A Muggle Point of View (one of Jake's charries)

Clara was happy to be home for the summer, as much as she enjoyed school. Returning to muggle Britain was like finding a comforting pocket of sanity in an otherwise absurd world. It was hard to believe, only three years ago, she'd known next to nothing about magic and the wizarding world--in fact, she would have confidently denied its existence. And now she spent most of the year at wizard school learning spells--ha!

The University of Bristol was like an old friend to Clara. Since both of her parents worked there, she often tagged along, staying in the library, or finding a nook around campus in which to read or do her homework. Her parents both had summer classes, so today was one such day.

Today was a nice day, sunny, but not too hot, and with a slight breeze, so she'd opted to sit outside. She sat cross-legged on a low stone wall, facing the street, The Complete Works of Shakespeare open in her lap. She was in the middle of Act II of King Lear--she'd decided to take a break from studying and research, and enjoy a little leisure reading over the summer.

After a little while, she looked up, stretching a bit. She glanced at her phone sitting beside her on the wall, checking the time. It was half past twelve, and her dad got off at one. Her mum wouldn't finish until 2:30--she had office hours--but her dad would come and fetch Clara for a late lunch when he finished class. She was a little hungry, but she could wait. She turned back to her book.

Clara looked up, and it took her a long moment to place the face in front of her out of context. He looked familiar, but she was not expecting to see any of her housemates outside of school, and her mind had to quest a little to draw up a memory of him in the Ravenclaw common room. What was he doing at the university? That certainly wasn't where she'd expect to find anyone from Hogwarts.

She shrugged at his question. "I mix them in with enough other books that it doesn't get boring. I haven't read any Shakespeare in a while, actually. And I prefer to read the tragedies because the language is packed with more subtlety, which can take a little while to sink in, whereas with the comedies, I'd rather watch them on stage because half the comedy is in the actor's interpretation and actions."

"What brings you to Bristol?"

"I live here," she said shortly. She didn't mean to sound so uninviting, but the way she said it sounded almost like there was a silent 'obviously' at the end. "I could ask the same to you though."

Clara rolled her eyes at the boy's smart comment. He probably thought he was clever. She did not appreciate it--conversation was hard enough already without people being intentionally irritating. She didn't really care about his business, but simply the fact that he was withholding the information made her need to know what he was doing here.

And then he was speaking again, making small talk. Oh, he's one of  those people. The kind that doesn't appreciate silence. Wonderful. She suppressed a resigned sigh, and avoided his gaze, looking down at her book as she spoke.

"I have all of my supplies, if that's what you mean. I've done all of my homework. If you're asking whether I'm emotionally prepared to go back to school, then yes, I suppose so, though I wouldn't mind staying here either. I don't see why any of this would matter to you, though."

After a moment, she gave up and turned to face him. "What are you doing here? At the university specifically. I've never seen you here before."

Clara listened in silence to the boy's explanation, nodding her understanding. She didn't know too many of the professors at the university, only the ones her parents were friends with, who came over for dinner occasionally. She figured it was possible at least one of the professors had dealings with wizards--she was fairly certain the boy was a pureblood--so the explanation was reasonable. And she didn't pry as to what exactly said 'business' was, since the affairs of others hardly interested her.

She also knew that Bristol had a fairly popular shopping center, so that explanation made sense too. Satisfied with the information, she pushed no further.

"My parents teach here," she explained. "We live nearby, so I come with them sometimes when they both have classes." She checked the time on her phone. 12:47.

"My dad gets off at one. He'll take me out for lunch and then we'll come back for Mum when she finishes at two thirty."

Her phone buzzed, and she looked down to see a text from her dad.

May run a little late today. Come around to the maths building at around 1:10, I'll meet you outside.

Okay, she typed back, then set her phone down. Performing a quick calculation, she decided she'd need to start walking at around 1:03, if she went at a leisurely pace.