Harry Potter novel and character concepts © 2007 J.K. Rowlings, first published in Great Britain, by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Romi Chronicles etc novel and character concepts © 2014 Emma Churchill
– Chapter One –
The Dream
Stretching out before her was endless sky. It was growing brighter as the sun began to rise. The stars were still shining in the pale blue sky, twinkling their last rays before sunrise. The east was brightening and the sun finally crested the horizon, bathing the world in new light. The warmth and brightness lifted her heart, and it was beautiful all around.
Suddenly an immense black wing unfurled, covering all of the sky in front of her, plunging the world into darkness. She could feel fear rising in her heart, and she stood staring into the abyss in front of her. Terrible images came to her, sucking all happiness and life, until she could not remember joy.
A hissing spoke to her from the blackness, menacingly and pure evil, and she was paralysed. All she could do was close her eyes and hope that she might wake from this nightmare.
"Romi, are you all right?"
Romi opened her eyes and looked to her right. She was sitting in the Malfoy Manor's gardens with Daphne and Astoria Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson. It was Daphne that had spoken; she was looking at Romi with a peculiar expression.
Romi watched her a moment and then smiled, "of course, I am," replied Romi, cheerfully, "why wouldn't I be?"
"Oh, you just seemed to be spacing off…" Daphne said.
"Oh, did I?" Romi answered, "I didn't notice."
"You just did it because I was talking, didn't you," Pansy said with a huff.
"Of course I did," Romi said, glancing at the other girl. "I never listen to what you have to say – why did you come, anyways?"
"Draco invited me," Pansy said glancing over to the boys standing in a group, talking about fifty feet away. Along with Romi's cousin, Draco; Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Theodore Nott, and Blaize Zabini were there. The Malfoys were having a dinner party that evening, and the parents, except the Parkinsons, had come with their children. All the children were going into their third year at Hogwarts, with the exception of Astoria, who was starting her first year.
"I'm sure he did," Romi said sarcastically. Zhi, Romi's black cat, wandered over to the girls sitting in the garden, she climbed onto Romi's lap, munching on what seemed to be the last bits of a dead frog.
"Eww!" Pansy squealed when she saw the cat, "Can't you stop her from doing that?"
"What – being a cat?" Romi said, patting Zhi on the head. "Are you allergic to cats?"
"No, why?" Pansy replied.
"Because I had the great urge to through her at your face," Romi mumbled.
"How about we change the subject," Daphne said quickly.
"Yes, to something more interesting," Pansy jumped in and opened her mouth to say something else, when Romi interrupted her.
"Yeah," Romi said, "are you excited to start school this year, Astoria?" Astoria looked up and blushed deep scarlet, she glanced at her sister before continued.
"Yes," she said, "though I'm a bit nervous."
"Don't worry," Pansy said soothingly, "I'll make sure that you're alright."
"I think that's Daphne's job," Romi said sharply, "besides, Astoria's wonderful, she'll make friends in no time." Romi smiled at the eleven year old, who couldn't help but beam. She glanced down to the grass they were sitting on and played with between her fingers.
"Okay, something more interesting," said Pansy with a giggle, jumping in quickly so that Romi couldn't speak again, "how about the way Nott's been looking at you, Daphne, for the past ten minutes."
Romi looked at the boys and was surprised to find that Pansy was right. Theodore Nott appeared to be talking with Draco, however he was looking over at Daphne, smiling. Romi looked to Daphne who blushed, smiled and looked away from them.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she mumbled.
"Oh, really," Romi said giving her friend a push, smiling. "Even I saw that and I don't notice things like that."
"You mean, the way that you don't notice Zabini looking at you?" Daphne replied, a smirk playing on her face.
"What?" Romi answered confused. Daphne nodded slightly to the boys, and slowly Romi glanced over. Daphne was right; Zabini had been looking at her. When Romi caught his eye, he gave a half-smile and a little nod of his head. Romi was so bewildered; she didn't give much of a response at all, but glanced to her cousin. He was looking murderous, ignoring Nott and glaring at Zabini. This confused Romi even more so.
"And so it begins," Pansy said, with a ridiculous lofty sigh, "everyone's pairing off! Daphne will be with Theodore, of course. Romi will go out with Blaize, and I, of course, will go out with Draco."
There was silence for a moment amongst the group of girls, while Romi processed what Pansy had just said.
"What?" Romi blurted finally. "What makes you think you'll be going out with Draco?"
"Really, Romi, I know he's your cousin and everything," Pansy replied, "but he's allowed to like whomever he wants."
"I'm not saying he isn't – I'm saying why would he like you?" Romi answered stiffly, and feeling bizarrely angry.
"I do get to spend a lot more time with him then you do," Pansy said, condescendingly, "being in the same house at school and all, so we've got to know each other a lot better. And I know he likes me… he's practically told me."
"Really?" Romi asked, genuinely curious now, "He told you that?"
"Well, not in so many words," Pansy said sighing and looking longingly over the boys. "But he did touch my arm."
Romi frowned. "You know he likes you because he touched your arm?" she said, laughing slightly, "I'm sorry, I'm just really confused, how does that result in liking?"
Pansy just stared at her with disgust on her pug-like face.
"Well, Romi," Daphne said slowly, "you have to admit, it is pretty unusual. It's not like Malfoy touches anyone…"
Romi frowned, looking from the girls to where the boys were standing. After a moment of watching, it seemed what Daphne said was true; Draco was shying away from any physical contact with the other boys, even though Crabbe and Goyle were play fighting, trying to take on Zabini and failing.
"He touches me," Romi said slightly pouty.
"That's because you're his cousin," Pansy said swiftly.
She gave one of her ridiculous sighs again and Romi felt her anger rising again, she was so mad at Pansy. Why did Pansy get to decide that she was going to date Draco? Romi was still staring at the boys, and Draco managed to catch her eye. He smiled and then turned back to whatever conversation he was having.
Just then, Charis Black, Romi's mother, came around into the garden to where the girls were sitting.
"Come along, ladies," she said. "Time to wash up for dinner." She then walked a few steps and called out to the boys. Romi and the other girls were getting to their feet when the boys joined.
"And what have you ladies been talking about?" Theodore said smoothly, coming up next to Daphne and walking beside her. She blushed and mumbled something incoherent.
"Probably nothing we want to hear about, right cuz?" Draco said and very uncharacteristically of him, he put his arm around Romi's shoulders. Romi looked to him and he grinned at her, before he glanced at Zabini; who was now walking with Astoria. Draco looked back at Romi, who was looking at him with her eyebrows raised, wondering what exactly he was up too. Draco shook his head and looked forward again, but didn't take his arm off her shoulders.
This made Romi smile. Though she was almost certain it was because she could feel the death glares from Pansy walking alone behind them, she thought a part of it was because it was just nice to have Draco's arm around her shoulders.
Dinner was held in the great dinning room. It was a long room with a blazing fire in one of the walls. The parents all lined up at one end of the table with Uncle Lucius at the head and the children were all seated at the other end, with Draco taking the foot of the table. Romi sat on the end with Draco, and Daphne beside her. The spot across from her was taken by Blaize, thankfully in Romi's opinion, and Pansy was forced to sit away from Draco.
Draco, however, didn't seem to please, and Romi couldn't help but feeling a downhearted at the thought that Draco might have actually wanted to sit beside Pansy.
The first course came out, and the servants placed a bowl of soup for each of them. Normally, the Malfoys did not employ servants unless it was a grand dinner party. Also, they were currently without their House elf, which they had lost in an unfortunate decision on Uncle Lucius' behalf, leading to all sorts of unexpected outcomes, one of them being the freedom of Dobby.
The parents were all talking amongst themselves and leaving the children alone. Daphne and Theodore were talking amiably with each other, ignoring the rest of the table; Crabbe and Goyle were eagerly stuffing their faces, and Pansy was attempting to make conversation with Draco from across two seats. Romi watched her for a moment, and then with a wicked thought, decided that Pansy should not be so fortunate if she wanted to become part of Romi's family.
Putting down her spoon, Romi put her fingers under the table and wiggled them for Zhi. Now, Zhi was a very smart cat, and very good at understand her human's wishes. Zhi appeared, rubbing against Romi's arm. Romi quickly ducked her head under the table, put her fingers to her mouth indicating food, and pointing at Pansy's chair. Zhi correctly interpreted this as the human in that chair required proper food, which, of course, only a cat can provide.
Zhi meowed loudly and trotted off to the kitchens.
"What are you doing?" Draco interrupted, and Romi sat up very quickly, knocking her head against the table on the way. She rubbed it and realised that all the children were staring at her.
"Nothing," Romi replied quickly, putting her hand down from her head. "I was just telling Zhi to go away."
Draco looked at her funny while everyone else resumed their conversations. The dishes from the soup were soon taken and the next course was brought out. Romi saw Zhi following the food tray, containing salads for everyone in the dinner room. Romi could see a very unpleasant thing hanging out of Zhi's mouth as the tray moved closer.
The food tray went of view, and Romi hoped that Zhi was successful. Soon everyone had a leafy salad placed in front of them, and Romi felt Zhi rubbing up against her legs, purring contently.
Romi took up her fork and ate very, very slowly, watching Pansy out of the corner of her eye.
For a moment, nothing happened. Pansy, after thrusting her fork, very inelegantly, into her salad, pulled it out and brought it half way to her mouth. Then she screamed a blood-cuddling scream, jumping up and away from the table, dropping the fork like it was something poisonous.
There, on the end of her fork, was a freshly killed frog, its eyes still bulging, courtesy of Zhi.
It was pandemonium after that, Daphne and Astoria shrieked also, and Pansy was still going off like an angry kettle. The parents were all in an uproar, trying to figure out what was happening. Romi tried very, very, very hard not to smile, and it was the most difficult thing that she had ever had to do.
It didn't help at all when she looked to Draco, who was staring at her, like he knew it was her. She started to laugh silently, and Draco looked away from her, covering his own smile with his hand.
It was another minute or so until Romi's father, Hector, vacated his seat and picked up the fork with the speared frog on it. Barely five seconds of looking at it, he looked straight to his daughter.
"Romi?" he said in a disapproving tone.
"It wasn't me!" Romi said, but she was laughing.
"Yes, it was, young lady," he said, "I saw Zhi following the food tray with it."
Romi stopped laughing as Zhi gave a very large meow under her seat, and her father raised his eyebrows.
"Ugh," Romi said finally, "it was just a joke."
"To bed, young lady," Hector said, motioning for the servant to take Pansy's plate and fork away. Pansy was staring at Romi with utmost hatred in her eyes. Romi didn't move for a moment.
"To bed!" Hector repeated dangerously. Romi sighed, put her napkin on her plate, pushed her chair back and stalked out of the dinning room. All of the parents were watching her go.
As soon as Romi left the dining room, she could hear everyone starting up in whispers, and Pansy's pathetic sobs; no doubt trying to milk as much from her traumatising experience as possible.
Romi climbed the stairs towards her bedroom and flopped down on the bed. Zhi came and curled up on her stomach, purring loudly. Romi rubbed her ears.
"You did good, Zhi," Romi said to the cat. "Very well done."
"Not very well done, indeed," said Romi's mother's voice.
Romi looked up to see her mother was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed. Romi sat up, and cuddled her cat. Charis walked into the room and sat down beside her daughter on the bed.
"Why did you do that?" Charis asked.
"I thought it would be funny," Romi replied and then smiled, "It was hilarious."
"Except for the getting caught bit?" Charis asked.
"Except for the getting caught bit," Romi repeated, nodding. "I'm sorry, mum, but really, Pansy drives me up the wall!"
"We all have someone that we don't like, Romi," Charis said, patting Zhi on the head, "but that doesn't mean we act like you just did. You've known this girl for two years, what possessed you to start now?"
Romi was silent for a while, and then said in a quiet whisper, "Pansy wants to go out with Draco."
"Draco is perfectly capable in making his own decision about who to date, when he's ready," Charis said, "You don't get to make that choice, just because you two are close."
"I know," said Romi, playing with her cat's ears, "he can date anyone he wants – except Pansy."
Charis sighed.
"Oh, come on, mum!" Romi said, looking up. "That was the best shriek I've ever heard, and it did make a dull dinner party more exciting." Romi could see a smile pulling on the edges of Charis' lips.
"What's done is done," Charis said finally, "I daresay you didn't hurt Pansy, just gave her a bit of a fright." Romi smiled, remembering. "You'll stay up here for the rest of the night – I suggest, perhaps you start with some homework. I'll bring you a jam sandwich when everyone's gone home."
Charis left Romi alone in her room, carefully shutting the door behind her.
It was another four hours before Romi could hear the sounds of people leaving the dinning room, and about another hour before there was a knock at her door. Romi extracted herself from her homework to get it.
She opened the door, and Draco was standing there with a jam sandwich. He was still smiling.
"Here," he said, holding out the sandwich. Romi took it and let him inside. She gathered her homework from the bed and dumped it on her desk. She took a bite of the sandwich and sat down.
"So," Draco said, still smiling. Romi looked to him and started to laugh; Draco laughed too, and for a moment, that's all they did. Finally settling down, Draco sat down on the bed. "That was a terrible thing to do," he said looking to her, but it was softened by his smile.
Romi laughed a bit more, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. She was freaking out about Zhi eating a frog earlier, and she was just getting on my nerves. Don't pretend that it wasn't hysterical."
"Oh, it was," replied Draco. "You can't even imagine how hard the rest of dinner was. But still, that was mean."
"I had to spend the day with that woman," Romi replied, "I was feeling mean. I got it from her."
"Why, what did she do to you today?" Draco asked. Romi looked at him. He was watching her, waiting for an answer, but before Romi could say anything, she suddenly noticed how much she loved Draco's eyes. They were grey with blues and greens mixed together, and always so caring when they looked at her.
Romi looked away quickly, wondering exactly why her face felt a little flushed, and her heart beating quickly.
"Nothing in particular," Romi said, not looking at Draco. "We were just talking about boys."
Draco was silent for a moment. "You were?" he asked slowly. Romi looked back to him, and he had an expression of slight apprehension on his face. "What were you saying?"
"Oh, um, nothing really," Romi said. "Just that, you know, Theodore Nott has a thing for Daphne."
"Yeah, I think the whole world knows that," Draco said with a laugh.
"Yeah, and I dunno, Pansy thinks that Zabini likes me," Romi said awkwardly. Draco clenched his jaw, and then said;
"Why, do you like him?"
"Why would you ask me that?" Romi asked, her heart fluttering, "Do you like Pansy?"
Draco frowned and looked to her, "why would you ask me that?"
Romi just stared at him for a moment, feeling very bizarre feelings all over, until the silence between them got too unbearable. Romi started to say something when the door opened again, Charis stuck her head inside.
"Girls who have been naughty don't get visitors," she said, looking pointedly at Draco. "Come on, to bed with you."
Draco glanced at Romi, smiled slightly and then left. Charis stayed just long enough to see Romi snaffle down the jam sandwich and tucked her into bed.
Romi, however, could not sleep and she stayed awake a long time after her mother had left, wondering why exactly she had felt so determined to put the frog in Pansy's salad.
Romi had to face her Uncle and Aunt the next morning, whom were very disapproving of her attitude at dinner the night before. What was worse was her parents' decision to not allow Romi to see her best friend the next night. Romi had made plans with Neville Longbottom, her best friend since first year, but her mother made her write and tell Neville and Mrs. Longbottom why she was not allowed to go.
Romi did this very grudgingly and finally sent off the letter late in the afternoon. She leaned against the windowsill watching the bird disappear into the horizon and feeling like the she was being punished very badly for just a little prank.
She was alone in the attic with just the whispering birds to keep her company. She liked it up here, most of the time Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa did not believe it right for them to go up to where the owls lived when they could send a servant to do it for them. It was dusty and full of straw that the owls had dragged in to make it more comfortable.
But Romi liked the peace and quiet, with just her and the birds. There was a knock on the wood behind her, and Romi turned to see that Draco was standing there.
"Hey," he said smiling slightly. "Sorry that you don't get to go."
"No, you're not," Romi replied as Draco made his way over to her. "You don't like Neville."
"No," Draco replied. "But I don't like seeing you unhappy." He looked down at her and smiled then rubbing his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept well. He had grown over the year. This time last year Draco would have only just been the same height at Romi, but now he was a good three inches taller than her.
"You okay?" she asked, as he looked to her, dark shadows under his eyes.
"Yeah, just had nightmares last night," he replied.
Romi just stared upwards for a moment; Draco reached out his hand and picked a piece of straw that had got caught in Romi's hair.
He opened his mouth to say something, when another voice interrupted.
"There you two are," said Aunt Narcissa from the doorway. "What on earth are you doing up here?"
"I was sending a letter, Aunt," Romi replied, looking away from Draco.
"Well, come down now," she said glancing over to her son. "No need to get so filthy and dinner is too be served soon."
Romi led the way out of the attic, followed down by Draco. Dinner was a quiet affair. It was finished quickly, and Romi escaped upstairs again. She had been told to complete her homework, but Romi didn't like the idea of that at all.
She was alone for almost an hour until Draco knocked on the door and came in.
"Hey," Romi said, pulling Zhi onto her stomach so that Draco could sit beside her.
"Hey," he replied. "How are you finding that homework?"
"Too boring to do," Romi replied. Draco flopped on her bed and Romi found herself remarkably happy for some reason.
They both stared up at the ceiling. They were silent for a moment, and then Draco spoke.
"Did you see the paper this morning?" he asked seriously.
"No," Romi replied looking to him. His face was blank as he stared up at the ceiling. Then he lifted himself on one arm, turned and looked down at Romi.
"Do you know of a Sirius Black?" he asked. Romi thought for a moment, but the name did not ring a bell, she shook her head. "No distant relation or anything?"
"Possible," Romi replied, "but not that I know of … why?"
Draco lay back on the bed. "It's just that… well… the Daily Prophet said that he's escaped from Azkaban."
Romi sat up and looked at startled.
"Escaped?" she said worried. "No one escapes from Azkaban. Did it say what he did?"
"I didn't get that far," Draco replied. "My father took the paper away and said that I didn't need to know. He'd tell me later if I needed to." He looked at Romi slightly worried.
"I thought escaping Azkaban was impossible," Romi murmured.
"So did I," Draco replied.
They talked for the rest of the night, only sometimes resting on the topic of Sirius Black, but both were a little too worried to talk about it.
Romi spent the night having strange, creepy dreams that she could not remember. She woke the next morning, and had to drag herself out of bed. She went downstairs, feeling slightly depressed. She forcefully reminded herself that she had to be cheerful for her parents and Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa.
She spent breakfast trying to be cheerful and she felt like she was overcompensating greatly. The morning was spent doing homework as she had done none of it the day before. Lunch was had outside on the patio, and as it was a very warm day and Charis and Aunt Narcissa suggested that they all go swimming in the Malfoy's pool. Romi eagerly agreed to this idea, as it was a break from homework.
She went up to change into her bathing suit and stared at herself in the mirror for quite a while. She felt very self conscious in her suit, it was the same one she'd had since she was eleven, and frankly she'd grown in certain places, and now it felt just a little bit too small.
But after ten minutes, her mother appeared at the door and told Romi that it was time to come down. Romi looked to her mother and wished that she could look like her. Charis was tall and slim, and filled out her one-piece bathing suit very nicely. Her short-cropped hair, green currently, made everything about her look cuter. Romi glanced in the mirror and felt like she looked terrible. Her nose and cheeks were burnt bright pink and clashed horribly with her hair.
"Did you put your sunscreen on?" Charis asked, looking at her daughter.
"I'm trying for more freckles," Romi said wriggling her nose.
"I think you have enough freckles," Charis replied. "Get some sunscreen on that face before it burns more."
Romi did as she was told and followed her mother outside; Hector and Uncle Lucius were already in the pool, play fighting. Uncle Lucius had tied up his long blonde hair, and seemed determined to win against Romi's father.
Charis walked over to Aunt Narcissa and put the towels down on the chair. Romi had left her glasses inside, and so was squinting at the pool. She stood on the edge, looking down into the deep end. She looked around for Draco, but she couldn't see him.
Then she turned around and saw that he was running straight for the pool. Seconds too late, she realised that he was running straight for her.
"Wait!" Romi cried, but she was too late, Draco grabbed her around the waist and they both went crashing into the pool. It was freezing, and caught Romi completely off guard. Draco, however, never let go of her and dragged her up to the surface with him. She steadied herself holding onto his shoulders, gasping for breath. A second later she rubbed her hair out of her eyes and gave Draco a death glare.
"Don't worry," he said jovially. "I've got you – and there's no ice in here," he said quietly.
"I hate you right now," Romi murmured, holding onto his shoulders tightly.
"I won't let go of you, I promise," Draco replied, and it was true he was still holding onto her waist, helping her keep afloat.
"Can we go to the shallow end now?" Romi demanded. Draco nodded and glided over to the shallow end taking her with him.
Romi noticed just as they made it to the shallow end that her father had been watching her journey. As soon as she was where she could touch the bottom, he turned back to Uncle Lucius.
They spent the afternoon in and out of the pool. Draco, thankfully, did not drag her into the deep end again, but he spent a great deal of time with her father and Uncle in there, while Romi sat on the edge of the pool watching.
"Why don't you go join them," her mother said, after a little while sitting down next to her. Romi looked to her, and then shook her head without smiling. Charis watched her daughter for a moment and then leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head. "Don't do anything that you don't want to, honey," she said and got into the pool. Charis floated around in the shallow end with Aunt Narcissa.
Romi watched Draco in the deep end; play fighting with his father and Hector. It was only later when they all got out of the pool that Romi noticed a faded bruise on Draco's side. They were all snacking before dinner when Romi asked about it.
"How did you get that?" Romi said, poking Draco's bruise, he jerked away from her finger. All of the parents suddenly went silent. Draco, however just smiled.
"I fell down the stairs," Draco replied evenly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Romi asked.
"Yeah, right," Draco said sarcastically, "I'm going to tell you every time I fall down the stairs; not like it's embarrassing enough being clumsy."
"You're not that clumsy," Romi stated.
"I'm clumsy enough," replied Draco firmly.
Aunt Narcissa interrupted the conversation to say that they should all go inside and get ready for dinner. Romi looked up to her, just in time to see her glance apprehensively at Uncle Lucius, before walking away. Romi's own parents were exchanging meaningful glances, but Romi never figured out what they meant.
Dinner was quiet as they were all exhausted from their afternoon in the pool. Romi dragged herself up to bed and flopped down into it, face first. After a moment, Zhi carefully walked up her back and settled on the top of her shoulders purring.
There was a knock at the door, and Romi forced herself to get out of bed and open it. Draco was standing there, he looked apologetic.
"Sorry," he said quickly.
"For what?" Romi asked, struggling to think of something that he should apologize for.
"For throwing you into the water today," he said. "I know you hate water."
Romi opened the door and walked away from it, waving for him to come in.
"I don't hate it," Romi said, "not really. I hate the idea of being under it without a way back up again."
She collapsed back onto her bed, and Draco lay down beside her.
"Do you ever think about that day?" he asked for a moment.
"All the time," Romi replied, knowing exactly what he meant. "Though it's not like I haven't been in deep water before," she said thinking about her first year at school. She spent quite a great deal of time by and in the lake, and most of the time, she was too scared of the other things that were happening to be scared of the water.
Romi closed her eyes, starting to drift off. She didn't even notice that Draco had fallen asleep beside her.
She was standing on a cliff side. Staring at the eastern sky at dawn. The sun was just rising, basking everything in a warm glow. She smiled, watching the trees grow, and the animals stir.
Then a rumble interrupted the peace. A great black wing stretched out blocking the sun, leaching the happiness and joy out of everything. She was staring into the darkness, the utter emptiness of the black wing and she thought she could see dark red eyes, staring back out to her.
Paralysing fear coursed through her and she could not look away from the eyes. They began to show her things, dreadful things, terrible, nasty, wicked things, and she couldn't get away from it.
The eyes then spoke to her, evil, malicious words, and all she could do was close her eyes. Hoping, hoping that one day this nightmare would end.
Romi suddenly sat up in bed, a cold sweat on her forehead. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Then she noticed that she was in bed fully clothed, and what was even stranger, was that Draco woke up beside her.
"Hey," he said, rubbing his eyes. "What's the matter?"
Romi looked out of the window. The sun was just setting; they couldn't have been asleep for more than two hours.
"I don't know," Romi said after a moment. "I think I had a dream."
"You think you had a dream?" he asked, frowning.
"I don't remember if I did…" Romi said. She shook her head. "I don't think so – but I must have. I don't normally wake up suddenly unless from a nightmare."
Draco looked at her concerned, for a bit, but Romi could tell that he was still half-asleep.
"Go back to sleep," she said to him.
"Only if you do," he managed to say, even though his eyes were closed. Romi nodded and looked out of the window again. The sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, and everything dimmed in the twilight. She got a chill suddenly watching the darkness creep up, that she quickly lay down, and pulled the covers up to her chin.
With Draco asleep behind her, she finally dozed off and slept through the night.