FRIDAYS WITH her father was something six year old Noor treasured enormously.

She very rarely got to see him throughout the day, as a very important business figure in the Wizarding World, he was constantly travelling, only being there for chunks of her childhood.

But every Friday evening he was there. No matter what was going on in work, he pushed all of it aside, for a night with his daughter. And every Friday evening, after dinner, they would gather in his study and play Chess.

And in those games of Chess, he would often drop pearls of wisdom on her. Perhaps wanting to give her as much advice as he could before he'd die, which was close considering how old he was.

One of the pieces of advice that really stuck with Noor, one of the pieces of advice she really remembered, was something he had told her one day, after emerging victorious in yet another Chess match.

Taking a puff from his cigar, that always seemed to be in his hand, he had said, "People are always smarter than they let on. Never underestimate people. Remember this."

Noor had not remembered this. In the moment, upon hearing the name 'Weasley', and upon seeing his scruffy appearance, she underestimated him. Let her guard down. Not play as carefully as she normally would.

She had underestimated him, but as she marched towards his figure in the courtyard, she vowed that would be a mistake she would not make again.

"Weasley." She said sharply as she reached him.

The boy, in question, was talking to other Gryffindor boys, who Noor recognised to be Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnagin.

He jumped at her voice, his eyes darting nervously towards his companions once he realised who she was, "Yes?" He said.

"I challenge you to a rematch. Today, same place, same time." And then, not waiting to hear his reply, Noor turned on her heel and marched away.

She knew he would come, he would have to after being challenged in front of some of his peers; it was simply a matter of pride.

Now, all Noor had to do was beat him.

"Which should be easy enough, if I try hard this time." Noor thought to herself as she walked over their meeting spot at the back of the library.

To her surprise, once Noor got there, she found Weasley sitting their already.

"Weasley." She greeted him curtly.

He opened his mouth to greet her, then closed it, frowning, "I don't actually know your name." He explained. "Can read minds, can I?"

Noor hesitated, before answering, "It's Noor. Noor Zabini."

Just as she predicted, his eyes widened at the word 'Zabini'. But, not wanting to focus too long on it, Noor quickly said, "Let's just get this over with."

He nodded, agreeing then smirked a little, "Which shouldn't take too long. Beating you last time wasn't hard at all."

Noor took in a deep breath, she could afford getting angry, she needed to remain focused. "Dumb luck won't strike twice Weasley. I will beat you this time, and it won't take long." She said, then smiled with fake sweetness, "You go first."

They were both wrong in their predictions that the game would be quick. The sun, which was high in the sky when the game had begun, dipped lower and lower in the sky. The students loitering inside slowly went in. And the bell soon sounded for dinner. But the game still went on.

Noor could have sworn she heard Weasely's stomach grumble, but he remained focused, staring intently at the Chess board, as did she. The only sound they made were exhales of breath.

Noor wasn't the biggest fan of silence, but she had to remain focused on the game. She had to win the game.

At this point, so far into the game, she had a plan. A carefully formulated trap. Meticulously laid out on the board. Everything was in place. She just had to lur Weasley into it.

Anticipation welled up inside, building steadily as he moved his pieces exactly how she wanted him too. Butterflies raged in her stomach, and she tried to fight the smile that was slowly making it way onto her face.

Too late, did Weasley realise his mistake.

Noor moved her knight slowly, "Checkmate." she said quietly. She had won. Finally.

Noor wanted to gloat at her victory, she wanted to rub into his once smug face. But found herself unable to do so. In that moment, looking at Weasely's dumbfounded expression, a kicked puppy look on his face, Noor felt a twinge of sympathy for him.

She opened her mouth, perhaps to offer some words of comfort, but found herself not knowing what to say. So instead, she stood up quietly and walked away without a word, leaving a gaping Weasley staring after her.

———

    IT WOULD be two days after her victory, when Noor would get the note.

The note in question was small, looking to be torn of a piece of parchment and was delivered by a first year Ravenclaw.

Curiously, Noor unfolded the message, and immediately recognised Weasley's messy handwriting.

It had two sentences:

"What you got there?" Blaise asked, trying to get a look at the note.

"Nothing." Noor said quickly, scrunching up the piece of parchment and stuffing it in her pocket. "Nothing." She repeated.

Which earned her a suspicious glance from Blaise, but he said nothing.

Throughout the rest of the day, Noor debated going.

On one hand, Noor did miss the struggle that came with playing Weasley; everyone else was simply too easy to beat. On the other, did Noor really want to taint her victory? She had won the last match, and going to play him did mean there was a ( very small ) chance he would beat her again. She didn't want to risk it ( even though it was a very small chance ).

Deciding to clear her head, she decided to take a walk around the castle. Noor found walking soothing, it helped her think, work through the problem in her head.

Without meaning too, Noor found her legs had taken her right outside the library.

"Damn legs." She muttered to herself, checking her watch. She had a good fifteen minutes before the meeting began.

The question still remained : should she go, or not go?

Noor took in a shaky breath, and decided to just go. To not think about it. And just do it. Which was a rather Gryffindor approach to the issue, but, at this point, Noor simply did not care. The odds were in her favour, she would win.

She did not win.

Instead it was Noor left sitting there, a good hour later, open mouthed, as Weasley walked away with a smug smile on his face.

She had lost. Again. She should have never went.

And so, Noor challenged Weasley to another rematch, and won. And then he challenged her to a rematch, and he won. And the cycle went on and on and on, until neither had to ask the other, and meeting every week in the library had beckons an unspoken agreement.

Soon, days melted into weeks, and weeks melted into months and Noor couldn't remember who had more wins.

But she didn't really care about winning any more.