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The Bachelor Says

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Prologue

Harry

I felt cheated, ashamed by the fact that I took Ron's warnings for granted and because of that, I was fooled by the weasley twins.

How would you feel when someone you trusted so much betrayed you? Ron said once that I was gullible and I refused to believe. Ha, I guessed I was wrong.

And to think that I once thought that Ron was slow in the uptake, in the end, it's me. I was the one who was too dense and thick-skulled to notice that the twins were up to something evil. Yes, that's it. I could imagine now that the two were celebrating for having their way with me.

Ironically, I wish that they were playing a prank on me, and that they were not serious at all with this whole stupid thing.

Those two devils with extra large red horns and fangs. They would be the death of me one of these days.

Now, how am I going to get myself out of this situation?

Surely, there are ways to solve.

What is it? What is it? … Argh! I can't think of anything.

I looked around frantically for ideas, throwing things around, and gulping down mugs and mugs of coffee. At the end of the day, I was drained of energy and yet still nervous at the thought that was constantly in my mind.

That night, I kept tossing about. I lay on the bed restless, staring blindly at the ceiling. Eventually, I decided that I was not going to get some sleep, I vent my frustration on the keyboard as I surf the net, searching for something. But I was kind of clueless as to what to search for.

Suddenly, an advertisement popped out. I was going to cancel it, to dismiss it when a word caught my attention.

"Call." Call, that's it. I called to withdraw from it. Why did I not think of that earlier?

It's too late to call now. I don't think they would station a person by the telephone at the middle of the night, would they?

Well, I call them tomorrow then. There. All's done. Good dream, here I come.

xXx

Draco

"Dray, have you heard from the producer?" My best friend, Blaise Zabini, prompted smilingly.

"Nay. Why? Why are you smiling like that? It's annoying."

"Guess what! Theodore told me earlier that one of the entrants called the minute the office line was officially available to bow out." Blaise chuckled as he moved on, "The person claimed that this being his friends' idea, and pleaded to be let out of the show."

It took me quite a while to register that information. I was extremely surprised, but I let nothing out in my expression because a Malfoy must always appear aloof and disinterested.

"Man, this bound to be the first time it ever happens. Theo was rather charmed by the way that boy reacted strongly against participating in this show. He thought that it would prove to be interesting, so he denied the boy's request."

I rolled my eyes and said simply, "Tell Theo that I don't settle for something less. If that guy isn't keen on going, forget it."

"No way, man. I definitely agree with Theo. I must say that I would love to meet this guy in the show too." Blaise smiled to himself, "I believe that the show has just gotten better even before it starts. I'm anticipating."

My friend is obviously amused by this whole situation. Well, I'm not. I'm not going to waste my time on a stupid person who can't see what's worthy of a Malfoy, that's me.

Who wouldn't appreciate a living god? I'm nothing less of a miracle. I mean, I have it all, looks, figure, intelligence, wealth and so much much more. How can one ever refused me, huh?

Apparently, there's one.

"You haven't mentioned who that guy is."

Blaise gave me a sly smirk, "I thought you said forget it? Does that mean that you are intrigued by this person too?"

"For heaven's sake, I merely inquiring in order not to forgone my energy and time on someone who think less of me. How can one even do that?"

"Hey! Mind your ego. It's blinding me. (To which, I snorted, "Right.") Back to the topic, I did ask for the name and that bastard Theo refused to give in even when I swore to hell that I will not reveal the person's identity to you. Confidential, my ass!"

I raised my eyebrow when I saw Blaise got more aggregated than me. "Calm down and mind your words. It's so crude."

With a huff and a glare at me, he stormed out.

xXx

Harry

I woke up early in the morning the next day, determined to get the task done. I ate my usual, a bowl of cereal with milk. I took a glimpse at the clock. Fifteen minutes later, I stood by the sink washing dishes worth of a week' time. And I took another look at the time.

I proceeded to read through the week's newspapers, staring at every page without really absorbing the meaning of the articles. Halfway, I gave up. Yet another look at the time. I went through my schedule. I had a photoshoot session today at 4pm. I stared at the clock, tick tock tick tock. Damn, why is the time taking so long to pass?

I went to do the dreadful house chores, taking note of the time every few minutes. Tick tock tick tock. I finished everything I planned to do that day and it was still too early to call.

I sat in front of the television, some boring show playing. My hand itched to crash the clock. I jammed my clenched fists into the pockets. Any minute there I would lose my sanity.

By nine o'clock(office hours), I was all stressed up, my specs askew, my hair probably even more rugged than usual due to the constant ruffling and tugging. Gingerly, I called the TV station.

"SPTV, I'm Jane. How can I help you?" A pleasant female voice came through.

"Erm… I called to withdraw from this season's Bachelor."

"Ok. May I know who is this speaking?"

"Harry. Harry Potter."

"Alright, Mr. Potter. I can't handle this alone. How about I refer you to the producer of these reality series?"

"Sure." I nodded, unaware that no one could see my action.

"Right. Hold on a second." I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt as I waited.

Suddenly, I heard a male spoke. "Hi, Mr. Potter? I'm Theodore, the producer of Bachelor. My colleague told me that you wanted to quit. Is that right?"

"That would be right. Is there a way for me to do so?"

"Why is it that you changed your mind, may I ask?"

"Well, I didn't really change my mind. I had no idea of this until I received a letter from your company that my application is successful. Later, I found out from my friends that it was a prank."

"Oh, I'm sorry. But maybe you can reconsider your decision because it's really difficult to get into the show and you get to meet Draco Malfoy the bachelor. I've check your records and it says here that you are single. There should not be any problem unless, of course, you prefer the opposite gender."

I replied shyly. "No… I'm homosexual. (Cough!) No offence here, but I am clueless as to whom this bachelor guy is, and have no interest to get to know this person whom I'm sure is really idealistic and all."

"Once again, I'm sorry but there's no way you can withdraw now."

"B-but Mister, isn't there a way about it? Please, I really can't attend this wonderful contest. Why don't you give it to someone else who will appreciated this more than I do?" I heard myself begging shamelessly. Blah! I sounded so contradicting. Wonderful! Yah, absolutely.

There was a short pause and then I heard a chortle of laughter. "Excuse me." That Theo guy cleared his throat and apologized again, "Please accept my deepest apology. There's nothing I can do to help you."

Stop apologizing and start being useful by helping me, you pighead. "Of course you can. You are the producer, for Pete's sake. Please, you got to help me."

"There's some things that even a producer can't do. I'm truly sorry. Have a nice day." And he hung up on me. He hung up on me just like that. Argh! Have a nice day, my foot!

Damn! I could feel a headache coming soon.

I was so certain that everything will be alright after this call. I kept assuring myself that this morning. Much to my chagrin, I'm back to square one. Urgh!

Why must everyone suddenly be such a pain in the arse? Why am I always the one to get pushed over?

This is so unfair.

Scenes and scenes of these few days flashed through my mind relentlessly. I felt so defeated.

Damn, the headache!

xXx

Three days ago, Harry proceeded with one of his habits – collecting the bundle of letters from the letterbox – when he reached home. He was going through the bundle when he saw a light pink letter mailed to him with a big 'Private & Confidential' printed on. This out of the sort' letter spurred his curiosity.

Nevertheless, he went through every single letter, saving that pink one for the last. When he got on to it, he tore it open mercilessly.

Dear Mr. Harry J. Potter,

You have successfully enlisted to be one of the twenty five contestants who would be competing for our new Bachelor, Mr. Draco Malfoy.

You are invited to attend this new season's reality series, The Bachelor XVI, on 23th May 2006. The whole event takes place at the Hogwarts castle. You are to assemble at Central London's train station, at six thirty sharp. For further information, refer to the piece enclosed or call 011-236-6639.

I, hereby, wish you success at the contest. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Theodore YearwoodBlaise Zabini

ProducerCo-producer & Host

Enclosed: details of the contest.

He blinked at that piece of letter. Did the letter mean what I thought it meant?

He chuckled nervously, treating it as a joke, a mistake. It got to be. He did not remember applying for such ridiculous contest. He heaved a sigh of relief as he convinced himself that there was no such thing as th–

–Wait! But how did they know my name? Oh, it must be the twins again, playing a trick on me. They never know when to stop.

He trudged down the stairs, deciding to confront the twins who were living in an apartment directly below him. "Hey Fred, George, it's me. Open up."

"What? Harry, you got to find a better time to knock on other's door." Fred drawled sleepily, leaning lazily on the door.

"Who's that?" called George, the other identical twin, who seemed to be even more exhausted then his brother.

"What's wrong with you both? You look really awful."

"Work 'til this morning 8am. My sides hurt from all the laughing."

"Me too. Now my mouth can't seem to close." Harry smiled at their complaints. They were just stating. No one loves their own job more than them.

"Whatever. I came by to ask you two whether this thing is another of your doings." The only black-haired handed the letter over to the Weasleys.

George peered over his brother's shoulder to read as Fred took hold of the letter. Minutes later, they both grinned at each other and did a dancing cheer.

"I take it that you two did this."

"Yes." They replied proudly, "You're in. This calls for a celebration. I must call Ron."

"Wait. Why are you two so happy for? I unravel your trick already, right?" Harry hesitated as he gazed at their smirking faces.

"Of course not."

"We came across this advertisement not long ago and decided to sign up for you."

"Hey, stop kidding. Save it for your audience." Harry chided lightly.

"Now, now, we might be world famous comedian, but that doesn't mean that we are not serious at all time."

"Great. Then stop that smiles of yours and be more solemn." Harry teased them, not believing their words.

"We are not kidding." The twins stomped their left legs together and then their right, their arms crossed. Harry bent over, in hysterical laughter as he watched the comical duo.

When he had finally calmed down, he glanced up and saw the duo scowling at him. He quickly straightened himself, his hands up in the air as a gesture of surrender.

"You're really truly totally absolutely serious about this whole thing?"

"Yep. Really truly totally absolutely and what other adjectives you can thought of."

Harry stared unbelievably at them. His eyeballs rolled back in a scary manner before his eyelids fluttered shut. Darkness engulfed his sight as he fell onto the floor.

He had fainted.