Harry Potter: Checkmate

Soft groans and whispers mingled with the gentle clink of refined glass as it echoed down the stone halls of the prestigious school for witches and wizards, known as Hogwarts.  The faint resonating sounds filtered foggily through the air, making them heard, but were, unfortunately, too hazy to be made out clearly.  The softly fading echoes continued to drift through the halls, gliding past the doors of a reading room, left ajar by the students, fast at work, within.

A hunched form cast in candlelight's glow ceased its furious scribbling and lowered her quill.  She had been working on an assignment and was eager to finish it, but then again, it was due in only two weeks.  "Did either of you hear anything just now," she asked her two Gryffindor comrades, who were also hard at work on their own studies...well, sort of.

Harry and Ron both glanced up from their books and papers, which had been concealing their 'Famous Witches and Wizards' cards, halfheartedly trying to complete their work which was, of course, due the next day.  Harry shook his head quietly before delving back into his 'studies'.

"Maybe you just imagined it," Ron suggested as he looked uneasily at the passing ghosts.

"I didn't imagine it, I know I heard something."  Hermoine's bows furrowed, and with a sudden wave of determination and a quiet huff, pushed herself up from the desk, determined to find out what the mysterious noises were.

"Wait," Harry called out to her as he raced to catch up.

"Hey, what about our homework," Ron called out after them, but the receding footsteps gave him his only answer, and quickly decided to follow as yet another ghost passed by him...well, more like through him.  Normally he really didn't mind them, but as the rain and wind poured and howled outside and rumors of Voldemort's return stirred within, he found himself desperately not wanting to be left alone.

The three made their way down the halls and stairs, following the sounds until they finally stopped at the door to the potions classroom where they quietly cracked the door open, eager to see who was making the noises, and why.

"Wow," Hermoine mouthed as Ron breathed a low "wicked."

Harry peered over his friends shoulders, wanting to see what had so quickly quieted his friends down.  "Is that Lucius Malfoy with..."

"…Professor Snape?  Yep."

"You know I read some where that you could go blind from doing it too much," Hermoine stated matter-of-factly.

"Really?  Huh, learn something new everyday," Harry replied.

"Ooh, that's a good move," Ron cheered in a soft whisper as his eyes glazed over.

"That is barbaric," Hermoine protested, averting her eyes from the offending scene being preformed before her.

"Ha," Ron jeered at her, "I've seen you and my sister do it all the time."

"What Ginny and I do together is completely different."

"Really, how so?"

"Well, she...I…it doesn't matter.  Besides, your sister does this move were she..."  More groans and snickers and a distinct clink spilled from the room, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"I wonder what brand they're using," Harry asked quietly.

"I don't know," Ron said, "but it must be expensive."

Light footfalls from behind them forced their attention away from the goings on in the potions classroom.  They tensed and turned around sheepishly to see who had caught them spying.  Upon seeing a certain suspicious looking Draco Malfoy, the tension mounted, and they waited cautiously to see what he wanted.

He had been studying in the same library as Harry, and those other two friends of his, when that Granger girl, stood up abruptly and left with Harry and his other companion in tow.  He thought it was rather suspicious…ok not really, but he had grown bored of his own studies and simply wanted something to do to break up his monotonous task.  So he quietly closed his books and scrolls and followed them.

As he rounded the corner, he paused seeing his loathsome enemy and his pesky group of friends.  "What are you doing here Potter," he sneered.  The three looked at one another and mumbled something unintelligently.  More worried looks passed between the three as a soft clink followed by a rather loud groan filtered out through the door, still cracked open by the sudden group of voyeurs.  For a brief moment, he could have sworn he heard…  "Is my father in there," he asked the three very guilty looking schoolmates.

When they said nothing, Draco angrily grabbed Harry's shoulder to shove him out of the way so he could peer into the classroom himself, however, a sudden boney hand on his own shoulder kept him in place.  He looked up angrily, a sneer covering his face which quickly faltered has he stared up into the equally annoyed face of Professor McGonagall.

She looked past the four students to peer in, wondering what had brought the four children together as well as her own curiosity for the mysterious sounds.  She mouthed a silent 'oh' before quickly composing herself.  "I hope for your sake you can refrain from spying on all of your professors and direct more of your attention to your school work.  Now come along children."

The quickly retreating forms stopped abruptly as a victorious voice bubbled out from the classroom, proclaiming a well deserved "checkmate."

"Take it off, Severus," Lucius demanded.

Professor Severus Snape reluctantly complied, pulling out a sheet of paper from a dwindling stack as he grumbled about cheaters and whatnot.  On the paper was a dreadful essay written by one Draco Malfoy with an equally dreadful grade.  Professor Snape all but growled as he erased the low mark only to replace it with a much higher score.  As he placed it on another pile of growing papers, he couldn't help but groan inwardly as Lucius Malfoy declared that they would be having another rematch.  Of course had he known Lucius was such an excellent player of wizard's chess, he wouldn't have even bothered to begin with.  'Live and learn.'