"I haven't played that since I was... oh... ten..." Lily mused aloud, before shrugging. "Alright. Basic rules. Nothing exceedingly vulgar or any of that." She stretched and yawned lightly, running a hand through her hair and beginning to play with a bit of it. "You may start, if you like, as you suggested it."
"Alright," James said, deciding to start out with small answers and work up to the greater ones later on, "I always here you talk about how you hate your sister Petunia, but I never hear why. So, why do you hate her?"
"It's mostly because she hates me. She's very jealous that I'm a witch, and tends to blame everything that goes wrong on me. Admittedly, some things I am to blame for, but most of the time I'm just a good scapegoat. It wears on you after a while." she trailed off, thoughtful, before realizing she needed a question of her own. "Were you home schooled as a child, or sent to a muggle school?"
"Home schooled. My parents are pure-blood, so they didn't really see why I needed to go to a Muggle school seeing as I'd be attending Hogwarts eventually." James said thinking of a question. "How did you take it when you got your letter? Were you surprised?"
"Shocked. I was pretty convinced I was dreaming for the first few weeks. Mum and dad were thrilled and relieved, as I did all sorts of strange things as a little girl, and they'd been sort of considering talking to a priest about it. Thought I was possessed. I was happy when it finally sank in, though. But I was worried I'd be the only kid at Hogwarts that didn't know what she was doing and they'd kick me out or something... How did you and Black meet?"
James smiled thinking of the meeting of him and his best friend Sirius. "Well, I don't know if you remember or not, but back in my first year I was rather...scrawny," James paused here seeing if Lily would laugh, when she didn't he continued. "One day some older blokes were making fun of me, calling me a stupid first year and betting that I couldn't do any magic. Just then Sirius comes around and tells them to bugger off, then they started going at him. Sirius comes from a...err...darker kind of family, and somewhere he picked up how to do a bat boogey hex. Needless to say we were both put in detention that day and have been best friends ever since." He finished smiling.
"Fitting." she said, raising a brow. She had since settled herself by sitting on an upturned bucket, placing her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her hands. Somehow, the girl managed to pull off an elegant air even in these surroundings. Lily was exceptionally good at that. "Well? I'm waiting for my question."
"Oh…right." James said pondering a moment. Questions began racing through his head, but none of them were appropriate for the moment, or they were too lame. He finally decided on one. It was something he had been burning to ask her ever since he had noticed a strange connection between her and one of his best friends.
"Do you…err…do you fancy Remus?" There was no real other way to put it. Lily often referred to Remus as "one of the only real people at Hogwarts," whatever that meant. If she fancied him, James didn't know what he would do. Remus was one of his best friends, but Lily was…well Lily was Lily.
Lily raised a brow. "Well, this is a truth game, so to put it honestly: Sort of. I liked him a lot for a very long time, and I suppose I still fancy him to some degree. He's smart, witty, can make me laugh, and is quite possibly the only tolerable male in the school." she shrugged. She purposely conveniently forgot about her and Remus' secret love affair from her Sixth Year. "He's a nice boy, and I even considered the fact that we'd make a good couple for a while, but he's far too attached to you to ever have an inkling of liking for me as more than a friend." The truth. Well. Most of it, at any rate.
"Oh…" James said quietly. She "still fancied him to some degree." That meant there was something there still. James felt his stomach turn slightly and his heart drop. How could he ever measure up to Remus? He couldn't. A small bout of anger rose up inside of him,
but he didn't let it out. Something about being stuck in a closet with Lily told him not to get angry, no matter what the answers to her questions ended up being.
"It's your turn." He said in a low, dry tone. He hoped he hadn't sounded angry, or sad. He wanted Lily to see a different side of him, but not a wimpy different side.
"Are you cross with Remus now?" Lily asked, as if reading his thoughts. She knew the answer already. She just wanted to see if he'd actually tell the truth. He'd be furious she thought. Or at the very least hurt. She was extremely curious to see just how truthfully this game might be played by a boy she'd known only to lie.
James almost said no. But then he though "why? Why lie?" There was no reason to lie to Lily, so he didn't.
"Not…cross. More like…" He dreaded the word he was about to use, but it was the only word he could think of to describe it, "jealous." he finished. He then glanced up at Lily as if to see her break out in laughter at him and call him a stupid pansy.
Lily didn't laugh. In fact, she looked mildly impressed. Interesting. Very interesting. Perhaps there was more to this Potter boy than previously assumed. At the very least, he certainly was a good actor. "Good answer." she said, twirling a scarlet lock around her finger, awaiting a question of her own.
James wasn't even thinking about the question he was going to ask, when he asked it, it just sort of came out. It seemed like the right thing to say at this type of moment.
"Lily, have you ever even considered giving me a chance?"
All barriers had been broken down. He had no defense here. The moment he said it he knew that he had set himself up for a letdown and heartbreak. He now desperately wanted to get out of this closet.
"Not particularly." she said simply. "If you hadn't noticed, you hadn't made yourself out to be a very good candidate for me to put my affections towards. Though, I must admit," she said, looking at him seriously. "If you were always as truthful and level-headed as you're acting at the moment, my answer may have been different." She tossed a bit of hair over her shoulder. "Have you ever considered trying methods other than showing off and stalking to gain my attention?"
"Yes." he responded. "Especially since tonight." he fiddled with a lose thread on his shirt. "Listen, Lily, I may have not put those methods into action…but I've definitely thought about them. I really have. I've thought about sitting down and having a conversation with you, rather then demanding that you let me take you out. I've thought about bringing you flowers rather than showing off by doing hard hexes in front of you. I've thought about calling you Lily, rather than Evans. And tonight now I have, so that's one step closer. I've thought about so many things Lily. There's so many things that I've wanted to do for you, or say to you, but I just have never been…well…I've been too much of a prat to say them." He realized that he was now ranting. "And now I'm digging my own grave here, so I think I'll stop and shut up for once."
Lily took a deep breath, her normally icy gaze melting and softening a bit. "James," she said softly. "I think that's both the sweetest and most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say." She tilted her head slightly, as if trying to get a proper look at him. Could Remus be getting Potter points by means of a Polyjuice Potion? No. One, Remus wouldn't agree to it, and two, Remus wouldn't willingly get himself stuck in a broom closet. No, it had to be Potter. She straightened, however, when she caught her body language. Wrong signal. Clearing her throat a bit, she tossed her hair over her shoulder again. "You keep forgetting my questions." she stated.
James grinned sheepishly. She had complimented him, which was always a good sign. Now what was he to ask her? After that moment of intensity, he couldn't think of what to say.
