» Bruised, Bloody and Beaten Up, Open!

[Tybalt Kirke]

-- Set during the Horace Burnwood attacks on Muggleborns --

Well, this was utter torture. Hell. Well, hell in the sense it was the last place he'd ever want to be... He'd visited the Hospital Wing a good few times in his time at Hogwarts - getting into all sorts of mishaps and trouble seemed to go hand-in-hand with that consequence - but sometimes Tybalt felt like even detentions were time better spent than lying in a hospital bed with the nurse breathing down his neck because at least in a detention he was allowed to move around... mind you, a detention in the Hospital Wing would be so terrible he was shuddering just thinking about it.

He closed his eyes, trying not to have to stare around at the same old plain beds in rows in the room for even a minute longer, but as he did so and his arm gave a painful twinge, his imagination instead returned to the accident that had occurred early that morning. Accident? Well, that remained to be seen...

He'd been out having a Quidditch practice with a few other Gryffindors, and they'd even released a Bludger so Tybalt could properly practise Beating, with the express permission of that Art Professor, whatever the gent's name was, who had happened to be strolling near the Quidditch shed at the perfect time. He'd seemed happy enough to let a bludger loose for them, and back on the Pitch, everything had been going wonderfully. Tybalt was superb at manouvering the broom now with one hand - back when he wasn't on the team, he'd not always needed a bat at the ready - and was having a little fun with some dives and loops when the bludger had hurtled towards him. As usual, he'd swung for it, sending it off towards its target easily enough. Seeing as it had headed off away, Tybalt hadn't expected to turn in midair and the black ball be right up in his face away, and he'd had to duck rapidly, swerving away before he'd get a nasty knock. Bat at the ready, he'd hit the Bludger up, but it - seemingly with a vengeance - zoomed down and smashed into his left leg instead. Reeling from the shooting pain, he had gripped the broomstick tighter and tried to speed into more urgent motion, wielding his bat wildly until the angry metal ball had crashed into his right shoulder and he had dropped the wooden bat in a yelp of pain. He'd tried to head for the ground but the bludger was still pursuing him ruthlessly, and hardly being able to control the broom, Tybalt only managed the last few metres to the ground by freefalling. He hadn't been sure which area of pain was worse, in his shoulder or his leg, but he'd crawled outo of the way of the bludger and had soon been magically stretchered away, amid plenty of chaos and muttering of the couple of bystanders.

He couldn't remember much else of the morning; only a few of the nurse's words.
Dislocated. Broken. Awful. Poor thing. Healing potion. Take a while. Will hurt.
To that, he had a choice few words of his own, and they were by no means magical curses.
After that, he'd drifted out of consciousness for a few hours' sleep.

Damn, it ached. He couldn't move his leg a milimetre, and his shoulder, though back in its rightful place, was complaining internally every few minutes. It was past dinnertime now, Tybalt noticed as he glanced at the clock. There had to be something - or someone - to distract him around....

[Elsie Beauregard]

Elsie had hear about Tybalt's injury on the quidditch field and it was times like that in which she was sincerely thankful that Harvey did not play the actual game. The injuries sustained during the game were just awful and she felt bad to hear that Tybalt had been badly hurt by the supposed rogue bludger during practice. She worried for her friends who played and while she knew Harvey's views on girls being banned from the sport, Elsie had been relieved by the news.

She had meant to get up to see Tybalt sooner, she wasn't sure how long he'd be in the Hospital Wing, but she had volunteered to bring him his assignments from the classes they shared together and she'd borrowed one of Harvey's quidditch books in case he wanted something to read. Of course of her hesitation was that she was pretty bad at seeing her friends in pain, she tended to fret and worry to the point where she was annoying, especially when there was nothing she could do. She told herself she was being ridiculous, Tybalt was in good hands with the nurse. She was very capable and Elsie was sure that he was fine, but she had still procrastinated in coming up to see him.

Carrying an armful of books topped with a little napkin full of dessert from dinner, Elsie paused outside the doorway of the Hospital Wing and forced herself to take a calming breath. He's fine. He's fine. He's fine. She kept repeating in her head, trying to get herself past her silly worries. It took her a minute or to to finally get it through her head and she stepped into the large infirmary, looking around first for the nurse, but when she didn't see the woman, she focused on Tybalt lying in his bed, looking incredibly bored and she was glad she'd stopped by.

She made her way across the room, almost losing the treats on top of the stack of books as she went, but she stopped just short of his bed, a sincere smile on her face. "Hi, how are you feeling?" She questioned, knowing he was probably sick of hearing that, but had to ask anyway. Please be fine. Elsie pleaded mentally before setting the books on the table next to his bed. "You may or may not be happy to see me, I brought your schoolwork, but I also brought you dessert." She smiled, blushing slightly in the process, completely unaware of it.

[Tybalt Kirke]

Tybalt had still been staring blankly at the clock on the wall when he heard the door creak open. In the time it took to lower his gaze, Elsie Beauregard had already started making her way across the room. At first, he could not help being concerned; perhaps she had been hurt, injured... but he hastily studied her and she looked fine, so that anxiety dissipated swiftly. Next, he felt perplexed, he supposed, for she was wandering in with a stack of books in her arms and she wasn't hurt, so had she gotten lost on the way to the library? Maybe he could get her attention and detain her for a minute or two so she could prove a distraction from the tedium. Of course, he figured it out at the fact that she seemed to know exactly where she was going - right his way. He grinned. At least someone was considerate enough to visit him.

As she reached his bedside, he tried to shift up eagerly to sit up straighter, but his stupid right shoulder protested and he grimaced lightly as he slowly leaned back into the pillows, too cheered by a friend's presence to actually wince aloud. Comfortable enough to suffice, he heard her first question. Careful to make light of the entire situation, Tybalt allowed his eyebrows to rise slowly. “I’m feeling awful. But the nurse thinks I’m feeling rather melodramatic... You be the judge.” He responded impishly. Well, he didn't want pity. (Well.... not too much pity, a bit of sympathy would never go amiss.) To be perfectly honest, he had been in more of a bad mood than in pain simply because he was temporarily confined to a bed.

He tried to look sidelong as she placed the pile of books on his bedside, making a bit of a face - not because it hurt much to turn his head, but at the fact this meant he really had no excuse to not do his homework. Now would be a good time to get through some of the necessary revision for OWLs, but not until Elsie left him alone again and he seriously was hoping she had some time to spare to be company.

Her next comment made him chuckle a little. As if there was any question. “Hmm… that's tricky… the schoolwork would rather let things down if it were facing the dessert alone… but I suppose it has to be outweighed by the joint appearance of dessert and a pretty face!” Well done, Elsie, you’ve made my day, he half-wanted to say. And that probably wouldn’t even count as being melodramatic. He also realised a little late that 'pretty' had not been the word he'd intended on using - Tybalt swore 'friendly' had been on the tip of his tongue - but it had slipped out regardless, though he had carried on nonchalantly so that it fit rather smoothly with his usual brazen, teasing tone anyway. He peered keenly at the napkin, hoping she'd eventually bestow it in his grasp; he wasn't sure he could safely reach it (not to mention it'd be rude to grab).
"I mean, Elsie Beauregard, you are my saviour." He continued, eyes widened seriously, dropping his tone to a stage whisper were the nurse to hear his next words. "You have no idea how dull this place is..." And while he had a friend around, Tybalt had already resolved to act perfectly normal, because though he'd told her he felt 'awful' it had been in a joking manner - despite being true - and though he never rejected attention he didn't like to appear weak, or desperate. So he managed another broad smile.

[Elsie Beauregard]

Relieved that he did in fact, appear to be okay, Elsie let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in and gave a small frown at his mention of feeling 'awful'. She could only imagine how much it hurt to be attacked by a bludger and spend this much time in the hospital wing because of it. "I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to pain." She admitted rather freely. Elsie was not very good at being in pain or seeing others in pain. Her mother had always said she was very empathetic and that was why she had such a hard time with it. "You're probably handling it much better than I would." She shrugged. She was a big baby even when she got a simple headache or it was her time of the month.

Very carefully, Elsie sat on the end of his bed, trying not to jostle him in the process. She didn't know exactly what was injured, but she didn't want to make anything worse. She knew there was no way to help the blush that crept into her cheeks at his words, but even as he tried to play it down, she too, chose to let it slide. He was just being kind, obviously relieved to have some company.

"I would have felt very awful bringing you all that work without something else to go along with it." Mostly she wasn't sure how the food was in the hospital wing, though she assumed very similar to the hall, she wasn't sure if they were permitted dessert. Reaching onto the stack of books, she opened the borrowed napkin full of treats and opened it up on the bed between them. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I grabbed a little of everything." Everything that could be easily carried anyway. There was no pudding in there, that was for sure. "Oh I brought you one of my brother's quidditch books too, if you didn't feel like school work." She remembered the book Harvey had gotten from Della for Christmas and pulled it from the stack too. "It's about the histories of all of the teams in the league." Elsie hadn't read it, but Harvey had gone on and on about it, so she felt like she had.

Still feeling the blush staining her cheeks, Elsie could only nod when he mentioned how boring it was here. She was sure, for a guy like Tybalt who was always on the move, being confined was the ultimate annoyance. The hospital wing was nice and quiet and a place Elsie wouldn't mind, though if she were there, it meant she was sick or injured and that she would not enjoy so much. "I can imagine. I don't suppose homework will help all that much either." She chuckled, fingers pulling absentmindedly at the braid hanging over her shoulder.

[Tybalt Kirke]

He laughed a little when she explained her own stance on pain. "That's because you're too nice a person," He pointed out playfully. Probably far too considerate to do all the complaining or whinging he had no problem usually doing to release the pain, and definitely too sweet to deserve getting hurt or to wish an injury on anyone she knew, even if she hated them. "You wouldn't wish an injury on your worst enemy, I bet, would you?" It was a curious murmur uttered loosely, rhetorically, though admittedly, it did fascinate Tybalt a little that some other people thought differently to him, that not everyone might've fantasised about any nemesis of theirs suffering in their place. At risk of sounding selfish and cruel, he couldn't deny that if there had been anyone he'd truly hated, he was above that consideration.
Elsie, on the other hand, Tybalt just couldn't imagine being unkind to anyone. It was odd, and he wasn't even sure how well he knew her, but if there was one thing he'd attest to, it probably would be her niceness. What could he say? Apart from one of his sisters, he supposed, he didn't spend a lot of time around such genuinely genial girls. Or at least, not ones he noticed.

Still, his train of thought soon disappeared when she cautiously seated herself at the end of the bed, and he tried for a moment to shift the non-injured leg sideways to make some actual room, but it only got an inch or so before he was all too aware of his injured left protesting against the movement. He shrugged, with some difficulty, but his face brightened again as Elsie set down the dessert between them. Her strategy of bringing a little sample of everything worked just fine for him. "That's good, because I'm pretty certain I like everything..." He hesitantly reached forwards - his shoulder still unhelpfully stiff - going for one of the jam tarts, though he gestured keenly for Elsie to help herself, too, before he scoffed it all down.

"Thank you," He added simply - politely enough between bites - as she explained about the Quidditch book, too. His grin probably said enough, too. Having still the utmost faith in his flying abilities - there had been something seriously wrong with the bludger and nothing with his beating skills - reading about the sport would likely the best substitute while Tybalt pined away, waiting to be able to play again. Elsie probably didn't know how grateful he was, but what could he do? She'd probably reached blushing limit in the extent of their conversations already, for no real reason. "I s'pose not, but at least the OWLs won't be an utter tragedy," He added lightly. He wasn't worried - and knew Elsie probably had no reason to be - but the homework really would be necessary if he wanted to scrape anything more than acceptable. "Still, you're here!" Tybalt reiterated cheerfully, peering over at her. "Entertain me?" He requested, too teasing to actually worry her about feeling put on the spot. She could do or say nothing, if she liked, and he'd still probably be distracted enough.

[Elsie Beauregard]

Elsie could only shrug a little at his compliment and question. It was really sweet of him to think so highly of her, but she wasn't so sure he was right. There were people she certainly didn't care for, but only one person she truly hated and she had though of several unpleasant things to do that person, but in all reality, she was sure it would be cowardice, rather than geniality that kept her from hurting anybody. Other than that one person though, he was right, Elsie was a forgive and forget kind of person, though she didn't know many people that knew that about her. "Probably not, no." Answered, tilting her head to the side, thinking about it. No, she probably would never be able to go through with anything anyway.

Glad that she had at least seemed to brighten his evening up a bit, Elsie tried not to move to much as she got comfortable on the end of the bed. "Oh I had some already. I figured you could save some if you wanted something later." In truth, Elsie was not a huge sweets fan. Every now and then she liked her mother's desserts, tarts and her mother's chocolate cupcakes were her absolute favorite, but she only got those on her birthday. Noticing the difficulty he had reaching the treats, she slid them closer to him, wincing as he did. At this point, Elsie would gladly switch places with him, just so she didn't have to see him in pain.

"Oh," She smiled, looking down at her lap before back up at him. "Sure, any time." It seemed only natural that she stop in. She considered him a friend and that's what friends did. She chuckled at his comment about OWLs. They were coming up fast and she did have some more studying to do, but he looked so adorably hopeful when he requested entertainment that she figured she could put it off until tomorrow. "Um?" She bit her lip and furrowed her brows, quirking her head to the side. How to entertain him was the question. "I'm afraid I don't juggle or dance very well." She admitted on a laugh, realizing he was just teasing her. She was slowly, very slowly getting used to that with him. It was good for her, she decided, otherwise she'd be blushing constantly and that would be ridiculous. She was getting better at noticing when he was being serious or perhaps just trying to get her to blush on purpose. It wasn't hard, as he had probably noticed.

"You'd probably fall asleep if I sang." She laughed again. Her singing, believe it or not, though not overly good, was not something she was extremely self-conscious about. "And there's no piano in here, so I can't play for you either." Playing the piano was about the only entertaining thing she could do and in the eyes of society, about her only redeeming quality, other than being quiet and polite. "I'm afraid, I'm not very good entertainment." She chuckled again.

[Tybalt Kirke]

His brows quirked upon noticing her wince a little, but she was also pushing the dessert his way, so he smiled instead of commenting. Jam tart pretty much consumed, Tybalt ignored the couple of crumbs on his cheeks and chin simply because he could not be bothered to brush them away, being only one-handed for the moment. He was already reaching for another of the treats. And he was far too much of a boy to be concerned about gentlemanly gorging habits. Well, Elsie didn't want any... though, yes, he supposed he could save some for later. "Good idea! I might hide 'em in case the nurse doesn't think too much sugar's the best cure for me..." He remarked, saying so with an exaggerated face of disdain at the contemptible thought that anyone would think sugar was anything but good.

He waited patiently, amusedly, expectantly for her to come up with a way to entertain him, or decide that she didn't want to. Staring squarely at her while she thought about it - with a cute tilt of her head in consideration - he laughed at her admission as to juggling or dancing. She may have been joking, but Tybalt couldn't actually do either well. Juggling, he would half like to learn, now that he thought about it, and he told her this in a few words and a grin, before realising he probably ought to wait until his shoulder was back in shape. Dancing, he was passable at, but he tended to get a little too enthused by the music or just absolutely oblivious to his partner's feet, if it were that sort of dance. He'd have to practise at that if ever wanted to attend a ball with the intention of getting a girl and not have her immediately flee... but somehow, juggling still sounded like the more entertaining option.

Elsie wasn't out of ideas just yet, though. Well. He chuckled at the question of falling asleep if she sang, saying, "I'm sure I wouldn't!" before adding jokingly, "Though if I'm ever in need of a lullaby, I'll make sure to send for you, okay?" He certainly wouldn't stop her from singing if she felt inclined, though. So, she played the piano, did she? It wasn't anything particularly unusual for a young lady, but perhaps it was something she actually liked to do. He glanced around with widened eyes and a little smirk, pretending to be shocked there was no piano in the hospital wing.

He grinned slightly, trying to shake his head at her in mock-disappointment but not finding it quite effortless. She may not think she was good entertainment, but he didn't think she was half bad, as far as girls as company went. "Since I'm not in much of a state to be good entertainment either," - and she was still here - "I suppose I can forgive you for it, just this once." He went back to the desserts for a moment, snickering quietly. "Next time, I'll make sure to have a piano at the ready."

[Elsie Beauregard]

"Sure thing." Elsie smiled and shook her head at his remark about singing him a lullaby. "I used to do it for my younger siblings quite often." It was not an unusual thing for her to find Lottie knocking on her bedroom dour at night, especially during a thunderstorm. Her youngest sister would then climb into her bed and Els would sing her back to sleep while rubbing her back. Owen, when he was much younger, used to join them, but he was getting a bit to old and manly for that now, or so he said anyway.

She could have sang for him, she supposed, but she wasn't feeling quite that brave at the moment. Perhaps if she got the chance to play piano for him, she'd sing as well. "Thank you for excusing me." She chuckled again. "If only they made pocket-sized pianos." She joked. It would be awfully cute. "I haven't played in a while, but it comes back pretty quickly." She admitted.

Between studying and exams it was hard to practice at all. Not to mention one of the last times she had been practicing she had been interrupted and it got very awkward very fast. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who practices at school though." Unless it was getting use from the music class, but she never ever saw anybody else in the practice room. "I wish I could take music as a class." She added wistfully. She didn't have enough room in her schedule to fit it in unfortunately, though she would have sincerely enjoyed having the time to just play. "There just isn't enough time." Els had certain classes she had to take if she wanted to become a teacher eventually. The more OWLs and NEWTs she had, the better chance she would have at getting a teaching or governess job after school. Though she was fairly sure if she had to teach potions she'd have to decline the job.

"So how much longer do you think you'll be cooped up in here?" She was curious. Elsie didn't even really know just how badly he had gotten hurt, but he had been here a while. She was certain however, that even just seeing him wince in pain eliminated any future as a healer for her. Looking up at him, she gave him a small smile. "I suppose conversation will have to be enough entertainment. Unless you want to rest." She realized that he might be sick of her by now. "And then I can go." She added with a slight blush creeping into her cheeks.

[Tybalt Kirke]

A pocket-sized piano. Now that was an idea. Tybalt was perfectly sure it would be possible, with a hefty charm or two, to shrink a piano down to be portable... He laughed anyhow.

The subject of music was one that Elsie seemed enthusiastic about. It almost completely counterbalanced that reservedness Tybalt had always associated with the girl. He listened intently when she explained about wishing she were able to practise more and take music as a class; if she didn't have enough time, she was obviously studying too much. "Why didn't you take it instead of something else? Come on, Herbology isn't all that exciting, is it?" He wanted to shrug again, but in the interests of his shoulder, he refrained, just letting his eyebrows twitch upwards at her. Obviously she was more diligent than him and he didn't try to stretch himself too much at school, but surely if she loved the piano that much, she might've treated herself. Wasn't piano-playing judged to be an especially admired ladylike activity, too? Not that Tybalt was much concerned with that.

"Shouldn't be too long, the nurse said the healing potions are rather effective," He explained. "It'd be an even shorter time if you helped me break out of here..." Tybalt added, grinning almost slyly. He was imagining it now: if he could just limp up to Gryffindor Tower and camp out in the common room instead, he was sure there'd be a way to bribe the portrait to refuse the matron entry to force him back. Maybe no one would even notice he was gone...
Apparently he imagined things too vividly, for he realised he was moving his leg as if to get up, swinging it out from under the covers. Or at least, he would have, had he gotten that far. But with the movement came a sharp stab of pain all the way up his leg, and it ended up jerking slightly up and sideways because of it, inadvertantly nudging something at the end of his bed. Something - Elsie? - oops. "Sorry, sorry!" He exclaimed hastily, his leg sinking onto the bed while his head jolted up from the pillow apologetically. As long as she didn't think he was trying to kick her, he thought with a rueful grin. Perhaps getting up and escaping wasn't quite practical. "Maybe not."

A moment later, he was slumping backwards, surrendering to the situation again. Being an energetic person, restriction of movement was no fun. Merlin, he couldn't even come up with a good way to get in some innocent flirting without being ridiculous or feeble, either. Damn this. "Apparently, being confined to a bed is giving me no shortage of rest," He declared with a joking roll of his eyes. He realised Elsie was talking about proper, solitary, perhaps even the sleeping sort of rest, but he couldn't very well admit his aversion to actually being alone, could he? Though it did make him conclude that he wasn't just grateful for company, he was appreciative because it was Elsie's company. And believe it or not - Tybalt didn't know, but she seemed a little doubtful that her presence was anything more than annoyance - he liked Elsie. Rather a lot.
Still. She likely had better things to do... his smile attempted 'understanding' for all that it wasn't. "I - I mean, you can go if you want to... of course..."

Sorry for my slowness, Bee <3

[Elsie Beauregard]

Elsie could only shrug as Tybalt asked why she didn't just take music. She wished she could, she had just said as much but it wasn't that simple. Herbology was interesting, so was everything else she took. Elsie was up to ten classes, next year they would be even more difficult. Dropping one of them in lieu of music seemed like it would be a great idea, a nice break from all of those academic courses, but she hadn't taken the class since her second year. At this point she would be quite behind in the classes. There wasn't anything she could drop either. History of Magic was her least favorite, but he felt in necessary, it was a foundation class that helped the rest to make sense. It would be necessary for her to know if she was to become a governess some day, or even better, teach here at Hogwarts. Elsie had no delusions that some day some gentleman would want to marry her. She had a plan and she was sticking to it.

"I rather enjoy Herbology." She said with another shrug. Els didn't feel the need to defend her choice or explain it; she didn't want to be rude. "It's useful at least. Sometimes History of Magic turns into nap time." She admitted with a shallow chuckle. . It had only happened once, but sitting in the back, the professors put her back there because they knew she wouldn't cause any trouble. They didn't count on her snoozing behind her book.

Relieved when he answered her question instead of pushing on the subject, a ghost of a smile cross her lips. The common room had been rather quiet lately without him around. Funny how once she made friends, they tended to exit for a while. It would be just her luck. Elsie had no close girlfriends to speak of. Grip had managed to worm his way into her life and he had disappeared so abruptly that she was still feeling the whiplash from him. Dwelling on it seemed silly because it was a raw nerve and she had no idea how to deal with it.

Both of them seemed lost in their own thoughts for a moment so when he jerked, kicking her lightly she squeaked in surprise, and jumped from the bed, landing rather ungracefully on her bum on the floor. She sat there a moment, laughing while he apologized. It was a ridiculous scene, but she couldn't help but laugh. Standing again, she brushed off her skirts and resumed her position on the end of his bed. Finally calming her giggles, she caught his last words. "Oh no!" She chuckled again. "I just didn't want to keep you up if you wanted to sleep or something." Oh, she hadn't laughed like that in a long time. It was hilarious really, though she wasn't sure why she was laughing quite so hard. It was just funny. "Sorry, don't mind me." She shook her head and tried to calm her laughter.

no worries at all! always worth the wait for you MJ :]

[Tybalt Kirke]

It didn't much surprise Tybalt that she liked Herbology. He was more surprised about her lack of enthusiasm for History of Magic. "For us all," Tybalt agreed, grinning. Of course, he was sure there were those that liked the subject, and it was hardly to do with the Professor. Well, it was to do with the Professor when Rutledge actually tried to make them do work. Truthfully, History of Magic held no interest for Tybalt, and he didn't think he had ever managed to pay attention for more than a few minutes at a time.

And suddenly she was on the floor. Oops. She was laughing, though. Good. If she took it in good humour, Tybalt didn't feel so bad laughing himself. And he was laughing; it was hard to help it. And she continued to laugh, which didn't help anything. Still laughing; the bed shook a little as Tybalt snorted against the pillow.

After a while, though, he found himself all out of laughter, having spent it all. His abdomen was aching now, too, from it, and he rested a hand on the covers above it, trying to calm down. At least the laughter had distracted from the pain of his bones healing. But now he was sure the nurse had understated with her warning of 'will hurt'. Will hurt like hell, more like. He bit his tongue, finding it safer not to say anything for the moment in case he just ended up wincing aloud.

The spurt of pain forced him to remember the bludger attack, and suddenly made him again consider what had happened. It had not been his fault. It was not his lack of skill as a Beater. He had not made a clumsy mistake that could have been avoided. The bludger had gone rogue, it had made directly for him. He couldn't have escaped it if he'd tried any harder. There was no alternative. He had been attacked.
Well, that thought was just an instant dampener on any situation.

"Actually..." he murmured, not wanting Elsie to stay if he couldn't even keep himself in good spirits. "You won't want to stay if I do fall asleep, and I probably will sooner than later," He admitted, almost rueful at saying so. Whether or not he fell asleep, he couldn't foresee himself being in any state to continue a cheery conversation. He yawned into his shoulder anyway, nodding lightly at her. "Thanks for everything," Tybalt added sincerely, gesturing tiredly at the dessert and books, touched by her thoughtfulness. His last remark flicked up hopefully in pitch. Hopeful he'd get out of here in a day or two, back to the common room, and even classes. "See you soon?"