Chapter One
Lily and James
James Potter stepped into the sixth year Gryffindor girls' dorm, carefully treading on the proper places, as the floor was very creaky if one stepped on the wrong spot. James, however, knew the girls' dorms like the back of his hand, as he had had at least fifteen years of practice of sneaking into places with creaky wooden floors. His own houses floors were very creaky, and as he got hungry at night often, he had found how to sneak around at a very young age.
James crept over to the only lit bed out of four; he guessed the girls were having a—what was it Muggles called them? Slumber party? Yes, that was it. A slumber party. His thought was backed up when a bunch of giggles sounded throughout the dorm, causing him to start and jump around. There was a creak behind him from the floor, and he turned to see his best friend, Sirius Black, standing there rubbing his eyes and holding a teddy bear. James fought back a laugh.
"Shhhh," he whispered to Sirius's sleepy form. "Don't wanna be caught."
"Why didn't you use the cloak?" Sirius asked, walking over to James. He was referring to James's Invisibility Cloak, which had always come in handy when they wanted to play pranks.
"Nah, that's only for pranks," said James.
"Whad'you call this if not a prank?" Sirius asked.
"We're just listening to their conversations," replied James, "now shush. I wanna hear."
They approached the lit four-poster carefully, then stopped a few feet away, listening hard.
"So, what d'you want to do next?" came a girl's giggly voice. James recognized Rita Skeeter, biggest gossip in the school with the exception of Bertha Jorkins, who had already left a year before. James thought it was for the best.
"How 'bout Truth or Dare?" came another somewhat giggly voice.
"What's that, Marinah?" Rita's overly happy voice asked.
"One person picks someone, and that person has to pick truth or dare. Hence the name," said a voice in a matter-of-fact tone. Only one person had that voice, James thought: Lily Evans. "If you pick truth, the person can ask you any question that you have to truthfully respond to; if you pick dare, the person can dare you to do anything, and you have to do it."
"So…" said Marinah's voice, "who goes first?"
"How 'bout giving the Purebloods a stand, Mari?" asked a snotty voice.
"Shaddup, Krissa," snapped Lily Evans's irritated voice—she was Muggle-born.
"Fine," spat Krissa, "you go first, Evans."
There was a moment of silence, then Lily said, "Okay, Marinah. Truth or dare?"
Another moment of silence.
"Dare," said Marinah eagerly.
"I dare you to…to…run kiss Sirius Black!"
Sirius immediately reddened. He was about to turn and run when James grabbed his arm and whispered something into his ear, causing a large smile to spread across his face. He held up three fingers, then dropped one, then the last. As the curtains of the four-poster were about to open, James put on a deep, booming voice.
"Lily Evans!" he said stoutly. "You are doing terrible wrong! This is the…the voice of God speaking!"
There were several gasps from within the four-poster. Lily did not, it appeared, seem scared, as she spoke normally when she said, "Fine, if you're God, what color's my hair, and, more importantly, how many hairs are on my head?"
"Your hair's red," said James, "and, let me check my papers here…"
"One million, three hundred fifty-five thousand, seven hundred eighty-nine," said Sirius in a slightly less booming voice.
"Who was that?" Marinah's voice asked. James could see heads looking curiously at the roof. He stifled a laugh.
"Jesus," he responded. "He's in charge of hair-counting among other things."
"What else do you know about me, then?" Lily's somewhat terrified voice asked.
"You're sixteen, your birthday was three days ago, you're going to be Head Girl next year, and you're wearing pink underwear," said James proudly.
"Yeah," Sirius piped in, "and Marinah's wearing blue underwear."
By now, the girls were looking quite terrified, and Lily's face was hiding a bit of anger.
"So, if you can see underwear, what color are James Potter's?" she asked, folding her arms.
James peered down at his boxers.
"White with little broomsticks," he said, squinting. He managed to barely catch his glasses as they fell off his face before they hit the floor.
The four-poster filled with giggles.
"What is wrong with that?" James asked, careful to keep the same voice.
No answer.
"Stop laughing!" Sirius said loudly.
The laughter died instantaneously.
"That's better," said James. "Any other questions you'd like to ask?"
"Who am I gonna marry? Who are all of us gonna marry?" Lily's voice asked.
"Lily—um…James Potter," said Sirius, only to be whacked in the head by James a moment later. "Marinah—"
"Sirius Black," boomed James. Sirius whacked him in the head. "Rita…you're gonna be a bachelor."
"And Krissa, you'll marry…um…Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew," said Sirius, smiling. At this point, neither could go any further, as they were rolling on the floor laughing as they watched the girls reactions—all of them seemed terrified.
The curtains of the four-poster flew open, and there stood a red haired girl with fire in her emerald green eyes.
"JAMES POTTER!" she shrieked. She lunged at him and began beating on him playfully. "FOR HEAD BOY, YOU'RE NOT THAT GOOD AT FOLLOWING THE RULES!"
After a moment, however, James had her pinned to the floor and was tickling her, causing her to laugh uncontrollably. After a moment the laughter died and Sirius saw they were kissing passionately. A disgusted look fell upon his boyish face before he was slapped by a girl with black hair and blue eyes.
"Whoa, there, Krissa, take it easy," he said, rubbing his cheek.
"Jerk!" snapped Krissa. "How could you do that, Black?!"
"Easy, just put on a deep, booming voice—"
He was interrupted as she slapped him again.
Lily and James finally parted, and the rest of the girls slapped James and Sirius, who were now running out the door, pillows flying after them.
They ran all the way to the seventh year Gryffindor boys' dorm, which was where two other boys were waiting, one with sandy brown hair, the other with blond hair and watery blue eyes.
"What were you guys doing?" the brown-haired one asked, rising from his bed. "And why didn't you tell us?"
"We were torturing the girls," said Sirius evilly, "so we didn't figure you'd like it, Moony."
Moony…Evans…James…remember…
"Oh…" said Moony. "Well, that's fine then. I'm going to bed now."
Marinah…Krissa…Rita…
"You must like younger girls, Prongs," said Moony as he climbed into bed.
"How d'you figure?"
"Lily's a year younger than us…"
James blushed immediately.
Year younger…wake up…remember…wake up…Prongs…Padfoot…year younger…
"Night guys," said James, climbing into bed. "See you in the morning!"
"Don't forget tomorrow night, either," came Moony's voice from across the room. "Full moon."
"Got you, Moony," said Sirius. "We'll explore Hogsmeade again!"
"Ah, but I liked the Forbidden Forest!" whined the watery-eyed boy from his bed.
"Deal with it, Wormtail," said Sirius harshly.
"Don't be so rough on Wormy," said James with a laugh. "He can't help the way he is, isn't that right Wormtail?"
"Yeah," came Wormtail's sulky voice.
"Fine, fine, sorry Wormy," said Sirius. "G'night, guys."
"Night Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail," said James.
Padfoot…Moony…Wormtail…
"And don't forget the Christmas ball, either," said Moony, "I've already got a date. Janet Maccie said she'd go with me."
Janet Maccie…Christmas Ball…
"Lily's goin' with James, of course," said Sirius, "and Marinah's going with me."
"See? Taste for younger women," said Moony.
Younger…women…
"Just don't do anything I wouldn't, Jamie," said Sirius. "Don't want you havin' kids at seventeen."
"SIRIUS!" James shouted.
"Just tellin' you, Jamie," said Sirius, smiling evilly.
"Good night, Sirius," said James through gritted teeth.
"Night, Jamie-poo!"
Harry Potter's dream ended suddenly, and he woke with a start to find a solitary tear rolling down his cheek.