See notes at end of story! ^.^

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Whispers in the Rain

Chapter 22: The Knight

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Harry watched from down the street as Draco and Pansy walked into the Hogmeade costume shop. He walked a bit closer, until he was able to see through the window. He watched measuring tape zip around Pansy. The young shop keeper must of insisted on taking Draco's measurements by hand. He stood with a displeased look on his face as the woman bent down to measure his inseem. She got a little close for both his and Harry's taste, resulting in Harry clenching his fists as he watched.

Harry was quick to dodge out of the way as the two stepped out of the shop and headed down the street away from Harry. Frowning, Harry immediately walked into the store and straight to the front desk. The young woman looked up and smiled. "May I help you?"

"Uh, yes..." Harry cleared his throat. "I was wondering what the c-c-coup... two people who just came in were ordering."

The woman gave him an odd look, but continued to smile none the less. "Oh, yes, aren't those two darling together?"

"Not particularly." Harry muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" The woman asked. Harry quickly shook his head. "Oh, well then, let's see... Ah, the girl, Parkinson he called her, is going to that cute little dance of yours as Guinevere. The handsome boy, Draco I believe, will be her King Arthur."

"Okay... Who are they?" Harry asked more to himself than to the woman. She answered anyway.

"Oh, the tale is just lovely, it really is." She told him, leaning onto the desk and sighing. "It's one of the few muggle tales that are also found in the wizard lore, you know. King Arthur took for his bride Guinevere. They were a most romantic couple, they did love each other. But, then came along the knight Lancelot and ruined the whole ordeal!"

"Did he?" Harry asked, slightly intrigued.

"Yes, Guinevere and him had an affair. Broke the King's heart, that did." The woman developed a sly look on her face. "The funny thing was, Lancelot and Arthur were quite the couple themselves. Now, I'm not saying anything of course. Nothing has been proven and it's not the most accepted idea. But, I think it's quite possible Lancelot was with Arthur as well. Yes, it was quite the triangle, that was."

"I can imagine." Harry replied, thinking. The woman straightened up and once again looked professional, having done her gossip for the day.

"Now, what can I get for you?" She asked. Harry looked at her a moment, then broke into a wide grin.

Draco slumped in his chair, staring at the fire in the Slytherin common room. The thoughts of his rejection still plagued his mind. With a bored, sullen look he glanced over at Pansy. Why Draco said yes to going to the dance with her was beyond his comprehension. He could only guess that he was desperate for a date. For a chance to prove to Harry that he wasn't going to let him bring him down. Draco let out a small sigh as he pictured Harry in his mind. Turning back to the fire, Draco continued to pout, hardly aware of the people bustling around him preparing for the dance.

"This is so itchy, Hermione!" Ron complained, scratching his shoulder. Hermione slapped at him and told him to stop, which he purposely ignored. He continued to scratch at the uncomfortable suit he had been forced to wear. He glanced over at Hermione and wondered why she wasn't scratching herself. How in the hell did people live back then?

"Where is Harry?" Hermione asked Ron after an hour had gone by. Ron shrugged and scratched his neck. She reached over and grabbed his arm and yanked it down. "Well, go see if he's alright!"

"Fine, fine, fine." Ron mumbled, walking stiffly up the dorm stairs. He took one glance back at his date, who smiled incouragingly at him, before opening the door.

The dorm room was empty, excluding the sitting lump of metal on Harry's bed. Ron raised an eyebrow as he took a step closer towards it. The lump moved slightly, as someone breathed. Blinking, Ron tried to figure out what in the hell it was. Apparently it was Harry, dressed up in full knight armor, chain mail and all. Ron walked over to him. "Hey, mate, you okay?"

"E unta breeee!"

"Huh?" Ron gave a confused look. Harry tried again.

"E unta breeee!"

"E unta breeee... breeee... breath?" The lump nodded. Ron's eyes widened and he reached over to Harry adn attempted to pull the helmet off. It woudln't budge. Harry was on the verge of tears by the time Ron yanked the thing off his head. His face was beet red, his hair in even more a mess than usual, and his eyes had turned bright green from the almost shed tears.

"Thanks." Harry gasped.

"No problem." Ron shook his head, looking down at Harry. "Why did you choose this of all things?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Harry muttered. "It's not so bad without the helmet."

"Can you move?"

"Yea." Harry stood up with a loud clank. He gave Ron a frustrated look. "I look like one of the statues of armor in the hall!"

"Well, yeah, yeah you do." Ron admitted. Harry groaned. "Don't worry, we can fix it. Let me go get Hermione, she'll know what to do better than I will."

Ron quickly went off for his girlfriend. He returned soon with Hermione, who walked straight over to Harry and got to work. She over looked his outfit and tutted. "Why she gave you armor on your legs is beyond me! It's not like your going off to battle. It's just a dance."

"If it's just a dance, then why couldn't I have my suit in a light cotton, instead of this itchy crap?" Ron asked. Hermione chose not to react to his question. Instead she transfigured Harry's armor into breeches and removed the front and back plate, so it just showed the chain mail. Harry was much happier once she was done. He still looked like a knight, just a knight who wasn't clanking off to battle. He moved around the room a bit, making sure he didn't clank with every footstep.

"Your brilliant Hermione." He told her. She gave him a small smile.

"Well, you ready?" She asked the two boys. Ron nodded, still scratching. "Okay, let's go."

Draco was the last to get dressed. Pansy glared at him as he finally came down from the boy's dorms. He glanced her over and decided Pansy didn't look so bad in midevil clothing. She swayed her soft green gown slightly and grinned charmingly at Draco. He responded by rolling his eyes. They then proceeded towards the Great Hall. Crabbe and Goyle followed behind them, each as a member of the round table.

Draco didn't see Harry in the hall. He scanned over everyone quickly. His grey eyes momentarily paused on what he had to call the oddest sight in the world. It seemed Neville Longbottom and his date Susan Bones had decided to come as, well, food. Neville stood in a large brown, styrofoam suit, something that Draco assumed was suppose to be a bean. Susan wore a large yellow square suit. It took Draco, along with everyone in the room, to figure out it was cornbread. Ah yes, beans and cornbread, the perfect combination. Draco hide a smile and returned to searching for Harry.

Little did he know, Harry was pacing the entrance hall outside. Ron and Hermione looked at him slightly worried. He told them to go on ahead, that he would be in shortly. Once everyone had preceeded into the Great Hall, Harry sat down on one of the steps. He took a glance inside, at the sparkling cieling. The walls were lined with white picket fences where peach colored roses grew up. White and peach was the color theme, and was evident with the bows and roses decorating the room. It was beautiful.

Harry sighed and turned away from the white and peach sight. He took a deep breath and listened to the music drifting out into the entrance hall. A fast beat played, followed by another. Harry tapped his foot to the music nervously. He sat out there for about an hour, debating his plan. Ron came out a couple of times to check on him and bring him a class of punch. When a goregous slow song started to play, Harry stood and headed towards the doors.

Draco stood along the wall, Crabbe and Goyle with him. He cast a glance over at Pansy, who was busy flirting with another Slytherin boy. The motion of the doors opening caught his attention, and he turned to look. There, standing in a knight suit simular to his own, was Harry. Draco stared. Harry skimmed the room and spotted the one he was looking for. Draco looked, in Harry's mind, stunning. The knight of armor and royal cloak fit him perfectly. Harry took a deep breath, met Draco's eyes, and walked forward.

To most of the hall, it seemed like Harry was just walking across to meet someone. They didn't really pay attention to where he was heading. It wasn't until a few gasps echoed past the soft music that the majority of the room turned to look. The Boy Who Lived stood in front of the Pride of Slytherin. Slowly, he bent down onto one knee and looked up at the pale blonde. Draco stared at him with a chocked expression, his mouth open to speak, but no words comming out. Harry slowly reached up and took one of Draco's hands.

"Dance with me."

Draco's only reply was a simple nod. Harry stood and lead Draco out onto the now empty dance floor. The room was cast in silence as the two wrapped their arms around each other. Both closed their eyes and held the other, holding as thought it was their last time.

The room was in a silent shock. Ron and Hermione smiled softly at each other, holding each other's hands, and watching the two boys dance. At the teacher's table, Professor Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. He looked past an amazed McGonogal at Professor Snape. Snape watched the two boys with a frown. Then, slowly, the frown turned into a small smile. Crabbe and Goyle watched Harry and Draco dance, a little uncertain as to what they were suppose to do. Pansy fumed, but didn't say anything.

Draco felt as though the room was empty, that is was just the two of them. He held Harry close to him, feeling his body even through the chain mail and armor. Hary gentle kissed Draco's cheek and whispered just loud enough for Draco to hear him. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Your here now." Draco pulled his head back and looked into Harry's green eyes. Slowly, their faces came together, ending in a soft and gentle kiss. Another gasp echoed through the room. Neither of them noticed. They were too wrapped up into each other, their lips dancing softly with the slowly, mesmerizing beat.

The room slowly went back to normal and people joined the two on the dance floor, the first being Ron and Hermione. Draco and Harry continued to sway back and forth, barely reconigsing the other epople in the room. Holding onto one another, they felt like their hearts beat as one. Both smiled softly, knowing that this was what happiness was.

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*sniffle* it's over. OMG, it's actually over. *cries* i'm gonna miss you!!1 *huggles story*

I would liek to thank all the epople that ever reviewed!! I would call you all by name, but I'm terrible at remembering stuff like that. So, i'll just stick with this: *insert your name here*, I love you! thanks for reviewing and suporting my story!!

And you know what, i was looking back over this the other day and I did something with the rain. lol. Everytime it rains in this story, some kind of event happens! Weird, eh? I didn't even mean to do that! lol. *grin*

I hope you enjoyed this story. i know I did writing it.

:::lots a love, Aranami:::