The amount of time to indulge in each Deeds card or to participate in a Forfeit card was exactly twenty-five minutes per action. Meaning, you and your partner would typically closet yourselves away from the others to act out your cards for a total of fifty minutes per round, with the remaining ten minutes in the hour relegated as a 'rest' period - read: making yourself presentable again for public view, or getting your emotions under control.
The game ended when the last Interrogations card was turned, or when one of the two finalist partners caved, refusing to perform a Forfeit, whichever came first. The team with the most players still 'standing' at that point won.
Hermione realized with a start that this game set could quite possibly string out into a full twenty-four hour ordeal given that there would be twenty-four questions to answer, and each round lasted approximately an hour. No wonder Malfoy picked Saturday night to start; that way they could have all of Sunday night to recover from whatever happened.
Ugh. Seriously, could she really do this? Looking across at Harry's eager face, she realized that this was her chance to sock it good to that Malfoy git for all of the years of torture he'd rained upon her head - if she was lucky enough to be partnered with him, that was to say. If not, at least she could stick it to that snob Zabini, or finally get a chance to get even with Theo, or maybe even have some fun with Seamus, Harry, or Ron, all of whom she wouldn't mind a one-off opportunity with, as there was some fine meatin that group. If she played, it would be a win-win for her, no matter who she ended up with, she realized.
Besides, she'd always had Harry's back, and he'd always had hers. They'd been there for each other through thick and thin, and the way he was looking at her now–as if the whole world's survival hinged on her acceptance of his invitation to play the game–she knew she would not say 'no' to him. Looking back down at the rumpled paper in her sweaty, ink-stained hand, two words stuck out like a beacon of hateful contention to rile her anger once more into a whipping fury.
Too chicken?
Yeah, he'd like her to be, wouldn't he? That monstrously stuck-up, rodent-faced Pygmy Puff!
Swallowing back her fear, Hermione looked Harry in the eye and nodded. "I say we take the challenge."
The others all gaped at her, mouths hinging open like rusted steel traps, this clearly being the last thing they'd expected her to announce.
"Really?" her best male friend asked, his emerald, shimmering eyes alight with a combination of relief and skepticism. "I mean, well, anything goes in this game, 'Mione. Anything. You know… sex stuff."
Raising an eyebrow at him, she smirked. "It's not as if I'm unfamiliar with what to do behind closed doors, and Malfoy did specify 'no cherries.'" She looked at her two girl friends sitting at her side on Seamus' bed, then at the three men sitting opposite her on Harry's twin. "I don't think that will be a problem with this group, and we all know it."
Ginny face vaulted, her pretty cheeks flaming red with embarrassment. Lavender giggled, and the three wizards across from them all looked somewhat sheepish, staring at their feet or the wall as to avoid Hermione's direct gaze.
Really, it's not like they were children anymore! How did they expect to beat the Slytherins at a game of naughty sex fetish if they grew embarrassed about just conversing on the subject? It was no secret, after all, that Hermione and Ron had lost their virginities to each other last summer, after they'd tried dating for two months. She really hadn't seen what all the fuss had been about in the afters, as she'd received more pleasure from chewing a stick of Drooble's Strawberry Gum and her own fingers wiggling under her knickers than she'd ever gotten from Ron's penis. Not that he wasn't a fun lover, but she'd just never gotten off with him.
Harry and Ginny had gone for it just this last February, she knew, breaking each other in on Valentine's Day. However, the novelty had worn off quickly for both of them, and they'd realized they'd had even less in common than she and Ron had had. They'd amicably parted ways a month later. Ginny had then hooked up with Seamus once, who'd already been with quite a few girls by then. It had just been a bit of fun for them, though, and not repeated since.
And she knew that Lavender had given her virginity to the Irish wizard two years ago. Nothing had come of that, though, except Lavender's resentment for the man. It had taken until this year for them to just be comfortable in the same room together. In the meantime, Ron had been on and off with Lav for the last nine months in a fuck-buddy manner, neither taking it as anything more than a bit of fun.
They'd all been sexually active, so what was the big deal?
Ron's face turned an interesting shade of puce. "Since no one else is saying it, I've got to: are you barking mad, 'Mione?
You can't be serious? We're talking about Slytherins here–Malfoy as head git of the lot. You talk about shagging any one of them as easily as tying your shoes!" Staring him down with her most confident glare, her smirk widened. "Crass, Ronald. But you're forgetting a couple of very important things: one, that Draco, Blaise, and Teddy might end up with the girls from their own team, instead of any of us, and two, that I am still a woman, after all. It only takes a pair of decent, half-naked breasts to make your gender come to heel."
Lavender giggled.
"And what are you on about?" Ron asked his on-again, off-again bed warmer. "It's not bloody funny!"
The honey blonde patted her beau's broad shoulder. "I think 'Mione's right. Forcing Malfoy, Zabini, or Nott to do the bidding of one of us women, and make them panting hot for more at the same time would be priceless. I can think of more than a few tricks to humiliate the blue-blooded caps right off of their precious heads." Ginny recovered, catching on to the idea, eyes bright. "Ha! I'd make one of them kiss my feet and beg my forgiveness for every horrible thing they've ever said to me."
Brown laughed. "Honey, you're thinking too small. I'd tie them up and use a stinging hex on their privates. On and off for a good hour, at least. Let them try to reproduce after I'm through!"
Hermione grinned like a shark. "It would be brilliant revenge for the years of horribleness those three have forced us to endure."
Harry stood and nodded at Ron first, and they both turned to Seamus. "Right, Ron and I are in. You?"
"Do ya have any idea who th' Slytherins will be invitin'?" he asked, his Irish brogue thick with excitement. Harry leaned against the back wall and crossed his strapping arms over his broad chest, which had expanded with hard packed muscle this last year, as he and the other members of the Quidditch team had begun a rigorous workout routine this last September, all so they could claim the House Cup this, their final year. "As I said, it'll be Malfoy, Zabini and Nott for the boys. He said Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracey Davis would represent the girls from his House."
———————————————————
Don't want to wait?
Get the full chapters and extra content in my PDF store.
——————————————————
https://ko-fi.com/cmrowling