When I woke up the next morning I was happy for about three seconds. First the only thought in my mind was that the sun was shining, it was a Saturday, and I was comfortable and warm in my bed.

Then, however, a horrible memory entered my mind.

Scorpius asking Eurydice out.

The food fight in the Great Hall.

A double date with Ophi, Scorpius and Demetria.

Suddenly, my good mood evaporated. The sun suddenly seemed to be shining too brightly, my bed was so hot that I was uncomfortable, and I suddenly hated Saturdays with every fiber of my being.

Why did I agree to the stupid double date anyway? What was my problem?

Oh, yeah. I hadn't agreed to the double date. It had been forced upon me by evil forces. Namely, Scorpius, Eurydice and Ophi (who I really thought was on my side). But then again, Ophi and Eurydice hadn't known that they were committing grand acts of villainy when they agreed to the double date, so I suppose the only culprit here was Scorpius Malfoy. Then again, what else is new?

The worst thing was that I happened to know that the only reason that Scorpius proposed this double date was so that he could further taunt me by flaunting his relationship with Eurydice. It was not because he wanted to be with me. It was not because he wanted to try to flirt with me. It was just because he wanted me to be jealous, as a part of his great master plan with Demetria.

They were evil, the pair of them.

Normally, I didn't think of my classmates as evil wrong – doers. This was a new side to me that I had never seen before, and I blamed Scorpius for bringing it out in me.

I finally managed to get myself out of bed, take a shower and get dressed, glaring at Eurydice the whole time. As usual, I was the first one up, so at half past seven when the others started waking up, I was already fully dressed and reading a book on my bed.

Felicia rolled over in bed and yawned widely.

"'Morning," she said.

"Good morning," I told her. "It's Hogsmeade today."

"I know," she said, rubbing her eyes. "You're going with Ophi."

I nodded.

"I actually have a date too," she added.

I snapped my book shut.

"Who?" I asked.

Felicia smiled slyly as she sat up in bed. "I'm not telling," she said. "But you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Felicia walked off towards the bathroom, leaving me staring after her.

Oh, Merlin.

Al had finally gotten the guts to ask Felicia out! Felicia and Al were finally going to be a couple! And they would just be so perfect for each other…

I always knew that the two of them had something special. I really did. Well, ever since Al told me he liked her. But since then I have thought of them as a good couple. They're already friends, and I've read somewhere that the best relationships are built on friendships, so that's good. Al and Felicia are always bickering, but surely that must just be their way of flirting?

I checked myself in the mirror before going downstairs for breakfast. I was painfully aware of the fact that I would be seeing Scorpius that afternoon, and I wanted to make it look like I had made an effort for Ophi. Which I had. Right?

After breakfast Felicia mysteriously disappeared with a sly smile on her face. I couldn't wait to run into Felicia and Al in Hogsmeade.

Ophi found me at once.

"Hey," he said. He looked nervous. He kept flattening his hair and then messing it up again, as though unable to decide what looked best.

"Hey," I told him.

"You – uh – you look nice," he told me.

"You too," I said, though I honestly hadn't noticed what he was wearing.

This was unbelievably awkward. I really hoped that the rest of the day wasn't going to be like this. Ophi was sweet and this was my first date ever, I told myself. I forced myself to brighten up and make an effort. I didn't know why it was so hard, it just was.

Ophi and I walked around Hogsmeade for a few hours. Eventually the awkwardness went away and we were able to talk like normal friends. Ophi even stopped messing with his hair, which I thought to be an improvement.

We went into Honeydukes and filled our pockets with sweets, then Zonkos (though I, of course, didn't buy anything) and later the post office.

Ophi had laughed a lot at a biting teacup and tried to persuade me to buy one.

"No," I told him simply. "Someone could get seriously hurt."

"Oh, come on," Ophi had said, examining the biting teacup for the price. "I think it's funny."

"Well, I don't," I told him stiffly.

"Oh, uh, neither do I," Ophi said and hastily put the biting teacup back on the shelf. For some reason this annoyed me. If he liked the teacup he could have bought it! Was I really intimidating?

For some reason I pictured a larger me with fangs like Demetria's biting a very little Ophi's head off. No, I decided. I would have to try to be nicer. Ophi was clearly both nervous and sensitive. I caught myself thinking for a second of Scorpius, who would probably have bought fifty biting teacups if he had liked them.

STOP IT! Stop thinking about Scorpius when Ophi is such a nice guy!

"Isn't that your friend Felicia?" Ophi suddenly asked.

I stopped in my tracks. I realized that I had been walking along deep in thought, looking at the ground. I hastily looked up to where Ophi was looking.

"Oh – uh – yeah," I said. Felicia seemed to be standing outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, looking as though she was waiting for someone.

"Hey Felicia!" I called.

Felicia waved us over.

"Hi," she said, beaming at us.

"How's it going?" I asked, but she never answered, because at that moment, James came bounding out of the shop, looking pleased, and suddenly stopped next to Felicia and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Hey," he said casually.

I could feel my eyes bulging in a very James – like way. What was going on here?

"Um, hi," I said. "Where's Al?"

They both shrugged.

"No idea," said Felicia. And she beamed at me and then nodded towards James.

Oh. Merlin.

Felicia was not in Hogsmeade with Al. She was here with James. James, whom she had had a crush on for years. I should have known, shouldn't I? After all, Felicia had never shown any interest in Al. But then again James had never shown any interest in Felicia…

"James, have you seen the biting teacups in Zonkos?" I asked him.

"Biting teacups?" James' face lit up. "Brilliant!"

"Yeah, Ophi can show you," I told him.

"But –" Ophi started.

"We'll meet up with you guys in a moment," I said sweetly.

James nearly raced off towards Zonkos, gripping Ophi by the arm. Clearly, he had forgotten that Ophi was a Slytherin.

"Isn't it fantastic?" Felicia asked me as soon as they were out of earshot. "I'm on a date with James! Finally!"

"But – but… when did this happen?" I asked.

"A couple days ago," Felicia said, beaming. "I just confessed that I liked him (obviously I didn't say that I'd been in love with him since forever) and then he asked me out!"

"But why James?" I asked. "Of all people, why James?"

"Because I like him," Felicia said, as though she were speaking to a two year old. "I hope you're not mad that I didn't tell you right away, but you looked like you've had a lot on your mind this week."

"I can't believe you're going out with James," I said.

"I know, right?" Felicia said, beaming. "It's great!"

"But why can't you go out with someone else?" I asked.

Felicia suddenly frowned. "Why shouldn't I go out with James?"

"Because he's – well, he's not really your type," I said, as gently as I could. "Besides he's leaving Hogwarts next year, and sometimes he's really a pain in the-"

"Oh, I get it," Felicia said, suddenly cold. "You don't want me to go out with James. You don't think I'm good enough for him. You don't think I'm good enough for your family."

"I – what?" I said, flabbergasted.

"You've known that I liked James for ages," Felicia continued, her voice rising. "Yet you never said anything to him. You don't think that someone like me is good enough for James Potter. Especially not when you, yourself, are so damn perfect."

"Look, Felicia," I said, feeling indignant. "You can go out with anyone in my family. It's just that James is…"

"Not my type?" Felicia finished. "You probably wouldn't like me dating Hugo, either, would you?"

"Hugo?" I exclaimed. "That's disgusting, he's only thirteen."

"You see?" Felicia suddenly shouted. "I'm not good enough for anyone in your family!"

"You could date Al-"

"You know what?" Felicia said, not listening to me. "Screw you, Rose. I don't care. I'm going to go find James."

And with that she marched off towards Zonkos leaving me alone and confused.

What was Felicia's problem? If she wanted to date Al – no problem! But JAMES? James, gigantic prick of the century? James, who always bosses people around? James, who never listens to anyone else and thinks that he's the greatest? And I know that girls are supposed to like confidence in a guy, but there is such a thing as too much confidence. Actually, James has so much confidence that he hardly has anything else.

And Felicia is pretty confident too, and she doesn't like being told what to do. SEE how this relationship would never work?

Besides, Al and Felicia were totally made for each other. Although it may have taken me a long time to realize this, I think that they would be a wonderful couple. After all, they complement each other. Felicia and James… clash.

"Hey," Ophi suddenly said. I jumped about two feet into the air.

"Don't sneak up on people," I grumbled automatically.

Ophi laughed, though.

"Sorry," he said. "Want to get something to eat?"

"Sure," I said, trying to brighten up. The messed up, ridiculous, never – going – to – work James and Felicia relationship wasn't Ophi's fault, after all.

"There's this new place," Ophi said. "I think it looks good."

We stopped in front of a restaurant. I didn't even notice the name of the restaurant; I just let Ophi open the door for me as I stepped inside. Ophi found us a table right beside a window, so that we had a nice view of the street below.

"This is nice," I said, trying to be optimistic and cheery.

"Yeah," said Ophi.

The waitress handed us the menus and told us that she would be back in a moment. I opened mine and my eyes widened. The name of the restaurant was Candace's Steakhouse.

STEAKHOUSE.

I scanned the menu, words like turkey, pork, grilled chicken, beef and rib-eye popping out. I could already feel my mouth watering. Obviously, Ophi wasn't aware of my vegetarianism.

I cast a desperate glance at the soups and salads. Even THEY had meat. This was unbelievable.

I continued reading the menu card, trying to look impressed rather than desperate.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Sliced, slow roasted pork tenderloin drizzled with a sweet glaze. Served with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans.

When was the last time I had had pork tenderloin? I couldn't even remember. Too long. I could kill for that pork tenderloin.

I tried to remind myself of all the animals who had needlessly died to serve the greedy humans of the world, but it wasn't working.

"What would you like?"

The waitress was suddenly there again, without warning. Ophi gestured towards me to begin.

"Um," I very cleverly started. "I would like the… uh … Caesar Salad."

"Right," said the waitress, making a note of this. "And would that be with grilled chicken or shrimp?"

"Uh – neither," I told her.

"Neither," she repeated blankly.

"Neither," I confirmed.

"You have come into a steakhouse to eat a Caesar Salad with no meat, whatsoever?"

"Correct," I said, wondering why she had to be so mean about it.

Thankfully she dropped it, though, because she rolled her eyes and turned to Ophi.

"The roasted pork tenderloin," he told her.

No. No, no, no, no. I wouldn't be able to stand watching him eat that gorgeous piece of, sweet yet tangy, roasted –

Piece of dead pig, I reminded myself.

"So," Ophi said as the waitress walked away.

"So," I said.

We sat there in awkward silence for several minutes.

"How're your friends?" he finally asked.

"Good," I said, ignoring the picture of James and Felicia in my mind. "Brilliant."

"Good," said Ophi.

We sat in silence for a few more moments.

"How're your friends?" I asked.

"Good," said Ophi.

"Good," I said.

Silence ensued again.

Finally, our food arrived. I sighed glumly upon receiving my Caesar salad. I couldn't help but cast longing glances at Ophi's pork tenderloin as he dug in.

"How is it?" I asked.

"Just perfect," Ophi said. "How's the salad?"

"Great," I said, though I hadn't tasted it. I had been busy mentally eating Ophi's food.

I took a bite and tried to imagine that it was some kind of meat. It didn't work. Not that the Caesar salad wasn't good or anything… it just really would have tasted better with grilled chicken.

Getting the food helped relieve the awkward silence a bit. We still had nothing o talk about, but about twenty minutes passed with the silence being filled with chewing instead.

"Isn't that Demetria?" Ophi suddenly asked.

At the sound of her name my head snapped up. "What?"

"Over there," Ophi said, nodding towards the other end of the restaurant.

Sure enough, there was Demetria, sitting with a group of Slytherin girls and eating – oh Merlin – a turkey sandwich. Even the vampire could eat meat.

"Do you want to go say hello?" Ophi asked, clearly oblivious to Demetria's hatred of me, and my hatred of her.

"You go," I said. "I don't know her that well."

Ophi shrugged and strode off towards Demetria's table. It was then that an idea occurred to me. Ophi had his back to me and he would never notice if I just took a really quick, a really, really small bite of his pork tenderloin.

No, I told myself. Not only was that against the vegetarian rules, but it's not morally right to eat other people's food. But then again…

I looked over to make sure that Ophi wasn't looking my direction. Then, quick as lightning, I reached across the table, grabbed a random piece of meat off of his plate and stuffed it in my mouth.

Merlin. It was everything that I missed about meat and more. I reached over and took another piece and another…

And then I saw Scorpius Malfoy on the other side of the window. I'm completely serious! Scorpius was standing out on the street, looking in at me stuffing my face with meat, and laughing. Really, really, out – of- control laughing.

My jaw dropped, revealing the half chewed food inside my mouth. I shut it quickly again and turned away from the window, but it was too late. I had been caught eating meat. Correction: I, a vegetarian, had been caught, by none other than Scorpius Malfoy, eating someone else'smeat.

Ophi chose that moment to return to our table.

"We should probably get going," he said.

"Huh?" I said, my mind still on Scorpius and the pork tenderloin.

"To the Three Broomsticks," Ophi said. "You know, we're meeting up with Scorpius and Eurydice."

"Oh," I said. "Right. That."

Ophi didn't seem to notice my gloominess, though, because he was already getting ready to pay for the check.

I hate today, I suddenly realized. I really, really, with all my guts hated that very day.

But I didn't manage to say anything, and Ophi and I headed out the door to the Double Date of Doom.

**

I cannot even BEGIN to say how sorry I am for not updating sooner! I've just been so ridiculously busy with my new school, and somehow, I just haven't had as much time as I thought I would have.

But I promise that from now on, updates will be more regular. The first few weeks of school were pretty hectic, but now I'm in a routine and it's easier to write.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have stuck with me. It would mean the world if you would review and tell me what you think of this chapter.

And thanks so much for all the reviews that I have gotten so far. They are so important to me, and they are what keep me writing.

Thanks again : )