A/N: Random idea, not sure if it's any good or just drivel. There is a plot idea here I swear! First fan fiction in a LONG time, sorry if anyone seems OOC, I tried.
Any thoughts would be great! Let me know if you think it's worth continuing~

UPDATE: Small edits. It should be noted that this Fic is a tad(I use the word loosely) AU, due to Rain's...background and other...stuff...(no spoilers for you!)

I Don't own Harry Potter, it's just nice to dream.

The One Good Thing

::~::

Chapter One
The First Moon

There were three things Rain Pratt knew for certain as she sat on the edge of the forbidden lake under the light of the full moon:

One: She had no talent for magic.

Two: She was muggle-born

And Three: She was probably going to throw herself into the dark water before her. Eventually.

She'd been crying again, unable to help it as she stared at the still water and wondered if anyone at the school would even realise she was missing. It was unlikely, being as she appeared to be invisible to the majority of the student body and faculty. Four years of study and she was still as friendless and unremarkable as she had been when she'd walked through the main doors the first time.
Rain wiped away some more stray tears from her blue eyes and sniffed. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them in hope of getting a bit warmer. The night air was much colder than it had been when she'd snuck out; she mused to herself. She was still eyeing the lake, debating once again on whether she should walk in and let herself float to the bottom.

The sound of something coming towards her brought the dark-haired girl back to reality. Rain Pratt didn't move as a large black dog emerged from the shadows, stopping, almost in surprise, when it caught sight of her.
The dog, it seemed, hadn't been expecting to see a fourteen year old girl sitting at the edge of the lake that night. It considered her carefully, as though unsure of how to proceed. Rain blinked at the dog, remaining silent so as not to spook it; more rogue tears escaped her eyes, but she dashed them away quickly. The black dog moved forward, slowly at first, still watching her closely. When it got within arms reach it seemed to notice her tear stained cheeks; it wagged it's tail at her hopefully. She forced a smile of encouragement, an instinctive reaction.
It tilted it's head at her and moved closer, resting it's head on her knees and whining slightly while wagging it's tail ever so slightly. Another smile, this one far less forced. She petted the dog's head slowly, enjoying the company, even if it was from a dog.

"Hey boy," she said softly. A pair startlingly human grey-blue eyes looked up at her, appearing slightly worried, "don't worry, I'm alright. I just needed to get out of there for a bit. Sometimes the place makes me feel like I'm suffocating," the dog appeared confused by these words, but, as he was a dog only whined softly in response.
He pulled away and lay down next to her, rolling onto his back playfully. For his efforts he got a quiet snort of amusement and a belly rub, both of which seemed to placate the dog somewhat. "I suppose it's nice to know someone cares, canine or not," the girl shook her head sadly.

She suspected her unlikely companion of the evening would have probably continued with his current actions of cheering her up, were it not for a long low howl disrupting the night air. The dog froze at this sound, then had stood quite suddenly; ears cocked as he listened intently to the shadowy moonlit landscape around them. "What's the matter?" Rain asked hesitantly. She then shook her head at herself, muttering about being alone for far too long. She was talking to an animal like it understood her now, what was next? Yelling at books for not telling her what she wanted them to? Perish the thought, if that were to happen she would definitely throw herself in the lake.
Again she was pulled from her thoughts by the dog. He had her sleeve in his jaws and was gently, if not firmly, urging her to rise. She obliged after he growled slightly and pulled a little harder on her sleeve. Once standing the dog began trying to lead her back toward the castle, Rain shook her head, wanting to stay by the lake a little longer.
He growled again, a little louder this time and gave up on the sleeve, choosing to quickly trot behind her and push his head between her legs; forcing the stunned girl to ride him. Barely having time to wonder if she was too heavy Rain and the dog were off, heading toward the dark silhouette of the castle as fast as he could with a girl on his back.
"Either I'm lighter than I thought," she began, "or you are much stronger than you look," if the dog heard her he didn't respond. He was constantly looking this way and that, as if he were worried about something else appearing out of the shadows.

They were nearly at the sprawling stone castle when a second long low howl, much louder this time, called out from the dark. The large animal tensed beneath her and quickened his pace. Then a pair of snapping jaws practically flew out of the night at her, Rain screamed and the dog barked and growled at the beast. She was on the ground, watching as the dog tried his best to drive the beast away. A stag then raced onto the scene and the dumbfounded girl watched mutely as the two animals steered the wolf-like creature back toward the Forbidden Forest. The stag didn't wait around, instead chasing after the creature as quickly as possible. Rain blinked, she would have sworn there was a rat riding on the stags head, but that was stupid. Rats did not ride around on stags heads for fun, did they?
The dog trotted back towards the girl, climbing over her as he checked for injuries. Thankfully she had been spared tonight, a shame, going out in a fight would have been quite nice now she thought about it.

She'd said goodnight to her canine companion and assured the strange animal that she would be fine before he'd raced off into the night. Rain had no doubt he was following the creature that had attacked them, what for she wasn't sure of however.

She walked along the outer wall now, looking for a particular stone that didn't fit with the others. It didn't take her long, she'd been using the passageway for two years after all; it was just harder to find at night.
Quietly, so as not to be caught by any teachers, Rain made the trip to the Gryffindor without incident. Though admittedly she had nearly been caught by Professor McGonagall as she had peeked around a tapestry to see if the coast was clear.

Finding her way to her room and changing quietly so as not to disturb her room-mates(not that she ever did), Rain found herself tucked up in bed with her mind still reeling. What had that creature been? Why had the strange dog hung around her, instead of going about it's business as a normal animal would have. The girl sighed and closed her eyes, it was nice having something else to think about, other than thinking up ways she could die. Ah well, she thought. Almost amused, there's always tomorrow for that. With these lonely thoughts the girl drifted off into unconsciousness, to dream of large black dogs with human eyes and for once, she didn't have a nightmare.

At breakfast the next morning Rain Pratt did not notice a dark haired boy lean forward in his seat and look down the table at her. She also didn't notice his grey-blue eyes watch as she pushed her food around her plate silently.

The boy watched as she left the Great Hall, hunched over and looking pointedly at the floor. She hadn't eaten anything that morning.
His friends called him back to their conversation and he allowed it, unable to do anything now she was gone from his sight.