Closed Something In Common

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna didn’t usually have too much anxiety, or at least she hadn’t experienced it in the few years that she hadn’t been at school. Those days of doing nerve-wracking exams were over, but now she was the one on the other side, helping other people to prepare for them whilst she taught them all of the material. The woman had enjoyed her time at home doing nothing but art, and now she was forced to work to help Eleanor pay bills. It was tough being an adult, but she hadn’t expected the day to come so soon. Lilyanna had only been teaching for a few weeks, however Eleanor suggested that she visit a planetarium when she had some free time in order to help her a little more, and the former Slytherin liked this idea. She had already visited ones in New Zealand and in France, so she decided the Kielder Observatory in England would be another good place to try. She apparated there, paid the fee, and walked into the building. It had high ceilings, various models of planets and stars, and Lilyanna smiled at it all as she tried her best to slowly take everything in. She spotted a man off to the side, calling people over for a tour, and Lilyanna’s feet took her over there. She wondered exactly how much he knew and whether or not she could learn from his teaching skills.

 

[Orion Rabson]

It was just another ordinary weekend for Orion as he came into work. Growing up studying Astronomy, it had become natural for the man to pursue a relative career, landing a job as a researcher and lecturer. Observatory tours were the highlights of his day as he was the one responsible for upgrading the constellation exhibit. Uknown to the muggles, Orion had his magic to thank. He scrapped the muggle paintings of constellations, painted the whole room with black and midnight blue, and charmed the walls and the ceiling to twinkle like stars, letting the planets and constellations appear naturally anywhere. It may look holographic to muggles but if it was a wizard with a good eye, it would be obvious.

It was time to start the tour lecture and he called out to gather the joiners. As soon as they are gathered, he began. Letting them stand in the middle with him holding a laser, he made it engaging and fun as he let some kids point out the constellations and planets that they knew. Towards the end, a kid asked, "What's that called? You did not tell us!" He glanced at what he was pointing and smirked. Feigning innocence, the Scottish lad replied in his Scottish accent, "Oh! I didn't realize. You see, children, That constellation," pointing the laser upwards, "is one of the most beautiful of all constellations and one of the easiest to find. It looks like a large rectangle high in winter's south-southeastern sky." He continued explaining the positions of the two brightest stars, right orange-red Betelgeuse at the northeastern corner and even brighter Rigel at the southwest. "That my wonderful audience is the constellation Orion, the Hunter.", he paused dramatically. "Orion also happens to be the name of your wonderful lecturer today.", he added with a dramatic flourish taking a small bow to the applause and laughter of the people. "Thank you so much everyone.", he smiled waving to the little kids as they went on to the other exhibits while others remained to see more of the constellation.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna watched closely as the man began pointing out the constellations. They were correct, as they should have been, and the tool he was using with the light on the end really helped people follow him. Lilyanna needed to get herself one of those but she wasn't sure where she would retrieve one. The woman watched the man speaking to the children as they asked him a question. She found the question completely valid, not sure why the man would leave such a thing out. He seemed confident however as he answered it, and not at all embarrassed. It was almost like he was waiting for someone to ask it. It was then that he told everyone his name was Orion, after the constellation, and Lilyanna raised an eyebrow at this. How did his parents know he was going to do this when he was older? Meanwhile, Lilyanna was stuck with a stupid name that was actually two first names shoved into one. The woman approached him as the children dispersed. "Did you change your name?" she asked, very curious now.

 

[Orion Rabson]

Orion smiled as he took the time overseeing the visitors. He did not have anything else planned for that day and he was taking his time going back to his research since he had already made a headstart on it. Playing with the laser, his notice was caught as a woman seemed to be coming his way. A smile on his face as the woman came closer, a playful laugh on his lips at her question. He shook his head, sticking out his hand. "I wish I could but nope. Orion Rabson, researcher, and lecturer.", he introduced himself. "I hope you're enjoying the observatory."

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna stared at his hand as he stuck it out to her, not sure why he was doing it. She chose to ignore it. "Why would you want to change your name? It's after a constellation and you teach people about them." she said, not understanding why he was being so ungrateful. It was surely a good way for his students to not only remember his name, but the constellation too. He then stated his last name, and so Lilyanna figured it was time for her to state hers. "My name is Lilyanna Hope. I now teach Astronomy." she told him simply. "The observatory is nice. I should make my classroom look like it. Where did you get your... light thing?" She gestured to the laser he was holding, hoping she could also get her hand on one of them.

 

[Orion Rabson]

Orion just chuckled at the woman's expression. He dropped his hand when she chose to ignore it. At her assumption, he quickly shook his head. "No, no. Don't get me wrong, I love my name. I didn't mean to imply it like that, my apologies." He nodded when Lilyanna introduced herself. She was an Astronomy professor although he noticed it was not common for muggles to refer to Astronomy as such and would just call it sometimes as Earth Science or something. He smiled politely at her compliment. She gestured to his laser which he held up. "Oh, this? I got this from a mug-", he quickly stopped himself. He almost slipped. Clearing his throat, "From a shopping center near here. Do you want to give it a try?", he offered, holding the laser out to her, hoping she did not notice his blunder.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna nodded as Orion apologised. She must have misunderstood him somehow, but she knew better than to keep going on about it. Instead, her attention was purely on the red light that came out of the end of the stick. It was mesmerising and Lilyanna wanted it. As he spoke, she raised an eyebrow. "Amug? Is that the name of the shop? I've never heard of it. Or did you mean Muggle? Do you know what a Muggle is?" she asked. She never really cared about the Statue of Secrecy, but wouldn't go telling him if he didn't know. She nodded as he asked if she wanted to try it, taking it from him and waving it around. Nothing was happening until Lilyanna realised. "Is there a... oh what's it called... a button?" she asked, turning the stick around to try and figure out how to use it.

 

[Orion Rabson]

Orion just scratched his neck at his blunder. Apparently, Lilyanna had realized what he said. What's more, was that she was even familiar with the word. He gestured to a farther corner away from the other visitors. "Yes, I know what a Muggle is. I'm guessing you know it too.", he said in a low voice, the last part being not a question. He handed her the laser point, watching her fiddle with it. He silently chuckled at how she waved it like a wand. At her question, he nodded. "You're right. Just press that button right there.", he pointed to the small button at the other end of the pointer. "Careful to not point it to your eyes. It hurts, trust me.", he added with a chuckle.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna nodded as Orion confirmed that he knew what a muggle was. She didn't understand why he opted to keep it such a secret, but respected that nonetheless, leaning in closer as he spoke softly. As he told her exactly what to do with the stick, Lilyanna pressed the button and stepped back a little as the light shined. It quickly went away however as Lilyanna didn't have her finger on it for too long, and so she held it down this time, moving it around. It would take a bit to get used to, but she was sure she could get a hang of it. "If this hurts your eyes, how is it safe to use in a classroom full of young children? Why does it hurt your eyes?" she asked, tempted to shine it in her eyes to find out exactly how much it hurt.

 

[Orion Rabson]

Orion watched with a smile as Lilyanna played with the laser pen. After several tries, she got the hang of it. She was pointing it randomly at the space exhibits. "Well, it doesn't hurt if you use it the way it's intended. But if it's directed to the eye, it can cause visual loss temporarily or permanently.", he explained, pulling out another laser pointer pen that when shone, showed the solar system instead of a single point. "This has a different laser cap from that one. Wanna try?", he offered it to her. After a second thought, he said, "You know, if you can wait around, I can grab the other laser caps in the office. I'll give them to you. Consider them a gift from one educator to another.", he said with a sincere smile. It was not every day for Orion to interact with other people his age in his line of job. Mostly were kids and parents, the occasional visitors to the observatory.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna couldn't help but become a little worried at the fact that the light could cause temporary or permanent vision loss. She reconsidered whether or not it would actually be suitable for classrooms then and suddenly had many more questions about it, including why it even existed if those were the potential side effects. As Orion then told her that there were different laser caps, she found this rather interesting. It meant that the light could look different depending on which cap was on it. The woman couldn't help but say yes to his offer. "Oh yes, I would like to own this." she said to him with a nod. She didn't know if she would actually use it in class, but was happy to take anything that was free. "So, are there lasers that don't potentially cause vision impairment or are they all this dangerous?" She couldn't help but ask as she didn't want to regret not asking later.

 

[Orion Rabson]

Orion observed as the woman's expression became worried as he explained the effects of the laser light. He smiled, happy that she accepted his offer. "I'll get you one right away.", he said, about to make a dash to his office when she asked another question. He stopped short to answer her. " Hey, hey. They are perfectly safe to be used inside the classroom if that's what you're worried about. We don't have any reason to point them to our students' eyes, do we?", he reassured her with a sincere smile. "And just between the two of us, I was scared too when I first used it.", he added sheepishly. "I'll be back, I'll be quick.", he said, before quickly walking to the end of the short hall to grab the laser pointer pen set which was still in a box. He also added some battery cells to it. He slowly made his way back, eyes searching for the woman where he left her briefly.

 

[Lilyanna Hope]

Lilyanna nodded as the man said he would go and get her a laser. She liked that he was willing to give her a brand new one rather than give her the old one. He then assured her that they were safe, which really made Lilyanna even more excited about using it in her classroom. As he went to go and collect a new one, the woman wandered over to a model of Uranus and its 27 moons. Everything was very detailed, except of course, none of the planets were the right size as they would probably take up twenty times the amount of space in the whole building. She liked Uranus. She liked its neutral colour and the fact that it had reached the coldest temperature, despite being closer to the sun than Neptune. The woman was so lost in her thoughts that she had forgotten about the laser until she noticed the man looking for her. "Oh, sorry." she said, making her way over to him. "Thank you for getting me a brand new laser."

 

[Orion Rabson]

The man smiled when Lilyanna approached him. He shook his head with a smile. "Don't worry about it.", he said as he handed her the box. "Here you go. There are batteries in there too. It'll last you for a long time before you need new ones though batteries are easy to procure here.", he explained. He just felt accomplished that day, educating young minds and having met and helped a fellow educator. "Wanna see the place? I can tour you around, starting with the cafe.", he offered with a hint of a laugh. He wanted to know more about the woman, it was not every day that he could meet a fellow wizard and educator in a muggle setting. Of course, it was just his fault to let slip that one word.