He laughed, and as they passed the Great Hall he got permission from a Prefect to go to the Greenhouses. As it was still class time, it wasn't all that hard, and the Auror who escorted them out was very discrete, and did a good job of not listening.
"I'll remember that for your birthday. No flowers for the pretty girl," he said, grinning. That was okay, he could be far more creative than a bunch of smelly flowers.
He was pleased that she thought him capable of earning his own grades, and strangely it made him want to do better. Well, that and the broom dangling just out of reach.