Dahlia brushed her teeth. Five times. And she used mouth wash. Twice. She dressed into her pajamas and walked down to the common room. She and Cassia had movie nights on Fridays with Jeffery. They had snuck a laptop with them that had all of their favorite movies.

All of a sudden, the entrance to the Common Room opened and through it stepped Orion. "Hey babe," he said, kissing Dahlia on the cheek.

Dahlia embraced him. "Hey! How did you get in here?"

Orion shrugged. "The Sorting Hat wanted to place me in Ravenclaw, but with my family tree, I had to choose Slytherin. I mean, it was either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. I chose neither." Dahlia beamed at him. She loved it when guys were cute and athletic and smart.

"So?" Orion asked plopping down on the couch next to Dahlia and slinging his arm around her. "What movie are we watching?"

"I was thinking Paper Towns. What do you think, Cass?" Dahlia asked. Cassia nodded. "Sure," she said.

Jeffery shifted a bit uncomfortably, and Dahlia remembered that he was way older than all of them. He was a third year, they were first years.

After the movie was over, Orion kissed Dahlia gently and bid her good night. Vivid eyed him as he left. She then began changing colors as everybody "oohed" and "awed". Finally, she stopped on Dahlia's personal favorite: a dilute calico. It made Dahlia smile.

Cassia stretched and yawned, then pushed up her glasses. "I'm sleepy!" she announced, bouncing up and down. "Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy, sleepy!"

"Gee, whoda thunk it," Dahlia deadpanned.

"Yeah, no dur," said Eliza, who had come down towards the end of the movie, at the point when Margo and Quentin had shakes. Jeffery laughed at the same time Eliza began to. Sometimes, if it weren't for the odd mental occurrences, one might've thought Eliza and Jeff lied about being twins. At the same time, the pair stopped their chortling.

Cassia shrugged and laid on the couch. "Good night," she whispered lazily. Eliza and Dahlia headed up to their rooms. But Dahlia wasn't really sleepy. Usually, since it was just her and Cassia in their dorm room, they would talk quietly or even hum or just sit on an empty bed and chat about boys and classes and Shawn Mendes and James Roday.

Dahlia enjoyed talking to Cassia because it made sleeping easier. She was a dreadful insomniac. Normally, those dreams went a bit like this, just like they were this very night when Dahlia finally was ensnared by sleep: The girl ran down a winding road with whips and turns and branches. They grabbed at her legs, scratching mercilessly at her arms. At first, Dahlia thought it was her. But then she realized it was Cassia. Cassia shielded her eyes as at the end of a road appeared a bright light, a glowing beacon. Somebody called Cassia back. Cassia turned back, but just waved solemnly and stepped towards the light. It engulfed her body, and all Cassia could feel was pleasure and peace. But the person kept calling her back.

"Cassia!" they screamed. Dahlia, with a jolt, recognised the voice as her own. Even through sleep, Dahlia knew she was reaching out both in the dream and the physical world. "Cassia, please!"

Cassia just turned around and called out a farewell.

Dahlia awoke in tears. She ran downstairs, and stopped. Cassia and Jefferey were asleep on the couch, and Jefferey was spooning Cassia. Dahlia furled her hands into fists. He was too old for her!

She pointed her wand at them. "Wake up!" she commanded in a whisper. The wand glowed teal and burnt Dahlia's hand. Cassia woke up and almost screamed, and would have if not for Dahlia muttering, "Silencio!"

Cassia started mouthing things. The first was either, "Dahlia how dare you!" or "Cranberry and orange juice!"

"Why are you on the couch like that?"

Cassia pointed to her mouth and then pretended to strangle herself. She then shrugged. "Oh, right." Cassia took a breath.

"I just fell asleep, okay? We were watching The Fault in Our Stars. It's a sleepy movie."

Dahlia's brow furrowed. Cassia gave her a sympathetic look. "You were crying. What happened?"

Dahlia looked pointedly at Jefferey. "He won't wake up. Spill."

Dahlia told her about the dream. Cassia shivered. They had moved up the stairs when Jeffery began to snore. "It's messed up, I know."

"Yeah, no kidding." She paused. "So, what do you think it means?"

"No idea." The girls turned around. Eliza was leaning against the doorway. "But I think I may know someone who might."

Professor Firenze looked down at Dahlia. "You," he said. "My nephew has spoken of you. Very nice to meet you Miss Wood."

"The pleasure is all mine," she responded with a smile. She then told Firenze about her dream. The old centaur stroked his beard.

"Hmm. . . I think it is an omen. Your friend, Cassia, the one in the dream, will be leaving this plane soon. To the ethereal realm."

Dahlia looked troubled. "Cassia. . . She can't die! She's my best friend!"

"I didn't say she would die." Firenze stood up to his full height and placed his hands behind his back as he began to pace around. "There are many planes, including ours, the Earthly plane, then the plane of Hell and the plane of Heaven and many in between. Your friend will not be going to one of the bad ones, no. She will be going to a good one; you can tell because of the white light. But which one. . ."

Firenze looked at the chalkboard and scribbled about. "Let's see. . . The Norse believed there to be nine realms, and ours is Midgard. The center. They were right about that. And that there are nine realms. The other eight are divided up between good and evil. It can't be Heaven because she won't be dead. Cohaereo is virtually uninhabited. Only a couple million people. Atheists, actually. Otium is only for the disabled and stillborn, and are free to leave whenever for a second chance, which only leaves Lethargian."

"What's that?" asked Dahlia, chewing a nail.

"It's the Realm of Comatose."