"How did you know it was time to leave?"
"Do you feel sick to your stomach every waking moment in that house?"
Romina stepped back for a moment and let out the breath she did not even realize she had been holding. "Y-Yes." she admitted sheepishly...
It truly would not be their first day back at Hogwarts if Albus Dumbledore didn't stand before them yapping off about something that she never really paid any attention to.
Romina, now at the ripe age of fourteen, sat beside Regulus at the long Slytherin table on the left-hand side of the Great Hall. Across from them, Mulciber and Avery were seated, and it was times like this that Romina was wishing her brothers were still in school with her.
"Stop staring at me like that, Avery. I'm warning you." Romina hissed, kicking his shin beneath the table, expelling a loud yelp out of the boy's mouth.
"You're to be my future wife, Mina, I can stare at you all I like." Avery grinned widely. His comeback earned him a raunchy comment from Mulciber beneath his breath, and although she didn't know what he said, she could guess what it was simply by the way they were both leering at her now.
"I'm sorry, Avery. You are sorely mistaken because there is no way in bloody hell I'm ever going to be your future wife. I'm not your future anything. "Romina stated firmly, glancing down at her perfectly manicured nails, picking at nothing on one of her thumbnails before she heard Dumbledore finish his annual back to school speech.
Within the blink of an eye, food was now on the table before them, and it had taken precedence over bothering her for the two boys across from her.
"How was your summer, Severus?" Romina glanced to her left at the taller, lanky dark-haired boy. She knew that although he was a part of their group, he was still a bit of an outlier. She knew that he was not a pureblood wizard and that was ok to her, because he was loyal.
"The same as it is every year." Severus replied in his usual monotonous tone of voice.
"Well, we'll make sure this next summer is different." Romina smiled, reaching over to gently pat his hand. She sensed him tense up at her touch but chose not to say anything. "Rodolphus is marrying Bellatrix over Christmas break. It's going to be the biggest celebration of the year, I'm sure. You're coming, yes?"
Severus nodded silently. That was the most Romina would be getting out of the older boy for now.
Regulus laughed, "I know it certainly will be interesting."
Romina took a small sip of her pumpkin juice and with a small glance over at her best friend, she nodded. "I honestly can't stand to be in the same room as them. I'd rather not watch my brother act like a primate who has been given a banana for the first time."
