Checkmate

Part II - The Game - Chapter 14

The second the doors to the Great Hall closed behind the last teacher, he got to his feet, gave Pansy a very perfunctory and patronizing glance, then strode boldly and purposefully around the House tables to where Harry sat with the Gryffindors. He didn't have much time – so he was counting a lot on Harry being quick on the uptake. Please, Harry, he thought, taking the last few steps to Harry's seat. He took a deep breath as Harry, smiling, turned to face him. Please get this.

"Bishop to F1," announced Draco in his most sneering tone. His voice was loud enough for Harry's friends to hear, but not as loud as he'd implied to Pansy he would be. Harry's friends already knew about them – he had no intention of outing them to anyone else outside that circle, and Pansy could see Harry's reaction well enough from across the room. It was all he would give her.

There was about half a heartbeat before Harry's smile faltered and confusion drew his eyebrows into a puzzled frown as he registered the chess move Draco had announced. "Wait," he said haltingly. That's not poss – "

"I'll have that ring back now, Potter," demanded Draco, cutting Harry off, his voice still loud enough for Harry's friends to hear. He held out his hand for it. "You didn't think I would really give you something like that, did you?"

A very troubled hush settled over that section of the Gryffindor table as Harry's friends, shocked to silence, waited for Harry's reply. "But you did," said Harry quietly, evenly, though his heart was suddenly pounding in his throat.

"Ha!" Draco tossed his head back and laughed contemptuously. "You're such a fool, Potter," he said, his voice mocking, full of scorn. "I only wanted to see what it would be like to shag The Boy Who Lived." He looked down on Harry with all the old infuriating hauteur of their early years plastered across his face. "And now that I have . . ." he drawled, wrinkling up his nose in disgust, "I find I've . . . lost interest." Draco sniffed, his expression shifting into frosty condescension, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Of all the shagging I've done Potter," he added with disdain, "you were, by far, the worst."

"But we didn't . . ." said Harry very softly, mostly to himself, thinking furiously now. And you haven't!

Harry stood up to face Draco, questions in his eyes, searching Draco's eyes for answers. And his breath caught at what he saw in Draco's eyes, just as it had once before. Memory of another day came flooding back, of the afternoon in the birch grove by the lake, of that moment when Harry had realized that no matter how cool, or aloof, or annoying Draco appeared to be on the outside, in his eyes was the truth.

Now, in spite of the words and the tone of voice and the expression on Draco's face, in those gray eyes Harry still saw everything he loved, everything he trusted, the complete opposite of what Draco was just telling him. Something wasn't right . . . and suddenly it hit him. Nothing Draco had said was true! Now – if he could just figure out what it meant –

Ron jumped up, directly behind Harry, his face turning bright red with anger. "Why you bloody . . . slimy . . . little bastard!" he hissed. He tried to lunge past Harry, going for Malfoy's throat. But Hermione, her face pale, looking aghast and betrayed, caught his arm. Harry blocked Ron, too, throwing one arm out in front of Ron's chest to hold him back.

"Don't bother, Ron," said Harry, feigning indifference, playing along now, hoping anxiously that he was guessing right about doing that, his eyes still locked on Draco's to watch for any clues. "He isn't worth it," he added coldly, pretending thinly veiled anger.

The momentary spark of approval that Harry read in Draco's eyes at that, told him most of what he needed to know. He hesitated for a second, then let go of Ron and pulled off the ring. He sensed Ron bristling behind him and heard someone else's sharp intake of breath. With a feeling like the bottom had just dropped out of his stomach, he set the ring on Draco's outstretched palm.