A charge pulsed through the table. Flint lifted a brow; Pucey leaned closer. Warrington set down his glass with a clink. Theo, on the other hand, stiffened.

"That's classified," he hissed from their left. "You can't give away that kind of information."

"I'm not giving it away," Draco drawled. "I'm planning to win my hand, thank you very much." He took a leisurely sip from his wine glass. "And you, Theo? Do you have anything of value?"

Theo sat up straight in his chair, jostling the arms of the strawberry-blonde hanging off of his shoulders. "I can tell you which major government official plans to pay Edinburgh a visit next month," he snarled.

"Cirillo already said she'd be back—"

"No," Theo snapped. He sneered at the interruption. "Not Cirillo."

A pause as the boys considered.

"Well, you have my interest," Flint said with a grin. "Shall we play, boys?"

Flint whispered into Penelope's ear, and with some reluctance, Penelope leaned forward and blew on the dice before Flint tossed them.

Hermione watched cards exchange hands — watched the dice roll — watched the quick shuffling as the boys laughed and drank. She still couldn't figure out how the game was played, but she was far more invested in the conversation. One by one, the boys lost, spilling their secrets, and afterward, their gold. By the time they were down to their last few wine bottles, only Draco, Flint, and Theo had kept their secrets.

She'd learned that Mundungus Fletcher had been spotted outside the Edinburgh gates attempting to sell a Time-Turner. He'd been stripped of all his possessions, tortured for a few hours, and set free.

Pucey's news on France — that the Dark Lord had lost several new recruits during a battle near Normandy — had helped Hermione puzzle together two things. First, France was publicly against the Great Order — something she'd suspected, but hadn't confirmed until now. Second, the Dark Lord was enraged about it enough to go on the offensive — something uncommon for him. She wondered why France mattered to him.

Another two hands, and she found out more. The name of a suspected traitor in Cirillo's cabinet. How Jugson was missing more than a hand.

Flint finally lost his secret to a round of jeers, revealing that Angelina was spotted in Bristol at a closed-down Apothecary. Hermione's mind conjured millions of possibilities, but in the end, she knew that she shouldn't read too much into it. After all, while she had been on the run, she'd needed Dittany and Murtlap Essence more than anything else.

Theo didn't seem terribly put out when he folded, smugly announcing that Edinburgh would be hosting the Undersecretary to the Korean Minister.

Draco didn't lose, keeping his secret of who had escaped at Dover for another round. Hermione shoved aside her irritation that he hadn't told her before. She'd take it up with him later, but now was not the time.

By the end of the next, Pucey, having lost his gold and secrets several rounds before, began kissing Mortensen's neck as he listened to the game, only piping in every now and then. Goyle was doing something similar, only it seemed he had completely disregarded the game to focus on sloppily kissing Susan's mouth.