Can We Skip to the Good Part? (TW/CW; Bryelle)

[samira ali warsame]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

July 3, 2026

Sami knew that she needed an outlet for her grief after Shreya's death, and there was only so much that she could do when Shreya also happened to be one of the first people she would have gone to otherwise. In spite of all the healthy coping mechanisms she could have chosen for herself, that was the furthest thing from her mind. She just wanted not to feel anything, and getting drunk seemed like the fastest route. Drinking alone was an option, but Sami knew that she needed to go somewhere where her parents and grandmother wouldn't find her and pass judgment on her behaviors. They knew about her partying and drinking, and they would drag her home from anywhere in the magical part of London as soon as they realized what she was doing.

Blacking out and actually feeling alive for once in weeks sounded ideal, and Sami needed that distance from her family. Although she thought about running off to someplace Muggle, her logic while sober told her that that probably wasn't the best idea in case she happened to say the wrong thing. She was already emotional; she didn't need to get into trouble with the Ministry for letting slip that the magical world existed and that tons of people—most of them children—had been killed in a fire set by a Dark witch who had been only a few years ahead of her in school.

Instead, she had gotten ready to go out in the shortest dress she could find in her closet and had traveled from London to Inverness via the Knight Bus. Her stop, in particular, was the nightclub River Walks, where she alighted from the bus and made a beeline for the bar. Her only aim was to get as drunk as she could as soon as she could, and luckily the bartender didn't seem to care very much about how many drinks she was ordering in a short span of time. Her weapon of choice that evening was vodka soda; it went down quickly, but it didn't taste strong enough to her to make her feel that the alcohol was really working until she was already feeling its effects.

The music grew louder and louder as Sami became more and more intoxicated, until she could feel the sound reverberating through her veins. It made her heart beat faster. She went out onto the dance floor, dancing with strangers as though she no longer had a care in the world. She didn't recognize half of the people by whom she was surrounded, but she didn't mind, especially not when one of the young men with whom she'd been dancing offered to buy her a drink.

Without a question, Sami took him up on his offer but ended up losing track of him as time wore on. That was no matter, really. She was enjoying herself and was back to feeling like herself again. It was so much fun that she thought for sure that she could spend the whole summer like that. Even more fun was that River Walks was located such that there was actually a view beneath Loch Ness, and Sami had spent a fair amount of time just watching what was going on underwater as she swayed to the music.

Eventually, though, she went over into the women's toilets, where she had spent plenty of time complimenting another girl on how nice her dress looked on her. Just as she was preparing to go back into "party mode", in walked another young woman whom Sami recognized in an instant. "Bryelle! Hiiiii!" she squealed as though the two of them had been the closest of friends at Hogwarts. That wasn't entirely true, though they had gotten into no shortage of trouble together before Sami had graduated from school. Bryelle, who had been in the year below her, must have only just finished her rescheduled NEWTs.

Bryelle Rose Goyle

[Bryelle Rose Goyle]

━ are you, a dream or an illusion? ━

THERE WERE ONLY A FEW days left until Bryelle's eighteenth birthday and truthfully the Goyle was dreading it. She didn't know what more to expect than sheer disappointment out of her parents, a potential card from her brother and his bitch of a wife and nothing else. On top of that, the brunette was still waiting for her final NEWT results - in order to see if she ultimately failed or not. It didn't feel like the former would happen, especially since Bryelle began taking her studies seriously - out of a truthful random impulse - and she felt good after the exam. But anxiety was soon to knock upon her door.

Considering she took her exams within the Ministry, Bryelle knew summer break had officially started for her. Especially now that Hogwarts was deemed unfit for students to remain inside - considering the recent events. Having nothing much else to do, Bryelle took the bus from London up to Inverness regardless, wanting to spend her day far from her parents and just around other 'adults' in general. Getting off the bus in the late evening of her arrival, Bryelle headed for River Walks - hearing of the popular nightclub from a Scottish student the moment she finished her NEWTs.

She had no idea of any age restrictions of course - instead just hoping there weren't any. Being allowed in fairly quickly, Bryelle was glad she dressed up for the night, despite having the intention on spending it on her own. She had a few drinks as she danced amongst strangers, letting others buy her drinks of course. Call it pretty privilege, but the Goyle felt happy. And oddly free. Sometime later which Bryelle definitely couldn't figure out how long it had been, the Goyle slightly staggered into the bathroom, feeling the need to puke and refresh herself. Merlin she hated alcohol.

Hearing her name, Bryelle lifted her head up, her eyes lighting up almost immediately as she realised who was calling her. "Sami!" She squealed back, sharing the excitement before pulling the older girl into a tight embrace. The two weren't close nor were they the closest of friends, given their previous mischief with one another. But it didn't matter to Bryelle, her stomach was lined with enough alcohol to befriend anyone or anything.

| samira ali warsame |

sorry for the wait!

[samira ali warsame]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

July 3, 2026

"Sami!" Bryelle's tone was equally eager, and anyone who saw them conversing with each other would have thought that they were the best of friends—that drunk girls in club toilets were always overly complimentary of one another not withstanding. They were both adults now, anyway; they didn't need to squabble over anything anymore, and Sami wrapped her arms around Bryelle, hugging her tightly in return.

"You look amaaaaaazing," she gushed to her, taking in Bryelle's appearance as they pulled away from their hug. After so much to drink, it didn't really matter how either of them looked in reality, though Sami's makeup had certainly migrated from where it had been at the start of her night. They looked fabulous, and no one could tell them otherwise. "How are you?" Sami continued excitedly. "You look soooooo good!"

Bryelle Rose Goyle

[Bryelle Rose Goyle]

━ are you, a dream or an illusion? ━

TO THE EYES OF OTHER people, the two Hogwarts alumni looked like close friends who were simply catching up. Drunkly of course. Yet both Bryelle and Sami both knew their relationship was more...complicated than that. Bryelle's drunken smile however only grew as Sami wrapped her arms around her, embracing her tightly. It felt warm, genuine even. But maybe that was just the alcohol.

As Sami slurred her words, the Goyle's cheeks tinted red while a hefty laugh left her lips, almost matching the volume of the music that thumped just outside the bathroom. "Noooo..." Bryelle slurred in response, slightly swaying as she reached for Sami's hand, using that to keep herself up and stable. Bryelle was better with compliments in her sober state also, but considering the amount she had drank, and the type of drunk she was, any kind of compliment made her shy.

"I've...I've been better!" She responded truthfully, followed by a giggle as she tried to brush off Sami's compliments once more. "Where..Where have YOU been!? It feels...It feels like itssss been so looong since I've seen you."

| samira ali warsame |

[samira ali warsame]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

July 3, 2026

Two drunk girls in the women's toilets at a club did not a coherent pair make, and anyone sober who might have seen them would have thought that they had totally lost it—Bryelle taking Sami's hand to steady herself to keep from toppling over as she loudly denied looking as good as Sami had said that she did.

"I've… I've been better!" Bryelle then replied, giggling, after Sami asked her how she was.

Okay, that was probably fair enough. If Sami had had a truly rational thought left in her brain at that point, she probably would have realized that she had gotten the better end of the deal when it came to the "Hogwarts experience". Sure, there had been plenty of things that had happened while she was at school, but Bryelle had had all of that and the cherry on top that was Elaine Dupree's murderous grand finale.

Bryelle asked her where she had been in a way that would have been bordering on accusatory if not for their mutual drunkenness. She said that it felt like it had been so long since she had last seen her, and Sami knew that it definitely had been, even though Bryelle was totally the type of customer that C'est La Vie targeted.

"Merliiiiiiiin," Sami agreed. "I knoooow!" Her "knowing" was shrill enough that it sounded like a shriek. "Being an adult is so boooooring," she whined. At least she got an employee discount on clothes from working at the boutique, but it was weird to look to where Hogwarts had been and see what remained of the school from a distance.

Bryelle Rose Goyle

[Bryelle Rose Goyle]

━ are you, a dream or an illusion? ━

SOMEWHERE WITHIN BRYELLE'S CONSCIOUS, THE Goyle knew that the noise she and Sami were making was at a ridiculous pitch and volume. Truthfully, anyone sober or even drunk themselves would probably find the two peers irritable. Merlin knows Bryelle disliked her fair share of drunkards - even though it was a rare sight for her to see.

As Sami replied, Bryelle's drunken grin only grew wider and the younger Gryffindor alumni found herself cupping Samira's face. "'S..Not aaaaall that boring!" She replied eagerly, giving Sami's cheeks a gentle squeeze. "You get..To have an incoooome, and your ooooown place and...and...Money!" She added, followed by a fit filled with giggles.

| samira ali warsame |

[samira ali warsame]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

July 3, 2026

Being an adult and doing adult things—like having a retail job where people left clothes off the hangers and tossed haphazardly into piles on top of items that weren't even the same thing, not to mention removing makeup stains from garments that had been tried on one too many times—wasn't as boring as she said, Bryelle countered her. She got to have an income, true, and her own place… Okay, well, she was living at home with her family, but she wanted her own place… And money. That was valid, too. Having just finished school, Bryelle hadn't gotten to experience that yet, nor the walk of shame into Gringotts when she inevitably was going to waste that money on something else.

Like drinks. She could totally buy Bryelle a drink. "Aaaaaaand you've left Hogwarts," Sami grinned then, glancing between Bryelle and the door. "Let me buy you a driiiiiiink!" This wasn't just a normal night out now, no. They were going to turn it into a celebration. Why not? They were adults, and they could.

Bryelle Rose Goyle

[Bryelle Rose Goyle]

━ are you, a dream or an illusion? ━

BEING AN ADULT MEANT VARIOUS things for the Goyle. She was only a few days off from turning eighteen, and by summer's end she would officially be a Hit-Witch trainee. Simply meaning, the money would soon be pouring in and the brunette would have enough to live on her own. She knew her parents opened up a small savings for both her and her brother, due to her brother's influence she guessed, but whatever was inside was definitely not enough for the type of apartment or home she had been thinking of.

As Sami grinned, her words drawing out that Bryelle had left Hogwarts and that Sami essentially wanted to buy her a drink, Bryelle grinned too, her smile beaming more than anything. "Whaaaaat kind of drink..?" She asked rather excitedly, leaning more onto her friend. "Something sweeeeeet?"

| samira ali warsame |

[samira ali warsame]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

July 3, 2026

Bryelle asked her what kind of drink she was offering to buy her, wondering if it would be something sweet. If that was what she wanted to drink, then sure. As long as it wasn't just juice and actually had some alcohol content to it, Sami was fine with that. Just drinking orange juice or whatever to sober up would be boring for a celebratory occasion. No, they weren't going to stop right then and there! They were going to have fun.

"Stooooop! I'll surprise you." Sami had to keep up the intrigue, because why not? She would come up with something fun. She didn't know what that would be or what form it would take, but she knew that it would be fun.

The first step, though, would be to get Bryelle back out to the bar, and Sami quickly pulled at the younger girl to get her to come with her.

Bryelle Rose Goyle

[Bryelle Rose Goyle]

━ are you, a dream or an illusion? ━

AT SAMI'S REPLY, BRYELLE FELT her lips turn upwards into a pout. Merlin, she was already at her tipsy/drunk phase where she became incredibly and undoubtedly annoying. "A surpriseee?" She mimicked, drawing out her words while slightly tugging on Sami's arm. "You're noooot going to leave me aloneee are yoou?..You'll take me with yoou?" The Goyle added, slightly stumbling the moment Sami pulled at her arm.

"Waaaait!" Bryelle objected. "...Where are we going?" Merlin. This was due to be a long night.

| samira ali warsame |