PG:G Let's Get Flinched!

[James Potter]

Excitement was stirring in the Gryffindor common room. The chairs and tables had been pushed to the edges of the room for leaving loads of floor space, and already students were milling around; some standing, some drinking, some dancing, some sitting…

On the tables against the walls was now huge mountains of party food and snacks, with one of the smaller end tables overflowing with bottles – everything from butter beer to fire whiskey, mead to that muggle vodka stuff – there was a little bit of everything available.

Music drifted around the room, coming from everywhere but nowhere - a nifty little spell by one of the 7th years had seen to that. It still played at quite a low volume for now, but no doubt when the party hit full swing it would be cranked right up.

As for the room itself, apart from moving the furniture aside they hadn’t really done anything with it. They didn’t have fancy banners or a ton of balloons, but they didn’t think they needed them. James knew that Remus had worked out a spell that would give them some awesome party lighting later on, but for now, their normal set up would do.

James could see students were already milling around – the early arrivers to the party. Everyone seemed to have gone through a lot of effort to dress up for it a bit too which was always a good sign. It suggested people wanted to party, and besides, they were way overdue one.

Classes were finished and they had a long weekend ahead of them – thank God for bank holidays!

Straightening his shirt, James made his way over to where he could see a large group of Gryffindors sat talking. ”What’ve I missed?” he asked, dropping down between two girls and looking around the group.

“We’re playing truth or dare.” One of the girls answered, turning her attention back to a blushing boy across from her.

”I see…” Truth or dare… well that was one way to spend a party—What a brilliant idea! ”Hold that thought.”

James grinned, pushing to his feet and running back towards his down, taking the steps three at a time. The door whacked against the wall as he barreled in, startling his roommates who were still getting ready. His eyes went straight to Sirius and he headed in that direction. ”Padfoot. Flinch quill. Now.” He could see it on his friends’ bedside cabinet and reached around him to grab it, grinning as he looked between all his friends. ”Time to test this baby out for real, don’t you think? Hurry up and get downstairs. I’m going to explain the rules to everyone.”

Almost as quickly as he had appeared in the room he disappeared again, hurrying down to the common room again, a strange bounce in his step. He really couldn’t wait to try this game out for real…

[James Potter]

James stood in the center of the room and called for some quiet and attention. ”I propose, my friends, a game of Flinch to start off this night with a bang!”

His words were followed by several seconds of silence before a voice spoke up from somewhere in the crowd asking the one question James had been waiting for.

“What’s flinch?”

”Flinch is a marauder’s game.” James said with contagious excitement. ”Remus actually deserves the in the invention credit, but we all added out bit.”

Curiosity peaked and much of the group moved in closer, listening intently. James pointed to the sofas and arm chairs at the side of the room. ”Throw a few of those pillows over and if we all get comfortable I’ll explain the rest.”

There was some hustle and bustle as pillows were passed around and those who wanted to join in sat in a circle in the middle of the floor, some pulling their friends in, some encouraging their friends to play instead.

”Make sure you’re comfortable as you all need to be able to reach this.” James stated as he produced from his pocket what looked like a petrified quill. It was snowy white and looked as if it would be as soft as down, but to touch, it actually felt like marble.

”I’m sure you’re all familiar with the game truth or dare?” He inquired, eyes scanning the group. When they nodded he continued. ”Well in Flinch we only deal with the truth, no dares.”

He could hear the murmurs from the group and one of the comments from a boy standing a bit further back in the crowd was spoken loudly, but it asked the question in everybody’s minds. “Where’s the fun in that?”

"The questions asked have to be answered by the entire group. You each only get one question to ask. When the question is asked, everyone must be touching the quill. The quill is possessed of a charm that acts similarly to veritaserum, so it will know if you are lying. If you don't tell the truth, it will make you flinch. If you flinch, you're out. Last one holding on wins. Any questions?"

This time it was a girl who spoke up. "What if you just let go instead of answering?"

"Just like a port key, once you touch it, you will not be able to pull your hand away until the round is over. That is why I suggest you make yourself comfortable." James replied with an openly suspicious smile.

Several of the Gryffindors who’d been sitting in the circle shuffled in closer together, while James sat down in his place in the circle, enough space next to him for his fellow marauders when they got down there.

"I suggest a practice round with an easy question so you can all get a feel for the game." He placed the quill on a box that someone had just conjured and kept one finger on it, signaling that the others should do the same. With some slight reluctance, everyone joined him, fingers just say touching the edges of the quill.

A queer sensation of being glued to the feather passed through everyone and a guy sat to James’ right, Frank, tugged at his finger to test if he could move it, but it just pulled everyone’s arms towards him. He sheepishly moved it back to the center as a series of chuckles went around the group.

”Doubting Thomas there can be thinking up the first proper question.” He grinned. ”As for the practice, ‘what’s your favorite food?’ And it’s not a real game so if someone wants to lie so we all know what to expect, then go ahead. Oh! I should have mentioned: Wizard's Honor. Everything revealed here tonight goes no further." He looked around their group as they nodded. ”Okay then. Who wants to answer first?”

[remuslupin]

Remus lay back on a large cushion and closed his eyes to the soothing rhythm of James’ voice rising and falling. The full moon had only just passed, and he was still recovering – if he had his choice Remus would have been curled up in his four-poster bed with a bowl of soup and a good book. But James and Sirius would never have let him, and when he’d tried to stay on the outskirts of the developing party Peter had come over and dragged him into the circle. And here he was.

Playing Flinch.

Thankfully, as the games’ creator and the one who had charmed the quill, Remus had a few tricks up his sleeve should anyone ask anything that could lead to his “furry little problem” being revealed. Laying his finger on the quill along with everyone else, Remus grinned at Frank’s insistence on testing the rules, and his grin only widened with James’ first question. It was an easy question, a throwaway question.

”As the Flinch pioneer I believe I shall claim the right of first answer, Mr. Potter. Unless anyone has an objection?” Remus looked around the circle and saw no signs of outrage or objection, and so continued, ”Favourite food, favourite food? Steak and kidney pie.” He gave a broad smile. ”There you go, boys and girls. Simple and easy as that.”

”Next?

[longbottom]

Frank sat down clumsily next to James, accidentally putting part of his weight on the girl next to him. "Oops, sorry," he said to her as he shuffled over. They were all about to play a game that the Marauders had invented. Whether this was safe was anybody's guess...

As James explained it, the group reached in to touch the quill. Frank pulled it back to see if he really could take his finger off the quill, but to no avail, the rest of the group followed. "Sorry!" he said again, wincing. Eugh, this night really wasn't going very well after all...

As James asked the question, it was now up to the rest of the group to answer the question. Remus went first and Frank decided to answer second. "Mashed potato," he said simply, and Frank's finger stayed glued to the quill. Hmm, not so bad, after all. He waited for the rest of the group to reply before he asked James what the first 'real' question was going to be...

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[Sirius Black]

A party was just what this house needed. Sirius coudn't actually remember the last time the house had gone wild and let loose...come to think of it, it'd been last year, the end of year party in which Sirius had had a really, really good time. Smirking, the dark haired Gryffindor ran his fingers through his hair once more before stepping over to his bed. All his friends had long since gone down to the party, but after spending an hour on the Quidditch pitch, Sirius had needed to grab a shower.

Popping open the top button on his dress shirt, he was finally satisfied with how he'd dressed. Downing another firewhiskey he screwed the lid back on and headed out of his dorm. The music pulsated up the stairs towards him, drawing him further down the stairs to where his house mates were already partying, Gryffindor style.

Before he'd even stepped off the final stair, a drink was thrust into his hand by a pretty sixth year who also pulled lightly on the black shirt hanging around his neck. This pulled Sirius from the stairs and further into the crowd, his eyes fixed mainly on the pretty brunette in front of him.

James's voice though caught his attention and Sirius broke eye contact with the girl, who let go of his tie in disappointment and sauntered off into the crowd. Giving a careless shrug, Sirius turned and moved his way through the group to see James sat on the floor with Remus setting up for a game of flinch. "James buddy...don't tell me you started without me..." he said, swatting James across the back of his head before nudging a couple of other players aside so he could sit down. He heard a few other people answer and quickly caught on to what the question was, and reached out to touch the quill, "Favourite food...cottage pie.". He rolled his eyes and looked at James, "Couldn't think up anything better than that? Come on Prongs, get to the juicy stuff!"

[talls]

Ferret had long since been at the party. She was actually looking forward to truth or dare. She lounged in a chair but didn't plan on joining. They would call if they needed her. As Potter explained the new game, she had to admit she was interested. She wondered if there was a catch. But new games were fun right? Reaching forward, she smiled as she placed a finger on the quill as she settled down next to Remus. The girl on the other side made room for her but only just.

Listening to everyone's answers, she couldn't help but smile. This was going to be fun. Her favorite food was a no brainer.

"Homemade Southern United States' Style Macaroni and Cheese," she said proudly. The girl next to her raised an eyebrow. "What? Its cheesy and gooy and greasy and a little bit crunchy all at the same time! The greasy part was probably why the girl turned her nose up at it. Her loss. It was one of the main reasons she wish she visited her brother more.

She looked at Potter then. "When can we move on to the deep, dark questions?" she asked. She had so many.

[Emily Prescott]

The Gryffindor Party was in full swing by time Emily made her way down the stairs from her dorm. The common room was packed full of students, music blasted from anywhere and everywhere, there was a warm, welcoming presence in the air. Gryffindor parties were epic in her opinion, she couldn't wait to see how Hufflepuff's party lived up to this when she went tomorrow night. Speaking of, she frowned slightly standing on the stairs to get a good look at the crowd and realized neither Chase, nor Lachie had took her up on her invite.

Sighing she stepped into the crowd and towards the drinks table, somehow managing to avoid dancing with the slightly drunker Gryffindor's. She wasn't quite there yet, not even close, so there'd be no dancing for her just yet. Accepting a drink, she smiled politely and turned back to look at everyone, laughing at the random Gryffindor who was currently doing the chicken dance through the crowd. Laughing she again avoided any dancing and moved towards the group she could see sat on the floor.

As she guessed, James Potter was dictating the game, and before too long Remus and Sirius had too shown up. For several more minutes she just stood to the side watching them before throwing caution to the wind and deciding to join in, there couldn't be any harm in it right. Finishing her drink she placed it onto a random table and stepped over to the group and behind James. Crouching down she nudged his shoulder, thanking the girl next to him who moved to make space for Emily, "Make room Potter..." she said, shooting a smile at him as she sat down, crossing her legs and covering them with the bottom of her dress. "Favorite food....chocolate..." she announced when she reached out to place her finger on the quill. "Next question!" she said, bumping James's shoulder with her own, surprised he wasn't stalking Lily somewhere, it was a party after all, perfect time to corner the red head.

[notalice]

Leander wasn't usually much of a party person, but her room mates had been insistent that she at least turned up for a little while, and, reluctantly, she had.

She shouldn't have been so reluctant about it though, because as soon as she got down there into the crowd of happy, dancing students, she felt herself relax. She'd been so close-guarded and scared for weeks now that it felt strange to be able to let herself relax. Although she still hated crowds, this one felt different.

Choosing to act a little out of character for herself, she headed for the drinks table and picked something up, hoping it would taste okay and that it wasn't something overly strong as far as alcohol went. She let the cool liquid calm her frazzled nerves and sighed, making her way over to the seats where there were some students sitting. Some one encouraged her over and, though she didn't know the person, she willingly went and sat beside her.

That was one of the things about parties in the common room that still always managed to surprise Leander. No matter whether you knew someone or not, when there was a party going on it didn't matter, and you'd talk to people that you usually wouldn't speak to on a normal day.

The students she sat with were clearly older than her but she just sat quietly, sipping her drink and smiling at their conversation. The boy in the middle sure was funny...

Before long, the familiar face of James Potter emerged, disappeared, and then appeared again, with a white quill in hand. He explained the rules of a game called Flinch and she listened intently. It sounded interesting but... she couldn't picture herself playing it.

She didn't have a choice. The funny boy who'd been talking before hand took the empty glass from her hand and all but dragged her out of her seat to join the group of Flinch-players, saying something about her needing to get out of her shell and have some fun. Leander didn't dare refuse.

As the others in the group started to answer the question one by one she again felt herself relax further, finally feeling a little more like herself than she had in a long time. She had nothing to fear in the confines of the Gryffindor tower.

The go finally came around to her and she took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little shy. She'd never liked being the center of attention no matter what the reason was, and suddenly a whole lot of eyes were on her. She glanced briefly at the blonde haired girl who'd answered before her and wondered what answer to give. She didn't want to say something that would sound too similar to what the other girl had just said.

"Mince pi-OW!" She gasped sharply at the sudden jolt that passed through her and heard the sniggers of students around her. That fairly stung! She looked up sheepishly. "Though... I might like chocolate cake more..."

[lilyevans]

The fifteen year old witch took a deep breath, she had been avoiding the party all night. She didn’t want to go. She knew what could happen and that was why she had avoided it. She wasn’t the party girl after all. She would rather be curled up somewhere reading a good book. She especially had wanted to avoid Potter after their last few run ins when he had kissed her. She was so completely confused and she wanted to have the time to relax and think things through. She had to play it safe.

She was supposed to hate him for what he had done, over the years, the constant pranks, picking on her best friend and yet she didn’t. Not really. Hate was a strong word to use, and for her, she preferred to think of it as being annoyed by him for the most part. She had hoped to keep out of the common room until it was time for everyone to go off into their own dorms and she had an excuse anyway as she had Prefect Duty tonight.

She didn’t mind that she’d be doing it by herself as she knew Remus was going to attend the party which was fine by her. She liked the solitude at times. It was rather refreshing. Severus was going to be in his common room working on Potions’ assignments or so he had told her. So she had no reason to look for her best friend. The biggest reason she was avoiding the party had been because she hated being asked twenty questions especially when it was in a room full of Gryffindors, as she knew from experiance that all the other Gryffindors were party animals. That much had been made clear the last few parties she had passed through. She really wished there were other ways to get to the dorm room so she could avoid it altogether.

However she did not know of any.

Taking a deep breath she wrapped her emerald green cloak around her as she made her way from Hogwarts’ grounds up to the front entrance. It was quiet, peaceful...just like she liked it to be. She dreaded going up the flights of stairs to make it to the common room. “I really do not want to be up there right now. Blast it all, having to go up there if only to grab something out of my dorm room. I refuse to participate in their charades.” She thought to herself as she walked from the entrance hall, up one....two, three, four...floors up. Had she lost count? No there were seven floors before she reached the tower. It took about a half an hour of her procrastinating to finally reach the Towers. She took a deep breath as she opened the doors to allow her into the Common room. She hoped she would be able to slip past the partiers and be left completely alone so she could go get what she needed and to get back to business as per usual.

The last thing she had wanted to have happen was to be caught off guard and forced to play a game she did not want to play. She didn’t even look at the group gathering around the Potter boy. She knew he was the ringleader when it came to the parties, him and Sirius both.

She sighed as she had just about reached the stairs, leading up to the dorm area, when she heard what she thought was someone call out her name. She did not turn around. Instead she started to continue walking up the stairs when she heard it again.Was she losing her mind?

She didn’t think so. She stopped on the stairs not turning around as she knew if someone did call her name it was someone from the party and not just someone headed up the stairs like she was.

[James Potter]

More students were joining in than what he'd originally expected would and it was great. Both Sirius and Remus had come down at around the same time and were just in time for the first round, and Emily had dived in next to him last minute too. This was going better than expected. There were even some faces joining in that he wouldn't have expected to see getting involved, such as that really quiet 4th year girl... who's name he couldn't quite remember.

Sirius made a comment about the question and James rolled his eyes, reaching over to shove his friend in the shoulder. "It's called a practice question for a reason, Pads." He grinned and listened to a few more answers going around.

The quiet girl answered and flinched, and James was among one of many who laughed at her shocked look on her face. "Thanks for volunteering to show us how it's done, darling." He grinned and send a wink in her direction before looked around the players again. Looked like it was his turn to answer.

"Let's see now... Jam tarts!" He grinned and flexed his hand for a second before placing it back on the quill again, and then looking back to Frank. He'd ignored his comment about what the next question was before and waited till the others had answered. Now, he turned his attention back to him. "Hope you've got a question all thought up! Ask away, mate." He looked back to the group before sharing a sly glance with Sirius. "We're onto the serious stuff now."

Someone in the crowd shouted Lily's name several times and James glanced up, but his finger was already stuck to the quill again as Frank asked the next question. He tried to turn to see over his shoulder to see if he could spot her through the crowd but he didn't have much luck. Besides, if he moved too much he risked pulling the rest of the players with him.

[christopherbonheur]

[I'M JUST GOING TO PRETEND TO BE FRANK FOR A BIT]

Frank pressed his lips into a hard line, trying with all his might to think up a question that everyone could ask. The first round had seemed to go okay - phew.

He watched as James looked up to find Lily and grinned slightly. He'd seen this happening for a while - no, CONCENTRATE, LONGBOTTOM! Time was running out to think of a question.

"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath, "What's your guilty pleasure?"

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[Sirius Black]

Sirius sighed, voicing his boredom. Able to dodge the shove James had been meant to give him, and he did so with a smile. "Yes well all these nice people are caught up Prongs, get to the juicy stuff yeah? Or I'll have to go find fun elsewhere." he chuckled, and by fun he simply meant more drink, more dancing, and whatever else followed. He wasn't the playboy everyone seemed to think he was.

Seeing the quiet red head get flinched Sirius hid his amused grin, remembering it wasn't a pleasant sensation being flinched. At James's answer, Sirius let out a bark of laughter and shook his head, "Tarts? Too easy Prongs...so I'm going to let that one slide..." he laughed, shaking his head before taking a large gulp of his drink. Frowning at the now empty cup he tossed it aimlessly over his shoulder.

"Serious stuff, now we're talkin buddy!" he replied, returning the sly look, though when he gave the question to Frank, Sirius sighed, so much for serious. As he went to press his finger back onto the pen he heard Lily's name called out from somewhere in the crowd and he looked at James and as he thought his friend was searching the mass of people for the annoying red head. "You playing James? Or chasing a hopeless cause again?" he asked.

There was a slight bitterness there yes. Really he had no problem with Lily, just the way she treated James, and the way James kept chasing her no matter how badly she treated him. Plus she hung out with Snape, so that to went against her. Sighing he looked at Frank as the other boy asked his question. "Easy, muggle porn! Next!" he answered, looking over his shoulder towards the crowd, looking slightly bored.

[talls]

Looking and seeing her best friend Ferret sat up eagerly.

"LILY!" she called. "LILY! LILY! LILY! LILY! LILY! Come play with us!" she called. She continued to call her until she heard Black's guilty pleasure.

She found herself blushing, and laughing at the exact same time. She began to cry she was laughing so hard.

"Dear god, Black, I expected something like that from you, but-" It took a bit for her to calm down.

She cleared her throat after several deep breaths.

"My guilty pleasure is a stuffed dragon named Fizfittzal." The girl next to her gave her a snicker, a cruel one at that. She gave her a glare but said nothing. She just tossed her head and rolled her eyes back over to Lily. She smiled again.

"LILY! LILY! LILY! LILY! LILY! Come play with us!"

[remuslupin]

Remus snickered slightly at Sirius' flip answer, and Ferret's reaction. Trust the wildest of the Marauders to come up with an answer that was unlikely to be topped by anyone (unless what they said about the quiet ones was true, in which case Leander might be in with a chance).

"I apologize for Sirius, ladies. Someday I promise that Peter and I will manage to get him housetrained. And I must confess Ferret, I am partly to blame - he was staying at mine over the Summer when he nicked his first skin mag from the general store."

As Ferret bounced around calling for Lily, Remus contemplated the possible answers he could give. He had several guilty pleasures, after all, and any and all of them would count. It was merely a question which one was either least embarrassing or most amusing.

"There is," he announced, clearing his throat, "a false bottom in my trunk. Inside it is a copy of Wuthering Heights and the complete works of Jane Austen. And reading those would be my guilty pleasure."

Smiling genially at the rest of the circle, Remus inclined his head slightly.

"Next?"

[James Potter]

Not a bad question. Not a bad question at all. James hadn't been expecting that one but he had to say, it was a pretty damn good one. Now he just had to think of what to answer it with himself. There were several things that jumped to mind that he could say without getting flinched but he didn't want to say something that would entirely kill his reputation.

He chose to sit back and listen to a couple of the others make their answers first. Oh, Sirius. Why wasn't he surprised to hear that? Muggle porn indeed... That was the sort of answer you'd expect to hear from Sirius. Well, it was what made the game more fun in the end, wasn't it?

James couldn't miss the slight grin on Remus's face when he was attempting to apologize for Sirius. It only provided the perfect opportunity for the tables to be turned on Remus. And James did just that. "'course he didn't nick it from the shop. He found it under your bed along with the GT one." James grinned and winked at Remus. It was always fun to wind him up with comments like that. Who knew what people would or would not believe? But in the end, who really cared what people thought?

Ferret answered next with an answer about a stuffed dragon she had. He didn't miss the sniggers from the girl on the other side of her and he frowned. "I don't supposed your answer is any better, is it?" He directed to the girl. She blushed slightly as she muttered her own answer and was immediately flinched. James just scoffed. "Now try the truth." Her answer was a pretty pathetic one. James rolled his eyes and turned away from her. "Yeah. Thought so. You're out of the game."

Thankfully. They didn't need judgmental people like her being a downer on everyone. This was a party for gods sake! They were supposed to be having a laugh and a joke and just generally having fun. They didn't need to be trying to censor their answers based on whether they thought someone was going to make run down comments and insults about them. Good riddance!

"Hmm... let's think..." He muttered, wondering what he should use as his own answer. Sirius and Remus had both said theirs already, now James wanted something a little different. He had ignored Sirius's comments about Lily but he could still hear Ferret trying to shout her over. He wondered if she would join in or use it as an excuse to insult him more. After what had happened earlier in the week he expected the latter.

My guilty pleasure... is probably..." Oh to hell with it! "Discovering new cultures and interacting with natives and learning from them." He didn't usually talk much about all the holidays he'd been on and all the travelling he'd done with his parents over the years, but if one thing was for sure, he loved going abroad. He found it really easy to talk to new people over there and he enjoyed every minute of the time he spent learning about their ways of life. He was up for anything - new food, new activities, new forms of entertainment. If they were willing to show him, he was willing to give it a go.

"Who's going next?" James looked around the group, wondering who was going to be the next to fess up.