Truth Or Dare

[Bethany Zanders]

There was another dance this year and even though Bee had no one she was even remotely interested in, she had decided to go because it sure beat staying in the common room, bored, all evening. She put on a white top and long black gaucho pants that were the closest looking thing to a skirt Bethany owned. Her hair was getting rather unruly lately but she tried to tame it back somewhat. She entered the Great Hall and laughed as soon as she saw how unfortunate the house elves looked and went to grab a cup of punch. She saw that there were no balloons for her to pop this year, but she had come up with another idea to keep her occupied during this love fest tonight. She had had her first kiss at the yule ball last year on a dare, and even though she didn't necessarily want others to end up experiencing their first kisses based on dares, she still wanted to play a game of Truth or Dare. There were so many people here to possibly prank or get juicy secrets out of, she just needed to find some willing players.
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[Matthew Harper]

Matthew really wasn't sure why he kept coming to these dances. The girl he really wanted to dance with wasn't here, and he just felt awkward standing all alone and not really talking to anyone. Last time he had met Amy, who was nice, but there was no guarantee that would happen again. Unless he approached someone first? He looked around for anyone interesting and a girl caught his eye, she looked really good and he then felt guilty for thinking that. On the other hand, Leah hadn't written to him after their kiss, and she had practically run away afterwards. The odds that they would date were pretty small, so maybe he should keep his eyes open? The thought made him miserable, but at least he could befriend this interesting looking girl. He walked up to her and smiled. "Hey, I like your outfit, it's different than all the dresses." He told her, he hoped he didn't sound as weird as he feared he did. "So uh, I'm Matthew Harper, obligatory awkward transfer student."

 

[Bethany Zanders]

Bethany was mid-bite into a cookie when a guy approached her, and complimented her on her outfit. She laughed and swallowed her cookie as she said, "Thanks, dresses aren't really my thing," with a small shrug. Most people would probably make fun of her style but at least this guy put her 'difference' nicely into a compliment. Bee put her half eaten cookie down and dusted off any crumbs as she stuck out her hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you Matthew, I'm Bee, Gryffindor. What house are you?" She looked at his outfit and said, "You look really fancy, are you here with a date?"
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[Matthew Harper]

Matthew smiled at her answer, glad she didn't seem weirded out. "They aren't really my thing either." He told her with a smile, hoping she could appreciate the joke. The cookie she was eating looked quite nice, but before he could grab one for himself she was offering his hand for him to shake. He took it. "Nice to meet you, Bee. Just don't sting me. " He loved making puns with people's names, and people he just met were no exception. "I'm in Hufflepuff, I transferred at the start of this year." He looked down at his own outfit when she complimented it as if noticing it for the first time. He shrugged. "I guess figured it was more formal than it is? In all honesty I just recycled my outfit for the Yule Ball, don't tell anyone." He shook his head. "And no, no date. Unless you count my ongoing affair with the snack table." He looked at the cookie again longingly and then took one himself.

 

[Bethany Zanders]

Bee groaned and put her head in her hands when he made a pun of her name and shook her head. "Oh god you poor thing, you're going to get eaten alive here if you keep that up," she said, chuckling. She was teasing him but she didn't mean any harm by it and hoped he could take it. She laughed again at his joke about the snack table and replied, "I'm sorry to tell you this but the snack table and I have been having a pretty serious thing since the first year." She picked up the other half of her cookie and took a bite out of it as if to prove a point. "So, Matthew, truth or dare?" she asked with a smirk, wondering if he would be game enough to make this place a little more fun.
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[Matthew Harper]

Matthew was delighted by her reaction, that was the only reaction people had to truly so-bad-its-good puns. He grinned. "That's why I only do that with younger students, like you. Less risk of getting beat up." He told her with a grin. "Though you could probably take me, I should search for my audience more carefully. Maybe soon someone will appreciate my comedic genius." He pretended to be hurt by her admission about her and the snack table, placing a hand on his chest dramatically and addressing the table. "How could you, I thought we were special." He grinned at her and shook his head as he returned to a normal pose instead of the overly dramatic one. He raised his eyebrow slightly. "I didn't know Truth or dare was a traditional Valentines activity but..." He thought about it and decided to go with the slightly safer option, it was his nature to be truthful. "Truth."

 

[Bethany Zanders]

Bee crossed her arms together as she said, "Oh please, I may be small but I'm pretty good with a wand," with a playful smirk on her face. She had won the dueling tournament for her year level last year and she was hoping to win again this year. But she still shook her head and laughed at him when he said someone would appreciate his comedic genius and said, "You're hopeless," with a small chuckle. Then she said, "Truth or dare is appropriate at any function if you want to have fun!" She considered what she'd ask him for a moment and then said, "Okay, what is the worst thing about Hogwarts New Zealand?" She decided to ask something a little less easy to talk about rather than going for a safe question, since he had already picked the safer option.
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[Matthew Harper]

Matthew smiled and nodded, he could picture it. "I can't say that's hard to believe." He said with a nod. "I'm not all that great, honestly, I lost in the first round of that tournament." He shrugged. "But I did turn Rudolf Lagowski pink so that's a win in my book." He no longer disliked the other boy, but he still enjoyed poking fun at him once in a while. He laughed when she told him truth or dare is always appropriate."We either haven't caught on to that in America yet, or I only know people that don't want to have fun over there." Her question made him pause, thinking about his answer. "Okay, so fair warning that I haven't seen many bad sides yet, I think the people here are pretty awesome so far, you included. I haven't encountered any teachers I didn't like either..." He frowned. "Alright, maybe its a small thing but I really don't get the point of having such a nice forest near a school if it's forbidden!" He exclaimed, exasperation in his voice. "The moment I saw it I wanted to go take pictures in there, it would be awesome with the light coming through the canopy... and who knows what sort of animals live there?" He was talking animatedly. "But we just aren't allowed in there, that just seems a little like they're taunting us, you know?" He laughed. "I wonder if it's an easy way to catch troublemakers, just keep track of who ignores the rules and goes anyway." He hadn't, but it had entered his head once or twice.

"So now it's my turn, right? Truth or dare." He told the girl, curious which she would pick. He took another cookie, mostly to have something to do with his hands.

 

[Bethany Zanders]

Bee laughed when he said he lost the tournament but managed to turn one of her prefects pink and nodded in agreement when he said he considered that a win. She listened to his response to her question and beamed when he included her in people he considered awesome. As he talked about the Forbidden Forst she animatedly said, "I know right?!" shaking her head at the idea of it. "I never thought of it that way, as a way for them to catch troublemakers, but now it all makes sense! Why not just seal it off with enchantments so we can't get it?" she said conspiratorially, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "But I've been there a few times and never got caught so who knows," she added afterward, dropping her suspicions and shrugging her shoulders with a confused look on her face. "I say you just go in there and explore if you want to, you'd probably know more magic to defend yourself anyway. How dangerous could it be if they don't block it off, right?" she considered. She liked to encourage bad habits because life was too short to keep away from something just because someone 'said so.' When he returned the truth or dare question, Bee easily replied, "Dare," with a prepared smirk on her face. She always preferred dares over truths.
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