A Chance Encounter That Was, Inevitably Planned (Carlotta & Arthur)

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The attack on the castle had been something Arthur had missed by a stroke of luck. Or perhaps his meticulous routine that wasn't going to bring him up to the Great Hall until an hour after the mob of people had entered the castle. The rumblings - that even took hold down in the dungeons - had kept the Slytherin hidden up in his room, knowing that whomever was up there creating a ruckus was not going to get past the common room door unless they knew the current password.

When the head of house had arrived - with a number of fearful students in tow - Arthur had listened to the explanation. An attack. A carefully planned, well undertaken attack. By a group that wasn't completely unknown, but still not known enough to be able to put a finger on. All of this information was interesting. Arthur had worked through the how - strategic game play was something he enjoyed - the people could have done it. But, when he had asked others, the stories were all muddled, and his scribbles had become meaningless.

It was in the back of his mind, though, because there was an answer.

Today, however, Arthur sat at the end of the Slytherin table with his chess set. He'd enchanted the white set of chess pieces to play by themselves, and he sat deep in thought over his next move. Well, the current move, and the next five, because you couldn't simply plan one move in a game of chess. Placing his hand on the Queen piece, Arthur readied himself for his next move. He was sure he'd covered himself. There was no way he could lose this piece.

He was certain...

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The attack a few nights before had left Carlotta particularly worried about the security of the school. She was lucky to get out unscathed. She'd never before seen such a panic. She couldn't stop thinking about what they came from. She doubted it'd be acceptable to ask Professor Jameson, so she supposed that she was just left to her thoughts- that sometimes had a tendency to spiral. It could be anything- most likely they just wanted to cause chaos. She supposed that she'd have to just deal with the fact that she probably won't ever know the true reason.

However, she made an effort to push that to the back of her mind and instead try to focus on the present day. She was on her way to grab some lunch from the Great Hall and happened to be (for the first time ever) rather early. None of her friends were there yet, and she wasn't about to sit alone. Standing at the door, so glanced around, soon noticing someone from her year. She'd never really spoken to this boy before- she supposed that she didn't really have the chance. But now, he was sat there, playing chess by himself, so she decided to approach him.

"Hi," she smiled confidently, taking the seat in front of him.

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Arthur's finger were still holding the piece as he set it down. Calculating once ore that he'd made the right move in that moment. Nothing could take the Queen... with one last very quick check, Arthur let it go. Waiting for the board to calculate and make it's own move.

The Slytherin was very focused, waiting patiently for the game to continue.

So, when someone sat themselves down across from him after saying hello, it took Arthur a moment to come out of his own little bubble, and focus on the witch before him. She was... a little bit familiar, but he was quite sure they hadn't spoken on their own before. "Hi..." Arthur replied uncertainly, casting a glance down the table for some kind of explanation to the witch's appearance before him. None seemed to present itself, and he was... almost certain that she wasn't a Slytherin, too.

"Arthur." The Slytherin introduced himself with a small smile. Though, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a chess piece move and he glanced down at the board. He couldn't play chess and have a conversation. So, after a small, inward battle of wills as to which one should win out, Arthur knocked over the King, conceding defeat to the board.

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"Arthur," she nodded "Carlotta," she introduced herself "I don't think we've ever spoken before," she said, glancing down at the chess board when he knocked over the king. She'd never completed a game of chess- she didn't have anyone around her, friends or family wise, that knew how to play. She wasn't entirely sure what to say next, so she decided to strike up a conversation about chess.

"Never played chess before," she stated, still smiling "All about strategy isn't it? Thinking ahead and all that?" she asked, making an effort not to speak too quickly. She had a habit of that, especially if the person she was talking to seemed quiet. It was her rather awkward way of trying to make things less awkward, ironically. "Are you any good?" she went on "It'd be pretty cool to learn," she added with a smile, hoping to facilitate some conversation.

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"Carlotta isn't an English name..." Arthur said before realising what he'd said. The Slytherin's eyes went wide for a moment, and he shook his head. "Sorry... That was rude. No, we haven't spoken before. What I meant to say... is where does that name come from?" Arthur asked, curiosity taking over his features - even if it was a somewhat apologetic look on his features, too.

As the chess pieces reset themselves, fixing up the broken pieces that had come apart when he'd taken their squares, Arthur listened to Carlotta explain how she'd never played chess. Which, to the Slytherin, was a very odd idea indeed. Especially as the witch before him asked what he deemed to be a very obvious question with an even more obvious answer.

However, Arthur reminded himself not to be sarcastic, because that was rude when people didn't understand your humour.

"Yes, it is a strategic game, based upon taking out the pieces to get to the King." Arthur explained, tapping the King before him to show which piece he meant. "But you have to work a number of moves in advance, if you only think about the current move you could lose within four moves. I've beaten someone that way before, they looked thoroughly perplexed..." Arthur explained, veering off in to a place of his own thoughts before retrieving himself from the thought of winning.

The question of being good made Arthur shrug his shoulders. "That depends on the competition." He said plainly, anyone could look good against a novice, after all. The final part of Carlotta's sentence though was one of those talking techniques that made you feel like you had to offer something up. Arthur didn't like those situations, but he resigned himself to a fate that must have been written on someone's cards, somewhere.

"I could show you, I guess..." He offered, not overly sure on how he felt about that in the moment, but deciding to deal with such thoughts later.

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She chuckled a little at his rather blunt statement. But she didn't really mind. She casually tucked a piece of hair behind her ear "It's fine, really," she replied "It's an Italian name," she answered "I know I don't look it, but I'm part Italian on my dad's side. I just happen to take after mum," she explained. Something that she was always rather disappointed by- that she didn't have the lovely olive skin that was characteristic of Italians. Her brother was lucky enough to inherit it, but she had inherited very pale skin that burned and didn't tan.

She listened as he explained the calculative nature of chess. Thinking ahead, planning and predicting were definitely not her forte. She rather had a tendency to wing it. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Luckily for her, majority of the time, it worked itself out.

She grinned when he offered to show her how to play "That'd be really cool," she said, leaning forward "Thanks," she added.

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As Carlotta explained the origins of her name, Arthur couldn't help but give a small smile. Italy had always sounded like a nice place to go, but he hadn't been yet. Carlotta's comment made him laugh a little, she definitely wasn't what Arthur would expect of a girl with Mediterranean heritage. "I'm sure taking after your mum isn't really a bad thing." Arthur tried to console the witch. She was, in truth, quite a pretty girl, so he didn't think she needed the tanned skin of her father's.

The idea of chess being cool was one that made Arthur give a small, wry smile. Very few people would label the game as cool, but he didn't think it wise to point this out to the girl. Instead, Arthur picked up his wand and tapped the set, it quickly pulled itself back together, fixing the pieces that Arthur had broken earlier so that they looked like new.

Turning the board around so that Carlotta had the white pieces, Arthur raised his hand to point out the King. "This is the piece you have to keep safe." He told the witch, making sure she wasn't at any disadvantage by not knowing the pieces well enough. "The King can only move one square at any time, but he can move in any direction." Arthur explained, before moving through the whole board, explaining which pieces could move where, and the importance of each piece. Once he'd finished, Arthur looked at her hopefully.

"When you're ready to start." He prompted, waiting to see which piece the Ravenclaw would move.

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"Oh, it's not," she said in reply to his comment about taking after her mum "No, it'd just be nice to not burn at the beach," she laughed a bit.

She nodded along to him explaining the game- the pieces and their moves, and simply tried to remember it. So far, the game didn't seem too complex- just keep the King safe. But then again, it was one where you had to think ahead- try to predict. If anything, that would be the hard part. Alright- she needed to focus- one of the hardest things for her to do. She usually ended up distracted- by maybe a nearby conversation, or even just a random thought that would pop into her head. But she wasn't going to let that happen now, hopefully.

When prompted, she elected one of the pawns, the second from the right and moved it forward two spaces- and then looked to him, waiting for him to make his move.

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"It's a good thing that it's not too much of an issue in this country, then, huh?" Arthur asked rhetorically with a small smile playing on his lips. Though, of course, Britain had it's moments of being hot, and then it was unbearable, it wasn't as if they were, say... Italy. "But, I know what you mean, I burn when it gets sunny."

As Carlotta picked up her piece and moved it, Arthur held back a small smile. Instead, looking only as if concentrating. Once the witch had let go of her piece, Arthur gave a few moments pause, before lifting up the pawn in front of his King and moving it forward two spaces. Arthur paused, pretending to check everything, before letting go of the piece.

"So, if you don't know how to play Chess, what do you do with your free time?" Arthur asked, not looking the slightest bit apologetic for not being the most thoughtful when asking the question.

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"Oh definitely," she replied "I rather like the weather here, I can't really handle when it gets too hot," she replied.

She watched him make his move- though she didn't pick up on his hidden smile. Afterwards, she picked up the second piece, the knight that was behind the pawn that she had first moved and moved that piece, in a L shape to the left, listening as Arthur posed his question. She honestly didn't have a clue how someone was supposed to predict another's moves. She supposed it'd become sort of a pattern- if someone moves a certain piece, it would mean that later on another piece would be moved. She just didn't have the attention span honestly… She was still trying to remember the moves of all the pieces.

"Well, lots of things," she replied "Quidditch, reading, cross-words," she shrugged "Just generally hang out with friends and that." she added.

"What about you?" she asked "Besides play chess," she added.

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