A Mockery For Your Delight

Chapter Four—

Point of View: Third Person; Outside World

Location: Hogwarts

First a day passed, then a week. Rayne got used to the Hogwartian schedule. That was pretty much all that happened, so otherwise there was absolutely no plot. She saw Malfoy occasionally in classes, but he seemed to be avoiding her for some strange reason.

Oh, well, she thought. I guess I'll just continue learning magic and waiting for the plot to develop.

So that's what she did. Until, one day, the plot finally developed. And that was when things started happening again. It began on a cold night in November, while Rayne and The Trio were snugged safe and warm in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Oh, no!" Rayne gasped, looking at her pile of books in dismay. "I forgot the Potions textbook!"

"The Potions textbook?" Ron yelped.

"The Potions textbook that you promised to bring?" Hermione shrieked.

"The Potions textbook that none of us have…" Harry muttered, still too busy being angsty to be nice.

"Shoot, shoot! And the test's tomorrow—and—I—I'll go get it! I'll just sneak out and get it really fast!" Rayne wrung her hands as she almost began hyperventilating.

"If you're going to do that… then calm down." Hermione said in a completely normal voice.

Rayne calmed instantly, nodding her head resolutely.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I… yeah. I'll go and get the textbook…"

Even though it was way after hours and everything, what was a little sacrifice between friends?

As Rayne ducked out of the Common Room, Hermione, Ron, and Harry all exchanged glances.

"She's a weird one, all right." said Harry, then continued to angst away.

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Rayne tiptoed (figuratively, of course, because no one actually tiptoes anymore) as quietly as she could through the shadowy hall. God, but Hogwarts was downright creepy this late at night. And the thought that Filch, the probably-pedophile, was patrolling all the dark corners with his creepy cat did not help Rayne's heebie-jeebies.

And her heebie-jeebies were certainly not abated when cold fingers suddenly wrapped around her neck.

She let out a girly, strangled-sounding shriek and whirled around. The fingers let go, and she saw the notorious Draco Malfoy, who was doubled over in what is referred to on occasion as the "Laughing One's Posterior Off" position.

"You—jerk!" she gasped, too freaked to scream, which would have been the smart thing to do.

"I—couldn't—help—myself—" Draco gasped out between bursts of mostly silenced laughter.

Rayne had to admit that he didn't look half-bad when he was laughing. Or smiling. Or just being there. Okay, so Draco Malfoy was, as has been mentioned many times thus far and will be mentioned many times in the future, hot. That was not going to stop Rayne from trying to resist his Wiley Male Charms to extend the plot.

"Th—That was uncalled for!" she hissed at him. "I oughtta beat you into next week!"

Draco sobered slowly, straightening to his full height of… well, taller than Rayne.

"Oh, come on." He laughed again, much more softly and rather meanly as well. "I don't think you have the heart to beat up a pancake."

"A pancake?" Rayne would've started screeching at him had not the low, raspy sound of Filch's midnight-pedophile voice come echoing down the corridor.

"You say they are this way, my sweet?" he murmured from around the corner. In a voice that sounded like violation personified.

Draco cursed, grabbing Rayne around the waist and yanking her back into a slightly dusty, cobwebby area behind a statue. With the hand that was not holding Rayne unnecessarily tightly against him, he took out his wand and whispered a spell. The air around them began to shimmer as some sort of Magic Shield of Awesome surrounded them.

"Shh!" he whispered, dropping his wand and pressing his hand against Rayne's mouth when she started to struggle and make muffled yelling sounds. "They can still hear us!"

Rayne fell silent instantly, not wanting to know what happened to any nubile young girls Filch caught wandering the hallways late at night. Draco took his hand from her lips and slid it around her waist. So now her back was pressed against his chest and everything.

Oohh… a Draco!hug… how sexy… Rayne thought dazedly as the Malfoy-pheromones she'd inhaled began to kick in. For just a moment she relaxed against the cotton of his shirt.

They held this… rather comfortable… position as Filch shuffled slowly past them, following an oblivious Miss Norris. This took several minutes, and they waited several minutes after that to make sure Filch was far, far away.

"Err—I—" Rayne pulled away, a blush spreading belatedly across her face. "Um, thanks… I have to… get back to Gryffindor now…"

"Wait!"

Draco caught hold of her wrist, pulling her back towards him. He pressed his mouth firmly to hers for a moment, then let her go, turning her in the right direction and pushing her gently forward. She walked away, slowly, resisting the urge to cup her palm against her tingling lips.

W—Wow…

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"Er… Rayne?" Ron asked eventually. The girl had been standing in a daze just inside the Common Room for five minutes. "Where's the textbook…?"

Rayne murmured something along the lines of "shfurlf…" and wandered up to the girls' dormitories.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry shrugged in unison and returned to their all-nighter.

And that was how the plot came back. Or, so we hope.

End of Chapter Four.