Around school grounds, Sunday evening

[twiceahero]

Barbara has a chess board floating in front of her chair and her lips are pursed in concentration as she contemplates her next move. She looks completely engrossed in the game, oblivious to anyone who might be nearby. But looks can be deceiving

Comments

[serinusniger]

Dinah leans on the wall, behind and to her right.

"I think you're gonna lose," she predicts.

[twiceahero]

"Not if you'll play with me." Take that, Dinah!

[serinusniger]

"And that is why I didn't offer to play," she counters brightly.

[twiceahero]

"Coward," Babs teases fondly.

[serinusniger]

"There's a difference between cowardly and smart, Babs. You of all people should know that."

[twiceahero]

"It's just a game of chess," Barbara pouts.

It's not an expression she has a lot of experience with, so it's not precisely convincing.

[serinusniger]

Dinah, who has much more experience with 'just a game', rolls her eyes to signify that she relents.

One wave of her wand, resets the pieces to the start of a new game, and another summons a chair to her.

"White."

[twiceahero]

Babs waves for Dinah to make her first move.

"So what's up?" she asks.

[serinusniger]

Dinah, resigned to losing but willing to put up a fight, makes her first move without even looking at he board.

"You know everything that goes on around here. You tell me."

Sometimes it helps to hear the rumours.

[twiceahero]

A fast game isn't really Barbara's style, so she considers her move for a bit before answering Dinah's.

"I meant with you," Babs grins. "But if you want a quick report..."

[serinusniger]

"So did I," Dinah says. "Come on, you haven't herd a single rumour about me? I need to step up my game."

[twiceahero]

"All sorts of rumors, actually." One of the risks of being popular.

"I hear you've been spending some time with a brooding Slytherin boy..."

[serinusniger]

"I spend a lot of time with Slytherin boys," Dinah points out. "I can't really avoid Aloysius, can I?"

[twiceahero]

"I have it on good authority that you're very resourceful and could avoid whoever you liked," Babs shoots back. "But this one wasn't Aloysius."

[serinusniger]

"No?"

Dinah smirks, almost a grin. "What is the Hogwarts rumour mill aleging I am up to with Slytherin boys who aren't Aloysius?"

[twiceahero]

"Depends on who you ask," Babs answers. "Snogging them, beating them up, warning them away from younger students, more rumors than there are people to spread them, really."

"I suspect something more interesting myself."