"Mum, I've got a plan."
The blank-eyed woman smiles dumbly at me. I continue.
"If this war ever ends, and if I survive it, I'm going to Australia. I've been offered an apprenticeship with a top herbologist in Brisbane. The pay isn't great, but it's a living. And in two years I can come back, maybe land an assistant position at Hogwarts. Isn't that something?"
Her face wants to assume a different expression. I'm sure of it.
"Don't worry. I can come to visit you and dad just as often as I do now."
She proffers two shining gum wrappers.