"All right, James. Truth or dare?"

"Moony! You now me better than that."

"Dare it is," Remus smiled knowingly at his best friend. "Of course. All right. I dare you to…" his voice trailed off as he looked expectantly around the school grounds. It was nearly summertime at Hogwarts, and nearly O.W.L. time for the Marauders and their fifth year classmates. James, Sirius, Lupin, and Peter, always eager to goof off, had decided to play a game of Truth or Dare as they lounged next to the lake on that warm Sunday afternoon.

"I dare you to kiss the Giant Squid!" Remus cried suddenly, looking gleefully at the lake's dark and ominous depths. Sirius and Peter made sounds of simultaneous disgust and euphoria, but James simply laughed.

"Easy." he said, the very picture of nonchalance. Without further ado, he promptly walked up to the water's edge, staring beadily at the enormous tentacles basking there as if expecting them to jump up and grab him. When they did no such thing, James leaned down with his face as close as possible to the water and, before the others could say a word, kissed one of the tentacles with much bravado. Moony, Padfoot, and Wormtail shouted their laughter to the sky and clapped, looking impressed. Sirius whistled between his teeth, causing James to bow with a flourish.

James flopped back down next to his friends, an arrogant grin plastered to his face. "My turn. Padfoot, truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

Prongs was silent as he considered the most entertaining thing he could make his best friend do. Finally, as he was looking out absentmindedly over Hogwarts' sloping green lawns, he had it.

"I dare you to get Chelsea Perkins alone in our dormitory with you!"

Sirius's mouth fell open. Chelsea Perkins was a goddess on earth. Untouchable. Unparalleled. She was a seventh year, and easily the most popular, beautiful girl at Hogwarts. For her to even look at you was almost as rare as seeing a troll translating Ancient Runes.

"James, that's impossible! Merlin himself couldn't do it,"

"Yeah, but Merlin didn't have your good looks and boyish charms, Padfoot," taunted James cheekily, crossing his arms stubbornly to show he wouldn't back down. Sirius glared at him. "You have to do it, Sirius," he said with a roguish grin. "I dared you,"

"He's right," chimed in Remus. "you've got to."

"I know! I know, O.K.?" Sirius burst angrily. He looked around the grounds as if hoping for a way out of it. When he found nothing, he looked back at James. "You realize that it'll be impossible to do in one day, don't you Prongsie? Give me a bit of time,"

James tapped his chin thoughtfully. "What do you think, Moony? Shall we oblige the scoundrel?"

Remus copied his friend's tone as he replied, "The scalawag does have a point, you know…"

"Yes, indeed. This rogue—"

"All right, cool it with this 'scalawag' business," snapped Sirius. "You've been spending too much time with Sir Cadogan, it's not healthy. Do I get more time or not?"

"I suppose you can," said James, still grinning mischievously. "You have until…Friday!"

"Friday? Aw, c'mon—"

"No buts!"

"That's not even enough—"

"You remember what happens if you don't do a dare, right Padfoot?"

Sirius shuddered. "Fine. Friday is fine. You just wait, she'll be head over heels in love with me by then!"

The other three Marauders fell onto the grass laughing.

MONDAY

"Wish me luck, lads!" called Sirius boisterously as he swaggered into the Great Hall during breakfast. James and Peter looked up, but Remus was too immersed in the Dailey Prophet to notice what was going on around him. "I'm about to introduce myself to Chelsea,"

"Oh, excellent," James said excitedly, his mouth full of eggs. "Moony! You're going to want to see this; Sirius's about to make a fool of himself for the first time in front of Chelsea,"

"I am not going to make—"

"Shut up and get over there, Padfoot," interrupted James, gesturing over to the other side of the table, where Chelsea was pouring herself pumpkin juice, surrounded by friends. "Time's a-wasting."

Sirius glared. Clearly he had been hoping for a little more support in the matter, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead he marched straight over to the end of the Gryffindor table without another word.

"Wow, no one told me there would be a veela at Hogwarts this year!" said Sirius coolly as he approached Chelsea. She looked momentarily taken aback; apparently she wasn't used to having random fifth years hit on her.

"Excuse me?" she sputtered, looking at her friends as they tried to suppress their laughter.

"Aren't you a veela?" said Sirius. He was overdoing his surprise, but he figured he may as well milk it for all it was worth. Which is why he continued fearlessly, "With a face as pretty as yours, I just assumed that you weren't human. My mistake, of course. Clearly you're better than a veela; you're an angel,"

"Beat it, Romeo," snapped Chelsea, turning back to her toast. "I'm not interested,"

"Wait!" cried Sirius desperately. Lucky for him his voice was distressed enough for her to turn back around. "I don't even know your name, and you don't know mine. It's only polite."

Chelsea rolled her eyes and made to turn back around, but then one of her friends piped up, "Oh, go on, Chels. What's it going to hurt? He's actually kinda cute,"

Chelsea snorted. "Yeah, if I were a first year he would be," Her friends gave her a look, and with a long, dramatic sigh she said, "My name's Chelsea. Chelsea Perkins. And you are—?"

"I'm—"

Unfortunately, right at that moment, Avery walked by. As a Slytherin, he was resentful of Gryffindor's recent win against his Quidditch team, and even though Sirius didn't play, Avery obviously associated him with James, who was the main reason the Slytherins were beaten so soundly. Apparently Avery decided to take his revenge then and there, and there was nothing poor Sirius could do as the Slytherin shoved him so hard that he fell face-first into Chelsea's bowl of porridge.

For the briefest of moments, there was silence in the area immediately around them. Everyone at the table watched with bated breath as Sirius carefully removed his face from the porridge bowl, the goopy, greyish mush sticking obscenely to his cheeks and chin. Then, Chelsea laughed. Not a "oh-you're-so-cute-you-poor-thing" kind of laugh, but the "haha-you-loser-too-bad-for-you" kind. That set off the whole rest of the table, who seemed to have been waiting for Chelsea's cue.

Sirius stomped back to his friends with his reddening face still covered in porridge.

TUESDAY

"Would you three hurry up? We're going to be late!" snarled Remus, virtually dragging James and Sirius down the corridor. Peter was even further behind, huffing and puffing his way past each suit of armor, his arms laden with books and quills because he'd forgotten his bag.

"Moony, it's too early for this sort of thing," yawned James irritably, dragging his feet. "You know we usually skive off Herbology the day after the full moon,"

"Yes, but today Sprout said we'd be dealing with Flutterby bushes!"

"So?"

"So she specifically said they would come up on the O.W.L.!"

"Whatever," muttered Sirius, moving even more slowly than James. "I don't—" he stopped suddenly as Chelsea Perkins walked by, chattering to the same group of friends who had been with her the day before in the Great Hall. "I'll catch you up later,"

"Did you not hear a word I just said? This is the O.W.L.s we're talking—"

"Sirius, what if you get a detention? Sprout said last time—"

"Don't leave me alone with these two, Padfoot!" yelled James as his best friend ran down the corridor towards Chelsea. Sirius ignored all three of them.

As he rounded the next corner, he finally spotted Chelsea again, blessedly alone and adjusting her school bag over her shoulder as she walked. With a sigh of relief, Sirius called, "CHELSEA! Wait up!"

Chelsea turned around with a look of mild curiosity on her face. Her features changed dramatically to something between amusement and annoyance, however, as she saw who had called her name. Unfazed by this, Sirius finally caught up to her, breathing like a winded hippogriff.

"I was wondering," he said, attempting to regain his composure. "if you were free this weekend?"

"I'm sorry, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Yes!" Sirius cried, exalted that she had caught on so fast. "Fancy a drink at the Three Broomsticks?"

She was looking suspicious now. "It's not a Hogsmeade weekend… How are we allowed to leave?"

"We're not, technically," said Sirius roguishly. "But I know a lot of ways to get in and out of the castle without being detected. In and out, get it?" He winked, employing his most charming smile.

Chelsea slapped him.

Apparently she was not impressed with his sexual innuendo.

WEDNESDAY

"Middle of the week. Time is running out, Padfoot!" cajoled James as he effortlessly made his pineapple tap-dance across the desk. Professor Flitwick gave him an approving nod from the other side of the room. "And you know what happens when you lose a dare,"

Peter chuckled as he said, "Ooh, I wouldn't want to be you if that happens,"

"There's no need to remind me how bad that'll be, thanks," snapped Sirius, gritting his teeth both in reaction to his friends' taunts and also because his pineapple was swelling at an alarming rate instead of tap-dancing. "I get it."

"Get on with it already, and you won't have to worry about it anymore!"

"I'm trying!" said Sirius in exasperation. "Or didn't you notice my face covered in porridge Monday? Or the giant welt on my cheek?"

"Believe me, Padfoot, the entire school saw your messed up face,"

"All right, that's it!" Sirius rose determinedly from his seat and walked over to his bag. Pulling out a sheath of parchment, he quickly folded it into a paper crane and shoved it under Remus' nose. "Make it fly,"

"What?"

"Charm it so it'll fly around the room when I let it go,"

"No!"

"Remus…" Sirius lowered his voice and leaned in threateningly. "Don't make me tell everyone about that business with Moaning Myrtle in our third year,"

Remus groaned as James roared with laughter. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"Yes."

A moment's hesitation in which the werewolf seemed to weigh his options, but in less than a minute Remus snatched the origami bird away from his friend and spat, "Fine.

"When at last Sirius was content with the crane's ability to fly, he hid it in the folds of his robes and raised his hand politely. "Professor?" he called. Flitwick looked up from where he was praising Lily Evans' handiwork. "Could I use the bathroom?"

After he was dismissed, Sirius hurried along the corridor to where he knew Chelsea's Transfiguration class to be. It had taken a lot of bribing to get the second year she tutored to tell him what class she had at this time, but he hoped it would be worth it. He took a moment to catch his breath before stepping into the classroom.

"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall, but I need to see Miss Perkins for a moment," said Sirius in his best sucking-up-to-teacher voice. "She has an urgent message from the Headmaster," McGonagall nodded curtly at him and resumed looking over the essays her students were in the process of handing in, waving Chelsea out of the room.

Chelsea looked utterly bewildered, and luckily for Sirius she seemed not to care that the last time he'd seen her she had slapped him across the face. Evidently she was more upset about getting called out of class by Dumbledore at the moment. If Sirius hadn't spent more of the last five years in trouble than out of it, he would be able to understand why she was so worried. As it was, however, he couldn't quite grasp why this was such a big deal.

"What is it? Have I done something wrong?" Chelsea asked worriedly.

"No, no, you're a perfect student, Chelsea," said Sirius smoothly. "Actually, Dumbledore never sent for you. I brought you out here to tell you that I love you, and I hope that someday you can grow to love me too," Sirius handed her the origami crane, which flew around her head a few times before landing elegantly on her shoulder.

This may have still turned out all right if Sirius hadn't kissed her at that moment.

"How dare you?" Chelsea screeched, wrenching her head away from him and wiping her mouth in disgust. She screamed a hex, and suddenly massive boils were erupting all over Sirius' already abused face.

THURSDAY

"I'm doomed,"

"You're doomed, Padfoot,"

Sirius groaned and put his face in his hands. Usually food was an acceptable cure for just about anything, but as he sat at the Gryffindor table with the other three Marauders that night at dinner, even the trifle sitting before him couldn't distract him from his heavy heart. "Only twenty-four hours left to get Chelsea in our dorm room. Or else—"

"—or else hello public humiliation!" chimed in James excitedly. "I'm looking forward to it,"

"Shall I bring the popcorn, Prongs?"

"Oh, most definitely, Moony."

"And I'll bring the butterbeer!"

"Very good, Wormtail."

"What are you four going on about now?"

The Marauders turned violently in their seats as Lily Evans appeared behind them. Automatically, James' whole attitude changed. He was suddenly smooth and charming; his sarcastic comments disappeared so fast it seemed they'd Apparated from his mind. "Lily!"

"Are you going to answer my question or not?"

"Oh!" James, for the first time, seemed momentarily flustered. But being James Potter he recovered fairly quickly. "Right. Yeah, we were just planning our next Hogsmeade visit,"

Lily eyed him suspiciously. "We just had one last weekend, and the next isn't until Valentine's Day."

"We like to get a head start on things like that. And speaking of Valentine's Day—"

"No."

"You didn't even listen to the question!"

"I didn't need to. You've been asking the same thing for four years. My answer is still the same!"

"Lils, just give me one chance, just one, and…"

His voice trailed off as he got up from the table and followed Lily out of the Great Hall, still trying to convince her to go on a date with him.

Sirius, still worried about what was going to happen to him if he couldn't convince Chelsea to go up to the dormitory with him, reached for a Chocolate Frog in an attempt to calm himself down. As he did so, however, Remus grabbed his wrist and said quietly, "I wouldn't eat that if I were you,"

Sirius wrenched his arm away. "Why not? Chocolate makes me feel better."

"This chocolate won't," said Remus. "James spiked it with infusion of Gurdyroots. I think the idea was to try and get you to puke in front of Chelsea."

The other boy quickly dropped the Chocolate Frog, looking disgusted. Yet he also felt strangely reassured by how Remus had been so straightforward with him . . . Peter was engrossed in his cherry pie, so Sirius took the opportunity to lean in conspiringly to talk to his friend. "Remus, what am I going to do? Chelsea's been going out of her way (literally) to avoid me all day, and I have no idea how to even look her in the eye again, let alone ask her to come to our dormitory! And there is absolutely no way I'm ever going to— you know—"

Sirius looked at his friend anxiously, almost pleadingly.

"It'll be all right," Remus consoled. When Sirius didn't look convinced, he tried a new tactic. "Look, did you ever try just telling her the truth?"

"Moony, that has got to be the corniest bit of advice—"

"I'm not joking! Just tell her that James dared you, and see what happens. It can't hurt, not unless you pull another stupid stunt and try to kiss her,"

"Hey, she was leading me on—"

Remus laughed. "I'll believe that when I see it. Now come on, let's get James before he makes a complete fool of himself in front of Evans again,"

FRIDAY

"Do you give up, Padfoot?" said James. The Marauders were sitting in the chintz armchairs closest to the fire, each nursing a butterbeer they'd managed to convince the house-elves in the kitchens to let them have. The sun had set hours ago, and now that people had started finishing their homework a boisterous mood was settling over the Gryffindor common room. It was infectious enough to make James forget about his previous embarrassment with Lily and resort to making fun of Sirius again.

"No! As a matter of fact, I have a plan."

James snorted. "Well, you're running out of time, so get moving. I want to see this,"

Crossing his arms defiantly, Sirius said, "Don't mind if I do," Without another word, he strode right over to the table where Chelsea was filling in a chart of Jupiter's moons and started to talk with her. The Marauders watched eagerly as her expression turned from her initial anger, to discomfort, to surprise, and finally to…understanding?

"What's going on?" James said worriedly. "What did he say to her?"

"I dunno, I can't hear…" Peter replied, staring desperately at Sirius as if that would improve his hearing. Remus, however, remained silently immersed in his book. Only his friends' gasps of shock and admiration were enough to make him remove his nose from the dusty page, and as he looked up he was amused to see Sirius leading Chelsea up the steps to the boys' dormitory.

"I can't believe it!"

"He did it!"

"What did he say to her?"

"He must have bewitched her or something…"

Even Chelsea's friends were looking curiously at the dormitory steps, and within a few minutes the entire common room was buzzing with gossip and rumors about Sirius Black and Chelsea Perkins. Ten minutes later, the couple in question emerged from the spiral staircase and the room fell silent. Sirius was looking smug, Chelsea slightly embarrassed but not altogether displeased. Nonchalantly, Sirius swaggered over to the armchairs his three best friends were occupying and casually collapsed onto one of them as though nothing had happened. As soon as he did, James and Peter bombarded him with questions.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please," Sirius interrupted them before things got out of hand. "You'll just have to accept that I'm the classiest, most charming, most delightful—"

"All right, now you're laying it on thick!" cut in James. "What happened?"

In response, Sirius merely shrugged. "All I know is that I won't have to run into Potions naked on Monday yelling about my 'Venomous Tentacula'." At this, James, Remus, and Peter all burst out laughing.

James patted his best friend on the back proudly and said, "You've got to teach me how you do it, mate. I could probably use the same thing on Evans!"

"Honesty is the best policy, Prongsie," replied Sirius, winking at Remus. "Honestly."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review!