Christopher sighed as the bookcase rammed his side and all the books fell out of his hands as one, before they scattered across the floor and moved over to the shelf. He didn't bother to try and pick them up, the bookcase was protective of the damn books. Merlin, why were the books in his NEWT classes sentient or however they functioned?

Or the books could at least listen to him, like the library, then he wouldn't mind too much. These were the books he (his mother, really, but they were for him) had bought especially for school, and he couldn't get to them. He'd tried telling Doctor Hartnell that he couldn't really do anything in his lessons without those books cooperating, but he'd simply been ignored, and one teacher had told him to just "do whatever you do to the library". It didn't work that way. The library just…didn't ignore him. Or obstruct him. It let him do his work and get his books. He wasn't the only one who could do it. There was Professor Baker and Doctor Hartnell, most notably. And that little Lethe weirdo from Ravenclaw.

"Don't bother, Christopher." One of his roommates said with the affected tone of someone who'd already done all of their homework, before there was the sharp bang of a set of Exploding Snap. Why these two weren't swamped by homework he couldn't work out, what with all the loud games they played when he was working (which often ended in heated kissing) and the endless kissing they did whilst he was trying to sleep. They were so loud. Every night. He'd taken to soundproofing his bed.

"You have an excuse." The other said with an equally lazy, drawling tone. "The professors can't doubt that your books hate you."

"I still need them back, Derek." Christopher continued, going over to where the pair were sat. "You may not know what money means, but I can tell you those books are expensive."

"Get that weirdo in Ravenclaw to do it." This time it was Richard, his lip curled with contempt. "He's got more magic than all of Gryffindor put together."

"That will have to be last resort." Christopher decided. The weirdo in question, Lethe, liked him for some reason, but that didn't mean he liked the kid. He was weird. "I'd go to Baker before that creepy thing."

"Join in then." Derek said. "You can worry later."

Christopher sighed and pulled a chair up to the table. The pack of cards was resting on a sheet of parchment that was slightly singed.

The game never worked well on wood for some reason, probably lack of destructive power. The tables at Hogwarts had long since been charmed to be explosion resistant.
Richard lifted his wand, moving one card from the deck and then shuffling before separating the pile into three sections in a single fluid motion. Derek took his pile and took out his own wand, Christopher following suit.

This version of the game was not a lot like the muggle version, and it was far less easy to cheat.
With a flick of his wand, Richard started the game.

It was fast pace, no different from the other times the trio had played the game together. Richard won the first set of cards, then Christopher. So far nothing had exploded. When he took his pile of cards, he looked at the slightly singed parchment. It had ink on it.

"What's on the parchment?" Christopher asked.

"It's Richard's homework." Derek said calmly, waving his wand to deal a card as he spoke, unbothered by the singed state of his boyfriend's homework.

Richard only blinked. "It would be a shame if your homework ended up in the lake, wouldn't it, dearest?"

"It would be, love." Derek shot back. "Such a shame." He smirked.
Christopher placed his next card. Richard. Derek. Christopher. Richard.
BANG.

Derek had hit the side of his chair. Richard winced.
Derek placed his card. Then Christopher.
The cards matched. Christopher scattered sparks with his wand.

"...Snap." He said quietly. Derek and Richard were too busy staring at each other with a mix of hatred and intense passion to pay any attention to their cards.

Christopher looked at them and shrugged. He'd go and find someone his bookshelf didn't viciously dislike while they had hate sex or whatever they were planning.