YESTERYEAR | BRANDON

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I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

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LATE OCTOBER 2024

Halloween was coming, and many of the shops had decorated to address it in such a manner that reflected the magical community. She didn’t know why, but the magical community was better at decorating for the holidays than the muggle community was. Shoes padded against the ground of Diagon Alley, making her way through the routine of the day. She was glad to have off that day, even more, thankful that the weather was cool but not freezing. With a to-go cup of warm coffee in her hands, she made her way through the Alley. She pondered about stopping by the bookstore to see if Mina was working and discuss the previous book that she purchased, and the two of them promised to talk about once she returned, but if she was honest, work had been so hectic that she had yet to read it or be back to the bookstore.

She stopped just out front of Flourish and Blott’s before sighing and deciding against it, turning on her heels to continue down the path she was stopped by bumping into someone. Jumping back slightly, her coffee slipped from inside the to-go cup’s mouth and dribbled down her hand, “Shot!” she exclaimed as she moved to lip her hand and looked up, she recognized this guy. “Sorry, I really should be looking where I’m going. It’s—Brandon, right?” she questioned as she pointed at him before her hand went back to holding the mug with both hands. From what she remembered, he was a year younger than her in the same house before he transferred out of Hogwarts.

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TAG @brandon

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This time of year was one of Brandon's favorites. He loved it when the air was fresh and chilly in the morning, when the leaves turned orange and red and the world just looked warm (even though it didn't feel that way). There was something about Halloween that got him excited too, though Brandon couldn't figure out exactly what it was that he liked. Was it all the movies or the costumes that people wore? No idea, but he did enjoy it, which explained why he found himself wandering around Diagon Alley this particular October day. 

He was walking down the street, making his way past Flourish and Blotts when someone stopped right in front of him. He made to move around her, but the next thing he knew she was turning around and running into him. At her cry, he realized that she must have spilled on herself. "Oooh sorry about that!" Brandon answered sincerely, reaching forward for a second, but there was honestly nothing he could do about that. "No, you're fine. It's all good. Yeah, I'm Brandon. How's your hand?" He was speaking pretty quickly, but it was mostly because he wanted to make sure she was all right. In all honesty, he hadn't even really looked up to see if he knew the girl yet. First he wanted to make sure he hadn't really hurt her.

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] The guy she had run into was quick to apologize in a sincere tone, and she quickly shook her head. Though she had gotten the warmth on her hand and had screeched a little, didn’t mean it was his thought. She quickly spoke, “No—no…it’s my fault. I should be the one saying sorry,” she said with a bit of an awkward laugh. And then he was quick to say that everything was good and that he was, in fact, the Brandon she thought he was. Before she could say anything, however, he asked how her hand was. She shook her head, “It’s fine. A little warm, but nothing a cold compress can’t handle,” she said with a small laugh before shaking her head. “Sorry—it’s a bit awkward that I know your name. I think we were in the same house at Hogwarts…though you might have been a bit younger than me. I’m Tamara,” she said introducing herself after the awkward encounter they shared seconds ago.

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TAG @brandon

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Brandon pursed his lips as the girl insisted that it wasn't his fault and that she should be apologizing. "Well okay, but you don't need to apologize," he said slowly, not entirely sure if he still agreed with her, but he also didn't want to argue with her. That wasn't the way Brandon worked. And he didn't want her to apologize to him. He nodded, smiling when she said that she'd be fine. He shrugged a little as she continued, saying it was awkward that she knew his name. Then she introduced herself. "Tamara ... your name sounds a bit familiar," he admitted hesitantly. "Weren't you in Quidditch?" Brandon didn't know too much about the sport, since he was always more interested in his music, but he went to the games.

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] A tint of a blush appeared on her cheeks, though her skin was tan enough that it was barely noticeable. She was so glad for her Bulgarian roots or else she would probably have ended up with pale ass skin that blushed like a rose. She nodded her head but didn’t say anything, agreeing that she probably didn’t need to apologize – but to avoid an argument, she felt the need to drop it, just like he had. When she introduced herself, he seemed to have heard her name before, something that she hoped was true because she knew his name. “Yeah—yeah, I was a chaser for Hufflepuff. I was the captain of the team last year before I graduated.” she said with a smile, “I believe we had a mutual friend…if I remember correctly, you guys were in a band or something? Singing partners maybe?” she questioned, biting her bottom lip, praying that she wasn’t wrong.

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TAG @brandon

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She seemed to light up a little bit when Brandon mentioned Quidditch and he was glad that he was right. He tried to be good at remembering people that did sports or other things that stood out, but he honestly got distracted by his music to the point where he often didn't remember people that he should. It was a bit of a problem, but one he'd just have to live with. At least he'd been right this time. He smiled as she explained that she was the captain of the Quidditch team her last year in Hufflepuff. Then she mentioned that she thought she was friends with one of his friends. "Zander? You know Zander?" Brandon really shouldn't have been so surprised, but he was. He loved Zander, missed the guy like crazy now that he left again, but there really wasn't anything he could do about that other than send letters his way. "Yeah, we're good friends. How do you know him?" Probably just from being in the same house, but still. Maybe she had a fun story or something.

@tamara

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[googlefont="Open Sans Condensed:300"]

I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] At first, Tamara was scared that she had gotten the wrong person. She was good with faces but even better with names, so she hoped and prayed that they knew the same person and she wasn’t confusing this Brandon with another one. She smiled brightly when he mentioned the name of Zander, the person she was referring to when she said they had a mutual friend. “Yes, I know Zander, haven’t seen him or talked to him in a while,” she mused, remembering that he had moved away and had not returned to London, or if he had, she had not run into him. “We were in the same house and year. Huge flirt he was,” she said with a small laugh, remembering when he tried to woo her like the rest of the female body. She smiled, “He was a nice guy. Was sad to see him leave. You haven’t been in contact with him, have you?” she questioned, wondering if he still spoke to Zander and could give her an update on how he was doing.

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TAG @brandon

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Brandon perked up when she said that she knew Zander, nodding when she mentioned she hadn't seen him in a while. "He moved to Brasil," he told her. "Almost right after graduating last year." There. Now if she was wondering about the other Hufflepuff boy, Brandon could put her curiosity to rest, at least in part. Assuming she was curious, of course. He laughed when she talked about Zander and how he was such a flirt. Yup, that was his friend. Zander was always the friendly type that got along with practically everybody. The thing that brought the two of them closer was their music. Zander was one of the only people who really understood how Brandon felt about his music. He nodded as she mentioned that Brandon was nice and she was sad to see him go. He nodded at her next question. "Yeah I have, actually. He came back to London for a visit at the beginning of the summer, but he went back before long. He got married recently and his wife preferred to be back in Brasil." At least, that was the impression Brandon got. "He's doing very well though. Seems very happy and he got me an in with the record company." Which was something Brandon would always be grateful to Zander for. Zander helped him get closer to his big break.

@tamara

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[googlefont="Open Sans Condensed:300"]

I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] Brandon was quick to put her curiosity to where Zander had been rather quickly, revealing that he had moved away to Brazil right after graduation. She smiled, “Good for him. That’s exciting,” she said truthfully – she had wanted to move away at one point in her life, but there was so much here that made her stay, but she was happy here. He was quick to reveal that he had returned for a visit but had returned shortly after because of his wife, something that shocked him. “He settled down?” she questioned, though it wasn’t one that was looking for an answer. She didn’t see him as the type to commit, but maybe that was because he was a flirty person. She was happy for him, truly she was. “I’m glad he’s happy. And oh—that’s awesome. Are you working on anything right now?” she questioned about the record company thing.

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TAG @brandon

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Brandon nodded when Tamara said that she was excited for Zander, that it was a good thing for him. Brandon felt that, but he also didn't. He missed his best friend. It was weird to go to Hogwarts without Zander and it was weird now that he was graduated to know that his friend was so far away. Sure, they could write to one another (and they did!) but that wasn't the same thing as seeing one another and spending time together and it honestly just made him sad. He missed Zander. He laughed when she seemed so surprised that Zander settled down, "Yeah, he did. He met a girl down in Brazil and they got married. I'm not sure exactly when, but I got to meet her when they both came up during the summer," he said with a nod. He'd been excited to meet her, to know that there was someone with Zander when he was so far away, someone making him happy. Zander definitely deserved that.  

He shrugged when Tamara started asking questions about him now, "Kind of. I'm not really working on anything specific, but I have a contract with the labeling company. They're a bit busy with other artists so I guess I'm kind of on hold?" It was annoying, mostly because Brandon wanted to get his music out there, but he understood that he was one of the newer artists so he wasn't exactly priority. It was still annoying though. "What about you? You're ... at the Daily Prophet, right?" Brandon wasn't exactly sure he'd gotten that right, but he thought he remembered that she went there.

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] She let out a soft laugh as Brandon confirmed what she couldn’t believe, she was happy for him, she truly was—but he was the last person she believed would settle down. “Well good for him. Glad to see that someone could catch him and get a ring on their finger,” she said with a soft smile and laughed leaving her lips. It had been a while since she saw Zander, but perhaps she would write to him to congratulate him on the marriage or maybe even tell him to stop by next time he came back to lame ole London.

She frowned, “Well that sucks. Have you tried to contact them and see what’s happening? Just because they have other artists shouldn’t mean that you get put on hold. Are they a small company?” she questioned with a tilt of her head. If they were a huge label company they should have enough people to work with all the artists, shouldn’t they? She nodded her head with a smile, “Yup—I’m an intern for now. But I’m making my way up to be a full-time reporter eventually,” she said. She almost said ‘hopefully’ instead of ‘eventually’ but stopped the negativity fast; she needed to be positive these days.

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TAG @brandon

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Brandon smiled, laughing a little as Tamara said that it was good for Zander. It was! He was definitely happy that his friend was able to find joy, even if it was all the way down in Brazil. Brandon would definitely have to go down and visit him sometime, but that was neither here nor there. "Yeah, I'm glad he's happy," Brandon commented back. That's what he liked most about running into old friends, seeing them happy. 

He shrugged as she started asking more questions. "No, they explained when they signed me on. They just took on a bunch of new recording contracts and they're making a lot of albums with some more established contracts so they asked me if I'd mind waiting a while until they got a hold on it. I don't mind." And he didn't. It was kind of nice to be able to relax with Rosie and spend a bit of time working at Club Indigo. He wasn't in a hurry to get into the rush of making his own album, though he was excited for when the time came. He kept on writing new songs for it. "Do you know what kind of reporter you want to be?" Brandon asked curiously. 

@tamara

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[googlefont="Open Sans Condensed:300"]

I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] They both agreed that they were happy that Zander was happy and that was the end with that conversation. She wondered if she and Liam would have the same fate, to one day marry, and she would love that. Liam was her soulmate, she felt it deep within her heart and hoped that one day the two of them would get married, but she knew it was still too early in their relationship. They have been together for about a year now, but she felt it inside her that they would be together for many more. Perhaps it was just her jumping to the end of the relationship, but sometimes—when you know, you know. With Ethan, she never really saw a marriage proposal and kids together, not like she did with Liam. Maybe in the beginning, when they first started, she could have seen a possible future with Ethan, but after a while, that vision faded. And even after a year with William Flint, she still saw it.

The brunette nodded her head as she explained the situation, and she could see where the company was coming from, but it was still a little stressful. She smiled, “Well—hopefully, they don’t make you wait too long,” she said truthfully, her smile never fading from her face. A question about what kind of reporter she wanted to be was thrown at her moments later, and she pondered on it for a few seconds before shrugging, “Really—I want to report on the happenings of the world. Maybe reporting about Quidditch or even about an attack. I’m not sure; I’ll probably end up dabbling in reporting just about anything really,” she said with a soft laugh.

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TAG @brandon

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It seemed like Tamara understood what Brandon was talking about, which was nice. He shrugged, "I'm sure I won't be waiting too long. I think they said that things would slow down after all the Christmas Albums got released. So at the very latest, I should be recording in January. Until then, I have my job at Club Indigo to keep me busy." He was pretty happy about his new job. It got him meeting new people and learning the kinds of music they liked, which he thought would help once he started recording songs. All in all, he felt pretty lucky that he got that job. 

She explained that she wanted to report about things that were happening in the world and Brandon nodded his head. It seemed a little vague to him, but maybe it was like music. You didn't quite know what your genre was until you got into it. "So when do you get to start figuring that out?" he asked curiously. He knew Rosie was an intern right now, it sounded like Tamara was in the same boat. When would she be able to start reporting?

@tamara

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[googlefont="Open Sans Condensed:300"]

I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] Tamara smiled and nodded her head, “That doesn’t seem too bad. Everyone will be over listening to Christmas music and will be ready for something new come January. So that’s probably the perfect time to get something started and recorded,” she said truthfully. For her, it was true—she was always ready for some new music and songs to come the new year. She nodded her head, “I’ve never been to that club, but I bet it’s always busy. What do you do there?” she questioned curiously. If he was a bartender, she was sure he was always busy, probably a bouncer would be as well.

“I think—I think the timeframe is usually six months of interning before you become official and they start giving you better assignments than throw away ones. Though my first task was getting quotes about the thoughts on the winner of the Triwizard tournament, and that wasn’t too bad. But I started around the end of May, so probably around the end of November, early December at the most,” she said with a smile on her face. She was excited to see what the future held for her in the Daily Prophet.

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TAG @brandon

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