DISCLAIMER: -sigh- I do not own Harry Potter or any of the related titles.

A/N: Okay, so, here's the next chapter! -loud theme music- Thank you, thank you. I apologize to those of you who find this story boring, but I'm continuing as is, because there are more people who seem to find it somewhat interesting. No, this story is NOT THE sequel to I Dated 'The Chosen One', but it certainly COULD be A sequel. It follows the same information obtained in IDTCO about Maddy and some of the same storyline. Like, the plot in that story, is the background information for this one. There will be a real sequel to IDTCO that has nothing to do with this story. I just put this together when I was bored. It really has nothing to do with anything in particular. Anyways, please enjoy. I won't be able to update for a while. Next week is Hell Week for our production of "Anything Goes" and we're all very stressed out and I'm very busy. So, please be patient with me. Thanks again!

Chapter 6: No Picnic

Two weeks had passed, and it was a rare moment when Maddy was at the Wormwood household. She was there for the children's lessons, and maybe to have a word with Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood about the children's progress. She never quite looked Mr. Wormwood in the eye.

The Wormwood's knew of Maddy's engagement, and Elizabeth, of course, would never be in a room with her anymore. They all thought it was a bit rushed, and that Maddy should have waited longer before deciding to marry Charles. Maddy agreed, secretly, but would not tell them that.

"Miss Maddy…a word, please…" a sharp voice from behind her said.

She turned slowly, and faced the wrinkled face of Mrs. Edgar. She was wearing her usual look of disgust, and was looking particularly rigid. Mrs. Edgar led her to the library and shut the door abruptly.

"So, that's how you did it…"

Maddy looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"That's how you got the pay raise…that's why the children love you so much…that's why they're thinking of firing me and not you…" a wry smile spread across her lips. "You slept with the master…"

Maddy looked horrified, "I did not!"

"Oh sure…" Mrs. Edgar laughed harshly, "Okay, I believe you…completely…I didn't see you together in his study with his hand up your skirt…"

"You were spying on me?!" Maddy hissed.

"I just happened to pass by…" the old woman replied coolly.

"I didn't do anything! He came on to me! I had nothing to do with it! And it would do you well to keep your large crooked nose out of other people's business!" Maddy finished in a huff, and stormed out the door.

In a matter of days, Maddy had been fired and had moved completely out of the Wormwood house. It would be a pleasure to say that she never set foot in there ever again, but of course, that would be lying. She would, indeed, return, but only for a short while. That is to come up later.

-----

One bright Friday afternoon, Charles had planned a picnic in the park. He was dressed down, but still rather elegant. The woman with him was wearing a bright sundress, and a large hat that shaded her face. Her raven colored hair was pulled back partially, and was in contrast with the brightness of her dress.

Charles had brought a bottle of champagne for celebration. For indeed, they had much to celebrate. (Their love was enough for them.) They toasted to True Love, and drank deeply.

There were many couples in the park that day. None seemed all too interested in the Duke and his maiden…except for one…

"Duke!"

Charles looked up to see a familiar face walking towards them. On the man's arm was a beautiful redhead, wearing a green dress.

"Mr. Potter, how wonderful it is to see you!" he said cheerfully, "And, Mrs. Potter! You look very lovely today."

The girl beside Charles scoffed, and smothered it quickly. She thought Ginny looked like something out of a Christmas display. Ginny blushed deeply.

"Thank you, dear Duke."

"Surely, you remember my fiancée," he motioned toward the girl beside him.

The girl looked up at Harry. The hat had been concealing her face, but now he could plainly see the thin and beautiful face of Madeleine Black. His immediate reaction was that which Maddy had expected. The sudden look of shock. He covered it up quickly by looking falsely happy.

"Miss Maddy…lovely to see you again."

"You two are getting married?!" Ginny burst.

"Next month," Maddy said with a smile, lacing her fingers with Charles's.

"How wonderful…" Harry said through gritted teeth. "You'll be a Duchess, what do you think about that? Back with your class of people. It's not a princess, but hey, it's close…"

Maddy glared at him.

"You are more than welcome to attend!" Charles said, ignoring, (or perhaps not even noticing) Harry's behavior.

"N-" Harry and Maddy had started in unison.

"That would be lovely!" Ginny said, still smiling. Maddy could tell she was doing it on purpose, just to make her uncomfortable. She didn't seem to notice that her husband was also uncomfortable.

"Would you care to join us for lunch?" Charles was too nice for his own good.

"They don't have to-" Maddy looked at her fiancé quickly.

"We wouldn't want to intru-" Harry began.

"We'd love to." Ginny cut him off, sitting down abruptly.

Maddy stared at her curiously. She had changed an awful lot. She used to be the kind of tomboy, pretty Quidditch player that every guy wanted to be with. Now, she played the ditzy, flirty wife, who, in public, when asked about Quidditch, would probably scoff and say, "What a barbaric sport". No, this was not the Ginny she used to know. This was an act.

"Darling, I do believe that I saw a lovely bottle of wine back in one of the shops. May I go get it to celebrate?" Maddy asked, longing to get away.

"But we have champagne…" Charles said, indicating the bottle in the basket.

"Yes, but I'm sure that Mr. Potter doesn't enjoy champagne. He wasn't drinking any at the party. We don't want our guests to be displeased, do we?"

"Harry likes-" Ginny said, looking confused.

"No, she's right…" Harry butt in. "I'm not a big fan of champagne. I'll join you Miss, so that the vendor doesn't gyp you…"

Maddy allowed Harry to join her, unwillingly of course. She knew Charles would not let her go alone, and she would have thought it worse if Ginny had come along.

As they entered the market place, Harry smirked. "You never really wanted to buy any wine did you?"

Maddy smiled falsely, "Oooh! He's a smart little boy." The smile faded quickly, as she hurried ahead of him.

"So…" Harry said, easily keeping up, "You're getting married. Congratulations."

"Yeah," Maddy said, not looking at him, "You seemed oh so pleased back there…"

"I am!" Harry insisted. Maddy knew he was lying. "I'm happy for you. This should be good for you, you know…settle down…"

Maddy studied each of the shops they passed. She intended to lose him in one of them. "I don't think we'll do much settling down. Charles travels a lot…for work and stuff…I guess…" Maddy really had no idea why he had to travel so much. He was Duke, what did they need him to do?

"You don't really think he's going to take you all the time, do you?" Harry said, laughing.

Maddy turned around quickly, "In what sense do you mean that question?"

Harry thought about what he had just said and chuckled, "Well, I suppose in both senses…if he's not around all the time, I suppose he can't make an honest woman of-"

"Harry James Potter! My sex life is none of your business! It was when you were part of it…kinda…but now, it has nothing to do with you!" she stormed into a nearby bookshop, hoping he wouldn't follow her.

"I wasn't trying to pry into your personal life. I was just saying…" Harry followed her into the shop.

"Well, Harry…then stop saying, okay? You never did know when to shut your mouth…" Maddy tore down one of the aisles.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry said over the shelves of the next aisle.

"What I mean is…" she said, facing him as they met at the end, "You were always completely tactless. I mean, not as tactless as Ron, but pretty damn close."

"Oh my God…" Harry said slowly.

Maddy grabbed a book off the shelf, and stared at him, "What?"

"You remembered his name. I thought you had forgotten everything about your past…running from magic all these years…" Harry was teasing her. He was always very good at it.

Maddy nearly threw the book at him, but she resisted. Fighting in public was a sure way to get themselves arrested. She made her way to the front of the store, still arguing with Harry along the way. She tossed the book onto the checkout counter, and shook her head, annoyed.

"Is this all that I can help you with today?" The woman behind the counter said.

Both Harry and Maddy looked up. The voice had sounded unnaturally familiar.

"Hermione?!" they said, simultaneously.

She looked back at them. There was no denying that brown hair. She grinned broadly.

"Harry? Maddy?" she squealed, "I thought I heard your voices. Oh my…I haven't seen you in ages…"

Maddy was pleased to see one of her old best friends, but she was still in a bad mood. She smiled quickly and attempted to hurry up the conversation. Now that she knew where Hermione worked, she could visit anytime she wanted to, and they could talk then. Now, was just not a good time.

"Are…" she eyed the giant rock on Maddy's ring finger, "Are you two married?"

"No!" Maddy said immediately. Harry looked shocked at Hermione's question. "No, we're not…Harry's married to Ginny…and I am getting married next month."

Hermione smiled, "How wonderful. I knew about Harry and Ginny, that's why I was a tad confused…who are you getting married to Maddy?"

"The Duke…Charles…" Maddy replied, with an offhand wave.

"A Duke?!" Hermione looked astounded. "Wow…"

"Hermione, what happened to your plan to continue with 'spew'?" Harry said abruptly.

Hermione looked irritated, "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times Harry…it's S.P.E.W. Okay?"

"Men…" Maddy said sympathetically, "They never listen, do they?"

Hermione laughed grimly, "You're telling me! I've got two of them at home…"

Maddy raised her eyebrows, "Two?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded, "Ron and Benjamin…"

"Benjamin?"

"Their son…" Harry answered.

Obviously, Harry would know. Harry had kept in contact with them, for at least a little while. Maddy hadn't seen any of them since they had left Hogwarts in their sixth year. Maddy had planned to 1) join them in their search for the rest of the Horcruxes or 2) study at White Phoenix Academy for a while. She had pursued neither.

"And as for S.P.E.W." Hermione glanced at Harry, "I have been continuing it, up at the Ministry. This is just a part time job. You know…something to do in my spare time."

"But what about raising your son?" Maddy asked curiously. "Shouldn't you have time for that?"

"I have plenty of time for my son…" Hermione said with a small laugh, "I only work two days at the Ministry itself, and three days here. I have weekends off, and I do most of my work from home. I have all the time in the world for my son. Of course, when I'm working, he goes to a day care."

"And Ron…"

"Ron's an Auror…like Harry." Hermione beamed.

Maddy nodded. She had assumed as much.

"Ron and I don't see each other very much at work…we work on different cases…and Ron's on a big one right now…" Harry's voice trailed off.

Hermione nodded, solemnly. "I haven't seen Ron in about a month. He's over in China…doing God knows what…"

Maddy frowned. She knew it must be hard on Hermione to be without him for such a long time. "I do hope he returns soon…"

Hermione nodded, and blew her nose in a handkerchief. A line was starting to form behind Maddy and Harry.

"Anyway…here's your book," Hermione handed the bag to Maddy. "I wish you well with your wedding. Harry, send Ginny my blessings. And feel free to stop in on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays!"

The two of them nodded, and left quickly. When they were out in the street, Maddy glared at Harry.

"You never told me Ron went missing!"

Harry froze, "I never said-"

"Oh come on, Harry!" Maddy said, furiously. "Aurors don't just go off for a month, without word or contact of any kind! And you wouldn't get so touchy about the subject if he really was just gone on a mission."

Harry stared at her, bewildered. "How do you do it?"

Maddy looked baffled, "Do what?"

"Read people like that. You're like a human lie-detector. I mean, to hell with Veritaserum, just call Maddy…she'll get the truth out of anyone, whether they tell her or not."

Maddy shook her head, "It comes with being part Siren…When you started talking about Ron and being an Auror, you started to mumble…a sure sign of an uncomfortable subject. And when Hermione spoke, she obviously doesn't know he's missing, she spoke with a tone that told me she had not received word from him since he left…it's all very complicated…"

Harry shook his head slowly, "You're amazing…you know that?"

Maddy had an awkward look on her face, "Yeah, well I guess 'amazing' isn't good enough for some people…"

Harry didn't reply as Maddy started off in the direction of the park. There was a guilty sensation in his stomach and he had half a mind to run back into the shop and tell Hermione everything. But, then again, he was not very good when it came to women and tears. He could not bear to see Hermione cry. Again.

"Well? Are you coming?" Maddy called to him from the other side of the street. "They'll be wondering where we are!"

Harry nodded, and crossed the street quickly. His hands were shoved deeply into his pockets, and he refused to look up at Maddy as they followed the main path in the park.

When they returned to Charles and Ginny, Harry sat down rather quickly. Charles looked up at Maddy, who remained standing, and asked about the wine that they were going to get.

Maddy smiled feebly, "They were sold out…"

A/N: There you go. There's the next chapter. I know they're not super long, but there's not much I can do. They're already written out and seem a lot longer in the other document. Oh well. Oh and FYI, for those who don't know, which is like all of you, Maddy is part of a royal family on her Mother's side, but she gave up her title. Don't ask, it comes up my other fics. So, please REVIEW now. Please? It'll only take a second and I want to make sure you're still interested! THANKS!