"Truth or dare, Lily," Mary said.

"Ugh I cannot believe we are still playing this," Dorcas groaned before Lily could answer. "We're in college for fucks sake."

"Oh shut up Dorky this was your idea," Marlene rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't being serious!"

"You're just mad because -"

"Truth or dare, Lily," Mary repeated, louder this time, before Dorcas and Marlene could really get going. Lily giggled.

"I'll go… dare"

She knew it was a mistake the second Mary's eyes lit up. "Oh good!" Mary exclaimed. "Hmmm… what dare to give you..." She said in mock concentration.

"Oh fuck off with the theatrics, Mary, we all know you've already chosen one," Lily was bracing herself for the worst. Mary could be downright devious but Lily had one particular truth she was not keen on revealing and the dare seemed like the lesser of two evils.

"Okay then," Mary grinned, "I dare you to go to 7/11, buy 20 condoms, and then come back."

Lily blinked. She'd been expecting Mary to come up with something much worse than this. It might be a little embarrassing, sure, but not that bad. She could do this easily.

Mary Motherfucking Macdonald, I swear to god you will pay for this, Lily thought furiously as she entered the 7/11 and saw James Potter was the cashier for the night. This was betrayal of the highest order. Truly Mary had outdone herself with this bit of treachery.

When the door opened and the door chime rang, announcing her presence, James looked over and his face broke into a wide smile. "Evans!" he gave her a goofy wave, "You've arrived just in time!"

Lily felt some of her fury towards Mary fade to the background as James' smile distracted her. "Oh?," she smiled back, "Just in time for what?"

"Just in time to save me, of course," James said as if this was something that made sense.

"Save you from what?" Lily asked with a laugh.

"Boredom, mostly," James still hadn't turned off that grin, "Sirius has my phone because he's a terrible person who wants me to suffer, so my only entertainment has been watching these sad little hot dogs roll to nowhere. I call that one on the right Jeffrey. He wants to be a movie star."

Lily couldn't hold back a laugh, "Jeffrey the hot dog wants to be a movie star?"

James adopted a very earnest expression, "Oh yes. He's very serious about acting."

"Is he any good?"

"Well," James' expression cracked as he fought to maintain a straight face, "He tries his best, but look at him. How's he supposed to make it to Hollywood when he can't even get off the roller grill?"

Lily bit her lip to stop herself from smiling, "Yeah that might present a problem for him."

"So, what brings you here on this lovely evening, Evans?" James asked, "Sirius said something about you all having a girls night."

Damn, Lily thought, I forgot he knew about that. James and Lily became friends of a sort when their respective best friends, Sirius and Mary, began dating a few weeks earlier. "Er, yeah I'm just here to, uh, grab a few things."

"Oh," she thought for a second that she saw his face fall but it was back to normal immediately and she chastised herself for her wishful thinking, "Well I will be here with Jeffrey when you're ready to check out," he continued.

Lily was about to walk away when it occurred to her that she had no idea where the condoms were. "Oh, um, James?"

"Hmm?"

She blushed scarlet, "Umm, wherearethecondoms?'

"Come again?" He looked bewildered.

Face still quite red, she tried again, "Where might I find condoms in this establishment?"

He looked at her like she was sprouting horns from her head and she was tempted to look up to see the horns for herself.

"Over there to the right," he said, still looking confused.

She quickly turned away from him and hurried over to where he said the condoms would be and sure enough, there they were. She was honestly shocked at the variety of them. Which kind should she choose? Did it matter? They were just for a dare so really it didn't matter, and it was this thought that led her to grab a random pack and just get this embarrassment over with.

As she placed the pack on the counter to be rung up, James smirked, "Ah, Trojans, great taste, Evans. And ultra thin too, very nice. Who's the lucky guy?"

It was at this moment that Lily regained her composure. "Jeffrey," she said.

James furrowed his brow and looked at her very seriously, "Lily, when I told you that Jeffrey wanted to get into acting I didn't mean he wanted to be a pornstar,"

"Well," she began, all traces of embarrassment leaving her now, "how do you know that he doesn't?"

James seemed stumped at that so she pressed on, "Really, James, I thought you were better than this. Sex work is valid and is nothing to be ashamed of,"

His grin was back now and he seemed to be fighting a laugh, "You know what? You are so right. I've been perpetuating harmful stigmas and it's been stifling Jeffrey. How can I make this up to him?"

"I think you need to show him that he can share his dreams with you without fear of judgment,"

James was handing Lily her receipt now, "Thank you, Evans, You've really helped me and Jeffrey. I can't help but think I should repay you in some way,"

"Oh?" Lily raised her eyebrows, "And what did you have in mind."

"Assuming you are free tomorrow," James nervously ran his hand through his hair, "Dinner? Lunch? Coffee? Brunch? All of the above?"

"I think I can make at least some of that work, Potter," she answered with a smile, "But I better not hear that you've been making Jeffrey uncomfortable with his dreams ever again"

"Wouldn't dream of it"