Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Disclaimer 2: The characters in this story are from the amazing story Fate's Favourite by The Fictionist. This is a Christmas present one-shot. Actually, more like a half-shot. It's not that long. But it's over 1000 words, so I'm calling this a half-shot. And this disclaimer is too long.

(though I don't know how much of a 'present' this is, consider the horrible title and horrible writing. And complete boringness. I had a bit of writer's block. Which is my official position.)

Because Life Is Like Jenga

Harry walked into the Slytherin common room, a small scowl on his face.

"Morning, sunshine." the sound of a drawling voice hit Harry's ear.

Harry turned towards Tom, holding back a yawn. He somewhat reluctantly strode towards Tom.

Tom was sitting in a dark green armchair, his hands resting lightly on the armrests. A slight smirk formed on his face as Harry plopped himself down on a chair next to him.

"Nothing else to do?" Tom asked mildly.

Harry shot Tom a brief look of suspicion.

"I'm meeting with Ron and Hermione later today." Harry answered. After a moment of hesitation, he asked something else. "Why?"

"I thought we could play some... chess." Tom said mildly. He nodded almost imperceptibly towards the table in front of him. There was a chess board placed on the table.

Harry looked towards the chess board. It was a typical set of Wizard's Chess, with black and white squares. The pieces were made of carved wood, some being a cream colour, and the others being a brown that was almost a red.

He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. It was strange for Tom to want to play a game of any sort. For that matter, where did he obtain the chess set?

Then again, it was chess after all. Harry figured that Tom would probably would probably somewhat enjoy chess.

"Where did you get the set?" Harry questioned, running his eyes carefully over the chess board. It didn't look familiar, so it was most likely taken from one of the other Slytherins.

"What does it matter?" Tom said dismissively.

"You didn't take it off someone forcibly, did you?" Harry demanded. He got up from his current seat and settled down in a seat across from Tom.

"Cygus was kind enough to lend me it." Tom drawled, leaning back in his seat.

"And I'm certain it was out of kindness." Harry muttered sarcastically. But he didn't push the matter further.

"I'll be white." Tom said. It was more of a statement of fact than a polite question.

Harry looked up towards Tom , a light, amused smile flitting across his face for a brief moment.

"You really want to be first?" Harry questioned. There was an amused tone to his voice.

"Actually, going second can be an advantage sometimes." Tom said. "Pawn to E4."

The pawn obediently moved. Harry briefly wondered why the pawn seemed so obedient to a player it had never met before. Then he decided he really didn't want to know.

"If you say so," Harry said doubtfully. He examined the board for a moment. "Pawn to C5."

The pawn didn't argue Harry's order either, and merely jumped over to C5.

"Knight to F3." Tom said instantly.

"Do you have time to waste on chess? Don't you have, I don't know, some evil plan to concoct?" Harry inquired. "Pawn to D6."

"Ha ha," Tom deadpanned. "No, I don't have any evil plans to... concoct. I'm already finished 'concocting' all my evil plans. Pawn to D4."

Harry turned to stare incredulously at Tom's face. His emerald eyes bore into Tom's visage.

"You aren't serious, are you?" Harry demanded. He glanced down at the gameboard. "Pawn to C4."

Tom did nothing but smirk.

"Now, what do you think?" Tom said smugly. "And why don't you concentrate on the game. Or you'll lose. Pawn to E5."

Harry looked up at the ceiling in exasperation. His eyes returned to the game quickly, though.

He scowled towards the board. He had a clear path to take a pawn. It was most definitely a trap of some sorts, probably. No one would make such a stupid mistake otherwise.

"Knight to F6." Harry said clearly.

Tom made a slight noise of discontentment.

"Well, how about... hm, what do psychopaths do in their spare time?" Harry asked rhetorically. "Manipulate people like pawns?"

"That's the old man you're thinking of," Tom murmured. "Knight to C3. I've always thought the chess analogy for life was ridiculous."

"How people are just pawns on the chessboard of life?" Harry said matter-of-factly. He looked over the chessboard carefully. After a couple of minute's contemplation, he told his other knight to go to C6.

"Yes." Tom answered. "Bishop to C4."

"That question was rhetoric." Harry muttered, frowning as his pawn was destroyed by the bishop.

"I know, darling," Tom drawled.

"After all, life is more like Jenga." Harry bit his lip ever so slightly, then told his pawn to go to E5.

"Jenga," Tom repeated. There was a slightly strange intonation to his voice.

Harry stared at Tom sharply, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"You don't know what Jenga is, do you?" Harry said, amused. "It's a game involving many wooden blocks set up in a tower, with three blocks per level. The point of the game is to take the blocks out of the tower without destroying the tower."

"It sounds childish and petty," Tom said matter-of-factly. "And that has nothing to do with life. Knight to E5."

The pawn was destroyed by Tom's white knight.

Harry frowned towards the board, all while absent-mindedly explaining his point.

"Because while everyone is the same, they all support other pieces," Harry muttered. His eyes brightened visibly as he saw a good move. "Knight to E5."

This time, it was Tom's white knight that was destroyed.

"I thought the point was to take out blocks so the tower doesn't fall," Tom pointed out, deciding to poke holes into Harry's analogy. "So some people are useless to life?"

"Well..." Harry muttered, suddenly realizing what he had implied.

"Bishop to F7. Check." Tom stated.

Harry scowled, scanning the board. "King to F7."

"Queen to D8." Tom added sweetly, promptly destroying Harry's queen.

At that moment, Harry suddenly realized that he should've paid much more attention to the game.

So, why don't you check out the story Fate's Favorite? I assure you, it's a hundred times better than this. And it's updated regularly.