A/N: This is a work of fiction using the characters from Harry Potter that are trademarked by J.K. Rowling.
"Come on Harry" Ron whined, "Why do we have to play a muggle game. I brought over my self-shuffling cards. New. Not even opened yet" he said and tried to entice his friend into playing exploding snaps by waving the deck of cards in front of his face.
"No Ron" Harry groaned and grabbed the self-shuffling cards out of Ron's hands and tossed them onto the Kitchen counter, "Hermione and I grew up muggle and Fleur is really excited to try a new game so deal with it"
Harry turned his back to Ron but smirked evilly when an idea formed in his mind, "Unless you think you can't handle it?" he taunted.
Just as he suspected Ron straightened with an indignant expression on his face, "I think I'm up to the challenge" he said pompously and sat down in the closest chair.
Harry looked over at Hermione and shared a chuckle with her at Ron's predictability.
"Oh, come off it Ron" Harry said with a taunting smirk, "Just because you lost is no reason to get all amped up"
Harry sat back on the couch and took a long pull from his beer. He stared across the table and watched as Ron's face got progressively redder.
"Shut up Harry!" Ron scoffed, "The only reason I lost was because this is a muggle game"
"Oh, is that the reason?" Harry asked sarcastically, "You don't see Fleur complaining that she lost at a muggle game and she was raised solely in the Magical Community just like you. I bet you'd lose again" he shot back.
"At this game, maybe but pull out exploding snaps and I'd wipe the floor with you"
Hermione and Fleur watched the argument go back and forth between the two men.
Harry sputtered, "Oh, really!"
"Really" Ron nodded with a smug grin.
"That's it! Let's go!" Harry declared, and he reached forward to clear the table, "Grab your cards"
"You're on!" Ron jumped up and grabbed his deck from the Kitchen counter, he placed them in the centre of the table and with a quick tap of his wand the cards flew through the air and shuffled themselves automatically.
"Have they always been this competitive?" Fleur asked Hermione as she watched their men completely forget about their existence and immerse themselves in the game.
"Oh yeah" Hermione nodded, "Ever since our first year. I know it sounds bad but don't worry. It's all confined to gameplay. It almost never affects their friendship."
"Well, I guess since they're not going to let us play…" Fleur trailed off and raised a bottle of wine. She smirked at Hermione and teasingly shook it.
"Fill me up" Hermione smiled and held out her glass.
Challenges/Prompts:
Lamia's Title Challenge – Week Three: Title must be THREE words long and contain punctuation mark (Comma, Exclamation, Question Mark)
Hogwarts School – Do you know your school: Self Shuffling Playing Cards