Drawing Down The Moon [SAMIRA]

[Deleted]

Dominique Weasley didn't know what she was doing at this Feast of Samhain.  Well, she knew her cousins were bound to be there, and friends from school.  But she also knew that the ancient traditions of Samhain included the belief that the veil of the spirit world fell during this time, and those dearly departed would come and visit their loved ones.  She had lost two people she truly held dear; her aunt Hermione, and of course Ethan Johnson.  Ethan had returned as a ghost the year following his death, and they had made their peace, so she did not expect any form of a sign from him.  Perhaps her aunt, wanting to see her children and nieces and nephews would make an appearance however.  Nikki had to admit she was curious if that were to happen.  Plus, free food and plenty of drink were too good to pass up.

Nikki made her way through the crowds, where Druids and wizards alike mingled in anticipation of the bonfire lightings.  She snuck her way to the front of the crowd; she was short so she didn't have much trouble.  She doubted any students would want to go near the fires after the way Elaine had destroyed Hogwarts.  She had not been present at the rescue efforts; she had been...occupied by one last bounty that had taken her to Wales, and only received news after the fact.  Now she was a full fledged member of Magical Interpol, no longer a trainee, and her less than legal bounty hunting days were over.  She had be all on the books now, but she had had fun while it lasted. 

Nikki looked from side to side, searching for a familiar face.  Perhaps someone who could distract her from her thoughts, and the ghosts of her past.

Open!

[samira ali warsame]

October 30, 2026

Samira felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of going to Samhain. Her best friend had died only months before, yet it was the potential that she might see her again that had brought her to the Druid event in the first place. She wasn't sure how much she believed it all, but she didn't know how else she was supposed to get that closure with Shreya. If she had ever thought for a second that Elaine Dupree had been alive and hiding in the school that whole time… It still didn't feel real to her.

Understandably, it looked as though a lot of people weren't getting too close to the bonfires, and Sami moved forward only to fill in one of the gaps so that it didn't look disrespectful to the Druids who had shared their traditions with everyone else. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her coat, wishing that she had opted for a winter cloak instead, as she glanced at those around her. Right beside her, Sami realized, was Dominique Weasley, and the edges of her mouth turned upwards to greet the former Ravenclaw. It wasn't exactly a smile, but something about the arrangement reminded Sami too much of a funeral.

Most people weren't really talking, understandably, but it was reassuring that she at least knew someone else who had come for the occasion. It was hard to find it in herself to call it a "celebration" or even to think of it that way. There wasn't anything celebratory about dying tragically young, as too many people whom they knew and loved had. Even her younger brother, Aaden, who had been supposed to start at Hogwarts that year, was off at Ilvermorny and planning on staying with their aunt and uncle in Minneapolis during the school holidays.

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dominique looked to one side and saw a familiar face; Sami had been just one year younger than her at school, and in Gryffindor, but she knew her all the same. She had of course been her cousin Lily’s roommate, at least for the majority of her time at Hogwarts. Lily had ended up repeating her seventh year, but they didn’t really talk about that. “Sami,” she greeted with a small smile. “It’s been a long time, and a lot has happened since we graduated Hogwarts,” she noted, jerking her head towards the bonfires. She didn’t need to mention the explosive fires that had nearly leveled Hogwarts to the ground, the implication was there. Everything was different now; though her cousins were all graduated from school at this time, the destruction of the castle they’d called home for seven (or eight) years was gone, and that felt like a blow to the gut.

“How have you been since….well, since I graduated I suppose,” Nikki asked, turning her attention back to Sami after watching the bonfire for a few minutes. “Lily mentioned you were looking into becoming a shopkeeper, did you manage it?” she added. Lily of course had chosen to work at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, which did not shock Nikki at all, as it was the family business and Lily loved the products their uncles made. Still, she was curious about what the former Gryffindor had done with her life since graduation. Being involved in the underworld of bounty hunting as well as her internship with Magical Interpol had kept Dominique extremely busy, which meant she had had little to no time to think of anything else. But now that she was fully inducted into Interpol, perhaps she could find time for friendships again.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

October 30, 2026

Dominique was the one to speak first, starting up some small talk about how long it had been since they had last seen each other. She asked her how she had been in the time since and brought up that Lily had mentioned that she was looking at becoming a shopkeeper. The way that Dominique talked about her working retail, she made it sound as though that was something she'd aspired to, like becoming an Auror or a Healer. It really wasn't that; it was more that she hadn't had very many options based on the results of her NEWTs, and working at C'est La Vie was one of the more respectable things that she could have done. (Of course, she hadn't failed the year like Lily had, so maybe that was something.)

"Yeah, er, I'm working at C'est La Vie in Hogsmeade…" Sami explained, trying not to talk too loudly due to the somberness of the event. It wasn't as though she had gone the entrepreneurial route, either. She was running a cash register half the time, if not cleaning up after people who made a mess of the clothes in the boutique. "It's a job," she shrugged. She knew that she was fortunate to have it, but it wasn't all that exciting to talk about.

"You?" Sami then asked, attempting to change the focus of the conversation. "You went into Ministry stuff, didn't you?"

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dominique nodded; it appeared Samira didn’t really want to talk about her work, and that was fine, she wouldn’t force her to. “I have yes, Magical Interpol. Just transferred a few months ago to the International Crime Task Force,” she told her, before looking over with a sly smile. “Can’t go into much more detail than that,” she added mysteriously before letting out a soft laugh. She probably could, but it was fun to pretend she was like an Unspeakable sometimes, someone who couldn’t actually talk about her job. Of course she couldn’t name names, without risking her employment, but she could talk a little more openly than the Department of Mysteries.

Thinking of the Department of Mysteries reminded Nikki, rather unpleasantly, that up until recently the head of that department had been a Purifier in disguise. Asher Burke had been found out during the destruction of Hogwarts; from what others had told her, the duel between him and Blaise Zabini had been one for the ages. As frown lines creased her forehead, she spoke again. “Do you think that, after everything that’s happened, anyone would actually want to speak to us?” she asked Samira quietly. Her Aunt Hermione would be appalled at the Ministry’s ineffectiveness in preventing Hogwarts destruction, and for allowing a Purifier to reach such a highly ranked spot. It put the Ministry in a similar light to when Cornelius Fudge had been Minister, and he was not remembered favorably.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

October 30, 2026

Dominique was working for more than just the Ministry, as it turned out. She was working for Magical Interpol, which sounded seriously impressive to Sami. The way in which Dominique spoke about having joined the International Crime Task Force made it sound like one of those things where she could have told her what she did for a living, but then she would have to kill her because it was such a secret. Obviously, Sami knew that there was probably a lot of classified information in something like that, but she laughed a little along with Dominique.

In spite of Dominique's making light of her job, her attitude seemed to change, and she furrowed her brow. "Do you think that, after everything that's happened, anyone would actually want to speak to us?" she asked in concern.

Without a word, Sami thought for a moment and then reached out to hug Dominique from the side if she wanted it. She was surprised that Dominique was so hesitant because she had always come across as being pretty confident, though she knew that losing her boyfriend and then her aunt in the way that Dominique had would have made her doubt herself, too. Sami didn't think that she or Dominique had any reason to worry, though. She knew that neither of them had been responsible for the mess that they were in, what with their millionth Minister for Magic in however many years and an apparent pile of rubble in place of the school they'd attended.

"I think they will want to, yeah," Sami answered in reply to Dominique's question. The people who had gone before them in death must have had some awareness—or whatever their spirits retained—that they weren't to blame. She wondered who Dominique was focused on the most but didn't want to ask. They might not have been close in school, but there was something sort of eerie in thinking about how much death had begun to bind everyone at Hogwarts—and everyone who was in attendance at the bonfire, probably. "I could stay with you until we know, you know?" Sami offered. She didn't mind staying next to Dominique if she needed the support. Honestly, she didn't think that it would be such a bad idea for herself, either.

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dominique was surprised when Sami offered the hug, but she took it gladly. She put her arms around the other girls waist and squeezed her back gently. “Only if you don’t mind,” she said quickly at Sami's offer. “I don’t want to ruin any post bonfire plans you may have.” The first night the main event was the bonfire; more events would take place the next day. Nikki had planned on staying for awhile then going to her little cabin she had rented and curling up with a bottle of wine and the latest Witch Weekly. Not exactly a wild and crazy night for the middle Delacour-Weasley child.

Nikki turned her face back to the flames. Her hands dropped down in front of her and entwined themselves. She fidgeted nervously. “I just…” she paused, then continued on. “I know Ethan has moved on. He found his peace years ago, and I haven’t had anything from him ever since that day. But…” Nikki’s eyes left the flames for a moment to turn towards Samira. “I wondered if Samhain would give him an opportunity to…say hi. Or something,” she admitted, her voice quiet. Most people knew she and Ethan had been study buddies and friends, but precious few knew just how Nikki had felt about him. About how she realized it too late.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

October 30, 2026

The awkwardness that there could have been between her and Dominique didn't matter all that much when taking into consideration the fact that the event that they were attending was largely a way of making peace with unresolved trauma—even if Sami herself probably wouldn't have admitted to that completely. Maybe they were foolish for thinking that a bunch of dead people would show up from whatever afterlife they had or wherever else they had been existing that wasn't really among the living, but they wouldn't know until they tried. Dominique wanted to make sure that she didn't mind sticking by her side until they knew what was going to happen and if it would all be one big disappointment, but Sami shook her head no. It was late, and she was more likely to have post-bonfire plans—particularly ones that involved alcohol—if things didn't go so smoothly.

Neither girl said anything for a few seconds, and Sami could see that Dominique still looked like she was on edge. She stayed pretty composed and wasn't totally freaking out, but the nervousness was there. "I just…" she began, though it seemed at first as though she couldn't really get her thoughts out. "I know Ethan has moved on," Dominique admitted, though she kept looking at the fire. Sami, meanwhile, turned her head to look at Dominique as she explained that her boyfriend had "found his peace" with being dead already. "But…" It was then that Dominique paused, and the two of them made eye contact. "I wondered if Samhain would give him an opportunity to… say hi. Or something."

Something was better than nothing, and Sami could feel her eyes stinging a little. She thought that maybe it was from the smoke, but it was too hard to tell if it was because of that or because she was actually getting teary-eyed. "I… don't know," she admitted to Dominique. She had never been dead before to know how it worked; she just had to trust that the Druids knew what they were doing and that maybe some of those who had died before them would see that they were there and humor them for the sake of the holiday. She didn't know if Shreya would be there or if it had been too soon since she had died for her to have received whatever memo about materializing. As much as it felt like mere days since Shreya's death, it had been months, but it was impossible for Sami to erase the image of how devastated Shreya's parents had looked when she had seen them for the first time after the fire.

If their deceased loved ones were going to make their presence known, Sami hoped, it wouldn't be like seeing them in a photograph. They could do that anyway, but she knew that she had to prepare herself for the fact that Samhain wasn't forever. Besides, Sami didn't know if anyone else Shreya had known was in attendance. She hadn't really thought to check, but she didn't want to take away from Shreya's limited time with them, either. She'd been in Gryffindor, too, after all; she knew Madam Macmillan and had had her as her Head of House. Though she hadn't always liked the woman (really only because she had a tendency to act out, which hadn't always painted her in a favorable light with school staff), Sami felt bad for her having lost her daughter. It had to be absolutely awful.

Focusing on Dominique, Sami tried to make her words of some reassurance. "It's sh*t, isn't it?" she said quietly. They just had to believe that they wouldn't be let down and made into fools in front of so many others, but the not knowing was agony. It was bad enough that it felt like a betrayal that anyone had to die so young. "Shreya's mum said that she, erm… She said that she died trying to save people…" The statement had little to do with Ethan and more to do with Sami's trying to process what life was supposed to be like from then on. She knew that Dominique must have felt it with Ethan, though she wondered if she would feel similarly after the passage of the same length of time. Maybe she was wrong for having it in her head that things would pan out in a certain way. Obviously, she knew that none of them would stay young forever; eventually, they would be as old as their parents were, but time wasn't just supposed to… stop and leave people in the past.

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dominique had known that Shreya Macmillian had been one of the casualties of the Hogwarts fire, and it made sense that the younger woman had gone in to save people. Her spotty memories from school remembered Shreya as good at Herbology, and healing, so her career choice had made sense. She could also tell that Shreya and Sami were close, probably closer than Sami was saying. However, it was Sami’s story to tell, and not her place to probe more if she didn’t want to say more. “I can believe it,” she said softly, turning to look over at the other woman. “Ethan and Shreya…both cared a lot about people, other people. They would have saved others even if it meant putting their own lives at risk,” she added. It was more than Dominique would have done at least. Well, she supposed since she wasn’t there, she’d never know exactly what she would do. Perhaps she would have been brave and tried to rescue people. But, she couldn’t dwell on that now - it was in the past, and nothing could change that.

Suddenly, Dominique felt a breeze ruffle her hair. She froze, eyes widening. “Ethan?” she whispered, but she received no response. She reached up and wiped her eyes, which had begun to tear up, though whether it was because of the smoke or because of that spark of hope she had just felt, she didn’t know. But what she did remember was Ethan ruffling her hair when she was being stubborn, much to her indignance. She felt a smile play on her lips. “Maybe there is some truth to this festival after all,” she said softly, loud enough for Sami to hear.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

October 30, 2026

It was still incredibly strange to hear Shreya spoken about in the past tense, but Dominique had only good things to say about her. Both Ethan and Shreya, Dominique noted, had cared a lot about other people. Shreya had been a Mediwitch, for Merlin's sake; a person couldn't get much more selfless than that. The thought that Shreya could have accomplished so much more did make Sami sad. Ethan could have, too, if only he had had the time. It really put into perspective just how suddenly everything could change.

All of a sudden, Dominique's eyes grew larger. "Ethan?" she asked out loud.

Sami hadn't felt the breeze that prompted the reaction from Dominique at first, but it reached her a moment later. The closest sensation she could think of was that of accidentally walking through a ghost, something that she had done a handful of times while a student at Hogwarts.

"Maybe there is some truth to this festival after all," Dominique voiced. If Ethan were there, though, he hadn't yet announced that it was him without leaving any room for uncertainty.

"Yeah," Sami whispered back. "I don't think it was a coincidence. I think it was really him." If there really were spirits of the deceased around them, she didn't want to scare them off.

@dominique

[Deleted]

Dominique let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. Sami had confirmed that she had also felt something, perhaps a hair after she did, but it was there all the same. Nikki maybe hadn’t been imagining things, for once. She had done that enough in the months after Ethan had died. Thinking every gust of wind that blew past her was Ethan touching her shoulder, ruffling her hair, about to whisper something bawdy in her ear to make her laugh unexpectedly. She had needed a sense of closure, one last conversation with him, confessing her feelings and throwing caution to the wind. But now, she felt that closure envelop her like a warm hug. Telling her that even though she never spoke the words out loud, Ethan knew. He always knew.

Not really thinking, Nikki reached down, grabbing Sami’s hand and squeezing it lightly. Nikki was not an affectionate person as a rule, but tonight she wanted someones’ hand to hold, just as a friend. A reassurance that despite Ethan’s death, the ones they loved never truly left them. She closed her eyes, and a small smile crept onto her lips.

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

October 30, 2026

Standing before the bonfire with the knowledge that there were likely spirits surrounding them wasn't frightening, per se, but it wasn't something that Samira would have felt comfortable with experiencing alone—now that she was experiencing it, anyway. She could feel Dominique grabbing her hand, and she didn't fight it. Rather, she let her take her hand, not minding as she felt Dominique squeeze it. It was reassuring to her, too, though she wasn't sure that she would have asked the same of Dominique.

Sami gave Dominique's hand a squeeze back. It wasn't anything bone-crushing; it was just enough to reciprocate the gesture she'd received. It was like a little pulse of energy or something like that, thought Sami. They were living through something completely surreal, even as witches themselves.

Death was something of which they were aware, maybe even more so than Muggles. That wasn't the problem, nor was there a "problem" in that sense. Sami might not have been the most religious person, but she knew the basics of what Islam had to say about death and life after it. According to that view, people had souls, and she was certain that what she and Dominique Weasley were witnessing was connected to that somehow.

She wasn't sure how much Shreya had really adhered to Christianity or to Hinduism, either, but Sami understood that reincarnation was part of the latter religion, somewhere in there. If Shreya were to come back in some other form besides the one in which she had known her, hoped Sami, then she wanted to be able to encounter her again. She could hear herself voicing those same thoughts within her head, even though she wasn't really sure how much it would do. Maybe one of the Druid gods or goddesses would pick up her message, if nothing else, and get it to where it needed to go.

Looking over at Dominique, Sami saw that her eyes were closed, not in pain but in bliss. So she wouldn't disturb her, Sami closed her own eyes, hoping that Shreya was out there and at peace.

@dominique