Tempus | Harry Potter |

THIRTEEN

The Nice One

Although going out to get fresh air is what Raya told Ron she was going to do, it took several minutes later of wandering the corridors before she was out near the courtyard.

Luckily for her, it was empty, as it seemed most students were now inside the Great Hall, enjoying their breakfast before classes started.

The thought of skipping her lessons certainly crossed Raya's mind. Attending class seemed crazy given her situation.

Sitting there learning things she already knows, having to pretend as if she isn't in a completely different timeline.

Raya wanted to scream so badly, she needed to let her anger out, but more importantly, she was frightened.

If every day was going to be a repeated cycle of people saying rude comments toward her, how was she ever supposed to find a way out?

"If you're going to have a manic episode, do you mind doing it somewhere else?"

Swiftly turning her head around to the voice, the last person Raya expected to see standing there was nonother than Draco Malfoy.

"What? So, everyone changed into an asshole and somehow you turned into a bigger one?"

Draco laughed in amusement, "Ooh, so I'm an asshole now? Well, at least I don't look like a crazy person with that thing you call a ty."

Raya groaned at the mention of her ty, harshly she took it off, and threw it to the ground, next to his shoe.

"You know," he said as he reached down to grab it, "You could try being a little nicer, maybe that way people won't think you're so mean."

She scoffed, "You're giving me advice on how to be nice? Yeah, okay."

Ignoring her comment, he slowly approached her and began wrapping her ty around her white collared shirt. Given her previous reflexes, she slapped his hand away.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What up with you, why were you walking around in circles," he asks ignoring her question.

"Nothing," she answered rather quickly, "And frankly it's none of your business if there was something wrong."

He laughed, "A little less attitude would be appreciated, especially considering I helped you earlier."

Confused, Raya raised a brow. "What do you mean, considering you helped me?"

"So, you just assumed that Cedric's new hair color was a mind trick of its own?"

Raya's mouth dropped, "You! You were the one who jinxed Cedric, why?" "Looks like he was being an ass, and I don't really like people who are assess."

Raya couldn't help but smile, if only he knew. "Well, uh, thanks for that." "Am I hearing this correctly? A comment of gratitude."

Rolling her eyes, Raya took a seat on one of the benches, "Yeah well don't go on expecting more than that, you won't get them very often."

Taking a seat next to her, he stared down at her shoes as he spoke, "So about my question earlier, what's up?"

Raya was intrigued by this new Draco, sure she and him never really got along, but there was some moment when it seemed they understood each other. Then the next day he would pretend he never had a heart-to-heart talk with her.

But this version of him genuinely seemed to care, and it almost made it easy for her to tell him the truth, the whole truth.

"No surprise that half of this school resents me, but I want to come around you know. I want to change for the better, but I don't think anyone will believe me, except for the only friend I have here.

"Not to mention I'm stuck, I feel like I'm stuck in this world where I'm all alone, even though I'm not, and now that I'm saying this out loud, I now feel embarrassed."

She untucked a piece of her hair that lay behind her ear, hoping it will cover her face from the new shade of pink it was turning into.

"Don't be," he said, "I'm sorry that you're feeling stuck, but trust me, it won't stay like that forever.'"

She looked into his eyes as he spoke, it felt weird hearing this side of Draco, and more importantly, she was shocked at how easy it was for her to talk about this.

"There you two are," a voice said breaking Raya out of her trance.

Approaching them both, was McGonagall, who seemed to be holding something in her hands. "Your timetables for this year," she said as she handed them their schedules.

"How come, Professor Snape, didn't deliver mine?"

"Professor Snape gave up looking for you after ten minutes," Draco frowned at hearing this.

"Raya, may I have a word with you dear?"

Nodding, Raya had now stepped aside with McGonagall. "I understand given last night's news; you may still have a lot of questions circling in your mind," she said in a low voice so Draco couldn't overhear.

Raya shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah well thinking about questions is the only thing I can seem to do."

"I know this still may be hard to take in, so please, take time to yourself, I won't say anything if I see a chair empty in today's lesson."

Raya gave her a warm smile, that is exactly what she needed to hear, "Thank you, Professor."

Patting Raya's shoulder, she looked back to where Draco was standing, "I'll see you later in my class, Malfoy, enjoy the rest of your morning."

As quickly as she came in, she had now gone.

"Why'd she make it seem as if you won't be there either?" Draco asked as he approached the girl.

Ignoring his question, she looked down at her timetable, DADA was the first class of the day, and given that she didn't see any new teachers during the feast, she wondered who it could be.

"Who's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

Draco laughed, "Well of course the only teacher who's had that position for several years now, Professor Lupin."