Authors Note: Well, it certainly has been awhile. I actually started this chapter in the summer, but with school and college applications, I could never find time to get back to it. Somehow, I found the urge to write today, so I finally got it out. Sorry for the extreme delay. I hope it was somewhat worth it. I could only fit in two story lines to this chapter, but don't worry! Everyone will get covered, just not in every chapter. Hope you enjoy
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Truth or Dare: Such an interesting game isn't it? While most people find dares to be the juice behind the game, (and who wouldn't want to see their good friends run naked around a city block) I've always been a little more partial to truth. You always find out new things about the people you thought you knew best. When you really think about it, the fun in the game lies in the fact that you never truly know everything about a person, no matter how good a friend or even lover they are.
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"Ok, um…Hermione! Truth or dare?" Ginny brought her knees up to her chest as she sat on the floor of her flat with her three best friends. It was eleven-o-clock on a Tuesday night, and Hermione had called up a few hours earlier complaining of tons of stress mixed with mild boredom. After conferencing with the other half of their fabulous foursome, Ginny had arranged an old fashioned sleepover. After the obligatory chit-chat about Julia's continuing nightmare of a job with the Malfoy children, Hermione's new yet-to-be-classified "thing" with Harry, and Luna's nightclub, the night had turned to an exciting game of Truth or Dare.
"Merlin, I still can't believe we are playing this. What are we, second years at Hogwarts?" Hermione sat fidgeting. She had always had a love-hate relationship with this game.
"Come on!" Luna exclaimed. "Just chose one. We are wasting precious time here!"
"Ok! Ok! I guess I'll go with truth. You aren't making me drink any weird potion like you did seventh year."
"For the last time, it wasn't weird potion! It was just pumpkin juice with a taste repellent charm on it. We just liked watching you squirm." Ginny smiled at the memory of watching Hermione down what she thought was an anti-inhibition potion to get her to give Neville Longbottom a lap-dance. That game had been one for the history books. "Now," Ginny thought aloud, "what to ask?"
"You'd better make it good or I'm likely to fall asleep. Do you know what time it is?" Julia had been up since four in the morning after getting an urgent owl from Mrs. Malfoy that had turned out to be a list of errands she wanted Julia to run for her before coming into work. It had only taken two weeks for Julia to go from being the Malfoy's tutor to being their personal slave.
"Its only eleven fifteen, Granny! When did you get so old?" Luna had been sleeping until all hours of the afternoon with her new nightclub business booming.
"I'm sorry. Not all of our jobs involve dancing around with teenagers until all hours of the night."
"Girls! Break it up." Ginny yelled. "We have to think of a good question for Hermione, and for that, we need teamwork."
"Ok! Calm down. How hard can this be with so much good material?" Luna said with a smirk.
"Material?" Hermione began to get nervous.
"After all, we can ask her anything about Harry. This should be fun." Luna knew there was a reason she liked this game.
"Good thinking, Lovegood." Ginny said. "So Hermione, how big is he?"
"Excuse me! Don't you already know that?" Luna shouted cheerfully, tossing a throw pillow at Ginny.
"What!" Julia and Hermione shouted together, as Hermione almost fell over. Ginny went a little red in the face and hurled the pillow back at Luna.
"What?" Luna asked innocently. "They didn't already know?"
"No one knew. " Ginny started through clenched teeth. "It was a secret, remember?"
"Oh, yes. It's coming back to me now." Luna giggled. "They would have found out anyway, as I was planning on asking you about it during the game. Don't you just love Truth or Dare?"
"Whoa, wait a minute." Julia's head was still reeling a little, but not merely as much as Hermione's. "Are you saying that you had sex with Harry?"
"Not technically …" Ginny trailed off, seeing the stunned look on Hermione's face.
"What is that supposed to mean? `Not technically'?" Hermione said, still stone faced.
"It means, well, it means …"
"Spit it out, Weasley!"
"A hand job your seventh year!" Ginny screamed, then immediately buried her face in a pillow.
"And you never told me!" Hermione yelled more amused than angry.
"Well, even then, we all figured you had feelings for him. I didn't want to make you mad at me."
"That is so stupid! I don't care what you did with Harry. I don't even know what I'm doing with Harry right now, so …" Hermione couldn't believe Ginny would hide things from her.
"I'm sorry sweetie. I promise, no more lies." Ginny held out her hand for Hermione to shake. "Deal?"
"Yeah, deal. And that goes for everyone!"
"Ok." Luna and Julia nodded in agreement, then Luna continued, "So back to the game, how big is he?"
"We'll just keep that to ourselves." Ginny replied
"To yourself." Hermione interjected.
"What are you talking about? You've seen it, haven't you?" Julia asked, concerned.
"Well, wehaven'thadsexsincethefirstnight." Hermione mumbled to herself.
"Hold on! Rewind that back for me. What did you just say?" Luna found herself caught between being stunned and being amused.
Hermione took a deep breath. "We haven't had sex since that first night, and since I don't even really remember what happened that night, I don't know how big he is."
"God, that's depressing." Ginny sighed.
"Its not that we don't want to! It's just…I don't know what it is. We just haven't, so can we drop it. I mean, it's a weird situation. Why do you think I can't classify it yet, and you know, I always classify my relationships! It's what I do best, so lets just talk about something else, can we?"
"Of course we can. Guys, let's let Hermione pick a new person." Julia said, patting Hermione's arm.
"God, when did this turn into Depressionville? I'm going to get some more vodka. If this party needs anything, its more alcohol." With that, Luna stalked off to the kitchen.
"Why does she always have to get all weird when we talk about relationships. Just because she has commitment problems, doesn't mean she has to take it out on us!" Julia couldn't take Luna sometimes, and the other two knew it.
"Lets just get on with the game, shall we?" Ginny interjected, trying to stop controversy. "Maybe we should just pose some general questions to everyone. That way, no one feels pressured to answer."
"Good idea!" said Julia.
"Ok. I have a good one for everyone. Has anyone here ever done anything sexual with any of my brothers? No dirty details please. I don't think my stomach can take it." Hermione and Julia gave each other sideways glances as if asking each other if they should disclose this information. Julia gave Hermione a small nod, and they both started to giggle. "Lord, maybe this was a bad idea!"
"It's not as bad as you think." Hermione smiled.
"I'll go first. Three years ago. George. I was extremely lonely. I ran into him at the Leaky Cauldron. We talked for hours about anything and everything, while getting extremely drunk. One thing led to another and - "
"You slept with George!" Ginny squealed, coughing up her drink.
"No! Heavens no! We made out in a corner of the bar. We swore never to mention it. It was a good conversation though, now that I think about it." Julia was lost for a second in thought, until Ginny snapped her out of it.
"Ok, anyway! Moving on. Hermione, I have a feeling I know who this one involves." Ginny winked, remembering her brother's schoolboy crush on Hermione.
"I'm assuming you mean Ron, and you would be wrong. It was your father. He was wonderful. I have never been with a man more tender or sweet than Arthur Weasley." They sat in silence for a moment, during which Ginny failed to breathe. "Oh relax, you idiot! Of course it was Ron!"
"You bitch! That is a mental image I'll never rid myself off!" Ginny buried her face in her hands.
"Oh, its too easy to get you! Anyway, back to the question. Ron. Sixth year. I knew he liked me so I figured I'd let him kiss me just to see."
"And, " Ginny prodded, very surprised she had never heard about this before.
"Like kissing my brother. Completely awful." Hermione made a sour face at the memory.
"Are we still talking about Harry, because if we are, I'm going back into the kitchen." Luna said, walking back with an iced bottle of vodka.
"No, we were talking about who had gotten it on with anyone in my famed family. Sadly, these two were big duds, so that leaves you."
"Me?" Luna suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Why would you think that I would have done anything with your family?" She started to fidget with the bottle. "I mean, I'm so not into that red-hair thing, and anyway it's not like - " Luna was cut off by the sound of shattering glass. She had dropped the vodka bottle. "Oh my god! Ginny! God, I am so sorry."
"It's OK. Just don't move. Let me grab my wand, and we'll fix this right up." As Ginny tiptoed her way around the broken glass surrounding Luna, she noticed Luna's face was bright red. Hermione noticed as well from across the room and leaned into Julia.
"You think someone is hiding something?"
"Duh!"
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People are always lying to try and cover up who it is they truly are. It might be little things, like hiding the fact that they subscribe to a dirty magazine or that they once ate one hundred chocolate frogs in one sitting (and yes, both are me). However, it could be big things; anything from a secret crush to a hidden ex-lover, to a time they stabbed you in the back. It's secrets like these that scare women most in the dating world. How much do we ever really know about the people we date or even our friends, for that matter?
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Two nights later, Hermione found herself using her newfound knowledge of her friends to spark up conversation with another old friend.
"So, a hand job seventh year? That must've been fun!" Hermione smirked as she passed Harry his Sesame Chicken. Chinese food was another one of their odd rituals. Harry choked on his egg roll at the unexpected comment.
"W-what?"
"Ginny. You. Hands moving over things. I'm sure you couldn't forget a thing like that!" She smiled again and jokingly patted his hand.
"Oh god. Do you girls have to share everything? I can't believe she told you that!"
"Why do you care? I don't. It was ages ago! I just like making you squirm." She laughed at his confused face as she grabbed herself another dumpling.
"I don't care that you know. It's just - I don't know. Guys don't talk about stuff like that."
"Oh please! What about all that `locker room talk' about who's shagged whom? I know you and Ron have talked about all that kind of stuff."
"Not 6 years after it happened!"
"Yeah, well, truth or dare brings these things out."
"You were actually playing truth or dare? What are you guys! Second years at Hogwarts?"
"That's exactly what I said!" Hermione smiled at their likeness, and she could see Harry doing the same.
"It's like one mind!" He said motioning back and forth between them. "Well, in this game, did anything come up about us?"
"What do you mean `about us'?" Hermione had been trying to avoid the subject all night.
"Oh come on. I know your friends, especially Luna, wouldn't pass up a chance to talk about this," He paused thinking of the right word, but nothing came to him, "this thing of ours."
"Do we really have to talk about this?"
"Hermione, I know you of all people should want to talk about this. You have to classify everything!"
"I said that too." She mumbled. Sometimes she wished he didn't know her so well. "Harry, something did come up, but I just don't feel like talking about -"
"Hermione, just spit it out! What did you tell them?"
"I told them we haven't had sex since the first night!" She yelled, sounding a little angrier than she would have hoped. "There! Are you happy? They know, and they thought it was weird, but I made them stop talking about it. Ok? That's it."
"They thought it was weird? Why?" He looked genuinely confused.
"Because they're all sex-crazed lunatics. I don't know! Why is that what we are focusing on?"
"It was just a question. Merlin, calm down." Harry calmly ate some more chicken while Hermione gaped at him, appalled at him calm.
"How can you not find it odd that we had sex before we were even together, and now that we are, or at least, now that I think we are together, we haven't even gone past second base? Isn't that just a little strange to you?" Hermione stopped to catch her breath after releasing the question she had been carrying around for two weeks. Harry suddenly looked very uncomfortable and nervous. Hermione felt slightly satisfied that she had finally gotten to him, but also nervous at what he was about to say. Nothing could have braced her for what came next.
"Well, actually, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What?" Hermione was now getting more and more nervous.
"About the first night." Harry looked like he was trying to swallow, but couldn't get it down. Hermione didn't understand this sudden shift in mood.
"What about the first night?"
"We, uh, we didn't really. What I mean to say is we didn't - "
"Spit it out, Potter!"
"We didn't have sex."
Hermione sat frozen for what seemed like an eternity. She couldn't speak. She just kept repeating what Harry had said over and over, until she could finally squeak out a weak "What?"
"That first night when you were drunk, I was putting you into bed. I changed your clothes and helped you into bed, and you came onto me. Then you kissed me. It was just so amazing, that I knew I couldn't deny how I felt about you anymore, but we didn't … you know. Then when you left in the morning so quickly, I figured you probably thought we did, and I thought maybe that would help you to see me as I saw you." Hermione remained silent, which made Harry a little shaky. He figured he should keep talking. "Then, when everything seemed to work out, I thought it wouldn't matter. But now, we haven't had sex again because I knew it would be our first time. I wanted to make it really special. Then I realized you wouldn't think it was the first time and - " He stopped realizing everything he was saying, and how crazy it all sounded. "God, this is really fucked up, isn't it?"
"Yes," Hermione said softly while nodding, "it is." She just stared at the table, not blinking, not moving. Harry stood up and walked to her side. He bent down to try to look at her face. He saw a tear roll down her cheek, but when he went to catch it, she swatted his hand away. "How…" she started, then suddenly changed her tone. "How dare you! How the hell could you … I can't even … you completely … Harry James Potter, I cannot believe you would ever lie about something like that! Its sick and offensive, and I just … I can't be here right now. I have to go. I have to go right now." She got up and reached over for her purse on the kitchen counter. Harry grabbed her arm.
"Hermione, stop! We have to talk about this. About everything! We don't even know what the hell we are doing with each other! You can't just leave."
"Don't you dare tell me what to do! I don't even know what to do with this information. I can't believe you would lie about something like this. I thought I knew you Harry, and I thought you knew me. How could you do this to me? How?" And with that, Hermione quickly Apparated back to her flat, ran into her bedroom, fell onto the bed, and began to cry, feeling even more like a twelve year old girl at Hogwarts then she had two nights before.
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Everyone has his or her first date persona. You know the one. It says "Hi! I'm attractive and interesting. I have no distinguishing flaws or interesting features, for that matter. I can make interesting conversation about the state of my house salad. Please take me on a second date". Isn't this a lie in and of itself? This is not who we truly are, yet its what we all chose to project to those who we could end up spending our lives with. What are we all so afraid of? Are we afraid of losing those we could potentially, or do already, love? Are we afraid of hurting people? Whatever the case may be, I think its time we all looked at ourselves and asked why we do this. Whatever the reason, I can almost always guarantee that telling the truth will get you what you desire ten times faster. I mean, you get to avoid the awkwardness that always comes when you first witness flaws in your new boyfriend or when they witness them in you. Who hasn't been embarrassed the first time they burped in front of a guy or when they made a crack about the latest political scandal, only to realize it had been resolved three weeks earlier? We need to realize that no one is perfect. I mean, wouldn't it be so much easier if they already knew your flaws and could chose to accept them right away or just leave? It would save a lot of time.
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Meanwhile, in a far less dramatic apartment, Luna had been waiting for two hours for him to come. If I say be here at nine, what does that mean to him? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! She glanced at her watch. Half-past ten. Damn it! She had to be at the club in half an hour, and then she wouldn't see him for two weeks. She needed him now, but did he care? No! Luna hated being this dependent on someone, but she couldn't stop herself now. There was too much stress already from the club. Suddenly she heard that familiar popping noise from her front hall. She ran out of the bedroom and slammed the door, confronting him.
"Where the hell have you been? I have a life you know! I can't spend an hour and a fucking half waiting for you to decide to prance on over here. If you want to do this, you have to agree to my terms!"
"Sheesh! Calm down. I got caught up at the office. What do you want me to do about it?" He walked closer and started to rub her arms gently. He just needed her to calm down.
"I just need you here when I need you here." She sighed, taking in the feeling of his hands. She was still mad, but getting less so by the second.
"Well, it wouldn't be so hard to get here if I could actually tell people where I was going. I had to talk to my mother for twenty-five minutes to convince her I couldn't come over for dinner. If I just had a good excuse, like say, I have to meet my girlfriend, I wouldn't be so late."
"Ok. One: don't use that word. It's too … conventional. And two: I don't need the world to know about this right now. I just can't deal with it."
"Deal with what! People are in relationships all the time. It's not like the second coming of You-know-who!"
"Stop with this whole `relationship', `girlfriend' thing. That is not what is happening here. Sex is happening here and that is all. Got it?" Luna pulled his arm away and placed it on her breast. "See? Sex, that's all this is."
"Well," he pulled his arm off and put his hands on his hips, "what if that is not all there is? What if I want more?" He pulled her into him quickly and pressed his lips onto hers. He knew he could break her. This had been going on far too long for it to just be sex. He would get her to see that if it killed him, and it might. He needed more, more of her.
"No! Stop!" Luna pulled away and turned her back to him. "I can't do it. I just can't."
"What? You can't WHAT? What the hell are you so afraid of? Do you not have feelings for me? Can you really deny what's been happening here, because if you can than I'm out of here! I just don't understand what you are so afrai-" Luna suddenly whipped around with such force that it pushed him back against the front door.
"YOU! I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid of this." She motioned back and forth between them.
"What are you talking about?" He straightened himself up and looked into her eyes. They looked frightened and weak.
"You don't know me. You never have and … " She paused, as if she was going to go on, but she didn't. He stood there confused, seeing Luna in a totally different way. When they had started dating a few months earlier, it had been all about the physical. He admitted to himself that it was nice for a while. After some pretty heavy relationships, he needed some fun, and Luna needed the stress relief. They had agreed to keep it light and secret, acknowledging that the knowledge of others could complicate things. However, a few weeks ago, he started feeling more for her. He had known her for so long, but he just started seeing her power, her beauty. He loved the way she thought for herself and didn't have to do what other people expected her to. He needed more of her, but the strain of the secrecy was getting to be too much. He wanted to be able to get to know her even more, get inside that mind, but the more he tried, the more she closed off. She was keeping secrets, and he didn't understand why. He was now so close to cracking it, and then he suddenly figured out how to make the final blow.
"I love you!" He shouted. There was a long, awkward pause as Luna just stared at him, which was not exactly the response he had been hoping for.
"Ronald Weasley! Get the fuck out of my apartment!"
"Wh-what?"
"Now! Go. I'm not kidding." Luna avoided his eyes and pushed him as hard as she could out of the door, slamming it behind him. She turned around, falling back into the wall and slowly sunk to the floor. Then she cried.
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While there are always some things you should try to keep to yourself, like my chocolate frogs eating spree, hiding who we are is just going to hurt us in the long run. We all need to find people who love us, all parts of us, right now, so why are we wasting time getting people to like something we're not. Hopefully, I haven't hidden too much from you, and hopefully you can accept me for who I am, dirty magazines and all. Until next time, this is Ginny Weasley, your Hot Witch in the City, signing out.
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What is up with Ron and Luna? Will Harry and Hermione ever really have sex? Will the trio ever be together in the same room? Will Draco make an appearance as Julia's evil employer? What the hell is going on? To be honest, I don't really know…..just kidding ;) See you next chapter!
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