The rain fell in heavy sheets across the grounds, forcing every living thing inside. Murky puddles spotted the uneven gravel road, becoming home to dark green toads and black, slimy newts. Cracks in the road formed small streams leading out to the forest and other dirt paths. Blaine had the misfortune of getting caught in the downpour on his way back from Quidditch practice. Try-outs this year were absolutely dreadful. The majority of students that swarmed in were infatuated girls and boys just trying to spend time with him. The whole lot of them could barely stay on their broom for more than a few minutes. Some of the boys showed off the entire time; they were good, but too cocky to be on the team. Others, mainly the girls, just giggled when he had to adjust their posture or grip, and shrieked whenever they began to pick up speed. In the five hours he stayed on the pitch, he only spotted three wizards and a witch that looked promising.

This was going to be an interesting season.

Sure, being Mr. Popular had its perks, but sometimes Blaine wished he could talk to someone who didn't just drool over him because of status. Even his closest friends used him as leeway in situations.

I'm best friends with Blaine Anderson; go on a date with me I guarantee you'll be able to hang with him. and Come to my party… Anderson will be there. It was honestly pathetic. The only people that treated him like an actual person were his fellow members of the Harmonizing Hipogriffs, and a couple teachers. Yes, even his teachers fawned over him.

A particularly loud clap of thunder shook the earth, and Blaine cringed a little under the Potions book he held over his head. He was still a good twenty minutes away from the castle, the tips of the owlery barely visible over the winding hills of Scotland. There was no point in running, it would only cause more mud and grass to stain the bottom of his robe and school slacks—not that the stains would be hard to get out or anything, but he would still be tracking it all over the castle. Blaine sighed and pulled his hood down. It was pointless to have it up anymore. It was soaked to the point that it provided absolutely no protection from the elements. His hair was sufficiently drenched and dripping with warm water.

The grounds were deserted, every resident of Hogsmeade holed up in their houses like practical people. Blaine contemplated seeking shelter in one of the many shops in town, but the ominous clouds stretched on farther than he could see. The storm would probably rage on through the night at this rate, keeping many students up with the cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning. Hogwarts was known for its sporadic weather; just another precaution taken to ensure the school's security.

As he reached the center of Hogsmeade, another figure came into view down the road, black robes plastered to their body. The haze of rain made it almost impossible to tell who or even what they were. As he progressed down the village road, he concluded it to be a student, their hood drawn up over their head. Blaine stopped; baffled that anyone else would be out here in this weather. The wind had begun to pick up, blowing the rain at such a harsh angle that even his book couldn't stop it from hitting his face.

The student stopped outside Madame Rosemerta's Pub, placing themselves on the short stone wall. Blaine could just barely make out dark slacks and an emerald lining on his robes. A Slytherin. A Slytherin boy. Blaine stopped, confused as to why he was just sitting there outside the Pub in the pouring rain. Surely he, like Blaine, would be headed towards the castle to seek shelter, but it actually appeared as if he was walking away from the castle.

Upon closer inspection, Blaine realized he had never seen the boy before in his life, and he knew everyone at school.

He couldn't tell much about the boy from this distance. His skin was almost sickly pale, and the brown hair that fell out of his hood was plastered to his forehead. He was looking down at his left forearm, rubbing at something Blaine couldn't see. Internal conflict raged inside Blaine. Should he approach the boy or continue to make his way towards the warm, dry Gryffindor commons inside the castle? The longer he stood there, the better the castle was looking. His teeth had started clacking together noisily, the wind cooling the rain water on him.

He stepped forward and the Slytherin looked up. Blaine gasped, all prospects of a greeting rushing from his mind. There was so much sadness and anguish swimming around the irises of this boy, Blaine felt his own eyes soften in sympathy. He looked on the edge of breaking, as if there was only one string of hope holding him together. Hope for what, Blaine didn't know. But that wasn't what made him stop, it was the color. Every shade of blue, green, and grey blended into a medley of color around his endless, black pupils. Blaine had never seen anything like them. He always considered his own eyes unique, but after seeing this boy's eyes he was pretty sure he would always think his own ordinary.

He wasn't sure when he realized he was staring. It was probably when the boy stood up and began to walk away. Tact forgotten, Blaine grabbed the mysterious boy by the very forearm he had been examining earlier. He tensed and looked to the Gryffindor. Their gazes stayed locked for what seemed like hours, Blaine just staring into his eyes, the other boy pleading with his own to let him go. Blaine didn't seem to get the hint.

"I'm Blaine."

The boy just stared at Blaine, blue-green eyes flickering between his own hazel ones. For a second, Blaine thought he might reply with his own name, but he simply broke the stare and pulled his arm away.

"I'm nobody."

Blaine frowned, the boy covering his arm again and walking away from him and the castle.

His hand clutched around the smooth, slender stick of wood in the inside pocket of his school robes. "Impervius." Blaine smiled as the spell hit the other boy's cloak and rain droplets fell away from it before touching the fabric. The Slytherin stopped, hand still covering his forearm.

Okay, in retrospect it was kind of dumb to cast a spell on someone he didn't even know the name of, helpful or not. But he couldn't help it. Seeing the boy look so helpless made him desperate to reach out and help, to relieve some of the weight pressing down on his fragile shoulders.

"You looked cold."

"You look just as I do." he said, still not facing Blaine.

"You didn't look like you were headed towards the castle at any time so I just… yeah."

He turned back to face the Gryffindor. Blaine shrugged, and the other boy furrowed his light eyebrows.

"You are strange, Blaine Anderson."

At his name, Blaine perked up. It sounded so nice coming from him, even if he didn't know the boy's name.

"How do you know my last name?"

The Slytherin snorted, the first sign of something other than sadness Blaine had seen on the boy. "Please, just because you don't know me doesn't mean I don't know you. You're Blaine Anderson, one of the best Keepers Gryffindor has ever seen. I don't live under a rock."

Blaine smiled. "Are you sure? Because that's the only explanation as to why I don't know who you are I can come up with."

With that, the other boy laughed and Blaine smiled. Despite the water dripping off his body, he was really attractive. He was tall, lean, and had eyes that Blaine couldn't help but stare at. Not to mention his laugh tinkled beautifully, leaving Blaine grinning rather foolishly.

"If you must know, I'm Kurt. Kurt Hummel."

More thunder erupted around them, causing the two students to jump. Kurt swayed slightly, Blaine reaching out to steady him. The rain pounded down harder, placing little red marks all over his neck.

"Come with me to the castle." He wasn’t sure what made him say it, but Blaine didn’t want to take it back.

Kurt frowned and stared down at the ground again. His arm began to turn red from the lack of circulation he was providing to it due to his vice-like grip on it.

"I don't want to face anyone."

"Then stay with me." he said lightly. "I guarantee if you stick with me, I'll make sure no one will bother you."

With that Kurt smiled softly, almost barely noticeable. "Okay."

Blaine shook his sopping mess of curls, the Slytherin shrieking. "Race ya."

Kurt bolted.

-

Blaine was true to his word. Every time a student began to approach him, he'd shoot them a look and huddle closer to an equally wet Kurt. They stayed shoulder to shoulder until the staircase leading up to the Pink Lady swung to meet them. Kurt stepped away.

"I should go back to my common room."

"Please come with me! I'll be all alone in there." Blaine whined. It wasn't the fact that he would have no one when he takes a step through the portrait hole; it was the fact that he wouldn't have Kurt. He didn't have anyone like Kurt. Kurt didn't suck up to him, or want to follow him around like a puppy. He made Blaine feel like a normal person.

And he was cute.

Kurt laughed humorlessly at Blaine's comment. "A Slytherin in the Gryffindor commons… that will blow over well."

The Pink Lady was watching the pair now, a small smile on her lips.

"C'mon, no one will be in here. They are all in the Great Hall stuffing their faces with food."

Kurt tried to retort, but Blaine had already turned towards the Pink Lady. "Owltails."

She grinned and asked a question about why he wasn't eating before swinging open and revealing a short tunnel with speckles of gold and crimson beyond it.

"Just don't tell any of your friends the password."

Kurt smiled sadly. "You don't need to worry about that."

Blaine smiled back at him, not seeming to catch what Kurt just implied.

He watched as Kurt gaped at all the golds and reds all over the room. "So it must be a Slytherin thing to have our house animal everywhere because I have only seen about five lions so far."

"It can't be that bad."

An enthusiastic nod shook the Slytherin's body. "You don't understand. We have snakes on everything."

Blaine shucked his robe off, throwing it over an armchair before gesturing to Kurt to do the same. Slowly and timidly, he mirrored Blaine's actions, placing his drenched robe precariously over the arm of the same chair.

They stayed like that for a while, drying by the warm fire before Kurt spoke up, rubbing at his forearm again.

"I didn't choose this you know. I didn't want to be one of his followers. My guardian made me when I turned eighteen last month."

Blaine frowned, not knowing what Kurt was talking about until he looked down. The place on his arm that he had been so adamantly covering with his hand was now exposed. Inked into the skin was a snake twisted around and out of a demented skull.

A Dark Mark.

When he raised his line of vision, Kurt was staring at him with a look of uncertainty. His position showed that he was prepared to stand and leave, but Blaine just nodded, giving the okay to continue. He wasn't there to judge, so Kurt opened and closed his mouth a few times before speaking, the first words coming out slowly.

"She took me to this old shop where a strange man came up to us and talked to her about me. The next thing I knew, his wand was on my arm and my entire body felt like it was on fire. She slapped me when I started to cry, saying that the Dark Lord's followers didn't cry."

He frowned down at the tattoo momentarily. "It doesn't hurt as much as it did then. It still burns like a flame constantly licking my skin but I guess that's what I have to live with now."

He brought his knees up to his chest, burying his smooth chin in the crook and pushing his sleeve back down. It made Blaine want to pull him close and tell him that he didn't care if he had Lord Voldemort's mark on his arm, he was still there.

"I don't have friends, Blaine. Between being gay and having this thing on my arm, no one wants to be around me."

A tear rolled from his eye, and without thinking Blaine reached out to brush it from his cheek.

"I'll be your friend."

Kurt looked up from his knees. Blaine was giving him a look he'd never seen directed towards him. Hogwarts didn't tolerate bullying, but that didn't mean people didn't shoot him the handful of dirty looks. But Blaine wasn't giving him one of those looks. His golden-green eyes were full of sympathy and compassion and… something else. There was a dull sparkle behind his large pupils that made something stir in the pit of his stomach. Butterflies? Is that was those were?

Blaine reached forward, rolling up Kurt's sleeve and revealing the snake and skull. On reflex, he went to cover up the tattoo with his other hand, but Blaine's warm hand reached up and caught his slender wrist. The two's eyes met and Kurt gently dropped his hand onto the soft carpet, the look the Gryffindor was giving him all but making him forget what he was about to do. Blaine pulled him forward, squeezing his wrist slightly before bringing the cool skin to his lips, all the time never breaking eye contact. He kissed Kurt's wrist and then slowly trailed up the rest of his forearm, eyes closing progressively.

Kurt was pretty sure Blaine could feel his racing pulse by the firm, yet comfortable, grip on his wrist. His heartbeat was pounding in his head, quickening as Blaine became closer to the crook of his elbow.

Blaine was attractive, no doubt about it. Everyone in the school knew it. The girls fell over him as well as the few boys brave enough to reveal their sexuality. No one was quite sure what Blaine was, but the way he was kissing up Kurt's arm gave the Slytherin a pretty good idea.

Blaine stopped his trail and looked up at where Kurt was hovering over his own knees, eyes wide and lips parted in shock. Blaine blinked. Kurt blinked, and time seemed to slow down.

Their lips met, and for the first time in a month, Kurt's Dark Mark was cool.