Truth or Dare

Hermione and Ginny looked up from their places on Hermione's bed, when the door of the sixth year girl's dorm opened quickly.

Lavender sighed dramatically and flopped down on Parvati's bed, upsetting the throw pillows that her friend had been arranging.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Lavender's display. "What's wrong, Lavender?"

The blond girl lifted up her head and put on the most pitiable face expression she could muster.

"I'm bored."

Ginny grinned a little, Hermione huffed and Parvati went back to her throw pillows. Once she got them arranged the way she wanted, she turned to her friend.

"You know, my cousin taught me the funnest game this summer."

"It's most fun, Parvati, not funnest," Hermione corrected.

Parvati rolled her eyes. "Funnest sounds more fun than most fun, Hermione."

Hermione frowned slightly and Ginny cut in, preventing an argument. "What's the game, Parvati?"

"It's called truth or dare."

Lavender sat up and looked at Parvati. "Sounds fun. How do you play?"

Parvati smiled and moved to sit cross-legged on the bed. "Well, you pick truth or dare and the person who asked you either thinks up a really good question that you have to answer truthfully or a really good dare."

Ginny and Lavender smiled.

"I'm in," Lavender said.

"Me too," Ginny echoed. "Hermione?"

The other three girls turned to Hermione, who sniffed.

"I don't think so. I've played this game before and I didn't like it."

"Aw, but Hermione," Parvati pleaded, "it's more fun with lots of people."

Hermione's expression didn't change. "Though I'm happy you used proper grammar, Parvati, I think I'll pass."

"We'll let you go first, Hermione," Ginny offered. "You can pick the person first. You know you want to play."

Hermione's frown softened and she shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. She really did want to play, after all. But now no one could accuse her of behaviour unbecoming of a Prefect, like Malfoy had earlier in the day.

Lavender squealed and sat on her knees staring at Hermione expectantly. "Well, who do you pick, Hermione?"

Hermione turned round and gave her a big grin. "So, truth or dare?"

Lavender looked shocked for a moment. "Ah, er, truth."

Hermione thought for a moment and then said, "Who do you like most in the whole school? Boy-wise?"

Lavender blushed and looked down at the quilt. "Terry Boot."

Hermione's eyes widened and Ginny looked impressed. The only person who didn't look surprised was Parvati.

"Terry? But I thought you like Seamus," Hermione cried.

Lavender looked up. She looked pretty confused at Hermione's declaration. "Seamus? Why would you think that?"

"You went with him to the Yule Ball."

Lavender snorted. "That was two year ago, Hermione. Besides, Seamus is dating Dean."

Hermione sputtered. "DEAN?"

"Didn't you know?" Parvati asked.

Hermione shook her head.

Parvati sighed and shook her own head. "You need to get in the loop, Hermione."

"Why do you like Terry?" Ginny asked abruptly.

Lavender blinked for a moment and then said, "He's smart and nice. He helped he in Astronomy the other day. Plus, he's very fit, you know. All those hours of Quidditch practice. I supposed being a Chaser gives you good arm muscles. And have you seen the way he flies?"

Ginny nodded. "He handles his broom very well."

Lavender grinned mischievously. "I bet he handles his other broom very well, too."

"Lavender!" Hermione cried, looking absolutely scandalized.

"What? It's the truth." She looked around the room at the other girls. "Now, who will I pick for my turn."

It looked for a moment like she was going to pick Parvati when she said, "Ginny, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Ginny said automatically.

"Ooh," Parvati said.

Lavender just grinned. "I dare you to go down to the common room, with a tea towel on your head and dance around singing 'I'm A Little Teapot'."

"Okay," she said. "Where will I get the tea towel?"

"Hermione can transfigure this pillow into one," Lavender said, holding out one of Parvati's pillows with an embroidered scene on it.

"No! Not my pillow," Parvati panicked. "Use yours."

"Oh alright," Lavender grumbled, getting up and walking over to her bed. "I really don't think your obsession with those pillows is healthy," she mumbled, thankfully not loud enough for Parvati to hear.

Soon enough, Hermione had transfigured Lavender's pillow into a tea towel with bright pink flowers on it, in the same pattern as the pillow itself had been. They clashed dreadfully with Ginny's hair, but a dare is a dare.

Ginny put the towel firmly on her head, wrapping it in turban, almost like Quirrell's. She gave a mock salute to the girls and walked out the door. The girls all followed and crouched in the stairwell as Ginny carried out her dare.

Ginny Weasley may be many things, but a singer she is not. By the end of the song, Ron was hiding his head under a pillow from the sofa and Dennis Creevey had his fingers stuck in his ears in an attempt to shut out the screeching.

Seamus, who had been dozing in a chair by the fire in front of Dean, sat up quickly and cried, "Who let the banshee out?" in a sleepy voice.

"No one, Seamus," Dean said calmly, looking up from his sketch book. "It's just Ginny singing. Now, go back the way you were so I can finish this drawing."

"Oi! Shut it, Ginny. Some of us are trying to slee- did you say you were drawing me?"

Luckily, Ginny had reached the end of her song. She bowed to the common room and then marched up the stairs. Once she reached the other girls, they ran back up to the sixth year dorm, laughing all the way. Even Hermione's eyes were watering, she was laughing so hard.

"D-did you see the looks on their faces?" Lavender gasped.

Ginny was in stitches and rolling about on the floor. "I- I- I know."

"Oh, and poor Neville," Parvati added. "You hit that high note right when you passed him and he looked like his eardrums had popped."

"And Ron was so embarrassed," Hermione said as her laughter trailed off.

"Yes, you would be the one to notice Ron, wouldn't you, Hermione?" Parvati said, with a sly smile on her face.

Hermione reddened and turned to Ginny. "So, who do you pick, Ginny?"

"I think I'll pick....Parvati," Ginny said pointing at Parvati from her place on the floor. "Truth or dare?"

"After that scene downstairs?" Parvati asked. "I'll take truth."

"What is the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

Parvati stayed silent for a minute before starting her story.

"Well, there was this one time, I was going to kiss a boy, but I, er, never really got there." She blushed and started fiddling with one of her braids. "See, he was a Muggle friend of my cousin's and, you know Muggle boys, they're obsessed about the strangest things. He really liked skateboarding and he brought his skateboard to my cousin's house. I didn't see it on the floor and when I crossed the room I stepped on it. I went flying across the room and I collided with him. We both ended up on the floor. He hit his head on the table behind him and got knocked out. Not to mention how he chipped his tooth on the skateboard when it flew up."

"When was this, Parvati?" Lavender asked.

"Er, when I was like six. I was really small. I didn't know any better."

Lavender raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Parvati."

"Fine, I was ten."

"Parvati."

"Alright, alright! So it was last summer. I knocked a boy unconscious trying to kiss him last summer!"

The girls looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"I c-can't believe you k-knocked him out," Ginny managed to spit out between laughs.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny."

"You chipped his tooth," Hermione cried.

"Laugh it up, Hermione. Now, it's your turn. Truth or dare?"

Hermione's laughter abruptly stopped. "Oh, well, I guess I, er, um..."

"Just pick one, Hermione," Lavender demanded.

"Okay, okay. I'll take truth."

Parvati grinned evilly. "What do you really think of Ron?"

Hermione blushed furiously and sputtered, "Dare, dare, dare, dare!"

"You can't do that!" Lavender said, afraid she was going to miss out on good gossip.

"Yes, she can," Parvati corrected, calmly. "But she has to do the dare now."

Hermione nodded. She would've done anything to avoid answering that question.

"I dare you to go down to the common room and kiss Ron on the lips for fifteen seconds. Then you have to steal Harry's glasses on the way back up."

Okay, she would've done almost anything.

"B-but that's two dares!"

Parvati shrugged. "You skipped out of the truth. You have to do both."

Lavender and Ginny were both grinning like mad and nodding.

"B-but what if he's, I mean, they're not down there?"

"They will be," Lavender reassured. "It's not nearly late enough for them to rationalize going to bed yet."

"B-but what if I get sick from his germs and miss Christmas exams?"

"Hermione!" Ginny yelled. "Christmas exams are three weeks away! Even if my brother had germs, which he doesn't, you'd get better in time for exams. Now stop stalling and go down there."

Hermione gulped and rallied her Gryffindor courage around her. She started for the common room and the other girls trooped behind her.

As predicted, Ron and Harry were still down in the common room, though they'd given up their Divination homework in favour of a chess game. Unfortunately for Hermione, the majority of the house was also in the room. She paused at the bottom of the stairs and was prodded by the girls behind her.

"Go!" Parvati hissed.

Hermione nodded and took a big breath before stepping right into the common room. A few students noticed Hermione's entrance and were shocked by the determined expression on her face. They pointed it out to their friends and soon the entire room was looking at her as she approached Ron's chair.

She knew she had to do it without saying anything or she'd loose her nerve so she ignored the boys' greetings and cupped Ron's face in both her hands. She bent down and planted her lips firmly on his. She poured everything she had into the kiss and, as such, it lasted much longer than fifteen seconds.

Not that anyone was complaining. When she pulled away, she delighted in the red colour of Ron's cheeks and the slightly swollen look of his lips. He looked as if he'd just about overcome the shock enough to ask a question when she smiled and turned back to the staircase. It was only when Parvati gestured at her face that Hermione remembered about Harry's glasses.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

Ron had a strangely hopeful look on his face when she turned back, but instead of going over to him, she went to Harry and snatched his glasses right off his nose, before running back over to the stairs. Lavender, Parvati and Ginny ran up them ahead of her.

"Hermione!" Harry called from the bottom. "Give me my glasses back. I need them."

The only response he got was laughter and Lavender's giggles.

"Do you reckon the girls have gone crazy, Ron?" he asked as Ron joined him at the foot of the stairs.

"I hope not, Harry," he answered. His voice sounded slightly throaty. "If they have though, I hope Hermione goes crazy more often and Ginny never goes crazy again."

With that, the girls laughed harder and ran into the dorm room.

Well, thought Hermione, that wasn't as bad as I thought. I actually did something about Ron. Maybe truth or dare has its uses after all.