Truth or Dare

But I am a woman

and a woman is only a woman.

They say it takes just one night of pleasure to master her.

A woman is only an animal.

That is why I am frightened.

Hector was the only man I ever knew;

I loved his courage, his wisdom, and his gentleness,

The touch of his hands on my body.

And now the thought that this same body

May groan for joy when some other man lies upon it,

Makes me want to tear it limb from limb.

Polyxena was lucky:

She was murdered still a virgin.

The Trojan Women -- Euripedes (50s translation)

Chapter 1: Challenge

Hermione, Ron, and Harry trudged up the hill to Hogwarts after Care of Magical Creatures.
Ron's hands were trembling violently and his eyes were bugging out like a dragonfly's.

"Spiders. . ." he murmured to himself. "If Hagrid wants us to take care of them next, I'm getting myself expelled. Or better, killed. I'm sure Snape wouldn't mind giving me a fast-acting poison. An Acromantula? . . . What was he thinking? . . ."

"Oh, Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "it wasn't that bad. It was actually pretty interesting. It's only a baby, after all. And they're supposed to be really intelligent, they move at cheetah speed. . . honestly, they're fascinating. They're better than Skrewts. What's so wrong about them anyway?"

Harry interrupted, "Right now, I just want some dinner." The wonderful smells the house-elves were concocting promised some fine stuffed Cornish hen and mushrooms.

"Scared, Weasley?" sneered a voice from behind them.

All three whipped around.

"Malfoy," said Harry. "What do you want?"
"I wanted to know whether fire-head boy here was scared of those cute little spiders. I might actually consider breeding them myself, just to see the look on your face."

"I wasn't scared, Malfoy," Ron said through clenched teeth.

Malfoy shrugged nonchalantly. "You just went pale, staggered back and nearly vomited on the cucumbers. I have no idea how I thought you were scared."

Ron lunged at Malfoy, his face transitioning from paper white to a furious shade of maroon in three seconds. Hermione and Harry grabbed him from the back of his robes.

"You'd better watch out, Malfoy," Harry said calmly. "One of these days, we might let him loose."

"Your Gryffindor nobility wouldn't allow it," Draco replied, beckoning to two figures behind him. Pansy Parkinson joined him at his side, smiling maliciously. Blaise Zabini stepped forward but remained insolently and indifferently in the background.

"Where are your bodyguards, Malfoy?" Hermione said coolly. "I'd think you'd be a bit more wary after last year."

"I propose a challenge with you three Gryffindors," Draco said, "versus us three Slytherins. A battle of wits that results in humiliation, pain, shock, and sometimes insanity. Crabbe and Goyle wouldn't be able to handle it. Your only benefit is that we get the same treatment."

Ron narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Just what are you proposing?"

Draco smiled. It was nasty.

"Wizard's Truth or Dare."

While Harry and Hermione just looked confused, Ron's entire face transformed in recognition and surprise.

Draco folded his arms and said, "So the little people can understand what I'm asking, let me explain. Wizard's Truth or Dare is approximately equal to wizard duels in sobriety. A spell, an unalterable spell, determines who challenges whom and whether you will be challenged with a truth or a dare as well as the order of the challenges. You have to swear to do what your challengers decide to demand of you. The spell is impartial. Well, what do you think, Potter. . . Weasley. . . Granger?"

"I thought the person being challenged gets to choose whether they get Truth or Dare," Hermione said.

Draco shook his head. "That takes the fun out of it. So, what do you say?"

"I'm in," Ron volunteered immediately.

"Ron!" Hermione responded sharply. "Can't you see he's baiting us?"

" 'Mione, our honor is at stake," Harry explained. "What else can we say but 'yes'? I'm in, Malfoy."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I can think of plenty of things to say in response to that: No way, no, nuh-uh, nix, nada, not this millennium, do you think I'm stupid, but since you two are so bent on killing yourselves, I suppose someone sensible should go down with you. Count me in, Malfoy."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and groaned, "This is going to come to haunt me, I know it."

Draco was grinning more than ever now. "Great," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Meet us tonight in the empty classroom next to Charms. Quarter 'til midnight. Bring your wands. See you tonight."

He pushed past them and entered Hogwarts.

"Hermione?" Ron asked, bewildered. Her face was contorting into awful shapes, like she was going to cry or scream or both.

"If they end up making me fail my classes, it will be entirely your fault, and I will kill you, Ronald Weasley!" she cried. Then she ran into the Entrance Hall. She would not talk with them for the rest of the evening.

~888~

"He'd better not pull that stunt he did first year," said Harry, leaning wearily against the dusty wall.

"I really wouldn't be surprised," Hermione replied from her position lying on the floor, head rested against her arms, "but you've got the map, don't you?"

Harry nodded and checked his watch. Hermione had given him a new one for Christmas last year. "He's ten minutes late."

"Don't worry, Scarhead, I'm here," Malfoy said, slipping through the doorway, followed by Blaise and Pansy. "Filch nearly caught us, and I needed to transfigure a water cup into a rat before Mrs. Norris would leave us alone."

"We're all in tears, Malfoy," Ron sneered

"Sod off, Weasley, and give me your wand."

"And watch you break it, yeah, right. . ."

Blaise exhaled impatiently. "Any wand made after '95 is equipped with an Anti-breaking spell. Grow up, Weasley, and give him the stupid wand."

So surprised was Ron at hearing the normally closemouthed Blaise speaking more than five words, he surrendered his wand without further ado.

"What do you need our wands for, Malfoy?" Harry asked in a tense attempt at being polite, reluctantly yielding his own precious wand.

"Part of the spell, Potter," Malfoy answered, arranging all their wands into a six-pointed star. "Now stand at the tip of your wand and hold the hands of the people next to you. Happy hour, everyone."

Ron pulled a face at the prospect of holding hands with Pansy, the one whose wand was to the left of his own, but he obeyed, flinching at her touch.

"Look, Weasley," snapped Pansy, "this isn't a bed of roses for me either, so lighten up and let's get this over with."

Hermione was on Ron's other side, but Malfoy was holding her right hand. His fingers were strong against hers, and cold. He gave her a mischievous look, then turned back to the center of the circle. Harry was on his other side.

"Now, everyone stay as quiet and still as they can, and I'll begin:

"Truth or Dare--Truth is the foundation of all beliefs, lies pose themselves in its name. It is everything beautiful and despicably ugly; it bites and soothes; it is sharp as a knife and as smooth as honey. In our honor, we honor Truth.

"A dare is the foundation of character. Dares let us go through life, taking risks never taken without the promise of adversity. It builds and tears down; it creates and destroys; it exults and profanes. In our honor, we honor Dare.

"We yield ourselves to these fates. To the Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, we pledge our promise to consummate our challenge. Our circle seals our pledge. Stars, if you judge our pledge worthy, begin our game." And he was silent.

Hermione never realized Draco could be so eloquent or serious, or that a simple Muggle game could be so solemn and complicated in the wizarding world. She felt like laughing, but when Draco closed his eyes, she was once again imbued with the sense that she was in over her head. She desperately wanted to withdraw from that circle of friends and enemies, from that circle of quickly concentrated power, glowing from the center of the star of wands. But she couldn't move under Malfoy's direction to stay still. She did not know what would happen to her if she did.

But she seriously wondered whether the consequences would be worse than not doing anything at all. Her feeling of dread augmented tenfold.

The globe of power exploded outward, halting just before hitting them, and disappeared. The wands suddenly levitated and started twisting around madly, like thin Sneakascopes. One by one, they floated to another member of the circle and spouted a hovering green or red number.

"Grab the wands," Draco whispered, and they all dropped hands and took the wands.

Hermione took Blaise's wand from in front of her. It was only nine inches long, made of a darker wood, but pliable and obviously very handy at Charms. The number two, tinged with crimson dissolved once her hand touched the grain.

"Whatever number you had is the number in which you challenge the owner of the wand. If the color is red, the challenge is a Dare. If the challenge is a Truth, the color is green." Draco broke his untypical solemnity and smiled malevolently. "I'm Daring you last, Granger. You just wait; this is going to be interesting."

Hermione shot a murderous glare at Ron and Harry as she sat down, cross-legged, on the floor. Everyone else followed suit until they sat in a circle matching the one they had previously made.

"You first, Pansy. Give Potter his wand back, if you're finished holding it." Malfoy snickered at his own humor. Harry ignored him and retrieved his wand, breathing an unconscious sigh of relief that it was safe in his care again.

Pansy sat back on her hands, gazing at Harry as she contemplated the Truth the incantation had assigned to her.

"Make it good, Pansy," Malfoy hissed. Blaise just looked bored.

Suddenly, Pansy's eyes lit up, and she said with relish, "In your dreams - your night dreams, I mean - who have you had sex with?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at the thought. "Not what I was expecting, nor as scathing as I wanted, but it's still good. Go on, Potter, tell the Truth."

Hermione watched Harry blush, his eyes shifting from behind his glasses.

"Come, Potter," continued Draco. "You know what happens if you don't answer a Truth in ten minutes? You won't be able to sit again until you answer. Now, enlighten us all."

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione said, "you're just making it worse. Besides, Harry's Daring you; I wouldn't be so cruel if I were you."

That shut Draco up.

Harry gave a relieved thanks in his eyes to Hermione, then resumed his brooding.

Finally, he mumbled something into his lap.

"What was that, Potter?" Pansy said cheerfully. "We couldn't quite hear you."

"Cho Chang, Hannah Abbott, Julia Roberts, Lucy Liu, Hermione, McGonagall, Hooch, and in a completely off dream, I dreamed I was this girl named Mary Sue and I was shagging Snape. But I woke up and vomited right after it," he said quickly over the Slytherins' laughter.

Hermione muttered weakly, "You've slept with me in your dream?"

Harry threw up his hands. "It's not like I have a whole lot of control over my dreams, Hermione. We were in the middle of a duck pond and you had a rubber ducky in your mouth. I'm telling you, it's not like we were on a water bed or you were covered with whipped cream or anything. It was a dream."

Hermione nodded, but the horrible shock that one of her best friends had dreamed of shagging her was definitely scarring. She looked imploringly at Ron, but he was looking anywhere but her.

"Oh, Ron, not you, too!" she cried. "Tell me it was in a duck pond as well!"

Ron continued to avoid eye contact. Pansy howled.

"Oh, that is just too sweet," Draco crowed, wiping tears from his eyes.

"My turn," said Hermione angrily. "I get to Dare Blaise."

It took a while before everyone was able to quiet down and stop breaking into sporadic giggles, but eventually the fidgeting stopped.

Hermione pondered the cruelest cut she could afford the cool Slytherin. "Not much affects you, does it?" Hermione asked. Blaise shook her head, grinning slightly.

Hermione hummed random notes as she thought.

Then, "I Dare you to come home with me on winter holiday and stay with my Muggle family. No magic, courteousness, and no other conditions on your part."

Blaise was visibly shocked, finally breaking the apathetic composure. "I can't do that! My honor..."

"You have to," Hermione said, the beginning of a smile gracing her lips. "I Dared you, and you swore to execute your challenge."

Blaise opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came from her tongue. Suddenly, she sat back and pouted sulkily, her dark eyes treacherous. Hermione felt it best not to tempt Blaise's temper, notorious during those rare times she slipped into an emotional state. She silently urged Harry and Ron to do the same.

"I accept," Blaise said grudgingly. "At least I get to Truth Weasley."

Ron turned decidedly green.

Blaise's hard countenance softened as she automatically started the challenge. "Gods forbid that I break the Truth or Dare long-standing tradition like Granger by not asked anything about sex. But I won't be as merciful as Pansy." Blaise ran a tongue along the edge of her teeth.

"Tell me, Weasley, how far have you gone with a girl? And if you've gone all the way, how many times, and was it good for you?"

Draco cocked his eyebrows. "You're not going to ask 'with whom'?"

"That's not my point, Malfoy. He can choose to divulge it if he likes, or if Granger forces it from him."

Now Ron's face was a flaming red comparable to a burning building. He looked down, avoiding Hermione's gaze with even more fervor, if possible.

"Ron!" Hermione shrieked.

"Sorry, 'Mione. I've gone all the way. But it was only once, and it just happened."

"While or after we were going out," Hermione demanded, bracing herself for the answer she was expecting.

"During," said Ron weakly. "It was Fleur. She was on a job, and she felt like Ron for dinner, and she turned up the charm, and. . . well, she got me into the room above the Three Broomsticks, and she, well. . ." Ron began spluttering, torn by the hurt on Hermione's face.

"You forgot to tell us whether it was good for you, Weasley," said Draco, thoroughly enjoying himself now. Ron nodded.

"We can't hear you," sang Pansy.

"It was my first time," shouted Ron guiltily. "Of course I liked it."

"What was the best part?" Blaise asked.

"That wasn't part of the question, so I'm not answering it," Ron said. "Besides, I'm going to Truth Pansy right now."

"Don't be impulsive," Hermione warned. "That'll just wasted a good Truth."

Hermione had caught him just in time, and Ron chose his words carefully.

"How exactly, if you were given Veritaserum and just started spouting off information, do you feel about Malfoy?" he said.

Pansy froze at the challenge, then lowered her lashes and began speaking at record speed:

"Draco's dad and my mum are old friends, and they arranged our marriage eleven years ago. We met on the first Hogwarts train, and I kissed him for the first time. I could tell he didn't like me. But since then, I've grown a bit." She ran her hands deliberately over her voluptuous breasts and curvy hips. "But he certainly likes me now." Draco followed the trail her hands made and swallowed compulsively. "I think he's good-looking, if selfish, conniving, if insolent and whiny at times, and he's a great caresser. You can't imagine what his hands can do." She closed her eyes and arched her back at the memory. Draco smirked at Ron's enviousness and stroked Pansy's leg. "I'm going to have to be obedient to him, and I'm going to hate that, but there's not much I can do, so I might as well enjoy something."

Hermione's eyes were clenched shut, and she had put her hands together as if in prayer. She was whispering reverently, "Thank you, thank you, thank you I wasn't born pureblood Slytherin."

"It's not that bad for most of us," said Blaise defensively, still testy about the Dare. Both Draco and Pansy glared at her.

"My turn," Harry said with quiet glee. Ron gave a toothy grin and Draco blanched.

Rather than face the poisonous glowers of the Slytherins, Harry walked calmly to a corner and leaned against the wall, sliding down to the floor. He tucked his legs up and hid his face, shutting out destractions, like he was on his broomstick above the Quidditch field, searching intently for the Snitch. After a full fifteen minutes--fifteen minutes of Hades for Draco--Harry grasped his prize. He sauntered over and sat down on Draco's right side where he had been positioned before. He leaned back on his elbows, smiling broadly. Draco was fidgeting with his nails.

"I Dare you, Draco Malfoy..." he paused, savoring the moment of terrible anticipation. "I Dare you to do one of two things within the rest of the school year: either kiss Filch--with tongue, like he was Pansy--or... kiss Mrs. Norris' backside. Whichever one of these you choose, you have to do it in front of the entire school, probably during dinner. Oh, and a nice long kiss, Malfoy, so that everyone in the Hall can see you."

Draco was as tight in every muscle as a wire. He looked up and caught eyes with Harry. There was anger in those cold, gray eyes, and fear and humiliation, but there was also... could it be respect?

"What do you know?" Draco said tensely. "Who would have thought you'd get it up by watching me do that, Potter?"

Harry just shrugged. "You can hardly expect me to make it easy for you, Malfoy."

Malfoy snatched his wand from Harry's clutches. But before he withdrew, he hissed at Harry through clenched teeth, "You've made a grave mistake, Potter. Oh, that was a good one, and Truths are limited anyway, so you got off easy. But I get to Dare your girlfriend here."

"Hermione isn't my girlfriend," Harry retorted, but his face was suddenly stricken of its smugness.

Draco smirked, then sat back and observed Hermione through half-closed lids. "Hmmm," he mused aloud, "what would top Potter's Dare for me? Far be it from me, like Blaise said, to digress from the sex tradition. But what should I make you do?" He continued to contemplate. Ron and Harry shared a very worried glance, then turned to a very sickened Hermione.

"I've got it," said Draco, eyes lighting up. "You know, I don't know if you've noticed, but we"--he nodded to Blaise and Pansy--"and the rest of the Slytherins are always concerned about the well-being of our own."

Draco ran his tongue against his lips, drawing out Hermione's apprehension, even terror, to excruciating torture.

"Someone we know has been working his arse off. He always looks exhausted, irritable, and he's even beginning to take it out on us, which he's never done before. I've been thinking lately, maybe we should give him a gift to cheer him up a bit, excite him. What better gift than a young Mudblood girl that can actually look good when she cleans up?

"Granger, let me assure you I'm being nicer than I had originally decided....

"I Dare you... to seduce and screw Professor Snape."

"What?!" shouted Ron. Harry looked green at the gills. Hermione just looked dead.

Draco nodded, arrogance completely regained. "And that's not all. Let me emphasize exactly what I expect from you. Come closer." He slipped an arm around her shoulder. She didn't even react, but looked blankly ahead of her in shock.

Draco raise his wand. "Visio. Here's what I want, so you can't indirectly disobey my Dare. I want you to seduce him. I don't want you to go to him and expect him to do all the work. I want you to lead." A vision of flesh on flesh appeared on a burst of vapor that issued from Draco's wand. Wordless moans escaped the mouth of an anonymous girl. But the hair of the male, that familiar greasy, oil-colored, unkempt hair, made him all too familiar. "And after you have the initial sex with him, you will do whatever he asks of you." Another vision, fuzzier than the other, this one of a masculine hand pushing a female's head down below his waist. Hermione flinched. "And after he's had his way with you, you are to spend the rest of the night with him in his bed, against him, not on the other side. I want Snape to have all the pleasure he requires in one night. And you can't use magic: Enchantment Charms, Love Potions, stuff like that. Besides, that would take away half the fun. After all, all work and no play. . ."

He lowered his wand and the visions disintegrated. Draco gave Hermione a little squeeze around the shoulders, released her, and whispered, "I want this done within the school year, and I want confirmation that it took place directly from Snape himself. You got everything?"

Hermione nodded.

"Good." He got up and stretched, yawned. "Well, good night. It's late. Have pleasant dreams, Granger." He began to leave; Blaise and Pansy got up to follow him.

"Don't forget your Dares, Malfoy, Blaise!" shouted Harry weakly.

Draco pulled a face, then exited the scene.

"Hermione?" Ron said warily.

"Just go away, Ron," Hermione whispered.

"But..."

"Just go."

" 'Mione, we're sorry we dragged you into this," Harry muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"You, too, Harry. You go away, too."

Harry and Ron inched around her. Harry accidentally tripped over her wand, making it skitter across the floor.

More than guilty, like condemned men, Harry and Ron went back to Gryffindor Tower. It took them too long to get to sleep, and it seemed like mere minutes before Dean's alarm clock went off.

Hermione stayed prone on the classroom floor, tears--hot and shameful tears--streamed down her cheeks. She fell into an uneasy sleep and missed her first morning class, advanced Transfiguration, the next day because both Harry and Ron felt it would be dangerous to get her.

Next class that afternoon was Potions.