Daphne isn't so sure about meeting the girls for coffee and conversations on Friday night. Until she sees Theo leaned over a chess board.
Song:The Night We Meet by Lord Huron
Ginny: We still on for coffee?
Daphne: Sure. What time?
Ginny: We should be there around 6:30
Daphne: We?!
Ginny: Remember?
Daphne: Other than you and Mione, who else is going to be there?
Ginny: Harry and the guys are playing chess…
Daphne: Oh, yeah…the guys
Ginny: The guys - Harry, Ron, Theo, Neville
Daphne: Theo? Really?
Ginny: He had grown up a lot since school
Daphne: If you say so
Ginny: Bring your computer and do something besides grading papers
Daphne: It is Friday night … and they don't have a test until Tuesday
Ginny: Come write with us … and gossip ..
Daphne: Really?!
Daphne tucked her mobile in the outside pocket of her school bag. She had almost forgotten about meeting the girls tonight. It had been a rough week at work and she had a tower of papers to mark.
Teaching had been a dream she had discovered when studying to become a chemist. She was fine with the chemistry classes. It had been the amount of biology classes she needed to take that changed her mind. In teaching, she had found a place where she could be smart and not stand out.
Getting a job at the school she had attended made faculty meetings interesting. She was not used to calling the teachers she had admired by their first names. She often called her department chair "Ms. McGonagall" instead of "Minerva". Dr. Snape had surprised her after what had felt like a disastrous lesson. "Nice work, Ms. Greengrass. The boys made a much smaller explosion than I was expecting. The first time I taught this lesson, they had to clear the science wing for the rest of the day."
She was most comfortable in her lab coat, watching her students learn the ins and outs of chemical reactions. She had some boys she had to watch carefully, of course. Last week, they had tried to combine a couple of chemicals that should only be combined if you wanted to blow up your lab. Ginny was right. She could use a break from papers.
Harry: Mate…chess at 6:30 at BB
Theo: What?
Harry: It is Friday night. We are playing chess
Theo: I remember that part
Harry: At Bishop's Brew at 6:30
Theo: Oh…sorry, been working
Harry: More math problems?
Theo: Marking homework papers and reworking the next Unit
Harry: It is Friday night…no more maths for you
Theo: It's what I am good at
Harry: I need you here to kick Ron's arse on the chessboard
Theo: I am not that good and I'm out of practice
Harry: You wiped the board with me the last time we played
Theo: You were distracted
Harry: Besides, Gin said Hermione and Daphne are going to be there
Theo: What are the girls going to do?
Harry: I have no idea. As long as she is happy
Theo: You are happy
Harry: She is out there, mate
Theo: But I'm never going to find her
Harry: Don't give up yet
Theo: I've already tried it and look where it got me
Harry: Just because it didn't work the first time
Theo: Means I am not going there again
Theo looked around his desk. Papers were stacked in piles of graded and ungraded. It seemed like he was always grading papers. The last girl he had tried to date did not seem to understand that the math was an extension of the way his brain seemed to work.
He saw patterns in nature, in relationships, in the way his students learned. Patterns seemed to dictate the way he did everything. Patterns and numbers helped the world make sense. He loved sharing what he knew with his students. They would grumble about homework or stress over tests but at the end of the year, his students were better mathematicians and thinkers.
Chess worked like that for him too. The way pieces moved on the board were patterns. Gambits and responses had patterns, too. It was a good thing his mates understood that.
He and Harry had not always gotten along. It took a couple of fights and conversations before they had discovered a shared interest in chess. Theo's mum had made him talk to Harry after one particularly bad run in between Ron and Draco.
"You and Harry are the best friends of two boys who cannot get along at all. It is time to find out why," he remembered his mother telling him. The conversation with Harry had led to a chess game that had drawn in Ron and Draco and chess became a common language for them all. Theo missed Draco, but family business had him out of the country for the next six months. Harry's invitation to play chess tonight filled up time and forced him out of his classroom.
Time to pack up and head for The Bishop's Brew. Harry was right. Chess did sound like a good way to spend a Friday night.
Hermione: When are you getting here?
Ginny: Have you left work yet?
Hermione: I have a table in the back
Ginny: Daphne…where are yoooouuuuuuu?
Daphne: traffic light
Hermione: Which one?
Ginny: Mione, I'll be there in five minutes.
Hermione: Who's 5 minutes?
Daphne: At a red light. I will be there in 2 minutes
Ginny: My 5 minutes
Hermione: I'll order for all of us. Luna is here
Daphne: Are there plugs nearby?
Hermione: Table has plugs built in. Are you writing or grading?
Ginny: No grading allowed. We are taking a night off
Daphne: A night off? What's that?
Hermione: Oh no…
Daphne opened the door to The Bishop's Brew as her mobile pinged. One of the girls had sent another message. Looking around the room, she caught sight of Hermione sitting in the far corner of the room. It seemed as though Hermione had decided to claim the whole table by spreading half the books from her library there.
"Have any space for me?", Daphne grinned as Hermione looked up from her computer screen.
"Just scoot over a pile. I had to look like I needed the whole table to keep the strange people away." Hermione waved her hand over the table. "Ron just claimed a table for them to use for chess."
"This place is really busy. I never thought coffee and chess could go together." Daphne set her bag on the floor and headed for the counter. "Have you already ordered?"
As the question left her tongue, Luna's voice called out. "Hermione, I'm giving your orders to Daphne. Don't move."
Daphne turned to look at Luna. "Thanks! What time does your shift end?"
"I close tonight. Can we get together tomorrow afternoon?" Luna handed over a tray full of drinks and turned back to help her next customer.
"Sure," Daphne walked carefully back to the table Hermione had been saving for them. "How does she do this without spilling stuff? I would rather face a room full of teenage boys…"
Hermione smiled and patted the chair beside her. "Give me my coffee and get started on that story we were talking about last week. I need to read about someone having a good relationship."
Reaching in her bag, Daphne paused. "I really don't think it is that good…"
"Yes, it is. You are just more comfortable with equations and chemicals." Hermione laid a hand on Daphne's arm. "You write good chemistry between people."
"I would love to have some of that chemistry for myself." Daphne stopped talking as a dark haired man entered and walked to the table Ron was sitting at. "Who is that?"
Theo: I'm here. The crowd is HUGE
Ron: I'm at one of the chess tables by the window. Come on in.
Harry: This is Gin. Harry will be there in a couple of minutes…Get two tables
Theo: Why two?
Ron: Neville…If he leaves the greenhouse
Theo: If Gin is coming, who else is there?
Ron: Luna works here and makes a mean flat white.
Harry: Are the girls there?
Ron: Hermione and Daphne are at a table in the back corner
Theo: Daphne? Greengrass?
Harry: Still Gin - do you know any other Daphnes?
Theo: But she lives…
Ron: Next door to Hermione. She is teaching at our old school.
Theo: When did she come back?
Ron: At the beginning of August … why?!
Theo: I'm coming in the door
Theo held on to the strap of his bag as he scanned the busy coffee house. Ron said he was at the tables by the window, but this place was all window. Leave it to the redhead to not be clear enough in his directions.
"Theo, over here." Ron's voice cut through the crowd. With a sigh of relief, Theo walked over to the long table by the window and set his bag down on the floor.
"So, ready to play?" Theo asked as he looked over the position Ron had set up on the chessboard built into the table. "What game is this?"
"Karlson vs Caruana from last week," Ron rubbed the knight he held in his left hand. "Trying to see something…"
"Aren't they playing for the World Championship?" Theo settled into his chair and joined Ron, staring at the board. "Who's move?"
"Caruana, He beat Karlson in this game," Ron answered distractedly. "I have no idea how …"
"I need coffee to figure this out." Theo looked around the room. "Do you want anything?"
Ron waved at the cup beside him. "I'm good. Better go while the line is short."
Theo walked up to the counter and looked at the menu. Too many choices made his head spin. He liked things simple.
"What can I get for you, Theo?" Luna's cheery question broke the spell.
"Large coffee, dark roast, with room for cream," Theo fumbled in his wallet before he found and handed Luna his card.
"Good to see you, Theo. Who else is coming tonight?" She handed Theo back his card and paused. "Can you take something over to Hermione for me while I get your coffee?"
"Sure. Who is the girl sitting with her?" Theo took the glass of water from Luna and looked toward the table in the shadows at the back.
"Not for me to tell," Luna smiled and turned to make his coffee. "Just introduce yourself."