Rayana Grace Appelbaum led a normal childhood life. She grew up always being the 'little sister' to Elvina, who bossed her around constantly. Her father, Eldwin, owned a private investigator firm (Appelbaum & Co.) in Berlin, Germany and was constantly away from home due to his demanding job. Her mother, Xiomora, worked as a therapist, and her office was at home since it was her duty to take care of the children while Eldwin was out and about on business.

When Rayana was a nine years old, it was starting to look like she might not have magical abilities like her sister, who began showing her abilities at seven years old. Her parents began to worry that she might be a squib, but when she turned ten years old, she accidentally blew up a toaster when she got angry at her mother for not letting her go outside and play when it was raining. It was then that they realized that she was not a squib, and her letter to Hogwarts arrived a year later.

Unfortunately, Rayana did not get to attend Hogwarts because their family had to move to Birmingham, Alabama just before September started due to her father's job. She was led to believe that this move was only temporary, so she sucked it up and attended Illvermorny for her first year... which eventually led to her second, and she was still stuck in the United States. She decided to make the best of the situation and try-out for the Thunderbird's Quidditch Team. She made the team as a Beater.

Her third and fourth year at Illvermorny flew by, and it was when she was a fifth year at Illvermorny that her parents would not be moving back to Germany anytime soon and that she was stuck in this Southern town. She had tried to move back to Germany with her sister, Elvina, when she graduated in 2078, but Elvina wanted to be alone because she had just started working in her father's business. Rayana was upset by this and refused to talk to Elvina for the following years, but it was after she graduated in 2083, that she let her sister back into her life.

After graduating at Illvermorny, Rayana took a year off from Quidditch, even though she wanted to play Professionally, and worked as a waitress in a restaurant to earn enough money to buy her a better broom. It was in 2085 that she got recruited to the American National Quidditch Team as a Beater. She played for the American team for four years before showing interest in Puddlemere United, which was a team she had adored as a child.

She was recruited for Puddlemere United in 2090 as a Beater.