Chapter 3: Dare # 108
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: Once again, thanks for the reviews and please keep them coming! Anyway, sorry for the late post, I was busy with school, but here you go! Enjoy!
There was this particular dare that, I believe, triumphed over other dares when it came to the representation of the buoyancy and absurdity of our childhood, bloody big words you say, but hey, you have to thank her. Anyway, back to the point, it was the funniest dare I ever came up with, and to this day, to this very peculiar day, despite the slight discomfort of our current situation, I could not help but smile every time that mental image of her reciting those particular spells came to mind. It was hilarious and she hated, no despised me, for it. How that was resolved, well, let's just say that if it weren't for one Tom Riddle (and the fact that she was eventually petrified, which in all honesty, racked me with guilt), she wouldn't talk to me to this very day. We would probably be thousands of miles apart, and I would be married to dominatrix intent on satisfying my insatiable desires for punishment.
Oh Merlin, I did not just say that.
And I did.
Bloody hell, I do have repressed desires.
BUT, nevertheless, and furthermore, the point was that our little game continued to the next year. It continued for no particular reason except for the fact that it was, as it seemed then, terribly fun. And as it continued, so did our secrecy over the game. It remained a secret, and no one knew about it. Impossible as it may sound, that was the case. How did we manage to do it? Well, it's not very easy to explain, other than the fact that there were other things at play - things that were incomprehensible to us during that time. It was, you see, about power and control.
These two very adult ideas managed to manifest themselves over our innocent young minds. We didn't understand it at the time, of course, but over time, as we continued playing and playing, we soon came to the realization that yes, it was about power and control. We were kids who had no control over our situations - I had a murderous bastard after me, after all - and that game provided us an outlet to take control, to gain power over things.
And yet, to us, it was perfectly innocent.
It was perfectly innocent not only because we were young, but because, love was there too. It was always there, only, it took us so long to realize its existence.
But we were kids at the beginning, and that was forgivable.
*******
"Don't you think we should stop the game, Harry?" She asks, hesitantly, as she stares at the boy before her. The expression on his face - eyes glistening, lips curling - as he holds the quill, the quill that can either punish or reward her, depending on the situation, is enough to make her call the whole thing off.
She looks at him again, pleadingly, but he just shrugs his shoulders.
"Oh honestly, Harry, just tell me the dare then or I swear, I'll stop playing this game with you!" She states somewhat hysterically. He gives her a sheepish smile. He notices that her hair seems frizzier than usual.
"All right, all right. Come on, Hermione, it's only for fun. We've been doing this for a while now so don't get your knickers in a twist-"
"DON'T GET MY WHAT IN A WHAT???"
He immediately backs down, realizing that he no longer holds the upper hand, which is usually the case.
"Er, it's only an expression, Ron uses it all the time."
"Oh yes, and Ron is the master of politeness and courtesy," she replies sarcastically. He decides to cut the chase and head straight to the point, she's getting antsy and he doesn't need that. The dare must go on.
"OK, here's the thing, I dare you to recite these following words in class," he tells her as he grabs a piece of paper from his pockets. He hands it to her and she looks at him with disdain. She gets it nevertheless.
The expression on her face turns from disdain to apprehension to disbelief. He waits for her to say something, but the expression on her face, it seems, is enough. He cannot help but laugh.
She immediately turns her eyes away from the paper and looks at him with great contempt. He still manages to smile sheepishly.
"You better watch out Harry, I swear, you better watch out. You'll regret the day you asked me to do this," she mutters under breath as she once again reviews each and every word in the list.
"Come on, it's going to be fun. Besides, it's Professor Flitwick we're talking about here, I doubt he even knows what those words mean."
"You know what, I am really surprised with your creativity, if only you would exert such effort with your assignments," she mutters under gritted teeth.
"Stop being grouchy Hermione, don't you remember? You made me kiss, Mrs. Norris," he reminds her.
The viciousness is suddenly replaced by a small smile. He thanks Merlin for the change.
"That's bestiality, Hermione, bestiality. And do you know what that bloody cat tastes like? You don't want to know. Still, I did it, for the sake of the game," he continues when she starts to giggle.
"That wasn't bestiality!" She exclaims, matter-of-factly.
"Well what is bestiality then?" He asks. She begins to blush, but the bell rings.
"All right, here we go," she mutters under her breath, apprehensively.
He rubs his hands together and she rolls her eyes.
********
"Now, as I mentioned, we are having a review for tomorrow's exam. I pray that you reviewed and listed some spells to share in class today?"
The whole class all nod in agreement, Professor Flitwick then claps his hands together, and says,
"Very well, let us begin. Can anyone give me five spells to start off?"
To no one's surprise, Hermione raises her hand. But this time, before she speaks, she turns to her seatmate and gives him a daring wink. Harry shakes his head and quietly tells her,
"Dare."
She shrugs her shoulders in reply, and then recites,
"Weenie Longevitus." She gives a short pause, and the class erupts in laughter as Professor Flitwick scans over his notes to check whether there is such a spell.
"Petrificus Dickilus,"she continues. Professor Flitwick once again rummages his notes, to no avail.
The class continues on laughing, both at the made-up spells and the fact that the professor doesn't get the joke.
"Engorgio Titties, Cuntilificus Noballus, and Boob Keboob," she finishes with zest. Harry stares at her in disbelief. He cannot fathom the fact that she did it with such aplomb.
Another thing he cannot believe was that the poor professor still couldn't understand the joke. Instead, he shrugs of the laughter, tells the class that he has to check on those spells but believes that "miss Granger is an excellent student and I do not doubt the existence of such spells."
The whole class just erupts to even greater laughter.
*******
That episode was hilarious. Sure, she hated me afterwards since everyone called her "the perv" afterwards. But the hilarity of the situation atoned for it, although I wouldn't admit that to her. But, despite the hilarity of the situation, there was, however, an irony that lurked behind the surface as well. Sure, the whole thing was funny, but at the same time, it reminded me of a time when we were young and carefree, clichéd as that may sound. Many years later, I would go back again and again to that episode just to cheer myself up, just to provide myself a brief moment of laughter before I face the bleakness of my existence. It was a period of innocence, and what followed was anything but.
And it was for that reason that I cherish this dare. It represented the childhood that we would eventually leave behind.
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