"Ah, a shame you're not interested in magic," Nitocris said.

"Who, me?" said Toxie.  "I know my limitations, thank you very much."

"...it might be interesting to try," said Hermione.  "But don't you need some kind of talent for that?"

"Just a will to learn and time to practice," Nitocris said.

"...I might try, then," said Hermione.  "I expect it's going to be quite a challenge for me, though."

"I will do everything I can to help," Nitocris said.

"I appreciate that," said Hermione.  "The same goes for you learning modern science, obviously."

"Now that is settled, we should do more of this 'dating' thing," Nitocris said.

"That sounds good," said Hermione, "but I don't have a lot of practice..."

"I have none," Nitocris said.

"Am I gonna have to give you two lessons, now?" Toxie asked.

"Perhaps that would help," Nitocris said.

Toxie grinned, cracking her knuckles.

Hermione, in contrast, looked nervous...

"Is something wrong with that?" Nitocris asked.

"No, it's just..." Hermione started, and stopped.

"Ah, don't worry," said Toxie.  "I'm not gonna set you up on anything weird.  Promise."

"Ah good. How does dating work?" Nitocris said.

"You go out with someone, away from where you usually go," said Toxie.  "The big tradition is you get food, and you do something fun, like a movie or a park, and you talk and get to know each other.  And sometimes you get physical, and sometimes you don't, but you usually don't get very physical on your first date.  Unless you do."

Nitocris nodded.

"Understood. Then we should get some food."

"We did just eat," Hermione pointed out.  "That's more of a later-in-the-day thing.  We also normally dress up a bit for it."

"Right. Then we should do it tonight," Nitocris said.

"That's traditional," said Toxie.  "Don't worry.  I won't tag along.  Honest."

"That makes sense, so, what shall we do in the meantime?" Nitocris asked.

"Well, we could look around more, try to meet more people," Hermione said.  "Like whoever teaches magic, for example.  Or, we could... I don't know..."

"Go back to the room and make out?" Toxie teased.

"I could do either," Nitocris said.

Hermione blushed.

"...we can do that later," she said.  "Why don't we look for the magic department now?"

"Very well," Nitocris said.