As she walked along the road and weaved in and out of the people, Penny pulled her cardigan tighter around herself and kept her eyes focused on the pavement. She'd spent half the night up worrying about Mrs Edgecombe - her mind replaying over and over again the condition she'd been in and the look in her eyes as she'd reached out to plead for the return of her daughter.
By the time she'd fallen into bed, it had been after five and her dreams had been fitful. In them, the woman who had stumbled along the streets had been her mother, hands reaching out for Penny to find them. To come home.
And then there was Orsino. The events of Monday seemed so far away but she knew that the longer she put things off, the worse it would be. Still, as she rounded the corner and saw him lounging outside the chip shop, the familiar apprehension made an appearance. Her lists hadn't helped ; her walk to clear her head certainly hadn't helped. All she had to do was suck it up and face it head on with Ravenclaw logic and rational.
It was a kiss. People kissed all the time and the world didn't end.
It would have been much easier if she'd been a Gryffindor.