The side pot can only go to the winner between Player B and Player C because Player A has no money invested into it.When all is said and done the winner of side pot is determined, so if Player B has a better hand than Player C, then B takes the side pot.-Then the main pot; say Player A's hand is better than Player B, Player A only gets what.
The Poker Game
Harry Potter and the others do not belong to me. Ifthey did, I wouldn't be writing this, and I wouldn't be short oncash.
In this story, I'm making some assumptions on the value of theGalleon. Seeing as we are generally rather uninformed about prices inthe wizarding world, I'm basing my assumptions on the end of bookfour. Harry gave Fred and George 1000 Galleons to open the joke shop.Assuming that the twins had some money of they own, and the money wasenough to cover rent for at least a few months, as well as gettingstock, inventory, and doing testing of various items, I'm assumingthat 5000 Galleons is enough to buy a small house in the country, and10,000 would get you a reasonably sized house.
The Poker Game – an HP shortficby Enterprise1701d and Joshua The Evil Guy
'Password?'
Harry looked atHermione, a small smile on his face as they both leaned to the smallopening in the door of the Room of Requirement. 'We've got tenthousand Galleons, and aren't afraid to use them.'
'Correct,' the gruff voice replied, not happy about it at all,but opening the door all the same.
Harry and Hermionewalked in, ignoring Goyle's glare as he closed the door back upbehind them.
'Potty and the Mudblood,' Draco Malfoy sneered from his placeat the table. 'What are you doing here, Scarhead? This isn't somepoker game you can just waltz in, you know.'
Harry shrugged,pulled out a chair for Hermione, then sat down himself. He threw twoheavy bags to Daphne Greengrass, who was holding the bank. 'Twotimes ten thousand Galleons, we're buying ourselves in.'
Malfoy glared atHarry. 'Rather, you are buying the both of you in. I can'tsee the mudblood covering this kind of money. That's more than herhouse is worth, probably.'
'Malfoy, for one evening, try not to be an ass. We're here totake your money, not your life. It won't kill you to behave like anordinary person... even if it's just for one night,' Harry grunted.
Malfoy was silentfor just a few seconds. 'You're right, Potter. We should all behavelike gentlemen at the poker table.' He glared at Harry and Hermionein turn. 'That way, there are no hard feelings if you end upwithout any money.'
Harry shrugged.'That's right, Malfoy.' He looked around the table, noting that afew more chairs were present but empty at the moment. Already presentwere Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davies, all fromSlytherin House.
Seeing that thegame wasn't going to start yet, Harry got up, and walked to the barto get himself a drink. To his surprise, Draco followed.
'We're playing by the real rules here, Potter. No kid's stuff,'the Malfoy heir said, actually sounding as if he were giving awarning. 'That means, real drink, too.' He drew a bottle of FireWhiskey from the bar. Harry glanced over the assorted drinks, foundnothing that was non-alcoholic, and settled for a bottle of FireWhiskey himself. Drawing two glasses, he went back to his seat,shoved one of the glasses in front of Hermione, and plumped thebottle of whiskey in between them.
'No kid's drinks, only real alcohol,' Harry muttered to hisfriend, who had started to open her mouth and protest.
There was a knockon the door, and the correct password was given. In came twoRavenclaws, Eddie Carmichael and Luna Lovegood. Harry shook his head.Luna, brilliant she may be, wasn't the type to be good at poker. Or,she'd be brilliant, distracting everyone with her curious sayings andexplanations.
Harry tuned outthe talk between the three Slytherins on the other side of the table,and greeted Eddie and Luna amicably. Not two minutes later, anotherknock sounded, and this time, it was two Hufflepuffs that came in,Susan Bones and her best friend, Hannah Abbott.
Harry glanced athis watch. It was another ten minutes before the game was supposed tostart, but it looked to him as if everyone who was going to play, washere. But, this was not his game. It had been put together,much as he loathed to admit it, by the male Slytherin sitting on theother side of the table. Of course it had been put together byhim... only he would put an entrance fee of ten thousand galleons ona poker game.
That's why he washere, to try and see if he couldn't cost the man some money.
Another knocksounded, and Harry frowned. Malfoy, for just a few seconds, reflectedthe same look, before both glared at each other, angry at themselvesand the other for agreeing. Hermione, Tracey, and Daphne, all rolledtheir eyes at the ridiculous rivalry.
The correctpassword was given, apparently, as Goyle opened the door.
In steppedHeadmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and DeputyHeadmistress Minerva McGonagall. Harry didn't know whether to beangry, or glad, that they were here. Draco, on the others side,seemed to be glaring openly... and that amused Harry more than thecommotion the arrival of two teachers caused.
Dumbledore handedDaphne two sacks of gold. Apparently, the teachers weren't just hereto watch... they were going to play, too.
Draco looked arather pasty white, but Tracey invited the teacher to grab a drink,first. The game was going to start precisely at eight, after all.
'So, uh,Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall,' Harry tested thewaters a bit as everybody got their drinks and took their places atthe table, 'How exactly did you hear about this... game?'
Dumbledore justgave that damn twinkling smile of his and shrugged while answering,'Oh you might be surprised at just how many things can very quicklybecome common knowledge in Hogwarts Harry. The student body has beenbuzzing about this little game for the past week or so.'
'Yes,' agreedProfessor McGonagall, 'and when we learned that it was young MisterMalfoy who was sponsoring it, we of course immediately went toProfessor Snape to confirm the rumors. Severus would be here himselfbut the fact that the goblins would not provide him with a loan bytoday. And given those in attendance at this game,' she paused togive stern looks at both Harry and Draco, 'Professor Dumbledore andI felt that it might be required to have at least a couple of matureattendants. Unfortunately, Professor Snape informed us, and it wasconfirmed that the only way anyone would be allowed to chaperone thegame is if they were playing. And out of all Hogwarts Staff, onlymyself and Albus had the savings on hand to stake the entrance fee.'
Draco, as arrogantas he could be, really couldn't help but squirm under ProfessorMcGonagall's most stern glare. It could even be argued thatVoldemort himself might flinch back at first. At that moment, theSchool Clock chimed the hour, 8 o'clock, and everyone took theirseats.
It was a roundtable, which seemed to expand and contract as needed, depending uponthe players. Starting with Draco however, who was opposite the doorto the Room, and moving clockwise to his left was Daphne, then Luna,then Eddie, Hermione, Harry, Professor Dumbledore, Susan, ProfessorMcGonagall, Hannah, and finally ending with Tracey on Draco's righthand side.
The game started,and the first few rounds saw conservative betting, the playerstesting each other's strengths and weaknesses, everyone waiting forthe others to make the first mistake.
Almost as if inagreement with this strategy, for the first half hour nobody had anyreal winning hands, it all going down to who had the highestvalue cards. Harry was the first to get anything worth anything, andit was just a pair of two and the pot was small during that round. During the tenth round however, there seemed to be some unspokenagreement that everyone chose to abide by, although it also couldhave had to do with the fact that right off the bat several peoplesuddenly had working hands.
Dealership hadbeen passing steady with Draco starting in the first round and thenext player over dealing cards the next round and so on and so forth. It was now Tracey's turn to deal, giving each player five face downcards before putting the deck down and picking up her own cards. Since Tracey was the Dealer, Draco had first bid.
Smirkingnoticeably, but then he'd been doing that the whole night so far,even when he had nothing, he raised the stakes a bit, everybodyhaving bid no more than ten galleons, as this round he took a smallstack of the gold coins before him (for some reason the wizardingworld never caught on with the idea of Poker chips) and tossed theminto the middle while saying, 'I bid 200 galleons.'
Everybody startedat that and stared. Draco had a lousy poker face, but the fact thathe kept it the same, good or bad, said he was either better than helet on, or an absolute idiot.
Looking down athis own hands of a pair of sevens, Hearts and Clubs, an eight ofDiamonds, a ten of Hearts and the Ace of Spades, Harry decided thatDraco was an absolute idiot.
Daphne then tookthe exact same amount from her own stacks and tossed it in,saying, 'I'll match.' Suddenly everybody knew the real game hadonly just started.
Luna smiledserenely at her cards before taking twice the amount and said, 'I'llsee two hundred, and raise two hundred. Yes, that will be justlovely.'
Frowning at therather loopy blond, everyone else hesitated for just a moment beforematching the four hundred galleon bet. Until it got to Harry. 'I'llraise another two hundred,' he said, casting in six hundredgalleons from his stack. Dumbledore just chuckled and merrily raisedthe stakes up to 800 galleons. Susan and Professor McGonagall werelooking rather hesitant all of a sudden, but they both matched theHeadmaster's bet, as did Hannah without a word. Tracey just smirkedevilly as she matched the 800 galleons, and then put in another twohundred to make it an even thousand.
Draco's smirk lostits edge just the tiniest sliver, but not to the degree that said hewas worried. Thankfully, before the betting could continue, everyonewas offered the choice to discard and draw fresh cards for theirhands. Draco took three, Daphne one, Luna decided to discard herentire hand and take five fresh ones. Eddie stared in shock at hishousemate for half a second before taking three for himself. Hermione likewise took three, while Harry got rid of his eight andten and drew two new cards, giving him a third seven and the two ofSpades. Dumbledore took two as well, while Susan, Minerva, andHannah all took three. Tracey discarded only one card and gaveherself a new one.
'Bet remains at1000 galleons,' Tracey announced after finishing passing out cards,'Draco, your bid.'
'I'll match at1000,' he said without enthusiasm, putting a full stack of galleonsfrom before him into the pot.
Daphne likewisematched, but reluctantly, while Luna, looking very happy for somereason, raised it to 1500 galleons with a cute little hop in herchair. Eddie frowned at her and sighed at her antics. Everybodyknew she didn't have anything, but 1500 was too rich for him, not ifhe wanted to stay in the game for any length of time. 'I fold,'he tossed down his cards.
Hermione,reluctantly, matched the 1500 bet, and then Harry glanced over hisown cards at every other player in turn. Three of a kind with theAce and two of Spades was the best hand all night that anybody hadseen. It wasn't the best hand in the game by a long shot, but unlessMalfoy and the Slytherins were cheating, even more unlikely with twoProfessors present, he had the best hand and could win this roundeasily. The question became, did he try and draw out more from Dracoand the Slytherins by betting low, or did he want to make the othersdrop out by raising it higher?
Rubbing his scarin irritation at the conundrum, Harry finally decided to followLuna's example and see what would happen. 'I'll raise another500,' he said, putting in two whole stacks of galleons. It was themost impressive pot of the night already, and then some.
Dumbledore justchuckled, eyes twinkling merrily as he matched Harry's bet, but didnot raise it any further. Susan, Minerva, and Hannah all frowned andall folded. Tracey just smirked, like she knew a secret, and thenraised it another five hundred galleons, making the bet 2500.
At the end of thatpass, Tracey asked if anyone wanted any more cards, but they alldeclined and Draco quickly matched the 2500 bet. Luna almost raisedagain, but a sharp kick from Eddie under the table had her talkingabout Woottable gnomes being frisky instead and she settled formatching the 2500. Hermione frowned, but finally folded herself. Harry stayed in the game, and then smirked at Draco across the tableas he raised the bet to 3000 galleons. Dumbledore folded rather thanmatch and it went back to Tracey, who was staring with whole newrespect at the nearly thirty thousand galleon pile. Glancing at hercards, then at her remaining galleons, she just nodded, withoutrevealing any emotion, and matched 3000 galleons.
Harry, having madethe largest bid so far, and the last raise, he waited to see whatDraco, Daphne, and Luna would do, as they had to match 3000 to remainin the game or fold. Draco quickly tossed in the money, while Daphnequietly folded. Luna happily tossed in her own 3000 to match. Now,Harry could either raise the stakes yet again, and he was sorelytempted to, or merely call. Given than nobody else had chosen toraise it any further, he knew they weren't as confident in theirhands as he was. Except for Luna of course.
Rubbing his scaragain in irritation at the decision, Harry kept looking back andforth between his cards and the pile of galleons at the center. Thenhe just happened to glance up and saw Draco looking at him kindafunny. Like the blond boy had just been told something by ProfessorSnape, which quite frankly was never a good thing in Harry'sexperience. He deserved to be knocked down a peg or two.
'I raise anotherthousand galleons,' Harry pronounced, pushing in four thousandgalleons into the pot.
Scowling, Traceyanswered, 'Too rich for me. I fold.'
Draco was back tosmirking however, and it was as bad as ever, maybe even worse as hetried some trash talk to boot. 'Must be a pretty good hand Potter. Of course, if things keep up at this rate, I wonder if even you willbe able to keep up. I'll match, and just to see you sweat, I'llraise you another thousand!' The Malfoy heir pushed in 5000galleons. Luna was about to match it, but another kick from Eddiehad her complaining about frisky gnomes all over again and she lookedall over the room for a second before pushing in her five thousandgalleons. Harry merely nodded his head and matched the raise andsaid, 'Call.'
Draco burst outlaughing and crowed, 'Read'em and weep Potter! Pair of Kings, allHearts and Diamonds!'
'Oh my, that isa good hand, isn't it Harry?' Luna questioned before putting downher own hand... of two pair with fives and nines and a Jack of Clubs.
'Wow Luna,that's also a pretty good hand,' Harry complimented her. 'Betterthan Draco's even. Unfortunately Luna, my three sevens, Ace ofSpades and two of Spades beats even that I'm afraid.'
'Oh, that's OK,I had fun anyway,' she happily retorted while Malfoy's face was apicture of absolute rage.
'Next round?'Harry asked with a smile as he raked in over 48,000 galleons.
The next threerounds went much the same way, starting off in the hundreds, but sooneveryone was betting in the thousands, only the winners weredifferent. Draco won next, then Harry again, and Draco once more asthe first hour of gameplay came to a close.
After about anhour of play, everyone had noticed that Harry was doing reasonablywell, keeping his losses to a minimum. Hermione wasn't doing too badeither, after an hour's worth of play she was still sitting on aboutthe same amount of chips she had started out with. The twoHufflepuffs had lost a couple of hands, both of them at about half oftheir original chips.
Eddie, fromRavenclaw, was at about ¾ of his chips, while Luna was losingrapidly, the airy blond grinning and laughing entirely too much forthe amount of money she had just lost.
Daphne and Traceywere still about even, while Draco, too, had won a couple of biggerhands, one of which was the reason why Professor McGonagall was nowsitting with about ¾ of her original chips. Dumbledore too,had lost a couple of hands, and had less than his starting amount.
All in all, thebigger winnings seemed to have gone to either Draco, whom they allknew was an experienced poker player, and Harry Potter, the unknowntalent. For some reason, Draco tended to bet big whenever Harry wasdebating whether to raise or match, as the Boy Who Lived fell intothe habit of scratching his scar during those decisions.
As the eveningprogressed, and the level of Ogden's in the bottles on the tablestarted to drop, bigger and bigger bets started to be waged, now thatthe alcohol started to work its magic on the players.
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Luna was the firstone in trouble. Her chips were nearly gone, and after Daphne raisedthe stakes, the blond looked at the pot, her cards, and then aroundthe table.
'I seem to miss enough chips to stay in the game,' shemuttered, ignoring Draco's rolling eyes. 'Are physical betsaccepted?'
Daphne shrugged.'You can sell physical items to the bank for their approximatevalue in galleons, and buy it back at the end of the game, if youhave enough left over... but that's only in between rounds. If youwant to bet an item during play, you'll have to put it directly inthe pot... but there's the possibility that you lose, and you won'tbe able to buy it back unless the winner allows you to.'
Luna nodded. 'Ihave no physical possessions worth betting,' she muttered. 'Howabout I bet myself?'
'Excuse me?' McGonagall asked, not believing what she heard.
'I'm betting myself,' Luna said.
'How much is the price for an indentured servant these days?'Tracey asked Draco, grinning.
'Hm,' Draco muttered in answer. 'About the price of a smallhouse. Let's be honest, and put the price down at four thousandGalleons. Of course, this is Looney we're talking about-'
'That's my friend you're insulting, Malfoy!' Harry growled,angrily.
'Fine, fine,' Malfoy replied, coldly. 'I take the Looneyjoke back. Luna raises4000 Galleons. I'm in,' he said, grinning eagerly, pushing fourthousand galleons to the center of the table, and leered at Luna, whodidn't seem to notice the stare.
Daphne pushed four thousand Galleons forth from the bank. 'I'm in.Now it's starting to get fun.'
'We are NOT accepting students asbets!' McGonagall grunted angrily.
'Oh, yes, we are,' Draco said.'Remember, Ultra-High-Stakes? Heck, you can bet your house if youwant to. Those are the rules you agreed to play by.'
McGonagall growled something under her breath, but didn't get supportfrom the Headmaster, so she dropped it. 'I'm out.'
Ditto, the Headmaster. 'I don't have the kind of money left to betfour thousand Galleons on a single round,' he said, putting hiscards down.
Hermione was red in the face, but this was Luna betting herself, andthe drink had loosened her considerably. 'I'm NOT betting on afriend,' she grunted, dropping her cards.
Harry stared at his cards, then at the pile in the center of thetable, and finally at Luna. 'This isn't right, I'm not bettingeither.'
'So you want me to go to Draco orDaphne then?' Luna asked, spacily. 'Should I lose, of course.'
Harry, about to put down his cards, hesitated. He had somewinnings, true. Just like Draco, he could miss four thousandGalleons. 'Fine,' he said, pushing the necessary amount to thecenter of the table. 'I'm in.'
'How courageous of you, Potter,'Draco said, grinning widely.
In short terms, the two Hufflepuffs bowed out, and Eddie, who hadseen his original bet raised by one female co-student, had to bow outas well.
'I have a Full House, tens overfives,' Luna said, rather proudly, putting her cards down.
Draco cursed. His flush had been beaten. Daphne, too, sounded ratherangry as she put her two pairs down. Everyone stared at Harry.
He swallowed, looked around the ground, and looked pale. He knew hehad to put his cards face-up, or he'd try and weasel his way out ofthis...
'Full house, Kings over nines...'
'At least I'll have a goodmaster,' Luna muttered, rather subdued now, before her smile cameback, full tilt. 'At least it's not Malfoy.'
Draco muttered something under his breath, then looked at Harry, whowas still staring at the huge amount of Galleons in the pot. 'Don'teven think about it, Potter. You can't release her until the game'sover. After all, you might have need for some collateral by the timethe game's over.'
Harry let out his breath, and scooped up his loot. 'As soon as thisgame's over, I'm releasing you,' he told Luna as his nimble fingerscounted and piled the galleons without him even looking at her.
Luna shrugged. 'If I want to be released, that is,' she said,grinning. 'Anyway, since I am now in your service, I can't playanymore... you could force me to do things, you know.' She stoodup, and walked to the bar. 'I'll get you a new bottle of Ogden's,yours seems to be low.'
Harry spluttered at Luna as she walked away. 'Thanks,' he finallymuttered as the new bottle was put down next to him.
'I don't understand,' Hermionesaid, turning to him. 'We're all showing that we've been drinking.That bet just now is proof of that. But you look stone-cold sober!'
'Bad youth,' Harry answer,shrugging. 'Living where I live, I've been sneaking into AuntPetunia's liquor cabinet since I was eight. It was the only way toget by. It'll take a lot stronger than this to drop me.'
Dumbledore gave the young man a pitying look filled with remorse.
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Luna betting herself seemed to be another major turning point inthe gameplay. Harry was still winning the bigger pots while alwaysfolding when he had nothing and because he wasn't playing, Malfoytended not to raise as often. Yet Susan Bones found herself suddenlyin the same position that Luna had found herself in before, theHufflepuff lass was put to quite the quandary.
Sadly, at the beginning of the year, the matriarch of the BonesFamily and good percentage of her adult family were killed by DeathEaters. It wasn't until three months after the fact that Susan waspresented with the contents of the will of her family, which namedher as sole beneficiary. Which, in laymen terms means that she couldeither bet all of her inheritance, the foundations of the entireancient and noble Bones Family, the last physical remnants of herfamily on this world, and bet away Bones Manor, the deed of which shehad in her pocket. Or. She could bet herself, like Luna did, as shewas almost 5000 galleons behind the wage and she only had 1500galleons left in front of her. But putting in Bones Manor couldsymbolize raising the bet and if it got raised anymore, she'd have togo all in, with herself on top of it. And the idea of Malfoyowning anything of hers... She shivered in revulsion.
Looking back at her cards however, shesaw the two red Queens smiling serenely up at her alongside two cutelittle black Tens and a lone Four of Clubs. Two Pair! It was thebest hand she'd had all night! And if she just bet Bones Manor byitself, she could keep her current 1500 and then turn the rest of herInheritance in for more galleons to the bank between play. She couldwin this. And there was so much money on the table before her,almost taunting in the way it shone.
Taking a deep sigh, she folded hercards so nobody would see, but did not put them down, and thenreached for the deed to Bones Manor. 'I raise... Bones Manor,'she said with a dull slur in her voice as she tossed in the deed tothe pot. 'Worth more on its own than what anybody else has got! Cept maybe Harry, since he's got over a million plus Luna!'
'Bugger!' cursed Dumbledore as heknew that there was nothing, save one or two irreplaceable items, inhis possession that could match the estate home of a PurebloodFamily. He too had a good hand and he didn't want to give up tooeasily without a fight. Finally, like a lightning bolt in thebrilliant genius's mind, an idea came to him. He had a lot of goldin front of him, but not enough to match an estate, unless he couldadd to the pot with something that might be worth just as much tosome students.
'Very well then,' he said as heshoved all his gold forward, 'in addition to going 'All In' Ibelieve the term is, I will be adding two slips of paper that by mybinding oath will allow the users unrestricted access to allrestricted areas of Hogwarts, most notably the Restricted Section inthe Library. For themselves and any of their friends.'
He then conjured the paper into hishand and tossed it in with the rest of his gold.
'A 'Get Out Of Detention Free' pass,'McGonagall said without preamble as she too went all in. She hadactually already put in two such passes already. Harry and Hermioneeach had won it over previous rounds.
'Too rich for me,' Hannah folded.
Tracey had already folded for thisround, so it went to Malfoy, who was paler than usual. He glancedover at Harry, who was stone-faced, although almost anyone else wouldbe able to tell it was due to Luna trying to give him a full-bodymassage in his chair, but Malfoy is in idiot. Finally, the Malfoyheir scowled and pronounced, 'I'll match, with Malfoy Manor!'
Hermione had been dealer this round, soit went to Daphne, who looked just as troubled. 'I'm not about tobet the Greengrass Ancestral Home,' she said while pullingsomething out of her own pocket, 'but we do have a few vacationhomes that should fit the bill. Here! The Greengrass Lodge near thesea! I'll toss in another 4000 to make up any difference!' Shestill had another 5000 galleons left afterwards, she didn't feel likebetting it all on her hand just yet.
The call was made and the results werein. Daphne had a Pair of Kings, Draco had Three-Of-A-Kind in Nines,Professor McGonagall, who was quite drunk by now, had a Pair of Tens,Susan had her Two Pairs, Hermione had nothing, but Dumbledore andHarry both had Flushes. Dumbledore had all Clubs of low numbers,whereas Harry had all Hearts of a King, Jack, Ten, Seven and Nine. It came out almost even, so Harry took the properties, whileDumbledore took half the gold so he wasn't out of the game just yet.
Over Susan's crying, nobody missedhearing Luna ask Harry, 'Now that we have a few places to live in,Harry, you're going to need to keep it clean. Would you like me tobe your maid, Harry? I have a few costumes that might be fun tryingout while cleaning to bare Bones...' Luna very quickly becameHarry's good luck charm as around her, he had a Poker face that couldout-stare a statue.
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The night was getting long, and Harry had to admit that the twobottles of Ogden's were getting to him. His stack of money was ratherbig now. He glanced to one side, where Hermione sat, swooning backand forth drunkenly, with a pile of chips that was about half of whatshe had started with. The others, too, were rather inebriated, and itlooked as if this was going to be the last round tonight. The sunwould be up in less than a couple of hours, and they all looked likethey could use the sleep.
'Harry,' Susanmuttered, drunkenly, 'can we have a gentleman's agreement? If youbet Bones Manor I just lost to you, I'll bet myself.'
Harry wanted to tell Susan that he couldn't accept that bet. Heck, hewas planning on returning the Manor to her after the game anyway.But, he also knew that, telling her that now would go against hersense of fair play. Not to mention, the entire night had been playedaccording to 'gentleman's rules', and even Draco had more or lessadhered to them... and this was yet another one of those rules.Honor. What a concept.
'I accept, Susan,'Harry said, fingering the piece of parchment that was the deed toBones Manor.
Hannah stared at her friend. She had stopped playing hours ago, hermoney all but gone. Luna merely giggled. 'I might have a fellowservant if this goes on,' she laughed.
Daphne, disgustedly, put her cards down. 'I don't have fourthousand Galleons left,' she grunted angrily. 'Too high for me.'
Tracey looked at her cards, then at the fifteen hundred Galleonsworth of chips before her. 'I'm in.'
'You don't-' Dracobegan.
Tracey glared at him. 'I am in,' she stated.
'Cool, TWO fellowservants!' Luna sang drunkenly.
Malfoy stared at his cards, his fellow Slytherin, the spacey blondthat was Luna, and the rather attractive Bones heiress. 'Are we allbetting girls now?' he asked, his brain rather out of it thanks tothe booze. 'Hey Harry, how about a second gentleman's agreement?Malfoy Manor for Pansy Parkinson.'
'You are betting yourgirlfriend?' Harry asked, incredulously. 'OK, fine, youlost your ancestral home, but there's no way you can bet somebodyelse!'
'There's an old LifeDebt between the Malfoys and the Parkinsons I can call in. She'll gowhere she's told. So, how about it, Potter? You putting in MalfoyManor?'
Harry looked at the second piece of parchment, the one that was thedeed to Malfoy Manor. 'That's rather unfair, isn't it? I'm puttingup Bones Manor, as well as Malfoy Manor, and you're just betting yourgirlfriend?'
'Just Hisgirlfriend!? Mr Potter, that is a breathing person you are talkingabout!' McGonagall screeched, her voice shrill with drunkenness.
'And he knows I'mletting them all go tomorrow morning, or tonight, whenever I see thegirl in question,' Harry replied, calmly.
Malfoy saw scarlet. 'What else do you want, Potter? You havemy house!'
'No family heirlooms orsomething similar? I can understand Susan... but Malfoy Manor isworth a lot more than Pansy.' Harry asked, seeing if he could getsomething more out of the Malfoy heir.
'Fine,' Malfoygrunted. 'The Malfoy jewels. Pansy, plus the jewels, for agentleman's agreement that you're betting Malfoy Manor.'
'Deal, Malfoy,' Harrysaid, grinning. He threw the deeds on the pile, while Draco put intwo parchments, one detailing his bet of the Malfoy jewels, and onedetailing he was betting Pansy, through a Life Debt. It really lookedas if he wanted his house back.
'THREE fellowservants!' Luna crowed, almost rolling off her chair with laughter.
Hermione bowed out. Literally, her head cracked against the table,waking the drunken Gryffindor up with a start.
'What'd I miss?'
'Susan and Tracey betthemselves, Draco bet his girlfriend and the Malfoy Family Jewels,'Harry said, unable to resist the joke. Hermione shook her head, andfolded.
Harry looked at the pile, the deeds there, and nodded. 'The deedsare in there. What do you have?'
'King-ten flush,'Susan said.
Tracey grunted. 'Damn. Two pair,' she muttered, throwing hercards down, face up. 'Looks like I might be in your service,' shetold Susan.
'You'll both be inmine,' Draco said, grinning widely. 'Four of a kind!' He threwthe four fives down, face-up.
Harry put his head in his neck, and laughed, laughing at the ceiling.'Five of a kind.' He threw the cards down, face up, revealingfour Kings and a Joker. The odds were astronomical... and Harry hadjust beaten them.
'Yup,' Luna said,laughing along. 'THREE new servants in the household, a lot ofproperty, and the Malfoy Jewels,' she looked at the virtuallycrying Malfoy heir. 'I hear they're quite pretty.'
'They're among thebest,' McGonagall said, unable to resist the urge to rib Malfoy.'I'm sure you and the others will look fabulous with them on.'
Harry looked at his head of house, and smiled widely. 'Of course!Only the best for my servants!' he said, earning him a dirty lookfrom Hermione, grateful looks from Susan, Luna and Tracey, and earnedthe girls a jealous look from Daphne.
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The next morning found Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table,surrounded by Luna on his right, Susan on his left, and Traceysitting in front of him. Around the little group were the otherGryffindors, smiling and laughing at Harry's predicament as herepeatedly tried to get the girls to leave him alone. However, theywould have none of it.
'It takes both sides to release a magical contract,'Tracey said imperially. 'Both contractor and contracteehave to agree to release the contract, and unless we say so, thecontract remains valid. Regardless of how many times you repeat thatyou're releasing us, that simple fact will remain.'
Harry grit his teeth, and glared at his breakfast, as if it was theone at fault. 'I'm going to kill Malfoy,' he muttered. 'Ifthat bastard hadn't started this whole Poker game thing, I wouldn'tbe having this problem.'
'You mean, you're seeing us as a problem?' Susan asked, sweetly,putting her head on his shoulder and fluttering her eyelashes at him.
'Eh..' Harry stammered, regardless of how angry he was hecouldn't bring himself to deliberately hurting their feelings.
'And look at it this way,' Tracey said. 'If it hadn't been forthe poker game, you wouldn't have ended up with three properties,including Malfoy Manor and the Greengrass lodge near the sea, not tomention that truckload of money, the five get-out-of-detention-freereleases, the unrestricted access to the Restricted section for youand your friends... plus, as you have both the Heiress to theBones name and the property in your collection, you could,legally, call yourself Lord Bones.'
He paled, and glared at her. 'Collection?' he asked, darkly.
Tracey nodded. 'Yup. Legally, you're a pureblood now.Congratulations, Harry.'
He bit back a scathing remark. This was not how he hadenvisioned this morning. Sure, he had wanted to brag with winningMalfoy Manor, and forcing the bastard to pay rent, but now everyonewas laughing at him for the girl-trouble he seemed to have foundhimself in.
'This just keeps getting better,' he said, resuming his glare athis breakfast. It wasn't any more guilty then it was last time, butit made him feel better.
'Could be worse...' Susan said, voice trailing off as she lookedat the entrance of the Great Hall.
'What do you-' Harry stopped abruptly as he saw what she meant.Pansy Parkinson had just stepped into the Great Hall. She lookedaround, searching the Gryffindor table and soon found her target,apparently.
Sighing visibly, the girl stepped forward, into the rapidly quietingGreat Hall, and walked to Harry's side. For one second, she looked athim, him looking up her standing for with a look that was bothcurious and filled with trepidation.
Silently, she dropped to her knees. 'I have come to serve you, mymaster... do with me or to me what you will.'
Harry felt cold, as if he had suddenly become encased in ice. True,she had never been nice to him, she had been with Malfoy, insultinghim and his friends... but not even she deserved to sound sodefeated. Not even she deserved...
He bit back his own dark thoughts. 'Get up, Parkinson,' hewhispered, voice darker than he had intended, and she flinchedvisibly.
Great, now he felt worse. He hadn't meant for it to come across soharsh that she thought he'd hurt her. Drawing a breath,forcing himself to relax, he looked at her, now that she was standingagain. Her eyes were drooped, as if she were exhausted, and filledwith fear at what her fate would have in store for her.
'I'm releasing you, Parkinson.' He shot a glare at the othergirls. 'I'm hoping you, at least, will have the sense to take it,contrary to these three idiots.'
She sighed, relaxing visibly. 'You mean it? You're letting me go?After all the things... I said? That I did?'
'Nobody deserves to be another's slave,' Harry said, ratherangrily. She flinched again, and he felt the anger bubbling up insideof him once more. What kind of society was the wizarding world, wherepeople would believe that they'd be struck like this? 'I'mreleasing you from the contract Malfoy created on your behalf.Go back to your House. You're free to go.'
He looked at her, as if urging her to go. She nodded, once. 'Forwhat it's worth, Potter... thanks.'
He smiled at her, relieved. 'At least one of you has any brains.'
She nodded once more, than started to walk away. After four steps,she turned, and looked at the others. 'Why aren't you going?'
'Why would we?' Susan asked. 'Harry made it quite clear that hewanted to return both my freedom and my property. But, he's treatingus really nicely, and I don't mind having some more fun, and thisway, at least for a little while, I won't have to make any decisionsmyself.'
Luna smiled airily. 'I just want Harry to ravish me.'
The boy in question turned first pale, then bright red, then paleagain as the implications sunk home. Forget his sanity, his virtuewas at stake here! While he stared at Luna with his mouth open,Tracey smirked at her 'master'.
'For me, it's all about the fun.' She glanced at Luna. 'Althoughthat ravishing part doesn't sound to bad. If Luna wants to share-'
'The more, the merrier,' Luna said, interrupting with a big smileon her face. Harry now stared from Luna to Tracey, back to Luna.
'- then we can even have a threesome,' Tracey finished, grinningat the blond.
Pansy stood there, staring at the three of them, and theshell-shocked look on Harry's face. 'You mean all that? About himtreating you right and all that?'
Susan smirked. 'Most boys would have had us last night, there wasnothing we could have done had he told us to strip. Instead, he triedto release us. Now, we were all quite drunk, and I guess we just feltlike being contrary, so we refused. He then told us to go back to ourdormitories and get some sleep. This morning, same thing. We've beensitting here for fifteen minutes, and all he's done is try and get usto leave him.'
She latched on to his arm. 'Plus, he's promised us the MalfoyJewels.'
Harry blinked. Then, he remembered the promise from yesterday.'That's right!' he said, penny dropping. 'So you're staying forthe jewels! Now it all makes sense!'
Susan flinched back from the hateful look Tracey and Luna shot her,while they loudly protested the implication.
'If there were no jewels, we'd still stick around!'Tracey grunted, angrily. 'You're a nice guy, Harry. There aren'tmany guys who wouldn't have tried anything with us in such asituation if they were sober... and you were drunk! That alonetells me I'm in good hands with you.' She shrugged. 'Besides,it's fun.'
Luna was nodding enthusiastically. 'And I haven't been ravishedyet. I'm not leaving without it!'
Harry shot her a startled look again. Quietly, he looked at Susan,who was staring at the table. She was shaking.
'Susan? You alright?' he asked, his anger forgotten. For as longas this messed-up situation lasted, he was responsible for her, andhe'd be damned if he didn't take the responsibility seriously!Besides, he knew Susan from the DA. She was a good person, and hedidn't like to see her hurt.
'I'm sorry, Harry,' she whispered. 'I shouldn't have saidthat... it was a joke... I'm sorry... I would have stayed, jewels ornot... please don't be angry.'
She was still shaking. Harry sighed, and shook his head. 'I can'tbelieve I'm doing this,' he muttered. Awkwardly, he put an armaround her. 'It's alright, Susan. I'm not mad. Although theexplanation would have made more sense to me, and now it just wentback to surreal. Honestly, you don't have be afraid.' He looked atthe other two girls. 'You never have to be afraid of me. I mightget mad, but I promise I'll never hurt you.'
Susan was looking up at him, a rather tearful smile on her face. Hesmiled back. 'There,' he said. 'That's better than seeing youcry.'
Pansy was still standing where she had stopped. She sighed, looked atthe Slytherin table, then turned and walked back to the Gryffindortable. Harry cursed under his breath.
'Come on, Parkinson,' he said, half-loud. 'I thought you hadbrains!'
'If I back out now, the Slytherins will tear me to pieces,' shegrunted as she arrived back at the Gryffindor table, finding no emptyseats near Harry.
'Dean, mate, could you make some room for her?' Harry asked,shooting a death-glare at his breakfast. The girls were surethat it would start smoking any minute.
Half a minute later, Pansy sat down. 'Welcome to the nuthouse,Parkinson,' Harry grunted. He didn't notice her flinch.
'Do... do you have to call me that?' she asked in a timid voice.
Just hearing the usually cool and collected Pansy Parkinson speak insuch a timid way made him look up and stare at her. 'Sorry, Pansy,'he corrected himself. 'Bad habit,' he defended himself, thenfrowned. 'You look really pale, Pansy,' he then said, studyingher face. He made a come-hear sign, and she obediently leanedslightly over the table. He pushed his hand to her forehead. 'Nofever, though.'
'I didn't get much sleep last night,' she answered. 'I had abad feeling... and then Draco told me... I spent the rest of thenight agonizing about what might happen, how bad you'd hurt me, orthe things you'd do to me to get back for all the things I did andsaid.'
He sighed. 'I'll never hurt you,' he promised once more. 'Comeon, I'll take you to the nurse. It might be exhaustion, or somethingmore.'
'Sit down, Harry,' Tracey said, standing up, and drawing Pansy toher feet. 'I'll take her to Madam Pomfrey.'
'But-' Harry said, starting to protest.
'You're a pureblood master now, you shouldn't concern yourself withus,' she stated, regally, as she started to walk out.
Side Pots Poker
'I bloody well do care!' he shot in protest, halfway tohis feet.
'We'll get those bad habits out of you!' Tracey shot back as theyreached the doors. 'In another week, we'll have you acting like aproper pureblood, watch my words!'
Harry sat down again. They had left the Hall, no sense in screamingafter them. 'Well, I bloody hell don't want to act like a 'properpureblood',' he muttered.
For the rest of the day, Harry was glad that he didn't have anylessons with either the Hufflepuffs or Slytherins, and thus had atleast a break from the girls during classes. All day long, he waspreoccupied, thinking about the situation, trying to find a way out.
During lunch, he had found himself surrounded once again.
'Glad to see you're looking better, Pansy,' Harry said, honestlyglad to see the Slytherin girl look better. 'What did the nursesay?'
'Now, Harry-' Tracey began.
'I want to know what Madam Pomfrey said. And I still care about yougirls, especially since you all decided to make me responsible foryour lives. If you don't like it, all you have to do is accept myoffer to cancel the contract,' Harry replied, levelly, looking atTracey, before looking back to Pansy, who was flushing now.
'Thanks for caring,' she said, at a low level. 'It wasexhaustion, and the nerves, I guess. Madam Pomfrey gave me a potionto relax me, and it helped.'
Harry nodded. 'Glad to hear it.'
Tracey didn't let Harry's comment get to her, and kept trying to makehim act like a proper pureblood. He ignored her attempts.
They broke for classes, and Harry let out his breath as Luna went tothe fifth year Ravenclaws, Susan went to the sixth year Hufflepuffs,and Tracey and Pansy went to the sixth year Slytherins... none ofwhich shared any classes with him today.
'I feel like pounding my head against a wall,' Harry muttered. Heglanced at Hermione. 'They just don't want to accept the fact thatI want to cancel the contracts, and Tracey keeps trying to make meact like a 'proper pureblood'. I'm just glad that she's not going onabout blood purity.'
'I'm just glad you're treating them right,' Hermione replied.'Not many boys in your position would be so honorable.'
Harry scoffed. 'That's probably the reason they don't want toleave, I'm treating them too nice.' He sighed. 'You know, itwould be so bad if Tracey didn't keep trying to convert me into apureblood overlord of some kind. Plus, I have the feeling thatthere's a storm brewing between the girls. They all have differentfeelings about this, they all want different things, and I don't knowhow long they'll be nice to each other about it. The last thing Iwant is them fighting.'
Hermione was silent. 'You know, I have read a book about purebloodhouseholds.'
'When did you have time to do that?' Harry asked,surprised. 'Sometimes, you astonish me, Hermione.'
Smiling at the unexpected praise, the girl said, 'This morning.While you were busy arguing, I read about this sort of situation.What I think is happening is that Tracey is pushing for a positionknown as the 'First'... like a den mother of sorts. The First is incharge of the household, and so on.'
Poker Night At The Inventory Not Working
Harry stared at her, his jaw on the ground. He picked it up,reattached it to his face, and muttered under his breath.
'Sorry?' Hermione asked, not having understood him.
'That's just great, now I have to chose between them', Harrysaid, a little louder. 'You know, I think that, no matter how goodTracey would be at the job, the only one out of them that I reallyknow is Luna. She went with us to the Department of Mysteries lastyear, she's been a prominent member of the DA, and she has been agood friend.' He grinned. 'I think I'll ask Luna if she wants toposition. Maybe, it'll make the others reconsider.' He shrugged.'Even if it's just Tracey that leaves, at least it's one girl...'He trailed off as Hermione look miffed about something.
'I don't believe you, Harry,' she said, sounding rather angry.'These girls want to be near you! Pushing them away willonly hurt their feelings. It's not a very nice thing to do, honestly,Harry.'
He stared at her. 'They are clamoring to be my indentured servants,Hermione! If I tell them 'I order you to', they are bound todo what I tell them! I don't want that kind of power over people!They're like slaves, only with a better title!'
Hermione shook her head. 'In this case, as they refuse to rescindthe contract, it's voluntary. And besides, it's not slavery, as youare bound to take care of them. And you're already doing a fine job,caring for Parkinson like that.'
'Don't call her that,' Harry snapped, then blinked, and stared inconfusion. 'She... eh... wants to be called Pansy,' he muttered,flushing.
Hermione laughed, her point had been proved.
00000
That evening, he got the shock of his life as the portrait to theGryffindor Common Room opened up, admitting the four girls. Luna justtook everything in stride, while Susan, Tracey, and Pansy just lookedaround, figuring the differences between the Common Rooms.
Harry stared at them, then glanced at the rest of the Gryffindors.Most of them didn't react too badly, but most boys wereshooting him smirks. As well as some semi-jealous glares.
'Can I help you?' Harry asked, bringing the attention of thethree gaping witches to him.
'Well, we're your servants, so we need to be close,' Susan said,grinning, receiving a mildly peeved look from Tracey, who apparentlywanted to be the one to tell Harry.
'Eh...' Harry muttered, deciding that Hermione seemed to havebeen right about Tracey. He shrugged, and motioned for a couple offree couches. He was just glad that it was a calm evening, and therewere free couches. 'Have a seat, girls.'
They sat, and looked up at him as he stood before them. 'It's beenbrought to my attention,' he glanced briefly at Hermione, beforefocusing on the girls once more, 'That I need a First. Now,unfortunately, I don't know most of you that well. So... I would likeLuna to be my First.'
The blond in question looked up at him, blinked her large silveryeyes, and a smile crept onto her lips. 'I accept,' she said,airily.
Susan and Pansy just nodded, and took it in stride. Tracey sputtered.'But... but...'
'You keep trying to change me,' Harry said, gently. 'I don'twant to change. I want to be Harry. Just Harry. Now, due tocircumstances, it's become hrder than ever, but I still want to be asnormal as possible. And acting like you want me to act isn'thelping.'
She looked at the couch, and nodded sadly. 'I understand. I'msorry.'
He sighed, feeling like a class-A jerk again. How did these girlswind him around their fingers to easily? He placed a hand on hershoulder, making her look up. 'I'm not angry, Tracey, I'm justexplaining things... I've known Luna for longer, she's a good friendof mine, plus, last year, she had my back in a very difficultsituation. I trust her.'
Tracey nodded, smiling slightly once again. He smiled back at her,and sat down, right in the middle of them, making them scamper out ofthe way to make room for him. Squeaking and laughing, they made thebare minimum amount of space, and pressed themselves close to him.
'So, Harry, can we stay the night?' Susan asked, grinning.