Chapter 6

No one had ever seen a more intense chess match.

With bated breath, the entire Order waited for Ron to make his move.

"Check," Ron declared in a low voice.

"Don't start relishing your victory yet," Draco replied as he maneuvered his piece.

"Come on, Ron," Harry muttered.

"What's so interesting?" Bill, who had just arrived from work, asked as he strolled into the room.

"Ssh!" Ginny hissed. "Ron and Malfoy are playing chess."

"Check," Draco announced moments later.

"No!" Fred cried.

"Ha!" Ron crowed as he launched his counterattack.

"How long have they been at it?" Bill whispered to his little sister.

"Three or four hours," Ginny replied. "But who's counting?"

Ron bit his lip as he considered his options.

"Yes!"

Draco gritted his teeth as Ron moved his piece.

"Checkmate!" the Weasley cheered.

The room burst into tumultuous applause.

"Whew!" Ginny breathed.

"Way to go, Ron!" Bill called over the din.

Ron raised himself onto his chair and bowed. "Thank you, thank you!"

Draco appeared to be handling his loss quite well. He congratulated Ron (insulting him while at it), and excused himself from the festivities quite graciously.

Must be part of his upbringing, Hermione noted.

Later that evening, however, after the "victory dinner", Ron revealed something so beyond shocking, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny practically had coronaries and needed to sit down.

"Malfoy's good," Ron admitted as soon as the four of them were safely ensconced in the girls' room.

Three thumps were heard, of bodies landing on the floor, and sounds of hyperventilation were observed to be coming from them.

Harry, perhaps because he was more experienced with shocking discoveries than Hermione and Ginny, managed to recover first. "I think that win addled your brain, Ron."

Ginny was next. She rose unsteadily and felt her brother's forehead. "Are you delirious?"

"Malfoy must've put the Confudus Curse on him. Let me check—I know I've got the counter-curse somewhere in here…" Hermione shot up instantly and began rummaging in her bag.

"I know what I sound like, and I know I sound nutters. But he's a good opponent! I haven't met anyone yet who's come this close to beating me," Ron insisted.

"He must've cheated, that hideous, low-life worm. There's no way anyone could've checked you. If even Professor McGonagall's chess set couldn't, how could a normal human have?" Hermione railed. "Oh, let's get that nasty creep…"

"Calm down, Hermione." Harry sighed. "The important thing is, Ron has won."

He and Ron stood to go back to their own room.

"Oh yeah," Hermione heard him mutter just before the door closed. "Just what we need—a good opponent."

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Other than the occasional odd look, the trip to King's Cross weeks later was fairly smooth. The Order members were particularly twitchy, though, as if a Death Eater would run out screaming "Yaaaahhhh!!!" any second now. Harry pointed this out to Ron.

"What's with them?"

Ron started studying the cuff of his robes.

Ginny shrugged.

Harry looked at Hermione and realized that there was no point in asking her—she was one of the twitchy ones.

His head swam with questions as he approached the barrier.

Suddenly, there was a loud "Oof!"

Harry whirled around.

The Order members beamed at him. A little too happily.

"Don't mind me," Lupin quipped. "I—er—tripped."

When Harry, after one last suspicious glance, disappeared through to Platform 9 3/4, the others breathed. They stepped off the wizard they'd been standing on.

"Thank goodness Harry never looked down," Lupin remarked. (A/N: The wizard was someone sent by Voldemort)

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Draco went off down the train aisle, feeling the need to extract himself from the company of his fellow Slytherins. He liked them well enough, but one could only take so much cackling and discussing of dastardly plots before one ached for a mallet to whack their heads with.

He narrowed his eyes as he spotted Hermione, Ron, and Harry loading their things into a compartment. He slowed to a crawl, however, as he neared that.

"I'll be going out to patrol the aisles," he heard Ron announce.

"And Ernie MacMillan wants to talk to me. Something about the D.A.." Harry rolled his emerald eyes. "Knowing Ernie, I'll be there for the entire train ride." He turned to Hermione. "Will you be all right until Ron comes back?"

"Don't worry—I'll be fine," she replied.

"You want to maybe go see Gin or Parvati and Lavender?"

"No, it's OK. Someone has to hold this compartment anyway. Besides, I have to catch up on some reading."

"You're always catching up on some reading," Harry said, bemused. "I'll try to keep Ernie's treatise short so I can come back and keep you company, OK?"

"And I'll try to do the rounds more quickly," Ron promised.

Draco heard Hermione laugh as she sent off her boys. A nasty smile spread across his face.

The fun had begun.

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A/N: MUCH THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HIS SUPPLICATIONS!

And to my reviewers:

Delayed Action Ninja- Thanks! :) Hate to disappoint you, though, but the Hermione/Draco action won't be for a while. They still have to go through the hate stage…

DanRadcliffe5666- Thanks! :)

Ehlonna- Thanks! :) And well, some people are just really good at psyching others out…

Avadne- Thanks! :) I did think about letting Draco win the match, but my editor pointed out that it wouldn't be right…I forgot the exact explanation why, though.

Crimson Girl- Thanks! :)

Alcapacien- Thanks! :) Harry won't be sad for the next few chappies, though…

LaxGoalie- Thanks! :) And well, he's Draco. If he weren't so…swell-headed, he wouldn't be Draco. :)

Flavagurl- Thanks! :)

And to those who read my old fic Don't Go Breaking My Heart, you will be seeing a very familiar name in the next chapter…