Chess

Chapter 9: Arbiter (Reprise)

A wave of whispers rose in the common room after the initial silence of people being far too shocked to say anything. Now, everybody seemed to be whispering with everybody else, and Colin even took the risk of getting out his camera and snapping a few pictures.

Moody was still staring at the Window Hole through which the two finalists had disappeared some minutes ago. His face was turned away, but if someone had seen it, they would have thought the old Auror petrified.

However, Moody was not petrified. And if Dumbledore had been still awake, he could have told everyone in the room to hide themselves at once.

"My fault! My fault!" McGonagall's shrill cry rang through the sea of whispers. "I'll tell you whose fault it is, you despicable blood-thirsty leech!"

"Keep your mouth shut, woman! What a perfect little Gryffindor princess, always blaming everyone else for your mistakes," Snape hissed back.

"How dare you... you vile hooked-nosed bastard..." the Headmistress started, but didn't get any further because Moody had chosen that moment to wheel around and silence them with his extra evil look.

"I'm on the case
Can't be fooled
Any objection
Is overruled,"

He chanted, as if placing some horrible terrible curse on the two Professors.

"Don't try to tempt me
You've no hope
I don't like women
I don't take dope."

Someone in the audience made the grave mistake of sniggering. And someone else signed their death warrant with a simple question of "Does he like men then?"

With one sweep of his wand, the whole common room was suddenly empty save himself, the two Professors, Hermione and the Bloody Baron. The seconds, exchanging one horrified look, quickly rushed towards the exit. The ghost hovered right through it, but poor Hermione had to take a moment to open the window first. Those ten seconds felt the longest in her life, afraid of being told to stay put.

But fortunately she made it out of the tower, hearing Moody's yell shake the floor.

"I'm the Arbiter, my word is law
From square one I'm watching you!"

---

"I could do with a nice bottle of Firewhiskey now," the Bloody Baron noted a bit sadly.

"I could do with a nice yelling at Ron now," Hermione fumed. "Who the hell does he think he is – walking out of the room like that. Just like that! Throwing his game to the four winds! Does he think everyone will run after him pleading and begging him to come back?"

The ghost didn't answer, although he was giving her a calculating look.

"Well, they probably will," Hermione laughed bitterly, then noticed her companion's curious gaze.

"What?" she asked.

"Shouldn't you be blaming Mr. Malfoy for everything? He is after all your rival, and I've noticed a bit of tension between the noble Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin."

"You're right," Hermione said in surprise. "I should be blaming Malfoy for everything. He started it, after all, with asking for pumpkin juice, and later yelling at Ron. Of course I should be blaming Malfoy. Thank you, Baron."

The ghost nodded.

"We should find our players before Moody murders those two," he suggested.

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that—"

"IF YOU DON'T STOP YOUR ARGUING RIGHT THIS SECOND, I SHALL TELL PEOPLE YOU FANCY EACH OTHER!"

"—bad," Hermione finished silently. "On second thought, let's go!"

---

Ron was not in the Gryffindor Tower, which was instead full of people with wet clothes, blue faces, and clattering teeth.

"He banished us all outside, professors and students alike," Ginny informed her, wrapped inside a blanket with a large cup of hot cocoa in her hands. "I swear, he had summoned that huge load of snow there just for that purpose."

Hermione gave the girl a sympathetic look.

"You didn't happen to see Ron on your way up here?" she asked.

"No," Ginny shook her head. "Although if he did pass us, I might have very well missed it in my current frozen state."

"Oh," she sounded a bit disappointed. "I'll just look around then. See you later, Gin. Keep yourself warm!"

"If you had spent a good ten minutes trying to escape a big pile of snow and struggling screeching people, you wouldn't be quite that cheerful," the redhead muttered under her breath, sipping her hot cocoa.

Ron was not in the library. Hermione wondered why on earth had she even looked there.

---

"If you dare say I was too harsh on them, I'll throw acetone at you, Albus," Moody growled, striding through the long hallways of the castle as fast as his wooden leg allowed.

"You should know that magic paint is not quite that weak, dear friend," Dumbledore chuckled, ducking quickly away from the angry looking buffalo on the portrait of wizard Baruffio.

"They deserved it for all that bickering. Really, they sounded like an old married couple."

"You still shouldn't have told them that," Albus twinkled.

"But it worked," Moody announced victoriously. "I don't think I have ever seen Snape quite that green in the face, or McGonagall's jaw hanging open that wide."

"Yes, that was quite a sight," Dumbledore had to agree. "Still, it's not solely their fault their champions acted like that. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy are carrying part of the blame as well, and the bigger part, if you don't mind me telling that."

"Of course they are," Moody said gruffly. "And I'll show them how to break rules at my reign when I get my hands on them."

"Aren't you taking all this a bit too serious, dear friend?" Albus sounded a bit concerned, although not so much for his friend as for the two finalists. "It's just a game, after all."

"Of course it's just a game!" Moody shouted. "Nothing but a simple board game. But they still have to abide by the rules."

---

Hermione was running down the hallway.

"Have you seen Ron?" she asked from every student, teacher, ghost or portrait on her way.

No one had seen him, but they were rather intent on getting the latest gossip out of her. Both those who had been present in Ravenclaw Tower and those who hadn't were certain that as his second Hermione must have some information about Ron's departure.

"Was it planned?"

"He was going to lose, wasn't he?"

"It served the Slytherins right, didn't it?"

"Is he having a secret affair with Malfoy?"

"No," Hermione fumed. "He isn't. And the next person asking me a stupid question will find out that Moody's anger is nothing compared to mine."

"Yeah, right," someone mumbled.

"Yeah, right, indeed!" Hermione screeched. "I fought in the war! I fought against Voldemort! And if you think that I cannot handle a bunch of insolent kids making stupid remarks and asking idiotic questions, then there's more than one surprise coming for you!!!"

"Threatening students, Granger? What a very suitable behaviour for our beloved Head Girl."

She didn't have to turn around to his ugly (or perhaps not that ugly) face to know who had spoken to her.

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy, this is all your fault," she wanted to say, but once she opened her mouth, something quite different came out.

"Have you seen Ron?"

Although a bit surprised at her lack of insults, he swiftly adopted the same polite attitude.

"Not since he stormed out of the common room."

"Damn!" Hermione cursed. "I have searched through the whole castle and he has been nowhere. And no one has seen him either."

"He might be outside," Draco suggested.

"In this weather, I doubt it," she looked pointedly at the window, which was completely frosted over.

"Kitchens?"

Now Hermione turned and looked at him as if she had never seen him before. She had.

"Great idea, Malfoy. Thanks."

It was on the stairs between floor four and three when Hermione noticed that Malfoy was following her.

"Just fancy a bite," he shrugged under her narrowed eyes, and although she did not believe him, she still let him come.

---

Ron was not in the kitchen either. But Harry and Neville were, enjoying a cheese and ham sandwich and large cups of steaming cocoa. They looked up when the door opened, and whatever had been on Harry's mind as he raised his hand and opened his mouth to greet her died immediately as he noticed her companion.

The expected question of "Hermione, what are you doing with Malfoy?" came from Neville instead, but she ignored it.

"Has either of you seen Ron?" she inquired instead.

"No, have you spoken to him, Hermione? Is he still angry? What about the game? They won't disqualify him, will they?"

"Only over Professor McGonagall's dead body," Hermione muttered under her breath, and Draco, the only one standing close enough to hear, smiled at that.

"I have to find him," she told his friends, and left the kitchen with Malfoy.

"I thought you were hungry," she smirked, hearing his footsteps behind her.

"Not that hungry," he replied, and she snickered, knowing it wouldn't be too healthy for him to be in the room alone with her two friends.

"Now what?" Hermione asked once they had reached the Entrance Hall again. "I've looked everywhere for him. Perhaps I should go find McGonagall instead? Even Snape might do."

"How very kind of you to think that highly of me, Miss Granger," the Devil drawled, ascending the staircase leading up from the dungeons.

"Professor Snape, sir," Hermione said quickly.

"I hear your man is still on the loose," he commented. "Can't keep him too well?"

An angry blush crept onto her cheeks, and she couldn't help but retorting back, knowing full well what an angry Snape could do and how angry he had to be at the moment.

"And where's your other half, sir?" she spoke politely, and at his confused look, elaborated. "Professor McGonagall, I mean."

The greenness of his face suited the Head of Slytherin rather well. And when it came to Snape, few things made him look worse than he already was.

Instinctively Hermione stepped closer to Malfoy, knowing that if Snape was going to blow up, he would not harm his own player. With surprise she noticed he didn't move away from her.

"Can't keep your own woman, Severus?" Moody's voice suddenly boomed through the hall, catching the attention of a few wandering students, who, after a moment of shock, smiled at this completely new piece of gossip.

Snape looked like he couldn't decide who he would rather attack – Hermione or Moody, but since Hermione was standing too close to Draco, and Moody had his wand out, he picked neither. For now.

"You two have some explaining to do," the Auror addressed the two students. "You better come too, Severus, unless Minerva is waiting for you?"

Still sickly green, he shook his head, and all three followed Moody into the closest classroom.

"I'm the Arbiter, my word is law
From square one I'm watching you,"

He grinned evilly and locked the door behind them.

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