Be Silently Drawn || Remus Lupin & Hermione Granger

Chapter 8

Hermione furtively watched Remus at breakfast on Sunday, studying the way he interacted with everybody, particularly the girls, and trying to figure out if Lily was right. She needed to know if he regarded her any differently than the others. She needed to know if he liked her or not.

Her observation that morning yielded no conclusion, however, because Remus noticed her watching him very early on and gave her a questioning look. Blushing at having been caught staring, Hermione hastily turned her gaze away from him and pretended to be absorbed in the conversation Marcia and Sirius were having. She was too self-conscious after that to look at Remus again during breakfast or to try to study him again when they were all hanging out in the Gryffindor common room later that day.

After a few rounds of Exploding Snap, James announced he was growing bored of the game.

"Let's play something we've never played before," Sirius suggested. He made a quick trip up to his dormitory and returned with the bottle of potion he'd gotten at Zonko's the previous day. "Who's up for Truth of Dare?"

"What's that?" James asked, and Hermione couldn't believe he and Sirius had never played the common Muggle game.

Once Marcia explained the game to him, James was eager to play. Most everybody else was too, but Hermione was not one of them. She'd played a couple of years ago with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George, and though it'd been fun, it had also been embarrassing. Participating in this game often meant performing humiliating stunts and spilling secrets you would have otherwise kept to your grave.

Kirsten and Peter were reluctant to play as well. Peter suddenly remembered he had to finish an essay for class and ran off to the library, but the rest of the gang managed to convince Hermione and Kirsten to play.

They all sat in a circle on the floor away from everybody else in the common room, and Sirius began to pour the potion from Zonko's into the seven shot glasses it had come with.

"Okay," he said when he'd finished filling the glasses. "First things first. To ensure that we only reveal the truth when asked a question and that we go through with all the dares assigned to us, we drink up."

Everybody grabbed a glass and downed their serving of potion at the same time.

"Since I poured the potion, I spin the bottle and ask first," Sirius told them. He spun the bottle, and Hermione watched with everyone else as it rotated. Sirius looked pleased when it landed on Marcia. "Truth or dare?"

After a moment's hesitation, Marcia answered, "Truth."

"What were you girls talking about at the Three Broomsticks yesterday, when Remus and I came over with the drinks, that made you all laugh like hyenas?"

"We were talking about guys that we fancy."

"Who do you fancy?"

"I don't have to answer any follow up questions. What do you care, anyway?"

Sirius shrugged. "Just curious is all."

It was Marcia's turn to spin the bottle. It landed on her Quidditch captain.

"Truth or dare, James?"

"Dare, of course."

Marcia glanced around the room, looking thoughtful, before her eyes settled on one of her other Quidditch teammates and lit up.

"I dare you to go run your fingers through Darren's hair."

"What?" James exclaimed amidst the laughter from the others. "I can't do that!"

"Why not? His hair's gorgeous," Marcia said, and the girls agreed.

"Then why don't you go run your fingers through it?"