𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏 | 𝐝.𝐦 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

-9-

As I finished doing the dishes, I walked carefully to the living room where Draco was. When I entered, I saw him comfortably sitting on the leather couch shuffling the card deck gracefully in his pale cold hands. The atmosphere had changed between us, it wasn't comfortable yet it also wasn't uncomfortable. Must have been because of what he pulled back in the kitchen. This guy could really mess with me at times.

Deciding to shift his attention from the deck to me I coughed loud enough for him to hear. Draco snapped his head at me eyeing me up and down.

"You done?" Draco asked pretending to be uninterested.

"To your great demise and misery: yes, I am done with the dishes," I replied sarcastically dropping down on the opposite couch, "Shall we play your stupid card game?"

"Could've sat next to me," Draco eyed me again and put the deck down next to him, "And for your information, it's not a stupid game."

"Whatever your heart pleases, love," I chuckled sarcastically and looked back at to see him with a sour face, "Let's start."

Draco took the deck of cards again and gave out six cards to each of us. He took out the bottom card in the deck and placed it on the black coffee table in front of us.

"Know the rules?" Draco asked with a smirk looking down at his cards.

"Is this that 'Durak' game?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and got a nod from my opponent.

I immediately got excited. I used to play this card game with my friends when I was a child. We generally wouldn't follow the rules because we were children and cheated often. It was simple really; your opponent struck you with a card in their hand and you had to close with a higher rank card of the same mark. If the opponent had more cards with the same rank that was put on the table, they could add more cards for you to close. If you cannot close it, you take what's on the table. But here was a catch: the card placed open on the table carried the trump mark of the game, meaning you could close any card with it. The one with no cards left wins the game. Simple enough.

The trump of the game was hearts. What a funny coincidence, isn't it?

Draco started the game by putting down his first card, which I closed happily. After a few more rounds, I finally managed to make Draco collect the cards from the table. He didn't look too happy about it.

"Mind explaining what happened back there in the kitchen?" I asked placing down a card of my own.

"Why?" Draco answered confused closing the card that I placed before, "Can't I have a little romantic moment with my lover?"

"I don't mind really," I said placing another card, "But next time, avoid scaring the bloody shit out of me, will you?"

"You were scared?" Draco smirked closing the card I placed, "From my view, I think you quite enjoyed it, really."

Was he wrong, though? But since I was too prideful to admit the power he held over me I decided to play with his feelings for a bit in return. It wouldn't hurt anyone, would it? Quits for quits. I smiled to myself thinking about the angry or annoyed face Draco would make.

"Why are you smiling?" Draco asked smiling at me in return continuing the game.

Deciding not to answer his question, we proceeded to play the rest of the game in silence. As it got toward the end of the game it was obvious that I'd be victorious. He didn't have any cards up his sleeve for this one – no pun intended. At this point, both of us were left with two cards each, a death stare toward one another and a competitive spirit circling around us.

I think it's time for me to mess with him.

"You lost," I said with a demonic smile and came up behind the couch Draco was sitting on to lean over him, "My cards beat yours."