Just a short chapter to be going on with, sort of an interlude between here and the next stage in the story. I had originally intended to incorporate this into the next chapter but thought it was quite nice to stand alone despite it's short length. So I hope you enjoy this small update and the next will come soon in which I promise much drama and action.

A/N: Edited 28/11/08

Beside the Dying Embers

The hidden entrance to the common room loomed ahead of Rayne as her footsteps echoed around the darkened stone passageway. A fire burned darkly in her eyes as she strode with a determined pace towards the doorway. Draco would be there waiting for her just as he'd said he would and she would reach the bottom of all of this.

It had been far too convenient, Snape being up there on the seventh floor to catch her there was no way it could have been a coincidence and Rayne was sure that Draco knew something about it, the two of them did after all have some sort of connection that went deeper than your average teacher/student relationship.

She came to a halt before the still closed doorway to the Slytherin common room. Rayne muttered the password in a bitter whisper and stepped into the enveloping warmth of the room. The light inside was dim, shadows danced across the walls cast by the dying embers of the once roaring fire. It was completely devoid of life save for one darkened figure that lay nonchalantly on the sofa, arms outspread, casual and inviting. The soft folds of his platinum hair glowed in the pale light as they fell around his face, not a single strand out of place despite the way it had been messed by Rayne's fingers in the heat of her passion.

Draco's attention snapped up to the door as it swung open and Rayne stepped inside. "There you are," he said raising himself off of the sofa to stand and greet her, "I thought you'd got lost or something."

Rayne pursed her lips and arched her pencil thin eyebrows at him, forcing herself to step away from his strong and inviting arms as he approached her for an embrace. It was difficult to refuse him, especially with the memories of their feverish love making still fresh in her mind, but she was bitter and irritated and was determined to reach some sort of conclusion about what had gone on that night before she would let herself be distracted again by Draco's 'charms'.

She dropped herself gracefully down into the soft cushions of the sofa and shook her head, "Not lost no," she said airily fixing Draco with a cold gaze. "Though I did have a rather unpleasant encounter with somebody," She watched his face trying to gauge any flicker of recognition or any attempt to hide what he really knew, but there was none. Silently Rayne seethed wishing that he would just make things easy and admit whatever he knew about Snape really wanted, but it appeared as if things weren't going to be that simple. Never mind, she thought to herself, I'll find out what he knows one way or another. "Can you guess who it was?" She asked sweetly, a forced smile coming to her lips.

Draco frowned at Rayne's change in attitude towards him and, though he would never openly admit it, was somewhat hurt that she had snubbed him when he had reached for her. Her eyes were cold and accusing as they bore through his own chilling something inside of him. Tentatively Draco moved to sit beside her, he would have to be cautious in his choice of words as her demeanour screamed with a dark and savage hunger that she was fighting desperately to control. Draco may have been overly proud and self-assured but he certainly was not stupid. "Somebody caught you?" He asked, his voice sounding carefully concerned, but was that for her or for himself?

Rayne nodded slowly, her eyes never flicking away from his as she scrutinised his every word and movement, searching desperately for the root of what he knew to reveal itself. Still she failed to see it; Draco must have been a master of deception to fool even her, she just could not be wrong about this it was all far too suspicious.

"Was it Filch and that vile wretch of a cat of his?" Draco asked, selecting what seemed to be the most obvious choice as his guess, it seemed that she though Draco would know precisely who it was that had caught her and Filch was the only one that immediately sprung to his mind.

"No, not Filch." She replied slowly, watching him as if waiting for more. "Are you really going to tell me that you don't know Draco?" she asked, her voice threatening to crack as she fought against the urge to vent her rage and emotion on him by making all of the accusations that were rioting inside of her head.

Draco deepened the furrows in his brow and shook his head, trying to comprehend some reasoning behind Rayne's coldness towards him, "No, I don't…"

"It was Professor Snape." Rayne spat with a sigh, cutting Draco off mid-sentence. She didn't want to dance around it any longer and shot him with the answer that she expected him already to know. Her eyes were dark and wide with the suppressed rage and hurt she felt when she studied Draco and his reaction expecting to see anything from denial to guilt or shame, but she found only confusion in his pale, pointed features and bright silver eyes.

"Snape?" he asked, truly astonished, "but why was he up on the seventh floor?" Draco searched his mind for some kind of explanation for his favourite professor's very out of character whereabouts before a sick sense of realisation began to wash over him. Of course Snape had known where the two of them were that night, it had been his suggestion in the first place. So that was why he suggested that room, Draco thought with a grimace, he'd been planning all along to catch Rayne. Perhaps he wanted a good enough excuse to have her removed from the school and, well, after the Umbridge incident surely anything would do to secure that.

"Are you really all that surprised Draco?" Rayne said harshly, "Can you really honestly tell me that you knew nothing about this?"

"No." Draco replied firmly, "I had no idea about Snape, honestly." He held her eyes, his gaze just as hard as her own as he pledged his innocence. Inside Draco felt himself begin to sink; he had practically handed her over to Snape but that had never really been his intention.

"Right," she said softly, her tone disbelieving but beginning to grow tired and frustrated with the lack of progress she was making. "But Draco you see it was more than just coincidence him being there. He was waiting for me and he saw you too I know he did. So please just save me all of the pretence and tell me what the fuck is going on."

"I told you I don't know." Draco retorted his own frustrations beginning to grow short, how had they gone from such a perfect evening to this in such a short space of time? He could tell that she was accusing him of betraying her to Snape and, well, he may have done exactly what Snape had wanted him to but Draco honestly had no idea about Snape's own motives in all of this. She had no right to jump to such rash conclusions, and after everything he had done for her. "He wasn't there when I left the Room of Requirement, I saw nobody all the way back down here. I really don't know why Snape was up there, he doesn't let me in on all of his secrets."

"Secrets? What secrets?" Rayne said beginning to feel exasperated with the whole situation. She wanted to believe every word that Draco had told her but there was still something he was holding back. "Draco you're skirting around something. Just tell me what you know please, you don't understand how much danger I could be in." She sighed, hating to admit her fears to him, but there was really nobody else who was in any position to help her find out what she needed to know. And nobody else that could put her into even deeper danger. She didn't trust Snape and whatever it was he had planned she could guarantee that it would be bad news for her.

Draco opened his mouth to reply but hesitated with his words, "Wait, what do you mean? What danger?"

Closing her eyes, Rayne looked away from him for the first time since she'd stepped back into the common room. "I can't really explain, I'm not even certain that I know for sure but…" She paused, beginning to feel exhausted with the subject, she wanted nothing more than to just forget it all and sink back into Draco's strong arms. She felt a little bad for how rashly she had accused him, but there was no denying that he did know something. "I just don't trust what he wants with me Draco and you know something. It doesn't matter how small I need to know." She looked up and met his eyes with a far softer, pleading gaze. She still wanted so much to believe that he would be the one to help her, she just couldn't bring herself to trust him, not fully, when he was so obviously hiding something from her.

Absently Draco picked at his fingernails wondering how best to word his response so to extract himself from any position of guilt that it may it may land him in. Yes it was true that he had probably planted the entire idea, whatever it was, into Snape's head but he'd really had nothing more to do with its orchestration and knew only slightly more than Rayne did herself. "I told you the truth, I really don't know what Snape's plan or motives are." He said glancing up at her, best to get the plea for innocence in at the start. "But I do know how he knew we were there."

"You told him?" Rayne asked, not really wanting to believe. She wished that Draco was as ignorant of it all as she herself was.

"No." Draco shook his head, "That's not exactly something I'm likely to share with a teacher. He'd found out about the little, ah, incident in the common room and 'advised' me that we should choose to have such rendezvous in a more private place." He explained picking his words carefully.

"He suggested that room." Rayne said, a light of realisation beginning to cast its glow over things. Though Snape's ultimate intentions were still no clearer, to either of them, at least she could rule Draco out of any real guilt.

"Yes. I suppose I should have found something unusual in his suggestion but, well, to be honest I was glad of the tip. I can hardly deny how much I wanted you there and why it benefited Snape to tell me never even crossed my mind." Draco purred his voice a sensual caress trying to soothe Rayne's sore nerves.

She found herself unable to hold back the small smile that Draco's words and tone of voice tugged at her lips. "No, I suppose I can't really blame you for all of this. I'm sorry for my being irrational." Rayne said meekly. She felt she had to apologise for blaming him and didn't want the amazing night they had spent together to be spoiled any more than it already had been. "You just have to understand that I'm so out of place here, there is nobody I feel I can really trust."

Draco shifted his body closer to her, settling himself more comfortably against the cushions and he reached out to grasp her hands. "Not even me?" He asked. It was a stupid question, she had no reason to trust him now but his ego would not allow him to simply dismiss her words, not after the night they had spent together.

"More than most perhaps, but not with everything." She said honestly with a sad smile. She gave in and sank down into Draco's warm, comforting arms. "I want to though," she added sleepily, snuggling closer to his chest and inhaling his familiar scent, "Give me a good reason to trust you Draco." Rayne whispered as she began to drift off to sleep.

Draco watched as the beautiful creature in his arms closed her eyes and became a perfect, statuesque figure of marble as she slept. He sighed and moved them both so they lay across the sofa, still holding her body close to him. "I wish I could."