Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. This author knows Lily is not a good person here, she hopes you know she is not a good person here, this story is not condoning bad behavior, just exploring it, if you are uncomfortable you can always stop reading, I won't mind :) Art work by the super talented windbyfire (insta)

Monsters ~ Ruelle

James leaned against the bedroom door he'd just shut, thudding his head backwards into it a couple times as punishment. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why had he just asked her that? Why had the answer actually mattered to him? It shouldn't matter! She was just some wench he'd known at school, a terrible, vile human being that had no right to make him feel this way now.

Plus he had Rebecca, whom he loved and adored and was truly his perfect match. She was a great person; there was no denying it. Everyone loved her.

Everyone he knew had always hated Evans.

Everyone but him.

James threw his glasses towards his nightstand before pushing his palms into his eyes until he saw little pops of stars. Stop thinking about her, he begged, already wanting an out from this mission of protecting her.

His mind didn't listen. Where did it all go wrong? He tried to objectively replay scenes of their time together at Hogwarts, trying to pinpoint the exact moment his fate was sealed. He supposed there had been multiple instances that had changed the trajectory of his life. The first was in 5th year when they'd gone from normal Gryffindor versus Slytherin rivals to something more personal, and the second was just at the end of 6th year when he'd gotten fit… and she'd noticed. Both these events had set him forth on a sad path that he was, for some reason, still trying to veer from. James felt like he was on a cursed broomstick, trying desperately with all his might to drag the handle in any direction other than the one it was bound to — plummeting straight towards the ground. It was like no matter what he'd ever done, the world had just decided that James Potter would never be able to escape his feelings for Lily Evans, how hard he tried not letting her completely derail his life be damned.

And James really, really hated that for himself.

5th Year

James sauntered out of the kitchens, chocolate mousse in one hand, spoon and Marauder's Map in the other while his Invisibility Cloak was casually strewn over his elbow. The house-elves always did such a nice job of putting a pep in his step with all their praise and loving attention… or maybe that pep came from just having rounded 2nd base with Julie Yu a few days before. The high of getting to hook up with the Ravenclaw Seeker was quite hard for someone like James to come down from. Who knew? Maybe this was the start of a slutty streak for him. It had been getting old hearing about all of Sirius' conquests without really knowing what the hell he was ever talking about after all.

The sudden appearance of a new name on the map stopped James' teenage boy musings dead in their tracks. While he had been keeping an eye on Peeves' label bouncing erratically around in a classroom down the hall and Filch patrolling just a floor above them, suddenly Lily Evans had arrived on the scene. James watched curiously as she exited the Slytherin dormitory around the corner from him, heading straight his way.

He could make himself invisible… or he could confront her.

(James had never been that good at staying out of things.)

"So… whatcha up to?"

James' sudden, unexpected, and quite saucy appearance in a hall that Evans had clearly anticipated would be empty at midnight made her jolt, scrambling to keep a hold of a rather large parcel tucked underneath one arm. He eyed it suspiciously as Evans righted herself and once more took on her usual cold demeanor.

"I could ask the same thing of you, Potter."

Yeah right. Nice try. "No you couldn't. My answer is quite obvious." James held out the mousse, shaking it side to side for dramatic effect.

He was funny, he was objectively funny, so why did she look so nervous? What the hell is she holding?

"Go to bed or I'll dock points," she said with a quick look over his shoulder, James guessed to see if they were alone. Or more specifically if she is about to get caught with whatever she's holding?

"You can't do that. You're literally doing the same thing as me: sneaking out after hours," he reasoned.

"I'm on rounds."

Huh. Interesting. Whatever she was up to had made her so scared that she was getting sloppy with her lies. Evans was the same girl who he'd watched cover for a friend and lie straight to a professor's face — milking their absolute trust in her given her grades, charm, and 'cheek' — and yet here she was barely able to get the simplest fib past him. Whatever she was doing had her shaken. "No, you're not. Remus is, and not with you." The Marauders always insisted Moony tell them whenever he was doing rounds with a Slytherin so they could look out for him on the Map. Hell, the fact that Moony was working right now was the only reason that James was currently on a midnight snack run alone, because like hell Remus wouldn't have joined him for some late night chocolate otherwise.

Evans sized him up, silently weighing her options. James waited patiently, eating a spoonful of his mousse, not a care in the world. "Fine," she finally said. "You go to bed and I will too. No one gets in trouble."

She made to sidestep him, but James moved last minute to block her path. "Weird. Your bed is that way," he snarked, nudging his chin back to the corner she'd just come from. She gave him a menacing glare before huffing and turning on her heel. "Wait a second. What do you have under your arm there?" Some may call James noisy, but he thought he had a perfectly normal sense of curiosity.

Clearly Evans believed more of the former. "None of your business."

James' lips tilted into a slant. "Did you steal something in the dead of night, Slytherin?" Calling all Slytherins by that simple (not inaccurate) name was a thing that Gryffindors often did that James had never really questioned before. Not only did it give the air of indifference, as though Gryffindors didn't even have the time to learn something as basic (yet extremely personal) as a Slytherin's name, but it made it easier to dehumanize them, hate them, and therefore feel zero remorse when they punished them for all their truly horrible deeds.

Evans' eyes drew back to James', sending a small thrill down his spine. She'd always been gorgeous — unfairly so, with cartoonishly large eyes, a delicate sloping nose, and skin that looked inhumanly soft. Not that James thought about touching her, it was just a casual observation. Like one might look at the Great Lake and say, 'Wow, that's a big fucking lake.' James had eyes, of course he'd notice shit like that. And sure, if someone slipped James Veritaserum, he'd probably have to admit that he thought she was the hottest girl in school, but James was no dummy. He knew that she was probably just as psycho as his best friend's cousin, Bellatrix, because that was her best friend. James knew that when Sirius did something puerile it reflected poorly on him as well. That's how best friends worked. Hotness meant shit over house loyalty anyway.

Evans leaned into him and James oddly felt the hairs on his arms all stand at attention. "Fuck. Off."

Oh, this has got to be good, James amusedly thought as he, quick on his feet, blocked her escape for a second time. "Uh uh, tell me what it is, Slytherin." Rage rippled through Evans' face before a noise from the nearest classroom made them both freeze. Peeves had moved closer. James could really see the panic fill her eyes now. He smiled, knowing he had her trapped. "Tell you what: you tell me what it is," he poked the package, making Evans hiss and pull it back, "or I make enough noise that Peeves and Filch both rush over and find us."

The horror on Evans' face doubled. "Then you'd get in trouble too."

James smiled, taking another slow spoonful of mousse, really emphasizing how low the stakes were to him — because honestly, they were. He had an Invisibility Cloak, while she did not. Her eyes flickered to his mouth watching him like a hawk. "That's a risk I'm willing to take." Was he planning on actually snitching her out? No. That would be a bitch move, and James had far more honor than ratting out a fellow student like that, even if they were a Slytherin… but she didn't have to know that. Watching her squirm was proving to be the height of entertainment.

Evans looked towards where Peeves' delightfully crude song about some hookup he'd just witnessed in the Charms classroom was echoing. Any second now, he would suddenly appear and wake the dead with glee at the prospect of getting them into trouble. James was trying to decipher just who Peeves had caught blowing each other when Evans turned back to him pleadingly. "You wouldn't."

James licked the spoon sinfully. This shouldn't be so fun, but oh, was it ever. "Oo, I think I really would. I guess you're about to find out…" He casually leaned up against the suit of armor right next to them, his intention of knocking it over more than apparent.

"Wait!" Evans whisper-yelled, eyes wide and sparkling. If Potter thought that having a dozen house-elves bending over backwards to get in his good graces had been nice, it was nothing compared to her rapt attention. "Potter, don't. I'll do whatever you want! Just don't."

James wasn't sure what expression crossed over his face, all he knew was that it was probably nothing good and that he wasn't proud of it. What could you expect though? The fittest girl of his young life had just desperately told him that she'd do anything for him — where was his hormonal, pervy brain supposed to go with that? It had taken any implication of sex, something still so novel and fresh and constantly on his mind, and run.

And she'd seen it. Her brows twitched in understanding before a smirk formed on her plump lips. James felt a blush creep over his cheeks even before she said, "I meant with school work, Potter."

James kinda wanted to die. This Slytherin wasn't allowed to know that he found her sexy as hell. (Emphasis on hell, because she was bad, very, very bad — and not the sort of person that someone like James — a symbol of Gryffindor and justice and everything good in this world — was allowed to be into.)

Not wanting to stew in the shame of his faux-pas, James tossed over the armor just to get out of his current predicament, attempting to avoid dealing with whatever power trip she was about to experience with this newest development. James really didn't need a girl like Evans knowing that she could dangle her sexuality in front of him to reduce him to putty. He knew with a thousand percent certainty that she would exploit that knowledge to the limit.

The crash of metal onto stone was thunderous. Evans squeaked as she dropped her parcel, looking like a doe in headlights as she stared towards the door that Peeves was zooming out of at a hundred kilometers per hour, fully knowing her doom was near. From underneath the safety of his Cloak, James heard Peeves' new song: "Evans-whevans, outta bed, Evans-whevans, being a Prefect has gone to your head!"

As the song devolved into vulgarity, James watched joyfully as Evans made a confused twirl, looking for someone else to pin all the blame onto, before he made his sneaky escape. He had to flatten himself against the wall of the staircase as Filch came wheezing past, swaying his lantern dangerously in his haste to catch a delinquent student.

James had been so flustered with his slip-up around Evans that he'd completely forgotten to stay back and see Filch confiscate what she'd been holding (or possibly even open it). However, whatever it had been, it must have been utterly deplorable indeed, because Evans had ended up getting suspended for a week, a consequence nearly unheard of in a place as liberal on rules and consequences as Hogwarts.

When she'd come back from her forced break, James and Evans had fought like never before because he had had the audacity to take their rivalry from general to personal… and Evans now had a genuine bone to pick.

And pick away at him she did.

While James was more likely to have rash outbursts like trying to blow up her cauldron, or hexing her while they were walking towards each other in the halls, Evans liked the more subtle attacks. One day he'd woken up with a hole in the crotch of all of his pants, and he couldn't prove it, but he just knew it had been her. She was cunning and wily — and more than able to deceive or seduce some poor Gryffindor into sneaking into James' room to do her bidding. Another time James had mysteriously developed an allergy to his hookup buddy's lipstick — even though she swore she was wearing the same one she had for years. He'd sported the world's most ridiculous duck lips for a week as a result. Again, he couldn't prove it was her, but the smirk on Evans' face during that particular period had to mean something.

Never being able to pin anything on her was driving him mad though. Whatever the case may be, James and the rest of the Marauders found the complexity of their own pranks improving substantially over the next few months, with Sirius saying he had no idea where their sudden stroke of brilliant inspiration had come from.

James knew.

End of 6th Year

James was the shit. There was no other way to put it… Well, maybe that wasn't true, there were plenty of other ways to put it: James was the man, the coolest cat on the block, the absolute best in everything he did and literally no one could touch him. They'd all tried during the last Quidditch game, and how had that turned out for them?

Oh yeah, they'd lost. Spectacularly. Humiliatingly. And James had come out on top, his first year as Quidditch Captain, holding a dazzling, gold trophy.

So now here he was, lounging in the sun soaked field next to The Great Lake with his feet being lapped by water, feeling amazing. He was surrounded by his friends, he'd just finished his last exam of the year, and he and all the other N.E.W.T. Transfig kids were now blissfully enjoying their freedom before tonight's farewell feast. James was particularly looking forward to the real party that would follow. It was tradition for the House that won the House Cup to throw the afterparty in their common room. The current rankings had Ravenclaw and Slytherin neck and neck, but James had confidence that the Ravenclaws would easily hold onto their slim lead for the next few hours. What could possibly go wrong in that short amount of time?

"I'm bored," Sirius sighed next to him, undoing yet another button of his white shirt, his tie long ago having been tossed deep into the lake. It was an unusually hot day, but James also suspected Padfoot might have been stripping even if it wasn't. While James found that he himself was always trying to impress other people, whether it was his parents, his teachers, or whatever cute girl was in the vicinity, Sirius tried to impress no one really but himself — or maybe James too. Yeah, he'd do anything to get a laugh outta me, James thought happily.

"Whatcha reckon we should do about that?" James asked, casually allowing his elbows to sink further back into the sand. There was only one small stretch of lake that felt even remotely beachy, so that's where most of the students had gathered.

"Ugh, I should have waited to dump Jacqueline until after tonight," Sirius moaned.

"Cad," Remus scoffed from James' other side. Wormtail was still taking his Divination exam.

"Don't be so uptight, Moony," Sirius laughed, reaching over James to push their friend's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get your lucky lass soon enough." He laughed again, blowing some of his silky hair out of his face. "I can't believe Prongsie here is the only one of us currently taken."

James smirked, looking out over the water. What I tell you? I'm the shit.

"Not that he's getting anything out of it. What, Susan believes that snogging for longer than five seconds is a sin?"

James came crashing down from his haughty daze annoyed. "Hey—"

Sirius sniggered. "Thinks it might inspire her to sully her good name if she's seen in a state that's anywhere near less than perfect? Make people question her entire character?"

"Shut it, Pads," James grumbled. Susan had been his girlfriend for a couple months now, and sure, she wanted to take things quite slow — but James really didn't mind. He liked the girl, and like hell he was ever going to pressure anyone into doing something that they weren't ready for. Was he ready for more? Duh, but James knew her feelings on the matter were more important than his own, and he was cool with it. As far as he was concerned… that was that.

"Someone is pissed he's gonna die a virgin…" Sirius taunted further.

"Pads!" James hissed, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone had overheard him. While he was cool with still being a virgin, that didn't mean he wanted the fact to be broadcasted. He still wanted to at least give off the air of being the coolest man, not boy, alive. The only people who knew the truth about his lack of sexual experience were his best friends and his girlfriend. Everyone else had believed the story Julie had spread last year of them doing it on broomsticks after Ravenclaw had won the Quidditch Cup. Why the general public had so easily fallen for such an obvious exaggeration (she'd let him eat her out in the locker room afterwards — they'd hardly been airborne) was beyond him. Although, he supposed all his grandiose brags and tales of magnificent adventures had to catch up to him at some point.

"Relax, Prongs. I'm sure some girls will find it very, very sweet that you still haven't popped that cherry. Hell, maybe you can tell a 7th year tonight. I bet they'd be blown away a stud like you is still 'pure' and then be the first to really blow you away—"

"You're a pig."

Sirius smiled, crossing his forearms and resting his elbows on his knees. "I just think that sex is a beautiful thing. Don't judge me for my beliefs pal; what would Susan say about that?" James rolled his eyes, really over his best mate digging into his girlfriend — again. Sirius had always made his thoughts on her abundantly clear. James stood up, ready to push him into the water. Sirius dug his heels into the sand as they started wrestling, laughing the whole time. "No, really! If you're all supportive of her, you gotta be supportive of me!" Just before James finally swept Sirius' legs out from under him and toppled him in with a splash, Sirius yelled, "Free the tatas!"

James shook his head in amusement as people around them cheered — whether over Padfoot's outlandish proclamation or his dramatic climb out of the water, shrugging off the rest of his shirt and shaking out his hair like a dog, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that five seconds later he was running away from a sopping wet Padfoot, hellbent on hugging him to get him just as wet as he was.

"Fuck— bad Pads, bad! Off!" James yelped as he dodged and weaved his best friend, trying to deflect him.

While he was more athletic than Sirius, one could never claim that Sirius wasn't doggedly stubborn. "Payback's a bitch!" he shouted, still trying to capture James.

Fuck this. No longer thinking, James sprinted off to a deeper part of the Lake and dove in, deciding it was better to get out of this silly game his own way. Besides, it was bloody hot, and the water felt delightful. He slowly let his body float to the surface before swimming the little way back to shore, shaking out his hair much like Sirius just had, but even James knew he surely wasn't achieving the same model-esque look that his best friend so effortlessly had. He threw a hand into his hair, fluffing it out — much more my style. As much as he would love to have Sirius' raw sex appeal, achieved by truly not giving a damn, James knew he gave far too many damns to make that feasible. He'd always had more of a boy-next-door charm — a dimpled, crooked smile, eyes that lit up when he was up to no good, a little mischievous wink that he could hardly help — and it worked for him. James knew he was fit, but he wasn't delusional.

Although… he knew he had better abs than Sirius, and he wasn't above using them. If Sirius had gotten cheers when he'd reappeared out of the water, like hell if James wasn't going to try to get them too. Trying to one-up each other in their stupidity was the glue that held Sirius and James' friendship together.

It also kept things fun.

As soon as James trudged out of the lake, he reached for the hem of his shirt, crossing his arms and pulling the white material that was sticking to him up and off. Any attempt at sex appeal was ruined, however, when the action tossed his waterlogged glasses off his nose and into the nearby sand.

Bloody useless things, James sighed as he reached down and grabbed them, wiping away the sand and remaining water so that when he put them back on he could finally see.

Unfortunately (Or fortunately? It was so hard to keep track of his own desires nowadays), what he saw when his vision returned to him was a stunned Bellatrix and Evans sitting just beneath him — the former in horror, the latter in… he didn't even want to think about it.

But he couldn't not. Evans was sitting there with her hair in a loose braid lying on her right shoulder, her perfect red lips formed in an almost comical 'o'. Her eyes were glued to him, looking up and down his torso with a hunger that he would have dreamed of Susan having for him. Was he being selfish? Absolutely, but was it wrong of him to want his girlfriend to want him? He didn't think so? Was it wrong of him to want this Slytherin to do things to him that only girlfriends were allowed to do? Maybe… that's more of a grey area.

Why was he blushing? Hell, why was Evans even staring this hard and openly at his body in the first place?

Whatever the reason, she was very much not his girlfriend, but instead his (super sexy, evil, yet dangerously alluring) arch nemesis.

… But the way she was looking at him right now made James wonder if she'd forgotten that fact too. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he tried swallowing away the unexplainable scratchiness in his throat. He thought this might have been the moment that Evans realized that she wanted him physically just as much as he had secretly always wanted her.

Fuck. It was one thing to yearn to hate fuck her through a wall. (And he did, he really, really did, even though he was smart enough to know that this problematic fantasy didn't have to be acted upon and could just remain secretly, safely, tucked away in the darker corners of his brain. He was only human; he got that. And he knew he shouldn't punish himself for his own thoughts, only his actions.) However, it was another thing entirely to know that she'd let him. Hell, who was he kidding? Evans would be the one to hate fuck him through the ground. James was secure enough in who he was as a person to realize that she would be in control or any sort of dalliance they'd ever have… even if it was only in his head.

It better remain solely in your head, buddy.

"What a waste of pure blood," Bellatrix spat, jarringly hurdling James back into the reality of the situation.

Without another glance at the girls, he strode off, back towards his friends, his people. He couldn't believe that of all the girls in the world to preform an impromptu little strip tease for, it had been them. Oh the perils of being legally blind…

Just before he got out of earshot though, he heard Evans say, "I can think of some ways to put it to use."

James nearly tripped as he realized the implication of her words. He knew his tendency to get boners all willy-nilly was on par for the course of being a teenage boy, but he'd really appreciate it if girls wouldn't willfully try to give him them while he was wearing trousers practically glued to his body.

This girl was a vixen. This girl was a snake. He'd definitely be wanking to her words, and the picture it had painted in his head, later tonight. Fuck this girl.

"Okay, let's play a game," Sirius called to him as he approached, completely missing how James was adjusting himself. James really hoped it just looked as though he was merely trying to unstick the fabric from off his crotch. "Fanged frisbee? Shirts versus skins?" He looked down at himself theatrically. "Wow, and would you look at that?"

Marlene stood up from a group of girls nearby. "Well, that's rude, what if I wanted to be on your team?"

Sirius gave her a wink as he threw a heavy arm over her shoulders. "I mean, you can still be skins with us, Marley."

James' resulting shove of his best mate for hitting on his cousin may just have been the start of another all out water wrestling war. James felt a pair of emerald eyes admiring him the whole while… and he'd be lying if he said he didn't like it.

"Slytherin won? How did they beat us?!" Wormtail whinged at the farewell feast that night as Dumbledore transformed all the banners hanging around them green.

James watched in disgust as the silver snake in the middle of the nearest banner writhed and stuck out its forked tongue. He thought it was the wrong question: How did Slytherin beat Ravenclaw on the last day?!

"Well, maybe because we lost Gryffindor about 100 points this year. Each," Remus responded dryly, scooping some more ice cream into his mouth.

"Oh yeah," Wormtail sighed.

"Fuck! You know what this means though right?" Sirius exclaimed, a wild look on his face. "We have to go to their dormitory for the party! Fucking gross."

James supposed their luck of never having Slytherin win the House Cup had finally run out. Gryffindor had won their first year, before the Marauders had really gotten a groove on all their mischief making (or they were just too cute to deduct too many points from), but all the other years, the winners had either been Hufflepuff, or mostly Ravenclaw. "We don't have to go," James offered.

"What? What?" Sirius spat out incredulously. "And let them win?"

"They did win," Remus reminded him.

"No, let them win-win. Like let them keep us from partying like it isn't our Merlin-given right as Hogwarts students!"

"Wow, Pads, if only you were this passionate about literally anything else—"

"Shut it, Moony," Sirius threw out before getting serious once more, hunkering down over the dinner table. "Look. If we don't go, it will send the wrong message, like, that they scare us or that they can keep us from having a good time or whatever."

"Honestly, I don't know if I can have a good time in their lair," James reasoned.

"Mate," Sirius said with a slap to his shoulder, "of course we can have a good time." James chuckled and grabbed another cookie. "So what do we say? Marauders in?"

James suppressed any thoughts having to do with red hair and even redder lips. "Well, I am curious about what the Slytherins think a good time is."

"Right?!" Sirius cheered. "If it sucks, it's still a win, because we can hold it over them next year."

"Jamie!" Susan cried as she ran out from the Ravenclaw spiral staircase to where the Marauders were waiting for her.

"Hey," James cooed as she sprang into his arms, hugging her tight. "You look nice." She was wearing a light blue summer dress and, dang did he love warm weather.

"All right, let's go!" Sirius said, clapping his hands together as he led the way, following the general throng of students all descending to the very bottom of the castle. The closer they got, the more excited the buzzing of teenagers ready to let loose and party one last time before summer became. James and Susan hung back a little bit from his friends, trying to form some semblance of intimacy whilst surrounded by madness.

"Will you miss me?" Susan whispered in James' ear, squeezing a pulse through the hand she was holding. She was set to go to Paris all summer with her mother, attending some sort of etiquette school for proper ladies that she was really excited about. James didn't get it, thinking she was already more than proper enough, but if she was excited, he was excited for her.

"Of course I will. But you'll have your owl, right?"

She beamed at him. "Of course."

James kissed her nose, an acceptable form of PDA for her, as they neared the cold, dark threshold of the Slytherin dorm. James thought it was kind of sad that these kids, arses that they all undoubtably were, all seemed to live in what appeared to be a Halloween mansion year round. The cavelike entrance leveled out into a rectangular common room with a wall of solid glass in the back that looked out into the eerily illuminated depths of The Great Lake. The walls were lined with dusty old candles in bizarre snake like holders, dripping grey puddles of wax onto the uncarpeted stone floor below, and the green flames in the fireplaces on either side of the room didn't seem to provide warmth the same way they did just a few floors up in Gryffindor. The place felt haunted.

"Why is it so cold in here?" Susan whispered by his side as she hugged herself.

Well, that won't do. James took off his sweater, gallantly offering it to her. She smiled and took it from him before giving him a peck on the cheek.

Figuring they were too sober to join the dance floor, the Marauders made their way over to the rest of the 6th years in one corner of the room just in time to hear them decide to play Truth of Dare.

Fuck, well I don't know if I'm too sober for that either. Sirius answered James' musing by stuffing a glass of Icevodka into his hand. He had no idea how he'd managed to procure drinks this quickly, but man was he grateful.

James sipped on his drink, nodding when Susan said she was going to say hi to her friends for a bit.

"Aren't we a little old for this game?" James whispered to Remus. He knew if he asked the same to Sirius, he would rightfully give him a hard time for being a 'chicken'.

Remus looked at him sympathetically. The dares always seemed to thrive on making people cheat on their partners. "Don't worry. With a group this big, I bet everyone will only have to go once. Pick a truth."

Remus was right; James realistically would only have to go once, and most people here weren't sadistic. Then again, some people were… James watched as Bellatrix charmed the circle with a golden shimmering light that would pulsate red if anyone told anything but the complete truth, or would slowly enclose upon a person (before sticking to their skin and tinting them neon yellow for at least a week) until they completed a dare. Why did he suddenly feel so claustrophobic? Well, you are in a bloody basement right now.

James only relaxed when Wormtail attempted to do the worm to everyone's delight and then further still when Linda Tompkins admitted that she'd always had a crush on Professor Pennyworth. Several girls sighed and shook their heads in solidarity.

"Really?" Sirius exclaimed. "But the guy's a ponce."

Linda rolled her eyes, giving Sirius the bird. "Don't be jealous because I only acquired a sense of taste after hooking up with you."

A cheer of 'Oooh!'s echoed around the room as James chuckled into his drink. Sirius looked at him offended. "Traitor."

"Sorry, mate," James laughed, tucking Susan back under his arm when she snuggled up next to him on one of the two half-circle couches they were currently all perched upon. One of the Slytherins had clearly charmed them so that they always seemed to have room for one more occupant, even when the couch looked positively jam-packed already. "But you did sorta dick her around."

Sirius huffed as Linda geared up to humiliate him in one way or another. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." As if James had ever suspected that Sirius would pick anything else.

Linda smirked. "I dare you to give a lap dance to the girl you find the hottest here."

James groaned. Okay, so this girl had actually never taken the chance to really get to know Sirius at all if she thought that this was some form of sweet revenge. She'd basically given him permission to act exactly as ridiculously as he always wanted to anyway.

Sirius got up and sauntered towards Linda, maintaining eye contact the whole time. Oh, don't do it, don't pull away at the last moment to someone else just to psyche her out — but of course what James had just predicted was exactly what Sirius was now doing.

What James would never in a million years have predicted though, was just who Sirius would choose to give a lap dance to instead.

Evans.

His best friend was gyrating his hips, and then turning around and shaking his butt on Evans' lap. What the fuck…

She looked livid.

"Sod off, blood traitor!" Bellatrix screeched beside her before pushing her cousin off of her best friend, and for one glorious moment, James thought that perhaps that was why Sirius had done it. Maybe Sirius had never meant to just declare that he thought that Evans was fit, but just knew that picking her would piss the most people off?

Piss off people like you?

No. Sirius had no idea that James fancied Evans. (Because I don't fancy Evans.) James froze, gently easing his grip on his glass now that he realized he was about to shatter it painfully into his palm. And I'm not pissed… because that would implying caring.

Another unpleasant realization hit James — Sirius must actually think that Evans was the most beautiful bird in this circle because the shimmering gold light that enclosed them all in a half dome hadn't started closing in on him. He was completing his dare to a tee.

Fuck.

It was just funny that Sirius also thought that she was hot, that was all. It was simply weird for James to realize that perhaps if Sirius could admit it, he was also allowed to admit it, and that maybe he didn't have to pretend like grass wasn't green or water wasn't wet or something. Perhaps merely acknowledging the fact that Evans was fucking sexy did not mean that James was just as bad of a person as she was. Maybe the act of finding her hot didn't have to equate to condoning all of her past misdeeds — as if he was now as evil as she was even though he had never actually committed any of her crimes. She was just hot. And he knew it.

James chanced another look at Evans while Sirius reclaimed his spot on the couch next to him and found her already looking his way, the green flames of the fireplace making her eyes dance and look more alive than ever. For the life of him though, he could not figure out why she'd turned her attention to him after his best friend's little stunt. She was definitely going to kill him — why me?! — or fuck him. He wasn't sure why, yet he somehow knew that those were the only two options here. Suddenly, he was both scared and turned on.

It was a truly discombobulating combination.

"So Evans," Sirius simpered next to him, "truth or dare?"

Both James and Evans broke eye contact (suddenly no longer alone in a room of perhaps a hundred students) to look at Sirius. While James looked at him with dread, Evans had nothing but pure grit in her small smile.

"Truth."

"Is it true that you banged the Prewett twins at the same time?"

Her face gave absolutely nothing away. "No." She turned to James in the same breath. "Truth or dare, Potter?" James felt Susan stiffen beside him.

What? James' head spun at a thousand kilometers per hour, not sure how he'd gone from graphically imagining possibly the year's most tawdry rumor, and having to deal with the sadness — and what is this feeling, relief? — that it wasn't true, to having the tables turned on him.

The tables had been abruptly turned to him. Fuck. So much for a nice, fun game. He knew what he had to do — for his own dignity and for the sake of his relationship.

"Truth," he boldly declared, looking at Evans and hoping his inner monologue wasn't being played like a teleprompter across his forehead.

Evans considered him for a moment, and once more he felt like they were the only two people in the room. She had this cumbersome little wisp of hair that had escaped her braid and it was over one eye, obstructing his perfect view of her and he just wanted to, I don't know, push it back behind her ear so he could see her more clearly. You know, so he could read her face in case she was about to broadcast murderous thoughts or something. James thought that might be vital information that he should be on the lookout for.

Her gaze strayed for a millisecond to Susan right next to him and James' stomach lurched, not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Was Evans looking at her for inspiration to launch the most cruel and horrific question his way and hit him where it really hurt, or was she looking as if to remember that he had someone there whose opinion of him was quite precious and therefore she might lob him an easier query?

Did you forget who you're dealing with?

James couldn't help but feel like he was doomed. Please don't ask me how I feel about you, please don't ask me how I feel about you… he chanted in his head. Not only was James terrified of the answer, but he also didn't want the first time he unpacked such a loaded question to be whilst a shimmering bubble was ready to out him for lying while he figured it out.

"Is it true that you're a virgin?"

James felt, rather than heard, the collective gasp that travelled around the circle as though it had shook his very bones. What in the actual fuck — how did she know to ask that? Who had told her?

James turned to Sirius beside him, punching his shoulder. "I knew you said that too loud today—" he hissed through his teeth.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Sirius whispered back, rubbing his now dead arm.

James ran an uncomfortable hand through his hair while Susan fidgeted beside him. "So what if he is?" she threw out to the crowd at large. "I think it's romantic!"

James closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in through his nose. He knew she was defending him, but he really wished she wouldn't. Evans was already trying to publicly emasculate him, and making it appear like he couldn't stand up for himself wasn't going to help things.

Ignoring his burning cheeks, he opened his lids to stare at Evans. "Yes."

Her eyebrow quirked as she brought her martini glass to her mouth (Slytherins had martinis? Pretentious assholes), taking a tiny sip before licking her lips. She loved hearing the truth. "Interesting," she simpered as sniggers ran like wildfire amongst the 6th years.

James wanted to die of embarrassment. Sure, he hadn't been the one to start the rumor of his sexual prowess, but he had definitely never made a move to stop it.

"Quick followup," Bellatrix said, smiling from the other side of the circle like a Cheshire Cat. "Truth or dare, Smith?"

Susan sputtered and James hadn't been aware that her hand had been on his thigh until she began squeezing it. "Dare!"

"I dare you to tell us why you yelled at us that James was a virgin today."

It was a bitch move — everyone knew that. You weren't supposed to take dares and twist them in such a way to make the other person tell a truth anyway, but there really was no honor amongst Slytherins. Bellatrix let out a deranged little cackle as the gold bubble slowly started passing through their peers, intent on locking Susan in on her 'dare'.

James looked at Susan puzzled. What the fuck? She'd been the one who had told everyone his secret, not Sirius? That made absolutely no sense, why would she want everyone to know that her boyfriend wasn't nearly as cool as he pretended to be? What gives?

"I-I didn't," Susan tried, her nails really digging into his trousers now. She was lying. James didn't need the golden bubble's relentless approach to tell him that.

"Tsk, tsk," Bellatrix cooed. "Good girls don't lie, Susie. Why'd you do it?" The more Susan squirmed, the more gleeful Bellatrix became. "Come on, you can't already have forgotten! We were just in the bathroom a few hours ago! You practically shouted at us about how your little Pureblood boyfriend would never stoop to our level by getting his dick wet. Because he was literally too pure. Why?"

Hearing that the word that Sirius had just jokingly teased him with — a word that sounded all too natural rolling off of Bellatrix's tongue — had been used seriously by his girlfriend made James' skin crawl. Having her own beliefs was one thing, but James didn't want other people bragging about his innocence on his behalf — it was fucking weird. Why would she say that?!

Susan's pale blue eyes turned to James horrorstruck, and suddenly, James' mind flipped. Whatever had happened in the loo, it didn't matter. James never wanted to see a girl look like this, especially one he cared for. "It's fine, we'll talk about it later," he soothed, taking her hand into his own. "Just say the truth and get it over with."

Susan gulped in a big breath with his encouragement and turned back to the Slytherins. "Because it was the truth." The shimmering bubble continued to close in. "Because you guys insinuated that he was a manwhore." James looked up, confused about why the golden magic was still drawing nearer, but also why the hell they'd called him a manwhore. That seems a tad too far, don'tcha think?

"Uh oh, tick tock," Bellatrix taunted.

"Because you guys made me say it!" Susan was getting more frantic now, her lies spilling out of her mouth more rapidly. It was as if she was throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what would stick, see what twisted version of the truth would get her the most sympathy from everyone else in the circle so she could come out of this whole mess scot-free. She wouldn't be the one who'd thrown her boyfriend under the bus, she'd be the poor innocent bird who'd been tricked by the Slytherin harlots into exposing a secret that she really, truly, hadn't wanted to. "Because you guys manipulated me! Because Julie lied!" She scanned the room in a blind panic, watching as everyone squinted at her suspiciously. "Because James is a good person, and everyone should know that!"

James didn't understand why she was making this worse on herself. He also didn't know how he felt about his girlfriend viewing his virginity as being this deeply tied to his morality like this. Is this how girls all across the world feel? Sure, it wasn't fun finding out that his girlfriend had been the one to rat out something he'd told her in confidence, but at the end of the day, it wasn't worth her getting as embarrassed about as he was. Even if it turned out that Susan was an untrustworthy, bad girlfriend, that didn't mean that James would ever wish this level of humiliation upon her. That would be most unGryffindor of him. "Just tell the truth," he whispered in her ear. He'd meant what he said earlier, this was a discussion they could have later, in private.

Just as the golden film got within half a meter of Susan's skin, she shrieked, "Because I like holding how virtuous James and I are over your heads! Because it shows I'm better than you guys!"

There was a shocked silence in the wake of her declaration as the bubble of consequences bounced back to its original position. Sirius broke the awkward tension with a low whistle.

"Heh, McGonagall didn't seem to think that you were better than us though, did she?" Bellatrix carried on, not caring that Susan was on the brink of tears as it were. Actually, that wasn't accurate, she did care — she loved it. "That's why she docked all those points from Ravenclaw after your truly bizarre outburst about your boyfriend's purity, isn't that right?"

Hold up, McGonagall heard that?! James honestly wanted to die now. Had Susan just screamed that he was a virgin for the whole school — students, teachers, ghosts — to hear?

"Wait, you're the one who lost us all those points today?" Ravenclaw Joseph cried out scandalized from his seat further down the couch. "We lost the bloody House Cup because you had to blurt out the state of your boyfriend's hymen?"

Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Okay, maybe in a few days' time, James might find it slightly humorous that his sexual status had somehow determined the course of Hogwarts' history just like Sirius (to his left, fully laughing his arse off) clearly did now, but he wasn't there yet. "Back off, Joe," James growled.

However, it was already too late for Susan's fragile nerves, because James watched as his girlfriend got up and fled the Slytherin common room with tears streaming down her face.

"Fuck you," James threw over his shoulder to Bellatrix as he followed Susan.

Bellatrix only smiled harder as she put up her middle finger in response. "Sounds like you wouldn't know how!"

"Susan, wait!" James called as he caught up to her next to the kitchens. She was leaning against the wall, covering her face as her shoulders shook. "Come on, don't cry," he pleaded, hating the sight.

"T-that w-was so humiliating!" she sobbed, quickly wiping away her tears.

James bent his knees a little as he turned her around so he could look her in the eye. "Susan. They're jerks. They'll say anything to get under your skin. Don't let them."

"I-I can't be-believe they made me say that!"

James wanted to correct 'admit that,' but he knew now wasn't the time. All he really wanted was for his girlfriend to stop crying, and then he could mull everything that had just happened over. He knew his priorities. "Shh, it's okay."

She leaned into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. He responded in kind. "They're monsters."

James kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair. "I know, I know."

"They just want to bring everyone down with them! Who do they think they are? Who are they to judge us? They don't have principals! They don't even know the difference between right and wrong!"

James held her as she ranted, letting her blow of the steam she needed to. Truth be told, his mind had already started to go a little haywire now that she'd calmed down — or now that she was no longer actively sobbing. He much preferred an angry girlfriend to a sad one.

"Sh, I know. I know." He had so much to think about.

Next Chapter: Tell Me The Truth ~ Two Feet