Breakfast on this cloudy Sunday morning was oddly quiet. Hermione was in the Great Hall long before Harry and Ron, but many others were also later than usual.

Just when she had finished eating, a few dejected figures shuffled through the door.

"You're alive!" joked Ginny, toasting her brother with her cup.

Harry sank down on the bench beside Hermione and looked at her with deep circles under his eyes.

"What happened yesterday?" he pressed out, sinking into himself a little more.

"I'll have to ask you that," Hermione replied, eyeing him carefully. She hadn't realised that any potion could cause such a hangover. What the hell had been in that punch?

"It's all Michael's fault," Ron grumbled, resting his head on the table. "He put that shit in the bowl."

"Michael?" asked Dean a few seats away. "I thought that was Blaise?"

Ron lifted his head like it weighed a ton.

"No, I definitely saw Michael."

"And I definitely saw Blaise."

"That might explain why you're so hungover," Hermione mused. "Who knows what they mixed together."

"We'll know that in a minute," was all Ginny said as she stood up. She walked with long strides to the Slytherin table and stood with her arms crossed next to Blaise, who was yawning into his coffee.

Hermione noticed that she gave Theo a quick smile on her way over, but no one else at the Gryffindor table seemed to notice.

After a few exchanged words, she nodded in satisfaction and moved on to Michael.

He raised his hands defensively and just laughed when Ginny approached him. She didn't hesitate and grabbed him brusquely by the collar, nearly lifting him off his seat.

Hermione couldn't understand what she was saying, but it seemed to have an effect.

She came back to her friends with a triumphant look on her face.

"Well, looks like those two didn't plan that whole thing. Blaise put vodka in it and with Michael it was an elixir of euphoria."

Hermione tried her hardest to just not say anything right now. This could have turned out a lot worse. Especially since not everyone had probably noticed that the punch was spiked in the first place.

Before she could get upset about it, though, a loud sob echoed behind her.

Hermione turned in surprise to see Parvati holding her sister, who was slumped at the Ravenclaw table.

Hermione and the others looked at each other in wonder. It didn't feel right to interfere directly. However, it was extremely rare for anyone in the Great Hall to burst into tears. Especially at the Ravenclaw table.

Luna, sitting on the other side of Padma, whispered something to her and stroked her back affectionately.

"You've got to be kidding me. I feel so stupid!", Hermione could hear her sobbing.

"I know, I'm so sorry," Parvati replied, looking around. Her gaze met many curious faces, which she didn't seem particularly thrilled about.

"Come on, let's get some fresh air." She pulled her sister up and walked with her towards the exit. Luna stayed behind and stirred her cereal bowl, sighing.

"Luna?" hissed Ginny across the space between them. "What happened?"

Luna looked after the two sisters and then scurried over to the bench beside Ginny.

"Lovesickness," she replied curtly.

"Oh. Did something happen at the party," Harry asked.

"No. I think it's about someone from Amortentia. But I don't think Padma would want me to tell you."

"Poor thing," Ginny commented, glancing again in the direction the twins had disappeared.

"Speaking of which," Dean interjected. "Seamus apparently wants to meet with someone from Amortentia today."

"Please tell me it's not a waiter from Hogsmeade," Hermione said more in jest than serious.

Dean, however, looked straight at her in alarm.

"Yes it is... Why?"

Hermione almost dropped her spoon.

"Seriously now?" she exclaimed, "A guy who's new to Hogsmeade, waitressing, and we've never seen him before?"

Ron let out a pained grumble and held his head as Hermione's voice got louder. Ginny and Luna din't understand anything, but Harry was all ears now.

"Yeah...? Do you know him?" asked Dean.

"No, but... have you seen that profile?" exclaimed Hermione. "That is so obviously a catfish. Lavender showed it to me once weeks ago because she thought he was so great, too."

Ron's expression darkened even further.

"He wouldn't show me the pictures, he just told me about it," Dean explained, raising his hands defensively.

"Can't you talk him out of it?" Hermione fiddled nervously with sleeve. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

"I don't think that's going to work," Dean admitted. "Seamus is pretty..."

"Stubborn?" said Ginny.

"Lovestruck," Dean corrected, grinning. "So much so that today he said he couldn't eat any breakfast."

"Oh, that's why he asked us about his outfit at least tent times this morning," Ron sighed.

Hermione found the thought of Seamus trying on shirt after shirt and standing excitedly in front of the mirror quite cute, but it didn't make her forget the danger she feared behind the obvious catfish.

"If we can't talk him out of the date," Harry began, "we might as well just go to Hogsmeade and sort of observe him from a bit of a distance."

"Do you at least know where the date is going to be?" asked Ginny.

"They want to meet in Hogsmeade and then go for a walk."

Hermione heaved a discontented sigh.

"I'll talk to him, but I'm not promising anything." Dean stood up and left, while Harry remembered again how hungover he actually was.

"Isn't there a potion for that?" muttered Ron.

"I'm sure there is." Hermione crossed her arms in glee. "Would you like me to wave Snape over to our table so you can ask him?"

Dean welcomed the friends into the common room with medium-good news.

Seamus had been anything but thrilled when Dean had confessed to him that the others now knew about his date. Of course, he liked it even less that Hermione was so vehemently against it.

However, after a long discussion, he had agreed that a couple of classmates would play unobtrusive bodyguards.

Besides, the walk was cancelled because of the heavy rain that morning and they were going to meet at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.

"I'll definitely come, I need some fresh air," Ron decided just as Seamus was coming down the stairs.

It seemed he had finally decided on an outfit and Hermione noticed that he had even styled his hair differently than usual.

"Two people max, otherwise it's far too obvious," he grumbled, standing rather sheepishly next to Dean without looking at the others.

"Then I can just go to the Three Broomsticks with Lavender, it won't stand out at all," Ron suggested. "It'll just look like a date."

"And then you sink into each other's eyes and don't notice anything around you after five minutes," Ginny pointed out mockingly.

"Well, that's a great idea," Harry interjected. "We'll just have a date day. Ron sits at one table with Lavender and one or two other couples go to other tables, that way we'll have the perfect overview and it won't attract attention. After all, it's Sunday, what else is there to do here, anyway?"

"And who would those other couples be?" asked Hermione. She quickly went through in her mind all the couples that were currently in her year. There actually weren't that many.

"Definitely not more people, it's not like everyone has to know," protested Seamus.

"I could..." Ginny stopped her sentence with a quick glance at her brother. "No, never mind."

Ron looked with big question marks in his eyes, but said nothing.

"It's a good idea, though," Dean agreed.

"If the guy really did move here newly, he doesn't know any of us anyway, so he shouldn't notice any of this at all. Then why doesn't Harry just go with Ginny and I'll go with Hermione?"

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't," Ginny said hastily. "I...already have plans."

"Harry and Luna then?" suggested Hermione, trying hard to ignore her suddenly quickening heartbeat. As well as the amused looks between Harry and Ron.

"I'll ask her," Harry agreed and started typing a message to Luna.

"Okay, now if you can finally leave me alone," Seamus muttered. "But get there before me, or at least don't all come at once."

The Three Broomsticks was busy that day, as expected. Hermione was beginning to fear there wouldn't be enough empty tables for everyone, but it just about worked out.

Harry and Luna seated themselves relatively far away at a window. Ron and Lavender took a seat at a table just next to the main door and Dean and Hermione sat on the opposite side of Harry and Luna.

Seamus was due to meet his date at 3pm and was standing in the doorway ten minutes before, his head red and looking so nervous Hermione couldn't help but cracking a smile at the sight of him. She had never seen him like this.

His friends had had to reassure him at least five more times that they wouldn't keep looking over at him as long as he and his date were just talking.

"The last time I saw him this nervous was when he asked Cormac if he wanted to go to the Yule Ball with him."

Hermione nearly choked on her pumpkin juice and looked at Dean in shock.

"He wanted to go to the ball with Cormac? Why?"

Dean laughed and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.

"Why did you want to take Cormac to Slughorn's party?" he countered.

Hermione lost her appetite at the memory of that evening.

"That was... a weak moment in my life, not worth remembering."

The door opened and immediately Hermione's, Ron's and Harry's heads whipped around.

Very discreet...

Standing in the doorway, however, was not a mysterious stranger, but Ginny. With Theodore.

"Uh-huh.," Dean murmured.

Hermione's eyes widened and she immediately looked over at Ron, whose mouth hang open.

Ginny stifled a grin and went with Theo to the last free table.

"I couldn't miss this, right?" she whispered to Hermione as she passed her.

"Good thing Ron's with Lavender right now, or he'd probably be freaking out," Hermione remarked, looking around at her friend again with concern.

Ron had his hands hidden under the table, but she was sure he had just clenched them into fists.

Lavender just smiled beatifically and pet his upper arm.

Dean's phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Seamus texted me," he noted, smirking. "Stop looking at the door, you're horrible."

"I guess he's right." Hermione moved her chair a little straighter again and turned her back to the door completely.

"Just please tell me if anyone comes in who... looks like a date?"

Seamus still hadn't shown them a picture and she could only faintly remember the profile Lavender had shown her back then. In a room full of people, she probably wouldn't recognise this person.

"Okay, so... Ginny and Theo?", Dean changed the subject and narrowed his eyes.

"Apparently." Hermione shrugged.

"Wouldn't have expected it before the party either. Maybe she just wants to annoy Ron a bit."

"Ron would be annoyed at anyone," Dean retorted. "What do you think was going on in our dorm room when I was with her."

"I can imagine it wasn't easy."

"I felt sorry for Neville the most," Dean admitted. "Seamus and Harry were clearly biased and I think they found it quite funny, too. Neville just wanted peace and harmony. But whenever he tried to mediate between us, it only got worse."

"I don't think Ron's quite as bad as that by now," Hermione reflected.

"After all, he's got someone of his own now, and that's enough of a distraction."

"Well, we'll see." Dean laughed and looked past Hermione.

"Right now, he looks like he's going to jump up and drag Theo outside by the ears any second."

"I guess there were phases like that in every dorm at one time or another," Hermione agreed.

"I really hope Ron and Lavender stay together at least until we're out of school. I don't need someone crying themselves to sleep next to me every night before the exams."

Both Dean and Hermione didn't have enough attention left deeptalk about anything interesting. At the same time, Hermione would have really liked to talk to him again about the upcoming professional life. She hadn't even asked him on that shopping afternoon in Hogsmeade what he was still deciding on. She really had no idea what kind of professions were on his mind.

But every sound of the door was like a little alarm in their ears. Dean had a good look at the door, but no one turned up who looked like they could be Seamus' date.

Not at 3pm, not ten minutes past the appointed time, and not even at 3:20pm.

"I'm afraid someone's been stood up," Harry commented, having finally joined Hermione and Dean at the table.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Dean stood up and walked over to Seamus, who was still sitting alone at the small table and looked like a picture of misery.

Hermione couldn't understand what either of them were saying, but after a few sentences Seamus jumped up and ran outside. Not without pushing Lavender aside on the way to the door, who was also about to join him.

Hesitantly, one by one, they came outside until they were all gathered in the drizzle.

"He's embarrassed about being stood up," Dean explained. "And that we all watched it happen. He'll come around."

"Poor guy, he really didn't deserve that," Luna sighed. "We've all got phones, why not let someone know on if something's come up and you can't make it tot he date?" Luna gasped in shock. "Unless he had an accident or worse and couldn't come because of it."

"I doubt that," Harry muttered.

"Yeah, I'm afraid he just got cold feet or something," Dean agreed.

"Or he was just messing with him from the start," Ginny added. Hermione said nothing, but she was right there with Ginny on this one.

Back in the common room, they were greeted by a few scared and worried faces.

Parvati cut Dean off as he went to look for Seamus in the dormitory.

"I wouldn't go up there now," she called out to him. "Seamus is throwing things."

"What?" asked Ginny in surprise.

"He stormed in here and started yelling at us not to stare at him like that," Parvati said, sounding rather offended.

"Then he ran upstairs and since then there are banging sounds every few seconds."

As she finished the sentence, a thudding sound was heard, as if something wooden had hit a wall.

"Well, I'll check on him all the more then," Dean walked up the stairs, taking two steps at a time.

"I actually prefer my crying sister over that," Parvati remarked, dropping into one of the big armchairs.

"What's wrong with her? Luna said she's heartbroken too?", Harry asked.

"Yes, terrible," Parvati sighed, shaking her head. "Some guy on Amortentia was promising her the moon for days and she was totally blown away. And now from one day to the next he's ghosting her. He wanted to meet her a Honeydukes and because she didn't want to rush things, she fortunately declined. There's been no reply since."

Hermione exchanged meaningful glances with Harry, Ron, Lavender and Ginny and took a deep breath.

"The guy wouldn't happen to be a waiter in Hogsmeade who newly moved here?" she asked, fearing she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Parvati exclaimed and was on her feet in an instant. "What about him?"

"He just stood up Seamus," Harry explained tersely.

"What a funny guy." Ginny's expression had darkened considerably.

"Who knows who else he's texting with," Lavender mused. "He did text me at the beginning of the school year."

"Maybe we should print out his profile picture, hang it up in the castle and warn others about him," Ron suggested.

"Or we could find out who it is and get back at him," Ginny objected.

"Do you think it's someone from here?" asked Hermione.

"It has to be someone who knows his way around here," Harry stated. "Otherwise he wouldn't be able to agree on meeting at certain places in Hogsmeade."

"I like the idea of the printed picture," Hermione agreed. "At least then everyone will be warned."

"Well, let's ask Seamus when he's calmed down to show us the profile," Ron decided. "Or has anyone else here matched that guy?"

No one stirred.

"Okay, something else then..." Ron turned to Ginny. "Theodore Nott?!"

Ginny was gone as quickly as Crookshanks when Hermione tried to brush his fur.

Some time later, Dean had managed to convince Seamus that no one would laugh at him in the common room. Nevertheless, he was visibly uncomfortable sitting among his friends by the warming fireplace.

Outside, the rain was still beating against the window screens and the wind could be heard whistling.

As a first-grader, Hermione had been quite creeped out by such evenings.

By now she liked the atmosphere. Sitting cosily with her friends by the fireplace, while outside the world seemed to be coming to an end.

When Seamus finally held out the profile picture of the catfish to them, Lavender frowned.

"That's not the same guy," she noted, taking the phone from him so she could take a closer look at the picture.

"No, definitely not. The one who texted me back then looked completely different."

"That means..." began Harry "there are multiple catfishes?"

"Or multiple idiots," Ron interjected.

"But the story is always the same," Hermione reminded him. "Someone probably just created several profiles. Or the old one's already been banned because he's been reported a few times."

"Damn, then there's no point in putting that picture up at all," Harry grumbled.

"What did your guy look like?" Dean asked Lavender.

"Brown eyes, dark brown hair... handsome."

The guy in the current picture was actually quite the opposite. He was blond, had grey eyes and freckles. He was also quite pretty, but that was about it.

After they had brought Parvati in, it was clear that it probably didn't end there. Padma had shown her a south-east asian looking man, with black hair and dark brown eyes.

"Crap," Harry grumbled, looking thoughtfully at the flickering fire.

"We could just create a fake profile and try to match with one of the profiles," Lavender mused. "Then we might somehow find out who it actually is."

"If it's someone from the castle," Hermione remarked, "I'm pretty sure he just wants to fool some classmates, not match some people he doesn't know."

"So we'll have to put someone on it that the person knows," Dean continued the thought.

Harry grinned and looked around with amusement.

"Hmm... well who's the only person who comes to mind for that task? The only one who is single..."

Hermione gave him an annoyed look.

"I'm not the only one of us without a relationship, am I?"

"But you're the only one who would be believable," Lavender agreed. "Ron and I are out, Ginny apparently is too, Harry and Dean are - as far as we know at least - neither gay nor bisexual, so that leaves you as our only option."

"Besides, you're smart enough to eventually out someone like that," Harry agreed.

Hermione sighed. She really wanted to know who was behind this. She also wanted to save her friends from more heartache or worse. But she hated the thought of herself on Amortentia.

The idea that she would be shown to classmates as a potential match and not be allowed to directly disclose that she was only on this app for research purposes gave her an uncomfortable feeling.

"Who's to say that person didn't create female profiles, too? You can do that just as well."

"Well, let's both try it, then," Dean suggested. "It will work for one of us, I guess."

"We can help you, of course, if we think we've found the idiot," Ginny said encouragingly.

"Sure, it's a group effort," Ron agreed. "We just need a face for it."

"Yeah, alright." Hermione reached for her jacket, which was still hanging over the back of the couch, and pulled her phone out of one of the pockets.

Ginny and Lavender were immediately at her side, clearly having too much fun creating a profile for Hermione.

Seamus continued to sit on the floor silence in front of them, staring into the fire as he occasionally sipped his cocoa, lost in thought.

Dean and Harry added some constructive ideas from time to time while they worked on Dean's profile themselves, but Ron was mainly busy teasing Hermione about the situation.

It took a full twenty minutes for their profile to be finished and for everyone to be reasonably happy with it.

Hermione had finally agreed on uploading two pictures from her last summer holiday in France and a very recent one taken by Ginny.

In the picture she had just snapped, she was sitting on the low window sill in front of one of the large colourful windows.

The holiday photos showed her in a summer dress in a beautiful park and with sunglasses and windblown hair on a lookout tower in Nice.

Of course, they had taken the longest to write the text. Here opinions varied widely as to what would most likely appeal to such an impostor.

Dean finally remarked that it didn't really matter at all.

"If it's someone from the castle who enjoys conning people, then someone clever like Hermione is just like the final boss after all. The grand prize, so to speak, the ultimate challenge."

Hermione avoided looking at Harry or Ron, but she felt their amused glances on her.

Against Lavender's insistence, she didn't add hashtags to her profile text. Lavenders ideas for such tags had been truly awful.

"You could link a song, though. I always find that very interesting," Lavender suggested and immediately corrected herself. "Well, I always found that very interesting."

"Alright, but that's really enough for now, then." Hermione typed something and earned a questioning look from Ginny.

"I don't know that one, is that something new?"

"It is, yeah. I only discovered it the other day."

"Turn it on," Lavender prompted, pulling Ron up from his chair in an agitated manner to dance with him as the first notes of "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" blasted from Hermione's phone speaker.

Seamus continued to stare ahead. Heartbreak was really a terrible thing.