Ritter und Konigin.

Ritter Und Königin- the second R/P cookie in a series.

I was playing white, while she chose black- so I got to make the first move. Standard pawn defense against a quick checkmate- I didn't want the game to end quickly. I especially didn't want it if it meant I would lose.

We sat across from each other in two desks pushed together in an abandoned classroom- neither of us wanted our housemates to know that we were 'fraternizing with the enemy.'

Under the desks, her leg was rubbing against mine. I wanted to call her on it- no fair distracting your opponent, after all- but I was afraid that if I did that, she'd stop.

She mirrored my defense with her own move, giving me that little, ironic smile that I'd never seen before yesterday.

King's knight to king's bishop's three.

Our eyes met.

Her eyes were dark, hazel-green. They were the same color as some of the trees deep in the Forbidden Forest. I could see my reflection in them.

She's not my type, I reminded myself, as she ran the sole of her bare foot along my leg, a steady, soft pressure, in rhythm with my breathing.

Queen's rook's pawn to queen's rook's four.

"Ron?"

"What?"

"Nothing," she said after a moment, and looked away. Under the desk, her foot stopped its massaging.

Twelve moves in silence. She was on the offensive. I castled, king's side, and she backed off, unable to get through my defenses without risking herself. Her fingers moved on the pieces smoothly, pale and sure. I didn't think I'd seen anyone with hands like hers before- long and slender, but strong. They looked as if they should be delicate, but weren't. The assurance with which her fingers moved belied any impression except that of capability.

"Ron?"

"Hm?"

She had me in a knight fork- whatever I moved; I would lose one of my rooks now. The question was, which rook could get into the best position, tactically speaking, in one move?

"Don't you... I mean... do you think I'm pretty?" her voice was quiet, and I looked up, wanting to see the expression on the almost porcelain curves of her perfect but cold face.

I found that her face no longer looked cold. There was emotion there, emotion I'd never seen she could have before yesterday. Now there was uncertainty, and a little embarrassment. I knew she was capable of hiding them, of suppressing through sheer force of will that telltale flush in her cheeks. It was as though she'd worn a mask before, and had taken it off for me.

Of course I thought she was pretty. Before, I'd thought of it as untouchable, practical beauty- like that of a sword, or of some glistening snake, some predatory and dangerous thing. I didn't know, now, if I still believed that it was dangerous. I didn't want to admit that it might not be. That I felt something- other than a disinterested, abstract sort of lust, something omnipresent around beautiful and unobtainable girls- towards a Slytherin.

What I felt- if I could stop lying to myself, at least- was more of an intellectual desire than a hormonal one. I wanted to know the way her mind worked, intimately- wanted to share thoughts and emotions and discover what the two of them could dream up together.

"Of course I do," I said after a moment. "There isn't a straight male in the school who doesn't."

True, but noncommittal. I moved my rook.

"That's not what I meant," she said, as the pace of our game accelerated into a flurry of captures and counter-captures. "And you know it."

"What did you mean, then?" I asked, taking out one of her bishops as I spoke.

"I mean that I want to do a lot more than play chess with you, Weasley," she said, sounding frustrated, and slipped a pawn into my back row, where it became a queen. "I want to know if I'm the only one who thought that kiss last night meant anything."

I looked at her again, more carefully. I let her know that I was looking at her- it wasn't a glance, but something lingering, searching- I wanted to find out what she meant to me as much as she did. I knew what I wanted; I could admit it- I wanted to know what we already had.

I wouldn't be able to leave tonight without kissing her again. The thought of arranging things so I could kiss her on a regular basis was sounding like a better and better idea. So she was a Slytherin- Wormtail had been a Gryffindor. Houses obviously meant less than I wanted them to.

I captured her second queen with my other rook, and lost that to her remaining knight.

"It meant a lot," I said, swallowing my uncertainties, doing my best to forget them. "And I want to find out what else it could mean."

She lost her remaining knight, we both lost two pawns- neither of us was paying much attention to the game anymore. We were looking at each other.

Four pieces remained on the board. Our kings, her queen, and my knight. They danced across the board, around each other, chasing and evading one another.

Finally they locked into place: I managed to knight-fork her king and queen. Unable to do anything else, she moved the king inwards, so it stood beside the queen.

She lost the queen, and then her king took the knight. Only the kings were left, alone and unable to touch one another.

"Stalemate," I said.

She smiled. "We'll have to start a different game then, I suppose," she told me, and took my hand in hers.