Everything looked so green, I observed, as I lay on my back in the huge four poster bed. From the dark Brunswick walls to the jade coloured carpet. Even the sheets that Draco and I were tangled in were a rich, emerald green.

"How come the Slytherin Prince gets his own room?" I asked, idly trailing my fingers up and down his left arm, which he had draped over my mid-drift.

Draco was lying on his side to my left and I turned my head to face him. A silver grey eye twinkled at me from under his tousled white blonde fringe.

"The Slytherin Prince? Is that what you call me?" He drawled, in his silky voice, that never failed to send shivers up and down my spine.

"Well, if the shoe fits..." I said, gesturing at the grand room around us.

A soft chuckle escaped Draco's lips as he pulled me into him, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I could feel our hearts beat up against each other, almost in synchronised rhythm. I had never felt so at peace, and I closed my eyes enjoying the blissful warm feeling that flooded through me.

"One of the perks of being Snape's favourite." He murmured, his breath tickling my ear. And then he emitted a deep, exhausted sigh, and I knew then, that he was thinking about what it really meant to be Snape's favourite.

Instinctively, I twisted my head and brought my lips up to meet his, brushing them tenderly and sweetly against mine.

"Mmmm..." he sighed, bringing his hand up to cup my cheek. "I could stay here with you forever, Rosie."

My lips froze on his, and I opened my eyes. His words had brought me crashing back down to reality. And by the look on Draco's face, it did so for him too.

"They're soon going to discover that you took off with me, if they haven't already." I said fearfully, my blood turning cold.

"Well, technically we're still here. I'll just have to say you escaped, I mean - you did give a pretty good fight before you realised who I was."

Clutching the sheet around me, I sat up, biting my lower lip.

"Yes, but if it had been someone else, they would have just used their wand on me if I'd broken free. Surely they will question why you let me go so easily?"

Draco sat up to meet me, his eyes burning into mine with a fierceness I had never seen before.

"What are you suggesting, Rosie? That I take you to the torture room and let them hurt you? Or even kill you? Because they will, you know. They won't hesitate to use the killing curse on you." Draco breathed heavily. "I won't see you get hurt again, Rosie. I won't."

His voice choked and he pulled my right arm up to his lips, fervently kissing the place where Bellatrix had branded me, as if he could erase the offending letters through his own ardent will.

A mixture of love and sadness filled my heart at Draco's impassioned act. I released my arm from his grip and moved myself onto his lap, throwing my arms around his neck, nuzzling his head into my chest.

"Draco, it's ok, it's ok," I soothed, kissing the top of his head as his body shuddered with a sob. "We'll get through this, somehow. I just know we will."

As we sat there in that position, my thoughts turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione, and I prayed with everything I had that their mission had been successful. I felt guilty for abandoning them, but there was nothing else I could do now other than to sit tight and wait. I just didn't know how long I could get away with hiding out in here, and I was terrified for Draco. Once again he had risked his life by saving me. I couldn't bear being the reason why he was in so much danger.

Hours passed by. Draco and I had sunk back down under the sheets and dozed the rest of the day away in each other's arms. Neither of us spoke again about what was going to happen, or where we were going to go from here. Because the truth was, we didn't know.

It almost felt like we were the only two people in the world, lying in that bedroom; that there was no war going on outside those walls, and our futures weren't fragile messes - question marks above our heads.

We were just Rosie and Draco.

***

In the late evening of 1 May 1998, down in the Slytherin dungeons of Hogwarts Castle, a Death Eater and a Mudblood slept peacefully side by side.

But then, out of nowhere, something jolted the Death Eater awake.

His Dark Mark was burning.

***