A/N: Sorry it's been so long since my last update, I did actually have this finished ages ago but ff .net has been having some issues with the editing feature lately, so I was unable to post any new chapters. But enough of my excuses, you're all certain to love this chapter, so get reading!

Chapter Dedications: Jacob M. , mekio777, and primeval girl. Thank you all for the feedback. Also big shout-out to my Beta Crazy Muggleborn44, you're awesome girlie!

Chapter Eighteen

Rain went out into the grounds after class instead of going to tutoring with Remus and Lily. She had even skipped lunch with Regulus. She knew it would look like she was too scared to sit with her class mates, but it was still smart to avoid such situations that would cause a scene.

However, it was not this that was occupying her thoughts right now. No, what was bothering her, now was the way Peter had behaved earlier. He was always so cocky when hanging around James or Sirius, but as soon as Rain attracted danger his way, he nearly wet himself. She had known people like this; the hangers on. They put themselves behind stronger people to feel secure, but they were loyal to no one; they jump from one strong person to the next, always looking to attach themselves to the strongest person. If Rain didn't know that Slytherins hated Gryffindors, she might be worried that he would attach himself to Malfoy.

"Hey, Rain!"

Rain jumped, startled from her thoughts at the sound of James' voice. He and Sirius were jogging down the slope towards her.

"Hi, Prongs," she muttered. "Hi, Padfoot."

"We haven't seen you all day," Sirius stated, panting a little.

"Moony and Evans said you didn't show up to tutoring," James added.

Rain sighed. "Yeah, well..."

"Are you alright?" James asked, concerned.

"Fine, unless you count half of the Slytherin house out to get me. I can't go back to the dormitories for fear of all of them ganging up on me with no defense whatsoever, and I can't hide from them because, a) that's a cowardly move, and b) I don't want to give them the satisfaction that they scare me in even the slightest."

"Sounds like you're in a bit of a twist," said Sirius.

"Gee, ya think?" said Rain snidely.

"Hey, do you want our help or not?" James asked.

"What have you got?" Rain asked.

Minutes later, Rain was standing on the seventh floor in front of a blank wall. Behind her was a painting of a man foolishly trying to teach trolls ballet.

"Okay, what am I looking at?" she asked her friends.

"Hidden in this wall," James began dramatically. "Is the Room of Requirement."

"The what?"

"It's a room that will form into anything you need," said Sirius.

"Except food," said James. "It doesn't do food."

"Well, how do I get in?" Rain asked.

"Just walk back and forth in front of the wall thinking about what you need," Sirius explained.

"Okay, then," said Rain. Then, feeling very foolish, she started to pace up and down the corridor in front of the blank wall.

I need a place where I can be safe to sleep. Somewhere Malfoy and his lot can't get me. As an afterthought, she added, With all my stuff so I don't have to risk going back to the common room.

As she finished her third pass-by, she heard a small pop and turned to look at the wall, finding more than a wall in front of her. Before her was a large mahogany door with brass hinges and handle. She stared at it, dumbfounded and amazed.

"Well don't just stare at it, go in," James urged.

Rain reached out and took the handle and turned, stepping inside the cozy room. It looked like a more welcoming version of the Slytherin common room, with silver-grey carpets and plush green furniture. Apparently the room expected Rain would have visitors because there was not only a sofa, but a loveseat and two armchairs clustered around a warm fire that, thankfully, was not green. In front of the sofa was a mahogany coffee table on which she could do her homework.

At one end of the room was a door—also mahogany—leading to another room. Rain pushed the door ajar to find a bedroom. There was a large four poster bed at one end of the room with a trunk at the foot, and the curtains on the bed matched the ones in her dormitory (light green). She looked inside the trunk and found all of her belongings; robes, books, parchment, even pencils and pens. Upon further examination, Rain found a bathroom, complete with shower and towels, attached en suite to her room.

She came back out into her own private common room—which sounded like an oxymoron—to find James and Sirius lounging on the sofa, broad grins across both their faces. She grinned back, ecstatic.

"This is great, you two!" she burst out.

"The room did all this," said James. "We just showed it to you."

"It could do with less Slytherin-ness, though," Sirius commented, eying the Slytherin banner hung up over the fireplace.

"I like it," said Rain. "I'm not ashamed of being a Slytherin."

"No one's saying you should be," said Sirius hastily.

"Is this what the Slytherin common room looks like?" James asked.

"A little bit. This room is much cozier, though. The bedroom is a very close replica of my dormitory, though."

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Though there's a bit too much green for my tastes, I have to admit, it is much more welcoming than the Slytherin common room."

"This is great," Rain agreed. "Thank you so much."

She threw her arms around both of them and hugged them tightly. Now she had a safe haven to go to until things blew over.

October turned to November and with it came cold weather and the Quidditch season. Rain was so excited for the first match of Slytherin versus Gryffindor.

"I don't know who to root for," Rain commented at breakfast the day of the match.

"Gryffindor of course," said James. "You're practically one of us."

"You see, that's exactly what I mean," said Rain. "I feel pressure from you to root for Gryffindor, but then I do have some loyalty to Slytherin, even if most of them are prats, and then there's Regulus to consider; he's the Slytherin team's Seeker."

"I see your dilemma," said Remus. "Loyalty to your friends is a valuable asset."

Rain smiled.

"I just had an idea to solve that problem," said Sirius.

"What?"

"Root for Gryffindor to win but root for Regulus to catch the Snitch, that's what I'm going to do."

"Brilliant, Padfoot!" Rain exclaimed. "Dilemma solved!"

The boys all laughed.

An hour later found four of the Marauders sitting in the portion of the stands belonging to the Gryffindor supporters, while James left them to go to the locker rooms to prepare for the match.

Rain had never seen anything like it. Just five minutes of watching the match and she knew she'd never be able to watch another game of basketball again. Everyone just moved so fast and co-ordinated like it was choreographed. Rain mostly kept her eyes on James as he weaved all over the place, passing the Quaffle expertly back and forth between the other two Chasers and himself while avoiding Slytherins and Bludgers at top speed on his Cleansweep 5. Every now and then, Rain would look up, high above the pitch at the speck that was Regulus. She wondered how he could see the tiny Golden Snitch from that height, but as a Seeker, he must have great eyesight.

The game went on for close to two hours with Gryffindor leading two hundred and ten points. Though she had been excited before, Rain was now becoming bored of the repetitive game and didn't care any longer which team's Seeker caught the Snitch, she just wanted it caught soon so she could go back to the castle and warm up. It was clear both teams were thinking along the same lines as Rain was, as they were all rather a lot more sluggish on their brooms than they had been at the start of the match.

It was as Rain was contemplating summoning a book from the castle to read for the remainder of the match that Regulus suddenly broke into a dive. Everyone in the stands stood up for a better view of the spectacular move from the Slytherin Seeker. He dodged a half-hearted Bludger from a Gryffindor Beater, skirted past James, who had paused, mid-air, to watch, and snatched at something Rain couldn't see, just meters from the ground, pulling out of the dive just in time.

The crowd exploded into cheers. Even the Slytherins were happy the game was over even though they had lost by sixty points; everyone was exhausted.

As she was walking up the corridor on her way to the seventh floor that evening, Rain heard angry voices coming around the corner. Recognizing one of them to be Malfoy, she quickly ducked into a secret passage behind a tapestry to avoid being caught on her own by her worst enemy in the school.

"You're useless, Wondrant!" Malfoy was saying. "You let the Quaffle through fifty-eight times!"

Rain realized that Lucius Malfoy, captain and Beater for the Slytherin team, was yelling at his Keeper, Spencer Wondrant.

"Well, you chose me for the team," Wondrant retorted. "Don't blame me for your poor decision!"

"You were the only one who tried out!" Malfoy spat. "I can hardly be blamed for that."

"Fine, find another Keeper, I quit." And with that, Wondrant stormed off.

Malfoy stood and fumed for a minute before marching down the corridor towards the dungeons.

Rain waited a minute before creeping out of her hiding place. As she rounded the corner, she smacked right into Regulus. The two of them were caught off balance and Rain fell backwards and Regulus fell on top of her, his face embarrassingly close to hers. He looked into her eyes for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Rain suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss him. The idea shocked her, but it wasn't an unpleasant thought. He suddenly realized how close they were, turned bright red and clambered to his feet, then offered a hand to help Rain up.

"Sorry, I should have been looking where I was walking," Regulus mumbled.

"It's okay," said Rain. "I wasn't looking, either. I was a bit preoccupied with hiding from Malfoy."

"Did you hear what they were talking about?" he asked, as if looking for something to distract from the moment before.

"Yeah, looks like Malfoy will need to find a new Keeper."

"Problem is, nobody else tried out in September and I don't see anybody doing so soon. We're hosed."

"You know, if Malfoy didn't have a grudge on me, and didn't hate Muggleborns, I would try out for Keeper," Rain commented.

"You should anyway," urged Regulus. "You're good, I've seen you play."

"And what? Make Malfoy's revenge look like an accidental Bludger to the head? I don't think so."

"He won't injure you if you are his only option for a Keeper. Not to mention the fact that you're fairly brilliant at Quidditch for someone who's only been playing for two and a half months. Malfoy wants to win."

"Well, maybe I'll try out," Rain contemplated. "But I'm gonna leave it for awhile and let some time pass, hopefully by then, Malfoy will be less vengeful."

"Good idea. Are you coming back to the common room?"

"No, I have somewhere else to sleep. I don't think it's safe for me in the dungeons on my own anymore."

Regulus nodded. "Okay, well...goodnight."

He stood awkwardly, not sure how to bid her a proper goodnight.

Rain got an odd compulsion to kiss him again but didn't know how he would react so she hugged him instead and walked away up the corridor before he could notice her blush.

When she got to her room, she quickly changed and got into bed staring at the ceiling. She contemplated her growing feelings for Regulus Black. She always brushed off the teasing comments that James and Sirius sent her way that she fancied the latter's younger brother, but now she wasn't so sure. Did she really fancy Regulus? It wasn't a wholly unpleasant idea.

Apart from the fact that he was one of her best friends' younger brother, Rain didn't really see why she shouldn't fancy Regulus. He was kind and sweet and he winced every time someone uttered the word 'Mudblood'. On the other hand, if the other Slytherins found out that she fancied a Black, they would have a conniption, not to mention what his mother would say—or do! But he was such a nice boy, and Rain was really starting to realize that she spent a lot of time with him. Well, a girl can dream can't she?

With that last thought, Rain drifted off to sleep, dreams of Regulus dancing around her subconsciousness.

A/N: Aww isn't that the sweetest? What drama will ensue if a Pureblood from a Pureblood supremacist family starts dating a Muggleborn? Dun dun da! R&R!