A flush of pleasure went through Gretchen at his reply – he did want to see her! Had he been thinking about her as much as she had him? That seemed too much of a silly, feminine thing to ask him but she longed to nevertheless.

“I’ll be in Hogsmeade when term ends,” she said, already planning how she could get away from her sisters. She might manage to avoid Priam and Nephele’s supervision but it was much trickier to dodge Frida, who was too clever to fool, and Meta, who was incapable of keeping a secret.

Perhaps Kris might be her best bet? Yes, she could ask him to take her somewhere and he wouldn’t care enough if she told him to go away for a few hours. Hours. Could they really have that much time together without anyone knowing? What would they do for all that time?

“You could write to me until then? I…I’d like to hear from you.”

---

Bee is tremendous, isn't she?