From Mandrake to Whomping Willow Finished

@Simon Tilia

Simon and Irina mingled with the few remaining students wondering around the corridors, walking quickly as they all tried to reach their common rooms before curfew.

Simon mentioned her cut and she subconsciously lifted a hand to it. Although it did occasionally throb, thapin had almost completely subsided now. "Oh, that's easy - I'll just say I feel out of a tree or summin'. It happens all the time! No one is gonna be that surprised." She didn't pay much thought to the possibility that someone may get suspicious. She was pretty good at lying, but she certainly wasn't lying when she said that she got injured a lot. As she and Kay went exploring all the time, they had had to get pretty good at cover up stories.

Her heart sank slightly as she saw the corridor leading to her common room . . . leading away from the corridor to Ravenclaw Tower. She stopped and turned to Simon.

“Okay, here’s where our roads go apart. I just wanted to say… thank you. For everything. Both this crazy adventure … But also for listening, and being so understanding. So, thanks.
Irina looked up at him and gave him her cheeky smile. "You're most welcome. And thank you for joining me on an insane adventure and also opening up. It shows a lot of trust."
Okay. So. . . I’ll see you in class again tomorrow.”
"Yeah," Irina replied, relieved to hear Simon still wanted to see her, "I'll see you tomorrow."

She turned and walked up the dimly lit corridor, but had only taken a few steps when she heard Simon calling after her.

“Hey, Princess … You might wanna take a proper bath before you go to bed. Your hair still looks like a mess.”
Irina opened her mouth in mock horror, spinning around with bemused indignance on her face. "Oi! Watch who you're calling Princess! I may be pretty but this Princess has got power you don't want to cross." She gave him a sly wink and they both turned to leave again.
“Good night.”
"Night Simon! Don't let the Dugbogs bite!"

She made her way wearily down the corridor, bones suddenly heavy from the night's excursions. As she neared the portrait leading to Gryffindor common room, she thought, "Still don't know how I feel about "Princess." If he calls me that again he'll be sorry." She grinned to herself. "Or maybe I'll let him off . . . learn to get used to it . . . on occasion.'