Star-Crossed

Chapter Twenty-Five: Chess Game from Hell

Broken pieces of statues were littered across the floor, on either side of the walkway we were currently walking down, revealed as torches lit on either side of us.

"I don't like this..." Hermione whispered, "I don't like this at all."

"Where are we?" Harry asked, "A graveyard?"

Ron shook his head as he stepped up onto a chequered floor, "This is no graveyard." He sighed deeply, "It's a chess board."

We walked further out onto the chequered board and the firelight illuminated the statues towering around us were actually chess pieces.

"There's the door." I pointed across the board to the door at the other end of the room.

We started to jog across the board, making for the door on the other end. But before we could even get close, the pawns in front of us swiped out their swords, blocking our path.

We jumped back with a chorus of gasps.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione wondered aloud.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron asked, glancing at the rest of us, "We've got to play our way across the room."

He then began to assign each of us places on the board, "Alright. Harry, you take the empty Bishop's square, Hermione, you'll be the Queen-side Castle. Natalie, you take that empty Rook's spot, and as for me, I'll be a Knight."

Slowly, the four of us moved to our places. Unsure about what this game of chess was about to entail. I had a horrible sneaking feeling it was going to be just as horrifically graphic as Ron's beloved Wizard's Chess game. Which was going to make for a pretty terrible outcome for us if it came to the worst.

"What happens now?" I called from my spot, all the way across the board.

Ron heaved himself aboard a tall horse piece, then spoke in reply, "Well, white moves first, and then...we play."

A pawn across the board from the white side slid forward a few paces. Ron and the rest of us watched meticulously from our side.

"Ron..." Came Hermione's uneasy voice, "You don't suppose this is going to be exactly like...real wizard's chess, is it?"

When the pawn ceased its move, Ron observed the board once, and then made his decision.

"You there, D-five." He pointed to one of the other pawns on our end. The black pawn slid forward, just as the white one had, moving slowly across the board until it came to rest directly where Ron had ordered it.

We all watched with bated breath as the white pawn swiped out its swords and smashed them straight through the black pawn, shattering it into dozens of pieces that scattered across the board.

I flinched, my heart lurching in my chest. Hermione let out a cry as Harry gasped in shock.

Ron's face remained neutral as he replied, "Yes, Hermione. I think this is going to be exactly like Wizard's chess."

The game continued on, Ron ordering our moves as we played meticulously. But it seemed the white was winning, gaining the upper hand as quickly as we lost it.

Pieces on both sides were constantly crashing to bits, scattering across the floor haphazardly. It would be a real hazard if things started to really go south.

"Castle to E-four!" Ron screamed once.

The castle moved and then was immediately smashed by the white Queen.