"Albus told us that you'd be coming," Sprout confided to Elly as she tucked ravenously into the roast beef and cranberries. "It gave me such a nice quivery feeling to hear - to think that one of my old students was coming to teach. I'm so terribly proud of you, my dear. And on such short notice too, with that Montague, who used to do Muggle Studies all those years as peacefully as you please, up and leaving one morning to marry one of his case studies. Not that I blame him in the least -"

"But there were some who did," interrupted Flitwick gravely.

"Yes, I suppose there were," she sighed.

Roast beef and cranberries were the only two thoughts floating happily through Elly's head. "He got married?" she asked vaguely. She tried to imagine the slightly balding old Professor Montague of her past passionately sweeping his bride into his broom and flying away with her into the sunset, and failed miserably.

"To the sweetest, most charming Muggle you can imagine," said Sprout.

"She kept a corner shop," added Flitwick, "that sold newspapers and rubber chickens."

"He never did discover the purpose of those chickens," nodded Sprout. "He used to say that's what caught him in the first place. Of course, no one believed him, but we all make up these little stories to ourselves when we're in love, don't we?"

"Dumbledore gave him one as a wedding gift, I've heard," put in Flitwick. "I couldn't make it myself, not many of us could -"

Sprout nodded again wistfully. "I hope to see your face here at Hogwarts for a long, long time though," she said with a playful smile: "Don't you go running off with the Muggle of your dreams any time soon."

Elly smiled back and tried to think of something witty and casual to say. She only came up with a somewhat guilty kind of heh-heh laugh and changed the subject. Oh, look! Herring!

There was a pause while Flitwick and Sprout took the opportunity to exchange knowing glances.

"And the Ancient Runes teacher - did she get married too?" Elly said abruptly.

Sprout's face suddenly took a turn for the serious. "Oh, no dear," she said solemnly, "she went insane."

Professor Vector helped herself to a spoonful of peanut-butter stuffed grapes. "Nine," she mumbled to herself, watching them roll across her plate, and was silent.

-----

Nine. The number of little blue hearts she had drawn around his name, not six months before.

Dear Diary, Elly wrote, with a vacant, shiny-eyed smile on her face, I am in love. With the most perfect man in the world. Eddie & Elly 4ever!!! Ü Ü

That's where the hearts came in.

Then she wrote a nice ten page essay on the shivery happy feeling she got whenever he looked in her direction and didn't even care how cheesy it was.

-----

"Well, didn't we all have an exciting time," Professor Flitwick chirped contentedly, patting his well-filled stomach. He had managed to herd both Alfie and Elly out into the hallway with him after the usual banqueting and speechery had let out. He talked quite happily the entire time, so engagingly that it had not yet occurred to either one of them to ask him where they were actually going.

"Those Sorting Ceremonies always bring a tear to my eye," he told them with a sigh, "Make me think of my own first day here at Hogwarts, they do - walking over to the hat as tall and proud as I possibly could, and then someone (a Gryffindor, no doubt) shouting out for me to stand up. The Hat came down all the way to my chin, I recall; I was half afraid that the thing might eat me up entirely. Ah, but I don't want to be boring you by blabbering on about ancient history now do I? We can all leave that quite happily to Professor Binns. This was all long, long before your time, believe me. And the food - I must have swelled to at least twice my size."

"Yes, it was delicious," Elly said distantly, wondering where her luggage had gone to and where she was going to be sleeping for the night. Alfie didn't seem to have heard a word that he had said, swaying gently, eyes barely open.

"You must be exhausted after such a long day," he nodded sympathetically. "But I had hoped I could detain you two from sleep for at least a little while - we're holding a little informal staff party tonight and we had all so hoped you could join us, get better acquainted all around."

"I-" Elly began.

"Oh, there's nothing to be worried about," Flitwick assured her. "I slipped Twinkle Dust into Snape's hot chocolate," he confided in a whisper. "Works like a charm every time."