Ben smiled mischievously as he reached for his pocket — only to remember that he was no longer wearing his coat. Instead of pulling it out smoothly, he had to reach over her to dig into the pocket on the outside of his jacket. It wasn't what he'd planned, but on the upside... it gave him another quick excuse to be a little too close to her.

"I found this for you," Ben said, revealing a spherical, palm-sized bottle. "It's a potion. It makes people suggestible. So you slip some into his tea, or whatever — beer, I guess, if he's an American — and then the world's your oyster," Ben announced, quite pleased with his plan. It wasn't exactly foolproof, he would admit — nor was it, strictly speaking, legal — but given the circumstances, he thought he'd done remarkably well.

"It's not, like, Unforgiveable level of influence," he clarified. "But you can use more or less of it as you need. The guy who sold it to me said it's nearly tasteless, just a tad sweet. So you slip him some before the wedding and make a suggestion about where you want to go on your honeymoon, say — and voila, there you are. And then tell him you should get your own potion workshop, or spend half your day at the library, or take weekend trips on your own to wherever you like." He was talking quickly now, enthused with the possibilities. He stopped to catch his breath, then added in a slightly quieter tone, "And maybe on some of your weekend trips, we could — you know."