It started as a joke DracoxReader

Or Rome?

"You leave morning after next" Narcissa stood in the doorway to Draco's room. "They will be stopping the train on the way to see if The Potter boy is on it"

"They think they'd be daft enough to do that?" Draco scoffed.

"They're hoping he will be," She answered. Unamused. "They're hoping for even a speck of foolishness. A stammer in the wrong direction. Any mistake"

"Thank you Mrs. Malfoy" you spoke needing to lift the tensions, she knew how badly you wanted to be gone from here though you'd never tell her so. To be with friends, with anyone who wasn't bound by their skin to The Dark Lord like all who entered and left here alive.

A hopeless endeavor, seeing as Hogwarts now belonged to him. But still something to hope so, if there was much for hoping.

"Just..." She let her eyes rest on you "Get through the year. Try and enjoy it while you can"

"We will mother" Draco you could tell was trying not to seem too happy, for risk breaking her heart. Leaving his mother here was hard on him, but with his Father back and Bellatrix here. She was plenty safe. Hopefully.

Narcissa's eyes would every now and again catch the ring you wore as they did now, but neither her nor Lucius spoke of it. Maybe they felt it was not their place to say so. Or maybe they were just happy to see, through all of this darkness, Draco was hoping, grasping at the possibility of a future. Or maybe they thought you were silly. Looking forward, trying to see a light in the abyss. Either way, you didn't care. Because if it were up to you, you'd be far away from here anyway. A million miles away from this Manor.

"I need to go to Diagon Alley" you explained at the dinner table, a meeting it seemed would not occur tonight as you were sitting having a normal meal.

"For?" Narcissa asked.

"Books, robes, I would also like to go to Gringotts and take out some money and pay you back for taking care of me" you hadn't let yourself forget about what they had done for you, making you feel like a burden at times though they'd never say it. Feeding you, sheltering you, even clothing you at times before your case returned. And even some after that since your father had sold not just the home but all inside.

"Don't be silly, y/n" Narcissa cocked her head at you "You should not worry about money, you had paid us in loyalty. But when it comes to books and such. Most of Diagon Alley is closed down, so I would have to send for the proper things anyway."

"Right" you wouldn't fight her. She was right of course, the majority of the alley had been either destroyed or shut down completely, riddles with snatches sent by the ministry to find mudbloods and blood-traitors who walked their streets. It seemed Knockturn alley had spread, like a plague.

"When it comes to having money to spend of your own, I don't believe Hogsmeade is operational for students this year. So money won't be necessary"

"Not at all?" Draco asked

"No, I don't believe so. He has people in waiting there in case The Potter Boy comes back and tries to get into the school" Great, you thought, now even Hogsmeade is gone.

Narcissa watched you close as you looked down to your plate, which as usual was only lightly touched. It was hard to eat at this seat when all you could see was her face. Professor Burbage.

"I am sorry children... Maybe next year we can.." she stopped herself, not wanting you assumed to make promises she may not be able to keep.

"Next year we can go somewhere better" Draco finished her sentence. "Maybe somewhere like France"

"Or Rome?" you added.

"Et maneat(And stay)?" He asked, you nodded.

That was a fantasy you shared, to find yourselves gone and running the old runes of Rome. Fly broom over the Colosseum, make needless wishes at the Trevi fountain, maybe even see the Sistine Chapel. Someday.

"Wake up" Draco shook your shoulder as you lay away from him. "We're due to leave in an hour we overslept" You jolted awake, sitting up.

"Wait, really?" you looked to the clock on the wall, he was right. You had no time to waste now. "You kept me up too late, I wanted to be up hours ago" you shuffled from the bed. Your feet meeting the cold wooden flooring.

"I already finished packing your things" he smirked as you moved for your case. "And your blood status papers are in the top pocket of your bag" he gestures toward the black enchanted backpack, the only thing you had left of your mother.

"You still should have woken me" you leaned on the bedpost. "Luckily we showered last night" you ran your fingers over your hair in the mirror.

"Speaking of which" he stood, grabbing his wand. "Let me fix this" he walked to you waving his wand with a nonverbal spell over your shoulder. The blood that had once gathered on your skin rolled back into your body. Leaving you a fresh parchment.

Draco insisted he had already said goodbye to his parents for you, so you were able to just apparate to the platform without leaving the room. Luckily he had seemed to have gotten really good at this, if not for the sheer distance and difficulty in such you may have just apparated to Hogwarts. Seeing as the once standing magical barriers were stripped away.

The platform was quiet, even as first years moved onto the train. Which was a starch and scary difference between what it was usually like. Death eaters waited at each door to check papers, seeing as only people with magical blood were allowed to go to Hogwarts.

And yet they still planned to stop the train on the way there? Did they think he would hop on somehow?

You couldn't imagine any muggle borns would come anyway, even if they'd been told they could. You wondered if even any of the half blood students would come, but as you saw Seamus walking on the platform with Neville and Ginny Weasley close behind you knew. Some of them would risk it.

"Vultus(Look)" Draco gestured his head toward your group. Theodore, Vincent, Gregory and Daphne walked in a group as they got onto the train. Holding their papers and looking at one another's, maybe talking of percentages. Having an American witch as a mother made for interesting marks, curious to read it seemed seeing as even the dark lord had wanted to read yours over.

"Lets go" you pulled Draco's sleeve to join them. You hadn't spoken to then since that night, the final feast before the murder of the head master. So you could only imagine what they would ask.

You found them in their normal spots, being a Slytherin made now made you top of the food chain. But even they, it would seem, they had nothing on you.