::rain's to be wondered at - a random slash fic by ikobe::

"Harry Potter..." Draco muttered under his breath as he sat in a shady corner of one of the many beautiful gardens inside Hogwarts' grounds. He was leaning against a tree, chin resting on his knees. A maintained, soft cool breeze made the late spring heat bearable. His ice-like gaze, with great intensity, hovered over the boy with dark tousled hair and dragon's jade green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. "I wish I didn't need you," he continued, his mutter turning into a hoarse growl. For once, the two were alone. Not together, but still alone. Yet the chance of someone appearing from what could seem out of nowhere was too great. If anyone caught sight of him near Harry... it was simply too risky.

Spring was shifting into summer, and the last cold storm errupted on an April afternoon. The wind was slicing through the trees, barely skimming the lake and howling in the various mazes of corridors in the castle. The rain threw itself down on the windows like it had never rained before. Draco stood solemnly near the edge of the lake, the cold wind-enveloped rain making his pale skin look deathly white. His fairly short peroxide- like hair refused to be whipped about as it was so heavily soaked. "You'll kill yourself out here, Malfoy." Draco looked over his shoulder, amused slightly by the words. "Ah, and of course, you would be so bothered, wouldn't you now." Laced with malice as always. "I... I didn't mean to say that." "What... what? You're apologizing?" Draco's ice-blue eyes flickered with something that could have resembled remorse.

"Seriously... Draco, you'll end up with pneumonia or something." He reached out to touch his face to see how cold it was, and retorted immediately. The blonde raised his eyebrows for a second, smiling weakly. "Hm. I'm alright. Really." Harry blinked in complete surprise. This was no venomous sly smirk, it was a proper smile, albeit a weak one. "God damnit," Draco hissed bitterly, turning away, and was about to launch into a little rant when he lost his balance and fell into the lake. "Draco!" The clouds errupted with thick thunder and the sky was like an amazing light show as Harry struggled to see through the veils of rain to help the blonde out of the water. Draco crawled out of the freezing lake, pupils dilated, clawing at the mud- slaughtered grass to get up. "Malfoy...!" He shook the pale boy furiously trying to get a reaction out of him. "Mm...wha..." Harry sighed exuberantly in relief, not realising through the clamour of rain he was crying, distorting the already blurred image of his beautiful green eyes. Draco reached up like a child and traced Harry's scar, breathing heavily through the cold, his breath rising in undetermined clouds. "Don't you ever bloody scare me like that again." His words fell on unconscious ears.

Warm summer air heated the infirmary early on a May afternoon. Outside, the various callings of a mass of children interwined with a symphony of birdsong. He had no real recognition of how long he had been unconscious, or what had caused him to faint in the first place, but as he became more aware of his surroundings, memories came flooding back. The rain... immense cold... and Harry. A whir of thoughts rung in his head, thankfully broken by a light tapping on the other side of the door. Before he could answer, as if it were routine, the door opened, and on the other side of it, a paler-than-usual dark haired figure emerged from the outer corrdior. "Oh... you're awake..." Draco smiled again, half-paralysing Harry with his soft, sad gaze. "I'm sorry, Draco." The blonde looked puzzled. "Why?" he asked in a whisper, his voice weak from not being used for so long. "It's my fault you fell into the lake. I couldn't get you out, I hurt you when you got out... I'm sorry." Draco's grim smile lifted to reveal a proper one, and it was like seeing a ring of light around the boy. Harry took hold of Draco's lower arm and stared solemnly into his ice-blue eyes. "It's... not your fault," he replied casually as if it happened all the time, "I shouldn't have been out in the first place. And anyway, I didn't listen to your advice, either... so save the endless apologies and just call it even, hm?"

"I don't understand... one minute they're trying to kill each other, the next... it's too weird." Whispers echoed through the houses and classes. "Hexes and spells, that's what I say it is," Ron explained to Hermione. "Do I sense a bit of the green-eyed-monster, Weasley?" Ron glared at Hermione, who smirked matter-of-factly. It wasn't even as if Harry was becoming reclusive, even somewhat evil, no, he was just as he always was, and had seemed instead to lift the veil of malice and masochism from Draco. He was still, under no doubt, quite sinister, and it was strange how Snape had not even noticed the change, or maybe he just didn't want to believe that his favourite student was deeply platonic with his worst.

Resting his head a little on his shoulder, and nestled into the dark haired boy's chest, every problem and worry dissolved in an instant. Summer was into full swing now, and finding shade was harder than it first appeared. With so many students, finding a secret, secluded spot in the cool darkness was near impossible, when it suddenly became apparent to Harry how easy the task could be. The Invisibility Cloak could easily cover the two boys with excess, and with the aid of the magic cloth they discovered various hidden areas of shade. "God... five months ago, just touching you..." Draco whispered as Harry stroked his rough peroxide hair. The sun moved rapidly, and the heat steadily began to rise. "Could sure use some rain right now, don't you think?" Harry held Draco closer, even though the heat was making it increasingly unbearable. "When it rains I always worry about you." "There's no reason to be, surely... after all, rain isn't a thing to be feared. Rain's to be wondered at."

::first attempt at HP slash, so don't kill me!::