Hello lovely people, thank you for joining me for A Game Of Chess, do enjoy!
"If I win, I want a date with Granger."
Ron froze; the piece of lavishly buttered toast that was halfway to his mouth fell back onto the plate as he stared at Draco Malfoy in undisguised, aghast horror.
"You want a date with who?" he choked out, the colour draining from his face.
"Whom, Ronald, honestly," Hermione corrected exasperatedly as she sat down in the Great Hall where she then noticed the presence of a certain blonde across the table. "Malfoy, this is the Gryffindor table."
"I had noticed, Granger," Draco said carelessly. "All this gold and red is positively disgusting."
"Then why don't you, I don't know, leave?"
"Now, now, Hermione, no need to be rude," Draco mock reprimanded. "Now back to business, Weasley, I don't have all day."
"Uh... I don't know..." Ron stammered, nervously glancing at Hermione.
"You agreed without listening to the full agreement – that is not my problem."
"A hundred galleons if I win?" he clarified.
"Yes," Draco confirmed impatiently.
"O... okay then," he said, more afraid of Hermione's anger at what he'd just done rather than actually losing.
Draco smirked. "Pleasure doing business with you," he said as he stood up, sauntering back to his own table.
"Why do I get the feeling you've done something stupid, Ronald Weasley," Hermione said, sternly.
Ron looked over at her and squirmed under her glare, laughing uneasily. "Well... you see..." he mumbled, not meeting her eyes.
"Malfoy challenged him to game of chess," Dean said, ignoring Ron's panicked look and desperate plea to shut up. "If Ron wins, he'll get a hundred galleons, but if Malfoy wins you have to go on a date with the ferret."
"You did what?" Hermione said, coolly.
"I'm sorry! I said yes before I'd heard what he wanted!" Ron rushed to say, stumbling over his words.
"For Merlin's sake Ronald!" Hermione said, angrily. She stood up, picking up her bag and she swung it aggressively over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he whimpered.
"You better bloody well win," she snapped before leaving the hall.
"Bloody hell! She cussed! She never cusses!" Ron muttered disbelievingly.
"Good luck, mate," Dean said with a chuckle. "I'm surprised you agreed anyway, Malfoy is reputed to be pretty decent at chess."
"What?" Ron demanded, suddenly looking rather pale again.
"You didn't know?" Seamus asked, looking somewhat amused.
"How could you let me agree?" Ron wailed.
"Agree to what?" Harry asked, still looking somewhat sleepy as he sat down.
"Harry!" Ron said, grabbing his arm and dragging him back up to standing. "I have to practice chess or Hermione's going to kill me!" he said, starting to pull him out of the hall.
"What?" Harry asked, appearing completely bewildered. "Are you feeling okay, Ron? Hermione's never told us to play chess before, are you sure you don't mean some homework you've forgotten..." he trailed off at Ron's adamant shaking of his head.
"No! I made a stupid bet with Malfoy! I need to make sure I win! Or Hermione will inflict torture on me."
"Torture...?" Harry asked, baffled.
"If I lose, she has to go on a date with that slimy git," he explained quietly.
"WHAT?" Harry yelled.
"I didn't mean to agree," Ron moaned unhappily.
"We'll need to find you a better opponent than me," he said, thoughtfully and he scanned the Ravenclaw table.
"What are you talking about, Harry?" he asked.
"PADMA!" Harry called and said girl turned to him with a frown as he gestured for her to come over to them.
Ron groaned. "Not her, Harry, she hasn't forgiven me for fourth year yet," he muttered.
"What is it?" Padma asked, sharply, looking at Ron with distaste as she reached them.
"You hate Malfoy, right?" Harry said.
"Well, yes, like most people, but-" she started to say.
"Then you'd like to see him lose hundred galleons."
"Of course I would, I'm quite looking forward to seeing how it plays out, but what-"
"Then you'll practice chess with Ron so he can beat Malfoy," Harry said, quickly. "Oh look, is that the time? I must go and see McGonagall," he said and rushed out of the hall.
Ron gaped after his so-called best mate before turning slowly back to Padma who looked distinctly unimpressed. "Sorry?" he offered, meekly.
"Let's just get this over with," Padma grumbled and walked out of the hall with Ron following her awkwardly.
"Oh for pity's sake Ron!" came Padma's shriek from the empty classroom.
"What?"
"Can't you take any advice?"
"It was stupid advice!"
"Oh really? That's why you've lost for the fourth time now?"
"I haven't lost this yet!"
"Checkmate."
"Oh..."
"Yes. Oh. Now stop being such a bull-headed twat if you don't want Hermione to kill you."
"Malfoy can't be that good anyway... and I can always beat Harry."
"Being the Chosen One doesn't make you an expert at chess."
"Shut up..."
"Do you want my help or not?"
"No."
"Fine. Good luck with Hermione when you lose."
"I won't lose."
Scoff. "No, no, of course not."
"Weren't you leaving?"
Chair scuffs against floor. Door opens then slams.
"Ladies and gentleman, we are gathered here today to witness the chess battle of the century!" Lee announced loudly. "Ronald 'Ron' Weasley – foolishly, I may add – accepted Draco 'Ferret' Malfoy's bet without even knowing the full terms! Now I present to you just what this bet entails: if Ron-" cough "-somehow-" cough "-wins, then he receives one hundred galleons from Mr. Malfoy here in reward. Yes, yes, a good prize indeed. But that's nothing to what the Ferret will get. If he wins, then he receives Miss Hermione Granger as his sex slave for a night! What do you say to that everyone? I know I wouldn't mind that pri- oh... what? That was just a rumour?" Lee said, frowning as the real bet that was whispered to him. "A date! Well... that's boring... not that a date with Miss Granger wouldn't be a lovely thing," he said hastily when he saw Hermione's barely contained fury. "Well, I think it's best to let the game begin!"
Ron and Draco were sitting on opposite sides of the Ravenclaw table – that being decided as neutral territory. The chess set was laid out between them, though Ron was too busy scowling at Draco's smug expression to notice that he was playing white and therefore, going first.
"Are you planning on starting, Weasel?" Draco drawled.
Ron jumped, slightly startled and he looked at the crowd who were waiting expectantly. He scowled again at Draco before moving his piece forward.
"And so it begins!" Lee announced and everyone tried to shuffle closer in order to see the players.
The game continued throughout lunch, though Ron couldn't help but notice the amount of his smashed up pieces with mounting fear. Draco had a perfect poker face, every move he made seemed careless yet carefully calculated at the same time and Ron couldn't even begin to predict his next move. He was beginning to doubt his ability to win and tried to recall some of Padma's advice.
Speaking of Padma, Ron wondered if she'd come to watch, what she would call, his humiliation. While Ron had a reputation as a great chess player, he only played against his friends and he had a knack for predicting their moves by now. That's why he'd struggled so much against Padma; he expected her style would be similar to her sister's – which it definitely wasn't.
Look at the board from his perspective.
He remembered her clearly saying that, though he was at a loss of how to look at a chess board from the viewpoint of a slimy, Slytherin git.
Draco took another of his pieces – the Queen this time – and Ron swore under his breath.
"You're so predictable, Weasel," Draco said lazily, though a tone of smugness and superiority was distinct under it.
That's it!
Ron suddenly grinned and it widened when he saw Draco's momentarily look of confusion at his expression. Malfoy thought he knew his every move.
His game began to pick up as he began to mix some of his playing habits with what he could remember of Padma's, but – as he'd feared – it was too late to take the game.
"Checkmate," Draco said with a slightly less smug smirk than earlier when he'd realised how close it was, but smug all the same.
Ron grumbled under his breath about how close it was before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his neck. "Well done!" whispered a rather familiar voice in his ear.
"Padma?" he said in bewilderment. "But I lost."
He was even more startled when he felt her lips brush against his. "So? It was close, and you remembered my advice."
"But... I..." Ron was shut up as Padma's mouth was pressed firmly against his and he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her.
There was a wolf whistle from Lee. "If the loser is being snogged, doesn't the announcer deserve one too?"
"Oh shut up Lee," Katie said, shoving him lightly. "You'll ruin the moment."
Draco met Hermione's eyes over the table. "I'll see you tonight at eight, Granger. It's formal."
Hermione glared at him but Draco just walked out of the hall whistling loudly.
Hermione met Draco outside the great hall wearing a scarlet, silk ball-gown which clung to her curves but flared out to leave enough to the imagination. His mouth dropped open as she approached him, moving gracefully in her golden heels. Her hair was up elegantly, leaving a few strands to frame her lightly made up face.
"You look stunning," Draco murmured.
Hermione smiled radiantly and leaned up to press a gentle kiss to his mouth. "You look pretty handsome yourself."
He grinned, his arms sliding around her slender waist. "My mother can't wait to meet you," he said, softly.
"I'm looking forward to meeting her; she sounds like a great woman."
"By your lack of anger, I'm hoping you think my idea for the bet was a good one."
Hermione smiled. "It was. I had been racking my brains trying to think of an excuse for tonight."
Draco kissed her gently again. "Mmm... I'm tempted not to go now though... I want to keep you all for myself."
Her smile widened against his lips. "I'm sure it's possible to get lost in your home for a few hours."
"And have you as my sex slave for the night?" he asked somewhat hopefully.
She laughed. "Don't push it."
I know, it's a horribly overused plot. But I do kind of like it. And I think the ending made things a bit different.
Thank you for reading!
Rhiannon :)