Disclaimer: I do not Own Harry Potter...

Long Story Short, I asked the people on the FB page I Admin [The 7 HP Books are My 7 Horcruxes, without them I wouldn't have a Life] for ideas.

-First & Second Comments, a character from HP. Third Comment, Location. Fourth and Fifth Comment, Random Item/Object. And Final/Sixth Comment, Random Word. 1. Draco 2. Luna 3. Hogsmeade 4. A Portkey 5. Umbrella 6. Flibbertigibbert


Could I ask you all something, please?

Would you all mind Voting for me? www. myhogwarts .co .uk /honeydukes/1094 All 3 times? [It's a daily thing...]

PLEASE? It would mean so much to me...


~*BEWARE THE RAIN*~

~)0(~

His teeth were set on edge by the grating sound of her incessant talking, the high, clear voice so full of excitement and oddities, he near could not stand it any longer...

Here, of all places, she should feel fear, anger, betrayal...SOMETHING, but no... little Miss Ravenclaw has to be all... well, *her*... The Slytherin felt something twitch under one eye, hands clenching into fists that were slick with numbingly cold water.

In fact, his entire body was covered in the freezing liquid substance, and he shivered near continuously... so cold; though the other blonde in the room seemed completely oblivious, which annoyed him no end...

Where 'Here' was, exactly, was also a mystery at the moment. A draughty, dark place full of stone walls and never-ending corridors, shadows that shifted with malicious intent and watching eyes... This felt wrong.

Still, she blithered on oblivious to the danger they were in! Something inside finally snapped, "Shut UP!" he screamed, the word ringing off every grey wall, thrown back at them with the full force of the rage and helpless frustration as he felt, "Of ALL possible people to be trapped in some unknown, god-forsaken place...it has to be you! No, I *don't* care if there's a Snumple-honked Crawnsnacker in the room back there... *No*, I do *not* care if you suspect there are Blitherworts in the ceiling... and *No* I *certainly* do NOT give a bloody damn, if you think there are Flibertigibbets hiding under my robes!"

Luna paused, blinking wide eyes that rapidly drew to focus on his face in surprise... They blinked slowly, and went wide, a profound sense of *hurt* emanated from her... Draco rasped in an angry breath after his tirade, shaking with the paralysing cold that was slowly numbing his body to the world; she was quiet a moment, eyes dancing over him and seeming to suddenly realise that, she too, was wet...

Dripping, in fact. Her lithe body shivered under the flimsy outfit she had chosen for the trip to Hogsmeade this morning... some silly combination of material that created a dress of many layers of partially-transparent fabric, mottled autumn colours making her look like a wandering inferno.

She looked quite downtrodden all of a sudden, downcast eyes and quivering bottom lip. Draco sucked in a breath and let out a slow exhalation, allowing the excess anger to release itself... Really, it hadn't been her fault it was raining... pouring in fact, and that he had lost both Crabbe, Goyle *and* Zabinski!

Nor had it been her fault that she had first spotted the innocuous item lolling against a nearby tree, seemingly abandoned there by chance...

It *had* been his fault that he had staked a claim to it; and it was true, said situation could be considered her fault, if you took into account her generous nature... How she hadn't been made a Hufflepuff, he would never know...

It *was* her fault that she was so kind, so giving, as to offer to share the lonely-looking black umbrella... it *was* her fault that they both reached for it at the same time and brushed the bare skin of their hands... It *was* her fault that a thrilled tingle ran up his arm, just before his grasping fingers touched the umbrella and felt the whirling spell of alarm as the portkey was activated...

It was *not* her fault, however, that they struck the cold, harsh floor of the...where-ever they were, with loud exhalations as the stone robbed them of their breath... Nausea roiling deep within.

It was *not* her fault, indeed, that she had tried to lighten the atmosphere with her vague banter... In fact, he saw now, it was that banter that had somehow persuaded him to rise from the dust and clutch at the walls, to force himself along the corridors in darkness... To grope about to find the wand that had hit the ground and skittered away at the first opportunity; to take his fears and swallow them away...

He, Draco Malfoy, Pureblood and Slytherin through & through, had never considered... Never dreamed that... Luna would mean so much to him in a single moment, more than any member of his nearly-estranged family. More than House Pride, more than his power over his two hulking shadows, more than the praise of his beloved Professor Snape...

It was simple. She was here, in this dark, desolate, unknown... she was *real* and he could live with that, not caring for tomorrow. He was not alone... No matter what awaited them in this dark hell -and for certain it was horrific, for things tittered away in the darkness, scratching, scraping and shrieking- he was not alone...

It was a little known fact... he did not like to publicise the fact he *needed* the comforting presence of another Human Being to stop himself from going mad and bursting into tears... but Draco Malfoy feared isolation. Despite what others may think of him, he had a heart...and it could break just as easily as any man's...

What was it about this place that invited such blatant introspection of yourself? Why would anyone send them-...

"Are you alright?" her voice was soft in the gloom, and he started as a hand touched the wet mess of fabric covering his right shoulder, from behind.

So much was asked of him, so much expected... No one had ever asked if he was alright, before; it was simply expected he would be. Malfoys *endured*.

Mouth gaping a little, he managed a squeak... "I...I, um... *ahem* I am fi-..." his voice broke again on the word 'fine', threatening to abandon him completely. Her wane smile was kind as she whispered, "It's okay, I'm afraid too... There are things in the darkness..."

"Not one of your 'Scrack-humped Snorkledingers' now is it? How big do they get again...?" he asked nervously, eyes darting about; his hand gripped his wand tighter, mentally revising every defensive spell he had ever learnt...

With a hand he had not realised was holding hers, Draco slipped Luna behind him, raising the wand to chest height and praying she took the slight quivering to be cold, and not the fear he felt in that moment.

"Actually," she said absently, "the Crumple-Horned Snorkack can reach lengths of forty-feet and occasionally like to hide in abandoned castles... They only come out during torrential...downpours...like we had...today... Oh." Her eyes widened in realisation.

She pressed close behind him, her hot breath rapidly gusting over his neck as she began to panic... Goosebumps rose, hand sliding to her wrist... "When I say 'Run'...run for the Portkey, got it? I'll be right beside you... Ready?" He felt, more than saw, when she nodded against his shoulder...

Something very, Very Large, make slithering snicker-snack noises as it moved over the large flagstones of the floor... he tensed; her body mirrored his. Closer... closer...closer...

"RUN!" he bellowed, and they turned, flinging caution to the wind and running for their lives... Feet pounding out a deafening rhythm on the floor, only matching the frantic tempo of their hearts, the maddened pace not even breaking stride long enough to register the creature had stopped long ago...

Hands Reached... Hands Grasped... Hands Touched.

The world swirled about in a nauseating sea of colours, finally dumping them on the rain-sodden pavement of Hogsmeade in the midst of a torrential downpour... He nearly cried with relief -though he would later refute it as ain in his eyes...- and burst out laughing... Mingling with Luna's own.

Draco dragged himself upright, pushing to his feet with a mad grin of relief... Luna was crouched to his right when they heard a familiar voice cry out, "Oh, *there's* my Umbrella! Told you Neville!"

Harry came into view, tugging on the hand of his year-long boyfriend, Neville Longbottom, equally as drenched and looking rather exhausted; in the background, Hermione, her hand linked with that of Pansy Parkinson, and a lonely-looking Ron, appeared. The latter's face beamed as he saw Draco...

Potter's fingers stretched out to snag the small black umbrella from where it lay, innocently, in a puddle of water beside Luna...

"NO!" Both Luna and Draco cried out in horror, Harry jerked his hand back in surprise. "Whyever not...? What's gotten into you two...?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow behind the iconic glasses that were just so...*Potter*.

Not to mention, that he, Draco Malfoy, had personally caught Longbottom wearing a spare pair of them when Harry was away during Christmas break...

He took a deep breath and tried to surmise all the swirling thoughts in his head into a singular explanation, "Well, raining...a lot. Very much of the raining...water, *everywhere*! Then Luna, umbrella... Tree over there... Fighting... Grabbed it...portkey...giant lizard Snumpled-honk Strokack... Didn't know...dark. Castle maybe...? Trap! Portkey... Fought it...ran, grabbed umbrella... Back in the wet. Safe... Luna... **Don't Touch the Umbrella!**" He shrieked at the end, panting.

Harry took a step back, whereas Luna took a step forwards, humming... and planted a kiss on his lips... She pulled away with a grin, "You talk too much..." and skipped away to go and find Ginny, as Ron fainted; Draco stood there with a silly look on his face.

Harry patted him consolingly on the back, "Don't worry, no one's going to touch the evil umbrella... Let's...get you to Madam Pomfrey." But Draco shook him off, walking over to check if Ron was alright...

Hermione, silent until now and eyeing the umbrella suspiciously, chirped, "If anyone needs to see Madam Pomfrey, it's Luna... she has THE worst taste in men..."

Draco hexed her.

…Her hair has never been the same again.

~~~~~Time Dissolve~~~~~~~

"...and *that's* why the Crumple-horned Snorkack delivers babies instead of the Stork on Mondays..." Professor Lovegood informed the class of wide-eyed First-Years.

"She's mad..." Ron whispered to Draco, watching from the back of the room with amusement, having already finished the mandatory, 'Where Baby Gryffindors/Slytherins Come From...' speeches [Ron was adamant that the cold-blooded Slytherins just slithered out from under Pureblood rocks, and Draco always threw back that Gryffindors fell out of the Stupid Tree...hitting every branch on the way down.].

'Professor Malfoy' nudged him, "Oh admit it, you're still jealous she kissed me all those years ago, aren't you...?" The scarlet flush that matched Ron's hair was proof enough of what he didn't say...

"Don't make me go and get the Black Umbrella, Draco, you know I will..." he muttered back, grinning lewdly. It had become somewhat of a joke and a strange kink in recent times...

As if they weren't *already* 'checking' all the mistletoe in the castle was up to 'standard' with a few unusual techniques... On the plus side, Draco didn't have any Nargles anywhere Ron could find, and vice versa...

Well, someone was a little excited by that statement, and they pressed closer together, a flush spreading across both faces... The mood interrupted by the shocked gasp of a good fifty First Years and Luna calmly stating, "And this, students, is a prime example of why the Crumple-horned Snorkack is needed..."

Professor Weasley fainted. Professor Malfoy rolled his eyes and Professor Lovegood dismissed the class, making her way to the back of the classroom... She nudged the unconscious Ron with her shoe...

"Still likes to faint?" she said, curiosity in her voice. Draco snorted, "Yeah, getting pretty good at that, actually..."

"Must have flibertigibberts in his brain...they make your mind all whoopsy-daisy..." Luna said with a straight face, bending down to prod Ron, "Or..." she said standing, "He could always be pregnant..."

And it was Draco's turn to faint.

Luna rolled her eyes, "Men…" and skipped away to find Ginny…


The End


It's long, it doesn't make sense and you are probably thinking, WTF? right about now, right?

Long story short... [excuse the pun] I literally thought of the opening line, and started there, no plot...just wrote. It's what I do...

So, it's a little, wonky...

Review if you want...

~SailorSilvanesti/PhoenixFire~