A/N: This was a Friday challenge, as such, we had the option of writing a 2,000 word story. The catch this time was: It had to be all dialog. The other option is a standard 1,000 word story. Let's see if you can guess the game :) Also, this takes place a little after chapter 12 of Time After Time. I might use a normal version of this (with the he said and she said bits) in that story as filler, I don't know yet :)
Summer Writing Series Challenge (June 11)
Challenge: Harry and Hermione teach Ron (and Luna if you like) to play a Muggle board game.
Title: Charm: The Muggle Magic Adventure Game
Word Count: 2,000
"Harry, isn't the A/C fixed yet?"
"What's A/C?"
"Honestly, you'd think that you would have run across that in the three years you've spent in muggle England, Ron."
"Luna and I live in a small house in Cheddar ..."
"Ron, A/C is air conditioning. Hermione, I rang the maintenance center and they're backed up with repairs."
"Let me take a look at it ..."
"Luna, put your wand away! You don't know ..."
"It runs on electricity, doesn't it? Other than that it's just a fancy machine. We've fixed Dad's printing press when we needed to ..."
"Mixing magic and science isn't a good, Luna ..."
"The condenser coil was snapped, a simple repair spell was all it needed."
"Luna knows what she's doing, Mione ..."
"How many times have I said to stop calling me Mione? Don't change it to Herms or Hermy either! And if you call me what Krum did, Trevor will be the only one who can understand you!"
"Give the A/C a chance to work and stop fighting. It's warm enough as it is and I don't want to hear your arguing today ..."
"Hermione, when you decided to move after your scare, I didn't think you'd move where there were so many people."
"The other house would have been too small with the new baby ... Harry thought it would be nice to buy a bigger house closer to the city, and thank you for fixing the A/C, Luna."
"You're welcome. Harry, are those your parents above the mantle?"
"Hmm? Oh, right, sorry for the bad manners. Mum, Dad, this is my other best friend Ron Weasley and his wife Luna."
"It's so good to see that Arthur and Molly had another son, don't you think, James? It's very nice to finally meet you, Ron, and you too, Luna. Thank you both for helping Harry against Voldemort."
"It wasn't easy, I'll bet. I had a hard enough time with him and I'm glad you kept my son safe ... I hear that you used to play for Gryffindor too ... How were the games?"
"No Quidditch today, James, please? When you and Harry go at it, I get such a headache. Hermione, dear, could you please create another portrait so that I can escape these lunatics?"
"I'll research the portrait clone rituals at work, Lily. With any luck, we can have one put in at Godric's Hollow and smaller ones for the bedrooms."
"Oh, that would be lovely, I'd like to spend some time with you and Lily, she's so precious."
"She's my little girl, Mum."
"Your little girl?"
"Ok, she's my little girl when she's cranky it seems."
"Ron ... I'll talk to you later when she's asleep ..."
"Ok, enough with the conspiracy planning ..."
"Mum, Dad, all of the Weasleys are excluded from the security wards."
"Sure, honey, whatever you say. Ron, Luna, welcome to Harry and Hermione's home."
"Thank you."
"Thanks for such a wonderful birthday present, Love. I didn't think I'd ever hear Mum's voice in anything other than a scream."
"Harry, you don't have to thank me, I know you needed them. Besides, it wasn't difficult gathering the memories that lingered with people and the objects they touched. Most of that energy came from you, don't forget."
"Would you two quit kissing in front of me? I'm still getting used to the marriage, let alone seeing any of that!"
"Ronald, leave them be."
"Well, kisses from you, I can handle."
"Ron, we've been married for eight years!"
"Still doesn't mean I'm used to you two snogging in front of me! It still seems like yesterday when Hermione and I ..."
"Don't bring that date up again, Ronald Bilius Weasley!"
"Would you stop antagonizing my wife?"
"Ok, ok ..."
"Well we did invite you over for entertainment, didn't we?"
"That we did, Love, anyone have a suggestion?"
"Do you have a wizard's chess board?"
"We do, but I was thinking something that we could all play."
"Exploding snap?"
"Something a little less noisy, Ronald, do you have any board games? My father did an editorial on muggle games in the last Quibbler. I've always wanted to learn how to play one."
"We do have Trivial Pursuit ..."
"Ron and Luna would be out of their element, Love."
"I guess you're right ..."
"Good, that sounded like a brainy kind of game anyway. Don't roll your eyes, Hermione, we all know that you'd win anyway."
"He has a point, Love, you do always win."
"Fine! Lily's games are too young for most of us here ... What about that game you brought from Privet Drive, Harry?"
"Oh, I'd almost forgotten I'd nicked it from Dudley's dust bin! Hold on, I think it's in the guestroom's closet."
"Lily and Percy have been quiet up there ... What do you think they're doing?"
"I stopped by after visiting the loo, your son and our daughter are sound asleep with Link and Gator ..."
"Oh, I have to see this! I'll be right back, Ronald."
"Where's Luna off to?"
"Spying on our sleeping children."
"Oh, I saw that when I passed Lily's room ... Percy loves that stuffed alligator, doesn't he?"
"He doesn't go anywhere without it. Great, now I want to see, I'll be right back."
"They're adorable!"
"It's good when Percy takes his afternoon nap, he's a monster when we try to get him to bed otherwise, isn't he, Luna?"
"We're going to have to move to the dining room table, the board is too big for here."
"Oh, it was Talisman that your cousin threw away?"
"It was, if he'd looked on E-Bay, he would have seen how much it was worth. I played it a few times when I was at Mrs. Figg's. She was watching Mark Evans as well and she taught us how to play. I think she was trying to tell me something because I always drew the wizard for my character."
"That's quite a hint, Harry!"
"Tell that to a nine-year-old that didn't know about the wizarding world."
"Wait, this has to do with wizards and magic?"
"It does, but not in the same way, Ron."
"Muggle board games rarely do, Ronald, now let them show us how to play."
"Right, there are cards, dice, and chits that are used to play the game. Each person plays as an adventurer that travels along this board. Use the dice to tell you how many spaces you can move and also to attack and defend during combat. You draw cards where the spaces tell you and do what the cards say."
"Why don't we choose characters, Harry? It might be easier to explain by playing with this one than through explanation."
"Let me just ... shuffle the cards ... Right, Luna, select a character ... Just choose any one you want, it's supposed to be random. Right, don't look just yet we use a house rule that nobody is to know until everyone's drawn. We'll flip the cards over then. Ron ... Hermione ... And I think I'll take this one."
"Can we flip the cards now?"
"Yes, flip your cards."
"What did I tell you? The Wizard ..."
"I got the Sorceress, I usually get the minstrel."
"The Monk?"
"Oh, she got the best one, Love."
"The Prophetess? I got Trelawney?"
"Oh, that's hilarious! If you like the game, I wonder if you'll get her the next time we play ... But with the Monk in Luna's hands, I see victory for our resident Ravenclaw ..."
"Harry, that's too creepy for words! Don't impersonate her again ... ugh!"
"Right, right ... I do have to agree though. Ok, we've got our characters, don't worry about their abilities yet, we'll explain them as we go along ... Here's your chits for strength, craft, gold, and lives ..."
"Don't worry about what they mean, Harry and I will help you along."
"Does anyone want something to drink before we start?"
"I'll take some milk, Hermione, I don't think this child will let me have anything else ... I miss tea."
"Pumpkin juice is fine for me, Love, do you want me to draw your spell for you?"
"Sure, Harry, Ron?"
"Do you have any butterbeer?"
"We do, be right back."
"Hey, these abilities might actually work better than Trelawney after all ..."
"It's the only time that I've found where divination isn't wooly, Ron."
"Thanks for the juice, Love."
"Mmm, this milk is just what I needed."
"Alright, here are your playing pieces, and we have enough dice for everyone. Find the space on the board where your start is ... Just look in the upper right of your character card. Then we each roll one of the dice the highest gets to start."
"Looks like I go first ... So, I just roll the dice and move that many spaces?"
"Three ... ok, does it matter which way I go? Right ... The Woods, Draw a Card if there isn't one here ..."
"Not a spell card, Ron."
"I thought this was a magical quest?"
"It is, but you draw an Adventure Card."
"Oh, ok ... Two bags of gold! Thanks, Harry ..."
"My turn ... Five. The Plains ... Oh, I got the blizzard ... Sorry, everyone, we can only move one space for the next few rounds."
"I think I'll take the woods then ... Oh, the Shade. You'll see how combat works now ... actually, psychic combat. What you do is the person on your right, Hermione here, will die for the monster and add either its strength or craft to the roll. I have to beat it with my roll. Ready? Ok. I've got a ten and Hermione has an eight. If I would have rolled a three, it would be a tie and nothing happens, if it was lower, I would have lost one of my lives. Take the card you defeated and put it to the side, when you have 7 strength or 10 craft worth of monsters, you can't mix and match, you can increase your strength or craft by one, or gain a life or gold if you want."
"Daddy, what are you doing?"
"I see you're up from your nap, Sweets ... We're playing Talisman, want to watch? Ok, you can sit in my lap, but don't touch the pieces, ok?"
"Now, where were we?"
"You just ended your turn, Ron. That Random spell helped, thanks!"
"I didn't want you getting to the Crown of Command!"
"Honestly, you're just upset because I took your porter with the talisman and Runesword on it!"
"It's only a matter of time before she starts ordering our characters to die, Luna is the closest ..."
"And I'm there ... Ready for a fight, Hermione?"
"How did you get so much craft Luna?"
"The Fountain of Wisdom came up a few times. That teleport spell helped immensely."
"I'm going to use my Psionic Blast spell to add my craft to my strength, that means the dice will decide who wins."
"I Counterspell ... And according to the rules, I take your Talisman."
"I can't enter the space!"
"And you have to retreat on your next turn, Love ..."
"I know, Harry ... I was so close!"
"I just got more gold ..."
"I can't make it to Luna fast enough ... But I was lucky with the pit fiends, I made it out with one life ..."
"Mummy, I'm hungry ..."
"I know, Perce, we're almost done ..."
"I suggest we declare Luna the winner, the kids are hungry, and I included you in that assessment, Ron ..."
"That was a fun game, when can we play again?"
"Next weekend could work. Hermione and I don't have any extra assignments to deal with."
"I'm not in the mood to cook tonight, why don't we get take away?"
"Sounds great, let's go!"
"Don't go for the whole side of beef this time, Ronald ..."