Fun and Games

[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine had been bored in her common room. Her roommates were out, but she hadn't tagged along so she'd really been on her own. Eventually, she'd gone up to her room and gotten dressed in her muggle clothing, deciding to simply walk around. After a bit, Corrine had decided to turn into the student lounge, figuring she'd find something to do in there. But it was just as boring. The people inside were in the middle of activities, and Corrine was just shy enough that she didn't want to bother anyone or attempt to join in. With a sigh, Corrine had gotten up from a chair and was ready to leave when she spotted a bunch of shelves above a couch. The room was empty enough that the couch wasn't occupied, so she stood on it, her feet balancing on the arm as she scanned a pile of games. Gobstones, a game called Twister she'd never heard of, some other wizarding games, and then way up top a very beaten up looking wizard chess set. Her eyes lit up, but she reached up and was just too short to get it.

Her wand, which would have been incredibly helpful in this moment, was nowhere to be found. She'd left it on her bed, figuring that if she was going to dress muggle, then it wouldn't make sense to carry her wand. With a sigh, Corrine turned back slightly, swaying on the arm but then managing to right herself. She saw a few people eyeing her suspiciously and turned her gaze quickly to someone else. "Hey you!" she called out, hoping that someone would answer. She really wasn't targeting anyone specifically. "A little help?" she said sheepishly once she had gotten someone's attention.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie had been visiting the library after classes quite a lot after he came to the realisation that exams were just a couple of weeks away. He wanted to do better than he'd done last year so that his father would have to keep to his promise of taking him Legoland, which was something Charlie had been looking forward to ever since his father made that promise to him. The boy turned a page of his defence against the dark arts textbook and scribbled down everything he thought that was going to be asked on the exam. He hadn't done well in that class so knew that he had to do better on the exam if he wanted to pass. Charlie turned to look away from from the textbook in front of him on the table when he heard a girl's voice calling out for someone and looked at the girl standing on the couch. He tilted his head sideways and looked at her questioningly before walking towards her when she asked for help his help. ''What's going on?'' the Ravenclaw asked, curious to know why the girl was standing on the couch and with what she needed his help with.

 

[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine was glad when the boy walked over so she could stop yelling. Really, she didn't want to admit to the whole room that she was a witch without her wand. But, she could deal with the embarrassment of telling one person. "I'm trying to get a game, but I don't reach" she went back on her tiptoe, reaching up beyond the first few games so he could see she didn't reach the ones up top. Stabilizing herself and adjusting her shirt, so the small bit of her stomach that had been showing when she stretched was well hidden, she looked at the boy again. "And I forgot my wand. Do you mind helping?" she asked, looking chagrined.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie looked up when the girl tried to reach for the ones up on the top shelf and chuckled softly as it reminded him of his youngest cousin trying to reach for the cookie jar when his aunt and uncle weren't looking. He smiled when she asked if he minded helping her and said, ''Of course,'' as he joined her on the couch. Charlie looked up at the top shelf and asked, ''What game did you want?'' thinking that he would first try to reach for it himself before using magic. While the Ravenclaw waited for the girl to answer, his eyes scanned the games on the shelf and a broad smile appeared on his face when he noticed that a wizard's chess set was one of the games amongst the others. He hadn't played much over the holidays but hoped that he'd soon get the chance to play with his friends from chess club again.

 

[Corrine Lagos]

Glad that she'd found someone friendly and willing to help, Corrine wondered if she should be honest. Would he think she was a total loser if she admitted that she had wanted the chess board to play against herself? Her brother, who played professionally, said it was good practice. Corrine wasn't sure if the boy would get that, or if she should simply go with something else, like that Twister game even though she had no idea what it was. After a moment, she decided to be honest. "Uh, the chess. I figured maybe if I set it up, I could find someone who wanted to play" she said, mostly speaking the truth, a light shrug coming from her shoulders. She wobbled slightly but regained her balance easily enough.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie's face lit up when she told him that she wanted to have the beaten up chess set and almost immediately said, ''I'd love to play against if you're looking for someone to play it with.'' whilst trying to stand on his toes and reach for the chess set on the top shelf. With some difficulty, because he continued to lose his balance, the teen eventually managed to get the set from under a couple of boxes and turned back towards the girl standing next to him on the couch, holding it out for her to take it from him. He knew he was supposed to study for the upcoming exams but how could he not ask if she wanted him to play chess with her, it was his favourite game after all.

 

[Corrine Lagos]

"Yea?" Corrine asked, brightening at his offer. Corrine stepped down off the arm so the guy would have more room to climb. He was taller than her and didn't even need to use a wand, which would have made the task easier but a lot less entertaining. When he finally turned back to her, beat up box in hand, Corrine took it and glanced down at the box. It was a way old set, that she was sure of even without looking at the pieces. "Thanks!" she stated as she hopped off the sofa and to the nearest table, looking up to make sure the guy was following. She lifted the lid off, waving her hand at the dust it kicked up. "Whoa...these pieces are older than my parents" she said, picking one up for closer inspection.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie nodded his head excitedly. ''Yea!'' He smiled when she thanked him and hopped off the sofa as well, following the girl to the table. Charlie watched as she lifted the lid off the set and like her picked a piece up to inspect it, grinning slightly at the comment she made. ''I bet they've been used in some amazing games.'' the Ravenclaw said excitedly, blowing dust off the piece he was holding. He hadn't seen such a beat-up set before in the castle so couldn't help to wonder how long these pieces had been here and who had used them during their years as a student.

 

[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine brightened noticeably, glad she'd been able to find a chess opponent so easily. She'd been nervous about the idea of having to go up to some of the students. And now, she didn't have to. The Gryffindor nodded her head. "I bet! We'll find out soon" she replied, knowing that if this chess had been used often that they might be fairly vocal while they played. Corrine had her own pieces, but they were far, far away from her. The board itself had seen better days, so she was gentle with it as she laid it on the table. She perched on the edge of her chair and began to set her pieces up. "I'm Corrine" she added.

 

[Charles Abberline]

He smiled at the girl when she introduced herself and said, ''I'm Charlie.'' whilst setting up his pieces on the board. He hadn't ever seen her during the chess club's weekly gathering to play against one another so wondered whether or not he should ask her if she wanted to join him the next time they would all come together, however, thought that perhaps it'd be better to wait with inviting her until he knew if she would like to play with a bunch of other people every week. He chuckled slightly at noticing how excited he was getting just because he'd found someone who also played chess. ''Do you play often?'' the Ravenclaw asked Corrine to keep the conversation from dying, which was something that would happen quite often when he needed to concentrate.

 

[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine gave a little shake of her head. "Not so much when I'm here. I play a lot when I'm home"she explained. Her father had taught his children how to play, though only her and her brother had taken to the strategic game. Corrine was nowhere near as good as her brother who played professionally around the world. Here, she hadn't found anyone to play a game with. Sometimes she'd watch some of the older students play in the common room, but she'd never thought to ask her roommates if they played. They were mostly looking for ways to escape the common room, not things that would keep them tucked inside. She moved her final piece into place and gave the boy across from her, Charlie, a smirk. "Wanna make this even more fun?" she asked.

 

[Charles Abberline]

He nodded whilst placing the final piece on the board and said, ''Well if you want to play more at school, I would love to play with you more often. You could even join the chess club I'm in, it's a lot of fun.'' though he wasn't sure that she would like that, the Ravenclaw hoped that she would take him on his offer of playing chess with her every now and then. It was funny to him how easy it made him forget about studying and doing homework, but since he had been here for some time already, thought that it wasn't a bad idea to take a break from that to do something he enjoyed doing with the girl sitting across from him. He looked back up at Corrine and tilted his head slightly to the side when she asked him if he wanted to make this even more fun - chess was already tons of fun but something about that piqued his interest. ''OK, sure. What did you have in mind?'' Charlie asked in return, sitting up excitedly as he waited for the girl to tell him what she was thinking of.

 

[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine brightened and nodded, not having expected to find someone who would want to play wizard's chess with her. Sure, people in her house played but she didn't know any of them and hadn't asked to join any of their games. "There's a chess club, here? Merlin, I need to get out more" she stated. And here she thought, she'd been on her way to knowing all of the nooks and crannies.

Far more interested in the bet at the moment, especially since she thought she knew what move sh3d make first, Corrine concentrated on the bet. "How abooout loser does a favor for the winner, no questions asked, anytime, anyplace?" Her voice lifted at the end, questioning her own idea and whether he'd think she was completely daft. She was thinking of cashing in her own favor, and figured having one in her pocket could be useful.

Out of Character:

Cat's out of the bag, but shhhh please.