Annnndddd the next installment is here! Enjoy!
Hermione blushed furiously. She had been a fool to think this group would forget her out of character actions at the beginning of the game.
"Fine..." she hoped that by some miracle this wouldn't get a reaction from them.
"Several summers ago, before Voldemort was an issue, I was sleeping over at a friend's house-"
"Shocking," Ginny smirked.
"Will you let me tell the story? I was sleeping over at a friend's house, and me and this girl were quite close. She was probably one of my closest friends outside of Hogwarts and there were a few other people there as well. Anyway, we started playing truth or dare and things got, well… some people there were a bit competitive and wanted revenge for something I made them do. Because, well, it's a game," she said defensively, "And I basically got dared to strip down to my underwear and run through the sprinkler until I was soaking wet."
To the many confused looks she got, she added, "A sprinkler is a sort of thing that Muggles use to water their gardens. It sort of just sprays water everywhere."
"Merlin Hermione," Neville was in shock.
"Are all Muggles like that?" Draco asked a tomato red Hermione.
"No. Only the really sick minded ones," she joked at her nonpresent friends' expense, "Oh and I should add that the very conservative neighbors saw me. I'm sure they thought that I was a drugged prostitute."
Everyone seemed to find this extremely funny, save for Draco who still seemed shocked to hear that Hermione spent time with Muggle girls who seemed to have such primitive forms of amusement. Harry and the rest of the group, however, would be left to ponder how a girl like Hermione could do something so…. not Hermione. Although, Harry thought to himself, maybe there was an entire level of Hermione's personality that he wasn't aware of. He thought about how different she had been at the Yule ball. Maybe when she was with Ron things were like that, too. He inwardly cringed at this thought.
"Alright, there. You've heard it. It was a one time thing and I would never do it again," Hermione was finally returning to her normal color, "Now if you ever speak of it to anyone, I'll see to it that you never see the light again. Neville, truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"I dare you to fly a lap around the castle on a broomstick. While doing this, you must continuously drop flowers and yell 'I love beets'".
"But if I'm dropping flowers, then why am I yelling about beets?"
"It doesn't matter. This is your dare."
"Prepare to be amazed," Neville half heartedly proclaimed. He quickly summoned a broomstick and mounted it, zooming off before they could make any last minute changes to make his task worse.
Here goes nothing…
"I LOVE BEETS! ORCHIDEOUS! ORCHIDEIOUS!" he bellowed as loudly as he dared, flinging the flowers escaping his wand as far as possible. Most of them flew directly behind him, as he was flying faster than he usually would dare. His knuckles were white as he whisked past classroom windows and towers of every size, thinking of nothing other than arriving on the ground safely.
Back at the oak tree, the group was doing their best to spot their friend, who was flying as high as humanly possible on a broom.
"Not the first bad experience he's had with a broom," Harry commented, thinking back to first year.
Ron snorted, "Mate, I'm pretty sure this is worse. He's throwing flowers and Draco's our friend now." The Slytherin frowned at this.
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Weasley," he said ominously.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Luna chirped, adjusting her Spectrespecs in an attempt to see her boyfriend better.
"Here he comes!" Ginny pointed to a speck high by Ravenclaw tower, rapidly growing larger and more defined. There still appeared to be flowers practically pouring out from behind it.
"How was your ride, Longbottom?" Draco called to Neville as he closed the distance to his friends.
"Thrilling," he gasped as he dismounted. Hermione cast a worried glance at his white knuckles and winded demeanor.
"Don't worry, Hermione," he smiled, not wanting her to feel bad, "It was… invigorating. Though I can't say I'll ever be able to speak of beets again."
This seemed to clear Hermione's conscious. "Okay, now that that's over," Neville declared as he sat back down, "Ron. Truth or dare?"
"Merlin… um, dare?"
"Hmmmm… oh!" Neville gave Hermione a very out of character grin, causing an apprehensive look to cloud both her and her partner's faces. This could not end well for either of them. Neville seemed to be out for revenge.
"Ron, you have to make out with Hermione for 30 seconds while we all watch."
Said redhead and Hermione both exploded. "WHAT?!"
"Longbottom, there's no need to scar all of us," Draco seemed genuinely disgusted.
"I know! This is my brother for Merlin's sake!" Ginny protested.
"Too bad. Feel my wrath, Hermione," said Neville with a pleased smile. Harry was beginning to think that this game brings out the worst in people. He'd never thought Neville as the vengeful sort… but he couldn't say that he didn't mind the new, braver persona that the Battle of Hogwarts seemed to have given his friend.
Ron and Hermione moved into the center of the circle. "Okay, wait. We need someone to keep track of time," Harry reminded everyone. He didn't want this to go on any longer than it had to.
"I'll do it," Draco volunteered, thinking the same thing.
As the couple leaned in closer and started to kiss, many in the group seemed to find it too much to watch. Ginny seemed to find it particularly disturbing.
"Careful, Ronald. Don't want to accidently inhale her face," the petite ginger sneered.
Draco's face, meanwhile, was contorted into the sort of expression someone would wear while watching a person eat horse dung, if one ever was to encounter such a thing. Harry prayed that he was still keeping track of time. Luna seemed to be mesmerized by a small inchworm moving through the grass, and Neville looked as if he was regretting his decision not only to give Ron such an enjoyable task, but also to have thought that involving Hermione was a good idea.
Suddenly, Draco spoke up. "TIME!" he crowed loud enough for everyone to hear. Ron and Hermione continued writhing together.
The Slytherin cleared his throat again. "I said, TIME!" he yelled louder than ever. The pair in the center finally broke apart. They both seemed to have forgotten they were playing a game. Both blushed furiously as they returned to their places in the circle.
"I can never unsee that," Draco mumbled to himself grumpily.
"It's okay, at least they had fun," Luna seemed a bit green. Neville chuckled. His girlfriend seemed to be slightly horrified at the reminder that this was how her friends acted in private.
"Ron, please just finish your turn," Hermione sqeaked.
"RIGHT!" he jumped slightly, "Luna? Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"If you had to kill anyone in this circle, who would it be?" Ron was ready to move away from the sexual side of this game and hear some innocence from the Ravenclaw.
"You," she didn't hesitate for a moment.
"What? Why him?" Hermione seemed almost offended.
"Yea, why not him?" Ginny gestured towards Draco. "Luna, you've known Ron for years."
"Well, I can't kill Harry, because he's only just killed Voldemort and is only just beginning to live a normal life. I can't kill you, Ginny, because from what I've seen of your and Harry's relationship and each of your personalities, no one else could ever make either of you happy if one died. Neither of you would ever get over it. I can't kill Neville for obvious reasons. Draco, either, because he's starting to awaken from the brainwashing he's received his entire life, and I'd hate to ruin the chance of anyone to see the world at least for a little while from a less ignorant point of view. Lastly I chose Ron over Hermione because Ron has, quite frankly, lived a life filled with family and comfort, aside from the Voldemort issue, and I suppose I could see Hermione moving on from his death eventually, and perhaps finding happiness with someone else. She's too logical not to."
Aside from the fact that he had never heard Luna speak so much at once in his entire time knowing her, Harry wasn't that shocked by the way she plainly stated her logic. Besides Neville, however, the rest of the group remained shocked. Mostly about their friend's comments on Draco and Hermione. The Slytherin was trying to stop himself from defending his family's name, as it would disprove the… compliment he'd just been given. Hermione meanwhile, wasn't sure if she could ever get over Ron's death, and was rather offended that Luna thought her so heartless as to let mere logic get in the way of her love for him. Though perhaps her friend was more correct than she wanted to let on. While she hated to admit it, Luna was, actually, quite wise.
"It's getting quite dark out," the Ravenclaw broke up everyone's brooding to point out that night was indeed falling.
"Maybe we should go inside," Hermione suggested, pulling her jacket tighter around her.
"Merlin, I can't believe we played all day," Neville marveled.
"Should we meet here tomorrow? Same time?" Harry asked the group.
To the many nods and words of confirmation, the group got up and began the long walk to the dining hall, Draco trailing slightly behind the others. His mind was in a much darker place than the rest of theirs, he was sure. The image was in his mind again of his mother writhing on their living room carpet. The dark lord's cold shouts of disapproval. Aunt Bella's steadily dropping sanity. Where did he belong? He certainly didn't want a part of that. And being with this group was so easy…
No, it wasn't easy. Accepting an invitation is the easy part. What would be a lot harder would be facing the rest of his house. As he realized this, he decided he would skip supper tonight and avoid walking in with the people he'd betrayed his honor with. At least he could prolong the time before the eventual confrontation a for a little longer.
A/N- What'd ya think, lovelies? I actually just added the Draco thing at the end on a whim; didn't initially intend to put more serious character development in this. Ah, well, let's see where it goes I suppose. Any truths or dares that you would like to suggest are always welcome! I feel a need to point out that I have tons for Draco already so it's helpful to get some with, say, Neville or Ginny. Although, I suppose better to have an excess for one character than to have none at all! And I know we all love watching our Slytherin friend embarrass himself See you soon!