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- . .4. . .3. . .
Fleur prepared herself, checking her platinum blonde hair, fixing her well-trained smile as the camera counted down.
- . .2. . .1. . .
“Hey guys!” Fleur smiled at the camera. “I have an announcement to make, if any one of you want to play against me then this is your chance! This Sunday, I’ll be in Paris, playing chess with you guys right under the Eiffel tower!” She announced. “We will be playing blitz chess ONLY, so brush up on your chess and well,” She smirked. “Impress me if you can,” She chuckled. “Details are on the link in the pinned comment.”
She ended the video, smiling gleefully to herself, kicking her feet up into the air as she looked at the Hermione Granger poster plastered on her ceiling atop her bed. This whole thing WAS meant for the fans but there was also a chess tournament in Paris and her celebrity chess crush is playing! Fleur closed her eyes, imagining what it would be like to play against the world number eight.
She sighed, opening the chess website and going to play against the Hermione Granger bot.
“I’ll beat you this time.” Fleur smiled as bot Hermione opened with Pawn D4, Fleur responded with Pawn D5.
--
“Checkmate.” Fleur smiled as the crowd cheered.
Ron sighed, stretching out his hand.
Fleur shook it. “Queen H8.”
“Well yeah but then Rook H8 and then knight H8 then pawn F7 checkmate.” Ron chuckled.
“Oh you’re good,” Fleur smiled. “What’s your Elo rating again?”
“1800,” Ron said. “Official FIDE rating.”
“Well, you gave me a run for my money, thanks for playing Ron.” Fleur shook his hand again.
Ron smiled and left the chair.
Fleur sighed as Ron left, rubbing her eyes. “By the way, last game everyone!” The crowd cheered but it fell on Fleur’s deaf ears, she had played all day and it seems that her main goal didn’t show up today. She sighed sadly. It was always a long-shot.
Fleur looked up as her last opponent took her seat, Fleur inspected the bushy-haired woman, a feeling of mystery seeming to swirl around her, her eyes were well hidden behind her sunglasses.
The woman smiled. “Fleur Delacour, right?”
“Oui.” Fleur nodded and shook her hand, quickly setting up the pieces again.
“My friend told me you’re very good at chess.” The woman said.
Fleur smiled. “I am good but I’m not an I.M. or a G.M.”
The woman cocked her head cutely to one side, smirking. “What does that mean?”
Fleur furrowed her brows at the woman’s smirk. “I.M. is International master, only 2400 to 2500 receive that title, G.M. is Grandmaster, that’s pretty self-explanatory.”
“Ohh,” The woman smiled. “Sorry for asking, it’s just I’m quite new to chess, my friend thought that having you as my first opponent makes quite the story.” She chuckled.
Fleur smiled as she set up the clock. “White goes first.”
“Oh right.” The woman moved D2 Pawn to E3.
Fleur covered her mouth, trying hard not to laugh. “No no, the pawn can only go straight.”
“Oh! Right!” The woman laughed, bringing the pawn back to D2 and playing D4.
Fleur noticed the clock still counting down the woman’s time. “You have to press the clock.”
“Oh right!” The woman pressed the clock and Fleur’s five minutes started counting down. “Sorry.”
Fleur smiled. “Don’t be nervous,” She played Pawn D5, pressing the clock again. “I’m just a girl after all.”
The woman laughed, playing Pawn C4.
Fleur furrowed her brows, Queen’s gambit. “You know, the pawn can take pieces only if it’s diagonally in front of it.” She played Pawn DXC4.
The woman chuckled. “Thanks for telling me.” She played Knight F3.
Fleur furrowed her brows again, the knight is one of the most complicated pieces to learn, how did the woman know where it should go? She bit her lip and played Pawn A6.
The woman quickly played Pawn E3.
Fleur’s eyes widened, her C4 Pawn is left vulnerable to F1 Bishop. She wracked her brain for the best move, her eyes calculating before playing Pawn E6. As expected, the woman played Bishop XC4.
Fleur rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake.
“I hope I’ve been a good opponent so far.” The woman said sheepishly.
Fleur waved her hand. “It’s not that, It’s just that I didn’t sleep much last night.”
The woman stifled a chuckle. “Why didn’t you sleep?”
Fleur blushed, memories of pleasuring herself to her poster of Hermione on her ceiling and her lewd fantasies. In her flustered state she played Knight F6. “Just excited for the event I suppose.”
The woman let out a chuckle this time, castling her king and rook on the right side of the board, protecting the king. “I heard you’re quite fond of a specific Grandmaster.”
Fleur furrowed her brows and her cheeks burned with the fires of embarrassment. “I don’t have a crush on Hermione Granger.” She played Pawn C5. How the hell did she know how to castle?
“I didn’t say it was Hermione Granger.” The woman smirked, playing Knight BD2.
Fleur covered her very red face and played Pawn CXD4. “Who told you that anyway?” Fleur deflected.
The woman shrugged, playing Knight XD4. “My friend told me.”
Fleur clenched her teeth, playing Bishop C5, targeting the knight on D4. “And you wouldn’t happen to know where this friend is would you?”
The mysterious woman smiled. “As a matter of fact,” She played Bishop D3. “I do.”
Fleur castled her king and rook on the right side of the board, deciding against taking the D4 knight. “Well, I would like to have a very calm and civilised talk with them.”
The woman laughed. “You played him just now.” She played Knight E4, targeting the C5 Bishop.
“WHAT?!” Fleur shrieked, playing Knight D7. “RON?!” She stared at the red head amongst the crowd, sipping his bubble tea without a care in the world, if Fleur had laser eye vision like Cyclops or Superman, that ice cold bubble tea would blow up in his face.
The woman played Knight XC5, taking the bishop. “I get it, sometimes I look at the mirror and imagined what it would be like to have Hermione’s brains and hot body.”
Fleur frowned, playing knight XC5, taking the knight on C5. “Back off!” She warned.
The woman chuckled. “My, you have it bad don’t you?” She played Bishop C2.
Fleur gritted her teeth. “Shut up.” She played Pawn E5, slamming the piece on the board.
The woman chuckled again. “You’re not alone you know, sometimes whenever I see a picture of her, I’d go eyes-wide I mean, who wouldn’t?” She smirked deviously, playing Knight B3, welcoming the C5 knight to take.
Steam blew out of Fleur’s ears, nearly sounding like a whistle from a retro train from the industrial revolution. “You can say whatever you want, but at the end of the day, neither of us have a chance against her.” She played Queen C7.
The woman frowned. “Why’s that?” She played Bishop D2.
Fleur sighed. “Well, look at me! I don’t even hold a torch against her in a modelling competition, especially if she shows up in a suit.” She frowned, the pictures she’d seen of Hermione in a suit had always made her stomach flip and knickers wet as a result, she shook her head, playing Rook D2.
The woman looked Fleur up and down, smiling. “What’s wrong? You look beautiful! Truly!” She played Rook C1.
Fleur smirked. “Beautiful enough for Hermione Granger?” She played Queen D6.
The woman smiled. “Of course you are! I-I mean SHE would be a fool NOT to take you out on a date sometime.” She played Bishop A5, targeting the D8 Rook.
Fleur quickly played Pawn B6, defending the rook. “Well, thanks for that.”
The woman took the exposed D6 Queen with her Queen. “Why thank me for speaking something obviously true?”
Fleur groaned at the loss of her Queen. “Just shut up and play.” She played Rook XD6, she had been playing nonchalantly for most of the game and she’d be damned if she lost to a woman who supposedly never played before. She smirked as her eyes locked in.
The woman laughed, playing Bishop C3. This is going to be fun.
In the next 15 moves, Fleur only had a rook and a light-squared Bishop remaining. She frowned, it was no secret to anyone that she was losing heavily. The mysterious woman on the other hand, had two rooks left, both beside each other on C7 and D7 while Fleur’s king was on G8.
“Draw?” The woman reached out her hand, smiling innocently.
Fleur frowned, she hated losing and she hated drawing to a beginner even more, though this game should be enough proof that the woman is lying. “Non.” I can still win this. . .I hope.
The woman shrugged as Fleur played Rook E8.
The woman played Rook A7, Fleur played Bishop C4.
The woman played Rook XG7 check. Fleur played king F8.
The woman played Rook XH7.
Fleur’s eyes scanned the board, her shoulders slumping. She looked to the clock, only 15 seconds left. Swallowing her pride she reached out her hand. “Draw?”
The woman smiled, shaking her head.
Fleur buried her face in her hands as her time ended.
The crowd cheered again and Fleur looked back up at the smirking woman. “You’re not a beginner, are you?” She asked with narrowed eyes.
The woman chuckled, finally taking off her sunglasses.
Fleur’s breath hitched, she could physically feel the fire on her cheeks as the crowd cheered louder.
“I am Hermione Granger,” Hermione smirked. “43rd woman to earn title of Grandmaster and the 43rd British person to do so.”
Fleur buried her face in her hands at Hermione’s melodious sing-song laughter. Fleur looked up with wide-eyes. “Can-Can we forget everything I said about you?”
Hermione laughed. “But why would I?”
Fleur blushed. “Wait, You said you’d be a fool not to take me on a date.”
Hermione nodded.
“So does that mean?” Fleur asked, her blue eyes swimming with hope.
Hermione chuckled. “Only if you can beat me but you did say-”
“One more game!” Fleur exclaimed as the crowd cheered.
Hermione laughed, already planning their date.