Dare or Truth?

stranger

Rating: PG
Genres: Romance, Humor
Relationships: Lily & James
Book: Lily & James, Books 1 - 5
Published: 25/04/2005
Last Updated: 01/05/2005
Status: completed

James and Lily become entangled in a game of Dare or Truth in an effort to prove who is superior. It promises to have interesting outcomes...

Chapters

1. A New Player

2. Let the Game Begin

3. And Then There Were Two

4. A bald head and Hogsmeade

5. Head over Heels

1. A New Player

Chapter 1 - A New Player

James Potter and Lillian Evans.

If ever you were to see the two together engaged in a conversation that did not lead to any insults, hexes or cruel jokes, then you, my friend, would be the first to witness such an event.

It was a fact known among the entire student body that Potter and Evans did not go together at all. They despised, hated and loathed each other. They could not stand within 5 metres of one another in fear of being contaminated- though many people in the school thought this was completely stupid. Everyone knew he was one of the most popular and handsome boys in the school while she was the prettiest, yet neither James nor Lily couldn't see that at all. In short, if you said that James Potter and Lily Evans would one day get married, you wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

Of course, it was nothing a little `Truth of Dare' game can't fix, right?

~~~

“How about…paying Peeves to drop a bucket of water on Snape?” Sirius Black, with a rather excited expression, asked the somewhat bored and uninterested James Potter, who simply looked at him with dead eyes and sighed.

“What's he on about now?” asked Remus Lupin, who just came in and sat opposite James at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

“He's trying to think of the 5 most humiliating ways to embarrass Snape”, replied James nonchalantly.

Remus rolled his eyes and smirked.

“Wait”, exclaimed Sirius with a big grin, “instead of a bucket of water, how about a bucket of dung!” Sirius squealed as if he were a five-year old girl.

“Ok that's it,” James muttered. Then he smacked his best friend hard behind his head, “Black, step out of it, you're 16 for crying out loud!”

Remus gave a small laugh.

“OW!” Shouted Sirius as he held his head, “What the hell was that for?”

“To wake you up from your unintelligible phase of giggling like a girl”, James answered, smacking him again in the same spot behind Sirius' head.

“All right that's it. Tonight, ten o'clock, Common Room, be there!” Sirius said trying desperately to sound threatening but miserably failing.

“For what?”

“For the continuation of Potter and Black's (and Lupin's, if he wanted to) Dare or Truth. I'm sure you can learn a lesson or two from that, to never again slap Sirius Black's head again. Deal?” Sirius asked, extending his hand to James.

“Deal”, James replied, taking his best friend's hand, while grinning from ear to ear.

Lily Evans looked down the table and saw James and Sirius shaking hands. Oh no, she thought, they are up to something again.

~~~

Potter and Black's (and Lupin's, if he wanted to) Dare or Truth is a game invented in their fourth year to challenge the boys, stretching them to their limit mentally and physically. Neither of them admit that they get very competitive, however anyone will say that they do, just wanting to prove they are the better one. The game, although called “Dare or Truth”, really was just “Dare”, consisting of challenges such as running to kitchens and back in record time or seeing how far they can get up the stairs to the girl's dormitories before it turned into a slide (so far they had only gotten up to the third step), or even things such as how many detentions they could possibly get in a week (which currently stood at nine).

This time however, Sirius was already planning his dares against his friend and knew exactly what to ask him…

~~~

“Ready mate?”

“As I'll ever be”.

They flipped the coin to see who would go first.

Tails.

Sirius grinned broadly and gave an evil look to his friend.

“It's tails, my beloved James. I believe that means I go first”.

Uh oh, thought James, here it comes. He prepared himself.

“Dare or Truth?”

“Do you honestly have to ask, you know he's going to say dare. It always is”, Remus said as he emerged from the stairs and sat down on one of the squishy armchairs. Remus would never miss another episode of the phenomenal game between the two because even he had to admit that the results were almost always quite amusing.

And this would be no exception.

“All right then”, Sirius continued, staring at James with his dark eyes that matched his dark hair, “go…kiss…Evans”.

All life stopped.

James couldn't blink.

“WHAT?!?!?!”

Sirius had given weird dares every time they played but this was a bit extreme. Kissing Lily Evans?

The last time Sirius gave James a dare that dealt with Lily was in their fifth year. He had dared James to take her out on a date and since James didn't want to seem a coward, he did. Lily was surprised and turned him down, so he just kept hassling her for half a year, trying desperately to make her say yes. One afternoon, after an OWL exam, he had almost gotten her to say yes but alas, it was not to be.

Remus couldn't hold back the laughter.

Sirius would have been peeing in his pants if the water weren't coming out of his eyes from laughing. He was on the ground holding his side.

“Sirius, buddy, Padfoot, that is just…” but James didn't finish. Calling Sirius his animagus name had given him an idea, “alright, I'll do it”.

Silence.

“What are you three doing?” asked a voice a few feet away from them.

It was Lily.

“Evans! What a surprise!” Sirius exclaimed while nudging James.

“You didn't answer my question”.

“Please take a seat, James will tell you all about it”, Sirius grinned, “or rather, he will show you”.

“Black, not yet”, warned James.

“Not yet what?” asked Lily while curiously looking at Remus who was again laughing quietly on the side.

“If you will excuse me, I'll be right back”, James said standing up and heading towards the boy's dormitories.

Halfway up the stairs, he transformed into a brilliant white stag then came prancing back down to the common room.

He saw Sirius' jaw drop and Remus' eyes wide. Lily however was standing on the couch screaming.

“Get it away from me! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!”

James moved toward Lily (who was still screaming), leaned in and licked her cheek, which in the case of an animal would mean kissing.

There, I've done it. I have kissed Lily Evans…sort of.

Lily got out her wand and planted countless hexes on James, who tried valiantly to run away but she persisted.

Different coloured lights shot out the end of Lily's wand as she slowly backed the stag in a corner.

James couldn't take it much longer. He was in pain and he couldn't run. The only way this would stop is if Sirius or Remus did something (which he highly doubted) or if he transformed back into his human self.

“AHHHHH!!!!” he screamed and with that he became James again.

Lily's eyes were surely about to pop out of her head. She dropped her wand.

“James?”

He was now on the ground waiting for the excruciating pain to end. He looked up at her.

“Yeah”, he puffed out.

“I'm so sorry”, she whispered.

“Don't mention it”, he said as he stood and made his way to the couch, the pain slowly going.

When it was gone, she hesitantly asked him, “Two questions. The first is are you a…um…an animagus?”

“Guilty”.

“The second is why did you lick my face?”

“Sirius dared me to”.

“What?” she said, slowly turning her head to look at Sirius, “you dared him?”

“We were just playing an innocent game of truth and dare”.

“Innocent?” Lily repeated, “look what happened to James here. He's got bruises galore!”

“I agree,” said James, “this is all his fault”. He pointed a finger at Sirius.

“This is as much your fault as it is his, James Potter”.

James shrank as far into the couch as he could when she stood up, towered over him and placed her hands on her hips, looking very much like a very threatening mother.

James expected she would curse him into oblivion, when she did something else that shocked him so entirely.

“While I am a prefect and know this is utterly foolish, I also agree that this game is quite an amusing one”, Lily said very calmly sitting back down, “I know for a fact that I rule this game whenever, wherever and whoever I play it against”.

Sirius sported a comical smirk, “is that so Evans?”

“That is so Black”.

“Care to join us?”

“Only if you insist”

“Oh, we insist”, James smiled evilly.

“As you wish…prepare to die…”

-->

2. Let the Game Begin

Chapter 2 - Let the game begin

Remus couldn't believe his ears when he heard that Lily Evans was joining Sirius Black and James Potter in their game and decided it was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity, so he joined in as well.

Lily's best friend since their second year, Adrienne, also agreed to join the game.

James, Sirius and Remus tried to get the final marauder to join, Peter, but he made up lame excuses as to not be a part of it. It was clear he had chickened out.

So, a week later, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans and Adrienne Waters sat down in the Gryffindor Common Room and began what was surely to be an interesting game.

“Shall we begin?” Sirius said.

Everyone nodded.

“How do we decide who goes first?” Adrienne asked.

“Alphabetical order?” James suggested.

“If my calculations are correct, `B' comes before any of your surnames so…hm…whom to pick…whom to pick…” Sirius muttered sarcastically, stroking his chin with his fingers in a mock show of thinking, “oh, I know, how about Adrienne Waters”.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief.

“Dare or Truth, Ade?”

“Don't you mean Truth or Dare?”

“No”.

“What's the difference?”

“No difference. James and I decided to add a little of our spice to the game so it is now Dare or Truth”.

“That's pathetic”, Lily said.

“Who cares? Get on with the game”, James said.

Adrienne paused for a while, contemplating the consequences of her answer, “Truth”.

“Damn!” Sirius replied, “I don't know any good truths, since we always play with dares. I've got a whole list of good dares in my head”.

“Too bad, Black, I pick truth”.

“Fine”, Sirius thought about it for a while but then smiled sweetly. He knew exactly what to ask.

James, who was almost a brother to him, knew what type of question he would ask and muttered, “uh oh, Pad don't be too cruel”.

“Out of us guys here, which would you like to kiss the most?” Sirius asked.

Adrienne gasped.

“And not just a peck on the lips”, Sirius continued, “the real deal”.

Lily giggled again, while the boys held their breaths, seeing just whom she would pick.

“Oh come on! You can't ask me that!”

“I just did and you can't get away from answering”.

She sighed in defeat and mumbled an answer no one but Lily could hear, who laughed out loud.

“Who?” The three boys said simultaneously, their patience wearing thin.

“Sirius”, she muttered.

Lily couldn't stop laughing and now James and Remus joined in. Sirius just smiled his most charming smile. He knew he was good. He prided himself on being `the ladies man', paying extra attention to his appearance every morning.

Once the laughter died down, Lily spoke up, “moving right along. `E' comes next so it's now my turn”.

James and Remus wiped away the remaining tears (from laughing).

“Ok, I pick…”, she moved across from Adrienne, to Remus, to Sirius and lastly to James. Her eyes stopped here, “James Potter”.

“This'll be good”, Remus said making himself comfortable in his chair.

“Why me?” James asked.

“Because I would love nothing more than to humiliate you”.

James now looked really scared.

“Truth or dare?”

“Uh, excuse me people, it's Dare or Truth, not Truth or Dare. Continue”.

Lily gave an annoyed sigh in Sirius' direction and tried again, “Dare or Truth?”

“You know my answer”

“I dare you to…wear something Adrienne and I pick out for you from our wardrobe, for the rest of the week”.

“Can't be so bad”.

He spoke too soon.

5 minutes later he was dressed in the tiniest denim skirt the world has ever seen. The sight was quite amusing. James, with his muscled, and not to mention hairy legs, coming out in a mini-skirt that probably couldn't even be considered clothing.

That was all it took for Sirius, Remus, Lily and Adrienne to burst out in laughter. The common room would certainly be flooded with their tears and all James could do was stand there in utter humiliation. He had enough and reached for his wand, “Accio Robe!”

His robe came flying towards him seconds later which he hurriedly put on.

“That was not funny Evans”, James said.

“Oh, I think…I think…it was”, she said while laughing, “You have to wear…wear it for…the rest of…the rest of the week!”

James rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

A couple of minutes later everyone had stopped laughing, except for Sirius who still couldn't stop thinking of his best friend in the mini-skirt. They chose to ignore him.

“Lupin's next”, Lily said.

“Ok…uh…Sirius?”

Sirius poked his head from the ground where he was currently lying, unable to keep himself on the couch in his state, “yeah?”

“Can I pick you?”

Sirius laughed, “sure, just don't make it too physical, I don't think I can move with this cramp”.

“I dare you to…ooh, I've got it…on the next Hogsmeade visit, you have to drink ten butterbears in 5 minutes”.

“Cool! I'm up for it, haven't heard of an easier dare”.

“You just wait, Pad, it's pretty damn hard”, James said while trying to find a comfortable position to sit in with the skirt, “I once tried it and I couldn't pass seven”.

“We'll see about that”.

There was a pause and then, “Well, `P' is next, Potter”, Lily said.

“Right you are Evans and I pick you”.

“Fine, bring it on”.

“Dare or Truth?” James asked, looking straight into Lily's bright green eyes

“Dare”, Lily answered, looking straight back into James' hazel ones.

“Oooooh”. Sirius, Remus and Adrienne knew the competition had started between the two.

This was turning very interesting.

“I dare you...” and evil smile spread across his face, “at breakfast tomorrow, jump on the teacher's table, in front of Dumledore, and sing Mary Had A Little Lamb to the entire school”.

This shocked everyone, not just Lily. Everyone knew Lily would never go that far.

When James saw Lily's face his grin grew, “Scared?”

Lily knew she would never hear the end of it if she didn't do it. James would make sure of that.

“Keep dreaming Potter, tomorrow morning, you'll see me standing on the teacher's table doing my thing. Just watch”.

“Oh, I will, Evans”.

~~~

“Prongs, you didn't do that”, Remus said that night in their dorm.

“I did, Moony. She'll just have to prove herself”.

“Prove what? She might get expelled!”

“Oh leave him alone Lupin, she'll be fine, right?” Sirius said and slapped James on the back in a manly gesture.

“Right”, he agreed.

After a pause, Sirius spoke, “Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I'm tired. See you blokes tomorrow morning, for what promises to be a very interesting day”

Remus shook his head while James also got ready for bed.

-->

3. And Then There Were Two

Disclaimer: I should have done this for the earlier chapters, so I'll do it now. As much as I'd want to, I don't own HP or the characters or anything else. It's all JK…

A/N: By the way, just wanted to say thanks soooooooooooo much to all of the reviewers. You guys have made my birthday (which is today) a lot happier!!!

Cheers!

Chapter 3 - And Then There Were Two

Lily Evans sat in her usual spot next to Adrienne and began filling her plate for breakfast while keeping an eye out for the Marauders, specifically James. She wanted to make sure he saw her so she could prove she could do it.

A few minutes in and she was beginning to think he wasn't coming when she heard an all too familiar voice behind her.

“Scared, Evans?”

“Potter”, she said, not turning around, “I almost thought you weren't coming”.

“Almost. You didn't think I'd miss an event like this. Are you gonna do the dare or sit there talking to me?” he leant down and whispered in her ear, which sent a surprise shiver down her spine.

“I think I'll do the dare”

James smiled his trademark Potter smile that many girls in Hogwarts adored, and watched her walk toward the Professors' table.

“Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, but may I say something to the whole school?”

Dumbledore looked at her with an amused expression, “If you must, miss Evans”.

“Thanks”.

She raised her wand to her throat and muttered, “Sonorous”.

Suddenly, all heads turned to Lily's direction as they heard her incredibly loud voice booming throughout the walls of the Great Hall.

Lily cleared her throat, “May I have your attention please!” she said, finding James to see him with a confused expression, “Students of Hogwarts! You are about to witness an event that has never been done in this school! While there is a great possibility that I might be expelled from this school, I just wanted to say to you, and our lovely professors, that it will be done in the most harmless of natures and purely out of good intentions. Just so you know, I was dared to do this by…”, she was about to say his name but thought against it. As much as she disliked him, she wanted to prove she was the better one, “…you know who you are”.

She silenced her voice as the entire school watched in anticipation of what was to come. That is, except for James (and their friends, since they know the dare). James couldn't believe she just did that! Though he was grateful that she didn't say his name. Perhaps she could be considered nice, only very slightly, he reminded himself.

Even the teachers had a curiosity as they looked to Lily.

Suddenly, Lily hopped on the table and sung a very loud Mary Had A Little Lamb.

There was no denying it; every last student was in hysterics, even James, especially Sirius.

McGonnagall looked too shocked to laugh but you could clearly see a smile behind Dumbledore's long beard.

When Lily finished, she took a grand bow (to which everyone cheered), apologized to the teachers and jumped off, heading to the Gryffindor table, which was cheering the loudest.

She sat down next to James with a big smile on her face which contrasted James' frown, and whispered three words to him, “Told you so”.

~~~

James hated the next few days. Every time he saw Lily around the place (she wasn't expelled) she had the same face that kept saying told you so to him. Add her smile and he thought he was going to explode.

Lily however was on the moon; nothing could ruin her day, except for a History of Magic class, which happened to be next. Putting her timetable away, she headed for the History of Magic classroom, sighing along the way. Being the cleverest girl in all her classes was hard work. She had a reputation to hold and couldn't afford her grades slipping. As much as she hated it, she knew she had to pay attention in all her classes, including her most dreaded one…History of Magic. What infuriated her most was that the bad boys James Potter and Sirius Black received the same grades she did, and they didn't even study!

Angrily she sat down next to Adrienne to begin another boring lesson.

Five minutes in and the class slumped in its usual state of stupor, while she tried, in a very feeble attempt, to write down notes.

Half an hour later, someone threw a piece of paper on her desk. She looked around to see James, Sirius and Remus signaling for her to open it.

Meet us tonight in the common room

(11 o'clock) to continue our little game.

Tell Adrienne.

~~~

That night, the five Gryffindors sat in their common room ready to brave another episode of Dare or Truth.

“Who's next?”

“I am”, Adrienne said, “and I pick Remus, Dare or Truth?”

“Truth”, he said.

Adrienne seemed very happy he said this and smiled as if she had this planned. Which she did.

“Ok, Remus…tell us where you disappear to once a month”.

The boys' eyes widened.

“What?”

“You heard me”. Her arms were crossed.

“Um…uh…w-well you see the thing is…my…mother gets sick…and I have to go home to help her”.

“She gets sick every month? Every full moon?”

Both Lily and Adrienne had noticed that Remus disappeared every full moon but were too scared to face him about it…until now.

“Yeah, her disease…it has something to do with…the lunar charts and stuff”, Remus said hesitantly.

“You're making her sound like a werewolf”, Lily said. She had no idea how dangerously close she was to figuring it out.

Remus' eyes grew wide again and James, trying to help his friend, gave a very fake laugh and said, “a werewolf? Remus' mum? Yeah right”

“Moving right along”, Sirius said desperately, “I'm next and I pick Adrienne”.

Remus and James breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why me?” Adrienne asked.

“Because I'm cruel. Dare or Truth?”

“Dare”.

He raised his eyebrows, “I dare you to…tell us your deepest and darkest secret”.

“That's something you would say for a Truth! It's not a proper dare!”

“Yes it is!”

“It's a Truth!”

“It's not!”

“It is!”

“It's not!”

“It is!”

“Not!”

“Is!”

“Not!”

“Is!”

“Not!”

“SHUT UP!!!” Adrienne and Sirius stopped and stared guiltily at the other three.

“Sorry”, Adrienne murmured.

“Look, if she can't accept my dare then that's her problem, I'm not giving her any other!” Sirius complained.

“Fine! I won't play!”

“Fine! Don't! I won't either!”

“Guys, stop being stupid”, Remus tried.

“No! If she has to be so stubborn, then I'm not playing with her!”

And with that, Adrienne and Sirius left to go to their respective dorms.

“Well, that went well”, joked Lily.

“Guess that's the end of that game. Night”, James said turning to leave.

“Where are you going?” Lily asked.

“To bed?”

“Stay right where you are. I'm not done with this game and neither are you. Just because our friends have left, we don't have to”.

“Are you serious? Do you still want to play?”

“I want to prove, once and for all, that I am better than you”.

Remus raised his eyebrows, “well, as much as I'd love to watch this, I better go check on Sirius. Have fun”

“Remus, you can still play”, Lily said.

“No, I think it'll be fun watching from the sidelines. Besides, you two will make this game very…how shall I say it…unique”.

He turned and walked up the stairs.

“Lily?” James spoke.

She looked at James; surprised he had called her by her first name, but shrugged it off.

“Yeah?”

“It's your turn”.

Smiling, she asked, “Dare or Truth?”

“Dare”.

She paused for a moment in thought, then she remembered that James had a particular disliking to a certain Slytherin. “Shave off Snape's hair”.

“What? That's a pathetic dare. And besides, how do I do it?”

“That's up to you to decide. And, you can't use magic to do it. Oh, and if anyone asks, you must admit that it was you who did it”.

James' face was scrunched in confusion, “he will already know it was me. It's not everyday someone comes along and shaves off your hair. I think he will remember”, James said, “wait a second…does that mean I will actually have to touch his hair?!”

James wore an expression of pure disgust.

Lily laughed and nodded.

“Who knows what lies in that greasy, black, mess on his horribly ugly face? You can't make me touch it; no amount of soap will get rid of the grease and germs that'll be left on my hands!”

“If you're trying to find a way out of the dare, Potter, don't. Unless of course, you wish to admit that I am the winner, while you sulk in the corner as the sore loser”.

“I most certainly will not do such a thing! I'll do the dare”.

The clock struck midnight and both agreed they had to get to sleep. But James lay awake in his bed for a couple of hours, mentally preparing himself for the grueling task ahead of him the next day.

-->

4. A bald head and Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: Harry Potter? Not mine.

A/N: For all you people who read ch 4 and thought “what the hell?” because of the last little bit, I have uploaded ch 4 again so that I can get rid of the end part that totally ruined the story.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about then don't worry! All is well…I hope.

Chapter 4 - A bald head and Hogsmeade

Genius, James thought, I am a pure genius!

He had finally figured out how he'll shave off Snape's hair.

That day in Potions, his mind wasn't paying attention to Professor Reeve, (because he thought it was much too easy for him), so his eyes were looking elsewhere around the room. He saw something that sparked his attention. It was a label on a small beaker that read:

Use with extreme caution

Powerful sleeping potion

Yes, the idea was genius.

~~~

The lunch bell rang and the students went to Great Hall to eat. James checked his bag to see if a certain cloak was there. It was.

Before he walked into the Hall, he put it on and “disappeared”

Walking toward the Slytherin table, he took out a small beaker, stood behind Snape and when he was looking the other way, emptied the beakers contents into Snape's goblet.

That should do it.

James walked away with a pleased smile on his face and muttered, “James Potter strikes again”.

Lunch ended and the Hall was emptied except for two boys. James was still there looking at Snape who was also still there. Snape had no choice; he might as well be dead. He was totally unconscious, asleep, and off in his dreams. His head was slumped on the table.

James smiled and walked towards him.

Just minutes later, Severus Snape, who was still dead to the world, was completely bald.

~~~

As James was walking to his next class, he thought he heard a few Slytherins whispering. Leaning closer, he heard, “where's Severus?”

James smiled.

~~~

By now, the entire school knew that Snape was bald. Apparently, Peeves had found him still sleeping in the Great Hall and shouted out in such a loud voice that the whole school heard.

“SNIVELLY IS BALD! SNIVELLY IS BALD! SLEEPING IN THE GREAT HALL! WHO DID IT, I WONDER”

Sirius was possibly the student who laughed the most, followed closely by James. Lily however was shocked beyond belief. She made her way to James.

“So, how'd you do it?”

“Lily, Lily, Lily, wouldn't you like to know.”

“Tell me, Potter”.

“I simply used a sleeping potion”.

“Ah ha! I know it! I win, I win!”

“What do you mean?”

“You used magic and I specifically said, no magic. And if I'm correct, then I win because you failed to meet my restrictions in the dare, so therefore, I w--”

But she was cut off by James' hand on her mouth. The contact sent a few shivers in her body, which gave her a few goose bumps, but she let it pass without a second thought. She looked up at James who was giving a fake smile to anyone who heard what Lily said. She rolled her eyes; he obviously didn't want his reputation as the “bad boy” be ruined.

He took his hand off her mouth and asked, “Are you cold?”

“No, why?”

“You have goose bumps all over your arms”, he said with real concern.

“I'm fine, it's nothing.”

“Anyway”, James said, “back to what you were saying before…I didn't use magic to do it”.

“James, you said yourself you used a potion”.

“Yeah, and?”

“And, a potion is magic”.

“It is not”.

“Yes it is. Would you find a sleeping potion in the Muggle world?”

“Well, n-no, but…”

“There you go. You did use magic”.

“But I thought you meant wand magic”.

“Did I say that? No. I meant magic in general”.

There was a pause before James said, “but you gotta admit, the sight of a bald Snape is funny”.

She burst out in laughter and so did James.

A few metres away, Sirius, Remus and Adrienne looked at James and Lily both laughing together.

It seemed like James Potter and Lily Evans were actually getting along.

~~~

So without saying a word, James and Lily had inevitably moved from the stage of enemies to being ok with each other. Heck, they might even be friends, but neither said a word as if it were a crime if one of them admitted it.

So, weeks passed, Christmas came, homework was given, essays were written and James and Lily were still playing Dare or Truth.

Both tried to come up with dares (it always was a dare, never a truth, just to prove themselves) that were a bit extreme.

However, neither of them could deny that they were in fact becoming good friends, and they found it a whole lot easier to hold a civil conversation and share a few laughs.

On their next Hogmseade visit, James, Lily, Remus and Adrienne forced Sirius to do the dare Remus had given him weeks ago.

“But I'm not even part of the game anymore!” Sirius whined.

“It doesn't matter”, said James, “you still gotta do it”.

“Oh come on!”

“Do you mean to say you are chickening out, Black?” Adrienne asked. She still had a grudge against Sirius.

“Chicken? Me? Never!”

“Then do it”, said Remus leading them in to the Three Broomsticks, “ten butterbears in five minutes, go on!”

If he backed out, Sirius wouldn't hear the end of it. “All right fine, I'll do it”.

They ordered the drinks and Remus said, “time starts now!”

Sirius lifted the drink to his mouth and forced it down his throat, gulping it all down.

3 minutes in and he had gone through five. Everyone, including him, knew it was futile, he would never finish. But he would still try.

Sculling the next all down, he reached for his seventh and did the same. Sirius now felt sick. Oh well, he thought, being sick is better than Adrienne teasing me for eternity.

“A minute left!” warned Remus, as Sirius forced the contents of the eighth in his mouth.

Sirius felt like vomiting now. He was drinking it so fast now that he could feel it coming up through his nose. But he didn't stop.

“30 seconds!”

Grabbing the ninth one, he didn't bother tipping it into his mouth but poured it roughly around that region with half of it dribbling off his chin.

“10 seconds!”

Sirius didn't stop to even breathe. He had to do this. Please let me do this. He vaguely heard something shouting, “8 - 7 - 6 - 5…”

Sculling the final butterbear so fast he was almost finished when he heard, “4 - 3 - 2…”

He could feel the burning at the back of his throat as he drunk. On 1, he slammed the glass on the table and screamed, “WOOHOO!! I DID IT!” He jumped up but fell right back down. He was not in a condition to do anything remotely sensible, including standing up. It took too much energy, which he didn't have.

“How do you feel, mate?”

Sirius' answer came in the form of the loudest burp anyone had ever heard. The girls shouted at him while the guys laughed.

“Well, love to sit around and talk but I'm just going to walk for a bit and enjoy the snow. Anyone care to join me?”

“No thanks Prongs, I think I'm too drunk to move”, came Sirius' drained voice.

“And I think I'll look after him”, said Remus, “So he doesn't burn the place down or something”.

“It's too cold out there! I'm definitely not going!” complained Adrienne.

“Lily?”

“You know what? I think I'll go with you”.

They all raised their eyebrows at this. Lily wanted to go with James?

“Because I love the snow”, she explained to them. But she couldn't help but want to go just because she would be with James. As much as she hated to admit it, she had a crush on James Potter.

Silently, James cheered that she was going with his. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a crush on non other than Lily Evans.

“After you, madam”, he said gesturing in the direction of the door.

“Why thank you, kind sir”.

He opened the door for her and she blushed a little, “ever the gentleman”.

“Only for you”, he said in a joke voice but he really meant it.

Outside, a sudden wind blew their way and Lily shivered. James saw.

“You're cold. Do you want to go back inside?” he asked with true concern that made Lily blush again.

“No thanks. It just takes time getting used to”.

She shivered again and James thought, now or never. Come on James, just do it!

He took out his coat and put it over Lily's shoulders.

She looked at him and their eyes locked for a moment. He quickly looked away and muttered, “take the coat, I'm not that cold”.

“Thanks”, she whispered.

James looked at her and laughed.

“What is so funny?”

“It looks like you're swimming in that coat. It's huge on you”.

“May I remind you that it is yours?”

“Are you saying I'm fat?”

“No, just big”.

“I'm offended!”

“Aww, little James! I'm sorry”, she said in a baby voice.

“You better be”.

They both laughed quietly.

Then something happened that made them both cringe.

An awkward silence.

It lasted for a while. They didn't know what to say.

“So…” James began then paused, “what do you want to do?”

“Um…well, I think we should continue the game”.

“Right, yeah. The game”.

“Ok so, who's up next? Oh, you are. Go on then”

“Dare or Truth?”

“Dare”

“I dare you to…” then an idea sprung into his mind, “I dare you, to fight back!”

“What? Fight back against what?”

“Me”.

She was about to ask what he meant when suddenly, a large snowball hit her on the face. When she got over the shock of it and the coldness she looked and saw James with an evil smile.

“Ok, you did not just do that”.

“Oh, I think I did”.

“Well, you will regret it”.

And then the friendly battle began. Snowballs were being flung from one to the other and laughter could be heard. Sirius, Remus and Adrienne heard it and looked out the window of the Three Broomsticks.

“Well, well, well, would you look at that. I think, my friends, that James and Lily have finally gotten over their hatred for each other”, Remus said with a smile.

“Aww, they look so cute, flirting and all that. They really are perfect for each other. Everyone knows that. Oh, it looks like so much fun! Let's go join them”, Adrienne suggested. She turned to walk out when Remus grabbed her arm, “I think we should leave them alone for a while. We shouldn't ruin it”.

Back outside, James and Lily were still flinging snow when Lily started to chase after him. James smiled and ran with Lily in pursuit. A few seconds later, James transformed into a stag to run faster. Lily saw this in and ran even harder, but she couldn't keep up to a stag. She slowed and shouted, “Wait! James! Stop! Please!”

James knew he had an unfair advantage so he stopped and returned to Lily's side.

“Thanks”, she said.

Then she did something that surprised them both. She started to run her hands along his short fur. Slowly patting him.

Even though he was in the form of an animal, they both knew that this action was something more than a simple petting.

He slowly transformed back and looked down into her bright green eyes. She looked up at his.

“What did you do that for?” James asked softly.

She didn't have an answer; she didn't know why.

His hand sought hers and he entwined his fingers with hers. She didn't resist and kept looking at him.

James smiled and asked, “Would you like a ride?”

“What do you mean?”

“Would you like a ride?” he repeated, “on my back”.

Lily smiled back and nodded.

He transformed back into his animagus form and knelt low so that Lily could get on.

Once she was on, he slowly moved forward with Lily's hand around his neck. He felt Lily grow more confident and he began to run. She laughed and he felt comforted by her laugh. He had grown quite fond of it.

She squealed and he was smiling inside. He loved that only he could take her on a ride like this. He did a little leap and she giggled. Her arms then left his neck and she spread them wide, just enjoying the ride on his back.

When he stopped she jumped off and he transformed back into a human.

“Thank you, James, that was brilliant”.

He smiled at her, his hazel eyes sparkling. He realized he loved to make her happy. He moved his hand up to her face and ran a gloved finger along her cheek. She didn't pull away.

Then they sat under a nearby tree and nothing was said, but the silence wasn't awkward. They had grown closer in those last few minutes than they had in the past 5 and half years they had known each other.

They sat under the tree for hours and neither of them minded. James closed his eyes and thought; I really do like this girl. Is that normal? Is this meant to happen? I need a sign.

Just then, Lily lowered and rested her head on his shoulder and took his hand in hers and James smiled. Thank you.

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5. Head over Heels

Disclaimer: It's all JK

A/N: This is the last chapter…hope you all enjoyed it!

Chapter 5 - Head over Heels

As much as he hated showing signs of weakness, James knew that Lily was having an affect in him…a big one. Just her mere smile made his day. Lily was having the same thoughts.

Their relationship was a strange one at this point. They weren't sure what they were. Friends could be considered but they had begun holding hands around the school, and in the common room, Lily had even started to sit on his lap. However, both were way too shy to take a step into the boyfriend/girlfriend world. But for now, that was fine with them…for now.

It didn't take long for the rest of the school to find out. After seeing them together and Sirius, being himself, taking every chance to run ahead of them when they are walking and shouting, “Make way! Potter and Evans, the cutest couple in Hogwarts coming through!” James didn't mind this but he would tackle Sirius anyway for the fun of it.

Even when he was playing Quiddatch, James always made an effort to fly close to Lily to give her a quick wink or a smile.

They had stopped playing Dare or Truth because neither had a reason to. They had only played to prove themselves better than the other but now they didn't need to.

~~~

The boys were in their dorm talking, or more, complaining, at how much homework the teachers were giving them.

“It's too unfair! I mean come on! We're only human. How much do they expect?” Sirius whined.

“A lot”, James muttered.

“Padfoot, Prongs, you're only making it worse for yourself. Stop thinking about it and just do it”, Remus said.

“Easy for you to say! Half you're body's contents is made up of brain and plus you have an excuse not to study. You can just tell the proffs that you're feeling sick from the full moon”, Sirius remarked.

“Proffs?”

“Pro-fess-ors. I just can't be bothered to say it.”

“You just did”

“Shut it, Prongs”.

“You shut it!” James retaliated.

“Why?”

“I said so”.

“Why on earth would I listen to you?” Sirius shot back.

“Guys…” Remus said softly. But they ignored him.

“Why do you always have to make things more complicated than they already are!” Shouted James.

“I make things complicated?”

“Guys…” Remus said a bit louder. Again, they ignored him.

“That's exactly right. You just admitted it!” James yelled.

“Did not! I was asking, not stating!” Sirius now stood up and was shouting, using his arms for extra emphasis.

“Why are we even having this argument?” James shouted back, standing up as well.

“I don't know! All I know is, you started it!” Everyone knew Sirius could get very childish in fights against James.

“I most certainly did not! You with your Proffs! I mean, what is that?”

“GUYS!” Remus shouted, ever the voice of reason.

“WHAT?” the two shouted back simultaneously.

“Would you shut up?”

James and Sirius looked guilty at each other before smiling sheepishly.

“Now, apologize”, Remus commanded.

“Sorry”, the both mumbled.

“Good, now kiss and make up!”

“Urgh! Kiss him? Never would I lower myself to that level”, Sirius said.

“Why not, sweetums! C'mere. Let me give you a big sloppy one!” James said puckering up his lips.

“Never in my entire life”.

The three started laughing.

“Moving right along…I'll be right back. I'm going to go talk to Lily, someone who had a lot more mental power than you two”.

“Speaking of Evans, what's up with you two?” Remus asked while Sirius nodded.

“What do you mean what's up? We're just friends”.

“Just friends my backside. Don't tell me that. There is something going on between you two”, Sirius added.

James looked at them in confusion but knew exactly what they were talking about.

“Yeah, whatever, listen I'm going now”, James said.

James was coming down the stairs into the common room and at the same time, Lily was going up the stairs to his dorm. James was practically running down the stairs so you can imagine what happened.

Surprise, surprise, they ran into each other. Literally.

“AH!”

Lily virtually flew back down the stairs and James watched her in horror.

“LILY!”

She screamed. She was about to hit the bottom when James grabbed his wand and shouted, “Immobulus!”

She froze inches from the ground.

James ran down and gently carried her to a couch.

“I'm so sorry”, he kept saying in her ear.

She kept making little noises that meant she was in pain. James was filled with guilt. Couldn't I have been a little slower?

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!” she whined.

When he set her down he asked, “what can I do? Tell me, I'll do it. Oh, I'm so sorry”.

He lifted her leg on the couch and saw a big bruise being formed, he gently touched it. Suddenly, he felt her body quiver slightly and he looked up only to see her silently laughing her eyes out.

“What? Lily, what's funny?”

“Nothing”, she managed, “I just can't help but laugh!”

James thought this bizarre but also began to laugh at her reaction.

“You're crazy”.

“I know!”

He shook his head, “here, you should lie down for a bit”. He took a pillow and moved up to her head to put the pillow under it. When he had done that, he realized the close proximity between them. Her face was so close to his. Her bright green eyes were lost in his hazel ones. He couldn't look away. He felt like drowning in the green.

Neither of them pulled back so James did the only thing any sixteen-year-old boy would do in that situation. He kissed her.

Lily opened her eyes in shock at first, but then began kissing him back.

Neither of them knew that Sirius, Remus and Adrienne were watching silently at the two while smiling at how incredibly strange it was.

James Potter and Lillian Evans.

Kissing.

No one ever thought it would happen.

But it did.

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