Practice makes perfect

"And let me wait for another thousand years until you actually reach it? I don't think so. Besides, it's much faster and safer this way, don't you agree?", he asked with a chuckle. He knew she could walk but she still wasn't stable enough to do so on her own. And risking her falling again was definitely not worth it. He didn't mind having to carry her at all, she was light and small anyway.

"I know I don't have to take care of you, but I want to. So just relax and let me", he said with a smile. He felt an obligation now to take care of her for many reasons. She was his student now and he was putting a lot of effort into shaping her the right way. Having her hurt or injured would only hinder the process and he couldn't allow that. He needed her strong and healthy.

He turned his head around towards her, quite surprised by her request. Biting his lip, he thought about his answer for a while. But with just a glance into her frightened eyes, he couldn't say no. She had him completely hooked. "Of course", he said with a warm smile. Again, Alice was now a part of his future and an important part as well. He knew she would be a loyal and worthy subject. And he had to take care of his own.

Within a few seconds, another bed appeared near Alice's and a few lamps around the bed. "I'll stay but you have to go to sleep now ok? It's really late", he said as he turned off her lamp. He turned around and took his shirt of before climbing into his own bed to rest.

"Thank you" said Alice with a soft smile. It really meant a lot for her that he would stay with her like this. It might be a silly request and a bit childish too, but she didn't care. She truly hated sleeping alone, especially in a strange room like this. But thankfully this time she wouldn't need to sleep alone. Even though she didn't knew Andrei for that long, she trusted him completely for some reason. His presence made her feel safe and protected. It was something that she just couldn't explain, not even to herself.

"Ok, good night" she said with a little childish grin on her face as she rested her head on the pillow. Within a few minutes, she went deeply into sleep. But her sleep was quickly disturbed by a terrible dream. But it wasn't just a regular nightmare, or at least it definitely didn't feel like it. It felt too real to be just a dream.

Suddenly darkness started to surround her and it slowly sucked up all of the air around her. It was cold and her body was shivering from the low temperature. She could barely breathe now and she had to gasp for air. As she tried to move around and kick around, almost all of her muscles were paralyzed. She couldn't stand up or move. All she could do was turn her head around in a state of panic and watch as the darkness approached her. It was so close now that she screamed out of shear fear.

Andrei had just started to drift off to sleep when he heard a sudden loud scream. He shot up in his bed and pulled his wand out of his pocket. His first instinct was to protect himself from whatever was attacking or creating his ruckus. He was surprised when he saw that no one was there, it was only him and Alice. And then was when he realized the screaming was coming from her. He jumped on his feet and ran to her feet.

She was shaking uncontrollably and still screaming her lungs out. He tried to hold her down but he couldn't. Great panic started invading his body. He had been warned that this could be a possible side effect from his spells and necklace. But since such side effects rarely happened he didn't pay much attention to them until now. "Alice, Alice!", he said trying to wake her up but it was hopeless. He cursed himself for putting her under such strong spells from the beginning, that must have set this off. And he knew these weren't just nightmares he was dealing with, it was quite real. He needed to wake her up as soon as possible.

This was his fault, and he felt horrible for it. And just as his plans were going in the right direction. He bit his lip and tried a few spells that fell on his mind. They seemed to work a bit at least and she was slowly calming herself down. After a few minutes, it had seemed that Alice had drifted of back to sleep. A huge rock feel of his chest. He came close and placed a kiss on her forehead just as a father would to a daughter and he got into the bed next to her. She was like his family now, or his little sister he needed to protect. He wasn't just gonna leave her after all that happened.

OOC: Sorry for the huge god mode but I did clear it with you first

( lol you did don't worry about it!

She moved her body frantically to the sides as the nightmare increased. The darkness had now surrounded and engulfed her completely. A terrible feeling of death kept creeping upon her as she now stopped fighting it. There was no use in it. She just relaxed her body and let the nightmare continue. Just then, the darkness suddenly faded away and vanished. It was a surprise but Alice didn't questioned it. She just welcomed the change and drifted away back to sleep. Those few minutes had exhausted her more than anything else. Sleeping was the only thing she could do.

A few hours later, Alice opened her eyes and yawned. Pictures and images of the dream she head popped into her head. It was so strange, she never had such a strange dream before. She wasn't the type to be scared of a nightmare but this one frightened her even when she was awake. Shaking her head, she tried to get rid of the feeling and wake herself completely up.

Opening her eyes wide open, she felt a sudden slight movement behind her. Her hear rate jumped through the roof as she felt someone's hand near her back. Maybe she wasn't dreaming after all. Maybe she blacked out from someone's spell. Biting her lip roughly, she tried to calm herself down. She slowly reached for her want on the small table near the bad and jumped on her feet. Turning around, she faced the bed and pointed her want at that direction. Instead of a bully or a death eater, she found Andrei staring strangely at her. "Oh god I'm sorry. I though...yeah I'm sorry" she said taking a deep breath in and out.

Andrei woke up from a deep sleep as he hear a cracking sound next to his his ear and felt something move near his hand. As his eyelids lazily opened, he couldn't help but flinch when he saw a wand pointed at him. This wasn't exactly the best wake up call. But when he saw it was Alice who was holding the want in the first place, he chuckled endlessly at the irony. She looked so cute for a second there as she had a serious expression on her face until she realized it was him. "Bloody hell. Not quite daddy's little girl anymore, are you?", he asked with a loud laugh. He had to admit, this was the most unique way a girl had woken him up from sleep.

"No it's fine. Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. It's just you were having nightmares and screaming out loud. You were shaking and you couldn't stop. I tried to help with a few spells but it took me a while. And then after that I didn't want to leave you alone", he explained. He could understand how weird it must have been to wake up and find out that someone is next to you. And his was quite proud of her reaction. That didn't seem like something a Hufflepuff would do, but someone worthy of training. Her reactions were getting much better, which meant his spells must have worked. He just needed to make sure the nightmares were kept in check.

"Quite good response there Longbottom. Didn't thought I would see a girl like you pointing a wand at me while I'm sleeping. I must say I'm impressed", he praised her with a grin. Her potential was even more obvious now and that pleased Andrei.

She chuckled at his words. Well it wasn't exactly something she would usually do. But for some reason at that time, it was her natural instinct and response. She put her wand down and gave him an apologetic smile. "Again, so sorry. I didn't think I was you. Well I don't know exactly what I thought. But it was never my intention to point my wand at you" she said softly.

Listening to his speak of her nightmare, she realized that it wasn't something she just imagined. Her cheeks turned red as her face blushed from embarrassment. Thinking that he had to hear her shout like a little child in her dream was horrible. Yet she felt quite surprised and glad that he didn't leave her like that and that he wanted to help. "Oh" she said softly still trying to control the redness in her cheeks. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that, it was just a dream nothing more. But thank you either way" she said with a smile.

"A girl like me? What is that suppose to mean?" she asked with a laugh. As she stretched her arms and finally woke up completely, she started to realize how late it must be. She might have even missed a few classes. "We should really go, I think we're late to everything now. I can feel another round of detention coming my way" said Alice with a chuckle.

"I told you it was fine and I meant it", he said shrugging his shoulders. Her pointing a wand at him was actually a good sign, something Andrei enjoyed seeing. And it wasn't like she could actually do some damage to him. Sure Alice improved a lot, but she still wasn't a person he could ever be afraid of.

"Yeah I know that", he said nodding his head. But he knew this wasn't true because it wasn't just a dream. It was a side effect. If he managed to keep it under control however, things should go just as he planned. "Still wanted to make sure you were ok. If they continue you, tell me. Do you promise?", he asked seriously. Andrei needed to know that she could tell him these stuff honestly, so he knew what to do. Getting her sick wasn't something she wanted, but if he wasn't careful it could easily happen.

"It's nothing. You are right, we should go. Come on, I'll even open the door for you", he said with a chuckle as he let them both out of the room.