Together (A Harry Potter love story) 1

56

MILLIES POV

The next chamber was so dark I couldn't see anything at all. But as we stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.

We were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than we were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing us, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. I shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.

"Now what do we do?" Harry said.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" I whispered, my voice barely audible. The bruise was getting angrier, I could feel it. "We've got to play our way across the room."

Behind the white pieces I could see another door.

"How?" said Mione nervously.

"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."

He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knights horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.

"Do we - er - have to join you to get across?"

The black knight nodded. Ron turned back to us.

"This wants thinking about ..." he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces..." I stayed quiet, watching Ron think.

Finally, he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess-"

"We're not offended," Harry said quickly. "Just tell us what to do."

"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, Millie, take the place of that Rook, that's it, and Hermione, you go there instead of that castle."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.

The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words, a knight, a rook, a bishop and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board leaving four empty squares, where we took our places.

"White always plays first on chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes ... look..."

A white pawn had moved forward two squares.
Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. My knees were trembling. What if we lost?

"Harry - move diagonally four squares to the right."

My first real shock came when our other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the flooring dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, face down.

"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."

Every time one of our men were lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that one of us were in danger. He himself darted along the board taking almost as many white pieces as we had lost black ones.

The pain in my neck was becoming almost unbearable now. I tried to mutter a few words to myself whilst the others weren't looking, but I physically couldn't. The bruise was getting too strong, causing my head to throb and my vision to blur. I could hardly breath.

"We're nearly there," Ron muttered suddenly. "Let me think - let me think ..."

I could vaguely make out the white queen turn her blank face towards Ron.