Rainy day

The rain came down hard, and washed the world clean. A world that really did need to be washed clean from the crimes and horrible things it did, but what was she to do? The rain poured ever harder into the middle of the courtyard, and she stood with her arms wrapped tight around her. Everyone else had pushed themselves into an empty classroom on the second floor, keeping warm, and playing games, but Rise had scorned their company, instead standing on the edge of the courtyard, the water splashing onto her shoes as she stared into what could have been her reflection in the sheets of rain that poured down.

Rise moved back and sat down on a bench, burying her face in her hands, a Hufflepuff scarf was wrapped loosely around her neck, covering any exposed skin on her upper chest, and hiding the neckline of her shirt. She looked tense, more than tense, she looked like she was about to crack, the full moon was coming up, and she was starting to feel it's pull, she was near to biting, and she didn't like it.. not one bit.

Monroe's brow furrowed in irritation at the rain that was slicing across the courtyard. It took twice as long to go around the yard where he would be under cover and Monroe was in a hurry.

Nevertheless, he slowed when he saw the girl in Hufflepuff colours ahead. Curled up on herself, she looked miserable. And very wet.

The rumours around school were that Risé Lehmberg was a werewolf and though Monroe hated to give credence to gossip, he couldn't deny that the rumours about people's species had been true in the past.

Besides, even if it wasn't true, just having other people believe you were a werewolf would be enough to ruin your life. It would probably be worse than if you really were one. Merlin. Now he couldn't help but want to find out the truth of the matter.

He'd now reached the bench where Risé was sitting, or sulking, rather, and he sat down at the other end making sure to leave plenty of space between them. No need to invade her space; there was plenty of room for everyone on this bench, right?

"Are you okay?" he asked gently.

Rise glanced over when a boy sat down on the bench with her, she was slightly startled, and found herself sliding towards the edge away from him. There were a ton of other benches in the courtyard, plenty of which weren't being splashed by the rain that hit the pavement, but he had decided to sit on the one SHE was on, her whole body tensed, and she sat a bit straighter, her back going completely straight, as she sat up and stared out at the rain, messing with her scarf to make sure it was hiding everything.

He spoke, and she jumped, turning to look at him, her eyes glued to his face. "I'm fine." She said, her voice hoarse, and quiet. After she spoke, her eyes darted away from him, and she found herself staring out at the rain, her hands landed delicately into her lap, and her back stayed stiff, as though uncertain of how to proceed with the conversation. "Is there something I can do for you?" She asked, her voice betraying how nervous she was that he was there. She fully expected to feel stones hitting her arms, or to hear shouted words be thrown at her, even though she had done nothing to deserve them. She waited with batted breath for the insults and accusations to fly at her, anger that was undeserved shot at her from a distance, it was always the same.. why wouldn't it be with him?

Very nervous. She was like a deer in headlights, to use a tired simile. Not quite sure whether to stay and hope she'd be left alone or to flee to safer ground.

Monroe had to admit, he was a tad disappointed that his reputation hadn't preceded him. However he immediately squashed the feeling. This was hardly the time to be worrying about anyone's ideas about him.

"On the contrary," he said with a smile. "I was just about to offer that service myself. You seem upset."

There was a pause.

"Or at least let me," he began to draw his wand, "help you with those wet clothes."

Rise watched him nervously, he was to kind.. he had some sort of secret plan.. some sort of hidden agenda, she just knew it! How could he not?! Everyone else with a smile did.. well everyone but one person, and he loved her! He knew her, and he didn't care what she was, but this boy.. he had plans for her, she recognized him from somewhere, but she couldn't quite place the name or face, she just knew she had heard of him, or heard him mentioned, or seen him around. She didn't know where or why, but she knew she had.

He said he wanted to offer his services, and she found herself glancing at him, just as he pulled his wand. She let out a squeak and nearly toppled off of the bench, her whole body going stiff and tense as her eyes glued to the wand, she couldn't move she was so afraid, like he would point it at her at any moment, and just let her have it, like anyone else would..

But his words didn't match his movement, and it took a while for her to process that he was trying to help her. She found her eyes moving down to her clothes and she shook her head sharply, her slightly damp hair flinging out around her face. "No thanks, I'm fine." She gulped and kept her eyes on his wand, her hands gripping the bench beside her, as she watched him for any sudden movements.

She squeaked and shuddered and Monroe didn't need to be a legilimens to immediately know what she was thinking.

He stood up and backed off, stuffing his wand back into his robes as he did so. Pulling a wand on a girl who got bullied was a stupid thing to do anyway. And he wanted to be Minister for Magic? Who did he think he was kidding?

"I'm sorry," he said. "That was stupid. You can dry your own things anyway, I'm sure."

Well, that was a total disaster. However, he couldn't just leave it like that.

"But Risé, if you ever want them to stop picking on you, you're going to have to tell me their names," he added before he walked off.

Rise found herself staring at at him as he stood up immediately and shoved his wand out of site. She relaxed and stood up as well, her eyes on him, as he spoke, but suddenly he was saying her name, and she felt a chill go through her, it was true.. everyone knew who she was.. everyone knew WHAT she was.. and this boy.. She couldn't help it but she liked him for whatever reason he gave her. She didn't even know his name.. but she liked that he seemed nicer than other people.

"Wait!" She cried out and ran forward, her hand reaching out to grab his arm, "I'm sorry.." she said softly, her eyes darting everywhere before she moved in front of him and stood there, letting her hand fall to her side. "I'm a little.. jumpy is all... I am sorry.. I just.. I.." She stammered, and found herself staring at her feet, her mind going a million places at once. "You know who I am.." she said, her eyes flicking up to meet his, and she couldn't help it, she kept his eye contact. "You are talking to me, but you know who I am.. why are you talking to me?" She asked, sounding genuinely curious.

It worked. To be truthful, Monroe hadn't expected her to run after him. He'd expected her to "run into him" in a couple of days and just happen to have a list of all her enemies handy. This was actually working better than he'd expected.

She didn't know who he was.

Knowing the name of everyone in the school sometimes led to this. Monroe had a habit of not introducing himself, under the assumption that everyone would know who he was.

"Ahhhh," he said as comprehension dawned. "I'm Monroe Ashcroft. I'm going to be Minister for Magic some day, so it's important that I know the people I'll be working for, don't you think?"

"And you did seem upset," he added.

Rise stared at him, her eyes glued to his face. He looked like someone who would be Minister of Magic, he made her feel.. comfortable, which would help him get elected. If he could make her feel comfortable.. he could make ANYONE feel comfortable. "Ashcroft is a nice name for someone who wants to be Minister.." She said softly, looking up at him under her eyelashes, and then looking at the ground.

She sighed and shook her head. "I don't know the names of the people who bully me.." she said softly, her eyes glued to the ground. "They just come up to me.. and usually stop me from seeing.. and yeah.. I was upset.." She said after a moment, slowly looking up at him. "If you know everyone.." she said and let her gaze drift over to the rain that poured in the middle of the courtyard. "Then I bet you know why I was upset too?" She asked, feeling her face heat up, embarrassed.

A nice name for Minister. Monroe couldn't help but think she wouldn't be saying that if she knew what any of his siblings were like. Still, he wasn't going to argue. If Risé had a little crush on him, that would simply make things easier.

He petted her on the back, using the gesture to turn her towards indoors and the Entrance Hall. It would be nice to get out of this rain, anyway.

"Well, I wouldn't want to assume anything," he said. "You could have been upset because your cat died."