Revelations

It was Boxing Day at Number 12 Grimmauld Place and Sirius and Remus had settled themselves in large basement kitchen with a bottle of Firewhisky. Apart from Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione, they were the only ones in the house as the rest of the Weasleys were visiting Arthur and everyone else had gone home to enjoy a quiet Christmas away from the Order.

It had been a boring day, as Boxing Days quite often are, with everyone recovering from the excesses of Christmas Day and feeling generally lethargic and bored after the excitement had died down.

The two friends wanted nothing more than to be left alone with their whisky, of which they had already drunk a considerable amount, and they were already starting to feel it's effects when Ron and Harry came ambling unenthusiastically to find them. They sat down at the large table and stared miserably at Remus and Sirius.

"What's the matter?" asked Remus.

"Nothing," said Harry listlessly.

"We're bored," said Ron, dropping his chin down onto his arms.

"Well go and be bored somewhere else," said Sirius grumpily. "We're trying to have a drink here."

Ron visibly perked up.

"Can we have some?" he asked hopefully.

"No, you bloody well can not," replied Sirius, grabbing the bottle and moving it protectively towards him. "You're too young."

"Oh come on," said Harry. "A little bit won't hurt, will it?"

"Absolutely not," said Remus firmly. "Imagine what Molly would say!"

A mischievous look suddenly spread across Sirius's face. He looked at Remus questioningly, but Remus returned his gaze with a meaningful glare.

"Maybe they could just try a little," said Sirius under his breath.

"No!" hissed Remus. "You can't get them drunk just to get one over on Molly. She'll kill you!"

"I'm not going to get them drunk," Sirius whispered back. "Just let them have a little taste. Wouldn't it be better that they tried it here with us rather than doing it on their own and getting off their heads?"

"Erm, we can hear you, you know," Ron said, with a trace of annoyance.

Remus held his hands up in exasperation.

"Fine, but I'm having nothing to do with it. If Molly finds out, I wasn't even here," he said, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

Sirius grinned and slid the bottle across the table to Harry.

"Go on then," he said. "But just a little sip. No more."

Harry looked nervously over at Ron. "You go first," he said, passing the bottle to him.

Ron took the bottle and gingerly placed it to his lips. He took a large gulp and -

"Eurgghh!" he said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "It's disgusting!" He took a handful of peanuts from a bowl in the middle of the table and crammed them into his mouth.

Sirius and Remus laughed heartily.

"It's an acquired taste," said Sirius, taking another gulp from his cup. "Your turn, Harry," he said, grinning daringly at him.

Harry looked a little green as he took the bottle, but he wasn't about to be outdone by Ron. He took a small sip and let the liquid slide slowly down his throat.

"It is pretty horrible," he said, grimacing. He took another sip, larger this time. "I could get used to it though. It's not so bad on the second try." He passed the bottle back to Ron. "Have another go."

"That's quite enough!" said Remus, summoning the bottle from Ron with a wave of his wand.

"Oh don't be such a spoil sport!" said Harry indignantly. At that moment, Ginny and Hermione came into the kitchen.

"What are you lot up to?" asked Ginny, looking suspiciously at the guilty faces.

"Nothing," said Remus firmly, setting the bottle down between Sirius and himself with a warning glance at the others.

"What are you two doing?" asked Ron.

"Nothing. We're bored," said Hermione, lethargically slumping into a chair next to Ron.

"Not you two as well!" moaned Sirius. "Haven't you all got homework to do or something? Can't you just leave us to get drunk in peace?"

"You can't get drunk!" Hermione exclaimed. "You're the only adults in the house! You're supposed to be responsible!"

Everyone let out a groan of exasperation.

"Oh shut up, Miss Goody Two Shoes," said Ron, bouncing a peanut off Hermione's forehead.

"Anyway, how old were you when you started drinking?" asked Harry, looking longingly at the whisky.

"We never drank a drop until we were of age," said Sirius firmly, shooting a sideways glance at Remus.

"Yeah, right," said Ron. "Fred and George drink. I don't see why we can't."

"Fred and George are of age. They can do what they want," said Remus. "And I bet Molly doesn't know about it anyway."

"Remember the first time we got really, really drunk?" said Sirius, a wry smile creeping across his lips. Remus laughed.

"How could I forget?" he said, grinning back at Sirius. "We were round the back of James's house with those two muggle girls. What were their names?"

"Susan and Janet," said Sirius, smiling dreamily.

"They're off again," said Ron, rolling his eyes.

"They were gorgeous," said Sirius, oblivious to Ron's obvious disdain. He turned to look at Harry. "Your father was pining over Lily all summer and Peter passed out after about two drinks - "

"And we ended up playing truth or dare." Remus cut in. "Sirius dared Susan to strip off and ride round the garden on her skateboard."

"Did she do it?" asked Ron, suddenly interested.

"Yup," said Sirius, looking distinctly pleased with himself.

"That's terrible!" said Hermione, exchanging disgusted looks with Ginny.

"Neither of them thought it was so terrible about half an hour later!" said Sirius, and he and Remus burst into peals of barking laughter.

"How do you play truth or dare?" asked Ginny innocently.

"You sit in a circle and take it in turns to ask someone a question. They either have to answer the question or do a dare," explained Sirius.

"Let's play it!" said Ron excitedly.

"I don't think that would be at all appropriate," said Remus seriously.

"Oh, come on Moony. You're not their teacher anymore." Sirius punched Remus playfully in the arm.

"Fine, but don't blame me if they ask you something you don't want to answer. I'll know if you're lying, remember." Remus said, downing his whisky and refilling it quickly.

"What can we ask?" said Harry, looking eagerly at Sirius.

"Anything you want," replied Sirius, smiling indulgently.

"Anything?" Ron said, his eyes widening.

"Within reason," Remus cut in, looking a little apprehensive. "And you're not allowed to ask anything about the Order."

"Agreed," said Sirius.

"I'll go first," said Hermione, looking nervously at Sirius. He turned round and gave her a big grin.

"So, truth or dare?" he said. "Are we all ready?"

The room fell silent as Hermione looked at each one of them, a look of deep concentration on her face. After a moment, her eyes rested on Ron, and a wicked grin formed on her lips.

"Ron," she said wickedly. Ron paled. "How many girls have you kissed?"

"I'm not answering that!" he exclaimed.

"You wanted to play," said Sirius. "You either answer or you have to do a dare. What should we make him do...?"

"Fine," said Ron, his face turning a similar shade to his hair. "I haven't kissed anyone. Are you happy now?"

"Is he telling the truth?" Remus asked Harry.

"As far as I know." Harry shrugged and looked at Ron. He suddenly thought that this might not have been such a good idea.

"My turn," said Ron eagerly. "Hermione, same question to you." He folded his arms in triumph, waiting for Hermione to explode.

"I haven't kissed any girls," she said smugly. "But if you meant boys, then I've kissed four."

"Four!" Harry and Ron both shouted together.

"When have you had time to kiss four boys?" said Ron incredulously. "She's lying!"

"No she isn't," said Ginny primly. "She's not glued to your side twenty four hours a day, you know."

"Fine," said Ron crossly. "Harry's go."

Harry knew what he wanted to ask without thinking.

"Sirius," he said dangerously. "Did you drink when you were my age?" He smiled at Sirius, sure of the answer.

"That's not fair!" Sirius said. "You can't ask me that!"

Remus chuckled. "I warned you. And I'll know if you're lying, so you'd better tell them."

"Fine," said Sirius holding his hands up. "Yes, I did. But I was stupid and it doesn't mean that you can."

"Accio whisky!" said Harry whipping his wand from under the table with lightening speed. He took a drink from the bottle before either Sirius or Remus had a chance to react. "If you drank at my age then I'm going to as well, and neither of you can stop me because neither of you are my parents!"

"Fine," said Sirius. "But don't expect me to clean up after you when you throw up everywhere. And I'm not going to cover for you when Molly throws you out on your ear either." Remus shook his head with exasperation but stayed silent.

Harry blanched a little, but took another sip triumphantly. He carried the bottle over to the cupboard, holding on to it tightly and fetched a glass. He filled the glass to the brim, watching Remus and Sirius furtively and then placed the bottle back down on the table in front of them.

"My turn," said Remus, pouring himself and Sirius another glass of whisky. "Sirius, when was real first time you got drunk? And you'd better tell the truth!"

Sirius glared at him.

"That's an unfair question. I'll get you back for that. I was fourteen and I snuck a bottle of mulled mead from Hagrid's shack while he was in the forest. I drank the lot myself and I was really, really ill. Satisfied?" Remus laughed smugly.

"James and I had to carry him up to the infirmary and tell Nurse Pomfrey that he'd got a stomach bug. Don't think she believed us though. She didn't stop muttering about it for weeks."

Ron and Harry laughed along with Remus, and even Sirius saw the funny side after a moment.

"You think that's bad?" he said, grinning at Remus. "My turn. Remus, have you ever had a crush on a teacher?"

"No!" said Remus, his face reddening. He stared at Sirius, his eyes frantically begging him not to continue.

"Liar!" said Sirius triumphantly. "He had a crush on Minerva McGonagall when he was twelve. He told me."

"Eeeuuuuw!" said Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny together.

"She was a lot younger then," said Remus defensively.

"She was fifty!" said Sirius, laughing so much that tears were rolling down his cheeks. "And she looked exactly the same as she does now!"

"I told you that in confidence!" roared Remus.

"Serves you right," Sirius chuckled. "And you lied, so you have to do a dare."

"What shall we dare him?" asked Ron, practically jumping up and down in his seat with excitement.

"It was my question so I get to choose," said Sirius gleefully. "I know, you've got to send an anonymous owl to McGonagall telling her you used to fancy her!"

"Absolutely not!" said Remus angrily. "This is going too far."

"Oh, it's going too far now you have to do something!" said Sirius. "I didn't hear you saying it was going too far when you were getting me in trouble."

"Sirius -" said Remus warningly.

"Get some paper, Harry!"

Harry dutifully ran to a drawer, took out a quill and a sheet of parchment and placed them in front of Remus.

"Dear Professor McGonagall." Sirius began to dictate.

"Sirius, really -" Remus stared at Sirius incredulously.

"Dear Professor McGonagall," Sirius repeated. Remus sighed and picked up the quill. "I wanted to let you know that you are a wonderful teacher and I had a bit of a crush on you when I was fourteen." Sirius grinned as Remus began to write. "Yours, a secret admirer."

"She'll recognise my writing," Remus said, smiling a little despite himself.

"Then you'd better write it with your other hand," Sirius said firmly.

"You're not using Hedwig," said Harry. "She'll think it's from me."

"Nor Pig," said Ron.

"You can use Errol," said Ginny, grinning impishly. "She'll probably think it's from Dad." She raced upstairs to fetch him.

Sirius whipped the note from under Remus's quill as soon as he had finished writing it. He tied the note to Errol's leg and murmured something to him before sending him off.

"Right, whose turn is it next?" Sirius said, apparently satisfied.

"Mine," said Ginny. "I've got a question for Harry."

"Big surprise," said Ron, rolling his eyes. Ginny ignored him.

"Who have you kissed apart from Cho?" she asked, blushing slightly and staring at her hands nervously. Harry took a big swig of his whisky.

"What is it about teenagers that all they want to know about is who kissed who?" asked Remus.

"Hang on a minute," said Sirius, staring at Harry in amazement. "Who's Cho? Have I missed something here?"

"Harry's girlfriend," said Ginny.

"No she isn't," said Harry. "And I haven't kissed anyone else." Ginny smiled coyly.

"Harry has a girlfriend?" said Sirius incredulously. "Why didn't I know about this?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" shouted Harry. "It's Hermione's go."

"Are you going to ask Cho out when we get back to school?" Hermione asked.

"Is that your question?" asked Harry. Hermione nodded impatiently.

"I don't know," said Harry stubbornly. "And that's the truth, so you can't make me do a dare."

"You should, you know," said Ron. "She's a bit of alright, that Cho."

"Well why don't you get a pair of glasses and a scar. She'd probably like you then," said Harry miserably.

"Boring," said Sirius, starting to sound distinctly inebriated. "Next!"

"My turn," said Ron. "I've got one for Ginny." He leaned towards Harry. "I'll get her back for you, mate," he whispered. He turned towards Ginny. "Do you still fancy Harry?"

"Oh, thanks mate. Nice one," Harry hissed.

"I'm not answering that!" Ginny blushed furiously.

"Dare!" shouted Sirius, thoroughly enjoying the mayhem.

"You can dare me if you like, but I'm not answering." Ginny replied, glaring angrily at Ron.

"Then you've got to kiss Harry," said Ron, grabbing Harry's whisky and downing a gulp with a grimace.

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side!" Harry whispered venomously.

"Fine," said Ginny, a little too eagerly for Harry's liking. She stood up and walked towards Harry, her arms folded in defiance. "Come on then."

Harry looked from Ron to Sirius, his eyes desperately pleading with them to give him a get out. Ron simply shrugged and Sirius regarded him with amusement.

"You heard her, Harry," he said. "It doesn't do to keep a lady waiting you know."

"You utter... just you wait!" said Harry, getting to his feet reluctantly.

He leaned in towards Ginny and shut his eyes, screwing up his lips in what he hoped was a pucker. The whole room fell silent, watching with baited breath.

Ginny leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Harry's lips and the group exhaled in unison. She returned to her seat quickly, blushing and smiling coyly.

"Erm, Harry," whispered Ron. "You can sit down now."

Harry, who was still leaning forward with his eyes closed, looked round quickly to find everyone staring at him, grinning from ear to ear. He sat down hurriedly, his face beetroot red, and the group burst into raucous laughter.

"Gits," he muttered. "Right. Sirius. Your turn," he said threateningly. "How old were you when you lost your virginity?"

"You can't ask that!" Hermione cried, obviously shocked.

"Oh yes I can," said Harry. "Serves him right."

"I'll know if you're lying," sang Remus teasingly.

Sirius looked at Harry with a look of mingled amusement and shock. "You really want to know?" he asked.

"Yes!" said everyone else.

"I was thirteen."

A gasp rippled across the room.

"Who with?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"You can't ask that. It's not your turn," said Sirius, sticking out his tongue playfully at Harry.

"No, it's mine," said Remus dangerously. "Who with Sirius?"

"Oh, come on!" said Sirius, standing up and throwing his hands into the air.

"If you don't tell them, I will and then you'll have to do a dare," Remus said.

"Alright, alright. It was my second cousin. We were a very close knit family!" he shouted over the yells of "That's disgusting!" and "You pervert!"

"Remus didn't even lose his until he was eighteen!" he shouted. Everyone turned to look at Remus. He stood up and looked Sirius challengingly in the eye.

"Sirius threw up into a tea towel while he was kissing a girl, and then carried on kissing her!" Remus shouted.

"Remus wet his pants in first year potions!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny's heads swung back and forth as though at a tennis match as they watched the revelations unfold, gasping with increasing astonishment at each one.

"Sirius put his hand up a girl's skirt in astronomy!"

"I'm quite proud of that, actually," Sirius cut in. "Remus tried to kiss a girl and accidentally bit her nose!"

"Sirius tried to swap his broom for a kiss with -"

"WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON?" Molly Weasley, Fred, George and Bill were all standing in the doorway.

All hell broke loose.

Sirius and Remus sat down quickly, stammering weak explanations. Ron, who was still clutching Harry's glass of whisky, quickly pushed it in front of Harry, who slid it across the table to Sirius, who deftly dropped it into his lap. Mrs. Weasley broke into a full on rant at Sirius and Remus ("I left you in charge and you're both drunk! I'd expect it of Sirius, but I'd have thought you'd have more sense!"), while Fred and George collapsed onto the floor in fits of laughter.

"Ronald Weasley, have you been drinking?" Mrs Weasley grabbed Ron by the scruff of the neck as he tried to sneak past her in the commotion.

"No, I haven't Mum, honestly!" More guffaws from Fred and George.

"I CAN SMELL IT A MILE AWAY! You're supposed to be a PREFECT! Ginny, how could you let this happen! You're supposed to be the sensible one!"

"Me?" Ginny shrieked. "How is this my fault?"

"GET TO BED! ALL OF YOU!" Mrs. Weasley yelled and all six of them hurriedly got to their feet and ran to the doorway. "Not you two," she said sternly at Remus and Sirius. "I'll deal with you two in a minute!"

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione gratefully ran up the stairs, closely followed by Fred and George.

"Excellent! Are you drunk?" asked George.

"No!" said Ron. "I only had a couple of sips. Harry was the one doing all the drinking."

"We're impressed!" said Fred, regarding Harry with new respect. "Well, either way you've out done us. Mum isn't going to forget this in a hurry. We can do what we like from now on. You've made us look like angels."

Ron and Harry glumly went into their room, the sound of Mrs. Weasley's screeches, now only barely audible over those of Mrs. Black, still ringing out from the kitchen below.

"That was cool," whispered Ron as they climbed into their beds. "Let's sneak some Firewhisky into the common room when we get back to school."

"Definitely!" said Harry.