"It's not a farce, so I dearly hope that you'll speak with me again," Elliot said, with a sheepish smile. He always forgot about her brother and the house elves; he had always been slightly too interested in Temerita Reid and her wands to spend much time on small talk about the rest of her family. The poor house elf, Tippit, had clearly been embarrassed by this whole situation, given how quickly she had fled.

He still wished that they were both in a similar state of sobriety-or-the-lack-thereof, but at least now his shirt sleeves were pushed up. "I should like to ask your family for their permission to court you," Elliot said, "But I suppose we likely ought to discuss some things first."