A/N: Hey, everyone! Happy Easter! It's not a chocolate egg but it's just as sweet ^_^ Enjoy!
Chapter Dedications: indescribable music , EvilPurpleCookiePenkeyMonguin , and Jacob M. Thanks for the feedback. And as always, thank you to CrazyMuggleborn44 for beta-ing.
Chapter Twenty
"You WHAT?"
It was breakfast the next day and Rain had just told the Marauders that she gave up her chance to be on the Quidditch team.
"I didn't think his terms were fair," said Rain.
James looked devastated.
"What were his terms?" asked Remus.
"To not associate with Gryffindors."
"WHAT?"
"Potter!" McGonagall snapped from the head table.
James ignored her. "That's bullocks, that is."
"I would watch your language, Potter," said Lily, sitting down next to Rain.
"He has a good reason, Evans," Sirius explained. "Rain was denied a spot on the Slytherin Quidditch team just because she's friends with Gryffindors."
"What? That's so unfair!" cried Lily in outrage, surprising James. "You should go to Slughorn, he'll put this right."
Sirius scoffed. "That's your solution to everything, Evans. Tell a teacher."
"He's head of Slytherin house," Lily said defensively.
"Don't worry about it," Rain put in, trying to prevent an argument. "I have a feeling Malfoy's going to come crawling back to me any day now."
The Marauders and Lily stared.
"When I left, I heard the rest of the team arguing amongst themselves; none of them want Whitman on the team. No offense to him, but he can't fly to save his life."
"Rain, that's not very nice," Lily scolded.
"Don't worry, Evans, it's true," said a voice behind them, making them jump and causing Peter to fall out of his seat.
"Whitman!" Rain cried, shocked. "What are you doing over here?"
"We came to tell you the good news," said Regulus, stepping out from the bulky sixth year.
"Good news?" Sirius asked his brother. "What good news?"
Regulus sat down next to Sirius, grinning. "Rain's on the team!" he said, unable to hold it in any longer.
"But Malfoy…"
"The rest of the team went berserk when Rain left the pitch. We've never seen a Keeper that good. Malfoy tried to tell Chris here that he was on the team in Rain's place—"
"But I told him he was delusional," Christopher Whitman interrupted. "Even I know I'm rubbish at Quidditch. He's being prejudiced; we all know he wouldn't set the same guidelines if Rain was pureblood or even half-blood."
"In the end, the team convinced him to let you on," Regulus finished, turning to Rain. "So what do you say?"
Rain looked to Lily and the Marauders. She was met with five encouraging nods.
"You got it!" Rain said.
"Is that an American term?" Regulus asked, head cocked to one side, perplexed. "I don't understand, does that mean you'll join the team?"
"It sure does!"
After that day, Rain trained hard for the next match against Ravenclaw. Malfoy pushed her harder than anyone else on the team, insisting that she had to get up to the same level as everyone else if they were going to win the next match. Anyone else would have been totally outraged at the way Rain had to constantly dodge Bludgers while simultaneously saving goals under impossible conditions, and indeed, the Marauders were the most outraged.
"How can that slimy git treat you like that?" James raged one Thursday evening.
"He's my captain," Rain said simply, scarfing down her mashed potatoes as she hadn't had time to eat before practice and was very hungry.
"That's no excuse," said Remus, annoyed at her nonchalance. "He's working you to exhaustion."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "I'll bet he's just hoping you'll quit from all the pressure."
"Well I'm not going you quit, am I?" Rain said defiantly. "When I help win us this next match against Ravenclaw, I'll be able to sleep in my dormitory again, and not a single Slytherin will be able to say a bad word against me."
"But Rain, you should take a stand against this mistreatment," Remus pleaded.
"I am taking a stand," she insisted. "Malfoy doesn't want me on his team, but by me refusing to quit, he's stuck with me. When we win the match, he'll have no reason to continue treating me the way he is."
"But, Rain," James tried, but she cut him off.
"I'm not like you, James. I'm not a Gryffindor, I don't solve conflicts by marching up to them. I'm a Slytherin, we're sly and cunning, this is what we do. I'm appearing to take the abuse Malfoy sends my way, but in reality, I'm setting him up to look the fool."
The Marauders just stared at her in disbelief.
"How are you going to make him look like a fool?" Peter asked.
"Well, all this crazy training is actually making me better. I can dodge a Bludger while saving a goal at the same time in the craziest of ways. He thinks he's damaging me by putting on all the strain, but I'm used to it, just look at how far I've come since September."
It had only been three months but Rain had already caught up to the level of fourth year, all except Potions, which she still wasn't very good at. She was greatly relieved that she didn't have to study quite as hard anymore, especially since joining the Quidditch team, as it was taking up three nights a week.
In the end, the boys had to give up and concede that Rain probably knew what she was doing.
That weekend was a Hogsmead trip and so Malfoy had canceled that evening's practice. Rain was very excited to go to the village as it was almost Christmas and wanted to get her brother a magical gift.
"You should get him some sweets from Honeydukes," Remus suggested. "Like those levitating sherbert balls or some pepper imps! I'll bet he'd find some fun in those!"
"Why is that?" Rain asked.
"Obviously, you've never eaten any," said James.
"If you suck on a sherbert ball, you levitate off the ground a few inches," said Peter. "And if you eat a pepper imp, you can breathe fire for a little while!"
"That does sound pretty awesome," said Rain. "But I was thinking something a little more lasting."
"You could get him a broomstick!" James suggested.
"I can't afford my own broomstick at the moment, Prongs, how would I buy one for my brother who wouldn't even know what to do with it?"
"I'll bet he could figure it out," James pouted.
"What about an owl?" asked Sirius. "He'd probably love to have his own to send you letters and stuff."
"Yeah, but I can't afford one of those either," said Rain. "I don't have a lot left from this year, and I still need to get him a birthday present in June."
"What about something from Zonko's?" Peter suggested.
"Maybe..." said Rain.
In the end, they decided to just go there and see what caught their eye.
There certainly was a lot to catch everyone's eye in Hogsmead just before the holidays. Everything was decorated for the festive season, sprigs of holly and mistletoe outside every shop, wreaths of poinsettias decorated every lamp post and everything was red and green. The entire village looked quite like a Christmas card.
"This is amazing!" Rain exclaimed.
"Yeah, just look at it all!" Sirius cheered.
"Look, everything is on sale," Peter pointed.
The Marauders looked at what he was pointing at. Sure enough every shop window had an 'On Sale!' sign flashing Christmas colours.
"Brilliant!" cried James. "Let's go to Zonko's first!"
"Prongs, aren't you forgetting something?" asked Remus.
"What?"
"Rain still has to get her brother something for Christmas."
"Oh," James blushed. "Alright, Rain, where to first?"
"Um... I dunno, let's just window shop for a bit till I see something Dustin would like."
The boys nodded at this and they started off down the street.
Nearly everything Rain thought her brother would like was much too expensive; owls, broomsticks, even some toys that are meant for children were too expensive.
"I knew I shouldn't have spent all my gold on sweets last trip," Rain moaned. "I can't even buy him a toy wand."
"I could lend you some gold," James offered.
"Thanks, Prongs, but I don't feel right about that..." she trailed off as she saw something in the window of a robes shop. "I have to see that!"
With that, she dashed into the store, leaving her fellow Marauders looking quite confused. Shrugging at each other, they went into the store after her. She was talking to a shop assistant when they entered.
"Excuse me, miss," Rain said politely. "Could you tell me about the robes on display in the window, there?"
"Why, certainly," said the witch, smiling. "You have good taste. These robes are bewitched to become whatever the wearer feels like wearing that day. They can become longer, or shorter, even change colour and style, any future Auror's dream! Unfortunately, no one has been buying them lately so the price has gone up, even during the sale."
"Why is no one buying them?" Rain asked.
"Well, because of the spell on them, they are rather delicate and prone to tearing if handled too roughly. Which is sort of a given with Aurors. Also, because they are so delicate, they must be hand washed, rather than with a spell, like most wizards do."
"Can they be washed with a Muggle washing machine?" Rain asked.
"Why, yes, actually they can," said the witch, obviously amazed that Rain would know anything about Muggles. "Are you Muggleborn then?"
"Sure am," Rain said proudly.
"I see..." the witch said with a hint of confusion. Rain noticed her eying the Slytherin scarf around her neck.
Ignoring this, Rain asked, "May I try it on?"
"Certainly!" the witch said, recovering from her confusion.
Rain went into the dressing room, and two minutes later came out to show her friends.
"Looking good, Rain," said Sirius waggling his eyebrows. Rain scoffed at him.
"Make them change into something else," Peter suggested.
"Just pinch the end of the left sleeve and think of what you want it to look like," instructed the assistant.
Rain did as she was told and imagined artistically faded black jeans, a white t-shirt and a dark blue hoodie. A moment later she stood in front of them, wearing exactly that.
"Nice," said Remus.
"You look funny," said Sirius. James and Peter nodded in agreement.
"I do not," said Rain looking in the mirror. "I think I look rather cool, actually."
Three of the five Marauders burst out laughing.
Remus just shook his head at their antics while Rain turned back to the dressing room, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'purebloods' under her breath. When she came out again in her school robes and cloak, the magic robes over one arm, the boys had finally calmed down. Upon seeing her again, however, they burst out laughing again.
Rain shook her head and turned to the assistant. "How much?" she asked.
"Five Galleons and seven Sickles," she said, taking the robes from her.
Rain got out her money pouch and dumped her remaining money in her open palm. Her heart sank. "I've only got two Galleons and fifteen Knuts... never mind, some other time, then."
She turned to leave when suddenly the Marauders were standing in front of her, each holding something out to her. Upon closer inspection, Rain saw that James, Sirius, and Peter each held out a Galleon while Remus held out a hand full of what had to be fourteen Knuts and six Sickles.
"Boys, I can't take that from you," she protested.
"Yes you can," said James steering her back towards the assistant.
"We'd like to buy those robes," Sirius said to the witch, putting his Galleon on the counter.
James, Remus, and Peter followed suit, placing their money on the counter as well. James nudged Rain.
"Go on, then," he said. "It can be a gift from all of us."
Rain smiled. "Oh alright then," she said, then placed the last of her gold on the counter with the rest. The boys cheered in delight at their victory.
A/N: I know most of you were eager for some more Rain/Regulus moments, and I'm sorry to disappoint. However, you can look forward to a little of that in the coming chapters ;) Now to the fun business of your reviews. Unfortunately, I haven't been getting as much feedback as I usually do, and frankly I'm disappointed ;) So get reviewing, people! R&R!