The rest of the week crawled by for everyone. Everyone was eager to get to easter holidays. Hermione and Draco met as usual each day to learn new spells. Nowadays, their lessons were much more light hearted. They laughed a lot, teased each other, and complained about the heavy workload they were getting before break. Draco's eyes were as expressive as ever, but they still made Hermione's heartbeat quicken everytime they lit up. Draco made no move to touch her. He acted like their kiss had never happened, and Hermione began to wonder whether it had only occurred because he needed to get her out of his system. She convinced herself it was for the best; after all, even if they had changed, he was still a Malfoy and she a mudblood. She was sure that their destinies lay at opposite ends; her fighting loyally as part of the golden trio, and him a deatheater standing beside his father and Voldomort. But sometimes, when he gave her a real, true smile, or said a kind word to Harry and Ron, she thought that maybe…maybe there was still hope for him yet, and it warmed her heart.
Harry made no mention of Sirius to Hermione, but she knew that he was thinking about him constantly. It was in his eyes. Once, in History of Magic, when his eyes were glazed over, and it was obvious he wasn't paying attention, she leaned over and whispered smoothly in his ear, "He's so fit, isn't he?" Harry's face turned crimson instantly, but whatever he said, Hermione did not hear: she was doubled over with laughter.
As she observed him, she became more and more determined to give the two of them the happy endings that they deserved, and as the days grew closer she grew more confident in her plan. She knew she would have to ask for help, but that was the easy part. She knew just who to ask.
On the day of their departure, they gathered in Professor Dumbledore's office. The Weasley's, Hermione, Harry and Draco were all talking loudly about how excited they were and what they planned to do, until Dumbledore entered the room.
"Everyone, it is time to report to Hermione's house. You will be flooing there. We will be saying the words for you, to ensure that you all reach safely." Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at Harry, who flushed slightly.
"Please, enjoy yourselves thoroughly, but be safe. And Draco remember to keep your things packed. If at all we will need to collect you from the house, we will let you know immediately. Oh and Remus, do make sure Sirius is responsible!" Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling and Sirius rolled his eyes when Remus clapped him on the back with a "Will do, Sir, will do," grinning at Sirius mischeviously.
They all began to line up at the fireplace. It was agreed that Hermione would go first and as she made her way there, she grabbed Fred and George by the arms and said "Do me a favor, come directly after me?"
They looked at each other with raised eyebrows and then at her. "Alright," they chorused.
Hermione grabbed a bit of floo powder, spoke clearly into the fireplace and then everything went dark and she was spinning, spinning…
She landed rather ungracefully in the sitting room of her house, and then quickly stepped aside to let others through. True to their word, the twins quickly followed, and once they had both arrived, she quickly steered them into one of the bedrooms and shut the door.
"What's all this about, Hermione?" Fred asked.
"Alright, well. I need your help. But you have to promise not to tell a soul. Not even Ron. It's about Harry."
Fred and George looked at each other, they were grinning when they turned back to Hermione.
"What…?" Hermione asked carefully. Neither of them spoke. "Look," she said exasperatedly, "I really don't feel comfortable telling you, and he'd kill me if he found out, but…"
"Don't worry Hermione, we already know." George interrupted.
"What do you mean? You couldn't possibly…"
"Ah, but we do," Fred interrupted this time.
"Well…?" Hermione asked.
"Should we spare her," Fred asked George.
"Well, she's awfully bossy," George answered. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Yes but she does make pranking so much more satisfying that way." Fred responded.
"Alright," George said. "We'll spare her." They looked at her.
"We already know that Harry is in love with Sirius and that you're trying to set them up," they both chorused.
"What?!" Hermione was shocked. "How did you know?"
Fred and George laughed.
"Just because we didn't get as many OWLs as you," George said.
"Doesn't mean we're not as smart." Fred finished.
"I'm sure it's obvious to anyone who pays attention to this sort of thing," George remarked.
"Yeah, he doesn't make an effort to hide it really. Except to Sirius…"
"Which is extremely stupid."
"Though who could blame him, Sirius is one intimidating bloke."
"That's true. The man has quite the record…"
Hermione cleared her throat loudly.
"Right," George said, addressing her finally. "So what's the plan?"
She smiled. "Well, have you heard of the game called Truth or Dare?"
They both shook their head.
"Alright, well, I'll explain it later on, but it'll be pretty obvious what you'll have to do. I'm afraid that if I try to set them up, Harry will be too suspicious and he'll get nervous and back down, yeah?"
"Sounds like fun," they said together.
"Thank you!" Hermione said, obviously pleased. She reached up to hug Fred first.
"Look at that, we get hugs too!" George said.
Fred responded mid-hug, "Yeah, well it makes sense. She fancies one Weasley and we all look the same anyhow." Hermione blushed.
"Ah but you see," George said as she went to hug him as well. "At the moment, I believe she's not after a Weasley at all."
"Ah, you mean Malfoy."
Hermione pulled away to look incredulously at Fred.
"How did you…"
"Know?"
Fred smirked. "We told you we're good at this."
Hermione
shrugged. "It's not true," she said nonchalantly. "There's
now way in…"
"Perhaps not at the moment, but it sure is heading that way." George interrupted her with a glint in his eye. Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but she didn't know what to say, and instead was swept out the door by the twins.
When they reached the sitting room, everyone had arrived and was checking out the place. Most people were gathered at the far wall which was covered from top to bottom with cd racks filled with cds. When Hermione entered, Ginny approached her.
"What ARE these, Hermione?" she asked.
"Well, they're…"
But Draco cut her off. "I didn't know you did hip hop." He said.
"I didn't know you knew what hip hop even was." She countered.
"We were talking about BALLROOM dancing. Sophisticated styles. Hip Hop isn't exactly…decent. I wasn't sure what you would think," He said. She shrugged.
"I did everything."
"I didn't know you dance, Hermione," Harry said. She shrugged again.
"I don't anymore."
"That's too bad," Ginny said. "I've always wanted to learn. I've never done anything other than the Yule Ball."
Hermione smiled. "Maybe I'll take you one of these days."
Everyone grinned at the amount of freedom they were about to have. The room fell silent.
"Well," Hermione said cheerfully. "No one's hungry right?" Everyone shook their head.
"What?! Even Ronniekins isn't hungry?" George asked. Ron rolled his eyes as everyone sniggered.
"In that case," Hermione continued. "I have a game we can all play. It'll be extremely…entertaining." Remus gulped. Hermione has that mischevious glint in her eye again, and even though she wasn't known for breaking the rules, you could never tell with her. They all sat in a circle according to Hermione's instructions ("Yes, yes, you MUST play Remus, and you too Tonks and Sirius"), and she explained the game.
"Alright, so one person is allowed to ask another Truth or Dare. If you chose Truth, you have to answer one question honestly, and if you say Dare then you have to do anything the other person says to. Simple enough? Okay, who wants to go first?"
"We will!" the twins said.
"No wait, that's not fair, you two can't play as a team," Tonks complained. They looked at each other.
"Oh alright, I'll go first," Fred said. His eyes slid over everyone as he decided who would be his first victim.
"Ron!" he settled on. Ron grimaced. "Uh-oh."
"Ron, Truth or Dare?"
"I…uh…Dare."
Fred's eyes gleamed wickedly. "Let's start with something tame. I dare you to kiss Harry on the cheek!"
"What?!" exclaimed Ron. "I can't! He's a bloke!" Harry pretended to look offended and everyone laughed. "A good looking bloke of course, Harry, but still." Harry flushed.
"Oh Ron, don't be such a wuss," said Ginny. Draco, who was sitting quietly, smirked slightly at this.
"Ron you're so pathetic. It's just one kiss."
"I think," hermione said slowly, "that we need something to…loosen us up." Sirius looked at her with surprised interest, and everyone but Ginny and Tonks looked pretty shocked. Tonks shrugged.
"Do you have anything?"
"What?! But they're underage! They can't drink!" Remus protested.
"Moony, we're here aren't we? It's not like they're at some pub. It'll be fine," Sirius said soothingly.
"Well…alright." Fred and George let out a cheer and Ron and Harry grinned cautiously. Draco just sat looking amused. Hermione went into the kitchen, followed by Sirius.
She poured the drinks, and then with an added charm by Sirius to have them keep refilling themselves (Shh! Don't tell Remus!) they went back to the sitting room and handed everyone a drink.
Ron swallowed more than half in one gulp. Then he eyed Harry, who was sitting next to him, with a resolve. He put one hand on the back of his head, one hand under his chin, pulled Harry towards himself and quickly kissed his cheek, withdrawing. Ron blushed slightly, but his face was determined. Harry said nothing. The circle giggled enthusiastically.
"Time for revenge," declared Ron. "Fred, you're turn."
"No," Hermione interrupted. "You can't ask the person who asked you. You have to ask someone else."
Ron shrugged. "Alright, George. You're the same people anyway." Everyone laughed.
"Truth or Dare." George's eyes danced deviously. "Truth."
"What?!
That's not fair!"
"Tough luck, Ronniekins. You had the
choice too."
"Well, alright, fine. Okay here goes. Best fuck you've ever had. You have to say who it was, where, and when"
"Alicia Spinnet, sixth year, Gryffindor team lockers," he answered promptly.
"Oh gross!" shrieked all the quidditch players. Sirius was laughing and nudging Remus who refused to meet his eyes and had turned a bright shade of red.
"Sirius!" George exclaimed.
Sirius jumped at his name. "What?"
"Your turn! Truth or Dare?"
Sirius smiled, "I think I'll play it safe. Truth."
George looked disappointed. "Well, alright then. Same question. Best fuck you've ever had."
Sirius laughed, "That's easy, Re–" But Remus touched his arm and shook his head slightly.
"Why not?!" Sirius asked petulantly. Remus didn't say anything but his eyes were communicating everything and Sirius understood.
"Fine," he said, sounding disappointed. "Now what?"
"Well, if you can't or don't want to do the task, you have to remove an article of clothing." Hermione answered.
"What?!" cried Ron. "How come you didn't tell ME that?"
Tonks laughed. "She wanted to see her favorite boys kiss is all."
Hermione laughed. "Well I certainly wouldn't MIND watching…" Everyone giggled, and Harry blushed.
Ron looked at her incredulously. "You're so drunk." he grumbled.
"Now, seeing Sirius shirtless is something I wouldn't mind seeing one bit," Ginny mused. It was Sirius's turn to flush. He smiled at her.
"Yeah, especially if he's still fit like he was at school." Hermione agreed.
"Wait a second, how do you know how I looked during Hogwarts?!"
"Some pictures have been floating around." Tonks giggled.
"Tonks! You'll pay for that. But alright, I'm a good sport." He slowly, teasingly pulled off his shirt. Hermione and Ginny giggled, and the Weasley boys groaned, but Harry's reaction was best of all.
His eyes drank in the sight of Sirius's perfect torso. His muscles were all lightly definied, and he had a light dusting of hair leading from his belly button into his trousers. His tan was perfect, though there were a couple of bruises and scars here and there.
"Damn, Sirius," Ginny muttered. She was grinning at him. "You are one fine looking bloke."
"Ginny!" the Weasley boys admonished.
"What? It's true!" Tonks and Remus were laughing hysterically, and Sirius was caught between looking smug and embaressed, but Hermione was watching Harry. When his tongue darted out to lick his lips, she nudged him discreetly, and he started.
"You're staring," she whispered.
"Sorry," he mumbled, and took another swig of his drink.
"Alright,
Sirius, you're turn."
"I know, I know. Tonks, truth or
dare?"
"Dare. I"ll be adventerous."
"Alright." He thought carefully for a moment. "I dare you to give Remus a lapdance."
"Bloody Hell Sirius! Absolutely not!" hissed Remus.
"No way, Sirius, I'm not drunk enough for that. Though I wouldn't mind it without the audience." She winked provacatively at Remus, who blushed slightly, but grinned.
"Oh alright, bunch of wuses. I take it back."
"You can't," Hermione scolded. "Someone has to take off their shirt."
Tonks looked to Remus. "I don't think I can. Not sure it's a good idea."
"We don't think so!" the twins protested. Tonks laughed but shook her head.
"Come on, Remus," Ginny cheered.
"Him too Ginny?" Ron mourned, looking disbelievelingly at his baby sister.
"There's nothing wrong with admiring a body from afar Ron," she argued.
"Besides, he's more fit than I am," Sirius proclaimed, laughing.
Remus hesitated.
"Come on Remus," Hermione urged, "Don't be embarressed."
He smiled at her. "Don't worry I'm not. I'm just making sure there aren't any nauseatingly fresh scars that'll gross you out too much." The room fell silent, and Sirius gently squeezed Remus's arm. Remus smiled at him.
"No, it's alright," he assured him. "I don't think there's anything." He quickly pulled his shirt off.
There was a collective gasp.
"What?" he asked, quietly, with a touch of shame in his voice. Sirius squeezed his hand again. "You should have expected the scars."
"Not the scars," Ginny breathed, "Though they look brilliant, I must say."
"Then what?" He sounded truly bewildered.
"Remus, have you ever LOOKED at your body?"
"Well, yeah, but…so?"
Ginny rolled her eyes, looking at Hermione to help her explain.
Hermione laughed. "What she's trying to say it, goddamnit Remus, you are fucking hot." Remus blushed crimson, but no one denied it. They were all thinking the same thing. There was not an ounce of fat on Remus's torso. His abs were perfectly defined, and his arms were ripped.
"Have you been working out to maintain that?" Harry asked.
Remus shrugged. "It makes the transformations easier to bear."
"You mean you looked like that in school too?"
Remus nodded.
"Damn Remus, whoever you were sleeping with was one lucky arse." Ginny muttered. Remus turned red again and Sirius chuckled. In fact, he looked a bit smug. After all, it was he who had been sleeping with Remus in school.
"Looks like Sirius knows something we don't," Fred pointed out.
Sirius laughed harder. "Oh, you have no idea how true that last statement was."
"The one about who Remus fucked at school?" Sirius nodded, trying to get his laughter under control.
"Alright," Remus said hastily, shooting Sirius a dark look. "Let's get on with the game shall we? It's Tonk's turn right?"
"Oh yeah! Ginny. Truth or Dare."
"Um, truth."
"Fine," she giggled. "Who was your first kiss?"
"TONKS!" Ginny shrieked.
"uh uh uh, you have to answer!"
"But you know already!"
Tonks smirked. "I think there are some people here who should know as well." The Weasley boys suddenly looked extremely interested.
"Oh crap," Hermione muttered.
"Fine," Ginny grumbled. "Hermione."
"What about her?" Harry asked.
"No. Her. She was my first kiss."
"WHAT?!" the Weasley boys were enraged.
"It's not that big a deal, I swear. We were just drunk and messing around."
"Oh shit," Draco whispered. Tonks took one look around the room and burst out laughing.
Ron, Fred and George looked out of their minds with confusion and disbelief. Harry was chuckling quietly. Draco looked like he was enjoying the mental image very much but trying hard not to. Sirius and Remus were grinning at Hermione and Ginny, and Hermione had buried her face in her hands.
"Alright alright," Tonks said, when she had had her fun. (Fred and George were still babbling things like "Unbelievable!" and "Our own BABY sister!") "Let's move on."
"Yeah, let's move on! Hermione!" Ginny was up to something. Hermione studied her trying to figure out what it was. Then it clicked.
"Oh no. You can't ask that!"
"Ask what?!" asked Ron. The girls ignored him.
Ginny looked smug. "Fine, then don't say truth."
Hermione realized she was trapped.
"Fine. Dare."
Ginny's
face lit up.
"Fine. If that's what you want. I dare you to
dance hip hop with Draco."
"What?!" They both exclaimed.
"You don't even know what that is!" Hermione protested.
Ginny shrugged. "I know it's not decent." She winked.
"Come on Draco," Harry encouraged mischeviously. "Don't purebloods get a million years of dance lessons?"
"Yes, but, not in this!" he protested.
"Then how'd you learn," Ginny was curious.
"Muggle clubs," Draco admitted.
"What?! The great Draco Malfoy went to muggle clubs?!" Fred and George exclaimed.
Draco shrugged. "The girls were great."
They
laughed and high fived him.
"Nice!" Draco smiled.
"Well, go on then," Ron said, a glint in his eye
"Ron, don't make him do what he doesn't want to do. " Harry countered instantly. Ron shrugged.
"He's not going to anyway. He's going to wuss out."
Draco, on hearing this immediately stood up, and held his hand out for Hermione, who smiled at him, remembering their first date. She took his hand and he pulled her up strongly.
"You know, they just good cop, bad copped you right?" She laughed.
Draco groaned.
"I should have seen that coming." The circle laughed. This was the most they had heard him speak all day.
Hermione waved her wand and music started to play. It had a high bass drive that shook the entire room. The song was about sex and it was dirty and vulgar but the beat was incredibly addicting. Hermione searched Draco's face, suddenly awkward and nervous, but Draco did not reflect those feelings. He looked confident and devious. He put his hands on her waist, spun her around and pulled her flush against his body. The circle gasped. This was not what they had expected. It took them a second to get the rhythm just right and then Draco and Hermione were dancing as if they'd been doing it forever. Their bodies gyrated to the beat. Draco had his hands on her waist, and Hermione's one hand covered them and one hand was in her hair. She moved like fluid, and he was almost as equally talented. It was breathtaking not to mention arousing to watch them.
When the song ended, Draco took Hermione's hand and bowed to the audience with her. Then they returned to their seats. Silence.
"Oh. Bloody fucking hell." Ginny said after a moment. "So THAT'S what that is."
"You lot have never been to a club before?" Remus asked, surprised.
Sirius laughed. "And when would they have time for that Moony? It wasn't like our school days when we could sneak out together to go out. They're all under careful surveillance."
"Hang on, you guys snuck out together to go to pubs?"
"Well, yeah, all three of us did. But never just me and Sirius," Remus ammended quickly. Sirius shot him an annoyed look, but Remus pretended not to notice.
"That's not fair at all!" Ginny cried. "We're missing out on all the fun."
"I'm sorry," Harry apologized sincerely.
"Oh shut up, Harry, you've nothing to apologize for. We'll go out this week to a club. There a couple of good ones here." Hermione assured everyone. "Come on now, let's get on with the game. It's my turn right? Everyone's been asked already right?"
"Well, not everyone."
"Yeah, but they've all participated in some way. Well except for Harry and Fred."
"What about Draco?" Harry asked.
"I just had sex through my clothes in front of you lot. I think I'm good." Draco retorted. Everyone laughed, though Hermione's ears had gone pink.
"Yeah, well, I was kissed by Ron!"
"Hey!"
Hermione laughed. "Alright, fine. Fred. Truth or Dare?"
"You are more troublesome than people give you credit for. I'll stick with truth."
"Oh fine, and I had a good one for dare too. But alright, if you were in a relationship with a Metamorphagus, and you could ask him or her to change into anyone, who would you choose?"
Fred grinned. "That's easy Hermione. I'd choose Professor," (he stressed the word Professor), "R. J. Lupin."
"Oh, my, GOD. My family has gone insane," Ron said, smacking his forehead.
Sirius and everyone else was dying of laughter and Remus had his head in his hands.
"It's so true though," Ginny said, between fits of giggling. "He's so gorgeous."
"ENOUGH!" Remus cried. "Stop torturing me Fred. Tell us who you were really thinking of."
"Remus, you really sell yourself short. You really are the best looking guy I have ever seen in my entire life."
Remus shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm scarred all over, I always look tired and weary, and I'm old, and…"
"How many times do I have to tell you, you are none of those things!" Sirius interrupted.
"How can such a hero have such a low opinion of themselves?" Harry asked quietly.
"Old habits die hard. This isn't a new thing for him. He's always had low self esteem issues in this area." Sirius voiced. Silence.
"Well, you always had enough arrogance for the both of us," Remus said trying to laugh off the seriousness. It worked slightly.
"Go on Fred, it's your turn," Tonks said.
"Alright, Harry, I think you're up. Truth or Dare."
"Oh and you're the boy who lived Harry, so don't you dare choose Truth," Hermione said, sticking out her tongue at him.
"Oh alright, Dare."
Fred's voice was filled with glee. "Perfect. Kiss Sirius. On the lips. With tongue." Harry's face became paler with each of his words.
"WHAT?!" Sirius exclaimed. "That's insane. He'd never agree to that." But Hermione was shooting him a glare that Harry could read perfectly. "If you back down from this, I'll kill you. This is a perfect excuse for you." So Harry took a huge swig of his drink, and went to kneel down in front of Sirius.
Sirius panicked slightly. "Harry," he whispered urgently. "You're drunk. You aren't thinking straight. You're going to regret this."
"No I'm not," Harry said confidently. And then, he pressed his lips softly to Sirius's. At first, Sirius didn't respond, but then, he relented and pressed his lips back towards Harry, snaking his hand into the younger boy's hair. Harry growled low in his throat and grabbed fistfuls of Sirius's shirt. Sirius nibbled at Harry's lower lip, and the boy parted his lips eagerly for him. Their tongues circled and battled, and Harry let another moan escape.
Suddenly Sirius pulled back.
"I can't do this," he muttered. "I'm sorry." He pushed Harry gently away and got up, and left the room to go outside on the porch, shutting the door behind him.
--
A/N: Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed. I'm sorry I keep putting the characters through angst, and so I figured I'd lay off for this chapter. Hope you found the game entertaining.
Also, I'm looking for BETA, so if anyone is interested, please let me know. Again, feedback is welcome as usual. Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope you'll take a few more seconds to leave a review! Thanks for sticking with this. Plenty of exciting stuff ahead! -Snuffleslove
