The heartbeats that passed until she felt his hand again on her face felt like far longer than they should have. She reluctantly turned her head to look at him, but couldn't hold his gaze. Her eyes cast low, she winced when he said that he knew what a veela was.

Another beat passed, silence stretching out until she found her voice. "My mother was, is, I suppose, one." Tabitha felt no connection to that part of her lineage other than the frustration at how it made her feel. She'd never met or heard from her mother, had thought she might have finally found a family after her father's marriage, but that had crumbled too. Nothing ever seemed to work out the way she wanted it to.

His tone was very gentle, almost reassured her, but she couldn't bring herself to latch on just yet. "So I fear that probably plays a part in your," Tabs struggled for how to word it. Not wanting to assume anything but also unsure of really what was going on anyway. "Interest in the situation." There, that sort of encompassed the thought. She still couldn't brave a glance in his direction, feeling the heat in her cheeks, this time out of embarrassment and a sinking feeling in her stomach.