"I'd prefer an excess of work to the terror-filled night some have been having," he replied frankly. "So you have friends who'd been having the repeated nightmares, then?" His tone shifted ever so slightly from just conversational to inquisitive. She seemed talkative, and she might provide some useful information. It didn't hurt that she was attractive and pleasant to speak with.
Letting the conversation go a bit more casual and friendly, hopefully to encourage her to keep speaking, he observed, "Your accent sounds quite a bit like that of the Edinburgh area. And I correct?" He pulled out two galleons and then paused to look for three sickles rather than get fourteen back in change. Finding them, he handed over the coins.