(I just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews, and an extra special thanks goes out to Hermione's Phoenix for putting me on the 'Recommendations'! You have no idea how special you all make me feel!)
Hermione knew there was no way anything could beat the marvelous first group date she had, but she was also looking forward to the next. There were seven more great guys to get to know, and she was excited. She knew she vaguely remembered Seamus, but as she was never very well acquainted with him, she was eager to get to know him better. All of the other guys seemed very intriguing as well.
******** (The Bachelor Pad) ********
Harry awoke the morning after his group date with Hermione extremely pleased with the way the date had gone. He had to admit that all of the cameras and extra people around made it hard on him; he had never been one to like all of the attention. Hermione was so easy going and calm about it all that it put him at ease and he was able to concentrate more on her than everything going on around him, and he was thankful for that. It was a bit too soon to say anything for sure, but he could feel a real connection with her. When he was with her he just felt whole, something he hadn't ever felt. He had always felt like there was something missing in his life, and the few women he had tried to date to fill it had all come up short. Hermione was different, though.
All of a sudden, a loud noise interrupted his thoughts. He could hear all of the guys running around toward the living room. He decided he should get up and make an appearance, so reluctantly, he got up out of bed and checked himself quickly in the mirror to make sure he looked at least halfway presentable before making his way out of the room and down the stairs to the living room. Sure enough, all of the guys were already gathered around the ottoman which held a box similar to the one that his group was presented to announce their group date. Just as he arrived at the side of the circle, he could hear Seamus reading the envelope.
"To Mike, David, Seamus, Chris, Matt, Ryan, and Sean," he began, opening the envelope and pulling out the note. Hastily, he unfolded the paper and continued reading.
"Tomorrow we will be sailing the open seas on a private yacht. We will dine and dance the day away on the luxurious Ocean Queen. I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow! -Hermione"
Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the look on Seamus' face when he was finished reading. He looked like Christmas had come early. All of the men began chatting about the next day's date. Harry sat silently in a chair and stared out one of the many windows. He hoped he had made a good enough impression on Hermione yesterday, because he had just realized that the Rose Ceremony was only a couple of days away, and she would make her decisions based on the group dates.
******** (Hermione) ********
Hermione found that when she woke up the day of group date number two that she was not as excited. She had a wonderful
group of guys to go out with, but it still just didn't feel as exciting as the first one. In the back of her mind,
she knew it was because this date did not include Harry, but she tried to push that stray thought back and remind
herself that she needed to stay objective. For all she knew one of the guys today could knock her socks off with his
overwhelming charm.
She readied herself carefully, taking into account the situation of her date. She wore a knee-length pink skirt with a white fitted tee and topped it off with a jean jacket. Cute, but not overdressed, she told herself as she looked in the mirror. She pulled select curls up out of her face with pink clips but let the rest cascade over her shoulders. Taking one last look, she decided she was satisfied and made her way down to meet the limo that would take her to pick up the guys.
By the time she arrived at the Bachelor Pad, all of her nerves were sorted out. She told herself that this date was just like the date she had day before last, and that one went very smoothly. She stepped out of the car and knocked on the door. Once again, Harry opened the door. This time he greeted her with a big smile and a hug.
"Please come in, Hermione. The guys are almost ready," he told her as he stepped back to let her in. Why did he always have to answer the door? Now she would be thinking about nothing but him all day. He had a way of standing out in her mind. Almost as soon as she had been let in the guys began to descend the stairs.
First was Ryan, wearing khakis and a nice button down shirt. His hair was slightly mussed, but Hermione knew that was on purpose. It didn't matter, anyway, because he pulled it off brilliantly. Sean also wore khakis and a button down shirt, but his was a bright blue that really made his face light up; or was that his brilliant smile? Hermione knew he was a dental assistant, and that fact really showed in his wonderful smile. Matt was third, also wearing khakis, but with a green shirt that went surprisingly well with his bright blue eyes. Chris came next, making khakis a very popular choice, but paired them with a crewneck sweater. His hair was neatly combed, and he looked ready to spend a day on a yacht. Mike (surprise) was wearing khakis, but chose to wear his with a blue and white striped shirt. The effect looked very put together on him. David had a black shirt with his khakis that made him look smooth and very handsome. Seamus was last, also sporting khakis, but choosing to pair his with a plain white shirt. Some would think that he would look plain next to all of the other colors, but Hermione thought it was nice and simple; very clean-looking.
"Are you all ready?" she asked them with a smile.
They all nodded and followed her out the door and into the limo. They chatted comfortably about everyday things on the way to the yacht, and Hermione was feeling very confident about the date by the time they reached their destination.
They boarded the yacht, and were shown to the top deck, where a table had been placed, set for eight. They each found their seats, and the lunch began. Directly to Hermione's left was Seamus, and David was to her right. Not surprisingly, David immediately engaged her in conversation about the latest book he had read. Luckily, Hermione had also read the same book, so it ended up well. Hermione found David to be very intelligent, and she liked that. She needed someone that would be able to challenge her. David also seemed (for as well as she knew him) to be an accepting person, so he would be able to take the fact that she is a witch well.
In a break from conversing with David, she overheard a funny story Seamus was telling about his first day at work. Apparently, he had been sent to a specific location to cover a story, but somehow ended up on the other side of town. He didn't find what he was supposed to find there, but, not wanting to disappoint his superiors, wrote a very well-worded piece on the neighborhood bakery. The newspaper wasn't very happy about the mistake, but liked his article so much they began to write a weekly section on local businesses. The owner of the bakery had been so pleased with the publicity, he had given Seamus free bread for the whole week following the running of his article.
After they were finished with dinner, they were advised they could go down to the bottom deck for drinks and dancing. Hermione was excited about this. She loved to dance, but never got to go nearly as much as she wanted, so she was glad to be able to be the only woman there, as she would be dancing constantly.
She first danced with David. He told her a little about his work. He was a writer for a small magazine in Tucson, but was hoping to publish the novel he was currently working on. He had been working on it for quite some time and was eager to have someone read it and find out what they thought of it. Hermione found herself very entranced by David. He had a way of making her feel important and always making sure she had input into the conversation, as well.
She was reluctant to let him go and dance with someone else, but she knew she had to, so she led him back to the bar where the others were seated and traded him for Mike. She was very impressed with Mike at first, but she found the more she talked with him, the more she found out that she didn't like. He owned a trendy restaurant in L.A., and all he would talk about was how pleased he was that so many stars were interested in dining there. She had to cut their time short to save her sanity.
Next, she danced with Chris. She had to admit he was very good-looking, and he was not pushy at all. He told her a little bit about his work, but soon admitted that being a personal assistant wasn't very exciting. He listened intently as Hermione explained her work as best as she could without giving any magic details away. She could sense he was a bit confused at the vagueness of her description, but he never questioned her about it.
She then danced with Matt, who she found to be very self-involved. He was an actor, only he hadn't found is big break yet, so he was currently working on commercials and extras appearances on certain prime-time shows. Hermione was bored after the first five minutes, so she sadly found herself cutting her time short with Matt, as well.
Ryan was next, and he didn't have a whole lot to say about his work. He was a waiter in a fairly high-class restaurant, and apparently did fairly well there, but it, of course, wasn't very interesting. He told her about how he wanted to do something great with his life someday, he just hadn't found the right opportunity yet.
Hermione danced with Sean next, and when she told him her parents were dentists, he was very excited. It turns out that his parents were dentists as well, and they had originally wanted him to be a dentist as well, but he didn't want to go through to school and take the time to do that, so he settled for the next best thing and went for dental assisting. Seamus was last, and he kept Hermione laughing the whole time with his great sense of humor. He was able to talk seriously about his work, but knew just when to let a joke in, as well.
When they were finished with their dancing, Hermione was sad to go. She didn't think she would have a very good time, but was pleasantly surprised with how the date had gone. They all got off the boat and into the limo to begin the trip home. When they arrived back at the Bachelor Pad, Hermione hugged each of them and watched them enter the house. She got back into the limo and set her brain to "Big Decision Mode". She knew of a couple of the guys she was sure about letting go, but she knew she still had a tough decision about a couple others. The Rose Ceremony was tomorrow, so she had a full twenty-four hours to prepare herself.
***** Rose Ceremony Number Two *******
As Hermione readied herself for the Rose Ceremony, she felt a confidence that she hadn't felt all day. She had finally sorted out her choices, and she felt good about them. She knew, though, that they always had drinks and mingling time before the Rose Ceremony, and she hoped that none of the guys tried to change her mind. Tonight she wore a black spaghetti-strapped dress that fit snugly in the bodice but flowed in the skirt, falling just at her knees. She decided to wear her hair up, sweeping it up into a french twist and letting some of the curls fall out the top. She felt very good about both the way she looked and her decisions on who to let go. She only hoped that her feelings stayed the same all night. She definitely didn't want to do anything she would regret.
When she arrived, all of the men were dressed in their nice suits and were talking amongst themselves. Once they
noticed her arrival, they immediately surrounded her and involved her in their conversation until Chris (The Host) came
and got her to go into the decision-making room. She reluctantly followed him into the room and took her time studying
the pictures of the fifteen remaining men. Once he came and got her to tell her it was time, she felt confident in her
decision. She was definitely doing the right thing. She followed him out into the main Ceremony area, and stood before
the tray of roses, facing the fifteen nervous faces of the bachelors. She smiled comfortingly at them and took a deep
breath before beginning.
"First of all, I've had a wonderful time with all of you so far, and I hope you've had a good time as
well. As much as I hate to do this, we all know it's just the way the game is played, and it's inevitable. With
that being said," she picked up the first rose and called the first name.
"David." He approached with a big smile and accepted the rose he was presented.
"Jacob."
"Sean."
"Seamus."
"Ryan."
"Chris."
"Draco." When she called his name, Draco adopted a rather satisfied smirk as he went up to accept his rose.
"Greg."
"George."
The six men that were left were looking increasingly nervous by the second. As she picked up the last rose, Chris stepped forward and announced that this would be the final rose of the evening. Hermione nodded and called out the last name.
"Harry." With this announcement, Harry let out a huge breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was absolutely sure he would be offered a rose, but, as the situation requires, he was still very nervous. He smiled widely and walked down to Hermione, where he stood only inches from her.
"Harry, will you accept this rose?" she asked, smiling brightly.
"Of course I will," he answered as she pinned the rose to his lapel.
Once he had taken his place, Chris stepped back up. "All of you who did not receive a rose tonight, I'm sorry. It's time to say your goodbyes." The men took turns patting each other on the back and saying goodbye, and then, one by one, those that had not received roses gave Hermione a brief hug and left. Once again, someone brought out champagne and they toasted. They were all excited about the next stage, and were eager to move on.
(Please Review! Also, now that we know more about the guys, feel free to guess who might be the next to go.)