Under The Sea

“Not to be conceited, but I am definitely a Gryfindor.” he smiled at her reply, wrinkling his nose like a kid. “I bet you packed a million books when you came here, didn’t you?”

“Oh of course you are.” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “I packed..a lot yeah. But I still plan on buying more if I can find a bookshop.”

“Now that I’m here I should read something. I figure I have the time.” Harrison mused. “Any suggestions?” 

“Well you can’t go wrong with any classic novel although they’re long and if you don’t like reading maybe that’s not the best route to go straight away. Fantasy books are great, think down the lines of Harry Potter and you won’t go wrong in the world of magic.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try not to blow your cover.” he winked, grinning, Harrison stifled a laugh. 

She laughed, “Good, good.”

“Yeah I could see that.” he smiled. “That’s why you read so much, right? Nerd.” Harrison teased, raising his eyebrows.

“One of the many reasons.” Cora laughed, rolling her eyes. “God you sound like people from my old school.” 

“I don’t have any other ideas. If I really hated my classes I probably would have done something else, but I think the potential family drama and the fact that I’m pretty good at it stopped me.” he laughed it off, not saying anything more. “What do you want to do?”

“That’s good that you like the classes. I hated it so much.” She laughed, not saying anything more on the subject. “I want to be an author.” She said, waiting for him to laugh. 

“I got my dad’s name, who got his from his father. It’s quite the responsibility. which means pre law for me. I’m just lucky I’m smart.” he laughed nervously. “My family is big on not quitting.”

“So you’re going to be a lawyer?” She asked, trying to word her next question in the best way possible. “Do you actually want to do that though or are you just doing it for your family?” She was trying not to be rude but she was curious. “My mum actually wanted me to do law and I liked the idea of it but hated the classes so I left. I know what I want to do now though, I didn’t at the time.”

“I just turned twenty two.” he answered, his mouth twitching slightly in annoyance. “You dropped out? Really?” Harrison’s eyes searched Coral’s. “Why?”

“Ah so you’re older than me.” She smiled but then looked down at her hands. “I was forced into the course from my mum. If I was doing a course I liked I might still be there but it wasn't and I had no interest in it so I decided to drop out and I can always go back again in a few years if I want to.”

“What kinds of things do you read? I can’t think of the last thing I read that wasn’t an article or a textbook.” Harrison explained, still playing with his hair absently. “I’m just taking a break from school right now.”

“Anything. Mainly fantasy though. I love reading about a world where all these creatures could exist.” She nodded slowly, “I dropped out of Uni nearly a year ago, how old are you?” 

He smiled widely, the corners of his eyes squinting. “That’s awesome. I wish I had time to read, but I always get distracted.”

“Well I probably read enough for most people on the world. I read so much.” She smiled, looking down for a second. 

“Hey, everybody likes the idea of getting light years away from Earth. Earth sort of sucks if you haven’t noticed.” Harrison laughed, brushing his hair from his forehead. 

“Well I can’t say you’re wrong there. I also can’t judge you for watching these because I spend way too much time reading about things quite like that.”