Talking to Etta was giving her a headache; she didn't want to do it anymore, so Althea tried to think about ways to politely exit the conversation without being entirely rude. Thankfully, Charlotte was functioning as a buffer for Eliana's craziness, so that Althea could gather her thoughts. "The red was a good choice," she said, after watching Charlotte apply it. She always felt that red was the epitome of beauty and confidence. Plus, with a boyfriend like Hidalgo, Althea couldn't blame Charlotte for wanting to look even better than usual. The fifth year gave her a nod of approval.

"There's really no difference, you're fifteen, you shouldn't have either." That much she thought was glaringly obvious, but...she was trying to be polite so she added: "No problem. Wouldn't want Hufflepuff's own prefect not looking her best at any time of the day." Althea also gave her a sweet smile, because politeness deserved politeness in return, more or less. Whatever. "Let me guess," she looked at Charlotte as she spoke, "meeting up with the boyfriend?"