When It Rains

Disclaimer: I just got an imaginary memo from J. K. Rowling telling me that I do not own any rights to Harry Potter and company. Darn, thought I had her fooled.

Author's Notes: I get to go see A Series of Unfortunate Events Saturday! And after that, I get to get family pictures with my mom, sister, and brother! And tomorrow I get to go to drama club! Wee!

'Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test and don't ask why
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life' --Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

The Rain in 1974

"Oh, don't be such a gloomy Gus," Kiora said, sitting across from Snape who was, once again, at the library doing work. "It's a beautiful day outside, why don't you go relax?"

"My name is not Gus," Snape sneered. "And besides, I don't have time to relax. I have to get this done. Just because some of us choose to slack off, does not mean I do."

Kiora sighed and rested her head in her hands, with her elbows on the table, "It's an expression." Snape looked up, one eyebrow raised.

"What?"

"Gloomy Gus," she said, sitting up straight. "It means complainer, defeatist, drag, fussbudget, sourball…"

"Ok, ok!" Snape said, shutting his book. Kiora grinned and patted his head playfully.

"See? It's not so hard," she said. He growled menacingly but it seemed to have no affect on her as she stood up and began to drag him outside.

"You're really annoying," Snape said, obeying and following her outside.

"I know," she said, no less cheerfulness in her voice. When they got outside, she stopped her shenanigans and let go of his arm, which she was conveniently using to drag him with.

"Oh no!" Snape said, slinking back and putting his hands in front of his face as if to shield himself. "The sun! It burns! I'm melting….I'm melting!" Kiora doubled over in laughter. Snape stood up and dusted off his robes. "I'm glad I got you to laugh, now can I go back inside?"

"No, you may not," she replied, standing back up and stifling her giggles.

"What about your friends?" he asked, folding his arms and smirking. She looked off to the side thoughtfully. It would be a little bad if they saw her talking and playing around with him like this. But they weren't anywhere near here. In fact, it was a Hogsmeade weekend. That's probably where they were.

"They're in Hogsmeade," she voiced aloud. She grinned widely at his disdain and skipped out onto the grounds, a small breeze blowing past her and making her hair messier.

"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" he asked.

"Why aren't you?"

"You can't use my own tactics against me!" he said, jumping down off the steps and coming to a stop in front of her. She spun around, her arms stretched out like a helicopter's propeller.

"I just did," she said as the breeze picked up into a slow wind. "I must have super powers." She stopped spinning and stood there, the wind blowing past a leaf.

"I'm sure you do," Snape shook his head, sitting on the bottom step. "So really, why aren't you with them?" Kiora frowned and sat down next to him.

"Well," she said, resting her elbows on her knees. "After spending most of my Summer with them, I decided I'd get in some brownie points with you."

"I feel so better now," he rolled his eyes.

"Don't act like you don't enjoy my company, oh high and mighty Slytherin," she said, nudging his shoulder with her own.

"I don't," he curled up one side of his mouth.

"Then why'd you come outside?" she asked innocently. He shot her a glare and she gave him an exaggerated smile.

"Because you dragged me!" argued the boy. She shook her head and tisked at him, shaking her finger as if to a toddler.

"But then why'd you stay?" she asked. He looked away from her and stared at the trees of the Forbidden Forest. It got darker as gray clouds hid the sun behind them. A shock of thunder sounded and it began to rain.

"Look," Snape said, turning back to her as the drizzle hit them softly. "Your evilness has made it rain."

"Ah," Kiora pretended to file her fingernails. "When do I get my award?"

"Whenever you become a Slytherin," Snape said, standing up to leave.

"Oh, you're just so funny!" Kiora joked and stood up, following after him…

"I got this for you," Remus said, pulling a box out from under his bed and handing it to Kiora. The rain pelted the window, making the outside vision blurred as she opened up the box Remus had gotten on his trip to Hogsmeade. She pulled out a simple white rose and smiled.

"It's wonderful," she said, twirling it between her fingers, making sure she didn't hurt herself on the thorns. She pulled Remus into a hug as James, Sirius, and Peter came into the room.

"Let's keep this G rated, children," Peter said, sitting down on his bed, a sucker in his mouth. The two broke apart with Remus rolling his eyes at Peter.

"Anyway," Remus said and he turned back to Kiora. "I like red ones, but I saw this one and it reminded me of you."

"Here," Sirius said, tossing a bar of chocolate to Kiora. She tried catching it but it went right through the gap in her hands. She reached back and picked it up.

"No wonder you don't like Quidditch," James laughed, pulling Kiora's head under his arm and rubbing her head, making her hair frizz everywhere from it's bun.

"No wonder she has messy hair like you," Sirius said, whacking James with his pillow.

"I'm going to go put this in my dormitory," Kiora said, picking up the rose again. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus followed. In the common room, Peter and Remus sat down on a couch and waited. When Kiora went up the stairs, James and Sirius followed. Before they could get even five steps up, the stairs turned flat and they slid back down. "Boys can't go into the girl's dormitories."

"We know," Sirius grinned. "We figured that out in our first year. It's just fun to slide down." When she got back down from her task, James, Sirius, and Peter had gone off somewhere. She fell back onto the couch next to Remus.

"Busy bodies aren't they?" she said. 'Wonder where they went….'

"They probably went to haggle Lily Evans again," Remus said as if reading her mind. "Poor girl. James fancies her, but she says he has no chance at all."

"Maybe she'll come around," Kiora smiled.

"That's what I used to think," commented Remus, looking out the window at the drenched grounds.

"Come with me," Kiora grabbed Remus's hand and led him out of the common room, down the hallways. He looked at her in mystification but didn't object. She reached the doors to the castle and bounded outside, into the quickly pouring rain.

"But…" Remus protested, his hair already flat against his forehead. She pulled the ribbon from her hair and let it down and then skipped off.

"It's just a little rain," she said, standing so she was facing him. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up. "I love the rain…" she sighed.

"Why?" he asked. She opened her eyes and jumped back in surprise. She hadn't heard him walk over to her and now he was right beside her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, shrugging slightly.

"It smells good, feels good," she answered. "It washes all your worries away, seems like you…I don't know….like you can just spend forever where you are. Even when you know that you can't. And you can…well…relate to it."

"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting her head up to look at him.

"Just look," she said. She pulled away from him and cupped her hands together, collecting a small puddle in her hand. "It's gray. Confused, like it doesn't exactly know where it is or why it's there. Doesn't know the answers, confused. Everyone is confused. If you aren't, then you aren't human or centaur or whatever else you may be…" She let the rain in her hands drop to the ground as she trailed off.

"And?" he asked.

"Stuck. Alone," she said. She laid down on the ground and closed her eyes. "Gentle at one moment yet murderous when provoked. That makes something truly dangerous." She opened her eyes and sat up. He sat next to her.

"I suppose I understand," he said, pulling his knees to his chest. "But how do you provoke rain?"

Kiora eyed Remus for a second, drops falling from his eyelids as he blinked. "I've yet to do it."

"I see," he said, leaning back on his elbows. She could feel his eyes boring into her and she grew uneasy. 'Why is he staring at me like that?' She finally returned his gaze. "You look lovely."

"You say that every day," she said.

"And every day it rings more true than the day before," he said. He leaned forward and kissed her slowly, snaking his arm around her waist. She kissed back and felt his tongue run along her bottom lip. Opening her mouth, she ran her own tongue smoothly around the inside of his mouth. After a few more seconds, they pulled apart.

They sat in silence for a while, the rain lightening until Remus spoke up. "I love you."

Kiora looked over at him, mouth opening slightly before she closed it and looked forward again. "I suppose I love you too."

"Good," he said, leaning back onto his elbows againas the rain finally halted. "Then it's mutual."

"Indeed it is," she said.

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Sweet A. K.: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this update!

Ron's Only Girl: Hehe, yeah I was planning on writing another story after this. Not a sequel, but just another story.

Cheerleader: Uh…let's pretend we don't know that! :D

Caligirl-HPLVR: I made you cry?! Wow! I've never done that before! That's so awesome! When you get your fic up, I'll certainly read it! And you'll probably be great, I have faith in you. Hehe. Thanks for the review.

Schnebz: She just likes it. Hehe, laziness is power! (Not really, but if we keep saying it is, it will be). And only I know Molly's secret! --evil laugh--

Kayhera: I'll go read your new chapter after my sister gets on the computer! In truth, I already started reading it but I had to go to school so I couldn't finish. Hehe.