FEEL THE WARMTH OF THE PAST | DOMINIQUE

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I POUR MY HEART
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NOVEMBER 9, 2024

Tamara had kept in touch with her old friend Dominique throughout since she had graduated and moved onto her adult life. Dom, being a year younger than Tamara, had finally graduated and entered the world of adulthood and since then they sort of fell out of touch. Tamara had finally sent her an owl not long ago, and the two of them decided they should change that, even offering to meet up with just talk and hang out – to catch up. Once Tamara had figured out her life, and when she could meet, she had sent the time and place to Dominique, and she approved she could meet her, and thus, here she was. The Leaky Cauldron was slightly full but not like normal due to it being around one o’clock on a Saturday in the Fall. Halloween had just past and Christmas was fast approaching, and yet Tamara was content.

Since she had gotten there early, she entered the place and found a place to sit, feeling her stomach rumble she sat down at the bar and ordered a butterbeer with a burger and fries. Minds well eat while they hung out, right? And if Dominique wanted something, it was her treat. A few minutes past and her butterbeer was slid in front of her, glancing down at her phone she noticed the time and glanced towards the entrance where Dominque had just entered. She smiled, waving her hand towards her friend, “Dom—over here!” she called out over the talking, gaining the girl’s attention and she made her way towards the bar just as her food arrived. “Thanks, got any ketchup?” she questioned the bartender with a smile, who quickly fetched it for her and slid it her way before going back to cleaning a spot on the bar and some of the glasses.

She turned towards her side and smiled at Dom, “Hey—long time no see,” she said as she hopped off the stool and threw her arms around her friend, pulling her into a friendly embrace. Pulling back seconds later, she sat down and spoke, “How have you been?”

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Dom was supposed to meet Tamara at the Leaky Cauldron. She was fully aware of this fact, but she- as usual- was a little bit late. Dom often got a bit distracted talking to people, or doing whatever she thought of in the moment. Hopefully Tamara wouldn't mind that she was a little later than she was supposed to be. Oops. As she finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, she looked around, trying to figure out where her friend was. It only took a second since Tamara was calling her name and waving at her. Dom laughed, a bounce in her step as she made her way over towards Tamara, who was standing at the bar. 

"Hi Tamara!" Dom greeted, wrapping her arms around her friend enthusiastically. "I'm ... pretty good. How are you? How's your job going and everything? I'm so excited we finally get to meet!" In true Dom fashion, she held nothing back, smiling widely as she spoke with her old friend, wanting to know everything that was going on in her life. "How is Liam?"

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
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[attr="class","next"] The two exchanged a hug as soon as the bouncing redhead arrived where Tamara was seated, and she laughed. It wasn’t long before they pulled back and Dominique answered her question about how she had been before going into a huge tarried of questions. The brunette let out a soft chuckle, wrinkled her nose jokingly as she said “You don’t even waste a second, do ya?” she questioned before shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve been great. My job is, well it’s going, and it’s getting better each day. A bit busy these past few days, but nothing I can’t handle. And Liam—” she started, sighing lightly with a dreamy look in her eye, before continuing “Liam’s great.”

She picked up a fry and bit into it, swallowing quickly before speaking, “You hungry? My treat,” she said with a smile. She wasn’t sure if her friend would get anything or agree to let her pay for it, but she rather offer before she ate in front of her. Tamara was starving, so she hoped that didn’t upset her friend that she had gotten food and a drink. “What about you—Have a job yet? Or are you still looking?” she questioned curiously.

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Dom grinned at the slightly surprised look on Tamara's face, and then actually laughed at her question. "Of course not! My seconds with you are precious, so they all need to be well spent." She then laughed again. It was true, Dom was super excited to be spending her time with Tamara, who was a dear friend, but saying something like that was ... well, it was obviously an exaggeration. Tamara undoubtedly knew that Dom really just couldn't contain herself when she was with her friends. She couldn't help but ask a million questions, she wanted to hear all about her friend. 

She lifted an eyebrow at Tamara's vague answers. "It's going? How is it going? Are you still an intern or are they giving you a real position? What exactly do interns do anyway?" There she went again ... obviously Dom could not contain herself even a little bit. Too excited. She smiled when Tamara mentioned Liam. She was happy her two friends were together and that Tamara was so obviously in love. The initial circumstances had upset her, since Tamara started dating Liam so soon after Ethan died, but she couldn't stay angry for long. For one thing, Tamara was one of the few people who understood how she felt when Ethan passed away. Dom needed her. "I'm glad Liam is doing well."

"Of course I'm hungry!" Dom exclaimed. She loved food! Any excuse to eat was a good one in her book, especially when catching up for a good friend. She didn't mind letting Tamara pay either, so she didn't say anything about that. Dom reached forward and took a fry, not entirely sure if that's what Tamara meant, but also not caring. She could eat anything, and she liked french fries. She shrugged, "No, I don't have a job yet. I applied at Honeydukes though ... waiting to hear back and see if I can get an interview there. I think working there could be fun while I wait for another job that really appeals to me, you know?" Dom couldn't for the life of her figure out what she really wanted to do, so why not work in a candy shop close to Hogwarts while she tried to work through things?

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
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[attr="class","next"] A small giggle left the brunette’s lips as her friend spoke about the seconds with her being precious. Tamara found herself taking moments with friends for granted, especially when thinking about all the times she brushed them off during her time at Hogwarts. She was so caught up in life, in Quidditch, in dating Ethan and then Liam, that she let the precious moments pass by and resulted in her barely seeing them now that she graduated. Perhaps that was what caught her relationship with her sister in a snag, not only that, but their personalities clashed a lot of times. Tamara remembered times when they traded places, and she felt what she believed her sister felt, a loneliness that plagued her life. But she always brushed that away when she surrounded herself with love and support of friends at Hogwarts – maybe that made her naïve.

Tamara realized that she was a bit vague with her answers, something that she didn’t mean to be, but Dominique was quick to pick up on it and questioned her about what she meant. She shrugged her shoulders, “It’s going well. Sometimes I have moments where I’m stressed but others, I don’t know – I think I’ll make it through the intern phase and be able to do some sleuthing,” she said with a soft giggle. “No real position yet, just an intern. And as far as interns go, it’s a mixture of stuff – I kind of help others, do some research of my own, take interviews – really, I’m just a jack-of-all-trades,” she said with a soft chuckle.

Dom, at the offer of food, was quick to jump right into it and instead of ordering something new instead plucked a fry from Tamara’s plate. She let out a soft chuckle; she didn’t mind sharing food at all. “Not what I meant, but you are welcome to my fries,” she said with a joking laugh as the other girl started speaking about getting a job at Honeydukes but was waiting to hear back from them. She nodded her head, plucking a fry from her plate and placing it in her mouth, “Yeah—yeah, that should be fun! Plus, free candy right?”

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Dom didn't think that Tamara was trying to keep things from her, that was almost obvious by the look on her face. Dom smiled as her friend started to elaborate more on her job and how things were going there. "I'm sure you'll make it through the intern things quickly," Dom answered, "And then you'll be a great reporter!" She was excited for her friend to be able to reach her dreams and get to know others. 

Tamara laughed when Dom started by eating one of her fries. "Don't worry, I won't eat them all. I just needed one to tide me over while I figured out what I want to order." She looked at her friend and winked before turning to the lady in charge of the food. "Can I just have whatever she has?" Dom asked, smiling as the woman nodded. "Yeah, free candy and I get to see all my friends that are still in Hogwarts. If they'll have me, that is." She wasn't super worried about it, but was curious to see if she'd get the job or not. 

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
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[attr="class","next"] Tamara laughed, “Hopefully…if not if I don’t become a ‘great reporter’ perhaps doing Quidditch professionally will be fun,” she said with a smile. She missed the sport, missed riding around on a broom and hearing the cheering of the crowd. There were times when she questioned if she did the right thing by leaving behind her passion, but sometimes she felt that this was where she belonged. She loved both the sport and writing, so who knew what would come about.

Tamara smiled, shaking her head, “If you had eaten them all, I’d steal yours aways – so it’s a win-win,” she said with a soft laugh leaving her lips as she ate another fry. Her friend ordered the same thing that she had, watching as the woman disappeared to put her order in. She shook her head, “Don’t think like that. I’m sure they’ll love having you, and they would be blind if they thought they didn’t.” Tamara was confident that her friend would get the job, even if the red-head wasn't.

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Dom rolled her eyes as her friend started to mention that maybe she'd go back to Quidditch if she didn't become a good enough reporter. "You'll do well," she answered in as supportive a tone as she could muster. "But I'm sure if you decided to go into Quidditch you'd do great at that too." Honestly, Tamara was the kind of person that always seemed to be successful in everything she did. At least, that was the way Dom saw her. For a moment she almost mentioned that she was considering Quidditch again, but decided to keep that to herself. She didn't want to tell Tamara and then change her mind. It was just ... Quidditch and Ethan were so entertwined in her brain that Dom wasn't quite sure if she could play the sport professionally without him. Then again, Ethan would hate it if he knew that he was keeping her from something that was such a passion for both of them. It was so confusing.  

Still, this was easy. Talking with Tamara, a comfortable teasing passing between both of them. "Good. If you didn't eat some of them, I'd probably start throwing them at you," Dom forced a serious expression, though she would do that in public. Probably. Then she shrugged, "Yeah, I just feel like something's coming. I don't know what, but I don't think I'll be there long, even if they accept me, so maybe what's the point in starting to work there, you know?" Dom wasn't sure if she was making sense, but then again that was just her lately. Her head was in the clouds, her thoughts like a ball of string so tangled and wrapped up tightly that it was hard to figure anything out, even for her. One of these days maybe she'd get it. Somehow.

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] Dom was always a supportive person, at least, Tamara had always thought so. Out of all the friends that she made at Hogwarts, Dom was still the most supportive out of her female friends. Tamara felt somewhat closer to Dominique than the other female friends, having barely spoken to many of them after graduation. The only “friend” that she had kept in touch with constantly would be Liam, but that was beside the point at this moment. She let out a soft laugh, “Aww—you’re so sweet,” she said with a smile on her face.

She let out a laugh, “Oh no…don’t start a food fight that you’ll lose,” she said with a teasing tone and a wink. At that moment, she found it to be a good time to take a bite of her burger, a huge one at that, filling her entire mouth with bread, meat, lettuce and the condiments that were on it. She regretted such a big bite because, by the time she was halfway done chewing, her friend had stopped speaking with a question. She quickly covered her mouth and spoke with a full mouth, “No—no, I get it,” she said unsure if Dom was able to understand her. She quickly swallowed, the lump of food going down her throat and making her feel pain. “I mean—it does make sense. But at the same time, it’s better to start somewhere than nowhere at all?”

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Dom rolled her eyes when Tamara called her sweet. Sure, she could be sweet when she wanted to be, but she wasn't trying to be sweet right now. Dom was being honest. Besides that, she wasn't really sure she particularly liked being labeled as sweet. Dom liked to be the mischievous one, the one always looking for a good time. Did that count as sweet?

She shook her head, pulling herself back to the conversation when Tamara said she would lose the food fight. A smirk covered her expression as her eyebrows lifted. "Oh yeah? I'm pretty sure I've never lost a food fight in my life," she answered, her tone clearly a challenge. Yes, Dom knew this wasn't the place, but she also wasn't one to back down from a challenge. Tamara knew that better than most. She watched her friend take a big bite and barely held in a laugh, smiling and nodding as the waiter brought her her own fries and burger. Dom started eating some of the fries. "I'm not sure," she answered thoughtfully. "It it better to get started at something when you know it's not what you want to do? Isn't that the definition of wasting time?" It was a fair question, but Dom wasn't sure anyone could answer it. She, least of all. Dom had no idea what to do with herself. "Besides, have you really heard of any jobs that you think would actually fit me?"

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
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[attr="class","next"] ‘Oh yeah? I’m pretty sure I’ve never lost a food fight in my life,’

Laughter left the brunette’s lips as her friend spoke, challenging her with each syllable. Tamara wasn’t stupid; she knew her dear friend to be someone that didn’t back away from a challenge, no matter the challenge and the setting. But Tamara so did not want to have to clean up after a food fight, and she surely didn’t want to be banned from the establishment. Through a small giggle, she spoke and shook her head, “Oh I know—but I rather not get into one here. Perhaps another time when we aren’t in public.”

The food was delivered seconds after Tamara took a bite and she listened to her friend speak, nodding her head in agreement. Before shrugging her shoulders as she swallowed, “I’m not sure if that’s the definition of wasting time, but I do see where you are coming from. I mean—maybe wasting time and getting money is just what you need to figure it out?” she questioned with a raise of her eyebrow.

When Dom questioned her about knowing of any jobs that would fit her, she put a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. She knew that Dom would excel in Quidditch, the bad thing was she was sure that the ginger would want to stay far away from that. “What about a florist or a herbologist? I know you enjoy flowers…that might be a stretch though. Or working at a bookstore or library?” she said with a shrug, “And there is always Quidditch…”

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Tamara said she knew that Dom didn't lose food fights and the red head lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? Then why did you bring it up?" she teased. She understand that Tamara didn't want to get into trouble here, so she wasn't going to do anything, but she could still tease the older girl. Dom liked getting reactions out of people and really enjoyed doing the unexpected. 

Dom listened as Tamara gave her thoughts on Dom's potential job at Honeydukes. "I guess that isn't a bad way to think of it ... I just thought that once I graduated I'd know exactly what I want to do. Not knowing ... it's weird. I feel like everyone else is starting their lives and I'm just standing still," Dom admitted, trying to make it seem as if it wasn't a big deal. The truth was, she hadn't told anyone that. Hadn't even realized she felt that way until just now. 

Her friend started bringing up potential job ideas and Dom's immediate reaction was scrunching her nose. A florist or herbologist? While she enjoyed looking at flowers and such, that was much too boring of a job for Dom. She wanted something exciting. Something that would keep her interest. She laughed as her friend continued. Not laughing at her, but just laughing. it felt good. "I don't think any of those would keep me interested for long," she confessed. Then Tamara brought up Quidditch and she sobered. "I can't decide how I feel about that," Dom answered in a soft tone. She loved Quidditch. She loved the thrill and the challenge and everything about it ... but how could she do it without Ethan?

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
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[attr="class","next"] The brunette woman rolled her eyes at her friends teasing, shrugging her shoulders as she took a bite out of her burger. She didn’t answer the question. Instead, she just chewed and wrinkled her nose at her friend in a teasing manner. She probably didn’t look all that attractive with a wrinkled nose, squinted eyes, and a mouth full of food that made her cheeks look like chipmunks.

She swallowed her food just as Dom started to admit her true feelings about everything, how she felt like she was standing still while everyone was moving forward. She bit into a fry and shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t think you are standing still. Everything happens for a reason…and maybe you were supposed to start your life now,” she said truthfully. She hated the saying that everything happened for a reason, she used to use it a lot—then Ethan was killed, and the saying died on her lips. This was the first she said of it, and she hoped that her friend didn’t hate her for saying it. “I think you should take things slow…I’m sure you’ll figure out your life and start a new adventure, you just have to give it time,” she said as she gently put her hand on Dom’s arm, a reassuring gesture.

Tamara joked, scrunching up her nose and nodding her head, “They do sound pretty boring, don’t they?” she questioned with a soft laugh. A laugh that died on her lips once they both sobered up when Quidditch was brought up. “I know—but it’s an idea,” she said softly. Tamara had stopped Quidditch herself after Ethan had died, the love of the sport dying with his last breath. Of course, she hadn’t been dating him at the time, and she knew him, and Dom had grown closer after the two had broken up—the extent of it she was unsure of—but she knew that they both shared a love-hate relationship with the sport they once did with Ethan. “Are there any job ideas that caught your attention? Any of your relatives have a nice job that interest you?” she questioned, taking a drink to wash down the food.

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Dom snorted when Tamara basically refused to answer her question, eating her food instead of fighting with it. She didn't expect Tamara to change her mind or attack her with the food in any way, but she'd been prepared just in case. Dom was always prepared for those situations. 

After spilling out her true emotions, Dom took a big bite of her food. She felt uncomfortable actually saying all this out loud. Normally these kinds of feelings she kept to herself pretty well. It was easier to stuff her face and pretend she didn't say anything until her friend responded. It was a bit of a relief when Tamara told her she wasn't standing still, but her next comment didn't sit well with Dom. She smiled, however, not wanting to let herself get angry right now. Dom wanted to enjoy her time with her friend, not argue about the "everything works out" perspective. She nodded as Tamara continued, "Yeah, I am starting things out slow until I figure out what to do." Dom smiled again, "I'm sure it'll come to me sooner or later." Sure, she was hoping for sooner, but Dom wondered if she had any control over that. 

It was clear that Tamara knew those jobs weren't something that would appeal to Dom, especially when she commented about how boring they sounded. Any humor in the conversation died when her friend brought up Quidditch, pointing out that it was an idea. Dom knew that. She was fully aware that Quidditch was an option, but she couldn't so much as sit on a broom without thinking of Ethan, the boy she'd loved and watched be murdered. Her eyebrows lowered as she looked to the table, unable to speak. Yes, Quidditch was still an option, one she knew she'd do well at and love ... if she could ever play without thinking of him. She shook her head when Tamara spoke again. "If there were I would have looked into them by now," Dom answered softly, her mood still low. She took another bite of her food, more because doing so meant she wouldn't be expected to say anything for a bit. 

@tamara

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I POUR MY HEART
INTO YOUR HANDS

[attr="class","next"] Tamara and Dominque had always been good friends throughout Hogwarts, even though they were a year apart and separated by different houses. They hung out with the same group of friends, their ties to Ethan giving them the freedom to be friends and join together before his death. Of course, they had also been on the Quidditch team together and had a lively game against each other, but it never messed anything up between them. When Tamara started dating Ethan and broke up with him, what took the cake for their friendship was when he died before their eyes. Tamara always said the wrong thing after that and seemed to turn a switch within her ginger friend, something that always made her internally kick herself in the ass. She sometimes brought it up to Liam when she felt like she royally fucked up—but after everything, she still called Dom, her friend.

She nodded her head, “I have faith that you will find something you love and run with it,” she said with a soft laugh. However, that laughter died after she brought up Quidditch. She knew that the sport was something that Dom once loved, hell so did Tamara, but neither of them had been on a broom after Ethan died. She was unsure if the ginger continued in her seventh year after Tamara had graduated, but she knew it to be unlikely. It was a sport the three of them played together, and after his death, it just stopped. She even turned down an invitation to play professionally and instead turned to intern at the prophet. She bit into her fry awkwardly, watching Dominque before she answered softly, and she slowly nodded her head. “Listen—I’m sorry I brought it up…I’ve always fucked up with my words after it happened—and I’m a stupid reporter for the prophet,” she said with a soft laugh, attempting to bring a smile to her face. “But I believe that you’ll find your dream job, and whatever it is—I’ll back you up one-hundred present,” she said with a smile.

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