Pulled enthusiastically into the room by Cho Chang, Kate had almost wondered whether she had something private to say to her—but when she looked up, she saw Hermione sitting cross-legged on the sofa, lost in deep thought over a Wizard Chess board.
Luna, meanwhile, was sitting on the bed sewing something. It wasn't very clear; all she could make out was that it was a lump of green mush.
She wanted to lean in for a closer look, but Luna's clear, limpid gaze stared her right back.
Fine—since Luna didn't want her to see it just now, she'd best not invite the snub.
"You came at just the right time," Cho Chang said, her eyes shining with delight. "I just won this round against Hermione."
"Hey, I'm not done yet!" Hermione grew anxious the moment she heard that, and pushed the knight in front of her forward one square.
Right after, Cho Chang used a pawn to kick Hermione's king piece clean off the board: "See? Didn't I just win?"
Hermione frowned, unwilling to concede. At the game of Wizard Chess, she always lost more than she won—it was the same against Ron, and the same against Cho Chang.
"You're too impatient," Kate remarked calmly. "Don't limit yourself to a few pieces. The board is large; you have to take a broader view."
Cho Chang nodded in agreement: "I didn't expect you to have studied Wizard Chess too. How about we play a round?"
Before she could answer, Hermione lifted her head, reluctance written all over her face.
Kate assumed she didn't want her taking her spot, so she could only decline politely: "I only know the theory. When it comes to actual play, I'm a terrible chess player."
Even the feeblest adult's powers of calculation could easily and utterly crush a child.
It was just that the few people she'd be playing against were either protagonists or named supporting characters—every one of them the sort who wouldn't accept defeat. If she won even a single round, she'd most likely be pestered for more afterward.
Rather than that, it was better to dodge the battle from the very start and stick herself with the label of a terrible chess player, sparing herself the trouble.
What's more, Hermione wasn't happy about it either, so she'd best just forget it.
"All right then..." Cho Chang said, a little disappointed, and set the pieces back up before raising her head to ask Hermione, "Shall we continue, then?"
"Continue it is!"
Seeing the two of them start a new game, Kate shook her head. She might as well go out onto the balcony and take in the view.
The hotel room came with a balcony of moderate size, just right for setting out a table-and-chair set where one could sit down and rest.
Kate glanced back at the others still amusing themselves, then sat alone at the balcony, poured herself a cup of water, and—with the evening breeze on her—felt thoroughly at ease.
Now that both the diary and the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets had been dealt with, for the remaining few months she could, at least for the time being, pass a calm and comfortable term.
Come next year, she'd have to go on watching Harry and Old Man Voldemort match wits—oh, right, and Sirius would break out of prison by then too, after which Peter Pettigrew's identity would also be exposed.
That rat was still being looked after by Hagrid along with the other pets right now.
She hadn't paid that fellow any particular attention before, because she hadn't yet decided how to deal with him—in any case, before third year, he was nothing more than a background character.
Now that she'd been able to join forces with Dumbledore to destroy the Basilisk and change the second year's plot, it meant she could have a hand in the plots to come as well.
She'd held back all this while because she wasn't strong enough, but now... although she still couldn't match top-tier bigshots like Old Man Dumbledore and Old Man Voldemort, she was stronger than those Aurors at the Ministry of Magic.
And most importantly, she'd discovered she actually had a backer—the old butler who could tear a Basilisk apart with his bare hands within ten minutes.
This bolstered her confidence considerably all at once.
And the old butler had also said that when she turned fifteen, he'd tell her some secrets—and now that appointment was only a year away.
In that case...
"I won!" Hermione's cheer rang out across the room.
Kate snapped back to herself just in time to see the little lion, her face full of excitement, rush up in front of her, grabbing her hand and calling, "Come look, Kate! I won at chess this time!"
She gave a helpless smile and could only rise along with her: "All right, all right, I'll go have a look right now."
Oh well—there was no use thinking so much right now; she'd best simply enjoy this wonderful Christmas holiday.
"Mm... well done." Walking into the room and glancing at the chessboard, Kate couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, reaching out to ruffle her hair.
A top student indeed—just a little pointer was all it took for such great progress.
Hermione instinctively frowned, and after that one ruffle she quickly dodged away: "I told you, stop touching my head—it'll stunt my growth!"
She'd only just declared that afternoon that she had to grow taller than Kate!
"Then ruffle mine." Cho Chang casually took Kate's other hand and placed it on her own head. "I'm taller than you anyway, so no need to worry about stunting my growth."
Before Kate could even figure out the intent behind the gesture, Hermione beside her immediately grabbed her hand too and put it on top of her own head: "Then I want a ruffle as well!"
Uh...
Staring blankly at the two girls before her vying to have their heads patted, Kate, for a moment, felt she was hardly any different from a giant panda.
A bit awkwardly, she pulled both hands back at once and gave a little laugh, "You—you two take your time with the chess. I'll go rest on the bed."
With that, she fled to her own bed as if making an escape, and the moment she sat down she spotted Luna sitting beneath a small night-light, head bent, focused intently on sewing something.
The soft light fell on the girl's golden-brown crown of hair, making even her oddly matched pajamas look much more pleasing to the eye.
Something stirred in Kate's heart. She turned her head to glance at the two in the little sitting room, then tiptoed over: "Luna, not sleeping yet?"
"I still have to wait a bit." Luna raised her head, her ever-unfocused eyes glowing with a pleasant light.
She placed the half-finished piece in her hands directly onto Kate's head, tilted her head thoughtfully to ponder for a moment, then took it off and went on adjusting it.
Kate's eyes went wide. She had a guess in her heart, yet couldn't easily be sure of it: "Is this... meant to be a gift for me?"
"A Slytherin snake-head hat. Do you like it?" Luna answered without even lifting her head, as if speaking of the most ordinary thing.
"Of course!" Kate, momentarily excited, nearly failed to control her volume; startled, she quickly turned her head to glance at the little sitting room, then asked in a low voice, "But... why are you making this for me?"
Luna lightly set the nearly finished hat on her own head, a faint, gentle smile surfacing on her little face: "Your birthday is coming up soon, isn't it?"
So this was a birthday present?
Kate blinked, belatedly recalling that in a few days' time it seemed to be her own fourteenth birthday.
She'd been so busy fretting over the Basilisk lately that she'd nearly forgotten about this matter entirely.
In sudden realization she straightened up, looked at the well-behaved girl before her, and reached out to gently ruffle her hair.
"Thank you, Luna."
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