Tempus | Harry Potter |

27

The incident

The fire that was lighting up most of the common room was becoming dimmer and dimmer as the late night approached.

"Just...one more time," both Hermione and Ron groaned as Harry spoke out, as for the past hour, Raya had been repeating her last events before she had gotten to their time.

"Harry, what more can you gain from her repeating herself," Hermione slurred out as she was visibly tired.

"Well excuse me for trying to get all the details," Harry mumbled. "Oh the details are there, you just seem to overanalyze everything," Raya snapped at him.

"Look, I know what I'm saying seems like a lot of information for you all, and I know that right now the only thing in your mind is figuring out who put your name in the Goblet of Fire."

Harry narrowed her eyes at her, "But, I can't help you if you don't want to help me, and that goes for you two as well."

"Oh please, I still don't understand why I have any importance in this, sounds like me like these two idiots just relied on us when things went bad." Ron and Harry were now glaring at Hermione.

Raya paused and stayed silent for a couple of minutes. She thought getting to believe her would be the hard part, but now that they do, it seems everything she says is getting questioned by a 'but why.'

"Yes, that may have been somewhat true, but the truth is also that we were always there for each other, and even now, in this, timeline, we four seem to still be connected, almost like used to be friends or something."

The three threw small glances at each other, Raya didn't seem to catch on which put them at ease.

"Look Raya, just because we may be us, doesn't mean we're the same people you're used to, I mean what, you're telling me that we could defeat a powerful dark wizard, like Lord Voldemort, which mind you is long gone."

Her eyes had drifted over to Ron's voice, with how things always played out in her time, how sure could it be here?

Ron's small smile was slowly disappearing, "Okay this is the part where you're supposed to agree with me and all."

Hermione scoffed, "You don't seriously think that Voldemort is still alive, I mean there are clear witnesses of seeing him vanish for good."

"Yeah, my parents."

"I just finished telling you how every single year we all had to dodge death because of Voldemort and you still think there's zero chance he can come back?"

"There hasn't been a single trace of him since his death,"

"Disappearance," Ron groaned at her correcting him, "Fine, there hasn't been a single trace of him since his disappearance, for him to just show out of nowhere without his army."

"His death eaters."

Hermione raised a brow, "Oh you mean wizards of sin," she said with a completely straight face. "You're kidding, that's what you guys call death eaters here?"

Harry's face scrunched up, "Sounds better than what you guys call them, death eaters? It makes it sound like they're eating death."

"Okay! We get it, death eaters sound like a weird name, not the entirety of the point!"

"Then what is the point, to help you? If you haven't quite noticed I have my hands quite full right now." Harry began to gather himself up as he stood from the ground, Raya let out a restless laugh as she followed him.

"And who do you think is going to help you? Your girlfriend who can't let you get in five words?" Ron snorted which imminently resulted in getting glared by Harry.

"Wait you two got back together?" Raya asked, trying not to sound jealous.

"Please those two are always on and off again," Hermione said with a snort

"Mock all you want, but Cho is a wonderful girlfriend." "Yeah and by wonderful you mean a pretty face with nothing up here," Hermione points to her head as she too begins to stand up, followed by Ron.

Harry shook his head as he looked over at Raya, "And what if you were wrong, what if you weren't supposed to tell us and we're only making things worse for us...for you."

Raya shrugged as a small hopeful smile crossed over her face, "Well, then at least we're a complete mess together."

⚡️⚡️

It was no surprise to Raya to hear people continue to talk about last night's events. It seems that Harry's name getting pulled out of the Goblet of Fire seemed like a much more ordeal here than it was the first time.

Every person she passed seemed to have Harry's name in their mouths, and with her old habits, she almost jumped at the opportunity to shut them down, but at last, she refrained herself from doing so.

"I'm sorry again for how I acted before, I shouldn't have been so quick to shut you out." Ron and Raya were out by the black lake, skipping rocks across it.

Raya waved her hand, dismissing his apology. "It's okay, I understand how the whole thing may have looked, I did sound somewhat...crazy."

He chuckles as he nods, "Yeah...maybe just a tad bit. I mean, in all honesty it shouldn't have taken me that long to believe you, considering what happened on the train, and not to mention how you weren't well...your true self."

Skipping her next rock across the lake, they could see it skip across five times before seeing it fully sink. "Oh, good one!"

"Ron, how was I before? I mean I can sort of guess given the many interactions from students, but was I as horrible as people make me out to be?"

His head turns over to her before skipping his next rock. "No, you weren't horrible to people, you weren't a bully or anything like that," "Then what was I?"

Ron smiled as he remembered, "You were...you were a rebellious person, you didn't believe in rules, and you liked to mess with people, which meant pranking them, but it would only be to the ones who deserved it."

Raya's brows furrowed, "So people don't like me because I mess with those who deserve it?"

His head cocked to the side as he tried to find the right words. "Well...no that's not the reason, it all happens after a certain incident, before you, Harry, Hermione and I stopped being friends, we'll let us stop being friends with them, I should say."

Raya paused as she was about to throw her next rock, "Incident? What type of incident?"

He sighed, opening his mouth to speak out, but it seemed timing was everything as they heard a voice approach them. "There you are..." Her head turned to seeing Draco approaching them.

"I didn't expect to be lowered down to your delivery boy," he now stood in front of them, a note in hand as he handed it to her. "And who gave you that title?" She said as she began to open the note, the smile that she had on her face slowly fading as she read.

"Who's it from?" Ron asks as he approaches her, she sighs as she shows him the note, showing him that the note was from Dumbledore.