The smile shared between them held too many secrets and she had to look away again, the noise level in the room changing again for just a moment. How odd. Elsie scanned the room are large, looking to see if her mother had spotted then yet, before she met his eyes again. Dangerous territory really, but she couldn't help herself. The got such precious little time together, she had to take what she could get.

The discussion of his work was a good distraction from the heat rising in her cheeks, no doubt thanks to the new glass of champagne. "Dueling, much like quidditch, it's not my strong suit, though I'm quite pleased to hear you're enjoying it." She meant it too and she tried to convey that in the ensuing smile. So far, rumors aside, his having to quit quidditch was the worst part of this whole debacle and she was pretty sure she'd never stop feeling guilty about it.

His pause and following question had her eyeing him dubiously, but maybe that would explain why things kept changing volume around them. How odd indeed. The fact of the matter was, even if nobody could hear them, which would be delightful as they wouldn't be stuck talking of light matters and trivial things, people could still see them, which was the real problem, wasn't it? "I wonder... I think I overheard one of the staff saying something about hidden rooms earlier too, but thought I'd misheard." What kind of party was this? "Do you think there's something... off about the ball itself?" This was exactly why Elsie didn't  like attending these kinds of things in the first place! Too many crazy amortentia scandals and mistletoe mishaps to even count!