Disclaimer - Harry Potter isn't mine... sobs brokenly

A/N - I wrote this a little while ago, for a challenge on the first setence of this fic. I had some fun writing it, so I hope you enjoy delving into the mind of one Lily Evans. :) This was beta'd by a fantastic beta over at HPFF... So, enjoy!!

Truth or Dare

I wish I hadn't agreed to this, but there was no going back now. I supposed that it had all started last night, Friday night. Alice and I were sitting in our dorm, quite bored, when we decided to play truth or dare to pass the time. What a bad idea…

"Okay, Lily, truth or dare?" Alice Prewett, my best friend, asked.

I pondered the question for a bit. We had been playing this game for a while already and I had mostly picked truth. So, I decided to switch it up.

"Dare," I said defiantly. Let's see what Alice would come up with.

A wicked grin spread on Alice's round face. "Okay then, I dare you to say yes to James the next time he asks you out."

"What? No!" I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down for the other girls sleeping.

"Sorry, Lils, you asked for a dare; you have to do it," Alice said, not sounding sorry at all.

My eyes narrowed. "You've been waiting for me to say dare all night just so you could dare me to do that, haven't you?"

"Maybe," she replied, that bloody grin covering her face again. "But, there is no turning back now."

"I can't believe you, Alice! The next Hogsmeade trip is this Sunday. Potter will surely ask me tomorrow and I'll have to say yes!"

"Well, yeah, that is the point of the dare."

I grumbled to myself. I wish I had never told Alice about muggle games, more specifically, truth or dare.

Well, even though I had screwed up royally by picking dare, I had to do it. This would probably be the worst thing in my life. On my extraordinary record of mistakes, this topped all others. This was a horrible, dire mistake! It was too bad to even think about.

Oh no… There was Potter, walking straight towards me, with that look on his face: the look he got every time he was about to ask me out. He came near me, with long, confident strides, and his hand reached up to run his fingers through his hair, making it look even messier. Did he really think that made him look good? Well it didn't.

He had a smug, overly-confident look on his face. I mean, you'd think that after all the times I'd said no to him, he would get a clue. But obviously, the simple word 'no' was far too big for James-I'm-An-Idiotic-Big-headed-Git-Who-Likes-To-Be-Told-How-Brilliant-I-Am-Even-Though-My-Ego-Is-Already-Big-Enough-Potter, to comprehend.

As Potter walked closer to me, I turned to look at Alice. I thought about giving her a pleading look, big puppy eyes and all, hoping that she might take back her dare. Then, I saw her face - she too had a smug look, and it only made me angry. She found my gaze and waggled her eyebrows suggestively. I only turned away and looked at Potter, only to glare at him. I grinned inwardly as I saw him falter slightly at my deathly stare.

I crossed my arms over my chest, and leaned back on the couch I was settled on in the Gryffindor common room. Fine, if she was going to be that way, then I would just do this with my head held high. I was a Gryffindor, after all.

"Hey, Evans," Potter said, an air of confidence around him. Behind him, Black stood with the grin that captured so many girls' hearts plastered on his face. Remus, the only one of the Marauders that I could stand, wore a look of exasperation. Perhaps he too had gotten tired of Potter's futile attempts to ask me out. Finally, there was Pettigrew, who looked rather bored.

"What, Potter?" I said icily, as I stood up.

Potter just grinned, and I glared. "Oh come on, Lils." Oh how I hated when he called me that. "Be nice," he continued, slinging an arm over my shoulder. I threw it off, but he seemed unfazed. "It is a nice day today, isn't it, Lils? I mean, the sun is-"

"First Potter, don't call me Lils! Second, what is the point to this useless conversation, or is there not one? It certainly wouldn't be the first time." I bit the inside of my mouth; I was just barely restraining myself from yelling.

Potter just smiled confidently. "Well, Lily, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?" He spoke with a tone that screamed confidence, as though I would never turn him down, although I had one hundred and eighty three times before.

I wanted to yell at him, to stop with the confidence that was rolling off his body and tone in waves, I was sick of it! "No, Potter, I will not-"

I stopped, suddenly remembering the dare. I looked again at Alice who just raised an eyebrow and smirked. I gave her a withering look and turned back to Potter. I gritted my teeth.

"Yes, Potter, I will go to Hogsmeade with you," I bit out, feeling as though I had just uttered an incredibly dirty curse word.

Potter's mouth dropped, and he just stared at me. Every eye in the common room was on us; even Black's face had lost that annoying grin. "W-what w-was t-th-that?" Potter stuttered.

"I said yes! Yes, I will go with you!" I screamed at him, all patience lost.

And then, I'm not joking, Potter fainted. He fainted! He toppled backwards, completely knocked out. It was a monumental moment; I knew I would cherish it forever. I wished I had a camera to take a picture of Potter actually fainting.

After I had finished basking in the glory of making Potter faint, I sighed. I should probably wake him up. I got down on my knees, and poked him in the shoulder. "Potter… Potter, come on. Get your lazy self up. Potter…" Okay, I was getting irritated. "POTTER, WAKE UP!" I shouted, right in his ear.

He shot straight up, and just stared confusedly for a second. "I just had the best dream - Lily Evans said yes to me!" he said dreamily.

"Sadly, it wasn't a dream Potter," I replied dryly.

Potter just gaped at me, before jumping to his feet a punching his fist in the air. "Yes!"

He turned to his friends, "She said yes, she said yes!" He grabbed Black, and started dancing wildly, and quite horribly, with him, in celebration.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. I hated truth or dare! It was officially the worst game ever.

Sunday came and found me standing in the Entrance Hall, waiting for Potter, my arms crossed and foot tapping. I was quite a sight, I knew, as I saw a few first years skirt away from me. I was Head Girl, my greatest accomplishment so far, and I knew I should be nice to the first years. I could care less just then, though. It didn't help any when Alice walked by, hand-in-hand, with her boyfriend of a year, Frank Longbottom.

"Bye, Lily!" she called out as they walked toward Filch. I gave her a curt nod; she still wasn't off the hook with me.

Then, just as she was about to leave, she turned and winked – she winked! – at me. Everyone thought that Alice is so sweet and all, but I knew better. Being her best friend since first year had given me much insight, and I knew that she was truly quite evil! This dare that she conned me into was perfect proof.

I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew before I turned around that it was Potter. I spun to face him, and seeing him alone the words 'where's your posse, Potter?' were on the tip of my tongue. Then, I stopped as I caught the look on his face. No… It couldn't be! The world was surely ending, because for once, James Potter looked nervous.

"Hi, Lily, you look nice today," he said, and I knew it was true. He wasn't smug, or conceited, or assuming as he said it. He smiled and it seemed genuine, not raining with confidence. My eyes narrowed. What on earth was going on with Potter?

I spoke slowly, still on guard, "Sure… Thanks, Potter."

"Listen, Lily, could you, just for today at least, call me James?"

I blinked. I hadn't been expecting that. I felt a tug at my heart at the expectant look on his face and swallowed. "Yeah, okay… James."

I was surprised; it wasn't that bad, calling him James. What had the world come to?

We walked out in silence, got the okay by Filch, and headed down the grounds. My head was spinning, my heart thumping, and as his hand accidentally brushed mine, I felt my stomach flip. Oh Merlin – what was happening to me? I couldn't possibly be falling for James Potter, could I? It had only been a few moments since I had started calling him James!

We reached Hogsmeade Village, and I was lurched from my thoughts by James's voice. "Uh, Lily, you want to go to the Three Broomsticks?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. Wow… I was surprised that he didn't mention going to a Quidditch shop, as everyone knew how fanatical he was about Quidditch.

The silence that had fallen was again broken by James's tentative voice. "Hey, Lily, I really meant it when I said you looked good, you know."

I smiled and felt an unbidden heat cross my cheeks. Merlin, I was blushing! "Thanks, James," I said, and this time, it was genuine.

I couldn't keep from pondering why James was so different, but decided to think on it later. I could give James my attention now; it wouldn't hurt anything, right? So, taking a deep breath, I braced myself, and grasped his larger hand in mine. He looked at me in surprise before smiling happily. I think it was the first time I had seen him truly smile, not a smile that was arrogant and smug, or one of his trademark smirks.

I couldn't help but smile back, as we walked to the Three Broomsticks, awaiting Butterbeer on that sweet autumn day, settling into a comfortable conversation.

I realised, as we walked into the bustle of the pub, that, just maybe, I was falling for James Potter. Surprisingly, I found, if this was the real James Potter – The James I was enjoying myself with – I didn't really mind.

Maybe truth or dare wasn't that bad after all.

Finite

A/N - Not much to say, except: review, please! I hope you liked it!