Ben had been so busy thinking about his family being in Hogsmeade that he had failed to consider that hers was, too. He immediately felt like an ass when she pointed it out, because obviously that was a minefield. He hadn't really had to think about it before because he had never been avoiding Hogsmeade before, but looking back he wasn't sure he'd ever seen Melody there casually. She'd gone to Hogsmeade to visit friends, but that was always flooing directly in and directly out. Of course she was anxious about the idea of living in Hogsmeade. He should have known that. Not just putting his foot in his mouth on this one, he'd gone and shoved it halfway down his throat.

"I — I'm sorry," he said, cheeks flushing deeply. "I wasn't thinking."

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MJ made this <3

Evidently, neither of them had put much thought into their questions before asking. Melody shrugged weakly, her gaze still stuck on the table. They never discussed her family - not anymore, not when there was almost nothing to discuss that couldn't also be learned from the Society pages. (Besides, Ben hadn't ever showed much interest in her friends, so why would her family be any different?)

"Can we - can we start over? We have so little time before you start at Hogwarts, I want to enjoy it and not worry about questions of children or moving. I'm sorry for having steered us this way." She pleaded, only lifting her gaze for the final apology.

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Ben breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't exactly feel like he was off the hook for this latest faux pas, but he would much rather change the subject than keep tripping over his tongue trying to find the right way to apologize.

"Yeah," he agreed, setting his fork down and running a hand through his hair as though he needed to physically reset himself in order to mental reset the conversation. "Let's start over."

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MJ made this <3