I'm back, after what seemed like a very long week. I want to thank my reviewers for their encouragement and suggestions--a few of the suggested characters have already been started and I'm starting to plan for others! If anyone comes up with others they'd like to see, I'm open to more suggestions as always.

This time around, we're venturing into the next generation. Every child wants to see their father as a hero...Rose Weasley is no exception.


The Grandmaster's Apprentice

"Okay, now have a look at the pieces in front of you."

Rose Weasley sat up straighter in her chair and lowered her gaze to the assorted pieces lined up carefully in their squares on the chess board in front of her. No matter how hard she tried to look purposeful and serious, she couldn't suppress a smile. Finally—after all her begging, her pleading, her insisting that she was old enough to learn—her father was going to teach her to play chess.

Rose loved watching her father as he played chess. He was a real champion; in all her life, Rose couldn't remember him losing a single game. As he played, her dad assumed what Rose and her little brother liked to call his 'chess face': his eyes narrowed, his brow furrowed in concentration, and he bit down ever-so-slightly on his lower lip, almost unconsciously. Rose and Hugo's mother liked to tease their dad that, back in their school days, she could always tell that he wasn't really concentrating in class, because he didn't get 'that look' on his face.

Hermione Weasley was part of the reason Rose knew her father to be a chess champion. Rose was sure her mother had to be one of the smartest people in the world; certainly she was the smartest person Rose had ever met, and yet Hermione still lost pitifully to Ron in every chess match he coaxed her into.

One night, Hermione told her children a thrilling bedtime tale in which a twelve-year-old Ron faced off in the most important chess match of his life. It was a life-or-death situation, played out like a battle with real, larger-than-life stone chessmen that had been transfigured by Professor McGonagall to protect the Sorcerer's Stone. Had he failed, the children's Uncle Harry would never have been able to get to the Stone before the wicked Lord Voldemort used it to regenerate his body, thus returning to terrorize the Wizarding World. Rose had been transfixed as she pictured her dad as a young boy, directing the immense chessmen like troops in battle, finally sacrificing himself so that his side could have the victory. She imagined the look of triumph on his face as Professor Dumbledore awarded him fifty points for "the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years." The next day, she asked Ron to teach her how to play.

Ron Weasley took his chess seriously. "When you're a little older, Rosie," he had told his daughter gently. "I still don't think you're old enough to really understand it," was his constant refrain over the years until finally he agreed. And today was that day.

"Okay, Rosie, now before you can play chess, you need to know what all the pieces are and how they can move," Ron began. He sat back in his chair, cracked his fingers expertly, and held up the smallest of the chess pieces. "This one's called a pawn. The whole front row is made up of these guys. They're the smallest and least valuable pieces on the board."

"Kind of like me," quipped Rose. Ron raised his eyebrows.

"That doesn't mean they're unimportant, though. They can only move forward—two spaces on their first go, one space after that. They move forward diagonally to capture. Any pawn that crosses the board entirely can become a rook, a knight, a bishop or a queen—that's called promotion. Only pawns can do that," he added, as Rose's face shined with anticipation. He replaced the pawn and held up another piece.

"This one's called a rook, or a castle, as your mum likes to call it. It can move any number of spaces in a straight line. The piece next to the rook is a knight—see his horse?—and he moves in an 'L' shape—two forward and one sideways, or two sideways and one forward. See?" he added, as the tiny knight demonstrated. Rose nodded, still smiling.

Ron smiled back, indicated the bishop, and continued, "Remember which piece could move any number of spaces in a straight line? Right—the rook," he nodded as Rose pointed at the nearest castle with her finger. "The bishop is similar—he can move any number of spaces as well, but only diagonally." As he spoke, the bishop he placed on the chessboard obliged with a demonstration.

"Who are they, then?" asked Rose keenly, indicating the only remaining unidentified pieces. Ron took up one of them. "This is the queen. She's the most powerful piece on the board—kind of like how your mum's the most powerful grown-up in this family," he added, catching Hermione's eye and grinning. Hermione beamed at him. "The queen can move as many spaces as you want, in any direction. Next to her is the king, and this is the most important piece of all. He can only move one space at a time, but you can't let the king get captured, because if you do—checkmate."

"Checkmate?"

"Game's over."

"Ohhh…"

"'Game's over' is right," supplied Hermione. "It's getting late and you need to be in bed."

"Tomorrow night then, right after dinner, you and me will have our very first match," promised Ron, and all disappointment immediately faded from Rose's face. She kissed her parents goodnight and headed towards her bedroom, only to stop with one foot on the first stair.

"Dad?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah, Rosie?"

"Thanks for teaching me chess. I hope someday I'm a champion like you."

Ron grinned, though he could feel his face growing warm and could only imagine how red it looked. "Well, as long as you didn't inherit your mum's lack of chess skills along with her brains, I say you've got a decent shot at it, with enough practice."

As she walked upstairs to get ready for bed, Rose resolved to practice every single day until she could beat her dad in a game of chess. She might resemble her mother in intellect and somewhat in appearance as well, but Rose was still very much daddy's girl. And as such, she was determined to keep the name 'Weasley' synonymous with chess dominance for at least another generation. After all, neither of her parents would think of backing down from a challenge. It was in her blood.


What do you think? Let me know and, as always, please review! Hopefully, it won't be long before next time which I am 85-90% sure will featire Pansy Parkinson, who has been coming along since the very start...slowly, though. Rushing is beneath her, apparently. However, I don't want to guarantee Pansy and then put up someone else (most likely Harry, who's at the halfway point), so I'm just going to suggest that Pansy may be next.

Yours, as always, Delilah