"Truth or dare, Moony?"

It was Sirius Black's birthday, and only several guests had remained sitting in the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place after the party ended. After a fabulous roast turkey with mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams, and multiple other side dishes cooked by Molly Weasley; and a decadent chocolate cake (also courtesy of Molly), the party guests had stayed behind to socialize, dance, and play wizard chess. It was now a little past midnight, and the only people who hadn't left yet were Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Bill Weasley, and Mundungus Fletcher. Sirius, having had the most fun he's had since…before he's even been in Azkaban, decided to end the night with a little Marauder fun. Although everyone groaned when he suggested it ("Really, Padfoot? How old did you turn again?" Remus had asked), the idea of playing the game with good friends while drinking butterbeer did have a certain appeal.

"Do you even have to ask, Padfoot?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm a Marauder, remember? Truth is for sissies."

"That's right, silly me," said Sirius with a smirk. "No Marauder has ever turned down a dare. Remember how James dared you to spike McGonagall's coffee with Firewhiskey?"

"What? You actually did that?" Tonks exclaimed, unable to imagine the mature, level-headed Remus doing something so crazy. "What happened?"

"Well, I actually managed to spike her coffee, but it wasn't Firewhiskey in my flask. This git here," he said, pointing to Sirius, "gave me a flask with a Babbling Beverage instead. McGonagall ended up speaking gibberish for the rest of the day, until it wore off."

Everyone burst out laughing. "No way, mate!" said Bill. "Fred and George told me Professor Lupin was cool, but I had no idea how cool he really was."

"And he didn't even get caught." Sirius bragged. "You should have seen old McGonagall going on about how she won't be assigning homework because of all the leopards that are in our heliotropes. Heliotropes, she explained, are these furry canaries, who speak Spanish and love pizza with anchovies."

"All right, but you should keep in mind that whatever happens in this room stays in this room," said Remus, blushing slightly. "If any of this gets out to McGonagall, I'll force-feed the traitor with Every Flavor Beans."

"Nooo, anything but that!" Sirius yelled in mock horror. "I'll hold my tongue, I swear!"

"Me too," said Tonks. "I hate those things."

"My lips are sealed," said Bill. "Dung?"

Everyone turned towards Mundungus, who was passed out at the table, a half-open bottle of butterbeer still in his hand.

"OK, guess Dung isn't much of a threat," Sirius barked out a laugh, taking the bottle from his hand and placing it on the table. "All right, Moony, back to the dare. I dare you to…kiss Nymphadora!"

Dead silence, except for Mundungus' soft snores.

"Nymphadora?" Remus spluttered. "Nymphadora Tonks?" He looked over at Tonks, who was as red as a tomato; even her trademark bubblegum-pink hair turned bright crimson.

"No, one of the other ten Nymphadoras we know." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course I mean Tonks, my dear little cousin."

Everyone stared at Remus, except Tonks, who was too embarrassed to even look up. Finally, she dared sneak a look at Remus's face: he looked uncomfortable and almost aghast.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I can't." Remus finally said. "I'm turning this one down."

"Remus—Moony—what the hell?" Sirius said, once he found his voice. "What's wrong with you?"

Before Remus could say anything, Tonks cleared her throat. "Um, I just remembered. Early shift at work tomorrow! I'll see you guys later."

"Tonks, wait! Are you OK?" Sirius yelled after her.

"Fine, just got super tired. Gotta get some sleep before tomorrow!" said Tonks, grabbing her cloak. Before anyone could stop her, she was out the door and Disapparated back to her flat.