Genetics • Sirius Black

Chapter Seventy Three: Truth or Dare?

Why do we have desires that ruin us?

Freya Grey wondered what Lily Evan's parents did for them to have a summer beach house larger than Freya's home. It was pale yellow with a sunny patio that overlooked the sea. Four rooms were split between the ground and top floor, and the massive living room was warmly decorated. Lily explained that her family rented the home during the summer months, and the Marauders were advised(threatened) to behave.

In the kitchen, the group waited in turns to use the showers and decided what to do with the rest of their night since none of them were tired.

"Spin the bottle?" Peter Pettigrew offered, in another attempt to push Freya Grey and Sirius Black closer together since Freya's reaction over Sirius's skinny dipping story yesterday proved promising. Additionally, he witnessed Sirius assist Freya in navigating the sea, and Peter struggled to keep from giggling as he watched them play. They were stubborn, stupid idiots, but, Merlin, they were adorable together.

"The ratio's off." James Potter took a beer from the fridge and opened it. "We've got too many blokes."

Hand to his Queen shirt-clad chest, Sirius leaned against the counter. "Blasphemy. There can never be too many boys."

"I vehemently disagree with you on that." Marlene McKinnon said, sipping her beer and sitting next to Freya at the kitchen table with Regulus Black on her other side.

"I bet," Sirius muttered, and Marlene tossed her beer cap at him.

But Regulus Black was placing pieces together things about Marlene with a passive expression.

"Truth or dare?" James suggested, then turned to Freya. "What do you think?"

The curly-haired witch scrunched her freshly washed hair with a towel draped over her shoulders. "Both seem equally terrible."

Shocked, James pulled back. Those were classics. "What do you like to play?"

"How many shots of fire whiskey I can take before Regs takes the bottle away." She answered, and Regulus nodded knowingly.

After a long and passionate explanation of why Spin the Bottle was a fantastic and hilarious game from the Marauders, Freya was left less and less convinced by the premise. Spinning a bottle and snogging potentially a stranger reeked of a disease outbreak, plus she was unconvinced by its effectiveness. However, James was equally as stubborn about his defense of the game, which resulted in a lot of back and forth between the two. Freya rested her chin on her knuckles. "If the premise of the game is to kiss people, why not just have everyone line up and take turns."

Arms laid over his eyes; James leaned back in his chair. "Because that is not a game; that's an orgy."

Those words greeted Lily as she joined them in the kitchen after her shower. She blinked and cast Regulus a look of confusion, but he just shook his head and left to shower.

"Not a bad idea." Sirius winked at the table with Remus Lupin(Peter had replaced Remus in the shower sometime during Freya and James's incredibly lengthy conversation about sanitation), Marlene, and Freya. 

Nose scrunched, Lily groaned. "My parents use this house."

"They're invited." He grinned, and she whacked his arm as she moved to the kitchen to grab a beer.

"Games include winning." Freya's brows slightly creased between them as she pondered, "How do you win at spin the bottle?"

Marlene shrugged. "You snog the best?"

"Wouldn't an increased sample size help improve—"

"That's it." James snapped, sitting up in his chair and dropping his hands on the table. "We're playing truth or dare." A finger pointed at Freya, he added. "You are invited to no future parties."