Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize. That belongs to JKR!
Tess was having trouble finding Lily and Alice on the train. As she walked down the narrow hallway in the Hogwarts Express, she was met with catcalls from all sorts of boys. Fifth year and below boys were shying away from her as if she was some beautiful spirit that they didn't deserve to be in the presence of. Sixth year and up boys, even those pureblood-elitist Slytherins, were openly flirting with her and trying to grab her butt. Every time Tess peeked into a compartment, she was greeted by jealous gaggles of girls, or arrogant boys with their minds in the gutter, and their brain in their pants. Finally, after twenty minutes of pure torture, and probably six hundred unneeded ass-squeezes, Tess finally spotted her two friends talking in a compartment.
Sliding the door open and dragging herself in, Tess dove into the corner and let out a huge sigh of relief. Finally, she was with her friends, and could get some peace! But, after sitting there with her eyes closed for a few minutes, she realized that Lily and Alice hadn't resumed talking, or even greeted her as she came in. Wondering what was wrong she slowly opened her eyes and saw that the two girls were blankly staring at her.
"What?" she asked, looking from Lily to Alice, then back to Lily.
"Um…can we help you?" Lily curiously asked. "Are you new here?" Alice inquired.
"Oh Merlin!" Tess exclaimed. Her own friends didn't recognize her! "No, Alice, I'm not new here. Girls, it's me, Tess! Tess Ridson."
"Wow!" the two girls said simultaneously, realization and recognition dawning on their faces. "You look good!" Alice said. "No Alice," said Lily, shaking her head, "She looks more than good. Tess, darling, you look like a bloody goddess!"
"I know. That's what Black said." Tess murmured, remembering the incident on the platform. She was still in shock that the git that had bullied her since year one now found her to be attractive, sexy even.
"Black!" Lily shouted, almost falling out of her seat with shock. "Black as in Sirius Black?" Tess nodded. "Sirius Black called you a goddess? Are you telling me that Black was flirting with you?" Tess nodded again. "Wow! That's like James saying that he doesn't love me!"
Unfortunately for Lily, the Marauders happened to be strolling past her compartment on their way to the candy trolley, and James, upon hearing his name uttered by the lips of his "Lilyflower", decided to make a visit. He casually wandered into the compartment, sat next to Lily, and placed an arm around her. "Me? Not love Lily! That's preposterous!" James said, leaning in to place a kiss on Lily's cheek. She swatted it away easily.
Meanwhile, the rest of the boys had joined the party in the girls' compartment, and each found a place to sit. Remus sat next to Tess on the seat, Peter plopped down next to Alice, who shuddered away, and Sirius, after failing to convince Tess to sit on his lap, settled for the floor. "Don't you have your own compartment?" Tess asked, annoyed that she had to share the space with Sirius. Remus, Peter, even James she could handle, but Black, never. "Ahh, you know you secretly adore me." Sirius said turning and smiling up at Tess with that well-known smirk of his. "In fact, you really want to find an empty compartment with me and snog my brains out." Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively, and gave her a seductive wink. It took all of Tess's self restraint not to kick that grin off of Sirius's face. Huffing with frustration, Tess decided to ignore him, and turned toward the window, pretending to be fascinated by the green fields as they streaked by.
What really frustrated Tess was that there were moments when she truly did want to jump Black's bones and experience what Marlene and her slutty friends were always raving about. Heck, if he had offered last year, she would have already given in. But she knew that all Sirius was after was another notch in his infamous bedpost and she was not willing to give up that much, no matter how gorgeous he was. Almost every girl who had met Sirius in a broom cupboard or had a midnight adventure up in the astronomy tower eventually was found crying in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom after Sirius declared their relationship to be "casual". No, Tess was a romantic girl. She wanted the commitment, the moonlight walks, and the candlelit dinners. Nothing that Sirius could offer. He would offer easy snogs in dark corners of the castle, and if he really liked you, an invitation to join him in the Room of Requirement.
Tess interrupted her reflection when she realized that someone had removed her shoes and was now giving her a foot massage. Tess had a feeling she knew who was doing it, and when she glanced down, her suspicions were confirmed. Sirius now had her foot in his lap, and was rubbing circles across the pads of her foot. He was doing quite a good job, so Tess took a moment to contemplate her options. She could let him continue and risk leading him on, or she could remove her foot and lose the benefits of the massage. Finally, she came to a decision.
Abruptly pulling her leg up, Tess accidently kicked him in the arm. "Will you stop touching me Black!" Tess demanded, shooting the offending boy a searing glare. Sirius turned, rubbing his arm, and said, "Tess, baby, I will stop when you actually don't want me." Furious, Tess grew red, and the others in the compartment could sense that she was about to explode. Determined to distract her friend and hopefully avoid a massive fight between Tess and Sirius, Alice quickly suggested that the group of seventh years play a game. "Let's play Truth or Dare!" Lily proposed. Everyone, including Tess and Sirius agreed with the suggestion.
"Me first! Me first!" Sirius cried out, looking like an overgrown baby in a candy store. "Fine." Lily sighed, "Go ahead." Sirius whipped his head around, and glanced at Tess. "Oh Merlin!" Tess exclaimed, realizing who his target was.
"Sooo Tessy Wessy..."
"Don't call me that!" Tess demanded, smacking Sirius lightly on the shoulder.
"Fine." Sirius sighed, pretended to be depressed by her reaction to his nickname for her. "Tess, Truth or Dare?"
Tess smirked at him, deciding which one to choose. After making him wait a couple minutes, and watching him fidget with anticipation, she opened her mouth to give her answer.
What do you think Tess's answer should be? Any suggestions for truths or dares that the characters could ask each other? Please review!
