“It’s especially nice here in autumn isn’t it?” Tom remarked from behind you. Clasping his wand and a cigarette between his lips, he strode leisurely to your side from the courtyard’s steps, plastering an insouciant expression on his visage.

“The cold certainly eludes the students,” he continued with a suble nod pivoted in your direction, “it’s much more peaceful when it’s desolate, more accommodating for my thoughts.”

Tom steepled his hands behind his back, exhaling a plume of smoke as he removed the cigarette from his mouth. His perceiving eyes conveying the vacant courtyard beneath the Clock Tower, before his gaze finally stopped on you beside him. “Tell me,” he spoke with narrowed eyes, his eyebrows had rose with a subtle intrigue, “what are you doing here? I don’t find many students other than myself out here. It’s a pleasant surprise.”