"And hand over that satisfaction to your father? Never," he grinned.

Theo nodded at her teacup and tried again for a smile, "Well. I like yours better anyway." She pulled her cloak around herself as though she was cold, and tipped her head to regard him with flat eyes.

Finally, quietly, she told him, "Thank you for coming. Despite it all, I appreciate it."

He pressed a hand to his chest in mock shock, "I do too have a heart. An itty bitty one...but it's in there."

She passed over the joke without so much of a thought, "I should get back to school; I..." She narrowed her eyes, trying to come up with an acceptable excuse, "I have a test to study for."

It creeped her out now, to be near anyone. Made her skin crawl. Theo hoped that feeling would wear off, knowing logically that the pain would wear away, her body would heal itself, and she would come out all right. There was just that niggling doubt in the back of her mind that made her reconsider the logic.

He reached across the table to fix a stray hair, "Perhaps if you were ugly I'd be less forgiving."

As she had when he first touched her, back in the dungeon halls at Hogwarts, Theodora flinched. Immediately wincing and offering him an apologetic look, she lowered her lashes, "I... I think it would probably be best if I missed the next riding lesson." Her eyes flicked back up to his, then away to watch one of the waitresses.