Everyday Life (2)

In the evening, they went to a private room on the second floor of The Three Broomsticks for another meal.

They took the same window seat. This time, Cassandra ordered. She merely glanced over the open menu before making up her mind.

A serving of roast lamb with mashed potatoes, a vegetable soup, and a pot of hot black tea.

After the waiter left, she leaned back in her chair and stared out at the dusk beyond the window for a long time.

"How long were you in the Greenhouse today?" she asked.

"This afternoon, Pabbie said she had a batch of data records to sort out and told me not to stand around bothering her, so I left," Harry said. "Then I came to find you."

"You wander around Hogwarts all day. Don't you get bored?" Cassandra asked again.

"Why would I be bored?" Harry said with a smile. "Back when I was always running around outside, I felt like I could never slow down. Now that I finally have time to relax, I think this is pretty nice."

Cassandra asked again, "What about next month? Doesn't the system need you to go back regularly?"

"The Technical Group sends out regular monitoring reports, and Veratia will forward them to me. If she needs me to go back, she'll let me know in advance. Until then—" Harry leaned back in his chair and looked sincerely at Cassandra's pretty face. "I'll stay here. I'm not going anywhere."

Cassandra's gaze flickered, as though she had received the answer she wanted.

That night, after returning to the tower, Harry sat by the windowsill and read for a while.

Cassandra boiled a kettle of water on the stove, made two cups of tea, and brought them over. She handed one to him, then sat