There were times when Topher felt unnecessarily guilty about being a wizard in a family of Muggles. He’d felt it in varying degrees since he was eleven years old. Especially when his little sister had been born. There would always be a part of his life that he could never share with her, that he could never share with that part of his family. So sometimes when he experienced one of the many things they couldn’t he felt a twinge of guilt. Like when he walked into the Leaky Cauldron and ordered a Butterbeer. There were a plethora of other things he could order, but there was something about ordering a drink known only to the wizarding world in the pub that was the gateway to a hidden wizard shopping district. It sounded like something he would have made up as a kid. The whole damn thing did. Claire, until she was about ten had thought it was a big game he had made up. He wasn’t really sure what she thought of it now, she was going through that lovely teenage angst period. It made Topher ridiculously happy that he didn’t live at home.

He took a seat at one of the tables and slipped the messenger bag off his shoulders. He pulled out one of many moleskine notebooks and a regular old ball point pen. He could have been any other guy sitting in any other pub, only his editing notes included spell feasibility checks and the correct spellings of some Goblin names. These notes had nothing to do with his most recent assignment: working with Dolly St. James on her last Slither Girl book. Topher knew it wouldn’t be easy and he was dreading it. In fact, in a very uncharacteristic move he was avoiding his planner so that he wouldn’t see the note about their first meeting. He hadn’t finished the fifth one yet but he knew that people around the office were a bit up in arms about it. It was obvious to everyone at the publishing house who the new characters were, and that made things a bit sticky. Topher was determined to side step around that issue.

He thanked Tom when he brought the Butterbeer and the chips he’d ordered. He would have lunch and then grab a few things from Diagon Alley. All the while continuing to avoid the notation in his planner about Dolly St. James.

[I promise these posts will get longer]
wearing

James had enough of the Black Chimaera for the time being.  Though he was aware that the food was definitely better and the company was fairer at his favorite haunt, he could actually drink water at the Leaky Cauldron.  James had too much sugar this month, and with the party coming up on New Years as well, he needed to check what he ate.  Consequently, he was drinking water and eating a salad with fried fish.  Wondering if the meal he had chosen would provide enough calories, James guessed he really had no choice.  He would speak to the trainers some more, but he knew he needed to cut down on his sugar intake.  Somewhat bitter at the irony of having to work out eight hours a day and still watch what he ate, James decided that he needed to think about something else. 

Scanning the crowd, James looked for a pretty witch to sit with.  Unfortunately for him though, they all seemed to be with either their boyfriends or children, and James had no desire to travel that road.  Since he was looking for a place to sit, he did not pay attention to where he was going.  The lunch crowd had begun to trickle in and it was slowly becoming harder to find a table (though not impossible).  James decided he would not have any luck waiting for a pretty witch to show up, so he stopped at the next table.

James observed that the gentleman had a stack of papers in front of him, and looked like he was ready to work on something.  Figuring that the young man would ask him to leave if he wanted privacy or quiescence to concentrate, but James doubted he would do such a thing.  If he wanted peace and quiet, James assumed the gentleman would have visited a library.  Figuring this seat was as good as any; James decided to see if he was welcome.

“Mind if I sit down?” James asked the young man.

Now that James was asking the man a question, he caught a fairly good glimpse of him.  He was wearing jeans, a black sweater and a grey shirt.  James wondered if that getup would be any good for flying, but guessed it could not be any better than the blue practice robes he was wearing.  Deciding that he should probably hold on any conversation until he was actually invited to sit down, James awaited the wizard’s reply.