"I do not think so!" Padma cried, defending her friend where she would not defend herself. She lowered her voice next, grateful that for the most part their dormmates were sound sleepers. "It isn't as though we haven't distractions and troubles enough. It cannot be easy for Theodore," she mused, thinking on the incident in Hogsmeade once again. He hadn't seemed pleased by the notice he received, but neither did he entirely deny it. Theodore was a mystery, but Padma had not the character for leaping to conclusions.
"It isn't easy for any of us."
While this notion softened her slightly where her confusion with Anthony was concerned, Padma could not help but want the unbound, careless little dream he'd offered weeks ago, the afternoon in Golder Park that could not be touched by their hesitation and fear.