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Upside Down
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A/N: Ah, yes, yet another series of mine. Title was created in 1.2 seconds, like all my titles, and is thus a piece of crap. Let's hope this series doesn't join the others in the "eternally unfinished" pile. I've got a notion that I'll actually keep up with this one, seeing as I've got motivation outside reviews for this story. As it turns out, this is based on a true (though as of yet unfinished) story...the sad, true story that is my romantic life. I must admit, though, that I have...embellished...on it a little. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy...and hey, don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: Nothing in the wonderfully fantastic and spiffy Potterverse belongs to me - the copyright says it's all property of one tremendously talented author, Ms. J.K. Rowling. I lay claim to the plot, though, so whoo-hoo for that.
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Chapter 1: Truth or Dare
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Hermione Granger sat in a chair of the Gryffindor common room, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. "I can't do it," Ron Weasley was saying, but Hermione could hardly hear him over the incredibly loud thudding of her heart. Hardly. But hardly wasn't good enough. 'He can't do it,' she thought. She wasn't quite sure that she could, either, but to hear him say it hurt her more than it should have. After all, it was just a game. It didn't mean anything. Did it?
'Truth or Dare,' Hermione thought, 'is absolutely, positively the worst game I have ever played.' Any game that left you feeling hopelessly miserable at its conclusion never ought to have been created, she decided. And "hopelessly miserable" was precisely how she was feeling just at the moment, thanks in large part to one Ron Weasley and that awful, awful game.
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Just a few hours before...
"This is bo-o-o-r-ing!" Ron whined loudly, heaving a huge sigh, just for effect. "We need to *do* something!"
The Gryffindors still left in the common room, who were more or less content with not doing anything, stared at Ron blankly.
"Like what?" Seamus asked.
"I don't know. Something fun," Ron said, vaguely. "I mean, Merlin, it's been ages since we've really done much of anything that would qualify as 'fun,' what with all that's been going on. And it's the night before the lot of us head home for the Christmas holidays, so we really should do something."
"You know," Hermione ventured, "there's this one Muggle game that I've always rather liked. Have you ever heard of Truth or Dare?"
If only Hermione had known what the game would lead to, she never would have suggested it.
Ron brightened. "Yeah," he exclaimed, "I have heard of it. Never played it before, but it sounds brilliant," he said, grinning mischievously.
"Already plotting your victims' fates, are you?" she asked, grinning back.
"Nah, just yours. So," he said, "who all's in?"
As it turned out, the entire remainder of the common room (Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, and the Creevey brothers) appeared more than willing to abandon their activity of doing nothing for the game of Truth or Dare.
"Truth or Dare is absolutely, positively the best game ever!" Lavender squealed, promptly lapsing into giggles along with Parvati after having made this declaration.
Hermione smiled, proud that she had been the one to suggest what was apparently a very appealing game. It was funny that in a few hours she'd be wishing fervently that she'd just kept her mouth shut.
The group gathered in a circle around the merrily crackling fire, some grabbing up the armchairs for themselves, and the others situating themselves on the floor. Hermione, who had not been quick enough to secure herself a chair but was not satisfied to sit on the floor, stood pouting uncharacteristically. "I want to have a chair," she complained. Ron smirked at her from the seat he had beaten her to.
"Oh, you can just sit in Ron's lap," Seamus said breezily, "I'm sure he won't mind."
Hermione turned and regarded Ron, the tips of whose ears had gone a bit red, for a moment, then shrugged, and settled herself in his lap. His face flushed along with his ears then, and he gave her a funny look. "Hey, that's what you get for taking my chair," she told him, grinning. "Right then," she said, turning back to the group, "let's get started."
And get started they did. The game started off rather innocently, not moving beyond the blowing of a few raspberries and the licking of a window (a rather long lick mark which had been traced over by the tongues of about four people was evidence of this particular dare). However, when Colin got his turn at slobbering all over the window, he got a glimpse of the fresh blanket of snow outside, and was struck by a brilliant idea. That brilliant idea was the turning point of the game.
"Oh, that was disgusting," Colin proclaimed, rejoining the group after his encounter with the window. He took a swig of butterbeer and sloshed it around in his mouth, obviously trying to get the taste out of his mouth. He swallowed, satisfied, and then smiled an evil smile, rubbing his hands together. "Well, then, who's next? I do believe it's Seamus' turn...so what'll it be, Finnegan? Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," Seamus answered bravely.
Colin's malevolent smile grew even wider. "Excellent. It's time for a little field trip, then."
"What do you mean, 'field trip'?" Seamus asked, confused.
"Snow angel, Finnegan. That'd be your dare. And as there isn't any snow just lying around the common room, we'll be heading outside."
With that the group tromped out of the common room excitedly, with Hermione protesting weakly that they shouldn't be wandering around the corridors at night even as she followed. It was a wonder they didn't get caught with the racket they were making in the hallway, but as it was technically the holidays the Professors and Filch were probably just getting some much needed rest. It was a good thing, too, because the group of Gryffindors, wired on butterbeer and various sweets, was heedless of any rules they might be breaking and were not making any effort to conceal themselves.
When they finally reached a courtyard, the giggling that had been steadily going on since their departure from Gryffindor tower died down. The group hovered in the doorway of the castle, shivering slightly from the cold.
"Right then. Snow angel, is it?" Seamus asked. He didn't even wait for a response as he headed out into the cold, laid down in the snow, and did his task. Upon finishing, he joined the others just inside and shook off the melting snow that had clung to him in a dog-like fashion, hitting Lavender and Parvati with the cold droplets.
"Seamus! Don't!" they squealed, giggling (as per usual) as they shielded themselves from the flying snow.
"All right then," Seamus said, promptly stopping. "Now then, Ronald, I believe it's your turn. Truth or Dare?"
"Hmm," Ron said, tapping his chin, pretending to be thoughtful. "Hmm, hmm, hmm," he added, trying to give the impression that he hadn't decided which option to take. He'd actually had his mind made up before he'd even uttered the first "hmm". "I guess I'll have to go with dare," he finally said.
"Lovely," Seamus said. "You know, I'm actually rather fond of the snow angel idea."
"Oh, come on, you can't go reusing dares," Hermione protested. "It is part of the rules, you know."
"If you'd let me finish," Seamus continued, grinning at Hermione before turning his attention back to Ron. "Snow angel, Weasley."
"That's exactly the same dare," Hermione pointed out.
"Not quite," Seamus said, his grin widening. "Snow angel, Weasley," he repeated. "Naked."
"Oh," Hermione said. "That is different. I see. How creative of you, Finnegan. Well, then, Ron," she said, eyeing him with amusement (and interest...interest which far surpassed vague curiosity), "better start stripping." As soon as the words had left her mouth Hermione wondered what had made her say them...normally she would have never said a thing like that. She must have just gone a bit overboard with the butterbeer.
Ron raised an eyebrow at Hermione, but said nothing. He did, however, follow her advice: he removed his cloak and T-shirt, and tossed them on Hermione.
"Yes, I'll hold these for you. You're welcome," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Thank you, 'Mione," he said sweetly, patting her on the head, and then heading out into the snow. He walked a good distance out, probably so they couldn't get too good a view of him, before turning back around to face them.
"When I said 'naked' I meant completely, Ronnie!" Seamus called from the doorway.
"I know," Ron shouted back, and without hesitation dropped his pants.
Hermione watched with the rest, torn between looking and not looking at him. On the one hand, she felt a bizarre compulsion to gape at him unashamedly, but the logical part of her brain was screaming "no!" Ron was her best friend. It was wrong to want to look at him like that...and what if he noticed her checking him out? And, more importantly, why did she want to do that in the first place? However, going against her better judgment, Hermione did as best she could to get a good look at Ron without being too obvious. 'I definitely had too much butterbeer,' she thought.
Before Hermione knew it, Ron was back to reclaim the clothes he had dropped off with her. Thankfully, as soon as he was fully clothed, Hermione was able to shake the image of naked Ron from her mind. Not that it was an unpleasant image, but she didn't need to be distracted by naughty thoughts of Ron all night...and since when did she start thinking naughty thoughts about Ron? It had to be the butterbeer.
Back in the Gryffindor common room, the game resumed, steadily becoming more risqué. Kissing was introduced as a dare, and some very unusual couples were being forced to lock lips. A terrified Dennis Creevy backed himself into a corner when his brother was dared to kiss him, and grimaced when he realized he had no escape. He made an awful commotion about the whole thing, and it must have woken up Ginny, because moments later she made an appearance at the top of the stairs.
"What in the world are the lot of you doing?" she asked curiously.
"Truth or Dare," Parvati told her excitedly. "Want to join?"
"Ooh, I'd love to!" Ginny cried, and hurried down the steps to position herself in their little circle. "So, whose turn is it?" she asked.
"Yours," Lavender said in a businesslike manner. "Truth or dare, Virginia?"
"Oh please, I can't pick truth on my first turn!" Ginny exclaimed. "How lame would that be?"
"Dare it is," Lavender affirmed. "And I've got just the thing," she said, an evil grin forming on her face (there'd been a lot of that going around, what with all the plotting of fates that Truth or Dare entails) as she imagined her plan. "I dare you to go up to the boys' dormitory and tell Harry—and with a straight face, mind you, it's got to be believable—that you love him."
"No problem," Ginny said, and she headed up to the boys' dorms trailed by the rest of the group. Ginny was actually very convincing in her declaration of love for Harry, and if it hadn't have been for the eruption of laughter from the others listening outside the door, he might have believed her. As it was, Ginny burst out laughing, too, and the trick was given away. Besides that, all the laughing woke up Dean and Neville, who were also in the room, and blinking blearily at Ginny from their beds.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked while the other two looked inquisitively at Ginny, waiting for an answer.
"We're playing Truth or Dare," Ginny informed them. "Care to join us?"
They did, of course, and the Gryffindors marched back to the common room along with the three new participants. The game started up again, and Ginny picked Hermione, who opted for truth this time. Ginny looked thoughtful as she tried to come up with a question, but Lavender beat her to it.
"Ooh, I've got one!" she exclaimed. "What's the farthest you've ever gone with a guy?"
"That's a stupid question," someone objected. Hermione neither knew nor cared who had said this, but she agreed with them wholeheartedly.
"It is stupid," she seconded. "Ask me something else."
"No, no," Lavender insisted, "you've been asked it and now you've got to answer it. In detail," she added, stressing last word. Lavender always was one for juicy gossip, and she wanted to know everything.
Problem was, there wasn't anything for Lavender to know. Hermione, who wanted a question that she was actually capable of answering (since that was the entire point of the game), was getting a bit angry that Lavender was so fixated on having her answer that particular question. "Why can't you just ask me something else? That's a stupid question!"
"No," Lavender said firmly. "That's your question and it's final. Quit arguing and give me an answer," she demanded.
"No!" Hermione shouted. "'What's the farthest I've ever gone with a guy?!' How do you expect me to answer that? Look, I can't tell you everything, and I can't tell you in detail because there's nothing to tell, so just ask me something else!" Hermione was red in the face and breathless after her little outburst. She looked uncertainly around the common room, and was met with the stunned stares of her housemates.
"Well, then, a different question..." Ginny started, but Seamus interrupted her.
"No, don't bother. She answered that one," he said quietly.
Hermione took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Well, then, your turn, Lavender," she said with false cheerfulness.
The game rolled along uneventfully for a while after that, until Seamus, who had noticed what he perceived to be flirting going on between two of the groups' members, decided to contrive a dare of the romantic nature involving the two of them. "Truth or dare, Hermione?" he asked.
"Dare," she answered promptly. Picking truth hadn't gone so well last time, and she wasn't going to go anywhere near that choice again.
"I dare you to kiss Ron," Seamus ordered without hesitation. "On the lips, too, nice and proper."
Hermione huffed as she stood up from her chair, muttering "Fine!" in a slightly annoyed tone. She strode over to Ron and stood between his knees, looking down (though just barely; he was so tall that they were nearly face to face when he was sitting) at him with her hands on her hips.
They stood there staring at each other for a bit, neither moving or saying a word. Hermione, who was getting impatient, said, "Well, go on, then."
"What, I have to do it? It's your dare! I'm just going to sit here, and you can 'go on, then' and kiss me," Ron replied.
Hermione chewed on her bottom lip self-consciously, looking at Ron pleadingly. "But—I can't—it's not—you can just—"she stuttered, feeling very awkward.
Thankfully, her housemates, sensing her uneasiness, came to her rescue.
"Come on, Ron, quit being stubborn about it and just kiss her," Seamus advised.
"Yeah," Parvati piped up, "kiss her! Do something passionate and erotic!" she called.
Hermione was trying very hard to refrain from rolling her eyes at Parvati when Ron leaned up and kissed her, very quickly, and then did something odd with his head where he sort of nuzzled her neck. Hermione assumed he was going for "passionate and erotic" with that little addition. At any rate, the kiss itself had taken her by surprise, and Hermione had very nearly missed it it happened so suddenly. It wasn't bad though, she had to admit, as quick as it was, and she was quite certain that their eyelashes had brushed when he kissed her. Strangely, it was that that sent shivers—and very pleasant shivers, they were—down her spine.
Hermione turned to go back to her seat, but in her absence it had become occupied by Dean. "Sorry," he apologized, shrugging.
Hermione turned back to Ron, and poked his arm softly. "Scoot over," she told him, "you're going to share that chair with me."
"Aw, c'mon Hermione," Ron complained, but he obliged nonetheless.
"Thank you," she said sincerely as she sat down, smiling winningly at him.
The game went on. Seamus, who hadn't been dissuaded in playing matchmaker with Ron and Hermione, picked Hermione every chance he got. She decided she'd take a chance with truth the first time, so she inevitably was asked how the kiss with Ron was. Deliberately avoiding Ron's eye, she answered that it was "okay" after she'd decided that it was all right to break the rules and tell a bit of a lie. After all, did everyone really need to know that it had sent shivers down her spine? No, that was something best kept to herself.
Seamus, however, was not content with just a measly "okay" as a response. "Okay?!" he asked. "You're not going to take just 'okay,' are you Ron?"
"No, no, I'll settle for that," Ron assured him in a not entirely convincing voice. It was good enough for Hermione, though, because Seamus dropped the subject, and Hermione wasn't put on the spot any longer. At least, not until the next time around, when she was picked yet again by Seamus. She went for dare that time, and Seamus, who was becoming more and more bold in his selection of dares, said the eight words that were going to make her wish she'd never suggested the game in the first place: "I dare you to make out with Ron."
Hermione said nothing. She could only stare at Seamus, speechless.
"And when I say that I mean I want to see a good, lengthy snog...in fact, I'll be timing you. One full minute, and you'd better use all of it," he elaborated.
Hermione was sure she must have looked completely helpless, because Harry offered, "Of course, you can always back out, Hermione, if you don't want to."
"No, I can't," Hermione said, feebly. "I've already backed out once, and you know that's the limit." This was true; Hermione had outright declined to do a "table dance," because besides the fact that she didn't know exactly what it was, it sure sounded mortifying. That she actually did want to kiss Ron wasn't anything they needed to know.
Hermione glanced at Ron, who she was still sharing a chair with, out of the corner of her eye. He was looking straight ahead of him into space, intentionally ignoring her. Really, the least he could do would be to show a little interest. He didn't have to be so darn unresponsive!
"This is the part where you actually complete your dare," Seamus instructed her.
"I can't do it if he won't," she explained.
Seamus appeared to suddenly realize that Ron might not automatically allow Hermione to snog him just because she'd been dared to. "Yeah, you don't have to, Ron," he told him. "After all, it isn't your dare, so it's not like you're obligated to do it or anything."
"I'm not ready to kiss her," Ron mumbled, whatever the hell that meant.
'What does he mean he's not ready to kiss me?' Hermione thought. What, did he need to go pop a mint and tidy up his hair? Somehow, Hermione thought that wasn't what Ron meant when he said that. It almost sounded like he'd been planning on kissing her at some time in the future, some time when there weren't any other people watching, some time when he was...ready.
"Alright, I'll think up another dare for her—"Seamus began, but Ron cut him off.
"No, it's alright, I'll do it," he said.
Hermione looked at Ron. Ron looked at Hermione. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, Hermione trembling nervously the entire time, her heart beating frantically in her chest and her breath coming in shallow gasps.
And then they were kissing. Hermione couldn't remember how they'd gotten there, but she knew they had, and her nerves were still anything but calm. She was aware of Ron's tongue in her mouth, and as much as she wanted to focus on that, the only thing she could focus on at the moment was the nine others in the room who were watching them, and how she didn't want them to be there. As she thought about the onlookers more and more, she became more and more frustrated with their being there. Hermione was still thinking about this when she inadvertently made an annoyed noise at their presence. She didn't have to be the smartest witch in her year to know that you don't make annoyed sounds in the middle of snogging. It had to have been about the worst thing she could have possibly done. What a way to ruin her first kiss.
Of course, Ron added to the dreadfulness of the situation by abruptly cutting off the kiss and standing up. Hermione couldn't blame him for doing it, but it certainly was the icing on the (very stale) cake.
"I can't do it," he said.
'He can't do it,' Hermione thought bitterly. 'Could have decided that a little earlier, couldn't he?' She shifted in the chair that suddenly seemed huge now that Ron had vacated it, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly. Her thudding heart pounded loudly in her ears, nearly drowning out all the other sound.
'What just happened?' Hermione thought miserably, as the game was declared ruined.
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And that concludes chapter one, the single longest installment in any piece of fiction I've yet written! I hope you enjoyed it...and don't forget to feed me with lots of yummy reviews!
Upside Down
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A/N: Ah, yes, yet another series of mine. Title was created in 1.2 seconds, like all my titles, and is thus a piece of crap. Let's hope this series doesn't join the others in the "eternally unfinished" pile. I've got a notion that I'll actually keep up with this one, seeing as I've got motivation outside reviews for this story. As it turns out, this is based on a true (though as of yet unfinished) story...the sad, true story that is my romantic life. I must admit, though, that I have...embellished...on it a little. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy...and hey, don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: Nothing in the wonderfully fantastic and spiffy Potterverse belongs to me - the copyright says it's all property of one tremendously talented author, Ms. J.K. Rowling. I lay claim to the plot, though, so whoo-hoo for that.
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Chapter 1: Truth or Dare
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Hermione Granger sat in a chair of the Gryffindor common room, hugging her knees tightly to her chest. "I can't do it," Ron Weasley was saying, but Hermione could hardly hear him over the incredibly loud thudding of her heart. Hardly. But hardly wasn't good enough. 'He can't do it,' she thought. She wasn't quite sure that she could, either, but to hear him say it hurt her more than it should have. After all, it was just a game. It didn't mean anything. Did it?
'Truth or Dare,' Hermione thought, 'is absolutely, positively the worst game I have ever played.' Any game that left you feeling hopelessly miserable at its conclusion never ought to have been created, she decided. And "hopelessly miserable" was precisely how she was feeling just at the moment, thanks in large part to one Ron Weasley and that awful, awful game.
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Just a few hours before...
"This is bo-o-o-r-ing!" Ron whined loudly, heaving a huge sigh, just for effect. "We need to *do* something!"
The Gryffindors still left in the common room, who were more or less content with not doing anything, stared at Ron blankly.
"Like what?" Seamus asked.
"I don't know. Something fun," Ron said, vaguely. "I mean, Merlin, it's been ages since we've really done much of anything that would qualify as 'fun,' what with all that's been going on. And it's the night before the lot of us head home for the Christmas holidays, so we really should do something."
"You know," Hermione ventured, "there's this one Muggle game that I've always rather liked. Have you ever heard of Truth or Dare?"
If only Hermione had known what the game would lead to, she never would have suggested it.
Ron brightened. "Yeah," he exclaimed, "I have heard of it. Never played it before, but it sounds brilliant," he said, grinning mischievously.
"Already plotting your victims' fates, are you?" she asked, grinning back.
"Nah, just yours. So," he said, "who all's in?"
As it turned out, the entire remainder of the common room (Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, and the Creevey brothers) appeared more than willing to abandon their activity of doing nothing for the game of Truth or Dare.
"Truth or Dare is absolutely, positively the best game ever!" Lavender squealed, promptly lapsing into giggles along with Parvati after having made this declaration.
Hermione smiled, proud that she had been the one to suggest what was apparently a very appealing game. It was funny that in a few hours she'd be wishing fervently that she'd just kept her mouth shut.
The group gathered in a circle around the merrily crackling fire, some grabbing up the armchairs for themselves, and the others situating themselves on the floor. Hermione, who had not been quick enough to secure herself a chair but was not satisfied to sit on the floor, stood pouting uncharacteristically. "I want to have a chair," she complained. Ron smirked at her from the seat he had beaten her to.
"Oh, you can just sit in Ron's lap," Seamus said breezily, "I'm sure he won't mind."
Hermione turned and regarded Ron, the tips of whose ears had gone a bit red, for a moment, then shrugged, and settled herself in his lap. His face flushed along with his ears then, and he gave her a funny look. "Hey, that's what you get for taking my chair," she told him, grinning. "Right then," she said, turning back to the group, "let's get started."
And get started they did. The game started off rather innocently, not moving beyond the blowing of a few raspberries and the licking of a window (a rather long lick mark which had been traced over by the tongues of about four people was evidence of this particular dare). However, when Colin got his turn at slobbering all over the window, he got a glimpse of the fresh blanket of snow outside, and was struck by a brilliant idea. That brilliant idea was the turning point of the game.
"Oh, that was disgusting," Colin proclaimed, rejoining the group after his encounter with the window. He took a swig of butterbeer and sloshed it around in his mouth, obviously trying to get the taste out of his mouth. He swallowed, satisfied, and then smiled an evil smile, rubbing his hands together. "Well, then, who's next? I do believe it's Seamus' turn...so what'll it be, Finnegan? Truth or Dare?"
"Dare," Seamus answered bravely.
Colin's malevolent smile grew even wider. "Excellent. It's time for a little field trip, then."
"What do you mean, 'field trip'?" Seamus asked, confused.
"Snow angel, Finnegan. That'd be your dare. And as there isn't any snow just lying around the common room, we'll be heading outside."
With that the group tromped out of the common room excitedly, with Hermione protesting weakly that they shouldn't be wandering around the corridors at night even as she followed. It was a wonder they didn't get caught with the racket they were making in the hallway, but as it was technically the holidays the Professors and Filch were probably just getting some much needed rest. It was a good thing, too, because the group of Gryffindors, wired on butterbeer and various sweets, was heedless of any rules they might be breaking and were not making any effort to conceal themselves.
When they finally reached a courtyard, the giggling that had been steadily going on since their departure from Gryffindor tower died down. The group hovered in the doorway of the castle, shivering slightly from the cold.
"Right then. Snow angel, is it?" Seamus asked. He didn't even wait for a response as he headed out into the cold, laid down in the snow, and did his task. Upon finishing, he joined the others just inside and shook off the melting snow that had clung to him in a dog-like fashion, hitting Lavender and Parvati with the cold droplets.
"Seamus! Don't!" they squealed, giggling (as per usual) as they shielded themselves from the flying snow.
"All right then," Seamus said, promptly stopping. "Now then, Ronald, I believe it's your turn. Truth or Dare?"
"Hmm," Ron said, tapping his chin, pretending to be thoughtful. "Hmm, hmm, hmm," he added, trying to give the impression that he hadn't decided which option to take. He'd actually had his mind made up before he'd even uttered the first "hmm". "I guess I'll have to go with dare," he finally said.
"Lovely," Seamus said. "You know, I'm actually rather fond of the snow angel idea."
"Oh, come on, you can't go reusing dares," Hermione protested. "It is part of the rules, you know."
"If you'd let me finish," Seamus continued, grinning at Hermione before turning his attention back to Ron. "Snow angel, Weasley."
"That's exactly the same dare," Hermione pointed out.
"Not quite," Seamus said, his grin widening. "Snow angel, Weasley," he repeated. "Naked."
"Oh," Hermione said. "That is different. I see. How creative of you, Finnegan. Well, then, Ron," she said, eyeing him with amusement (and interest...interest which far surpassed vague curiosity), "better start stripping." As soon as the words had left her mouth Hermione wondered what had made her say them...normally she would have never said a thing like that. She must have just gone a bit overboard with the butterbeer.
Ron raised an eyebrow at Hermione, but said nothing. He did, however, follow her advice: he removed his cloak and T-shirt, and tossed them on Hermione.
"Yes, I'll hold these for you. You're welcome," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Thank you, 'Mione," he said sweetly, patting her on the head, and then heading out into the snow. He walked a good distance out, probably so they couldn't get too good a view of him, before turning back around to face them.
"When I said 'naked' I meant completely, Ronnie!" Seamus called from the doorway.
"I know," Ron shouted back, and without hesitation dropped his pants.
Hermione watched with the rest, torn between looking and not looking at him. On the one hand, she felt a bizarre compulsion to gape at him unashamedly, but the logical part of her brain was screaming "no!" Ron was her best friend. It was wrong to want to look at him like that...and what if he noticed her checking him out? And, more importantly, why did she want to do that in the first place? However, going against her better judgment, Hermione did as best she could to get a good look at Ron without being too obvious. 'I definitely had too much butterbeer,' she thought.
Before Hermione knew it, Ron was back to reclaim the clothes he had dropped off with her. Thankfully, as soon as he was fully clothed, Hermione was able to shake the image of naked Ron from her mind. Not that it was an unpleasant image, but she didn't need to be distracted by naughty thoughts of Ron all night...and since when did she start thinking naughty thoughts about Ron? It had to be the butterbeer.
Back in the Gryffindor common room, the game resumed, steadily becoming more risqué. Kissing was introduced as a dare, and some very unusual couples were being forced to lock lips. A terrified Dennis Creevy backed himself into a corner when his brother was dared to kiss him, and grimaced when he realized he had no escape. He made an awful commotion about the whole thing, and it must have woken up Ginny, because moments later she made an appearance at the top of the stairs.
"What in the world are the lot of you doing?" she asked curiously.
"Truth or Dare," Parvati told her excitedly. "Want to join?"
"Ooh, I'd love to!" Ginny cried, and hurried down the steps to position herself in their little circle. "So, whose turn is it?" she asked.
"Yours," Lavender said in a businesslike manner. "Truth or dare, Virginia?"
"Oh please, I can't pick truth on my first turn!" Ginny exclaimed. "How lame would that be?"
"Dare it is," Lavender affirmed. "And I've got just the thing," she said, an evil grin forming on her face (there'd been a lot of that going around, what with all the plotting of fates that Truth or Dare entails) as she imagined her plan. "I dare you to go up to the boys' dormitory and tell Harry—and with a straight face, mind you, it's got to be believable—that you love him."
"No problem," Ginny said, and she headed up to the boys' dorms trailed by the rest of the group. Ginny was actually very convincing in her declaration of love for Harry, and if it hadn't have been for the eruption of laughter from the others listening outside the door, he might have believed her. As it was, Ginny burst out laughing, too, and the trick was given away. Besides that, all the laughing woke up Dean and Neville, who were also in the room, and blinking blearily at Ginny from their beds.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked while the other two looked inquisitively at Ginny, waiting for an answer.
"We're playing Truth or Dare," Ginny informed them. "Care to join us?"
They did, of course, and the Gryffindors marched back to the common room along with the three new participants. The game started up again, and Ginny picked Hermione, who opted for truth this time. Ginny looked thoughtful as she tried to come up with a question, but Lavender beat her to it.
"Ooh, I've got one!" she exclaimed. "What's the farthest you've ever gone with a guy?"
"That's a stupid question," someone objected. Hermione neither knew nor cared who had said this, but she agreed with them wholeheartedly.
"It is stupid," she seconded. "Ask me something else."
"No, no," Lavender insisted, "you've been asked it and now you've got to answer it. In detail," she added, stressing last word. Lavender always was one for juicy gossip, and she wanted to know everything.
Problem was, there wasn't anything for Lavender to know. Hermione, who wanted a question that she was actually capable of answering (since that was the entire point of the game), was getting a bit angry that Lavender was so fixated on having her answer that particular question. "Why can't you just ask me something else? That's a stupid question!"
"No," Lavender said firmly. "That's your question and it's final. Quit arguing and give me an answer," she demanded.
"No!" Hermione shouted. "'What's the farthest I've ever gone with a guy?!' How do you expect me to answer that? Look, I can't tell you everything, and I can't tell you in detail because there's nothing to tell, so just ask me something else!" Hermione was red in the face and breathless after her little outburst. She looked uncertainly around the common room, and was met with the stunned stares of her housemates.
"Well, then, a different question..." Ginny started, but Seamus interrupted her.
"No, don't bother. She answered that one," he said quietly.
Hermione took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Well, then, your turn, Lavender," she said with false cheerfulness.
The game rolled along uneventfully for a while after that, until Seamus, who had noticed what he perceived to be flirting going on between two of the groups' members, decided to contrive a dare of the romantic nature involving the two of them. "Truth or dare, Hermione?" he asked.
"Dare," she answered promptly. Picking truth hadn't gone so well last time, and she wasn't going to go anywhere near that choice again.
"I dare you to kiss Ron," Seamus ordered without hesitation. "On the lips, too, nice and proper."
Hermione huffed as she stood up from her chair, muttering "Fine!" in a slightly annoyed tone. She strode over to Ron and stood between his knees, looking down (though just barely; he was so tall that they were nearly face to face when he was sitting) at him with her hands on her hips.
They stood there staring at each other for a bit, neither moving or saying a word. Hermione, who was getting impatient, said, "Well, go on, then."
"What, I have to do it? It's your dare! I'm just going to sit here, and you can 'go on, then' and kiss me," Ron replied.
Hermione chewed on her bottom lip self-consciously, looking at Ron pleadingly. "But—I can't—it's not—you can just—"she stuttered, feeling very awkward.
Thankfully, her housemates, sensing her uneasiness, came to her rescue.
"Come on, Ron, quit being stubborn about it and just kiss her," Seamus advised.
"Yeah," Parvati piped up, "kiss her! Do something passionate and erotic!" she called.
Hermione was trying very hard to refrain from rolling her eyes at Parvati when Ron leaned up and kissed her, very quickly, and then did something odd with his head where he sort of nuzzled her neck. Hermione assumed he was going for "passionate and erotic" with that little addition. At any rate, the kiss itself had taken her by surprise, and Hermione had very nearly missed it it happened so suddenly. It wasn't bad though, she had to admit, as quick as it was, and she was quite certain that their eyelashes had brushed when he kissed her. Strangely, it was that that sent shivers—and very pleasant shivers, they were—down her spine.
Hermione turned to go back to her seat, but in her absence it had become occupied by Dean. "Sorry," he apologized, shrugging.
Hermione turned back to Ron, and poked his arm softly. "Scoot over," she told him, "you're going to share that chair with me."
"Aw, c'mon Hermione," Ron complained, but he obliged nonetheless.
"Thank you," she said sincerely as she sat down, smiling winningly at him.
The game went on. Seamus, who hadn't been dissuaded in playing matchmaker with Ron and Hermione, picked Hermione every chance he got. She decided she'd take a chance with truth the first time, so she inevitably was asked how the kiss with Ron was. Deliberately avoiding Ron's eye, she answered that it was "okay" after she'd decided that it was all right to break the rules and tell a bit of a lie. After all, did everyone really need to know that it had sent shivers down her spine? No, that was something best kept to herself.
Seamus, however, was not content with just a measly "okay" as a response. "Okay?!" he asked. "You're not going to take just 'okay,' are you Ron?"
"No, no, I'll settle for that," Ron assured him in a not entirely convincing voice. It was good enough for Hermione, though, because Seamus dropped the subject, and Hermione wasn't put on the spot any longer. At least, not until the next time around, when she was picked yet again by Seamus. She went for dare that time, and Seamus, who was becoming more and more bold in his selection of dares, said the eight words that were going to make her wish she'd never suggested the game in the first place: "I dare you to make out with Ron."
Hermione said nothing. She could only stare at Seamus, speechless.
"And when I say that I mean I want to see a good, lengthy snog...in fact, I'll be timing you. One full minute, and you'd better use all of it," he elaborated.
Hermione was sure she must have looked completely helpless, because Harry offered, "Of course, you can always back out, Hermione, if you don't want to."
"No, I can't," Hermione said, feebly. "I've already backed out once, and you know that's the limit." This was true; Hermione had outright declined to do a "table dance," because besides the fact that she didn't know exactly what it was, it sure sounded mortifying. That she actually did want to kiss Ron wasn't anything they needed to know.
Hermione glanced at Ron, who she was still sharing a chair with, out of the corner of her eye. He was looking straight ahead of him into space, intentionally ignoring her. Really, the least he could do would be to show a little interest. He didn't have to be so darn unresponsive!
"This is the part where you actually complete your dare," Seamus instructed her.
"I can't do it if he won't," she explained.
Seamus appeared to suddenly realize that Ron might not automatically allow Hermione to snog him just because she'd been dared to. "Yeah, you don't have to, Ron," he told him. "After all, it isn't your dare, so it's not like you're obligated to do it or anything."
"I'm not ready to kiss her," Ron mumbled, whatever the hell that meant.
'What does he mean he's not ready to kiss me?' Hermione thought. What, did he need to go pop a mint and tidy up his hair? Somehow, Hermione thought that wasn't what Ron meant when he said that. It almost sounded like he'd been planning on kissing her at some time in the future, some time when there weren't any other people watching, some time when he was...ready.
"Alright, I'll think up another dare for her—"Seamus began, but Ron cut him off.
"No, it's alright, I'll do it," he said.
Hermione looked at Ron. Ron looked at Hermione. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, Hermione trembling nervously the entire time, her heart beating frantically in her chest and her breath coming in shallow gasps.
And then they were kissing. Hermione couldn't remember how they'd gotten there, but she knew they had, and her nerves were still anything but calm. She was aware of Ron's tongue in her mouth, and as much as she wanted to focus on that, the only thing she could focus on at the moment was the nine others in the room who were watching them, and how she didn't want them to be there. As she thought about the onlookers more and more, she became more and more frustrated with their being there. Hermione was still thinking about this when she inadvertently made an annoyed noise at their presence. She didn't have to be the smartest witch in her year to know that you don't make annoyed sounds in the middle of snogging. It had to have been about the worst thing she could have possibly done. What a way to ruin her first kiss.
Of course, Ron added to the dreadfulness of the situation by abruptly cutting off the kiss and standing up. Hermione couldn't blame him for doing it, but it certainly was the icing on the (very stale) cake.
"I can't do it," he said.
'He can't do it,' Hermione thought bitterly. 'Could have decided that a little earlier, couldn't he?' She shifted in the chair that suddenly seemed huge now that Ron had vacated it, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly. Her thudding heart pounded loudly in her ears, nearly drowning out all the other sound.
'What just happened?' Hermione thought miserably, as the game was declared ruined.
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And that concludes chapter one, the single longest installment in any piece of fiction I've yet written! I hope you enjoyed it...and don't forget to feed me with lots of yummy reviews!