Rain

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Caught Kissing in the Corridor

Dorothy yawned as she sat up in her bed. It had been about a month since her tutoring lesson and she'd been receiving tutoring from Draco for the past three Saturdays. She was a little groggy because her sleeping was limited the night before because she'd been studying over her notes and lost track of time.

The half-asleep sixth year turned her head blearily to the window and saw that it was a very lovely February morning. The sky was filled with light, wispy clouds and the sun was just coming over the horizon which made the color of the clouds vary from purple to red to orange. She smiled at the beautiful morning and stood to get dressed and head down to breakfast.

Meanwhile, in the Slytherin common room, Draco was sleep on an armchair, with his arms and head draped over one side as he snored lightly. She stirred a little and opened his eyes when he found he could no long find a comfortable position. He stared up at the ceiling of the common room for a moment before sitting up and popping out the crick in his neck. He stretched and then looked out the window himself to see the morning sky.

His bare feet padded lightly on the floor as he headed for the boys dormitories to get changed in. When he reached the dormitories for the sixth year students he was appalled to find that Pansy was lying on his bed expectantly, flipping through the pages of a Quidditch magazine he'd had on his nightstand. Draco decided to ignore her and get his clothes from the trunk. He pulled out a white button-up shirt and black pants.

"Good morning, Draco," said Pansy, acknowledging his existence after finishing with the magazine and setting it down. Draco sneered a little and then turned back to her.

"Pansy," he replied, looking a little irritated. "I would like to get dressed so leave me alone to do so."

"Here, I'll help—" but Draco cut her off with a glare.

"I can do it myself, thank you," he replied, setting his clothes down neatly on the top of his closed trunk. He glared at her back as she retreated back down the stairs and then changed into his clothes.

He sighed and then retreated back down the stairs into the common room to see Pansy yet again, lounging in an armchair, looking at the empty fireplace. She glanced up at him as he came down but turned back when he strode past her toward the portrait hole. When he was gone, she stood up and followed after her, stepping out of the portrait hole and watching him as he walked through the dungeons calmly, most presumably going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

When Draco stepped into the Great Hall he automatically glanced over at the Gryffindor table to see Dorothy looking straight at him, smiling lightly. He could still hear Pansy behind him and gave her a trademark smirk before heading toward the Gryffindor table. He stared blankly at the back of Dorothy's head as Hermione joined her and they started eating, chatting lightly with one another.

Other students began to file into the Great Hall, some glancing oddly at Draco who hadn't been giving his usually smirks and sneers lately. They all proceeded to their own house tables and Dorothy soon finished breakfast and stood up to leave. She glanced at Draco who remained seated instead of following her so nothing looked suspicious. When he'd waited a good ten minutes he too got up to leave, Pansy following his example.

When he left the Great Hall, with the pug-faced girl at his heel, he felt rather annoyed. After a few minutes of walking with her following him like his shadow, he turned to confront her.

"Why are you following me!?" he hissed, looking into Pansy's eyes. She blinked at him.

"Because I like you, Draco," she replied simply.

"Well, I would very much appreciate it if you would please stop following me!!" he retorted at her. She gave him a reproachful stare and recoiled a little.

"You've been acting so odd, Draco," replied Pansy, scanning his face for some familiarity. "I don't recognize you at all! Normally you would just tell me to sod off or something!! You've become soft, Draco...it's that Agel girl isn't it!? She's the one who's changed you, isn't she?!"

"What are you talking about!? I haven't changed at all!! Where are you coming up with all of these insinuations!?"

"But you're different Draco!! You aren't the same Draco I knew and loved!!"

Suddenly she rushed forward and pressed her lips against his, startling the blonde Slytherin boy before her.

Dorothy turned a corner and looked around, trying to spot some sign of Draco who was supposed to have met her in the library a half an hour before. She had all of her books ready, a piece of parchment laid on the table, a quill and ink bottle ready, and had just applied some new sparkling lip gloss her father had sent her for Christmas. She turned another corner and stepped lightly down a flight of stairs leading to the main hall again. When she reached the bottom and went through the door leading out of the grand staircase, the sight that met her eyes was horrifying.

Draco and Pansy...kissing!! Dorothy wanted to turn her eyes away, not believe it as nothing but a dream but it was if her eyes were magically fixed on the two as their lips were against each other. Her heart beat sped up and her vision was steadily becoming blurrier as her eyes filled up with tears of misery and betrayal. She wiped them away and watched as Pansy pulled away from Draco and turned to Dorothy and smirked.

After Pansy broke the kiss, he noticed she turned toward the door leading to the grand staircase. He too looked over and his grey eyes widened when he saw Dorothy standing there, a horrorstricken expression upon her pale face. He felt his heart jump up into his throat when two tears dripped down her pale cheek and landed on the floor of the main hall silently. She turned suddenly and, without saying a word, darted back up the stairs until her feet brought her to the Fat Lady's portrait.

Draco had a right of mind to chase after him, but his legs remained frozen, as if rooted to the ground. Pansy was still smirking that triumphant smirk. She then turned back to him and leaned in for yet another kiss when Draco's legs agreed to work with him and he jumped back several feet away from her puckering lips, a scornful glare upon his pale, pointed face. He wanted nothing more than to slap her and punish her for what she'd done but instead, taking advantage of his sudden ability to move, dashed up the stairs himself until he found the seventh floor. He stopped in front of the Fat Lady's portrait and figured that Dorothy must have gone inside.

"Password?" asked the Fat Lady, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Never mind the damn password," replied Draco feverishly. "Did you see Dorothy come here? Did she go into the Gryffindor common room?"

"I did see Dorothy," replied the portrait. "She did indeed also enter the common rooms. I believe her and Miss Granger are currently discussing something important. I pity the poor dear. She seemed to be in quite a state. Her eyes were full of tears, her body was shaking, and she kept muttering about something to herself."

Draco mentally cursed himself and let his head hit the wall, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He then looked back up at the portrait once more and said, "If you see her, can you tell her that Draco Malfoy is looking for her?" The Fat Lady nodded and Draco left, glancing back at the portrait once more before heading to the Slytherin common room.

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, in the sixth year girls' dormitories, loud sobs could be heard. Dorothy had her face buried in her pillow as Hermione rubbed her back and tried to comfort her though she knew not what was troubling her friend.

"Shhh," whispered Hermione, trying to soothe Dorothy's flustered actions. "It'll be okay. Everything will be alright."

For the first time since Dorothy had entered the common room, Hermione actually understood what she was saying.

"Everything -hic- will not be all right, Hermione! Draco kissed her! Of all the people he could have kissed, it was her!" blurted Dorothy before throwing her soaking wet face into the already damp pillow once more.

"He did what!? To who!?" asked Hermione, not believing what she'd heard.

"H-he kissed –sob, sob- Pansy Parkinson!" Dorothy turned her head out of the pillow and let more tears fall from her watery, red, puffy eyes.

Hermione jumped to her feet at this news and balled her hands into shaking fists. Her whole body was trembling with rage. She wanted to smack him...no! She wanted to kill him for the damage he had executed upon her friend's physical and mental state. How dare he!!

"And the worst thing...of...all," whispered Dorothy, her voice crackly and harsh from all of her crying, "was that he didn't even push her away...I feel so alone and betrayed."

That's what happens when you open up to someone you've only just met, said a voice in the back of her mind. You leave yourself open for an attack.

A/N: Just to specify this for my friend, the girls are aloud in the boys' dormitories but the boys aren't allowed in the girls'. Just a friendly note. Hey everyone. Long time no see, eh? Been a little busy with other fanfics but I'll be deleting a few. Don't worry, Rain isn't one of them. Also, I would like to say that Rain only goes to the end of the sixth year. The summer after and the seventh year will be in the sequel but the rating won't be PG-13. It'll be R. Just one last thing, I might be revising some stuff soon so I might not update for a while...but I might just decide against revising.

Ciao.

PS The chapters are getting long, huh?