"It's easy," Harry told everyone while Fred handed out tall glasses of firewhisky. "We take turns saying something we've never done. If you've done the thing the person says then you take a drink. Yeah?"
Most of the group nodded, and Fred grinned when he saw the girlfriend of Harry's newly christened brother grimace at the smell of her drink.
"Tastes better than it smells," he lied to her with a wink. Theo scowled at him, probably for the wink, but if the bloke hadn't realized by now that Fred was absolutely not interested in birds then there wasn't much he could do to convince him otherwise.
Once he was done handing out cups, Fred saw that Harry was sitting between Johnny Abbott and his blonde fairy like friend that he calls Lue. Fred debated briefly whether to sit beside Lue or Johnny to get to Harry.
On the one hand, Harry and Lue spent a lot of time laying on one another and Ron told him that Lue frequently slept in Harry's dorm bed, which Fred didn't really like. But she was one of Harry's best friends and he wasn't going to be a jealous prat.
Johnny on the other hand, he actually didn't really want near Harry at all. Fred and Johnny were friends by the pure happy circumstances that they spent a lot of time in detention together. But Johnny ran with a rougher crowd at Hogwarts. And even if he didn't, there was something a bit off about the Hufflepuff boy that Fred couldn't pinpoint, but felt a lot like danger. Which he liked feeling from Harry, not from the Hufflepuff boy with the cold eyes.
So Johnny it was.
"Scoot over," Fred said, easily sliding between Johnny and Harry and throwing his arm over Harry's shoulder.
Slowly though, because sometimes he did it too quickly and Harry would flinch which made Fred feel both sad and a little murderous at the possible reasoning behind the flinch.
"Who goes first?" Malfoy asked.
"I'll go," Lue offered. "I've never drank alcohol before."
"You're supposed to say 'never have I ever drank alcohol,'" Susan laughed.
"Oh, okay. Never have I ever drank alcohol before," Lue said.
Harry, Fred, George, Johnny, Susan, Malfoy, and surprisingly Hermione all took a drink.
"It was wine in France," Hermione said when Theo gave her a surprised look.
"We've failed as brothers Fred," George groaned. "How has Ronnie never drank before?"
"Because you guys never invite me to anything fun," Ron grumbled.
"That's because we don't like you," Fred grinned.
"Quit," Harry said, giving him a 'I will curse you if you keep insulting my friend' kind of look.
Fred actually sometimes picked on Ron on purpose just to get that look from Harry. He thought it was sweet how Harry always seemed ready to rip someone apart for picking on his friends.
Not that he doubted Harry could rip him apart, because Harry bloody well could, but just that it was cute when he was being protective of them. It was like Harry was the big brother of the group.
"My turn," Susan cut in brightly beside Lue. "Never have I ever..." she eyed Johnny with what Fred thought was more than just a bit of interest. "Smoked pot before."
Johnny winked at Susan as he took a deep drink. As did Harry, Fred, and George.
George, who was sitting beside Susan, looked around thoughtfully.
"Never have I ever... Snogged a bloke in public." George grinned at Fred, clearly trying to find something Fred has done that George hasn't.
Harry, Fred, and Hermione all drank, which was expected.
What wasn't expected, judging from Harry's surprised expression, was when Susan did.
"Who'd you snog then?" Ron asked her.
"Draco," she said easily. "Right in the middle of Puddifoots, didn't I?"
"I thought it wasn't a real date?" Harry asked her, everyone ignoring Malfoy's blush.
"We thought we'd kiss to see if we liked it," she said.
"Did you?" Hermione asked her.
"No," Draco said quickly. "It was weird. Like kissing my sister if I had one."
Susan shuddered dramatically. Fred winced in sympathy, that sounded disgusting.
Almost as disgusting as the sappy looks his own sister gave Harry every time he came over. There was a reason that Fred spent most of his time at Harry's. Besides the fact that Snape seemed to be pretty relaxed about what Harry did, there was the added bonus of not thinking about jinxing Ginny every time she looked at Harry.
Plus, ever since Charlie came home, Harry had been weird when he was at Fred's house. Nervous and a bit twitchier than usual. Fred had hoped that Charlie coming along with them today would ease Harry's worries since Charlie was about as threatening as a kneazle kitten, but after seeing Harry edge warily around him when they ate dinner earlier, he thinks maybe he should have asked Bill to come instead.
"Your turn Ronnikins," George ruffled their brothers hair.
Ron shoved George off him, clearly unappreciative of his brotherly love, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Never have I ever stayed up all night reading."
"Ron's never stayed up for over an hour reading," Fred whispered to Harry, who rolled his eyes before he surprisingly took a drink.
Fred wasn't surprised Harry read, Harry was a bloody genius. But he expected swots like Hermione and Theo to stay up all night studying, not Harry.
"Law books?" Susan asked Harry.
"Transfiguration," he shrugged. "I was trying to turn in to an owl, wasn't I?"
Nobody, except for Johnny who gave Harry a weird look, seemed surprised by Harry's confession. Harry was a bit barmy and said odd stuff that he usually refused to explain. It was one of the many reasons that Fred was absolutely crazy about him.
Sometimes, late at night, Harry quietly explain some stuff to Fred, like about how Lupin had embarrassed him in front of his classmates when Harry's boggart was exposed (Harry didn't tell him what his boggart was, but Fred had heard from Finnigan that it was Snape, which made no sense to Fred since Harry seemed to like Snape quite a bit) but Harry said he quickly tried to embarrass Lupin back by telling everyone he was a werewolf. Fred always listened quietly and let Harry slowly put his head on his chest after he shared little things like that.
Despite the cocky and confident mask that Fred saw right through, Harry always seemed ready for someone to start laughing at him, or even to hurt him, when he talked about himself. Fred could sympathize with thinking people would make fun of you for no good reason, it was one of the many reasons why he liked to make people laugh with his jokes and pranks- nobody was laughing at the poor kid from the big family that nobody could remember his name because they were laughing with him instead.
Fred didn't understand why Harry always thought anyone touching him was about to cause him pain, but he was starting to put together some pieces that made a portrait he didn't quite like.
But when Harry trusted Fred not to laugh at him, and shared his touch and his thoughts? It made Fred feel on top of the world, like he was flying.
"Your turn Draco," Lue said, shifting around so she could lay her head on Harry's shoulder, which displaced Fred's arm and pulled his attention back to the game.
Fred resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Lue and settled for wrapping his arm around Harry's waist instead of his shoulder. He'd nudged Harry as he did it, giving him a silent look for 'is this okay?' Harry turned and looked at his raised brow and nodded slightly. Which eased the jealousy that Fred had been feeling towards Lue just then.
Harry might let her use him as a pillow, but he let Fred touch him too. And that meant something, Fred was sure of it.
"Never have I ever crashed my broom before," Malloy bragged, taking his turn.
"Git," Harry growled, taking another drink.
"You guys are gonna kill poor Harry over there," George laughed after taking his own drink.
"'M fine," Harry waved his hand and leaned further in to Fred's side. Fred looked down at Harry's messy black hair and squeezed his waist tightly for a brief moment and smiled like a lunatic when Harry hesitantly put his own arm around Fred and squeezed back for a split second.
"Your turn love," Theo said to Hermione, which set off a lot of catcalls and jokes.
Fred personally couldn't see the draw for Theo or Hermione. Theo had a bit of fire, him and Fred had gotten in to a couple friendly arguments over the summer so far. And Hermione was a bit of a rebel, and brave too to face Snape in Theo's pajamas and chat about potions over breakfast, but overall they were both boring. Safe. Predictable.
Nothing at all like Harry.
"Never have I ever slept outside before tonight," Hermione said.
Johnny, Ron (who Fred and George had once locked outside all night once for a prank), Lue, and Harry all took a drink.
"Posh prats," Harry laughed, already sounding pretty tipsy. "Tents shouldn't even count."
Which was as interesting a statement as it was disturbing. Fred added it to his mental list of 'Stuff to Ask Harry About When He's in a Chatty Mood'.
So far there were over a dozen questions on this list. Including why he doesn't drink potions (Fred did not accept his story of being allergic because that was bullocks), why slept with a knife under his pillow, and why his back had felt like it had been torn to pieces the night Fred felt it back in February. Harry had been slow to letting Fred touch his bare torso ever since then, and it brought back up those slightly murderous feelings Fred sometimes had when Harry flinched at contact.
"C'mon little Theo, it's your turn," George grinned at Theo. "Let's hear what you haven't done before."
"Never have I ever been in a muggle fight before," Theo said after thinking for a long minute.
"What's the difference between a wizard fight and muggle?" Malfoy asked.
"Muggle means you didn't rely on your wand," Johnny laughed as he took a drink.
"Cheers then," Harry took a drink and let out a loud laugh. "Fuck. I think 'm already drunk."
"Why would you fight someone without magic?" Theo asked Harry with an exasperated look. "You don't even need to use your wand."
"Used to fight all the time before I came to Hogwarts," Harry said, pride dripping from every word. "Look-" Harry rolled up his pant leg and Fred barely held back a hiss at a long scar on the back of his lower leg. "Muggle got me right in the leg with a knife, didn't he?"
"Did you kill him?" Susan asked, her eyes hard as she looked at Harry's scar.
"Nope, but I got his knife," Harry laughed again. Which was a mad reaction because Fred, for once, did not feel like laughing.
"Before Hogwarts? So you weren't even eleven yet?" Malfoy asked, his grey eyes were wide. "Merlin Harry. Why would someone stab a kid in the leg?"
"Johnny's turn," Harry said quickly, changing the topic as Fred expected him to. Harry didn't usually talk about his life before Hogwarts. He'd probably only shared that horrifying fact because of the alcohol.
"Scars are sexy," Fred murmured in his ear, thinking Harry's pink cheeks might be embarrassment from the pitying looks he was getting from part of the group now.
Harry smiled up at him and, even if it was a rather lazy smile, it still made Fred's stomach feel fluttery. Which was a lame thing to think, even if it was true.
"I've done a lot of things," Johnny laughed. "I dunno what to say."
"Bet I've done more," Harry bragged. "C'mon, try me."
Johnny stared at Harry hard, with a grin on his face that Fred would almost call mischievous if it wasn't for the cold look in his eyes.
"Never have I ever... been in love."
Harry slowly sat his glass down and gave Fred a guilty look. Fred just grinned down at him and nodded to his own undrank from glass. He knew Harry didn't love him, not right now anyway. And Fred was crazy about him, but he didn't know if it was love just yet.
"Suppose Angie will be mad if I drink before I tell her?" George asked while everyone else teased Hermione and Theo who took drinks with pink cheeks.
"I think being in love sounds awfully romantic," Lue said dreamily from her spot on Harry's shoulder.
"I think it sounds terrible," Susan laughed, sounding a little drunk herself. "I mean, sex sounds like a good time, but love? Ugh. Too mushy."
Johnny perked up beside Fred, who quickly elbowed him.
"She's fourteen mate," he whispered harshly.
"Same age as Harry," Johnny pointed out quietly.
Which was fair enough. But Johnny was starting his last year at Hogwarts and Fred was entering his sixth. Plus, Harry hardly seemed like he was two years younger than Fred. Sometimes Fred thought Harry acted more mature than most of the seventh years.
"Your funeral," Fred murmured.
"Your turn," Johnny winked with a light laugh.
Fred looked around and locked eyes with George, who nodded just slightly towards Ron, who looked entirely too sober for Fred's taste.
"Never have I ever... wet the bed."
Everyone roared with laughter as Ron turned bright red and scowled at Fred before taking a drink.
"I was SIX!"
"Leave Ron alone," Harry said. "Cheers Ron."
Harry lifted his own glass and took a drink, which was the opposite of what Fred wanted. Harry already seemed pretty unsteady. Theo also took a small drink, which was interesting for the stoic Slytherin boy.
"My turn then?" Harry asked, sitting up slightly.
"Is there anything you haven't done?" Hermione asked.
"Probably not," Malfoy snorted.
After nearly five minutes of Harry thinking, and people tossing out ideas he kept shooting down, they found out one of the few things Harry had never done before in his life was kiss a girl.
"Fred was my first kiss, wasn't he?" Harry shrugged.
Fred absolutely did not puff his chest out proudly at this previously unknown fact about Harry.
Except he did.
Because sweet Merlin. He was Harry's first kiss? It was brilliant.
"How do you even know you like blokes then if you'd never kissed a girl?" Ron asked.
"I don't 'like blokes'," Harry scowled, which was more cute than threatening in his tipsy state. "I like Fred."
Fred thought his face might actually break with how hard he was smiling.
'I like Fred'.
"And Fred's not a bloke?" George asked with a huge grin.
"Piss off," Johnny said, lighting a cigarette. "Harry doesn't have to explain his sexuality to you lot."
"Ta," Harry said, now eyeing Johnny's cigarette.
"Nope," Fred shifted Harry over a bit so he couldn't see it anymore. "Snape's already gonna murder me in the morning when you smell like booze, let's not add cigarette smoke, yeah?"
"Fine." Harry crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Lue, you still playing?
"Oh yes," Lue said eagerly. "I quite like this game. It's interesting hearing everyone's secrets."
"That's why you're my favorite," Harry laughed, missing the jealous looks Fred and Susan both aimed at Lue.
"Last round then?" Theo asked, Hermione now nestled on to his lap.
Fred and George shared a smirk at why Theo would suddenly be in a rush to end the game.
"Alright," Fred agreed. He didn't care about Theo's sex life, but he very much didn't wanna kill off Harry Potter with alcohol poisoning.
Or, maybe worse than killing Harry, would be telling Severus Snape about it.
Fred was a brave guy, in his own humble opinion, and the sorting hat put him in Gryffindor for a reason. But any idiot could see that even if Snape might be lax about Harry's rules, he was a maniac about his safety.
So yeah, last round.
"Never have I ever lost a bet," Lue giggled, starting them off again.
Nearly everyone except Lue and Johnny took a drink.
"Ron's a gambler," Harry said to Fred, clearly in what he thought was a whisper but was loud enough the whole group heard it. Fred hid his grin to hear Harry's London accent shining through now that he was relatively pissed. "But he usually wins bets, don't he?" Harry went on with a fond smile. "He's a fuckin' genius."
Ron's ears turned red at Harry's compliment and he'd looked rather pleased with himself. Which, as his older brothers, Fred and George couldn't stand for.
"Aww, Ronnieeee, are you a genius? Maybe gonna follow dear old Percy's scholastic footsteps?" George teased him.
"You'll make us so proud," Fred added, wiping away a fake tear. "Mum will be pleased to hear how smart you are."
"Knock it off," Susan scowled. "It's my turn now anyway."
Fred wanted to bash his head off the floor at the look in her eyes when she turned her head straight towards Johnny and tossed her hair behind her shoulder in a flirtatious way.
"Never have I ever given a guy a blow job."
Well, Fred tried. He really had. But Johnny sat upright at that and Fred knew it was over with.
"Her aunt will kill you," he murmured with one last effort.
"Might be worth it," Johnny said.
Fred scowled and took a drink of his nearly depleted glass. As did Hermione (to many loud laughs).
... and so did Harry.
Which was odd, because he'd never done that to Fred. He'd offered once, but he'd looked bloody terrified so Fred told him no. Then Harry acted like he owed it to him, which was disturbing, and Fred patiently explained that what he did was his own choice, and that Harry should only do things that he wanted to.
But that was one of the first nights Fred stayed at Harry's house. Ever since then he'd cut back on anything further than heavy snogging and letting Harry touch him wherever he asked.
He thought about adding the blow job thing to his list of things to ask eventually, but tossed it out. Harry was hot and cold when it came to anything more than snogging, Fred wouldn't make it worse by interrogating him about old experiences. Harry would tell him when he was ready.
"Whose turn is it?" Harry slurred, making Fred grimace. He didn't really think this game would lead to Harry getting this drunk.
Fred Weasley was a dead man if Snape found out.
"The Weasley Twin you aren't laying on," Malfoy said.
Fred looked towards George and flicked his eyes down towards Harry and then shook his head slightly.
George scrunched his nose for a split second, their signal when they understand each other.
"Hmmm," he said thoughtfully. "Never have I ever... had a crush on a teacher."
Fred was relieved when Harry laughed at Ron, Hermione, Susan, and Lue when they all took drinks and left his own on the floor.
"Who'd'ya have a crush on?" Harry asked Lue.
"Professor Snape," Lue said without even the slightest amount of embarrassment. "He's rather charming isn't he?"
The rest of the group, except for a now deeply blushing Hermione and a smirking Susan, laughed at that.
"Not you too," Ron groaned at Susan and Hermione. "Snape is not charming!"
"He- he kind of is," Hermione said with a guilty look at Theo, who Fred was impressed to see just looked amused. "He's got the whole tall, dark, and mysterious vibe going on."
"Plus he's a bit dangerous isn't he?" Susan said. "Ex Death Eater spy and all."
"What about you Ronald?" Johnny asked with a lazy grin. "Are you pining after Snape too?"
"Gross," Ron shivered, but suddenly looked sheepish. "Had a crush on Professor Sinistra though. She's gorgeous."
Johnny, George, and Draco all murmured their agreements before Draco poked Ron and told him to take his turn.
"Alright, alright, let me think."
"That's a new one," Fred whispered to Harry.
"Quit pickin' on Ron," Harry murmured. "Or we'll fight."
"I don't think you're in any shape to win a fight Potter," Johnny laughed. "You're drunk as hell."
"I'd still win," Harry said confidently. Johnny probably would have argued the point except Harry rolled his right wrist and had Johnny's wand flying right to his hand. "See?"
Which was bloody hot.
Fred quickly took a sip of his drink to make up for the fact he hadn't before when Johnny said he'd never been in love.
Fred might be in love with the mad bloke laying on his shoulder.
"Never have I ever stolen anything," Ron said with a pointed look at George.
"Liaaaar," Harry laughed after tossing Johnny's wand back to him. "Stole that rock with me in first year, didn't ya?"
"What rock?" Johnny asked.
"Magic rock," Harry said with an uneven grin. "Top secret though."
"Yeah but you actually stole the rock," Malfoy said. "We told you to put it back."
"Well then cheers," Harry tapped his glass against Fred's before the two of them, Johnny, George, and Susan all drank.
"You've never stolen anything?" George asked Malfoy disbelievingly.
"I'm the only child to wealthy parents, I've never had a reason to," Malfoy shrugged.
Well, Fred supposed you can't fault a bloke for playing the cards he's dealt.
Malfoy nudged Ron lightly with his elbow and suddenly looked downright evil.
"Never have I ever had a crush on anyone in this room," he said.
Draco and George were the only two who didn't drink at that.
Fred looked around and tried to fit together the pieces based on the blushes and nervous looks going around.
Hermione and Theo used to have a crush on each other, easy enough.
Johnny and Susan seemed to be making flirty eyes at each other now, which Fred wouldn't classify as a 'crush' but whatever worked he supposed.
Harry hopefully only ever had a crush on Fred.
Which left Lue and Ron.
"Ronnie I've told you a million times, your crush on me is bloody weird," George sighed with an exaggerated grimace of disgust.
"I have never had a crush on you!" Ron sputtered. "Merlin George. Gross."
Malfoy mumbled something in Ron's ear that Fred was too far away to hear. But George must have heard enough because he quickly flicked his eyes to Hermione before looking back at Fred and waggling his brows.
Which was absolutely hilarious because Theodore Nott might be a boring little bookworm, but Fred would put big money on him destroying Ron if he even looked in Hermione's direction.
"Well we all know who Luna had a crush on," Susan laughed.
"Who?" Harry asked curiously.
"You," Lue said easily. "When we first met I thought you were my hero. You kept showing up and helping me when the other students weren't being so nice."
"When did I do that?" Harry scrunched his face up in a way that would have been much more adorable if Fred wasn't fighting against another surge of jealousy at the moment.
It wouldn't be so bad if Lue wasn't a pretty girl laying on his boyfriends shoulder and using words like 'my hero'.
Don't be a jealous prat, he repeated over and over while Lue recounted stories of Harry showing up and blasting students in to walls that were bullying her.
"Of course now you're with Fred and I think we're better off as friends," Lue said kindly as she patted Harry's knee.
Jealousy absolutely had nothing to do with why Fred bent over and kissed the top of Harry's head.
Nothing at all.
"Never have I ever cheated on a test," Hermione said abruptly, apparently trying to speed up the end of the game.
Fred, Harry, George, Johnny, Susan, and Draco all took quick drinks.
"The room spinnin' or is that just me?" Harry slurred.
Merlin.
"That's enough of that," Fred said, sliding Harry's cup off to the side. "Maybe you should take drinks of water instead?"
"Nope," Harry reached out and stubbornly pulled the cup back towards himself. "It's almost over, yeah?"
Yes. Thankfully.
Fred tried to give Theo a significant look, hoping he'd know that Harry absolutely did not need to drink more. Which, he must have understood to some extent.
"Never have I ever gotten a tattoo."
Fred sighed with relief when Harry didn't drink. Of course Johnny did, which Susan certainly didn't fail to notice.
"Never have I ever been told I'm bad at sex," Johnny said with an overtly obvious grin in Susan's direction.
George took a drink, which made Fred laugh remembering how he told him the first time he had sex with Misty Tomlin in their third year she'd told him he sucked afterwards.
"Fred you prat," Ron scowled.
Fred, who had been busy laughing at George, looked over at his other brother, "What?" He followed Ron's gaze and glanced down just in time to see Harry set his glass down after apparently having taken a drink.
What the bloody hell.
Fred was Harry's first kiss. But Harry had already had sex?
Harry had already given someone else a blow job?
Didn't it usually go kissing, oral, then sex? Or had Fred lost the plot somewhere?
Ron clearly thought Fred had been the one to say it, so it must have either been a one night thing or someone Ron didn't know.
... Or ... or something before Harry started at Hogwarts?
He shut that horrifying thought down when Harry suddenly looked horribly uncomfortable and shifted slightly away from Fred with a guilty look in his eyes.
Guilty and... scared maybe?
"I'm knackered," Fred lied with a soft smile for Harry. He didn't care if Harry slept with a million blokes before him, he was with Fred now, wasn't he?
And if something happened before Hogwarts then Fred would just track down whatever person thought they could sleep with an eleven year old and kill them.
"Let's call it a night, yeah?" he suggested before kissing Harry firmly on the top of his head.
You'll tell me when you're ready, he thought fiercely.
"You still have to take your turn!" Ron protested. "C'mon, last one."
"Yeah, don't be a quitter Weasley," Malfoy drawled.
"Fine," Fred said shortly.
If he hadn't been annoyed with his brother and worried about Harry he never would have said the words that came out of his mouth next.
In his absolute defense, he hadn't been thinking. He was just spouting out the first most outrageous thing he could think of that would shut Ron and Malfoy up and end the game before Harry actually passed out on the bloody floor.
It also probably slipped out since Fred was plotting out how some prank items could be used as torture devices as well.
"Never have I ever killed anyone."
And nobody even flinched when Harry Potter raised his glass in a mock toast, his eyes hazy, and took a drink.
"Awesome," Johnny breathed.
It wasn't awesome.
Harry had told Fred, a whole group of people actually, how he'd killed Quirrell his first year. Fred didn't think it really counted, since Harry hadn't meant to, but apparently Harry counted it.
It wasn't awesome, but Fred could absolutely admit that it was bloody hot.
Fred had always been attracted to a bit of danger. A quiet life was never in the cards for him. And Harry was dangerous. Dangerous and brilliant and so layered and complex that Fred thought he could spend the rest of his life trying to unravel the mystery that made up the messy haired, green eyed, mad bloke who chose that exact minute to actually pass out on Fred's shoulder.