Auriga was not his usual chess partner, but seeing as how Remus Lupin went off and married Nymphadora Tonks and left for their honeymoon in the middle of the winter break, Severus was stuck with the starry-eyed twit to keep him company while the masses enjoyed a few extra days of calm before the students returned. He thought he'd be able to make it through just one game without the twitch in his eye becoming a painful annoyance but on her second frustratingly good move, he decided that ignoring it wasn't possible.
Twitch…twitch…twitch…
'By chance, did Albus teach you to play chess?' he asked her as he moved his last remaining bishop to a much safer spot on the board.
She watched his index finger – long and bony – point to the spot and the heavily armed bishop walked begrudgingly towards it. Wizard chess had always fascinated her, though she greatly preferred the Muggle version. It was less violent.
She motioned for her rook to move forward and block her queen, which it did without any hesitation or begrudging looks. 'Actually, I learned from Remus, just before the wedding.'
The twitch in his left eye was big enough that even she caught notice of it, though she was kind enough not to say anything.
'Remus taught you to play chess?' he asked, as casually as possible.
'Yes, though he won most every game against me.' She watched as his pawn moved into the firing line of her knight and grimaced only slightly when the knight impaled the poor unsuspecting pawn. 'I'd forgotten how violent this game is,' she said.
He smirked. 'You always were too sensitive for wizard chess.' His smirk grew as he brought his bishop closer to her queen.
She frowned at him, then glanced at the board. He'd left his king open to her last remaining rook, a mistake he most likely would never have made while playing with Remus. She smiled slightly as she pointed her finger and her rook smashed into his king.
'Checkmate, Severus,' she said in a sing-song voice.
He stared at the board with an expression akin to surprise. His king looked up at him and shook what remained of its tiny stone fist at him, an action he'd never seen a wizard chess piece display.
'My king just made a rude gesture at me,' he said, his head tilted to the side.
'Maybe it knows you were beaten by a girl,' Auriga suggested, laughter in her voice.
Twitch…twitch…twitch…
'Shut up, Auriga.'
'Of course, Severus.'