Chapter 5 - Truth

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Sirius's party was already in full swing when she arrived that night. She had met up with Reggie first, a small present from him to Sirius tucked in the back pocket of her jeans. In the corner Lily and Remus were playing a game of chess. Marlene and Mary were talking to a few seventh-year boys from Hufflepuff. Peter was already swaying on his legs as he downed another whiskey. Then there was James and the birthday boy Sirius. They were surrounded by girls, who were literally waiting in line to give him a birthday kiss. James spotted Izzie first, shooting her a wink before he nudged Sirius side, gesturing over to her once he got his attention. His smile brightened when he saw her standing at the portrait. He pushed past the line of girls and came over to her, James right behind him.

"Can I help you?" Izzie asked.

"Happy you grazed us with your presence, miss Miller." He gave her a lopsided grin. "What about a kiss for the birthday boy." He tapped his lips with his index finger.

"I think-" She stepped closer, and Sirius froze. "That there are plenty of girls who want to give you a birthday kiss, just right there." She pointed over his shoulder. "Happy birthday, Black." She grinned before she ducked away and headed to the makeshift bar.

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A few hours later, the party had dwindled down a lot, leaving only Sirius's closest friends. The clock just struck two when Sirius came over with a bottle of muggle Whiskey and a little bottle of Veritaserum. Izzie was laying on Remus's lap again as they talked about the prank the Marauders had pulled in their History class.

"Last game of the night!" Sirius happy but drunk voice sang.

"Not another truth or dare." Mary groaned.

"No, just truth. Everyone does every dare here anyway." He shrugged, as he stumbled to the floor. Lily the only sober one, let the coffee table fly away, so there was room for everyone to sit. "So, tell the truth, with a little help of Veritaserum or take a shot."

"I'm not drinking." Lily said.

"Then you'll need to tell the truth." James smirked from his place next to Sirius.

Izzie pushed herself up from Remus's lap and looked around the circle. Remus and she were sitting with their backs against the fireplace. Lily, Marlene and Mary had slid down the couch to the floor, now with their backs against it. Peter was sitting on their left, while Sirius and James were sitting across from him.

"We'll use the bottle to choose who's the first target." Sirius grinned a little devilishly. "And since I'm the birthday boy-"

"Officially your birthday is over." Remus mused. The others snickered while Sirius glared.

"Since it's my birthday party , I'll go first." He said placing the bottle in the middle of the circle, and he gave it a twist. It stopped at Mary. "Alright, Mary." Sirius rubbed his hands excitedly. "Who's your best snog?"

He offered her the Veritaserum and the bottle of fire whiskey, grinning. She took the truth potion. Since he had been snogging her last year, he probably thought she would say his name and not -

"Dean Murphy." Sirius look was to die for, everyone fell into a fit of laughter at his astonished face. "My turn." Mary licked her lips, leaning forward to spin the bottle.

"Oh, Remus." She said unexpectedly and excited. "What don't I know about you?" She tapped her finger on her chin. Izzie saw the four marauders stiffen, but she placed a reassuring hand on his knee. "Who was your first kiss?"

"Oh." Remus laughed. "That one's easy." He glanced to her. He downed the shot of truth potion. "Iz."

"Izzie?" Everyone gasped in surprise except Lily.

"Who better than your best friend." Remus said casually as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He leaned forward and spun the bottle, ignoring the shocked faces. It stopped at Lily. "Does James really drive you insane?"

"He did. But he's been calmer lately, so he's more tolerable." She shrugged. Izzie shot James a wink, who seemed really pleased. The bottle spun again, and it stopped at Peter. "Who was your first kiss?"

"Sydney Raisen." He blushed crimson red. Sydney was a nice, quiet girl from Hufflepuff, a year lower than them. He quickly spun the bottle, trying to redirect their attention. "I always wondered, James. What was that prank in fourth year, you got two months detention for?"

Everyone turned to James in interest. If even Peter didn't know, what had he done? But James quickly grabbed to bottle of whiskey.

"Tosser." Peter grumbled.

James looked a bit flustered at Peter's question before turning the bottle. "Oh, Izzie, now things can get really interesting." He rubbed his hands together. "You ready, my little Charmer?

Izzie stiffened, but Remus calming hand on her back made her relax. "I've got nothing to hide " Izzie said confidently. But that was a lie, of course that was a lie. She had more to keep to herself than she actually wanted. But since the game came with Veritaserum, she just hoped the questions stayed fairly innocent, like the lines they had been in.

James frowned as he thought it over. "So many to choose from."

"Oi, Potter, move along before we fall asleep here." Mary said.

"Alright, alright. Have you ever had feelings for someone in this room?" James asked, and Sirius perked up a little.

"That's a loaded question, James." Izzie said downing the truth potion. "What kind of feelings? I have a lot of them, you know." She winked.

"Oh, right." He nodded. "Romantic feelings."

"No, never. I mean I love Remus, but I'm not in love with him." She smiled up at her best friend, who felt just the same. When she spun the bottle, it landed on Sirius. Who had been looking at her since the bottle landed on her. She racked her brain trying to think of a question. Things about his family was out of the question, just like hers. She wasn't really interested in all his conquests, it's not like he hid it, so not much secrecy there.

"This is harder than I thought." She mused. Then she thought of something completely different than the questions that already been asked. "If you had to choose between going naked or having your thoughts appear in thought bubbles above your head for everyone to read, which would you choose?"

"What?" Sirius laughed, dryly. While the others all looked amused at her. It looked like there was a flicker of panic in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. "Naked, definitely naked." He was grinning like a madman when the bottle landed back on Izzie. "Who was your first?"

"My first what?" She asked, drinking the potion. "First one to beat me at tag? First one to win a duelling match? The first one I've lost? The first one who hit me?" It was just rippling out of her, unstoppable due to the potion.

Several gasps were heard around the group, and Sirius quickly waved his hands in front of him. "Izzie, I mean the first one you slept with."

"Oh." She giggled. She never giggled, but she couldn't help herself now. The combination of the question, the potion and the booze from that evening. She felt Remus stiffen next to her. "Remus."

"No fucking way!" James laughed. Peter, Mary and Marlene all looked at them with large, round eyes. Lily knew, of course. And Sirius... Sirius frowned.

"I thought you said you never had feelings for him."

"I don't. But who's better than to have your first time with than your best friend, someone you love and trust with your life?"

"Wow." Mary gasped. "That's really sweet. I wished I had a better experience."

"Who says it was good?" Sirius said a bit snippy.

"Pads!" Remus growled.

Izzie just laughed, still dazed from the potion. "Oh, it was good!"

Everyone except Sirius and Remus laughed, but Remus shot her a wink. Then Peter frowned a little when he said. "Moony, I thought you said you never dated."

"We didn't."

"But you have kissed and slept together." He pointed out.

"Like we already established, yes." Remus said exasperated.

"How many times-" Mary started curiously. But Remus cut her off.

"One question at the time. Iz, you can spin again."

"Oh, right." She nodded. The bottle landed on Marlene, a few rounds had passed while Izzie was safe. Lily admitted that she had kissed a girl once, which unprompted more questions but the rule states only one per turn. Marlene admitted she stole one of Sirius' girlfriends. Sirius first time was with a muggle girl during break. And so on and so on.

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"How many girls have you kissed?" Marlene asked Sirius.

"I-I don't know." He said frowning, he looked a little saddened at the thought. The group grew quiet as Sirius drew into himself. Izzie watched him. His eyes were cast down, his fingers intertwined in his lap. Was there more to him than meets the eye, were the girls some kind of defence mechanism?

"I think we're done for tonight. I'm absolutely knackered." James said, stretching excessively. He clambered to his feet, alongside Lily, Mary, Marlene and Peter. Mary and Marlene were already heading up the stairs, Lily looked over her shoulder. Izzie nodded, that she'll come up shortly. Peter had already gone up and after a nod from Remus, he headed up too. Remus helped Izzie up from the ground.

"Pads?"

"You go up, I need a moment." He said not looking up. Remus watched him for another moment, before turning to Iz. He kissed her cheek before he headed up stairs. Izzie looked from Sirius to the girls' staircase, debating what to do. She eventually chose to sit down in front of him, their knees nearly touching.

"You can throw quite a party." She mused in the silent common room, the fire next to them was slowly fizzling out. "I think that it's the first time, I've stayed that long."

"You came in late though, so you didn't experience the whole thing. Where were you?" He looked up, his eyes still sad.

"I-" She couldn't just tell him about her friendship with Regulus, not like this. "I found this in front of the portrait, and I wanted to make sure it wasn't a trick or tampered with." She lied through her teeth as she handed the present. "It's from your brother."

He accepted the little box with a slight tremble in his hands. "Thanks." He murmured. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to be a downer."

"It's your birthday party." She smiled a little. "You can do whatever you want."

He chuckled a little, meeting her eyes again. "So, you and Remus."

"It's all in the past. But I'm happy it was with him." She said honestly.

"I wish I had such an experience. It was all fumbling and awkward to be honest."

"Yeah, can imagine." She chuckled. "But I think things are better now."

"Wanna find out?" He wiggled his eyebrows. She laughed fully now, and Sirius beamed.

"Happy birthday, Sirius." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek lightly. His mind became fuzzy.

"One." He said once she pulled back and stood up. She looked to him with a raised eyebrow. He clambered to his feet, until he was standing in front of her, very close. "This is one, it's the first one." He padded his cheek, the place she had kissed him. "That matters." He said hoping she would understand.

She reached over and squeezed his hand. "Goodnight, Sirius."

"Goodnight, Izzie." He said quietly, looking at her as she walked up the spiral staircase.