This is Why I Don't Play Truth or Dare

This is Why I Don't Play Truth or Dare

Tres

Sirius Black was a man. A man on a mission. A mission of love. Or lust, at least. I will not let Fred scorn me any longer! he thought angrily, as he crept through the halls of Hogwarts. He slowed down, a bit more cautious as he neared his destination: the Potions room. He whipped out the Marauders' Map, and satisfied that no one was there, proceeded silently into the classroom.

It wasn't at all hard for him to locate his target. The huge set of cabinets that housed Slughorn's vast array of potions was perhaps the most visible thing in the dungeon. Sirius crept over there and opened the cabinet that he knew housed the love potions (why Slughorn kept pre-made love potions was beyond him- actually, to be perfectly honest, Sirius really didn't want to know). "You will be mine," Sirius said under his breath. Now he only had to find a way to slip Fred the potion...

~*~

James was perhaps the happiest he had been in ages. In fact, he couldn't remember a time he'd been happier. In roughly fifteen hours, he would be on his first date with Lily Evans. He was quite determined for it to be the first date- he thought he would go insane if he was given a little bit of Lily, only to be cut off from more. I'm an alcoholic, he thought as he lay awake in bed, and Lily is my kind of brandy. Or is brandy an accurate label for her? Perhaps wine. She is kind of fruity and smells good. Wait- that sounded weird. Well, beer is certainly too blue-collar of a drink and champagne is too white-collar. Besides, she's neither foamy or bubbly. Oh! I know! Firewhiskey! She's amazingly appetizing, and although her temper kind of burns me, I still keep coming back for more.

"What are you doing?" James looked up to see that his best friend, Sirius Black, had just entered the dorm, unnoticed by James who had been lost in his reverie. Never mind that it was five in the morning and Sirius was notorious for oversleeping and having to be woken up with buckets of water. Coming in at incredibly late (or early, in this case) hours was business as usual for the Marauders

"Oh, just contemplating what type of alcoholic beverage Lily Evans is," James replied, smiling.

"Really?" Sirius said as he sat down on his bed, which was adjacent to James's. "Did you decide on one?'

"I believe she would be a firewhiskey."

"Good choice. Too bad that she doesn't have as much alcohol in her as a firewhiskey does, or you might actually get some."

James rolled his eyes at his friend and threw his pillow at him as he got up to start getting ready for school.

~*~

She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it. Lily glanced down at her watch. It was five 'til eight. She had just managed to shoo her friends out of their dorm and lock the door, after they had played beauty shop on Lily. Why had she locked the door? Because she couldn't do it.

After her conversation with James the previous night (or should I say morning?) she thought she had managed to convince herself to go through with it. But as the day wore on and the clock ticked closer to eight, her resolve weakened and she had come to the realization that she just couldn't do it. She absolutely could not go out on a date with James Potter.

She looked her watch again- it was a minute 'til eight. It was kind of ironic, the situation. Lily's favorite book had always been Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austin. She couldn't help but think how funny it was that a case of both pride and prejudice were keeping her from walking out the door and into the awaiting arms of James (so to speak). Her pride was keeping her from going on the date, as she had turned him down for so long that it felt shameful for her to give in now (even if it was under duress). She also prevented herself from dating James as she had a long-standing prejudice against him and the Marauders in general.

Lily couldn't help but feel just a little (more like a lot) guilty about standing the poor guy up. It wasn't his fault, after all, that she had been dared to date him. She knew he would be crushed when he realized that he had been stood up.

No! she thought angrily, mentally slapping herself. He probably only wants to get in my pants. A larger part of herself than she was willing to admit didn't believe that though. She kept thinking back to her conversation with him and how sincere he had seemed. Yet she still couldn't bring herself to go out with him.

She looked at her watch again. It was now ten past eight. You can still go; it's not too late, the annoying James Potter-liking part of her said. She ignored it and crawled into bed. She curled up into a ball and tried to shut out the ticking of her watch, which wasn't necessary as it was drowned out by the beating of her heart.

~*~

She stood me up, James wondered in disbelief. It was 9:34 PM and Lily Evans had stood him up. Her friends had even gone up to their dorm and pounded on and hexed the door, but it stayed resolutely shut. If Lily had spelled it shut, nothing short of Dumbledore was going to open it- she was best in their year, if not the whole school, at charms, after all.

James got up from the couch and headed towards the portrait hole. He knew that he shouldn't be all that surprised. Hadn't Lily made it perfectly clear over the years that she wanted nothing to do with him? What difference was one night of connection and a dare going to make when put up against years of disgust?

He stumbled out through the portrait hole and into the corridor blindly, not paying where he was going the least bit of attention. He stumbled along and somehow found himself in the Entrance Hall, heading towards the door. He wandered outside and the cool night air was like a slap to his face, which was still warm from the Common Room fire.

He collapsed against the beech tree, a familiar place of comfort. It always had been ever since his very first year at Hogwarts. It was universally known to the denizens of Hogwarts that the beech tree was the property of the Marauders. End of story.

Lily had stood him up- deep down, James had expected it, but every time the thought hit him, a shock was sent though him, shaking him to his very core. He felt physically hurt by Lily's rejection. Yeah, she had turned him down for dates countless times before, but somehow, this was different. Suddenly he knew something. Everything that had been so hazy since his realization that he had been stood up came into sharp clarity. It was like his friends had been telling him for a while now-

He was in love with Lily Evans.

One would think that he would've figured it out sooner, and yet, he hadn't. It had just only dawned upon him that he was in love with Lily. Why else would he have pursued her from almost as soon as hormones kicked in? Why else would he take so many rejections? Why else would he want someone so different from him so badly? Love was the only explanation.

"And she wants nothing to do with me," James said aloud, disgusted with himself. Damn, I'm screwed.

~*~

Lily once again found herself looking at her watch and cursing it as is ticked relentlessly forward. It was Sunday, almost two full days since she had stood James up. She hadn't seen him at all that weekend, and her friends were now refusing to talk to her. They were royally pissed off that she had done such a thing to him.

As it was 11:00, Lily reluctantly put away the Transfiguration essay she had been working on. She had been dreading going on patrol with James. Since they were the Head Boy and Girl, it wasn't like they had a choice, so despite their avoidance of each other, they would have to see each other now.

James came down the stairs from the boys' dormitory, a hideously dead look in his eyes. "Coming?' he asked her in an equally dead tone. She nodded and joined him as he left the Common Room. She fell in step beside him as they walked through the school's corridors in silence.

It had barely been half an hour when Lily cracked. She sped up and then spun around, facing James. He stopped and looked at her, that same dead look still in his eyes.

"James, please. Please talk to me. I don't care if you yell at me, or curse me, or cuss me out, for all I care! Just please, please say something, anything! I just can't take this awful silence anymore!"

He looked at her in silence for another moment longer, and then finally, with a deep sigh, said, "What is it Lily?"

"Is that all you can say?" she asked desperately.

"What do you want me to say?" James replied sharply, just a hint of anger flaring in his eyes, much to Lily's relief. "Do you want me to forgive you? Is that it?"

"I- I don't know. I guess. I'm sorry, I really am," Lily pleaded, "It's just that I was scared. I was all ready to go and everything, but-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me," he interjected. "Lily, I forgive you. You'll always have my forgiveness."

"Then why-"

"Why have I been like the walking dead the past day or so? Yeah, Sirius has already accused me of that. That has nothing to do with you. Well, it does, but it's not your fault."

"What is it?"

James looked down at the ground for a moment, then looked back up, his gaze riveted to Lily's. There was something different in his eyes now, an emotion Lily couldn't quite place a finger on. "Unrequited love," he said simply. Oh. It was that emotion.

"James, I-"

"No, Lily" he interrupted, "I've changed my mind- I'll take option number two, thanks. It may be the only chance I ever get." With that, he suddenly threw his arm around Lily's waist and pulled her forward, meeting her lips with his. A small gasp escaped her, only to be cut off as all coherent thought left her mind completely.