It's Only a Game

It's Only a Game

Ron swung his chair around backwards and sat down at the table that had moved to the center of the Gryffindor common room. Seamus was standing at the "head" of the six-foot diameter round table. A screen depicting two fire-breathing dragons- one gold one red- locked in mortal combat stood in front of him. A large vinyl mat was in the center of the table and a half a dozen painted, 1 inch tall figurines were scattered across the mat. Ron looked around the table, all the fifth year Gryffindors were here. They had all stayed over to get in some extra studying for the upcoming O.W.L.'s, and Seamus had conned the group into breaking for a few hours so that he could introduce them to a Muggle game called Dungeons and Dragons.

Hermione had instantly gone off about how the game was reputed to have been the cause of suicides and led many people down the road to occultism and drug use. Seamus's response had been simple and beautiful, he told her she was a closed-minded bigot buying into the propaganda of religious extremists. That had set her off, so now she was seated here to prove him wrong. Ron thought it was rather a stroke of genius.

"Okay, first thing we need to do is make characters. We're going to start by just building concepts, and then Neville and I can help you rules lawyer them into existence. You can choose from Barbarians, Bards, Clerics, Fighters, Monks, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, Sorcerers, and Wizards. For races you can choose Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Half-Orcs, Half-Elves, Halflings, or humans."

"Dumb question time," said Parvati. "I'm already a human wizard, why would I want to play one in the game?"

"Then don't play one," replied Dean. "I think I'm going to play a half-orc barbarian."

"I thought your advice was to play something other than what you are in real life, Dean," Neville quipped. Neville and Seamus high-fived and made comments about coming from the top rope.

Ron leaned against the back of his chair and thought about what might make a good character. The first thing that popped into mind was to make a character like Aragorn. He was about half-way through The Two Towers, and the word 'Ranger' had jumped out at him. Or maybe he could go for the over-the-top-funny-but-charming-roguish-hero type, ala Rick O'Connell.

He looked over to where Hermione was sitting between him and Harry. She had jotted down the lists of classes and races, and seemed to be drawing lines between them. "What do you think I should play, Ron?" she asked as she turned to face him.

"Hm, oh, I know. You could play a character like Evie." Her blank look clearly showed that she wasn't following him. "Remember, Evie, in the Mummy." He stood up and affected his best Drunk!Evie impersonation. "I... am a librarian." He spun around, collapsed into his chair, and sprawled across her lap. This, of course, got great laughs from everybody but Hermione. She slid back and dropped him on the floor. Okay, maybe not Rick O'Connell.

"What about you, Harry?" she asked. Ron looked over at her list and she had underlined Elf and Sorcerer.

"I am not the librarian," she snapped.

"No, no. This is a good idea." She gave him a withering look. "You could be like Arwen." He knew she would understand the reference, it had been her idea that he read the books. "Do the whole elven princess thing." Ron relaxed as she smiled, apparently the idea seemed to have some appeal to her.

"What are you going to play?" she asked him.

"I'm," he stopped short. He couldn't tell her he was going to be Aragorn to her Arwen. How transparent would that be? She wouldn't agree to it. "Not sure," he finished lamely. He thought about changing tactics. He could be a paladin, go for the whole Knight in Shining Armor thing. No, everybody would just say he was trying to be like Harry. Maybe a... wizard. No, he was already a wizard. How about a rogue? No, he wanted to be a ranger. He wanted to be Aragorn.

"Neville," Seamus said. "Let's start with you, what are you playing?"

Seamus stood up and hunched his shoulders. His face took on a scowling visage and he held his hands up before him like he was weaving a spell. "I am Gefangis Hallenbroche," he said in a gravelly voice. "A dwarven wizard of Clan Starkinneres, from deep in the Crystal Mist Mountains." Ron seriously hoped he wasn't going to have to do something like that. He would feel a little foolish, and he had no idea what his clan or anything else was.

"Showoff," Dean chided Neville. "I'm playing a character named Golmar, a half-orc barbarian ranger."

"Lawn mower barbarian?" Seamus asked.

"Yeah, either that or a spiked chain twinkie. I haven't decided which yet." Ron looked around the table and saw that most of the others had a glassy-eyed look. At least he wasn't the only one who had no idea what they were talking about.

"Okay, Lav," Seamus said, trying to move it along. "What do you want to play?"

"I want to be like a shadowy figure, that stalks the streets protecting ladies of the evening." All the boys at the table, with the exception of Seamus, choked and coughed. Lavender shot them all dirty looks. "I want to use my razor sharp nails as weapons on the scum of the city, like him." She pointed at Ron.

"What?" Ron said defensively. "I'm not the one who wants to hang out with ladies of the evening." This remark earned him a sharp smack on the arm from Hermione. "What?" he said indignantly. At least he wasn't the only one getting smacked, Parvati actually walked around the table so she could smack both Dean and Neville.

"Oo, baby," Dean said as Parvati smacked the back of his head. "Hurt me." So she did. After a few minutes, everybody finally calmed down again and they picked up where they left off.

"I'm going to be a Priestess of Kali," Parvati said with a toss of her hair. "Indian Goddess of Death and Life."

"She's the one with the six arms, right?" Dean asked.

"Yes."

"Don't her priestesses have to be topless, like she is?"

"You wish."

"Yep." Ron had to admire Dean, he had stones. He would say anything. Parvati walked around the table and smacked Dean again.

"Okay guys." Seamus finally got them all to calm down again. Ron noticed that Hermione was doing her level best to stay above all the childish antics at the table. He was tempted to tickle her or something, just to make her laugh, or get everyone else to laugh at her. "Harry, what about you."

"I can't decide," he said, staring at the book in front of him. His voice was dark, and kind of heavy. "I'm thinking about a paladin, can I have a war dog?" Seamus responded that he could. "I think I'm going to go with a sword wielding paladin, with a huge black war dog named Snuffles."

Hermione leaned forward and whispered something into Harry's ear. His brow crinkled and he turned and whispered something to her. After a couple of minutes of whispering Harry finally nodded. His expression looked lighter now. "Okay, scratch that last idea. Have any of you guys seen the movie Labyrinth?" Nobody had. Harry got down on his knees next to the table. "I am Zook," he said in a high squeaky voice that reminded Ron distinctly of Dobby. He looked up at Seamus and spoke in a normal voice again. "We can ride dogs, if we're small characters, right?" Seamus nodded. "I'm a brave gnomish fighter," he said in the Dobby voice, "and this is my dog, Ambrosias."

Next was Hermione, she stood with a graceful sweep. "I am Arwen, an elven sorceress and mistress of ancient lore."

"I, uh, want to play a... human ranger." Hermione looked away from him very quickly. Had she been smiling? He glanced around furtively, though the only one who looked suspicious was Neville, who had a decided twinkle in his eye. He shrugged it off.

They spent the next hour or so actually writing down statistics and figuring out skill points. Ron kept his vision of Aragorn very firmly in his mind as he built the character. On several occasions Hermione asked him questions about Arwen, and he had to wonder if she knew what he was up to. When they started buying equipment, Parvati and Lavender both squealed, "Shopping!" Seamus had them role-play the shopping for their characters, and Ron was amazed at the wide range of voices and characters that Seamus seemingly created on the fly. In response to his efforts the rest of the group began developing voices and traits for their characters. Once they were done, the group ran through a mock combat to get a feel for the rules and their characters.

Afterward, Hermione added bard to her sorceress, complaining about wanting to be more useful in different situations and duplicating Neville's abilities. Ron plopped down on the couch with his book. He didn't get a lot of reading done though. He spent most of his time watching Hermione as she sat with Neville, their heads bent over a book as they rebuilt her character. "Hey, Ron," she called. He looked up. "I have a cat for a familiar now."

"How terribly original. Is he orange?"

"No, she's a golden yellow, and she doesn't like rangers who shirk their duty." Ron's eyes snapped open and he stared her. She turned back to the book, seeming to ignore him. He could have sworn she was smiling though. Perhaps not a smile, more of grin, like a cat finding a bottle of spilled cream. Ron turned back to his book and tried to ignore it. He didn't get much reading done though.

Within a day they had fallen into a routine. After breakfast, Hermione, Harry, and Neville pushed them to study. After dinner, Seamus broke out the books, dice, and maps. Somewhere between midnight and two in the morning they would finally break and go to bed; usually because the girls were falling asleep. The boys would then sit up for another hour or so discussing characters and rules while painting the figurines that Seamus had supplied them with.

---------

It had been five nights since the characters had been created, and they were all coming along quite nicely. The group was once again gathered around the table. Seamus pointed his wand at the map and a figurine of an ogre moved forward to stand in the middle of the group. "Arwen, the ogre is drawn by the sound of your voice. However, your choice of an ogre slaying song to inspire your group has enraged him. He takes a swing at you."

"Oh no he doesn't," Ron interjected. "He's gotta go through me first."

"Sorry, no I don't. Ten foot reach for ogres. He reaches past you to smack her." A large, multifaceted die dropped from Seamus's hand and bounced on the mat. "Fifteen with the modifier." He looked down at his notes. "Not quite enough to hit you with the dodge bonus. Dunada, you're up."

Ron jumped up out of his seat. "He is so going down. Nobody reaches past me to smack Her-" he caught himself. He dropped four dice on the table, two red, two black. "Booyah! Twenty two with the long sword and a nineteen with the short sword. Take that, bitch!"

"Ron!" Hermione said.

"Your first strike swipes out and tears open a gash in his ribs, the short sword follows it in and plunges deep into the wound. Blood soaks your arm as the ogre lets out a tremendous roar of pain. Bring it on, Zook."

"The ogre detects as evil, right?" Seamus nodded. Harry affected his Dobby voice again, "Come Ambrosias, there is evil to smite. Charge!" Harry pointed his wand at the table and the small goblin on wolf-back figure that represented Zook streaked across the table and slammed into the ogre.

"First," Seamus interrupted, "I get my attack of opportunity. The ogre's flaming blade sweeps down toward you," the large black die crashed onto the table, it stopped on two. "Damn. It swings wide." Harry dropped his dice with a flourish.

"Yes!" Harry and Ron both shouted. "Critical hit." Harry rolled his die again, a great cheer went up. Harry picked up a handful of dice and dropped them. "That's the way you do it, and don't forget the bonuses for the Holy Smite."

Seamus groaned. "Okay Golmar, do your worst."

Dean picked up his dice off the table and held his fist over in front of Parvati. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh come on, for luck." She rolled her eyes and blew on his dice. "Baby needs a new wand!" The dice hit the table and skipped across, coming to a stop against the ogre figurine. "Damn, one short."

Hermione looked at the die, then sang in a quiet voice. "In days of old when knights were bold there lived a fearsome ogre. But when he met up with us he died just like the others." The group all stopped and looked at her. "Inspirational song?" she offered as her cheeks turned bright pink. Everybody turned and looked at Seamus. He picked up Dean's character sheet, did some counting on his fingers, then put it back down.

"It's a hit." The table erupted in cheers.

"Nice job," Hermione heard Ron say in her ear as he gave her a quick hug. His lips brushed over her cheek, though it didn't feel like he'd done it on purpose. But then again, why would his lips be so close to her cheek if it wasn't on purpose? She placed her fingers on her cheek, wanting to memorize the feel of the brief touch. Ron was up high-fiving Dean and Harry though, and didn't seem to think it was that big a deal that he had just kissed her. She was vaguely aware of Seamus talking, so she focused on that, and tried to get back into the game.

"Your spiked chain snakes out and wraps around the ogre's chest. As you yank it away, he spins around and falls to the ground with a crash."

"Yes!" Dean jumped up and high-fived Harry and Ron again, who also jumped up and began to celebrate. "Who's the man? Yeah! We are invincible!" Ron, Harry, Neville, and Dean were so busy whooping it up that they didn't notice Lavender and Parvati whispering back and forth. After a couple of minutes the celebration calmed down and everyone sat down again.

"Is the ogre's sword still on fire?" Hermione asked, removing her hand from her cheek.

"No, it's laying in the grass next to his body. His hand still has a death grip on it. There is no heat radiating from the blade."

"I cast Detect Magic," Neville piped in.

"It is. So is the metal flask on his hip."

"I want to see if I recognize it," Hermione said. "Can I use my bardic knowledge; or maybe ancient or modern history; or knowledge arcana; or," Seamus cut her off.

"Give me an ancient history check."

Hermione picked up and rolled one of her blue dice. "With my modifier that will be like a twenty something. Twenty-six to be exact."

"It's a scimitar, a very old one at that. It bears an emblem on the blade, a Phoenix. There is also writing etched on the blade. The writing is unfamiliar."

"Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"What languages do you speak?"

"Elven, common, dwarven, draconic, goblin, celestial, sylvan, terran, ignan," Seamus cut her off again.

"Okay, you can read it. In Ignan, it says, 'By the sacred fire do we defend our home.' You recognize it as the creed of the legendary Knights of Kali-al-Shahar. It is said that in the hands of one of their number, these swords were mighty weapons. The blades would be sheathed in flame, and with a truly mighty hit the fire would literally explode inside the target. The knights themselves were fearsome warriors, but they were wiped out to a man during the rise of Zyrok the Undying."

"What exactly is 'ignan'?" Ron asked.

"The language of fire creatures," answered Neville.

"So, she's a know it all in two worlds, great." Ron leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.

"Know it all!" Hermione jumped up. She was getting tired of his mixed signals. First he kisses her, then he insults her. "Fine then, if that's what you think, I'll go be a know it all somewhere else!" She stormed out of the common room and up the stairs.

"You are such a schmuck," Parvati said to Ron as she stood up.

"Insensitive prick." Lavender added. The two girls likewise swept from the room and followed Hermione.

"Great," Dean complained. "Guess we're done playing for tonight. Should we dig out the paints and work on those animation charms?"

"I'm out," Ron said, looking up the girl's stairway, and wondering what he had done wrong. He got up and headed up the stairs to his own dorm, where he picked up his book and spent the next several hours reading.

-----------

There was an uneasy air as they sat down to play the next night. Ron sat down in his usual place and waited for Hermione to take her normal place between him and Harry. She didn't though, she sat on the far side of Harry, next to Parvati. She had been avoiding him all day, preferring the company of Lavender and Parvati to his and Harry's. Ron grumped and spun his chair around backwards. He flopped down onto it and stared at the battle-mat and figures that had been laid out.

"All right," Seamus said, rubbing his hands together. "Everybody, try to stay in character, and try not to take what happens in character personally. Tonight, I have some stuff planned that will make some of you quail, and others question my sanity. I do it all in the name of story, just remember that." Everybody nodded. "When last we left our great and mighty heroes... the ogre was slain, the Scimitar of the Knights of Kali-al-Shahar was still in Arwen's hands, and the Caves of Chaos beckon to you. What will you do?"

"I check the body of the ogre," Ron said. "Does he have anything on him that would indicate why he attacked us, or who he's working for?"

"I take the potion and try to identify it," Neville added. He rolled a die. "A twenty three on my Spellcraft check."

"You detect the presence of," Seamus consulted a book on a table behind him. "Dried nettles and porcupine quills."

"Oh, I think I know!" Hermione sounded very excited. "It sounds like-"

"Did you make the Spellcraft roll, Arwen?" Seamus interrupted her. She stopped. "Gefangis made the check, he gets the information. If he chooses to share it, then you can try." Ron wanted to get up and punch the smarmy git. He knew that Seamus was being 'in character,' but he looked just a little too pleased that he had been able to tell Hermione to stop being such a know-it-all.

"Seamus," Neville said, "are you using real world potions to simulate in game treasure?"

"Yeah."

Neville looked to be deep in concentration. Hermione looked like she was about to explode from having to keep the answer in. "Boil cure?" Neville asked.

"Right-o, a minor curing potion. Write it down as a Potion of Cure Light Wounds."

"That's a really good idea," Hermione burst out. "This way we can incorporate more studying into our play time. Brilliant, Seamus." Ron shot Lavender a dirty look in response for the dirty look that Lavender was giving Hermione.

"Wasn't really the reason I did it, but sure, whatever makes you happy." Seamus turned his attention back to Ron. "Dunada, on the ogre you find a bag of coins and small wooden symbol on a leather chord." He tossed out a piece of wood carved to look like a fist grasping several arrows. Ron picked it up. "Herm... Arwen, do you recognize this?" He held it out to her like a sort of peace offering.

Parvati snatched it from him. "Hey!" he shouted. He noticed that Hermione looked very annoyed with the other girl.

Parvati turned it over in her hands. "I know what this is, it's in the book."

"Give me a check," Seamus said. She rolled the die, the number was low but Seamus said it was good enough.

"So what is it?" Hermione asked Parvati.

"The symbol of Hextor, Lord of Destruction and Chaos. And the enemy of Heironeous," she added, looking at Harry.

"That clenches it," Harry said in his high pitched Zook voice. "We're going into the caves. If there is a temple to Hextor here, we're going to destroy it."

Hermione held out her hands toward Ron like she was holding a sword on them. "Dunada, I think this would be most useful in your hands. I present you with the blade of the Knights of Kali-Al-Shahir." Ron looked at Hermione and noticed she was smiling. He smiled back at her. There was a great deal of commotion at the table. Several cries of 'Hey, I wanted that,' and similar statements were heard.

"Hey, she gave it to me," Ron shouted at Dean.

"That's enough," Neville growled in a voice that reminded Ron distinctly of Mad-Eye Moody. He banged on the table. "That's quite enough from you lot of fools." Ron sat down, impressed that Neville could undergo such a transformation. "You, elven witch," he growled at Hermione, "had no right to give that away. Did you, by right of your own power, slay the ogre? You did not. Yet it's just like an elf to take what they want, and bestow on their friends rather than considering who is most worthy. And you," he poked Dean, "Did you slay the beast by your own might alone?"

Dean puffed himself up. "Yes, I-"

"No, fool, you did not. Many strikes were made against the beast, yet you claim the glory for your own. It is by our combined strength that we will survive and prosper. Yet here we are, in a bastion of evil, fighting amongst ourselves. If we, you," he pointed at the group, "do not learn to cooperate, you will all die here." There was a lot of muttering. Ron, Dean, Lavender, Parvati, and Harry took turns shooting dark looks at each other. Hermione had her head down in her arms.

"Is there anybody who really wants the sword?" Ron asked. Dean, Parvati, and Harry all wanted it, but realized in the end that they would all be better off with it in Dunada's hands, since he was the group's only sword fighter. "And you," he pointed at Neville, "what was that you said about Arwen?"

"That she's an elf, and by birth, a thief."

"You. Take. That. Back."

Neville turned to face him, he leaned over close and stared at Ron with a dark expression. "No." Neville winked at him, and Ron sat up in shock. "Oho!" Neville said, without breaking character. "You fancy the elf. Too bad for you that elves don't consort with the likes of humans."

Ron started to retort, but knew that if he did he would out his little secret to the entire group. He felt a piece of paper press into his hand. He took it. It read 'I know about Dunadan/Strider/Aragorn. Just play along.' The note had come from Neville, who was grinning in such a way that only Ron could see it. Neville laughed in a dark, rumbling, taunting kind of way. "Let's go into the caves," he said to the entire table.

Seamus took over again, and within a few minutes they were back in the rhythm of the game. Ron kept sneaking glances at Hermione, and every time he did, she looked away from him. After a while the group took a break, and when they came back, Ron was very pleased to see Hermione had moved over to sit next to him again. They were the only two at the table, as Dean and Seamus had realized they had forgotten munchies for the night, and the group of them had set out with Harry, Parvati, and Lavender for the kitchens.

"Thanks for the sword," Ron said as he sat down.

"You're welcome," Hermione replied. "Dunadan." Ron's eyes widened, his game was up, she had figured it out. She gave him a shy smile. "Is that why you wanted me to be Arwen?"

"Ah," he couldn't speak. She reached up and touched his ears, which he was sure were bright red.

Her eyes twinkled. "The price of your sword, ranger," she was breathing rapidly now and she wouldn't meet his eyes. Her voice was getting quieter as she spoke. "Is a kiss," she whispered.

Ron blushed red to the roots of his hair. Did she really want him to kiss her? He had done it once, gotten away with it without her saying anything. This was different though, she was asking for this one. She knew this one was coming, if he could bring himself to do it. He took a deep breath, Aragorn was a man of action. He could do this. "Thank you, princess." His voice was a raw whisper, he leaned in, was just about to press his lips to hers...

"Got butterbeers," Dean shouted as the portrait hole swung open. Ron and Hermione sprang apart like they'd been electrocuted. Ron fell off his chair and smacked his head on the floor. Hermione smothered an involuntary giggle and turned back to the table. The others came in and dropped their loot on the table. There were crisps and pretzels and bottles of butterbeer and pumpkin juice and fruit and fresh veggies.

"What's all this for?" Hermione asked.

"Marathon session, figured we'd shoot for a couple of extra hours tonight since we quit early last night." Ron was very disappointed to see that it was Lavender who had suggested this, since she was usually the first advocate of knocking off early. Seamus and Dean whooped and high-fived. Ron sank down into his chair and noticed that Hermione didn't look particularly excited about the prospect either.

Neville called Seamus over to the stairs leading up to the boys dormitory. Ron realized that he had no idea how long Neville had been there. The two boys whispered back and forth, and Ron thought they seemed to be looking in his direction an awful lot. Seamus grinned an evil smile, "Neville, you are a genius. This will be fun." They rejoined the table and Seamus popped open a butterbeer. "Okay heroes, let's get to it." He pointed at the three dimensional map he had transfigured out of a rolled up cloak. He touched his wand to it and several small openings appeared. "Where do you want to start?" After some discussion the group decided to go into what looked like the Ogre's lair.

*

Over the next several hours they plundered their way through goblins, orcs, kobolds, and a host of other minor monsters. The found more magic items, everything from potions to elven cloaks. They hauled away a goodly number of coins of various kinds, and all was going quite well for them. Then Harry recommended they check out the cave at the box end of the canyon they were exploring.

"You enter the cave and soon are enveloped in darkness. The air is warm in here, and a little stale. There's a rank smell in the air, like a beast gone long without bathing." Lavender and Parvati recommended they leave, but the others disagreed, and pushed on. "The wall curves around to your left, it also splits off to your right and continues on ahead. You can only see five feet in any direction."

"Wait a minute," Hermione said, "I'm an elf, I thought I could see in near darkness."

"Normally, you can. Now though, you can only see five feet, even by the light of Dunada's sword." The group wound deep into the cave, turning left and right, straining against the sounds Seamus described. A note was passed to Hermione. She read it, rolled a die, wrote the results on the note, and passed it back to Seamus. He looked at it, grinned, and put it behind his screen. The candles and the fire were burning low now, creating an eerie atmosphere as the wind howled outside the tower windows. Seamus lowered his voice as he spoke.

"You follow the passage around to the right, ahead you hear a sound, like snoring. The air around you is heavy and rank, making it hard to breathe. The smell is getting stronger. The only other sound is the quiet padding of your footfalls on the stone floor." Seamus was walking around the table now, speaking in quiet tones that caused them all to strain to hear him. "As your fingers drag along the wall, they trail through a trickle of liquid, warm and sticky." Ron shivered, as did several others. "All of your concentration is focused on the sounds, since you can barely see even the person in front of you."

"Aah!" Hermione screamed. Everybody jumped. Seamus had suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders, his hands were cold and wet from the bottle of butterbeer he had been holding only seconds before. He yanked her out of her chair and pulled her across the room. She was struggling to gain her feet, but couldn't. Ron jumped up, but Neville put a hand on him and whispered something to him.

She was having a hard time figuring out what was going on, and the way Seamus was holding her she couldn't get upright. "Just follow me lead," he whispered in her ear, "trust me, this'll be fun." He pulled her upright and pushed her against the wall. "Pretend you're locked in manacles, with your hands over your head. Hold on to the torch sconce right above you." He pushed her hands up. She wasn't sure about this, but he hadn't done anything to hurt her and he was weaving a really good story. She gave in, and grabbed on to the torch sconce. "Feel free to scream," he whispered, "but not too much."

"You bastard," she shouted as she lunged for him, though kept her hands securely on the sconce. "Let me go!" Seamus smiled at her, and she pretended to struggle. He turned his back on her.

"You hear Arwen scream," Seamus said. She did. "And suddenly flames leap up." With a flick of his wand, a couch was interposed between him and the group at the table. "You can see better now. About twenty feet away from you stands a large creature. Next to him is a table. Behind him, Arwen is manacled to the wall by her wrists. To either side of her are large pots of fire illuminating a wall that has a picture of a beast just like this one. The one in the painting appears to be... having his way with several young women; each of which is bound to a table. It stands upright like a man, but has the upper body and head of a bull. His wide horns sweep back and forth as he shakes his head and laughs at you."

Seamus affected a deeper voice now. "Whelps, fools. I have only need of her. Leave this place and I will let you live. Stay, and I will roast you for my dinner."

Seamus went back to his narrator voice. "There is a chasm about fifteen feet wide between you and him. On the far side, flames dance along the edge out of huge fire pits." Seamus walked back around to the table and took up his spot. He banished the big 3-d map they had been using for the canyon and drew out a map of the room on his battle-mat. "You guys are about to have your hands full as well. Two dozen creatures you recognize as Orcs step out of the shadows to surround you on all sides except where the chasm is. They are all girded for combat, each is wearing a shirt of chainmail, and carrying a large axe. Initiative."

Everybody picked up their dice and rolled them. "What about me?" Hermione called across the room.

"Oh, sorry Arwen. Come on back to the table." He collected their initiative numbers and began combat. "Gefangis, what are you doing?"

I turn and cast... magic missile against one of the orcs." Seamus rolled some dice. "Max damage! Three missiles. Then I hand Dunada a potion bottle." In his character voice he said to Ron, "Kill the creature, save the girl."

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Potion of jumping."

"The orc is still up," Seamus said with a grin. "He looks pissed off, like frothing at the mouth pissed off. Arwen."

"I want to try and break out of my bonds." At Seamus's direction she picked up a die and rolled it. "Shyah. Forget it. Can I sing?"

"Not really," quipped Harry. There were several ooh's and ahs and a little laughter. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

"Wasn't asking you, I was asking the DM." Seamus replied that since her bardic abilities keyed off singing, that yes she could. "Arwen begins singing an inspirational song about..."

"Celibacy?" Lavender offered.

"Oh, yeah, that's inspiring," Dean said in a sarcastic voice.

"You would know," shot Parvati. There was much jeering and teasing.

"Okay, you begin singing an inspirational song," Seamus said, "takes effect next round. Kalia, you're up."

"Do I recognize any of the symbols as being religious?" Parvati asked. Seamus replied they were not. "Then I send up a prayer to Kali, asking death for my enemies. I cast Prayer." She put a card on the table reminding everyone of the effects of her spell.

Lavender went next. "I already had my bow out. Now, they're considered flat footed since they haven't gone yet, right?" She was assured they were. "Rapid shot to fire two arrows into the nearest goon." She rolled two dice, both hit. She rolled her dice for damage. Everybody cheered when she took one down.

Dean went next, he simulated shaking out his chains and spinning them over his head. He moved to an area that was far enough away that he wouldn't hit anyone in the party. Then waited for them to come to him. Harry, true to form, charged. His charge took down one of the orcs. Then came the orcs. Dean's character Golmar hit three of them, but none hard enough to take them down. They laid the smack down on Golmar in turn, but he could take it. The orcs charged Lavender, she went down under a brutal swing of an orcish axe. Their first character fatality.

"Sweetie, honey." Lavender sidled up next to Seamus. She began to kiss his ear. "Are you sure I'm dead?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"The dice say," Seamus shivered as she did something to him that nobody saw, but everyone could guess. "They say... that... I can't count. You're not quite dead." Lavender kissed his cheek again, and did something that made him shiver.

"What?" Hermione shouted. "That's hardly fair. The rules say-" she felt Ron's hand trying to pull her back down. "No, I will not be quiet. Lavender, that's disgusting. What did you offer him?"

"None of your business," Lavender snapped. "My character doesn't see half the DM time yours does, so get over it." Hermione sat down and crossed her arms. It wouldn't be so bad if Lavender wasn't right. Neville had said something to her earlier about hogging the DM's time. She stared down at her character sheet, but said nothing else.

"Don't worry about it," Ron whispered in her ear. She shivered as his breath blew over and inside her ear. "We all know what she is. We also know you'd never stoop to that." She smiled, he could be so sweet sometimes. She looked over just as he picked up his dice.

"I'm going to try and jump the chasm. Can I quaff the potion, jump the chasm, and make an attack?"

"No."

"How about if I come over and blow in your ear?" Everybody except Lavender laughed.

"No. You can take the potion and try to jump the chasm, but no attack."

Ron held up his die in front of Hermione's face. "For luck?" She leaned forward and kissed the die. He rolled it, a one. Everybody groaned. "Please tell me it was enough with the bonuses from the potion?" Ron begged. It was.

"However," Seamus replied with a malicious smile. "The minotaur was waiting for you. He swings his mighty axe at you." The dice bounced across the table, a hit. The damage was massive, and Ron staggered, imitating what his character would do.

During the next round, Gefangis unloaded with some bigger firepower, killing five of the orc barbarians. Then Arwen's song took effect, and again she was unable to free herself. Kalia stopped Ginger's bleeding, Golmar took down another orc and stood guard over Kalia and Ginger. Zook laid the smack down on the one that had cleaved Ginger open, by pinning it to a wall with his lance. Then Dunada was up.

"Is he in front of me?"

"Right on top of you," Seamus replied.

"Good, I'm stabbing him with both blades." He held up the dice in front of her again. She hesitated. "Go on, I have faith." She blew across the dice, his fingers twitched, and then closed around them. "Nobody threatens Arwen," he growled. The dice fell from his hand and bounced on the table. Highest possible rolls, everybody shouted. He rolled to confirm the critical hits, but not before she blew on the dice again. Another twenty, and a fifteen. "Double twenties on the long sword," Ron said in disbelief. "What's that mean?"

"It means," Seamus replied with a sigh. "That if you can confirm again, you kill it in one swing." Ron picked up the die, held it up for her. She was nervous, but blew on it anyway. The die left his hand, bounced on the table, stopped on two, rolled over to twenty.

"Yes!" Ron shouted. She felt his arm wrap around her and suddenly his lips were on hers. She was aware of two things, that everything had stopped around her, and that Ron was kissing her. After a long second, that wasn't nearly long enough, he suddenly broke away. "Uh, I uh, yeah. Um." He was blushing terribly, she was sure she was too. She couldn't bear to open her eyes. She could feel them all staring at her. She was going to die of embarrassment, right here.

"Arwen, that was truly inspired singing," Seamus chimed in. A nervous chuckle broke out around the table. In spite of herself, she laughed too. She looked up to see Parvati and Lavender both smiling at her, she blushed again and stared at her feet. She dared a glance at Ron, he was very studiously not looking at her; as if his whole being depended on not looking at her at that moment. She understood, she felt much the same way. She felt Ron's hand on her leg and it slid into her own hand.

She was giddy now, Ron was holding her hand. Not that anybody else could see it. She flexed her hand around his to make sure she wasn't imagining it. He flexed back. She dared another glance in his direction. He was looking over at her as well, he smiled at her, and blushed.

"If you two are quite done over there," Seamus said in an exasperated tone. Hermione snapped her eyes up at him. Everybody at the table was suppressing smiles and laughter. Dean looked like he was about to burst. "Nice of you to join us here in our alternate reality." Hermione blushed; she had been so caught up in what was going on with Ron that she hadn't even heard Seamus calling her. "So what are you doing? The rest of the group is still fighting over on the far side of the chasm, and Dunada has just slain the minotaur in a single blow.

"How long does the effect of my singing last if I stop?"

"Five rounds," Seamus answered.

She held her hands up over her head like she was manacled to the wall. "Dunada, get me out of here!" She decided that while she could try and break the manacles again, she would just let Ron, er Dunada, rescue her. A thought began to form in her mind. She grinned to herself as Seamus went on around the table and the others dealt with the orcs. The tide of battle was turning, and several of the orcs retreated.

"Dunada, what are you going to do?"

"How is Arwen chained?" Seamus motioned for Hermione to stand up and go over to the wall again. She did so and reached up to take hold of the torch sconce. This time she was aware that her jumper was riding up and exposing just a bit of her stomach, and that Ron's eyes were fixed on her as she stretched. She tried not to be self-conscious of it. After all, this was playing right into her plan. Ron walked over. "Now, can I cut her down without injuring her?"

"Yes, basically the torch sconce would be a ring with manacle chains run through it." Seamus walked back over to the table. "Show me how your swinging." Ron stood directly in front of her and simulated lifting his sword over his head with two hands. He swung them forward like he was chopping at the chains. Hermione leaned forward, as though straining against the bonds. She held on to the torch sconce. With a bit of embarrassment, she realized her top was being pulled rather tight across her chest. She was about to lean back when there was the sound of a die striking the table.

"The chain snaps," Seamus called out. Hermione was very pleased by this. She also couldn't believe she was doing this. She let go of the torch sconce and fell on top of Ron, driving him to the floor.

"Thank you, my ranger," she said and kissed him quickly before she lost her nerve. She knew they must be a sight, sprawled on the floor, her on top of him, kissing. She started to stand up, but Ron wrapped his arms around her.

"You're welcome, my princess. I believe I still owe you a kiss from earlier, don't I?" She smiled, knowing she was blushing just a bit. This time she savored him. He smelled of butterbeer and popcorn combined with the tingly smell of his deodorant. His eyes were playful and crinkled with a smile. Her hair spread out around them like a curtain. She felt just a bit cut off from the rest of the world, like he was the only boy and she the only girl in the whole world. The fire in the hearth not far away was warm and gave her a very content feeling as she stared into his eyes.

With impossible slowness he tilted his head to the side and leaned up to attach his lips to hers. She sighed inwardly as months and months of tension was released. She rested her weight fully on him, opened her mouth and kissed him with abandon. She had waited far too long for this, but it was oh so worth it. After a bit, that she was sure was only a few seconds or might have been a lifetime, she broke away slowly and lifted up. There were several jeering remarks from the table, but it didn't matter. She was kissing Ron, and he was kissing her; or Arwen and Dunadan, or whatever. One thing was for sure, this was more than just a game.