Closed Give My Best to the Place Where I Grew Up

[Harper Alston]

If Harper was being honest, accepting the job offer from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had terrified her. She had spent so much time straddling both the magical and muggle worlds, and taking the auror job felt like one more step down a path she wasn't sure she would be able to turn back from. It was different working muggle jobs; she could talk about those freely with her magical friends. She couldn't do the opposite and talk about her magical life with her muggle friends. From this point on, the secrets in her life would only grow.

But she had made it through seven years of secrets, so what was a few more? Harper knew this was a potentially naïve way of thinking, but she wasn't going to give up her ties to the muggle world that easily. If anything, she'd tried to reinforce them, spending a considerable amount of her free time in the muggle world. Just today, she'd gotten lunch with one friend at their uni, and she was supposed to meet another for coffee later this afternoon. Apparition meant that she technically didn't have to hang around on campus in the meantime, but Harper didn't mind spending time here. There were a couple of good spots to get work done.

Unfortunately, the spot she'd chosen today — a nearby café — was packed. Clutching her drink, Harper surveyed the room and grimaced. Pretty much every table was taken. She would just have to find someone who wouldn't mind sharing. She started to make her way along the room, trying to identify a potential target, when she did a double-take. It was someone she knew — and not a muggle, but rather an old schoolmate from Hogwarts. At least, Harper was pretty sure she knew him. They hadn't really talked before despite both being prefects. She approached him hesitantly. "Eoin?"

 

[Eoin Armati]

For the first time in his life, Eoin finally felt like he was free. He didn't have to worry about magic or Hogwarts any more. His wand had been abandoned in a drawer back at home, and he'd not even picked it up once since getting home after graduation. And nor did he have any plans to change that. He was happy not having to think about spells or attending classes he couldn't even bring himself to care about in the slightest. Hogwarts had really been the worst seven years of his life, and now he was free from it all, he was planning on never looking back.

Eoin had practically thrown himself head-first into his nice and normal Muggle life. He'd managed to secure a place at university studying marine biology, just like he had always dreamed. He'd also managed to get himself a spot as a research assistant at a local lab, thanks to his father's good word. Life was good and he was finally happy.

The café he was sitting in was the closest to campus, which did usually mean it was pretty crowded. But he didn't mind, managing to secure himself a table, twiddling a pen around his fingers as he flicked through the textbook propped in front of him. He wasn't really paying attention to anyone else, holding his pen between his teeth for a moment, so he could flip the page. And that was when he heard his voice, looking up to see who it was and actually having to pause for a moment. The face looked... familiar. And then it hit, quickly pulling the pen out of his mouth, so he could speak. "It's... Harper, right? You were in the year above me."

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper nodded, relieved that she hadn't mistaken a complete stranger for one of her old schoolmates. The odds of that had been pretty high, considering she was in a muggle café near a muggle university, and it was pretty unusual for people to continue on to uni after Hogwarts. "Yup, it's Harper," she confirmed. "Is it okay if I join you? Everywhere else is taken," she said, gesturing vaguely to the rest of the room.

She glanced down at the book Eoin was reading, a little surprised when she realised it was a textbook. Was Eoin a student at the university? "I won't bother you if you're busy," Harper promised, not wanting to interrupt his study session. "I brought my own work to do." It wasn't schoolwork, of course. Or auror work. (She wasn't dumb enough to take confidential, magical files to a muggle café.) Rather, it was for her old football club. When Harper had agreed to continue helping them out as a volunteer, she'd envisioned a little more football and a little less administrative tasks. But she didn't mind all that much.

 

[Eoin Armati]

He hadn't really been expecting to bump into anyone he knew from Hogwarts. Not all the way out here far away from any signs of magic. And especially not someone who was actually older than him. In fact, Eoin had more or less been making a point of avoiding all his old classmates, not really wanting anything to do with them. There was a reason he had binned the invite for the graduation party the moment he had gotten it.

"Oh, uh, sure, I guess," he agreed, waving a hand towards one of the empty seats at the table. He supposed he wouldn't mind her joining. Just so long as she stuck to her word and didn't bee too much of a bother, he did have work he was supposed to be getting on with. Though, he paused for just a moment, trying to shift in his seat just enough to try and get a peek of what she had brought with her. Though he couldn't really get a good look to see what it was. "Schoolwork?" He asked, only out of curiosity. "Are you attending the university or something as well?"

 

[Harper Alston]

Harper noted Eoin's hesitancy and gave him a grateful smile when he agreed. "Thanks," she said, taking a seat and pulling out her laptop and a couple printouts. If she was quick, she could finish all her emails and scheduling before she had to meet with her friend. At Eoin's question, she glanced up. "What? Oh, no, it's just some stuff for my old football club. I'm helping them out for the season," Harper explained. "It's a lot of emailing helicopter parents," she added with a smile.

It hadn't escaped her notice how Eoin had ended his question with "as well." "So you're a student at the university?" Harper asked, a little surprised. She knew that there were some wizards who managed to go to uni, but she didn't understand how. The classes at Hogwarts — and she had to assume the same was true for other wizarding schools — prepared them for life in the magical world, not the muggle one. Even though Harper wanted a life in both worlds, there were days when it felt like magic was the only option.

 

[Eoin Armati]

He tried to go back to concentrating on what he was doing, adjusting his glasses as he tapped the end of his pen against the paper on the desk. Not only did he have coursework to try and get through, there were some of his research notes for the lab that needed organizing and double-checking for errors. Not that he minded, he enjoyed the work. "Oh, well, I guess that's cool," though he had never really be one for football, or any sports, really. So he couldn't really say he was all that interested in what she was doing.

Then came the question and Eoin nodded his head. "I am," he responded simply, leaning forward in his seat, so he could scribble something at the top of the page as it popped into his head, then, he looked up again. "Only taking two NEWT classes left me with a lot of free time, so I used that free time for studying for college courses and entrance exams. Which I aced, so here we are." His father did help as well by putting in a good word, but Eoin liked to think it was mostly down to his own hard work and dedication.