(806): I'll see your cousin, and raise you a sister.
"Poker Night"
Poker games with Weasleys were always good value, Scorpius knew that from experience.
The different branches of the family tree all played for kicks rather than money, and amongst the bets that had been laid down over the years were dares, truths, and, often, unlimited power over one another for a predetermined period. And judging by the games Scorpius Malfoy had seen or participated in the adults weren't afraid of getting into the spirit of things either; in fact, Ginny Potter had rather a knack for getting out of doing chores (she was quite a dab hand at the game – learned, she said, at a tender age from the genius of her brothers George and Fred-may-he-rest-in-peace).
But this game, on the kitchen table of James Sirius' apartment, was looking to outstrip all of those; the stakes were about to be raised to levels as yet unseen even by the Weasleys.
The pile in the centre held mostly chocolate frog cards or Wheezes products, but Scorpius had a sudden flash of inspiration as Lily-Luna, looking for her wine glass, traipsed by the table in a black miniskirt that hugged her bum and probably related more to a belt than a skirt whatever way you looked at it. Her green shirt was so sheer it was practically transparent (he could her black bra with startling clarity, anyway), and her hair was hanging, dead straight, so that it framed her face.
He had a fully formed plan by the time she'd returned to the sitting room. Merlin! He prayed James would take the bait. Carefully, Scorpius wrote out two words on the parchment each player had by them for unusual bets.
"Elsa Nott," he said purposefully, placing the card in the middle of the table.
The bet was on the table, bigger than any chocolate frog card, even if it was Severus Snape, the rarest of them all. He raised his eyes from his cards.
James was staring at him, and kept it up for a full five seconds. Scorpius figured it was to gauge his sincerity – after all, it was common knowledge among their mates that James carried a torch for the angelic blonde.
To give a little context, Elsa was the cousin of Scorpius, daughter of Daphne Greengrass and Theodore Nott, beautiful, sporting and brilliant, and the only girl who'd ever managed to keep her mind when James projected his brown-eyed boy gaze and crooked smile – in other words, the one girl who wouldn't dance to his piper's song.
Finally, James smirked devilishly. "Alright, we'll play it your way."
Scorpius raised an eyebrow and watched as James wrote out some nigh-illegible words on his own scrap of parchment. He finished, gave a final cursory glance to the words, and then slid it across the table. The Malfoy heir watched with deep-set anticipation.
"I'll see your cousin, and raise you a sister."
Hook. Line. Sinker.
He could have blessed Merlin, then and there, but right now he had a poker game to win.
When Lily ducked her head back into the kitchen fifteen minutes later, the intensity of their concentration was astounding.
End.
I really enjoyed this one for some reason. Just something about it, I guess. But to the review-mongering efforts: Please, Read and Review with Vigour, it is much appreciated and makes rainbows on rainy days.