Leave it to Joshua Cloud to ruin everything by simply being himself.

Here she was, trying to do this whole reconciliation thing with her brother, whom she loved dearly, trying to get to know him, to have him know her (as much as she would permit). And he even wanted her to meet his girlfriend! Who really did look so sweet and shy that Plum was fighting the urge to just gather her up and squeeze her.

But put Joshua Cloud into a room, into a street, into a city, and all hope of being noticed was gone. All hope of anything working out the way Plum would have liked was gone. Now there would be nothing but teenaged gushing, Mr. Cloud sitting and looking ever so smug, and more quidditch talk than Plum ever cared to hear.

Not that she was so entirely disposed to think ill of Mr Cloud. He had, afterall, been the one to bring her here so she could see her brother. But the heat of the moment will incite strange passions.

And she would only call him Mr Cloud, thank you very much. Josh was far too informal, far too personal. She knew appropriate boundaries, even if he didn't. At all. Which was clear, as his plans for the afternoon intimated.

But how could she send him away? The kids obviously wanted him there... and if she sent him off, she'd look... she'd just look horrible, and that's all there was to it.

"Well then, Mr Cloud, are you busy or no?" she asked, trying to keep her eyes and tone from revealing to anyone but him what the appropriate answer was.