Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling
Rose gave a sharp intake of breath at her cousin's spite, while the rest of the circle whispered incessantly, appearing to be too consumed with curiosity to care about Elyssa's feelings. How the hell was Elyssa supposed to know the answer, anyway?Even so, if Rose had been honest with herself, she would have admitted she was a little interested in Elyssa's answer, as she wasn't exactly normal Gryffindor material.
Crinkling her brow, Elyssa looked genuinely puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?"
Lily hardened her gaze, and questioned, "Why were you, someone who talks to no one and never looks happy, placed in a house that's meant for brave, friendly people? Tell us, Elyssa, tell us why you're here." Lily looked malicious and beautiful - sitting practically naked in Lysander's lap, who was holding on to the edges of the carpet, trying to restrain himself. Elyssa, however, looked hurt, sad, even, at having been asked such an offensive question. Rose was just about to rebuke Lily for being so dreadful, when Elyssa spoke up for herself, "You know what?" she swallowed, "Let's turn this into a dare; I'll behave 'bravely' as you put it, I'll behave like a 'true Gryffindor', and we can see how you like it. But you should know, your idea of bravery, isn't mine. You're mixing up the concepts of being bold and reckless and outgoing, with being brave. I believe bravery is about doing something your terrified of to save someone else, for the greater good. Sacrifice is a huge element of bravery, but just to amuse you, I'll act boldly for a while, see how you like it. You might discover something," and with that, she sat back on her knees, crossed her arms, looking ready to declare war on anybody who challenged what she'd said.
"Fine, you saved me having to ask you, " replied Lily, snuggling back into Lysander's heaving chest.
Elyssa quickly spun the bottle, and turned her head towards her victim; James. "Truth or Dare, James?"
"Truth, for a change," James' smirk seemed like it couldn't get any more cocky, until it did.
Elyssa thought for a minute then asked, "How far have you gone with a girl, and what was her name?"
Looking slightly taken aback, James shrugged his shoulders and said, "I've done almost everything with Franny, Ellie, Polly, Ella, Isabelle and . . . oh what was her name again . . . Sophia," James recited. Rose looked utterly aghast, while Elyssa just seemed reasonably exasperated and pretty disgusted.
Grinning, James spun the bottle, and it landed on Danielle, who bit her lip and giggled lightly. James calmly stated, "Take of your shirt and snog whoever the bottle spins and points at,"
"But James," she whined, "I didn't tell you truth or dare!" Danielle giggled once more, as James replied in a low voice,
"Well you'd better choose dare quickly then,"
Rose rolled her eyes; that was the most ridiculous flirting she'd ever seen. If she wasn't cousins with James, and he flirted with her like that, Rose would probably perform that bat bogey hex on him.
Most of the girls seemed a little disinterested as they all shared a dorm with her and had seen it all before, and whilst a lot of the guys seemed fixed at staring at Danielle's chest. Sighing loudly and theatrically, she reached forward and spun the bottle. Danielle's smile widened when she saw her victim: Lorcan Scamander.