What's The Point?

James walked into the Library and had a look around. James wasn't much of a reader, unlike Andy, but he really needed to get some books on Muggles if he was actually going to pass Muggle Studies. He didn't even know why he was taking that class.

James went to the Muggle section, feeling like he was wasting his time studying Muggles when he was epically failing at classes that actually had to do with the study of Magic, like Potions.

He found one text, Muggles and You, and rolled his eyes, plonking it on the nearby table and continued to look for more texts that may or may not be useful.

Wandering through the library, Bri spotted a somewhat familiar looking boy sitting at one of the tables. It took her a moment to place him. It was a boy that she'd seen around with Andy sometimes. That must have meant that he was a nice enough person. Maybe she could make friends with him.

"Hi, mind if I join you?" she asked him quietly.

James peered around the bookshelf to see a Ravenclaw girl sitting at the table he was about to use. James thought she looked familiar, but couldn't put a name to her. He shook his head, and continued to place one text after the other on the small pile he had constructed in his arms before walking back to the table.

He sat down opposite her, picking up the original text he found, Muggles and You.

"You wouldn't happen to be taking Muggle Studies this year, would ya?" he asked the girl. He hadn't had the opportunity to meet many Ravenclaws besides Andy and Sami, and he sincerely hoped that this girl wasn't like the only other female Ravenclaw he had the misfortune of meeting. James couldn't handle it if she was.

Bri shook her head at the boy. "No, I'm not taking Muggle Studies, but my parents are muggles, so I suppose I know a fair bit about them," she smiled. "I can help you, if you want."

So far making friends with Andy's friend was going well. "I'm Bri, by the way," she said, since they had never officially met. She didn't even know if she had been pointed out as someone Andy knew.

James smiled. Perhaps he'd be able to pick the girl's brain about all things Muggle, so that he wouldn't look like the biggest tool in the class.

"Awesome," he said. "I'm taking Muggle Studies," he looked down at the textbooks, thinking that she probably already conducted that. "Obviously," he added, "and I have absolutely no clue about anything remotely related to Muggle."

James knew why she looked familiar now. "Bri, as in Brianna?" he asked, knowing that this had to be the girl Andy told him about. "Andy's told me all about you. I'm James, James Wilson."

Bri nodded when he confirmed her name. "Nice to meet you, James," she said with a slight smile, trying to hide the blind panic she was feeling by hearing that Andy had in fact talked about her. She hoped it didn't include the horribly embarrassing exchange where she had essentially told Andy he was attractive then had to back peddle so she wouldn't sound like an infatuated schoolgirl.

"Well then luckily for you, I'm kind of an expert on Muggles. What did you need help with?" she asked, trying to remain calm even though she was still internally freaking out a little bit.

James raised an eyebrow at the girl's expression, something that she was obviously trying very hard to hide, but let it slide for that reason. From what Andy told him, Brianna seemed shy but nice. Andy was rather taken by her, to which James just laughed at him. Some girls were complicated and best left until one had the sanity or insanity? to deal with them.

James smiled. "Umm.. Everything?" he asked, half joking, half serious. He really was in a right amount of trouble with this class already. He truly didn't know what he put himself through the extra effort. It was an elective class, after all.

'Because Alli's taking that class,' his inner know-it-all section of his brain stated, but he pushed that thought far from his mind. That was dangerous territory.

Brianna giggled slightly at him. It was such a "guy" answer to give. "Everything is a bit expansive," she pointed out. "Can you pick something a little bit more specific and I can tell you about it?" she asked. She tried to peek over at the book to see if she could see what he was looking up but she wasn't an expert on reading upside down and to be honest it just looked like a bunch of scribbles to her.

James sighed as she laughed at him. He really must have sounded pathetic, and he couldn't even answer her question properly. He really didn't have anything specific to study, he just wanted a basic run through on everything Muggle.

"Umm..." James mumbled, looking down at the textbook. Yeah... that wasn't much help. The title should be re-named, Muggles and Wizards Who Already Know A Great Deal About Muggles.

He decided to change the subject from his rubbish knowledge content to her instead. "Are you a Muggleborn, then?"

Bri nodded at his question. "Muggle parents, Muggle grandparents, Muggle aunts, uncles, cousins, muggles everywhere! Except for my cousin Ethan. Somehow we both lucked out and got the magic gene at the same time," she said.

She had to assume that James was a pureblood. Most halfblood families had at least some knowledge of muggles, but James seemed to be lacking any sort of knowledge at all beyond the fact that they existed. "Do you like that class?" she asked. She'd thought about taking it just for the easy grade but thought that it seemed a little pointless.

James smiled. "I bet that would have come at quite a shock then," James said, thinking about his own family members at the school. He had distant relatives to the majority of Pureblood families, but his arse of a brother and Mark, his cousin, were the at the school too.

"My cousin is a first year as well. Mark Wilson. Ethan might know him. He's a little odd, but all of us can be a times, I guess." James laughed awkwardly at what he said, and how it sounded. "Mark, not Ethan. I don't even know the guy, so that would be a bit harsh to say."

James thought about the question. "Erm.. I don't... hate it." James paused slightly. "Yet."

"Ethan's a little strange too," Bri replied. "He's always been the odd duck of the family, I suppose. He insists on calling me Brianna Banana at all times," she giggled, then realized that she'd just told a near stranger her dreaded secret. "Er, please don't tell anyone I told you that," she back-peddled immediately. For something she wanted to keep a secret, it kept popping up an awful lot.

She was intrigued by his answer to her question. She'd never heard someone describe a class as something they didn't hate. Usually it was either love it or hate it, or have to take it, but Muggle Studies was an elective so he didn't have to be there if he didn't want to. "Well you should probably work out if you actually like it or not, because if you continue and you don't like it, then that would be a waste of your time," she reasoned.

James smirked. "Brianna Banana?" he asked again, just to make sure he had it right. He'd have to tell Andy to call her that. He'd get a laugh out of it.

"Course I won't. Fingers crossed and all that." James couldn't possibly keep that a secret. It was too, dare he say it, cute, a nickname not to pass on.

James sighed, remembering why he was in the class in the first place. He really didn't even know how and why it happened, but all he knew was he was signing the signup list and sitting in his first lesson, seriously contemplating Avada Kedavra'ing himself.

"I'll stick with it for a while but I have no doubt that I'll fail."

Bri groaned as James confirmed her confounded nickname. She hoped he would keep his word and keep it between them, because no doubt someone who didn't like her would get a hold of it and ruin it for her and her family.

"No, you won't fail!" she insisted. "I'll help you. It's really not that difficult. Muggles aren't so different from wizards. They have substitutes for magic, like electricity. It lets them do all sorts of things," she explained.

"I'll take that groan as a 'Yes, you've got the nickname 100% correct!'" he laughed. "Don't worry. I won't pass it on to anyone." Except Andy, James added in his head.

"No. I'm pretty sure I'll flunk so bad. I don't even know what e-la-triity is!" James groaned himself, and placed his head in his hands. "Don't waste your energy on me, Bri. I'm a lost cause," he mumbled through his fingers.

"Thanks," Bri said with a small smile. She believed him, since she really had no reason not to.

"No really, I'll help!" she assured him. "It's e-lec-tri-city," she enunciated for him. "And it's, well it's how they make things work. It's got something to do with a current and energy, and..." Science had never been Bri's best subject and she was sure she was just confusing him more.

"All you really need to know is that it makes things work," she said. "And I mean everything, from lamps to televisions to microwaves."

James looked up from his hands and stared at her blankly. "Oh, Merlin, I'm so screwed," he groaned, pushing the textbook away from him. He really had to reconsider taking this class. He'd leave it stupider than he was at the moment.

"What the devil is a microwave?" he asked and then regretted it. "Wait.. Will the answer confuse me even further than not knowing?

He tried to imagine this.. e-lec-tri-city and it's currents and energy, and needed to stop thinking about it, else his brain would surely explore, or melt a little at least.

Bri should have known that he would have absolutely no idea what she was talking about. To him, she probably sounded like some sort of raving lunatic who was just making things up on the spot to confuse him. "A microwave is just something that you can cook food in, that's all," she smiled. "Don't ask me how it actually works though, because I've got no clue. All I know is press the buttons and it starts up." It was hard for Bri to admit weakness at something, but it would be better to cut him off before he even tried when it came to this.

"I'm sure if you talked to the teacher, she'd set up a study group or something," she said optimistically. "I mean, you can't be the only person in your class who is having trouble with it," she added kindly.