He'd allowed himself to be briefly cornered by a giggling Greengrass recently - it kept his father mostly off his back, even if Abraxas had been avoiding Malfoy Manor like the plague since the time deviants began to show their faces - and the only thing of note that the girl had really said was that it was such a shame that Bellatrix was engaged, because they made such an attractive pair. While technically true, Lucius has no desire to be the public catalyst for a broken engagement, thank you.

He picks up his éclair in an effort to delay what they're tumbling towards (which probably, at minimum, involves one of them flat on their back on his Turkish rug) and takes a bite before giving her a sidelong look. "Do you ever wonder," he says thoughtfully, "if Ms. McKinnon has a bit more than a professional interest in the dark arts? She gets far better volumes than any of the shops in Knockturn."