The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom wasn't far from the entrance hall. It was only on the first floor, close to the Great Hall, and it took the four girls barely two minutes to walk there. Raven entered the classroom behind Nellie, Tessa and Cassie and hesitated slightly when she saw Cassius - Professor Stagburn - sat at a desk that was next to the DADA professor's own desk at the front of the room.
Their eyes met and Raven's heart stopped beating for a moment. There was no evidence of surprise in Cassius' eyes which only confirmed her suspicions that he was following her. Averting her eyes, Raven moved quickly through the classroom and sat down next to Nellie, attempting to control her erratic breathing.
She spotted Theo across the classroom and he gave her a small wave in acknowledgement. Raven blushed and returned it with a small smile.
'Merlin, I wish Draco was here!' She thought to herself.
Despite how hard she tried to concentrate on the lesson, Raven's mind was racing with thoughts about Cassius. She didn't even know how he had managed to snag a job as an apprentice at Hogwarts in so little time. The last she knew he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts apprentice at Beauxbatons, not Hogwarts. The fact that he had the nerve to follow her to Scotland made her shake with anger. After Felix's death in October, Raven had explicitly told him, or rather screamed at him, that she never wanted to talk to him again. He had been in her DADA lessons so she had to put up with the sight of him, but she hated every second of it. The rest of the professors at Beauxbatons still didn't know that Cassius had played a part in Felix's murder and she couldn't even have him fired because it would have meant revealing her secret to the world, one that she was not quite ready to reveal.
She was reluctant to admit it, but Raven was feeling a bit lost in her emotions. Cassius' presence at the castle brought up memories that she would rather forget than recall.
When Raven was in her first year at Beauxbatons studying for her end of year exams with her best friend Felix Blight, Cassius, who had been in his third year at the time, had kindly offered to help them revise. He had seemed oddly interested in Raven's life; he asked her a lot about her magic and what she was capable of. Of course, at that age, Raven had no idea that she could do what she could now. Her fire magic was new to her, having only discovered it a few months ago, moments after Felix's death.
Raven was ripped from her thoughts as someone nudged her particularly hard in her side. She flicked her gaze over to Nellie who was tilting her head towards the front of the classroom where Professor Braxton, a middle-aged wizard, and Cassius were looking directly at Raven with disapproving expressions.
"Miss Malfoy, as a new student here you should be paying attention to your classes, not daydreaming the time away." Professor Braxton said harshly.
Raven swallowed loudly. The whole class had their eyes trained on her and she caught Theo's sympathetic gaze, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards in an attempt to smile.
"Uh... sorry, sir." was the only thing Raven managed to utter, her voice barely over a whisper.
Professor Braxton stared at her for a moment longer then abruptly returned to his lecture on defending yourself from a sudden attack. Throughout the rest of the lesson, Raven felt Cassius' eyes trained her. When the practical part of the lesson began, she didn't have to look to know he was watching her every move.
Raven and Nellie stood at the back of the classroom along with Cassie and Tessa, practising the defensive spell they had just learnt.
Cassie let out a huff when Professor Braxton told her to tie her voluminous hair up. She was muttering something about 'every time!' and 'why don't people understand the struggle of having curly hair!' Raven truly felt bad for the girl.
"Are you okay, Raven?" Tessa asked the newest edition to Ravenclaw as she successfully blocked an attack from a disgruntled Cassie.
"I'm fine." Raven dismissed and fired a spell towards Nellie.
Nellie and the others shared a knowing glance. One that made Raven's heartbeat instantly speed up. The last thing she wanted right now was to talk about her feelings to three girls who she had only just met, and when Cassius was close enough for him to hear her every word.
"Are you sure?" said Cassie.
Raven gave her a sharp nod and focussed on blocking a spell Nellie had sent her way. Thankfully, the three girls didn't push the issue again.
The lesson ended not nearly quick enough. The second they were dismissed, Raven headed straight for the door, eager to be out of there as soon as possible.
"Miss Malfoy, I'd like a word please," Cassius called to her.
Raven froze on the spot. Cassie and Tessa stopped as if they wanted to wait for her, but with a sympathetic glance Raven's way, Nellie shooed them out the door. The remaining students walked past Raven and out of the classroom and Professor Braxton left in the direction of his office. It was just Raven and Cassius remaining in the room and the silence that followed was excruciatingly long.
Raven heard the loud thumps of his footsteps against the hard stone floor as he neared and came to a halt about a metre behind her.
"It's good to see you again, Raven," Cassius spoke, his voice unexpectedly calm.
Raven spun around, looking at him incredulously.
"Are you kidding me? That's how you want to start this conversation?! I haven't spoken to you in months, could barely even stand the sight of you in lessons and you want to start with pleasantries?!" Raven laughed incredulously.
"I miss you, Raven. Let me explain,"
"Explain? You've had three months to explain! Three whole fucking months and yet not once did you try to make up for what you did! I spent so long blaming myself for not being there, for not protecting Felix from those men. They were there for me, not him, but you let them kill him anyway. Did we honestly mean that little to you?"
"Raven, I-"
"No. We thought you were our friend. I thought you were my friend! But it was all a lie, wasn't it? You knew what I could do and you pretended for all those years that you cared, just so you could hand me over to them! You didn't even spare Felix a second glance when you saw his body in the forest that day. You are a heartless monster and one day you will get what's coming for you."
Raven reached for the door but Cassius harshly flicked his wand, locking it shut and warding it simultaneously.
"Let me leave," She said through gritted teeth, glaring at the door as if she could blow it off its hinges.
"Just hear me out, Raven," Cassius' voice sounded stern now.
"No." Raven ground out, her jaw clenched tightly shut to keep her from hexing or doing something worse to him.
Cassius stepped towards her and Raven's anger flared, rattling the desks around them. She couldn't stay there any longer or else her magic would get out of control again. Panic flooded her body and she whipped her wand out of her sleeve and pointed it at the door while muttering an unlocking charm. The door flew open and Raven dashed forwards, only to collide with an invisible barrier. Wards.
Raven didn't care anymore. She couldn't stand to be near him for another second. So, she let her fire magic flare up and she held a hand out in front of her, burning her way through the wards. In the corner of her eye, she saw Cassius flinch as if being burned himself before she ran out into the corridor and as far away from the DADA apprentice as possible. She didn't dare to look back.