CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

HAPPY NEW YEAR (PART 2)

"Ok, so everyone knows the rules?" Asks James, when everyone gets to Fred's room. By "everyone" I mean my family - Teddy and Vic included, Frank, Alice, Mel, Rikki, Lorcan, Lysander, Mitch and Sam (friends of Hugo and Louis). The rules are simple. Someone spins the bottle and whoever it lands on chooses Truth or Dare. The spinner of the bottle comes up with a dare/question and the person does it. If they refuse to do a dare they have to take a drink of Firewhiskey (or water if you are Molly or Lucy) and do a truth. It works the other way too. If you lie, like in Never Have I Ever, your hair will go green. Everyone nods to James' question.

"I'll start." Says Roxie and spins the bottle. It lands on Alice, "Okay ... um, Alice ... who do you hate most in the world and why? But it has to be someone you know." Alice has a thinking look on her face. Alice is such a lovely person, I can't imagine her hating anyone. But after a few moments of silence she seems to have an idea.

"Professor Fidenchi. He has some kind of hatred towards me and I don't know why. I had my first ever detention a few weeks ago because he caught me passing a note to someone during class. And he told my Dad. I hate him."

"Oh my god, how can you hate someone so gorgeous." Sighs Dom, dramatically and a few of the girls nod in agreement. Myself included.

"Ok, Ok. Right now you spin, Alice." Says James, so Alice spins the bottle. This time it lands on me.

"Dare." I say before they can ask me. I would usually go for truth but I don't want them asking any akward boyfriend questions.

"Really?" Alice raises an eyebrow, "Ok. I dare you ... to go downstairs and ask Slughorn if you can borrow his thong. When he looks shocked or disgusted or whatever, tell him you meant, like, sandals and that he is dirty minded." There is a moment of laughter while I groan and roll my eyes then I stand up. Alice comes with me to make sure I do it.

After my embarassing, stupid dare I go back upstairs with a giggling Alice. The second we walk through the door she just nods at everyone and they all laugh and applaud me. I take a mini bow. When everyone is settled I spin the bottle and it points towards Al.

"Truth or Dare?" I grin at my brother, evily. He smirks and says,

"Truth" I think for a while before having the perfect idea.

"Albus ... When you were about ... 5 years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?" I ask him knowing full well the answer. Albus tells everyone some crappy lie and seconds later his hair glows toxic green, "Nu-uh Albie, Tell the truth."

"Urgh ... fine. When I was little - like, really young - I wanted to be a ... a ballerina." He mutters and blushes. Everyone laughs.

"Oh yeah, I remember now." Chuckles Teddy, "You used to try to get James to re-inact Swan Lake with you. For Christmas you asked for tickets to a muggle ballet performance." This makes everyone laugh harder. I look at Caleb and see he is laughing so hard he is crying. God, he has an amazing laugh. And smile. And everything.

"Yeah, yeah, let's move on. I'm gonna spin now. And I'll kill you tomorrow." He says, looking at me. The bottle points to Caleb. I suddenly stop laughing.

"Truth or Dare, Caleb?"

"Truth." Says Caleb, my heart sinks. Maybe this was his "plan".

"Why do you vanish all the time and lunch and stuff, and where do you go?" Asks Al, curiously.

"I - I, um ..." He hesitates. This is it. It's all going to come out and- "Forfeit. I want a dare." Says Caleb and grabs the bottle of Firewhiskey. He takes a chug before sitting the bottle down and wiping his mouth. Albus looks annoyed and hurt and Caleb is very obviously avoiding his glare.

"Fine. I dare you to - to ... hang on." Says Al and then runs downstairs. He comes back up with a tray of ice cubes, "I dare you to tuck in your shirt and tuck your jeans into your socks and put ice cubes down your shirt and jeans. You have to keep them there and let them melt. Caleb makes a face but nods and takes the ice cubes. Heputs them down his clothes and he looks absolutely freezing. I feel sorry for him, but I still laugh. Caleb spins and it lands on Fred. He picks truth.

"What is your worst fear?" Asks Caleb. Freddie thinks for a minute and then grins.

"School. No -The world running out of alcohol and food!" He says and we all laugh. It's no surprise when his hair glows green.

"A serious answer,Freddie." Laughs Vic.

"Em ... ok, I don't like blood, I guess." He says it seriously. But his hair stays green.

"You need to tell the truth or it will stay that way." James laughs. Fred shakes his head.

"I honestly can't think of anything. Something must be wrong with the spell." Insists Fred, but I don't think he's being fully honest.

"Nothing's wrong with the spell Freddie, your hair only glows if you know that you're lying." Rose informs him. Fred sighs.

"Fine, ok, I'm scared of ... I don't know. Stuff. Growing up, not being able to get a job ... not having Rox to lean on anymore. The class clown won't get me anywhere." There is a silence while people take it in. Not so much me, but the older ones ... it seems to hit them. Soon they have to leave Hogwarts and get jobs and homes. After a while Teddy sighs loudly, but in a funny way.

"God, Freddie, you sure know how to kill a good atmosphere. Look guys, it's not that bad. Work, life, stuff - you get the hang of it pretty quickly. And you don't have to know what you want to do right away." He says. Teddy's an Auror. A good one too. The job isn't as dangerous as it used to be, seeing as how there aren't any Death Eaters or Dark Lords to capture. Freddie reaches out and spins the empty bottle. It points towards Hugo.

"Truth or Dare, oh cousin of mine?" Grins Fred. He bounces back quick!

"Truth." He nods, without hesitating. Nobody wants to be on the recieving end of one of Freddie's dares.

"Hmmmmmm. Ok, easy one. Have you ever been in a fight, who with and why?"

"That's 3 questions." Points out Hugo but answers anyway, "Only once. I punched Everette Kentsworth in the face in October. Then I hexed him so that everytime he tried to punch me back or grab his wand, his hand turned into a lobster claw."

"Cool." Laughs Fred and high-fives Hugo.

The game goes on for an hour or two this way. Laughing, joking, embarassing truths, even more embarassing dares. About 5 minutes before Midnight we all go back downstairs to spend the rest of the night with our family.

"Honey. Lily." Smiles my tipsy Mother when I get into the livingroom. I hold back a laugh at the sight of her smiling face, "Where have you been? I missed you, darling. It's almost New Year, you know?" I nod.

"Yeah, Mum, I know."

"Where were you? Were you with your boyfriend? Don't worry, I won't tell your Father!" She tells me, trying and failing to whisper.

"No, Mum, I wasn't with my boyfriend." I smile. She seems to have an idea and looks around the room.

"Where is he anyway? I want to meet him. You said you were going to bring him, is he here?" She asks me, like an excited child. I don't really think that's the alcohol - she's like this all the time.

"He's, um - I - I mean ..." I trail off not knowing what to say.

"Yeah, Lily, is he here, I want to know too?" Asks James, sarcastically, sneaking uop behind me. I turn round. Behind him is Albus, grinning and nodding. Beside him is Caleb, looking nervous and ... apologetic?

Suddenly the whole room start counting down.

"20 ... 19 ... 18-" Caleb moves closer to me and whispers in my ear.

"I'm sorry, Brown-eyes. I have to." ]

"15 ... 14 ... 13-"

"Sorry for what Caleb? What are you doing?" My Mum and James and Albus are looking at us now, curiously, though they are counting down to. My Dad has also walked over.

"10 ... 9 ...8-"

"This is my plan. I can't keep it a secret anymore. They won't be mad at you though, it's fine."

"5 ... 4 ...3-"

"Caleb what-" As they reach the number 1, and shouts of "Happy New Year" bounce around the room, He grabs me. Caleb pulls me close, though not as close as usual, and kisses me. Another magical, breathtaking kiss. No tounge or anything, just his lips and mine, moving in perfect sinc. It's as easy as breathing, I don't even have to think. Which I don't. I can't think, when he's kissing me. My mind is just a blur of fireworks and rainbows and bubbles.

When we pull apart it feels like everything's changed, though nothing really has. Everyone is still hugging and kissing and clinking glasses. Nobody, except my Mum, Dad and brothers have noticed. But in those few seconds the truth has come out. And it's ... different now. I look into Caleb's violet eyes that I've missed so much, for clues to his emotion. Guilt, Worry, Happiness ... but no regret, which I am glad for. Slowly we turn to look at my family.

My Mum's mouth is hanging open, but a hint of a smile dances in her eyes. My Dad looks extremely uncomfortable and a little bit pissed in a my-daughter-just-snogged-a-boy-in-front-of-me kind of way. James is glaring daggers at Caleb, which is to be expected. And then I look at Albus, the person who's opinion we've been most worried about. He isn't looking at Caleb. He's looking at me, with sadness and betrayal clear in his big green eyes. Guilt settles in the pit of my stomach. Caleb is the first to talk.

"Albus, mate, I'm-" Albus' head whips round so fast I could've blinked and missed it. The look he is giving Caleb is enough to stop his apology in it's tracks. So ... angry. Furious, pissed. Any sadness he feels is completely disguised by his rage.

"Mate!? I'm not your mate. Any friendship we had went out the window when you started going out with my sister behind my back! My little sister, Caleb!" The room goes pretty silent and everyone starts looking at us. I duck my head and hide behind my hair.

"C'mon, Albus. I couldn't help it I just-"

"You couldn't help it? Couldn't stop yourself from sticking your slimy tounge down my baby sister's throat. Didn't even think about my feelings for a minute?" He takes a breath then looks Caleb straight in the eye, "Get out. I might not be able to make you stop seeing Lily, but I will damn well make sure I never have to see you again. Now get out!"

"I'm not just here for you, Albus. It's not up to you whether I leave or not." Says Caleb, calmly, and takes my hand.

Oh Shit! That's done it!

At this Albus lunges forward and takes Caleb by the collar. I move to the side. He brings his fist back and punches Caleb in the face and Caleb pushes him off. I shriek. They both get in another few punches before the shock wears off and Dad and Uncle Ron pull them off each other. I look at my brother - a bloody nose and a rip on his shirt. Then I look at Caleb - a split lip and a eye which will be bruised in the morning. Uncle Ron let's Caleb go instantly, since he doesn't try to struggle, but Dad has to keep a hold of Albus. I run over to Caleb and hug him. I start to cry a little. He hugs me back tightly for a moment and then we pull apart. My Dad clears his throat.

"So, um, Caleb ... why don't you go in the kitchen with Ron and Hermione, see if you can fix that lip?" Caleb looks at him and shakes his head.

"No, it's fine. My Mum's a Healer. I'm gonna go home now, anyway. No point staying where I'm not wanted." He looks at Albus pointedly. He tries to walk out of the livingroom but I grab his hand.

"Stay." I whisper, but he shakes his head sadly, "Fine. I'll let you out." I tell him and walk him to the front door. When we get there he smiles at me, though it seems a little forced.

"So ... that went well." I laugh, tiredly, "At least everyone knows now. No regrets, yeah?" I nod.

"No regrets." I kiss him lightly on the side of his cut lip, "How are you getting home?"

"I'll text my Dad to send my Mum to come and get me." I look at him confused.

"Text? What's that?" I ask. He grins.

"Muggle thing. My Dad's a muggle. It doesn't matter, I'll be fine."

"Ok. Bye, Caleb." I smile.

"Bye, Brown-eyes." He whispers, "And Happy Birthday." He presses a small rectangular box into my hand, kisses my cheek and closes the door.

He's the first person to wish me Happy Birthday, since it's only really been my birthday for about 10 minutes. But it means a lot.

I run upstairs, ignoring my families calls, lock myself in the bathroom and cry.

So what do you think? Too sad? Not realistic? Just right? Did Albus react how you thought he would?

Also, after this dies down, who's secret would you like to come out next. I don't have one for Lucy yet but I think I have everyone else's. Dom, Roxie, and Roses will be quite a big deal, whereas the rest arent THAT big. Though I'm quite fond of Hugos. Confused? Curious? GOOD!

As always - Read, Review, I love YOU XXX