That Plum disapproved of Lukes coarse language made Michelle like her even more at once. Not every woman was ladylike enough to hold that position, and Michelle often found herself the only one who cared what kind of speech people used. And really, sometimes Luke could be so vulgar it made her want to wash her ears.

When Michelle cracked on Lukes bad memory, she began to wonder if she were scandalizing Plum, saying such rude things. The thing was that Luke knew she was really just playing. Plum didnt know her so well.

"Hopefully," he cheeked, "I won't take to forgetting how much I like you, then."

Do you like me? Michelle said innocently. I wasnt sure. Perhaps she was worried about Plum misunderstanding her, but that appeared not to stop Michelles tongue. It was fortunate that Plum diverted the subject before things got out of hand.

"Thank you very much," Plum said, pressing her fingers to the top of the scarf box in emphasis. "There was no need for you to get me anything. That's very sweet of you."

Youre welcome, Michelle answered immediately. She still wasnt convinced that Plukm liked it terribly much, but the script for giving and receiving gifts was firmly established and Plum, it seemed could follow it with the best of them. Michelle smiled at her. I have one of those scarves myself, and it is really handy, she explained, in a last ditch effort to make the scarf sound really fabulous. They get really long if you keep pulling, long enough to get really silly, actually, and theyll turn every shade of color that you can find.

When the food came, Michelle quietly took her cup of tea, black, and sipped it slowly while the others ate. She didnt put anything on her plate. Michelle had enough experience with Madam Puddifoots cooking to know that she didnt want it anywhere near her mouth. She did have a few Peppermint Toads tucked in her purse for later however. If they had been in the Three Broomsticks, now, she could have a bug hot mug of butterbeer and something really good to eat. She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something about that.

After a while she felt Lukes hand sliding against her knee and her cheeks began to heat up. Was this really the right place for that sort of thing? Reaching down, she took his hand in hers and brought it to her lap, brushing her skirt back down over her knee.

"You should try to come out next month, Plum. Maybe bring Josh with ya. For the last match of my Hogwarts career."

Michelle nodded her approval of the idea. I could get you seats up in the top box. Im the commentator, she said with a proud grin.