Luke was choking to death on a vulgar candy that Michelle had given to him, and she felt the horror of it sweep over her in one gasping breath. She hurried to grab her wand out of her cloak but it managed to elude her fingers in the pocket and she had her cloak half torn off before she found finally it. One of the earliest spells Michelle had learned at home was an anti-choking spell a necessity with small children around, like her baby sister and she aimed her wand to fire it off at Luke when he suddenly coughed up that dirty heart on his own. Luke didnt look nearly as relieved about that as Michelle felt.

"Bloody hell no," he said, his voice louder than it needed to be.

Michelle dropped her wand onto the table, as her eyes sprang open wide and her lips parted in shock. Most people didnt care to have unexplained spells shot at them, but this was a bit of an over reaction, she thought. Shed only been trying to help. It wasnt as if she was going to hex him or anything.

"You're here with me and any other bloke tries to mess with that"

With a sharp turn of her head, Michelle scanned the shop, half expecting some horrid, leering man to be creeping up behind her. All about them, though, were other couples quietly talking, some snuggling, and some peering in Luke and Michelles direction. She frowned as she looked back to Luke, seeking some measure of explanation. And then it dawned on her. Regardless of his near death experience with the candy heart, Luke was still hung up on her little joke about Amos Diggory. She flushed scarlet at that, secretly knowing that only a very short time ago she could have been quite serious about that little comment. Even now, as much as her mind had come to be filled with Luke, with her absorbing affection for him, were Amos to come along and play the lover, she wasnt entirely convinced she could turn him away.

"I want you to be mine, Michelle. No other bloke getting a chance to get his lips or hands on you."

Without thinking, Michelle picked up the menu that was still on the table in front of her and began to fan her neck as she unfastened the clasp of her cloak, allowing it to drop the rest of the way from her shoulders. She was entirely too distracted to remember the objectionable, tight dress, nor the button that tended to strain across her chest when her posture wasnt just right. There was too much to think about.

She blinked hard and then leaned back in her chair. If Luke didnt want her to see other boys, did that mean that he wanted her for his girlfriend? Michelle had certainly considered this possibility a number of times before, wondering exactly what it was that Luke wanted from her, how seriously he liked her. More often than not she settled on the idea that he only wanted her for a little snogging fun now and then, a practice she always intended to put a stop to but couldnt quite manage. And now hed come out and said exactly what he wanted, but he hadnt quite asked her for her opinion about it. Did she want that too?

One thing that was perfectly clear to Michelle was the fact that if she were to become any sort of official item with Luke, that would be the final nail in the coffin for any sliver of hope she might have ever harbored for Amos. Remember, now, that Michelle was very much taken with Mr. Diggory for some years, and setting aside a crush of that nature is by no means easy. Setting it aside, however, was exactly what she had been doing a little at a time for a while now, ever since Halloween, in fact, as she had grown to care for Luke more and more, with all of his peculiar manners and charm that both amused her and touched her heart over and over again. And somehow, watching Luke across the table, that final nail in the coffin didnt feel so painful as shed expected when she finally drove it home.

Alright, then, she told him.

In fact, it was rather a joy.

Michelle arched her brow at him, smiled a small smile, and continued fanning her neck as it occurred to her that this was not at all the way she ever imagined that such a conversation would ensue.