A.N: I'm having a lot of fun writing this fic. This chapter's dedicated to Alex (The Brainbox), my 'addicted reviewer'. Thanks for your support and encouragement!

Chapter 3: To date or not to date?

This was the last straw. No, this was the bloody last straw. He must've been completely out of his mind to have ever yielded to this. He felt like a-a showpiece, he felt cheapened.

Harry Potter was not a happy man. His week hadn't started out badly (except for Ron springing that unpleasant 'Let's get Harry a date' plan on him early in the morning). Back at work, he had rechecked security plans for the wedding-they were flawless. He had managed to get quite a bit of paperwork done-it had been unstressful. His daily combat training had gone on fine-it had been exhilarating. In short, his Monday had been thankfully uneventful.

His mood which had been a rather nasty shade of blue-black, had lightened quite considerably as the day progressed. In fact, Harry was feeling decidedly cheerful, optimistic that the dating service would take years to find a woman to suit the requirements that Ron said he'd mentioned.

Clearly, there wasn't a drop of Seer blood in Harry's veins.

He returned home to be greeted by a tawny owl that hooted disapprovingly at him (he supposed it must've been waiting for quite some time). The feathered messenger took off the minute he retrieved the sealed parchment that bore his name on top. He slit it open with his wand and read it with an increasingly sinking feeling.

Dear Mr. Potter (ran the letter)

Thank you for having placed your trust in Connelly's Dating Service! We hope to live up to your expectations and hope you will be satisfied with our services.

Your profile stated that your preference for a date would have to be, amongst other things, female, reasonably good-looking, with a good sense of humour, intelligent and an interesting conversationalist.

It is our pleasure to inform you that we have indeed located such a person. Her name and address will be revealed to you when you send in your confirmation.

We normally would charge a sum of 20 galleons but are willing to slash rates to 15 galleons for our very first successful match.

We hope you have a wonderful time!

Yours sincerely

Sheena Connelly

Manager

Connelly's Dating Service

"Harry!" called Ron, as he apparated into their flat later that night and strode into the dining room. "Oy, mate! Guess what? Hermione finally…Harry?"

Ron stopped short when he saw Harry glowering in a disturbing fashion at him.

"Er…okay…sorry. I didn't mean to finish the entire shepherd's pie, I should've left you some…"

Harry's expression had become unmistakably murderous.

What did I do, thought Ron wildly. That expression was making him feel very nervous indeed. Courage, Ronald, courage he told himself. "Mind telling me what's matter, Harry" said Ron aloud.

"I'll tell you what's the matter. Read this," spat Harry, shoving a bit of parchment at Ron who took it, feeling completely bewildered. He read it through, his expression becoming happier and happier while Harry spiraled into depression. If he hadn't known it was Ron standing in front of him, he would've thought a dementor was attacking him.

"Harry, this is great! See, I told you it would be all right. They were really quick, weren't they…Oh, I get it. You are unhappy because you think they'll probably publicise the whole thing and what not. Well, you're wrong. They've advertised 'complete privacy', Harry, and you wouldn't know about that 'cos you didn't bother reading the advertisement when I showed it to you. You know what I think? I think you should go for it. But if you decide not to, then…fine! If you die an old, crabby bachelor, don't blame me. I slave and slog to get you a date so you can lighten up a bit and all I get is glares and glowers in return. Fine! It's your funeral. Do what you like, see if I care!"

Ron was breathing heavily and his ears had turned red at the end of this diatribe.

"Did you just make the longest speech of your life?" asked Harry, amused despite himself, despite the situation. Ron looked away in reply, something that told Harry that the former was really annoyed. Harry himself was far from feeling like kissing Ron's forehead. But he was thinking over what his best friend had just told him and suddenly felt ashamed.

Here was his pal trying to show he cared, and Harry was doing all he could to make things difficult. It was only a date, after all, not some unwanted marriage contract or something. It really was up to him to enjoy himself, to make things more bearable. He looked up from his musing to find that Ron had gone from the room, most probably to his own bedroom.

"Ron, it's me," said Harry, knocking at Ron's door a moment later. "I've, um, decided to give this thing a try, just thought you'd want to know."

The door opened and a slightly mollified Ron stuck his head out.

"Really?"

"Yes, yes, yes," said Harry slowly and clearly, clenching his fist as if to summon more patience.

"Great! Ha! I knew you would realize the truth of my wise words. What the hell did I say, anyway? Doesn't matter, you're going on a date! Harry, bachelorhood is great and all, but there's nothing in the world like marrying the woman you love and settling down to a home of your own. You see…"

Ron has started on his current pet subject and there was no stopping him when he was in full flow.

Harry groaned inwardly. It was going to be a long night…

…………………………………………………………………………………………

" YOU WHAT?"

"I just found you the perfect match. You're just what he's looking for. And this is going to be simply marvelous," said Sheena smugly. She had a reason to be smug. It was not often that someone could shock Morgan Finley into gibbering idiotically, like she'd just done. But then she really couldn't resist. Not after their morning conversation.

Morgan hadn't expected this bombshell. Sheena was joking-she had to be. But the expression on her friend's face told her otherwise. She stopped blabbering and took hold of herself.

"I don't believe this. I didn't mean what I said this morning, I was only kidding," pleaded Morgan, but knew it was useless. She really should've watched what she was saying. But no, she had to go and shoot off her mouth and this was the result. A date with an unknown entity.

"What's his name? Tell me that at least," asked Morgan, slowly resigning herself stoically to her fate.

"No, can't, sorry!" replied Sheena, laughing at her friend who had just stuck her tongue out at her.

"So he knows my name and where I live and everything, but I don't know a single thing about him. How fair is that?"

"It would spoil the fun, dearie, and anyway, you'll know on Saturday when he gets here to pick you up."

"Great. Brilliant. What if I just ran away before that?"

"You wouldn't," said Sheena simply. " For one, your curiosity has been piqued and you won't rest until it's satisfied. Two, you won't let me down, and that I'm sure of."

"Darn it! You know me too well, Sheen," said Morgan pounding the cushion beside her in mock-frustration.

"Ha Ha! Cheer up, Morgan. Trust me on this one-you'll be really bowled over," said Sheena, regretting the words immediately the moment she'd said them. Now she'd have to endure four whole days of Morgan's constant badgering as to who could be good enough to bowl her over.

But it would be worth it, especially if things worked out well, thought Sheena, feeling happier than she had all day.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Hermione Granger put away the shopping list she'd been perusing and sighed. She'd had a long day and she really needed Ron more than anything at this time. But it was late and besides, she didn't want to show that she was too dependent on Ron to cheer her up whenever she felt low.

RIINNGG! The doorbell startled her out of her reverie. Who could it be, at this hour? It couldn't be Ron-he could just apparate in. Or maybe he just wanted to surprise her. Grinning, she ran to the door and pulled it open without thinking.

"Hello, Hermione. It's been a long time," said the visitor, smiling at her.

Hermione couldn't believe her eyes. I'm dreaming, she thought.

"Viktor?"

A.N: (Laughs evilly) Who saw that coming? What could Krum's arrival mean for Hermione (and Ron, of course). What's gonna happen to Harry and Morgan?

Next chapter (dubbed 'The Date' for now) will be more interesting than this one which was boring, but necessary. Don't forget to review!