"A takeoff on Blind Date, Hogwarts style! For those of you who don't know, this is a muggle matchmaking game, which should prove to be very entertaining, and a great activity to take everyone's mind off the pressure of final exams, which we will actually be having this year! And for my own entertainment, whoever you get set up with on Blind Date will then be your date for Hogwarts new tradition, the annual Spring Ball! And for the idea of this fabulous game," Dumbledore continued, eyes twinkling, "you should all give a big hand to resident pranksters Fred and George Weasley!"

The entire Great Hall went up in an uproar. Everyone was clapping and cheering, and Fred and George were taking elaborate bows and laughing hysterically. "You knew about this- you came up with this- and you didn't even tell your own brother?" Ron asked, feigning shock. Fred and George shook their heads. "Disappointed, little brother?" George asked, messing up Ron's hair. Ron shook his head enthusiastically, "No WAY!" Hermione walked up to the two of them, beaming with excitement. "Fred, George, you guys are amazing! This is going to be so cool! Do you know when it starts?" she asked, and Ginny nodded her head excitedly behind her. "Starts tonight, Gryffindor common room! Be there- that is, if your name is on the list!" Fred said, grinning broadly at her slightly nervous look.

"What do you mean, if your name is on the list?" Angelina Johnson asked, walking over and pulling Fred's imitation of his brother Bill's ponytail, "How does your name get on the list?" Fred and George smirked self- satisfactorily. "Well, Dumbledore insisted on using a magical selector to make it impartial, but we managed to get a few of our own choices in there," George said with an air of mystery. Everyone around the two groaned. "Who's there? Come on, tell us!" Harry asked curiously. As you could tell from the crowd around Fred and George, no one was taking the suspense very well. Everyone was dying to know.

Percy included, apparently, because he pushed through the crowd to where his brothers were standing. "Fred, George," he said, trying not to look excited, "What exactly do you know about this 'Blind Date' that the rest of the students don't? As a Prefect, and your brother, I deserve to know everything you do." George laughed, seeing the look of unhidden excitement on Percy's face. "Come off it, Perce, you know you just can't wait to know what's happening, and whether or not you've been chosen, either by us or the impartial hat that will be the impartial selector," he said, guessing the truth. Percy gave him a glare, and walked away, much to the laughter of Ron, Harry, Dean, Seamus, and Hermione, who were all happy to see Fred and George top perfect Prefect Percy.

At the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy was trying to decide whether to be incredibly happy or very annoyed. He opted for happy, and tried to ignore the fact that the Weasley twins, who in his opinion had about as much brains as they did gold, had come up with the idea. "This is going to be fabulous," Malfoy bragged to Crabbe and Goyle, "the girls will be all over me hoping that I'll be their blind date." At that moment, coincidentally, thin, blond, Pansy Parkinson with her 'pug' nose walked over, putting her arm around Draco. "You know that's true, Draco honey," she said, smiling at her crush, "I sure hope we get matched up!" Draco smirked at Crabbe and Goyle, as if proving his point.

Even though he found the Slytherin girl very annoying and altogether too talkative, he thought she was very pretty, and when she wasn't gabbing a mile a minute, she had a fine personality too. His father certainly approved of Pansy. She was almost exactly the type of girl Lucius hoped his son would end up with. Not that he liked her because his father told him too, Draco was always sure to clear up. He didn't like to be thought of as the type who did everything daddy said. He was a Malfoy, it was just in their lines to choose the right girls and pick the right fights. He was sure whatever this Blind Date matchmaker game was would recognize his bloodline and put him with someone suitable and perfect for him, like Pansy.

Cho Chang at the Ravenclaw table was now thinking something along the same lines. Cedric Diggory's death had left her feeling less good about herself than she usually felt. But Padma, he best friend, along with her slew of admirers and the fact that she now realized that she was one of the most popular girls in school certainly boosted her confidence. "I wonder who I'll get matched with!" she squealed to Padma, looking confident and excited. Padma shrugged, thinking maybe she liked being Cho's best friend better when she wasn't totally confident and back to being her popular guy- crazy self.

Back at the Gryffindor table, Fred and George were still keeping it secret who would be participating and who would get to play the role of the screaming fans. Draco Malfoy swaggered over to them, walking with purpose. "I just wanted to let you know," he said after making his way through the crowd, "that if I am not participating in this game, you will be hearing personally from my father. And I should warn you, he is very evil, and has a very cool snake cane that he would be glad to use on your heads." Fred laughed, and rolled his eyes at him. "Malfoy, get a life. You can wait to find out just like everyone else," he said, gesturing to the group of people who were just as much in suspense as Malfoy was.

At the staff table, Professor Snape was arguing with Professor Dumbledore. "Headmaster, have you lost your mind?" he asked with a glare, "We are talking about teenage wizards here! Do you remember the last time you tried to do a muggle game show, when I was in school? Sirius Black wound up snogging every girl in school, James Potter's already swollen head became twice its size when he got set up with Lily, Peter Pettigrew got helped along on the road to becoming the bitter rat that he is, and Lucius Malfoy wound up marrying Narcissa!"

Professor Dumbledore laughed merrily, thinking back to the time when Sevvie had been at school with Lucius, Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus Lupin. That had been one of his favorite groups to teach. They were right up there with the group he had at Hogwarts right now.

"As a matter of fact, Severus, I do! Would you be so kind as to go up to the Owlery and send invitations to Sirius Black (A/N: his name has been cleared for all official purposes) and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy to come join us in round one of our game show this evening? We wouldn't want you to be one of the only adults playing now, would we?" Dumbledore said, enjoying his joke.

He was a very creative thinker, and one of his favorite pastimes was to try to set Severus up with other people. He also liked driving the 36 year old professor crazy. This new plan did both, as well as proving very amusing to the students. He had to remember to thank Fred and George Weasley again for this particular idea.

Snape, after much protest, agreed to go send the messages, and once he was gone Dumbledore banged his spoon to his goblet again, this time getting everyone's attention. "One more thing before I send you on your way to class," he said, grinning, "I'd like to thank Fred and George Weasley once again for this particular idea. And as I know you are all incredibly curious about the list of people participating, I will tell you this much. You will be notified as to whether you are participating in the game at 1:30pm. Those participating will magically receive a pink stuffed heart at precisely 1:30pm, wherever in the school you may be and whatever you may be doing. I know that the creators of this wonderful idea wished for me to send you something more, shall I say, protective, but the other teachers and I decided it would be- less than appropriate. So without further ado, off to class!"