Daniel was surprised to see that Jack wasn't alone at the bar. He was even more surprised to see that the person Jack was sitting beside, talking quietly and sipping a beer, was an older woman, who probably didn't know all that much about football, hockey or any of the other things that Jack usually talked about the rare times he found someone beside him in a bar that interested him enough to chat with. Which meant she was interesting in some other way – and that made Daniel curious enough to go over instead of leave the two alone to their conversation.
"Hi, Jack…"
O'Neill looked up, as did the woman he was sitting beside. Daniel gave her a polite smile.
"Daniel."
"Who's your friend?"
Jack wasn't at all fooled. He knew Daniel would be curious about the woman he was talking to.
"Daniel, meet Minerva. Minerva, this is my friend Daniel."
She offered Daniel her hand and he found her grip to be firm and cool, although her eyes were warm.
"Hello, Daniel."
"It's nice to meet you, Minerva." He looked at the bar stool on the other side of her – since Jack was sitting on the end. "May I sit down? Or are you two having a private discussion?"
She gestured for him to join them, and watched as he sat.
"So… Jack here has been telling me that he isn't a Harry Potter fan. Are you?"
"Are you J.K. Rowling?"
She smiled and shook her head.
"No."
"Then, no. I'm not. I haven't read the books, and until ten minutes ago I didn't know anything about Quidditch."
"What's Quidditch?" Jack asked.
"It's a game the wizards play," Minerva told him. "On broomsticks."
Jack scowled.
"You've got to be kidding…"
"Oh, no," Daniel said, gesturing to the bartender that he wanted a menu. "Apparently it's all the rage…"
"On broomsticks?"
"So I was told."
"At least the floor's clean by the time they finish…"
Minerva snorted into her beer, and started coughing, and Daniel pounded her back carefully while she sputtered.
"You okay?"
She nodded, and they could both see tears in her eyes, but Daniel wasn't sure if they were from snorting beer or from amusement.
"Yes, thank you." She took a napkin and wiped her nose, and then looked at Jack.
"It's played in mid-air, Jack. On a field. Like soccer."
"They're giving a demonstration tomorrow," Daniel added. "Sam and Murray are signing us all up…"
"That should be interesting."
Oh, yeah, he didn't even sound a little sincere about that, and although she didn't know him well, Minerva couldn't miss the sarcasm.
"It might surprise you."
Jack snorted his doubt of that happening, and took another sip of his beer, and with a smile, Minerva changed the subject, looking at Daniel.
"So, Jack tells me he's in the Air Force. What do you do, Daniel?"
"I'm an archeologist."
"That must be fascinating."
He nodded, more than willing to discuss his line of work with someone who was actually interested in hearing about it. "It can be. Especially when you find a particularly interesting dig, or something that validates a theory you – or people you respect – have been working on. I-"
"Minerva's a professor," Jack said, interrupting. God, he'd rather listen to her talking about teaching than Daniel talking about digging.
"Really?"
The woman nodded.
"Where do you teach?"
She smiled.
"You wouldn't have heard of it, I'm sure. It's a small, private school in England."
"Oh, you're from England?"
She nodded.
"What are you in Seattle for?"
"This convention."
"Really?"
"But she doesn't have any kids to watch…" Jack said. "She's just here to see how things go."
"Oh."
Daniel looked at Minerva, hoping for an explanation, but she had turned and was watching the door, where Teal'c and Sam had just appeared. The two of them had an armful of pamphlets and information brochures, and were looking around.
"I need to go," Minerva told them, draining her beer. "It really was a pleasure talking to both of you, and I hope to see you again."
Jack turned as well, and nodded, wondering if she somehow knew that Teal'c and Sam were looking for them and was scared off by Teal'c's size. She didn't look like anything would frighten her, though, and Jack was a pretty good judge of that kind of thing. So instead of trying to convince her to stick around and meet the others – who might or might not find her as interesting as Jack did – he simply nodded, and offered her his hand once more.
"We'll be around. Look for us; I'll buy you another beer."
"An offer I can't refuse," she said, smiling. She shook Daniel's hand as well, and headed for the door, nodding a greeting to Sam and Teal'c as she passed them.
"Who was that?" Sam asked, sitting down and littering the bar with all sorts of stuff.
"Probably the only other non Harry Potter fan in this entire place," Jack said, sourly, watching as another group of people entered the bar. These were adults, and plenty old enough to be in the place. Unfortunately for his peace of mind, they were all wearing cloaks and odd clothing, and he was pretty sure he saw at least one wand sticking out of a pocket.
"We found some activities for tomorrow, sir," Sam said, drawing his attention from the group and back to them. "And a couple for Sunday as well, if we stick around."
She was hoping that they wouldn't have to – who knew, maybe Teal'c could be convinced before then? But she had her doubts about that. For that matter, she was beginning to think that the convention hadn't been that great an idea, since it was filled with a lot of people who were acting like they believed in magic, too. It probably wasn't the wisest thing to have done, bringing Teal'c here, but she was too stubborn to admit she might have been wrong – especially since Hammond had forced O'Neill to come.
"Joy. What about today?"
She shook her head.
"Mostly it's just a lot of informal stuff while people arrive. I didn't think you'd be interested in any of them."
Jack gave her a look that plainly said he wasn't any more interested in the formal stuff than he was the informal stuff, but he didn't say it. Instead, he handed her the menu that he'd already ordered from.
"Good. Let's eat, and then go somewhere else."
"Where?"
"Anywhere that I don't have to see broomsticks."
