(Disclaimer: All the characters herein belong to J.K. Rowling, and various publishing companies. Not to me. I do not intend to give up my day job and I do not intend to infringe copyright or make money from this fic.)
A/N: The rate at which I update this story is disgracefully slow and I am sorry. This bit is quite small but there should be another one shortly.
Wizard's chess at Hogwarts is not as popular as Quiddich, by a very long margin, but this year it had taken on a new popularity. The house competition had been dominated for many years by Ravenclaw, and it was usually the province of bookish, unpopular types. For this reason, the whole competition is usually ignored and even the dramatic final game attended only by close friends of the finalists and a couple of teachers. This year, however, Ron Weasley of Gryffindor had made it to the final, and it looked as though he had a serious chance of winning.
Harry had long ago given up on the idea of beating Ron at wizard's chess. Ron and Harry played regularly, but Harry had only managed to beat Ron once in four and a half years they had been playing together. Even then, Harry had to concede that he was victorious mainly because they had been playing directly after potions, and the remnants of a failed potion under Ron's fingernails had made his queen, a bishop and several pawns march off the board in protest. Hermione fared better, for she had been quite adept at muggle chess and had won competitions in the days before she got to Hogwarts, but although Hermione had discipline and logic in spades, she often could not get the pieces to co-operate, and so the risky gambits which Ron played with were out of her reach. In addition, Ron had an almost uncanny ability to judge how the other player would respond, and this gave him a considerable edge.
The final of the wizards chess competition was always played on the famous 12-foot square board, with pieces almost as large as real figures, and this made it very exciting to watch. The game was scheduled to begin at three pm on that Saturday, but by 2.40 the seats that had been set out for spectators were all but full. Many of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students were bedecked with house scarves and hats, a display of encouragement for the competitors. Harry had taken a seat in the front row where he could get a good view, and he had already given his best wishes to the nervous looking Ron. Harry did not save a seat for Hermione; she had been up with the birds to study more for the surprise potions test, and it would be unlike Hermione to take time out for something as frivolous as chess.
The game began sharply at three, and an excited hush descended on the previously chattering room. Ron was playing as white, so he began, but several moves passed without incident. The drama built as the pieces moved about the board: an odd dance of threats, defences, and retreats. The Ravenclaws cheered when Morag's knight smashed one of Ron's pawns, but Ron did not look worried, and the pawn's death was swiftly avenged with a rook and a bishop. Morag began to turn the situation around by destroying one of Ron's knights, but then Ron took out three seemingly inconsequential pawns, leaving Morag's end of the board looking a little bit vulnerable. Attack and defense, check and counter check followed as both sides suffered heavy casualties and the wreckage mounted up around the sides of the board. Gryffindors began to bite their fingernails as it looked as though Morag had gained the upper hand, and Ron seemed to be bunching all his pieces in one corner of the board. Morag's army were closing in when Ron pulled off a brilliantly bold move with a queen and a bishop, putting Morag's king in checkmate in three more moves. Harry grinned, thinking that only Ron could slip a Wronski feint into wizard's chess. Gryffindor cheered ecstatically as the king's sword fell to the ground with a sonorous clang.
Ron looked around as the students and the professors clapped and cheered, the Ravenclaws clapping even as they consoled their defeated champion. Ron and Morag shook hands with a genuine warmth, each recognising a worthy opponent, and Colin Creevey took numerous photographs. It seemed like minutes later that Ron spotted Hermione, up the back behind a bunch of Ravenclaws. She was wearing a red and yellow striped Gryffindor scarf, and carrying several potions books under one arm, trying to clap the other hand against the topmost book. Hermione had evidently arrived too late to get a seat near the front, but Ron felt even prouder than he had previously, just knowing that Hermione had witnessed his great victory. When Hermione managed to make her way to the front of the crowd, it became apparent that she had not missed any of the action, as she praised every thrill and gambit of the match. Although it may not have been apparent to all who stood around the hall that day, a close observer would have noted that Ron's ears had turned a pronounced shade of pink.