There's Not Much Comfort in This Place (OPEN)

[samira ali warsame]

December 29, 2024

Samira hadn't been in Hogsmeade the previous day, though she had been two days before. That was more than enough to freak her out when her father had shown up hours later than he should have from the Ministry the previous night, telling them something about dragons on the loose in Hogsmeade, of all places. Nothing seemed to have been too badly damaged, though, so she had put it out of her mind. That was, at least, until she saw the latest copy of the newspaper in the delivery owl's beak and went to pay it. AZKABAN FALLS, it read. It must have been a sick joke, she thought. Who the f**k had agreed to let that go to print?! Azkaban had to be the most secure prison in the magical world.

Still, Sami practically ripped the Daily Prophet from the owl, paying it for the newspaper with considerable haste. She scanned it over as quickly as she could, feeling her heart race with every word she read. The dragons were just the beginning. Azkaban really was in ruins, and at least some of the prisoners had escaped.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" Sami breathed, rocking back and forth on her feet as something gnawed at her stomach. She didn't want to curse aloud and somehow avoided it, but she slid the newspaper through her grandmother's bedroom door to keep it away from her younger brother. He didn't need to know.

Quickly, Sami found a quill and jotted down a note, which she stuck to the wall where it would be visible: Be back by noon. Gone for some air. - Samira

She had never changed into street clothes so quickly in her life—even if that meant that she'd only thrown a coat and gloves on atop the sweatpants and shirt in which she had slept, pulled on a pair of boots, made sure that she had her wand, and gone out the door to Disapparate away.

Hogsmeade was probably the last place that she should have been going, but she didn't care. If anywhere in the magical world, it was probably the safest. The street didn't look like it had the last time she had been there—two days before, it had been full of people. Now, it was mostly people who she assumed were likely Ministry employees responsible for the clean-up operations, plus a handful of others who probably had no choice but to be there. She could hear her footsteps echoing against the cobblestones. It was eerie, for certain, but she wanted to know that at least life was going to go on as normal… or whatever it had been in recent memory.

[Deleted]

[googlefont="Open Sans Condensed:300"]

THE DANGER IS
I AM DANGEROUS

[attr="class","next"] Nefertiti had been aware of what was happening within the world, from the attack on Hogsmeade and Azkaban. Of course, she didn’t know exactly what was going down over at the prison, seeing as she wasn’t part of that team, but she had heard about it later – with the news that came out. The headline was enough to say that Azkaban had fallen and the world had fallen into turmoil. She had gotten a little hurt while helping with the dragon distractions, but it wasn’t as bad as some people had been. Just a few burns and the likes, but nothing a little magic couldn’t fix. At least she didn’t end up in the hospital, that would have truly sucked.

However, it was odd to find herself back at Hogsmeade only a day later, especially after everything that had happened and what she had been a part of. But she did want to see just how everyone was coping, especially since the festival was attacked. As soon as she arrived, she regretted it – because there, in the distance, stood her ex. She swallowed, put on a proud face and strolled towards the younger girl, who was still walking herself. And slowly, she fell into step next to her. “Sad isn’t it?”

---

TAG samira ali warsame

NOTES hope you don't mind me snagging!

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[samira ali warsame]

"Sad, isn't it?"

The familiarity of the voice made Samira jump at first, but it was strangely reassuring to realize that it was Nefe who was walking beside her. Having a normal, casual conversation was more comfortable than what had been the case; the complete lack of communication between the two of them—going from talking about almost everything to silence—was even weirder. And it wasn't what Sami had expected, either. She had imagined that her first encounter with Nefe since they had broken up would be angry, that she would be able to shove it in her ex-girlfriend's face that she was living an excellent life without her in it—something grand that would make Nefe regret cheating on her.

But it wasn't like that. In fact, Sami didn't feel the anger that she had expected to feel. It simply wasn't there. There was, however, a bittersweetness to seeing Hogsmeade in this aftermath. She'd walked through there so many times—with Nefe, even—that it felt like clockwork, yet the sights around her didn't quite look the same. She had just been there; she'd run into Bryelle. It was amazing how quickly things had changed, and not for the better.

After a few more steps, and with no place in mind, Sami spoke, glancing at Nefe. "Yeah," she agreed, watching her breath as it lingered in the air in front of her. "It's… strange." She was so used to seeing the street filled with life. Maybe it wasn't the same excitement as most of London brought her anymore, but it was Hogsmeade, her occasional weekend escape from Hogwarts since her third year.

@nefertiti

[Deleted]

I'M GONNA LURE YOU INTO THE DARK MY COLD DESIRE
IS TO HEAR THE BOOM, BOOM, BOOM OF YOUR HEART

Nefe hadn't seen Sami since they had broken up, and it hadn't been on the best of terms. She could barely even remember who broke up with who, but at the time, Nefe had been stupid and had gotten into the Purifiers group at the time. If she remembered correctly, Sam had believed that she had cheated in the relationship and Nefe didn't have the power to tell her no, that she hadn't. It was easier to break up on bad terms because then she wouldn't have to hurt Sam later in life.

Did she miss her? A little. She had enjoyed their relationship at the time. She missed the friendship that came with it, but she would never admit that to her ex. However, here she was, talking to her ex as if no time had passed between them. "All good things come to an end eventually...sucks it had to end like this. Hogsmeade was always my favorite spot..."

samira ali warsame

template by punki of adoxography

[samira ali warsame]

“All good things come to an end eventually… sucks it had to end like this.” There were a lot of good things that had come to an end, Sami thought; their relationship—even just their friendship, never mind the romance into which it had blossomed—was one of them. “Hogsmeade was always my favorite spot…”

Maybe Hogsmeade didn’t look exactly the same as it always had and how it would stay in their memories of it, for the most part, but it didn’t seem “over” to Samira, either. This wasn’t the end of Hogsmeade. So many people lived and worked there, and the buildings didn’t look that badly damaged, with as many huge dragons as had been through the village.

“Do you think?” she asked Nefe, swallowing as she looked around at the street. Maybe it was more badly damaged than she realized, worse than the newspaper article had let on. Had this end of the street not been as badly damaged as the rest? “That it’s over, I mean?” It couldn’t be. What were they supposed to do on their free weekends at Hogwarts? Walk laps around the grounds until they wore away tracks in the grass? Was it going to end up being like what had happened to Ilvermorny, where their students had no idea when they would be able to return to school for certain and were waiting for MACUSA to signal the all clear?

Sami continued walking, looking around to try to figure out how much the village was damaged more than she was looking at Nefe. “Were you here yesterday?” she asked, curious what Nefe might have known that she didn’t. “My dad was late coming home from work last night, and then we got the Daily Prophet this morning… Azkaban, too,” she breathed, wondering why she was suddenly sharing so much. Sh*t. Nefe’s dad was supposed to be in prison, wasn’t he? Sami’s curiosity was really getting the better of her. “F**k…” she whispered at first, though her voice was still relatively hushed as she continued to speak. “Do you… know if… your dad…?” What had happened to him in the Azkaban mess, she meant.

@nefertiti

[Deleted]

'Do you think? That it's over, I mean?' Nefertiti looked at her ex-girlfriend, watching her expression for a few seconds. Nefertiti knew that it wasn't going to be over, not until Elaine had won the battle that she had set forth. Nefertiti was just along for the ride, who knew what would happen along the journey. "I hope so..." she said, trying to make her voice sound as defeated as possible.

The conversation moved to Nefe being at Hogsmeade, but before she could answer, the other girl continued to talk about her father coming home late before learning about the attack on Azkaban. And then, realization seemed to hit the younger girl as she questioned if she knew about her dad...if he had escaped. She frowned, shaking her head, "My mom hasn't said anything to me. And no one from Azkaban had contacted me personally...and as for your previous question, I was here. I helped in the attempt to protect Hogsmeade."

samira ali warsame

[samira ali warsame]

"I hope so," Nefe said about whether or not it was over, and Sami wondered if she had misheard her. The destruction, she hoped, was over, but… she didn't want Hogsmeade to be over. The village held so many memories for her. Nefe wouldn't really want to erase all of that, would she? Or maybe she did. They were broken up. Maybe she did want to set flame to all of that and leave it there to burn.

At her question about whether or not her father had escaped, Nefe shook her head. Her mother hadn't said anything to her about it, and no one from Azkaban had contacted her personally about it, either. "And as for your previous question," Nefe added, which Sami hadn't realized that she had skipped over until she mentioned it, "I was here. I helped in the attempt to protect Hogsmeade."

Sami nodded, trying to take in everything that Nefe had told her. She felt bad for her that she didn't know what had happened to her father yet, and she hoped that—for Nefe's peace of mind—she would know something soon, so that she wouldn't be stuck without some answer. And as for the second part, of course she had. Of course she had been there, being the wonderful person she was, and making Sami feel worse for not having thought to go to Hogsmeade.

"Are you alright?" Sami asked, still quieter than usual, just to check. Nefe didn't seem hurt, but it was still polite to check. "You're not hurt, are you?" And maybe she did still care about her. There was that, too.

@nefertiti