Checkmate

Epilogue

And the appeal, partner
Of this deal, partner
Is we all stand to win
You and me, the lady also

Who'd ever guess it?
This would be the situation
One more complication
Should be neither here nor there

Lyrics from "The Deal (No Deal)" from Chess by Benny Anderson, Tim Rice and Björn Ulvaeus

* * * * *

Many of the Slytherins and a scattering of students in other houses lost their fathers, or in some cases both parents, to Azkaban in the Ministry's swift and quiet move to arrest the Death Eaters named by Lucius Malfoy. Some of the arrests were shocking, revealing upstanding members of the community, while others were no surprise at all. Most of these students declined to return to Hogwarts in the New Year after the Christmas holidays.

The Slytherins who did return, including Crabbe and Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson – one of the few whose parents were not named – drew together to form an unexpectedly solid and insular wall of protection around Draco. Pansy was a particularly staunch supporter of their restored Slytherin leader. She insisted that all remaining Slytherins wear the buttons she made that alternately flashed a picture of the Dark Mark with a diagonal red line through it and the words: Real Slytherins Are Not Sheep!

Harry's true relationship with Draco was still a secret from most of the school, but the fact that they now took several of their classes alone together caused wide-spread gossip. So, with Dumbledore's permission, they had finally explained about the Magebond and Harry's talents in wandless magic and Magical Medicine to their closest friends.

And it was only those closest friends who also knew that Harry now shared the room at the top of Slytherin tower with Draco. A very ingenious spell had been cast on the door to the broom closet at the top of Gryffindor tower. Given the proper password, the door opened directly into Draco's room, so to everyone except Harry's roommates, it appeared Harry still lived in the Gryffindor dorm. Unfortunately, Seamus made it his newest hobby to try to discover that password.

One night, as Harry made his way up the stairs to the closet, a terrible crash was heard. The fact that the crash was followed by a loud, "Mother of God!" and a colorful string of Irish expletives left little doubt as to the culprit.

Harry threw open the door of the closet to find Seamus, who'd hoped to overhear the password by hiding in the closet, sprawled in a puddle of soapy water on the floor, his foot stuck in a bucket and a dripping wet mop draped over his head. After that, Harry kept a watchful eye on Seamus's whereabouts when he was on his way to bed. Otherwise, life at Hogwarts went on pretty much as usual.

Harry's most confidential secret – the baby daughter due in March – was known only to Dumbledore, Draco, and to Cho, her husband and their parents.

Draco was eventually prevailed upon to stay on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Harry was pleased that Draco had decided not to abandon his team. To Harry it was simply a matter of honor.

He was pleased, too, because the game between their Houses wouldn't have had the same excitement without their long-standing rivalry. But he was also a little annoyed because Draco had witnessed his secret team strategies and would know what to expect. However, Draco kept his word and never told his teammates about the surprising maneuvers he had seen Harry practicing with the Gryffindor team.

Consequently, during their final game on a drizzling rainy afternoon in early April, when Draco suddenly whirled his broom and raced off after the Snitch, the Slytherins were taking a terrible beating. The score was a staggering 230 to 50 in favor of Gryffindor. Harry instantly gave chase and they both vanished up into the low, gray cloud cover.