I Beg Your Pardon, Potter?

Chapter 16

Harry probably should have guessed, but as it turned out, Draco had an incredible poker face. No matter how much he scrutinized the blond's features, the other man didn't give a single thing away. Harry figured his own poker face was passable as only Hermione seemed to be able to tell what he was thinking, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before Draco learned his tells. Perhaps he would tell Harry what they were so that he could work on disguising them.

For half a second, Harry wondered if Malfoy could help him with his Occlumency, since he had failed so miserably with Snape as a teacher. But then he realized that might involve Draco delving into his mind and learning things about Harry that Harry might not want to share. At least not yet. Not to mention, there was nothing that actually told him that Draco even knew Occlumency.

"I fold," Harry said, putting his cards down. They had been less than nothing, not even a pair. In fact, they were so bad, he almost wondered if someone was cheating, but as his hand before had been okay bordering on good, he did not actually think that was the case.

In the time that they had been playing, many of the other students from their class had filed up the stairs, looking tired but generally pleased with themselves. Most people had stopped by to grab sandwiches and a few had stayed to watch their match, including Seamus and Neville.

Harry watched while Hermione raised and both Blaise and Draco decided to call her on it. Blaise won the round with triple aces, much to Draco's displeasure.

"I think I am all pokered out," Hermione said, pushing away her hand.

"But," Draco began to protest.

"But you've only won five galleons?" Harry asked. His tone was dripping with sarcasm but he was worried that Malfoy would not pick up on it. The blond did, and stuck his tongue out at Harry.

"That's not what I meant."

"Sure it wasn't," Blaise said, scooping up his wins. "Maybe another time. I, personally, am going to quit while I am still behind, though not as behind as I was a few minutes ago."

"I'll play," Seamus said. Hermione stood up from her seat and he swooped in to take it.

"Yeah, alright," Draco said. "Anyone else?" He looked over at Neville who shook his head quickly.

"What's going on here?" asked Ron. Harry whipped around to see Ron and Pansy making their way slowly into the Great Hall. Ron looked as though he had just gone through ten rounds of Keeper training and Pansy's bun was all but falling out of its hair band.

"Poker," cried Draco happily. "Care to lose some money from me, Weasley? Do you even have any to spare? Ow." Harry had kicked him under the table.

"Can I eat while I play?" Ron asked.

"Please do," Harry said. "I believe that is what the food is here for." And so Draco found himself playing cards with three Gryffindors, and instead of hating it, he enjoyed himself. He quickly learned that he had no idea what anyone's poker tells were, but that clearly Ron did. The game soon devolved into a competition between the two of them with Draco winning one hand and then Ron winning the next.

After about an hour and a half, Harry put his cards down in defeat. By this point it was almost dinner time, and the food had long disappeared from the table. They were the only ones in the Great Hall now, as people had grown bored of watching them play. Glancing at his watch, Harry knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the school would be joining them. He mentioned this to the group.

"Is it?" Draco asked. Harry nodded.

"It's about half past six," he said.

"Crap, I'm missing the dinner pre-game."