My apologies for the delay in posting this chapter! Life happened, as it has a way of doing.
"So... what do we do now?" Draco asked, as Luna dunked the last dish into the sudsy water with a gleeful splash. He grimaced slightly as she flashed a quick grin and handed it to him, dripping with water and bubbles. He hit it with a quick drying spell and sent it winging away into the cupboard, then aimed another drying spell at the wet spot on the floor, shaking his head. The last thing he needed was for someone to fall and blame him for it. He gasped, jerking back in surprise, as Luna darted forward and deposited a blob of suds on his cheek.
"Luna!" he exclaimed, horrified, as she burst into unrepentant giggles.
Harry snorted and gently swiped the bubbles away, his warm fingers lingering a few seconds longer than strictly necessary. Draco felt his scowl softening into a sappy grin. Before he could say anything, Ron pushed past them, shouldering Draco out of the way. "It's games night."
Draco sighed. He and Ron were really going to have to have a talk, one of these days.
Harry smiled apologetically at him, shrugging his shoulders slightly. He slipped his hand into Draco's and tugged him toward the parlor after the others.
"Which tonight, do you think?" asked Luna, tilting her head to the side in a decidedly bird-like manner.
Draco frowned, at a loss. "What's games night?"
Everyone except Draco and his parents shared a knowing look. "It's, well..." Ron trailed off, frowning. "Actually, we'd better just show you." He strode across the room and threw open a cabinet that Draco hadn't noticed. On the shelves inside were stacks of colorful boxes, marked with mysterious, and obviously muggle, symbols and phrases. "Welcome to games night!"
"Jenga? Twister? Monopoly? Clue?" Draco muttered to himself as he scanned the boxes, searching for something – anything – familiar.
Luna skipped over to the cabinet and rummaged through the boxes, emerging after a few minutes with a large box and a delighted smile. "How about this one? It sounds fun."
Harry and Hermione shared an inscrutable look. "Um, Luna..." Harry started.
Hermione interrupted him, lower lip caught between her teeth. "Are you sure, Luna? Maybe we should start with an easier one."
Snape strode forward then, clearing his throat. He plucked the box from Luna's grasp. "I, for one, would much rather spend the evening playing a game, rather than arguing over which one to play."
Ron grinned. "The man has a point."
Snape rolled his eyes. "Do try to contain your enthusiasm, Mr. Weasley." He stalked back over to the couches and chairs that had rearranged themselves into a loose circle. He flicked his wand carelessly, whisking a small coffee table into the center of the circle. Another flick and a muttered engorgio, and the coffee table enlarged to fill the space. Snape nodded and plunked the box down in the center of the table. "Miss Lovegood? Would you care to do the honors, since you were the one who chose the game?"
"Gladly, Sev." Luna grinned up at him as she opened the box. Snape's eyebrow twitched, and a muscle jumped in his tightly clenched jaw, but he didn't comment.
Draco was impressed, despite himself, at the man's restraint. He could feel a new tension crackling in the air between the two, and wondered. It felt as if they were balanced on a knife-edge, awaiting the push that would tip them over the edge, still unsure which way they would fall. He snorted to himself. Professor Snape and Loony Lovegood. Who'd have guessed. Of course, that wasn't who they were anymore. If it ever had been. After 7 years of classes with the man, 7 years with him as his Head of House, for goodness' sake, and he realized that he'd never really known him.
Harry squeezed his hand, startling him out of his thoughts. "You OK?"
"What? Oh. Yeah. Sorry." He smiled an apology, and Harry nudged his shoulder companionably. "You might want to pay attention now – Luna's about to read us the rules."
"Wait – Luna's going to read them?"
Harry grinned. "Well, yeah. She picked the game – it's her turn to read the rules. Don't worry – she hardly ever embellishes them. Much."
Draco rolled his eyes. Merlin. A muggle game I've never heard of, and the rules are determined by... he stopped himself. 'Loony Lovegood' was what he'd called her back at Hogwarts, back when he'd been, he realized now, something of a bully. She hadn't deserved the name then, and she certainly didn't deserve it now, now that he was beginning to get to know her. Not that he was likely to ever know Luna, but...
Harry nudged him again, and Draco wrenched his wandering thoughts back to the Luna in front of him, and the rules she was reading.
Some minutes later, she folded the paper with grave ceremony and placed it back into the box. The others had pilfered the box as she'd spoken, setting out a colorful – if wildly inaccurate – map of the world and a profusion of tiny plastic pieces in a rainbow of colors. Draco, unsure whether he understood completely or didn't understand at all, reached out and plucked one of the green figures from the board. It was a soldier, riding a horse, waving a sword – highly impractical, really. What good was a sword when one's horse put everyone out of that sword's reach?
"Hey!" Blaise yelped. "That one's mine!"
"Sorry," Draco said absently, dropping the piece into Blaise's waiting hand. He turned to Harry for help, deciding that he fell solidly on the side of "didn't understand at all.'
Before he could say anything, Harry spoke. "There's not enough armies for us each to have our own – we'll have to play it in teams. You're with me, Draco." He grinned. "I've never played Risk before, but I've seen it played a time or two."
Draco sighed in relief. "Oh, good. Because I haven't got a clue."
Ron snorted, and Draco waved it away. He couldn't be bothered to pick a fight right now. He was curled up in an armchair with Harry – how had that happened, anyway? – and Harry was a warm and comforting presence against his side. He immediately determined to leave the majority of the game play to Harry, snuggling further into his side. As teams were formed and armies were placed, Draco allowed himself to slip into a comfortable half-doze, floating in a sea of companionship and warmth.
He was jolted back to full consciousness some time later, as friendly bickering gave way to squabbling. He frowned around the room at the tense expressions, blankly surveying the board with its multi-hued armies. Fierce battles had apparently been waged whilst he dozed, alliances had formed and crumbled, betrayals and back-stabbing ran rampant. Draco decided that he would have to play this again one day, this time paying closer attention to the ebb and flow of battle. For a muggle game, Risk was, it turned out, more exciting and deserving of its name than he had first assumed.
Andromeda's voice suddenly cut through the din. "I've just now managed to get Teddy to sleep, and I'm exhausted. Whoever wakes him – and I've no doubt one of you will, at your current volume – gets to sit up with him tonight. I'm for bed, myself. Coming, Cissy?"
Narcissa nodded at her sister, smiling apologetically and leaving the argument without a backward glance. Lucius pouted after her, and Draco snorted. He'd never realized how childish and pathetic his father could look, when he didn't get his way.
Harry caught his eye and grinned at him, snaking an arm around Draco's waist and squeezing him tighter against his side. "Come on," he whispered. "Let's head up. I don't fancy being conned into sitting up with Teddy tonight."
Draco nodded his emphatic agreement. Charming though the boy was, he was impossible to put back to sleep, once woken, and Draco certainly didn't fancy a night of pacing the floor.
"Oi! Harry! Where do you think you're going?" Ron shouted indignantly.
Harry raised a brow in unconscious imitation of Draco. "To bed. I don't fancy sitting up with Teddy all night – do you?"
Ron scowled. "But who's going to play your army?"
Hermione covered a yawn and reached over to pat him on the shoulder. "It's late, Ron. Harry's got the right of it. We can pick the game up again tomorrow."
Ron frowned down at the board, apparently trying to memorize the position of every piece. "Fine. But I'm putting a stasis spell over it. I don't trust those two not to sneak down in the middle of the night and move the pieces." He waved at Lucius and Snape. "We all know they'd cheat if given the chance."
Lucius looked affronted. "How dare you! I do not cheat."
Draco snorted at that, and Lucius turned his glare on his son's retreating form.
"Fine," he spat, turning back to sneer at Ron, "but I'm putting a stasis spell over yours. After all, how do we know you won't cheat? You're the one who brought it up.
As Ron spluttered, Lucius flicked his wand, raising a pale green glowing shield atop Ron's red one. He studied it for a few seconds, then nodded, apparently satisfied. "Now we can go to bed."