Was it better or worse that it should be Kitty Arundell, Regina wondered? Better than any boy, to be sure; worse than Stella or Ramona, plainly. But the muggleborn was older, served—deliberately or not—as something of a role model for the first years in Hufflepuff. That she was so kind was both an asset, and somehow deepened the young badger's embarrassment.

Is there anything I can do to help?

Could Miss Arundell go back in time and stop G from ruining her potion? This seemed rather a complicated task for an adult, let alone a third year. No, at this point, all that was to be done was to mitigate the disaster in which Regina found herself.

"W-would you mind taking a st-step back?" she asked quietly, punctuating the request with another small sniffle. "It... makes it worse."

Thank Merlin Miss Arundell hadn't touched her. That always opened the flood gates, G had found.