Another one-shot. I can't remember how I came up with the idea, but I had to write it down. This one is pretty short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Please review when you are done! I'd love to know what you thought of it. The pairing for this is Lily/James.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; plain and simple.


The Ultimate Chess Champion by Achava

"Oh, Lily…"

At the sound of James Potter's voice, half of Lily wanted to jump up and snog the daylights out of her newly acquired boyfriend. As for the other half, it wanted to crawl in to a hole where no one could find her and simply sit there, all day, and read her book.

Lily settled for the half way mark. She looked up and smiled at her boyfriend who was now seated across from her on an armchair in front of the Gryffindor Common Room Fire.

"Lily Evans," James started again, "I challenge you!"

In muggle TV shows, moments like these were usually marked with a flash of lightning, twittering birds taking flight, and an ominous absence of the sun. Needless to say, the sky stayed bright and lightning-free and the birds only continued to chirp merrily.

"Honestly, James, you think you can beat me at something?" Lily didn't enjoy being cocky, but, never-the-less, if you hung out with James you were very likely to have that aspect rub off on you.

"Lily, let's not bring up the charms contest, or the potions tournament, or the joke contest, or the scavenger hunt…" James trailed off with a frown before deciding to pretend like he had never said anything, "I challenge you, Lily Evans, to a game of Wizarding Chess!"

"Wizarding Chess, huh?" Lily mused with a small smile while James nodded eagerly in response. "Challenge accepted!"

"Now, now, Evans. First, we must make terms," He flashed the red-head a winning smile, "If I defeat you in this valiant duel, you have to wear a leash around school tomorrow." James smirked. After all, that seemed reasonable enough to him.

"Alright, James, but if I win," Lily paused to bat her eyelashes, "You have to do whatever I want."

"Deal."

"Deal."

"Well then," James announced to the whole common room, "Let the Ultimate Chess Game begin and may the Ultimate Chess Champion be the victor."

Indeed, it was a long and grueling battle. Lily was the first to lose a piece and watched in some sort of morbid fascination as it was trampled by James' knight. In return, Lily's bishop crushed said knight.

This went on for at least an hour before there came a standstill. It was like time stopped altogether as both realized the same thing. For awhile, neither moved, nor spoke, nor thought. They just gazed silently at the chess board.

Remus, who had just come down the staircase of the boy dormitory, calmly waltzed over and glanced at the chessboard before smiling at his two friends. "You do realize that this ends in a tie, don't you?"

"A….tie?" James' said the word as though it was a whole new concept to him.

"Yes, Prongs, it's most certainly a tie. Perhaps you know it better as a draw?" James shook his head. "Well then, no matter. Either way you look at it, no one won and no one lost." And with that, the werewolf turned on his heel and climbed out of the portrait hole.

"So…what now?" Lily asked. Her boyfriend looked at her for a moment before letting a wicked smile grace his lips.

XxX

That night, James fulfilled his half of the bargain by patrolling the corridors that had been assigned to Lily while she painted her toenails a vibrant pink back in her room. But it was the next day that caught the attention of the school.

James walked slightly in front of his girlfriend in the hall on the way to potions. His hand was wrapped around a leather leash which was attached to a leather collar which---you guess it---was wound around Lily's neck. Prongs toted the red-head all around the school that day, but it came as no surprise to any student (except, perhaps, James) that every time he tugged on the leash, he'd receive an electric shock from his girlfriend's wand.


The end! Please review, I'd really appreciate it!