Since Draco had defected to the Order of the Phoenix, after the murder of his mother at the hands of Lord Voldemort himself, he and Ron had formed a tentative friendship. At first, Ron was very mistrustful of the Slytherin, but gradually things changed. Draco was different. He was quiet, and rarely spoke unless he was spoken to. He spent almost all of his time in the Black library, reading up on different subjects that normally helped the Order in some way.
One time, Ron had walked into the library (on an errand from Hermione to find a specific book, as he never spent more time around so many books than he had to) and found Draco playing wizard chess against himself. Ron had watched him for a few minutes before walking over and wordlessly taking on the black team.
Since then, they had taken to playing chess together, often without saying a word except to move the pieces. Sometimes, Ron would win, sometimes Draco. Draco was the only decent chess partner in the Order, and Ron told himself that was why he looked forward to their chess matches so much.
That was why, when Draco said something to Ron for the first time since he had defected, Ron was taken extremely by surprise.
"The end is coming." Draco said. Ron looked up at him, startled, but Draco was still looking at the chess board. "Knight to E5." He called, and the piece promptly destroyed one of Ron's pawns. Ron looked down at the chess set and called out his own piece before responding.
"Yeah, it is." He agreed, watching as Draco's queen was destroyed. They were both silent for several minutes, simply calling out moves, and then Draco's rook destroyed Ron's King.
"I hope you win." Draco said suddenly, and Ron didn't think he was referring to the game. Draco stood up and walked towards the door.
"We will win." Ron responded, putting emphasis on the word "we". It seemed to mean so much more now. Draco stopped at the doorway, gave Ron a strained smile, and left, leaving Ronald with his own thoughts of the blonde Slytherin.