could just snag him…. I could even get to know a few more Slytherins! I can smell the power. To think, GIRLFRIEND of Blaise Zabini, why even Malfoy wouldn't be able to oppose me then! Girlfriend of Blaise…no wait, I mustn't abandon Harry. THE Blaise Zabini. Think of the power…But… but… Think of the connections! I… Harry… no, wait!...I could just get him to fall madly in love with a person in my group… Lavender or Pavarti wouldn't object much… I suppose… Then I must go and tell them now!

Conveniently forgetting her book-bag in her haste, Cho rushed along the corridor, her mind filled with dreamy fantasies of money and power. Oh, life was sweet!

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She returned several moments later to pick up her book bag and go to class.

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That night, in the room of requirement…

5 giggling girls gathered together, eager to hear the newest gossip. President Cho, her new-found gossip in hand, was feeling especially smug. She couldn't wait to break her brilliant news! Unable to contain herself, she fidgeted impatiently whilst they made themselves comfortable on the conveniently provided bean-bags. Then she cleared her throat, sat up straight, fixed her prefect badge, lowered her glasses (which she had bought for this sole purpose), put on her stern, I'm-the-president-so-all-of-you-shut-up face… and squealed. Very loudly.

The meeting was adjourned.

"Gals, you will NOT believe what I picked up today! I bet that it's like, fully better than anything else we're gonna get, so listen up. Oh my gawsh, I still can't believe my, like, wonderfully fantastically splendiferous luck. This news is the best, like, totally!"

2 pairs of eyes met hers in rapt attention. The other 2 were currently flicking lazily through magazines that had conveniently appeared 2 seconds ago.

"Ok. This is it. The big one. Wait for it… BLAISE ZABINI'S BEEN DUMPED."

Now 4 pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on Cho. The magazines, forgotten, simply melted away.

"What?"

"When?"

"How do you know?"

"You're making this up, aren't you?"

Cho was a bit peeved at the last comment. Making this up? How dare Pavarti accuse her of making it up! Sniffing, she continued.

"I know…" she paused, glaring pointedly at Pavarti, "because I have here in my possession, a letter. A particular letter, in fact, from Mummikins to dearest Blaisey. A letter that tells me that Blaise Zabini is single once more."

The room felt that dramatic music was required. So it played some dramatic music.

"So now that you're all listening, here's my plan: for one of you gals to secure him as yours. One of youse is so gonna get him, like totally! I mean, how could he miss how fully hot all of you are?" Cho thought it a good spot to smile widely. So she smiled widely. The other girls took as a sign to smile widely too. Any passers-by would have seen a room full of grinning girls.

"So you know the prefect ball that's coming up? I'm gonna dare all of youse to go have a dance with him. And that means all of you. Including Hermione." All 5 heads swivelled towards Hermione's spot. Except, of course, she wasn't there.

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Hermione Granger, her newly acquired glasses askew and cheeks flushed, was hurrying down the corridor, when she was suddenly pulled sideways into the Room of Requirement. Perhaps it felt that she was required to be there.

But her momentum carried her forward and she kept going, running smack-bang into the doorframe. She looked up to see about a hundred faces swimming about her, staring in horror. On closer inspection, the 100 faces merged into 1 and a shock of red hair swam clearly into view.

"Ginny…?" She reached up in wonderment, accidentally poking someone in the process.

"No, it's Padma." Now, Hermione was genuinely confused. Sitting up, she realized with a jolt that there wasn't 1 person sitting in front of her. There were 5!

"Hermione… are you feeling okay…?" Ginny's concerned voice brought her back to reality. Smiling widely at her friends, she gritted out a yes, wishing that the incessant pounding in her head would stop.

"Oh, good! Because now THAT's settled, I have something of great importance to tell you." Cho's voice cut into her thoughts. "Something so new, so wonderful, so, like totally, unexpected! And, oh, did I tell you gals? We're the only people who know."

"Blaise Zabini. THE Blaise Zabini. Has been dumped!"

Hermione blinked.

"So…?"

"SO? Don't you realise what this means? It means that he's single! And I'm daring all of YOU to dance with him at the upcoming ball. Yes Hermione, that means YOU."

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A/N: Hum. Pretty crappy place to stop the chapter. But I know you'll all read the next chapter anyway, WON'T you…? Hmm…? Lol

Yes. Just a note: I don't currently have a beta for this story so if you're willing to help me beta just say so in your review. Forgive me for any patchy grammar or iffy wording. Oh, and if you could give me some tips on how to make Cho talk in a more convincingly ditzy manner, I'd be very happy.

Another note: since I've already gotten a story outline, this fic should be updated a bit sooner than my previous fics. So hang in there- work on chapter 2 has already been started.

And please read and review. Tell me how you think the story is going. If it's too disjointed or short or long or if it's moving too quickly/slowly. Give a bit of constructive criticism. You could just make my day