The weekend had passed by in an exhausted blur, not even bothering to acknowledge Hermione, who had spent the whole time mentally re-living the previous week. It had been a challenge, dating 12 men in 5 days. It wasn't until this point that Hermione realized that dating required a certain amount of self-reflection, and a boat load of self-doubt. 

Like most, Hermione had tried to be herself. But there was a nagging voice inside her head at every given moment telling her she wasn't good enough. It urged her to hide the things she thought were less desirable. It judged her and made her feel worthless. The volume of her self-doubt was unprecedented. It paralyzed her. She felt overwhelmingly lonely, and yet smothered by the sheer amount of conversation she had engaged in. It was truly exhausting. 

After spending the weekend alone, in her one-bedroom flat, examining every inch of her personality, Hermione was more than ready to step away from her thoughts. She had consumed an embarrassing quantity of red wine over the weekend, and had indulged in a takeaway twice. By the time Sunday evening had rolled around (far more sooner than was appropriate) Hermione found herself craving fresh air and vegetables. She had dressed carefully the following morning, trying to mask her unhealthiness with a pretty blouse and a touch of makeup. 

The real world looked so inviting, despite her introverted tendencies, Hermione couldn't resist. She had owled Katie, asking her to meet for breakfast before they were to attend the next stage of the programme together. Hermione felt slightly ashamed to admit that she had hoped that the other girl was feeling equally as desperate. 

"It was shocking." Katie groaned, digging into the Full English that had just been delivered to their small table. 

Hermione smiled behind her tea cup, every emotion she had felt over the past 7 days suddenly feeling vindicated. They were sat in a small muggle cafe, around the corner from the entrance to The Ministry. It was compact, and slightly run down but it was endearing non-the-less. The cafe was the kind of greasy spoon that people continued to return to, despite the chipped tableware and condensated windows. Luckily, the establishment was crowded enough to allow Hermione and Katie to discuss their troubles without risking revealing their magical world. Katie looked equally as relieved to release her anxieties. 

"As expected, most of the guys popped a stiffy when I told them I am a professional Quidditch player. You won't believe how many of them had the audacity to ask me whether I wanted their "Broomstick" between my legs. Honestly. Most of them are probably still at the age where they think "sex" is a funny word." She ranted. 

Hermione was unable to contain her laughter. "Merlin help us." 

She received a dramatic eye roll. "I mean, what did they expect me to say? It's bloody humiliating. I'm kind of glad the dates are blind, though. Its good to be anonymous. Imagine the headlines in The Daily Prophet?" 

"I dread to think." Hermione said, picturing her own face across the front page of the tabloid. She had earned her fair share of headlines over the years. In particular, her relationship with Ron had been highly publicised, despite the fact that they had only shared a brief romance. Ginny and Harry's relationship was frequently laid open for interpretation in the gossip columns of magazines. Hermione often wondered who on Earth read such drivel. She knew that controversy sold, regardless of how true the contents were.

 "There was no one who took your fancy?" Hermione asked, inspecting her cup of Tea. 

Katie sighed. "I thought a couple of guys were okay, but there were pretty slim pickings if you ask me." 

"Tell me about it." Hermione agreed wholeheartedly. 

"I really liked #11." The brunette said, wiping her mouth on a napkin. "He was the only guy who didn't completely lose his shit over me being a Quidditch player. Apparently he played as a seeker at Hogwarts, but he wouldn't tell me which team. He said i'd know who he was if he told me."

Hermione thought back to her date with #11. "He was my favorite for a little while. He seems approachable. Very passionate about his family." 

Katie squealed. "Merlin! I know. It was so cute how excited he got when he talked about his family. And then he tokd me about his work with magical creatures, and I just melted. Did you know what he co-owns a reserve for dragons in Romania?" 

"Slow down." Hermione laughed. "You've only had one date!"

The other girl didn't seem concerned. "I know! But he's literally my only contender. The rest of the men are not my type at all." 

Hermione frowned. "I know, there really aren't very many options."

"I'll just have to wrestle him off the other girls." The Katie teased. 

Shooting her friend a sceptical look, Hermione said. "Don't you think it's a little early to be so smitten?"

"I'm optimistic." Katie said. "I don't feel like I have any other options. There was just wasn't anyone else I really connected with. I'm a bit concerned that my odds are a little slim, but I suppose I can only wait and see what happens." 

 "You, on the other hand, don't look nearly as happy as I feel. What's going on?" 

Hermione shrugged. "I'll admit, I didn't exactly have the highest of expectations, but I had hoped that I would at least feel something definitive." Deciding that her tea was safe for consumption, she took a sip.

Katie continued to devour her Full English Breakfast, meanwhile Hermione had decided to stick to her tea. Her stomach was in knots, it didn't seem wise to have a big breakfast. 

"Yeah?" Katie urged her to continue. 

"This whole situation feels impossible. Am I really supposed to choose 1 of 12 men to be my husband, when there are millions more people in the world?" Hermione said. "Sure, there are some nice guys here, I just feel like it's unlikely that i'll fall in love with any of them." 

"Was no one you felt a connection with? Even a tiny one?" 

Hermione gave Katie a sheepish look. 

"Oh Merlin! I've been gushing all about #11, and you're too polite to admit you want him too!" Katie realised, suddenly wearing a very guilty look on her face. "Don't worry I won't actually fight you."

Hermione interrupted her. "No! No! It's not that!" She insisted. "I just realised that no matter what decision I make, someone is going to be disappointed."

"So there's more than one guy?"

"There are 3 guys actually." She divulged. Hermione reached into her bag. "Here I made some notes-"

Katie snorted. "You made notes about your dates? That is the most Hermione Granger thing I have ever seen!" She laughed. 

The girl in question blushed. "Well, how else was I supposed to keep track of them all?"

Hermione produced a length of parchment, which was filled with her meticulous handwriting. "I have 3 favorites, see? #11." 

She directed her friend's gaze to her bullet points about Mystery Man #11. Katie read them aloud. "Sense of humour. Appropriate amount of flirting. Likes to travel. Older than me? Family orientated. What's an appropiate ammount of flirting?"

Feeling her face get hot, Hermione avoided the other girl's gaze. "You know? A correct amount of tasteful flirting. I hate cheesy one-liners."

Katie continued to giggle. "One-liners are the best! Show me who's next?."

Hermione covered her eyes in embarrassment. "Here me out on this one. I really liked #4."

"The date I had with #4 was so depressing. He was polite, don't get me wrong, but I feel like he's just some middle-aged recluse who's been forced into the real world by this bloody marriage law." Katie looked exasperated. 

"I found him intriguing." She countered. 

"Clearly." Said Katie, reading over the parchment. 

Bachelor #4 

His voice. <3

Definitely older than me,

Very intelligent

Self deprecating - (?) a hint of something darker

Intriguing.

Katie smirked. "I'm starting to think you have a thing for older men?" 

"Maybe I do?" Hermione suggested.

 "It's a little risky. What if you decide to go all the way with him, and on the final reveal he's practically elderly?"

"You're right. Maybe I should try to ask him his age." 

Katie continued to glance over the parchment, her eyes lighting up when she identified Hermione's third option. "#7?! You know thats-?"

"Yes! I know who he is." Hermione shushed her companion. "He was actually quite kind to me on our date. I think we both identified each other straight away but he pretended not to notice. He had quite a lovely sense of humour too. "

Katie didn't look convinced. "I just don't think I could overlook the past." 

Hermione somewhat agreed. "Don't get me wrong, had I been able to see his face, I dont think I would be able to overlook it either."

"If you marry him, you'll have to look at him at some point, 'Mione." Katie chuckled. 

"I intend to cross that bridge when I come to it." Hermione said.

It was almost time for the girls to make the short walk over to the entrance to The Ministry of Magic, where they would join their 10 associates and participate in the first "Choosing" of the programme. Each candidate was required to select three people whom they would like to continue dating. Alongside the pressure of having to make a decision of their own, the women also had the men's opinions to contend with. In order to progress into the next stage, the eligible man and woman must elect to date each other. Hermione had already weighed up her options. She had three favorite men so far, therefore it was an easy decision. She was trying not to think about the probability of her walking out today without a date. 

She wondered how many of the women would be joining her. 

There was a quiet voice inside Hermione's head that was telling her that she was undesirable. She had the irrational fear that none of the men thought her appealing enough to continue to date her. Perhaps she would never find a man to marry. Maybe she was destined to be alone forever. Hermione had wondered, several times over the weekend, whether it would have been so bad if she had agreed to marry Ron (or any of the other offers, for that matter) in the first place. 

"I bet you're wishing you'd have married Ron when you had the chance? You'd have avoided this awful Postwar Population Planning Act." Katie asked, as if she had read Hermione's mind. 

Hermione swallowed the dregs of her now-cold tea. "Not exactly."

"That article in The Daily Prophet was true?" Hermione knew exactly which article Katie was referring to. 

"No. Ron and I dated for a couple of months after the war had ended. I was ready to call it off. I had no idea that he was going to propose at all, let alone so publicly."

Hermione had been horrified, when Ron had gotten down on one knee at the First Annual post-war celebration ball. The feeling of all eyes on her still burned through her memories and made her want to shrink away. Rita Skeeter had had a field day, and they had made headlines the following day. The piece had painted Hermione in a terrible light, making her appear as a stuck-up hussy, who had spent her teenage years suducing various men. 

Katie frowned. "I always thought you were too intelligent for him." 

"Thanks?" Hermione laughed to hide her discomfort, unsure whether she should agree. 

____

Following their arrival at The Department for the Regulation of Population Control, Hermione, Katie, and the 10 other women also in the programme were given sheets of parchment, listed with the numbers 1-12. Avril was pacing at the front of the group, wobbling slightly on her spindly high heeled shoes. 

"Now then Dearies, each of you are to select no more than 3 numbers. Each number corresponds to a man you have dated this week. If you and your man choose each other's numbers, you will move forward into the next round of dates. This means, of course, that there is a possibility of you having 3, full length dates in the next stage of the programme.

"On the occasion that none of your choices match up, you will be asked to leave the programme and will be invited to return next year. You may decide to select fewer than 3 men, in which case your chances of progression are further limited. You may also decide to choose nobody, which will earn you the right to drop out of the service, but will be expected to return for the next cohort.

"Does everybody understand?" 

There was a flat grumble of agreement that echoed around the room. 

Hermione gnawed her bottom lip, feeling a bubble of anxiety begin to inflate in her chest. She had already decided whom she was going to select, however since her conversation with Katie at breakfast, Hermione was feeling unbearably guilty. Of course she was going to pick three. It was the best strategy to ensure that she passed onto the next round. Despite this, it was incredibly immoral to pursue the same man as her friend. While Katie had assured her that there would be no hard feelings, it did not eliminate Herrmione's trepidation at having to finalise her decision. 

Hermione felt horrible for betraying her friend's feelings, but she was a Gryffindor, not a Hufflepuff. Loyalty was not her strongest attribute. The most logical option, in this situation, would be for Hermione to choose 3 men to continue dating, therefore maximising her chance of being picked by at least 1 of them. There was no way she was going to choose a random candidate, just to make up her numbers. It made no sense. 

Having said that, Hermione thought that she had never made such an uneducated decision in her life. She had grasped what meagre knowledge she had about these men, and attempted to use it to soothe her. It was less of a comfort blanket and more of a comfort napkin. 

Perhaps the biggest unknown was appearance. After spending the weekend examining, not only the men she had dated, but herself, Hermione truly wondered how much appearance meant to her. While she told herself that a person's look didn't matter in the slightest, she could only guess at how she would feel upon actually meeting her suitor. Would she be able to cope, or would she be truly repulsed. Having already guessed the identity of Bachelor #7, Hermione dreaded to think about just how many of the other men she would recognise. 

All of them would certainly recognise her. Hermione, Harry and Ron were always in the newspapers for one reason or another. No doubt, any man she went into a relationship with would know more about her, because of the silly gossip rags, than she would have liked. Being famous was humiliating! 

Her hand shaking, Hermione pushed past her anxiety and drew three delicate ticks, next to the numbers that corresponded to her chosen suitors. As soon as she lifted her quill from the parchment, it vanished. 

She cradled her face in her hands, letting out a deep sigh and wondering what on Earth would happen next. 

____

It was dark by the time Hermione had made it back to her flat that evening. Rain hammered the streets of London drenching all those unlucky enough to have been commuting by foot. The impervious charm Hermione had placed on her cloak and shoes had done the trick, keeping her dry while she had dashed from the apparition spot to her front door. 

She lived alone above a small, popular muggle bakery, owned by a kind Polish couple who served as her landlords. While the busy street outside meant good business for the bakery, the flat was penetrated by noise at all hours of the day. Rent was cheap, and an invisible silencio charm kept Hermione from being disturbed by the shouting cabbies and ancient buses. She had a small living area, containing a second hand armchair and couch that she had draped with brightly coloured throw pillows and blankets. Her kitchen was compact, but suited her needs (Hermione was not a cook) and her bathroom was modest. Her pride and joy was her bedroom, which much like her living room contained a mountain of cushions and throws, pictures of her parents and friends, and more books than a library. 

Hermione had dropped her coat and her bags by the front door, and made a beeline for her kitchen. She rifled through her cupboards, producing an unopened bottle of wine from its depths. White would have to do. Not even bothering to find a glass, Hermione trudged back into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. 

Following The Choosing, Avril had announced to the whole group of ladies who exactly would be continuing with the MaPS programme. Four of them had been asked to leave, having earned no further dates, this time around. One of the girls had left in a flurry of tears, slamming the door dramatically behind her. 

Hermione had received all three of her choices, and could expect to see Elligable Bachelors #4, #7 and #11 again next week. 

Mercifully, Katie had also received a date with #11. She shot Hermione a relieved look which made Hermione's guilt increase tenfold. 

Taking a large drink from her bottle, Hermione had already decided whom she was going to pick at the next Choosing, regardless of how the dates went.