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Chapter 5. Theft of Privacy
"I think he's lonely." Luna comments as she picks a card from the top of her pile and places it atop the centre pile. She, Amadeus and Neville sit in the middle of their third game of Exploding Snap of the day — with Luna currently winning, Amadeus losing. Despite their concentration favouring the game, the conversation has barely left the topic of Tom Riddle since they started. Even when they change it — to discuss their plans for the next school year, the woes of having parents or grandparent who don't understand them, or whether or not Amadeus was definitely cheating (he insists he wasn't) — without fail, it always drifts back to the ominous boy at Grimmauld Place.
"He's terrifying." Neville responds, placing his own card.
"Nev, you think anything that looks at you the wrong way is terrifying." Amadeus adds a card to the pile. The card he places matches the same as the one Neville had put down, causing all three to reach out and snatch the cards for themselves. They all slap one another's hands, but it's Amadeus's that lands on the cards first. He laughs triumphantly and takes the cards for himself. "I don't think Riddle is as terrifying as he should be. I mean, he is You-Know-Who."
"I wish Gran didn't make me go to those sessions." Neville sighs despondently. A pair in the card pile is revealed quicker than last time. Luna manages to collect those few cards.
"Why don't you tell her you don't want to go? Or pretend to be sick?"
"Because it's my Gran. She wouldn't listen."
"Fair point." Amadeus concedes. The conversation falls into a brief lull, too focused on trying to beat one another. Cards dwindling, every round counts. The turning of the cards grows quicker, too. Anything to create an edge.
In the end, Luna remains victorious. She grins as she collects the final pile of cards, to add to her already large stash.
"Maybe we should see if Riddle plays Snap." Amadeus suggests, organising the cards into a neat pile.
"Please don't." Neville immediately shakes his head. "Imagine if you slapped his hand by accident..."
"Imagine being able to say you beat You-Know-Who at Snap." The other boy counters.
"Not worth it. I don't think he'd be a good loser."
"I don't think he'd be any worse than Amadeus." Luna remarks simply, receiving a light-hearted glare from the boy in question. Her lips quirk up at the edge in the hint of a grin, the only sign she's joking. That, and the impish twinkle she gets in her eye — like a pixie.
Amadeus doesn't think he's a particularly bad sport. Of the three, he's probably the worst — only because Neville is so used to coming last it hardly fazes him and Luna doesn't care where she comes so long as they're hanging out. But he's no Dark Lord about it.
