Harry Potter was sitting by Ron, idly paging through a book he was pretending not to read (and actually skimming and reindexing halfheartedly). Most of his attention was on Ron, who had challenged Oliver Wood to a Chess Match, nevermind that Oliver was far older than he. The pieces, Harry had found, were quite distracting with their opinions. However, Ron and Oliver were both skilled players, and so that didn't really matter much to them. They weren't really paying attention, mired in their own views of the chessboard. Harry, were he playing, would have done better to watch Ron, and calibrate his moves by the amount of alarm in Ron's face. He wasn't a very good chess player, after all, and reading people was loads easier*.

From what Harry did know about chess, he could see that Ron was getting his pieces herded into a corner. It didn't look like a good place to be. In fact, Harry knew it was a very bad place to be, because Ron's face was steadily turning purple. It had gotten worse since Oliver had started to say Check every few moves. Harry was concentrating on figuring out why Ron was so upset - he was playing someone older, and obviously more skilled than he.

"Checkmate" Oliver said with a hearty smile, and Ron Weasley lunged at him, completely toppling the board, and trying to land haymakers, which, typical of the name, weren't hitting at all. George and Fred showed up within seconds (Harry had suspected they were watching just for this, and their skilled removal of their berserk younger brother showed a time-practiced skill.) George and Fred stunned their brother, dragging him upstairs by the shoulders, and were down again within five minutes. That also spoke to time-honed skills.

"What was that about?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, never you mind Ronnikins, he gets jealous easy." George and Fred said, their voices comingling the words.

"Of Oliver Wood?" Harry asked, trying to fit this into his understanding of the young redhead. Harry was used to jealousy of course - Dudley was prone to it. That was a more materialistic jealousy, however...

"Yeah, because he could beat our little brother so easily." Fred and George said, "Better be careful, or he'll bite you himself."

Harry nodded absentmindedly, thinking that he owed these two more than he'd given back so far. Oh, well, another week of being lab rat wouldn't kill him. And they'd mentioned something very critical, too. Harry Potter needed to be no more exceptional than Ron Weasley, if he wanted to keep the boy as a ... comrade. He wouldn't dignify the boy with the word friend. But he was so very useful at convincing everyone of how Gryffindor Harry Potter was - certainly no one would look at him like they did Neville. And mimicking Ron would get Harry even more 'Gryffindor Points.' And no matter how stupid, or silly, they seemed, they might prove absolutely necessary. Harry hadn't forgotten for a minute that his life was in danger here. Besides, there were benefits to being seen to be unexceptional. Benefits to being the snake in the grass. Inwardly, Harry Potter grew a stony cold smile that the Gryffindors around him wouldn't have recognized. He could do this. He would do it.

*Sigh. Slytherins.

[Leave a review! Yes, I know, Ron is a drag, but still... Harry is trying So Hard to be a Gryffindor! Give him props!]