Matthias drummed his fingertips against the table top.

He wasn't going to excuse her; Theodora shifted, looked down at her hands, at the waitress, anyone but him. They had been doing so well together. It was as if they had an understanding together, as if spending that holiday with one another made them click, and now... everything was so awkward.

Haddock may not simply have ruined her, she realized, but their impending marriage. Her eyes closed briefly; now there was going to be some giant scandle, both names drug through the mud, gossip flying through the halls of Hogwarts. Precisely everything she had hoped to avoid, to make Matthias avoid.

He also flinched.

Immediately guilty, she opened her mouth to apologize, "I--"

"Theo..." he looked at her with confusion.

She looked back down to her lap, her apology cut short, and gave a helpless shrug to make up for it. The cloak rustled around her as she moved, breaking the silence.

At last he said, "Take the time that you feel need, and I'll handle Haddock in the mean time."

She frowned -- not her normal frown, where it just showed displeasure, but a frown that outlined all the heavy thoughts she'd drug around for the last couple days, "I don't know if it's a good idea to take action against him, Matthias, really." She shook her head a little, and tried to explain, "If it goes beyond you, me, and him, the gossip mill will turn; your name will be sullied."

She lifted her chin because she was afraid she was going to cry again. Her voice was just above a whisper, "It really was my fault. I fell for his tricks, and I paid for it. Maybe it would be better just to let it go." She said this to his chest, not able to look up past his chin. "If I have to avoid him for the rest of the school year, I will; I managed it for years before."