Giggle.

They gather around to catch the Portkey home. Someone warns Miranda to be careful, Ways don't seem to marry respectably at all.

"I don't think you have a trend's worth of data."

" - Timothy's still not married, Michael ran off with a Muggle, Theodore dropped out of school altogether and shows no signs at all of courting anyone anyway, Fredrick's never so much as been on a date..."

"Timothy tried to get married, just he unlike Michael made the mistake of asking his father first," she points out, that being the official story. "I don't see what Theodore's education has to do with his marital respectability and neither he nor Fredrick is old enough to be remotely concerning. But thank you for your interest in my well-being."

The not-cousins shouldn't count but he heroically refrains from saying so. Back to Hogsmeade they all go.

Hogsmeade is a cozy little village, even if there's not all that much interesting there.

Yeah. The sun sets. They head back to school.

"That was nice, I'm glad I came."

"I'm glad you did too."

"Sorry I freaked out the first time you asked."

"It's okay. It'll make a good story someday in two hundred years when my father's reengineered the philosopher's stone and everything is great forever and no one can even imagine what it would have been like to care about blood purity."

Giggle. "That sounds fantastic."

Kiss?

Yes all right kiss.

Minor is utterly delighted when he returns to the Ravenclaw common room that evening but he tries not to be it in front of Karen much.

Karen has wound down to a sort of tired compersion and says she hopes they had fun.

"We did. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

He sits down and starts working on his homework.

Miranda discreetly stalks Fredrick, sometimes by cat proxy, till she can corner him alone and say, "A word?"

"What can I do for you?"

Wandwave. "Please don't try to figure out who I'm talking about, because the possibility that you won't is why I'm talking to you instead of waiting for a chance to ask Timothy, but, supposing I knew a girl like the two of you only a girl, would it be all right to tell her about him - or you, I suppose, but she'd probably suit him better and I only know the one - to get her permission to tell him about her - I can go over that rephrased if you like, I didn't realize how confusing it would sound till I said it out loud."

"So they can get married without drugging themselves into handling it?"

"Yes, exactly."