Harry Potter and The Boy Who Had No Choice

1976: Late Nights

Chapter Twelve

Harry opened the diary and flipped to where he last left off.

October 30th, 1976

Dear person-who-will-be-murdered-as-soon-as-I-discover-you've-been-reading-this,

You really should stay out of other people's things. It's rather rude to snoop. However, if you do not care about your untimely demise, I suppose you may keep reading. Just know that I'm coming for you.

Gryffindor won the Quidditch Match against Ravenclaw; not that anyone was surprised. I swear, Gerald Hunter is a joke of a Quidditch captain.

We had a party in the Gryffindor common room to celebrate. It's lucky our year doesn't have any snitches, well, besides Evans. But Marlene managed to convince her to come to the party, which means she can't go to Minnie without also revealing herself. Sadly for me, that also means she actually went to the party. James, of course, was overjoyed when he heard this. I still don't understand what he sees in her.

Even with Evans there, it was pretty wicked. We played Wizards Truth and you'll never guess what I learned about...

Harry closed his eyes and felt the world start to spin around him. When he finally landed on his feet, he pried his eyelids open and found himself in the middle of the Gryffindor common room, where a group of teenagers sat in a circle. A bottle of firewhiskey was being passed around.

Harry recognized several of the teens. On the right side of the circle sat the four Mauraders: Peter, whose face was flushed in the dimly lit room, James, whose glasses hung crookedly on the tip of his nose, Remus, who for once was not wearing a sweater, and Sirius, whose Gryffindor tie was tied around his head like a bandana.

Sirius was on Remus' right, but Lily sat on his left. Her flaming red hair was tied back in a low messy bun and she seemed much more relaxed than she did on the train. Next to her was a petite black girl that Harry didn't recognize. Light bounced off her jet black ringlets, framing her face like a halo. The next person in the circle was another that Harry didn't recognize: she was a lanky blonde with rather severe eyeliner and a bright red lip. Alice and Frank Longbottom sat beside her. Frank whispered something in Alice's ear and she giggled. Harry tore his eyes away from them, knowing the tragedy that lay ahead of them, and spotted a young Kingsley. Even as a teenager, Kingsley was built.

"Wizard's Truth anyone?" Frank addressed the group as he was passed the bottle of Firewhiskey. A murmer of agreement was uttered from the group, with the exception of Lily, who asked:

"What's Wizard's Truth?"

"Well," Remus cleared his throat and turned to Lily. "Essentially, those participating sit around in a circle and pass around a bottle. Whoever has the bottle gets to ask the entire group a question. Then, they pass around the bottle and everyone answers. Everyone has to answer, including the person asking."

"Like Truth or Dare?" Lily clarified. Harry remembered that his mother was muggleborn, so her knowledge of the magic world was probably limited, much like Harry's had been.

"Sort of, but there is no dare option," Remus answered before continuing to explain. "And because it's Wizard's Truth, when you decide to play, you're locked in a truth-binding spell so you cannot lie, but if you don't want to answer a question, you're free to take a shot instead and pass." Lily nodded and the group settled into silence.

"Who starts?" Peter piped up, hiccuping. All eyes turned to Remus.

"Why don't we start with Remus? Since he did just explain the rules," James suggested.