for a minute i was stone-cold sober [barbara]

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The strange thing about not being able to sleep was that there were so many more hours in a day. Kegan had not only increased xyr time at work by ten hours a week, but had also made it through the backlog of books xe had been meaning to read, and xe read the entirety of the Daily Prophet every day. Sleeping potions that gave you the feeling of a full night's sleep in only four hours were amazing, amazing things. Kegan didn't really know how safe it was to take them over an extended period of time, but xe wasn't dead yet, so obviously xe was okay for now. Kegan's first order of business on xyr trip to Diagon Alley had been to go to Floruish and Blott's to purchase more books to read to fuel xyr late night insomnia. After spending half an hour winding through the shelves, Kegan still hadn't had one particular book call to xem. Rereading the books xe had already read wasn't an option due to xyr eidetic memory, and Kegan was getting desperate. Xe needed a recommendation. Turning to someone nearby, xe tapped their shoulder gently. "Excuse me, but could you tell me a book you enjoyed reading?"

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It was the first time that Barbara Linley had been out and about for her own sake since the death of her husband, which was why she had gone only as far as the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts. She had needed the fresh air, but venturing too much from where her children was staying just didn't seem right. Barbara didn't think that her feet could carry her out of sight of the Leaky Cauldron, as though someone had rooted her to its general vicinity.

She hadn't been browsing the selection for very long, and she didn't know if she was going to buy anything there. Any distraction, however small, from Art's funeral was necessary, otherwise she was certain that she was going to lose her sanity.

Pulling out a book from the shelf nearest to her and reading its spine, Barbara's curiosity was piqued—in the same way that it might have been by a tabloid in a grocery store checkout lane back home. She knew just by looking at the title, Dumbledore's Army: The Dark Side of the Demob that the biography must have been horribly biased. As an American, Barbara knew of Dumbledore's Army, though she wasn't personally familiar with most of the individuals who had made up the organization. The exceptions were the Longbottoms—Hannah, the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron, and her husband, Neville, the headmaster at Hogwarts.

Another customer tapped her on the shoulder and asked her for a book recommendation, right as she had flipped to a particularly ludicrous claim. She was highly doubtful that Neville Longbottom was some sort of drunkard, and she had to give a laugh to the young man who had asked her. As she put the book back where she had found it, she turned her head.

“Well, not that one, sir,” she advised. Making a mental note to avoid anything penned by Rita Skeeter, whoever she was, she wondered if there were any non-magical books available. “Hmm… Do you know To Kill a Mockingbird?”

@kegan

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Kegan was ready to give up as soon as xe heard the other customer’s American accent. How on earth was she going to know any of the books in Britain worth reading? Xyr agitation was exacerbated when she called xem a sir, but Kegan forced xemself to take a deep breath. “I’m not a sir.” Xe responded evenly, trying not to let xyr anger get the better of xem and cause xem to miss a legitimate book recommendation. The woman asked if xe had ever read a book about a Mockingbird, and Kegan shook xyr head. Xe guessed that it was an American book, and considering it wasn’t about a diricawl or some other magical bird, xe also assumed it was Muggle fiction. “What’s it about?” Xe decided to ask after a long pause. Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and since xe had practically begged the woman for a suggestion (or it had felt that way), xe couldn’t demand a better answer. Maybe the book would interest Kegan more than xe anticipated.

@barbara

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Explaining what the novel itself was about proved more difficult for Barbara than she had expected. Saying that it was simply about a little girl did it a complete disservice, and trying to explain every last aspect of life in the American South would have bored the stranger—whose reluctance to be called “sir” seemed to Barbara to be tied to his age—to death.

“It's a No-M—Muggle book, by an author named Harper Lee,” she said, hopeful that that fact alone wouldn't turn the stranger off of it. In describing it, Barbara chose her words carefully. “It's told from the perspective of a woman, Scout Finch, looking back on her childhood in Alabama.” That didn't give too much of its plot away, and it wouldn't make it seem too juvenile or uninteresting, Barbara thought to herself as she continued. “She has an older brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus is a lawyer.”

To give the stranger some background, she added, “At the time, in the 1930s, black people and white people—in, um, Muggle America, at least—weren't treated equally, especially in the South. But Atticus, who's white, agrees to defend a black man charged with raping a white woman.”

Trying to find another way to explain why such a thing would have been so very controversial, Barbara decided to explain it in terms of wizarding attitudes towards blood purity. “It would be like if Atticus were a pure-blood in a pure-blood community and Tom Robinson, the black man, were a Muggle.” She hadn't intended to open up that can of worms, but she didn't think that the young man with whom she was speaking could have been very discriminatory if he had asked a stranger for a book recommendation.

@kegan

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The woman seemed more than happy to go into a more detailed discussion of the book that she had recommended, and Kegan listened carefully, committing each word to memory, as xe always did. It seemed like a good enough story – it sounded like one of those coming of age books that seemed to be so popular, but with a twist. Well, the twist was that it was non-magical, but since the author didn’t know that there was such a thing as magic, maybe it wasn’t a twist at all. There was also the exploration of some deeper themes, something that a lot of books Kegan had read recently seemed to lack. Xe needed more than just a story – xe needed something xe could really sink xyr teeth into and analyze. Kegan was surprised to find that the book actually interested xem quite a bit, and xe paused after the woman finished explaining. “Do you know where I could find a copy?” An American Muggle book wasn’t going to be easy to track down, if Kegan’s suspicions were correct. As much as xe wanted something to read, Apparating to America seemed both risky and unnecessarily complicated. There had to be a better way to get a copy than that.

@barbara
(sorry for shortness)

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Barbara appreciated that the young man looked to be interested in the plot of To Kill a Mockingbird. He nodded as she spoke of some of the themes that were present in the novel, and he waited for her to finish speaking before he asked her where he could find a copy.

Glancing around the bookstore for any sections that might have housed it, Barbara turned up empty. “Um…” London was a huge city. There must have been a bookstore somewhere around Charing Cross Road that had it in stock, but Barbara didn't know any specifics. Although they weren't in America, the book was so iconic that, Barbara hoped, the stranger wouldn't have a hard time finding it.

“To be honest,” she replied, “I don't really know.” If she had had a phone on her—much less one that worked all the way in London—she thought that she could have used a search engine, though there was so much magic around that Barbara wondered if she would have been able to pull in any kind of a signal, anyway.

She sighed. Art would have known where to send him, but she wasn't going to go all around London to look for the book. Barbara did have one other idea, however. “If… you have a quill on you, I could write down the title and the name of the author?” That way, if they wanted to, the stranger could go off in search of it.

“I'd see about helping you look for it,” Barbara added, feeling as though she needed to explain herself. Saying that her husband was deceased still didn't feel real, though, and it took some time before Barbara was actually able to speak the words without bursting into tears. “But my husband died a few days ago, and I should probably get back to my kids.” Just as Georgiana's reaction had been, Barbara thought that her voice sounded hollow. She wanted some sort of emotion to be there, but it simply wouldn't come.

@kegan

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The stranger said she didn’t know where xe could find the book, and Kegan shrugged. She offered to give him a piece of parchment with the title and the author, and Kegan shook xyr head. “If you just tell me, I can remember it.” Xe said confidently. Anticipating some sort of backlash, a ‘just in case’ offer, Kegan added, “I have an eidetic memory. I will remember it.” But xe did need to know what xe needed to remember, so hearing the names would be good. Just as Kegan was about to refute the offer for helping xem look for the book, the woman refuted herself, and the pleasant expression fell from xyr face.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Kegan said softly. Xe knew all too well, the pain of losing someone dear to xem. Xe had never lost the one he loved, not entirely, though – xe wasn’t going to think of that. Xe needed to comfort this woman, even if it wasn’t comfort that she had sought in making that admission to Kegan. “My parents were killed this summer. It is difficult.” Xe paused again, then licked xyr lips. “If…if you should ever need someone to help you grieve, or with anything else…” Kegan sighed. Xe wasn’t much good at this. Offering to help, that was. “My name is Kegan Lloyd. I work in the Ministry of Magic. You should be able to contact me there, or if your owl can find me someplace else…” Xe trailed off again, hoping those were as good of parting words as xe could offer.

@barbara