Hey, Soul Sister Pv. Salim Wolde

When Salim came home after the end of the semester, he had been met by a very happy Mariama who had rushed out of the house to hug him. Salim had immediately welcomed her and lifted her up in his arms. After a while, she had agreed to be carried down and they had gone into the house where Salim gave his mother a big hug and ruffled Hamidi's hair. His father had not been home.

The first days of the summer holidays were calm and Salim had felt happy to be home again with his family. Of course, Oringo had hardly been home and the times he had been home he had mostly made remarks to Salim and told him to help with some chores.

The strangest thing happened a little more than a week after the summer holidays had started. Salim had woken up to his mother shouting that he had received mail. Very strange because Salim had hardly any friends in Ouagadou and certainly no one who would write to him.

The letter had been from someone named Olivia Williams. The name sounded familiar but he couldn't place it so he had shown the letter to his mother who, when she read it, had put her hand over her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes. Then she had gone out of the kitchen to get something.

Bisa had returned with a small wooden box. Inside it had been several photographs, letters and documents. She had taken out one of them that showed Salim as a child together with a little girl with brown tousled hair. After that, Bisa had told the whole story and Salim decided to write back to Olivia.

While he was writing, he had also received another letter that had made his heart beat a few extra beats. Tes Cadell. She suggested that he should come and visit her in Nottingham and after reading both girls' letters a few times he had prepared a reply for Olivia:

”Hi Olivia, how nice to hear from you. My mother told me about everything and it's completely understandable that you forgot about me. I actually have a business in the UK in the future so maybe we could have arranged to meet in London for example. Kind regards Salim Wolde. ”

He read it through twice before sending the reply back to Olivia and telling his mother about his plans. She was so happy to hear about them and even gave him some extra money for the trip. Mariama was a little upset that Salim was going away again but after Salim promised her that he would bring her a present back she agreed.

So that was it.

He got a more superficial response from Olivia the following day when she suggested they meet at an ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley. Salim replied with a simple: “Yes, thank you, that sounds nice.”

Then he started packing, managing to fit everything he could possibly need into a backpack. Then he kissed his mother and sister goodbye and set off for the UK.

London was indeed a stark contrast to his own small hometown, but with the help of his mother's descriptions, Salim managed to find his way to the Leaky Cauldron where a wizard explained how to get into Diagon Alley by tapping bricks with his wand.

Salim couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the bustling street filled with the most outstanding shops he had ever seen. His eyes moved over the signs until he found one called Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, that had to be right.

He guided his steps towards the outdoor terrace and saw a girl with the same brown hair as in the photograph. He guided his steps towards her table and when he arrived he stopped at a respectful distance and raised his hand in greeting.

"Salim Wolde," he introduced himself with a warm smile and extended his hand. "And you are Olivia Williams, I assume?"

When Salim came to her table, Olivia stood up to shake his hand.

“Exactly,” she replied and smiled. “How nice to see you.”

She sat down again and motioned for Salim to sit in the chair in front of her. He was tall, a few inches taller than Olivia with dark skin and dark, fairly short-cropped hair. His gray eyes looked like little moons and his smile seemed to brighten the entire street. He was wearing a loose-fitting light shirt and a leather bracelet. Her own hand then automatically moved to her own bracelet.

Olivia cleared her throat and tried to think of a way to start the conversation. “I hope the trip here went well?” she asked Salim. “Not too much trouble finding here, I hope.”

“I live here in London so I could practically walk here,” she explained then. “Father and I live in a three-story building not too far from here.”

Olivia's gaze slid up and down the bustling street. There were a lot of people but she didn't see any familiar faces. It was actually quite nice, this meeting belonged only to Salim and herself.

"I suppose the letter perhaps came as a bit of a surprise to you?" she continued with a slightly apologetic smile. "Since we moved to London, my father has never mentioned you or your family. Hardly anything else from our time in Sweden either. But thanks to Tes who happened to mention your meeting at the ball, my old memories were brought back to life and that was really lucky."

When Olivia stood up and shook Salim's hand, he smiled broadly before sitting down opposite her.

"The pleasure is mine," he simply said.

Olivia was perhaps a few centimeters shorter than he was. She had thick brown hair that fell a little carelessly just above her shoulders. Her hazel eyes and freckles gave her a very beautiful and slightly cute appearance. She was wearing a white sweater and he could see a multitude of scars, both newer and older, stretching across her arms and shoulders. If Salim remembered correctly, Olivia was a werewolf and he was silently fascinated by her courage to show her scars openly like that. He could see that she was studying him too and smiled broadly at her.

Then Olivia asked if his trip had gone well.

"Yes, it went very well," he replied and nodded. “My mother knew how to get to Diagon Alley. London is a big difference from home but I’ve started to like travelling more and more lately.”

Olivia then told me about living here in the city with her father in a three-storey house. Salim was very impressed because he himself lived in a rather small house with only one floor outside Greyton.

Salim followed Olivia’s gaze as it slid up and down the bustling street that was filled with some of the most remarkable shops he had ever seen. He recognized the sign for the famous wand shop and the large wizarding bank. If he had time later, he would like to explore the alley.

Olivia’s voice woke Salim up as she told him about the letter and his father. Salim nodded to show that he understood her. Then she mentioned Tes and the image of her at their first meeting slipped into his mind. He longed so much to see her again. But he forced himself to pull himself out of his daze and back to the present.

“Well, I was a little surprised,” he admitted, referring to the letter. “But my mother recognized your name and when she read the letter she was very happy. She told me everything and understood that your father might have done something like that. My mother said that during the time she knew him, she got the impression that he loved your mother more than anything else and that loving her had cost him something. So when she died, he was completely devastated.”

Salim then reached into his backpack and pulled out the photograph his mother had given him earlier. He looked at it and then handed it to Olivia.

“My mother had this in a box,” he explained, studying her expression. “I think you should have it, it makes you smile.” He paused for a moment before adding: ”I also think you should talk to your dad about this.”

Olivia listened carefully as Salim told her about his own and his mother's reactions when they received the letter from Olivia. Salim said that his mother had said something about Olivia's father loving her mother having cost him something. Olivia couldn't think of what it could have been.

Then Salim rummaged around in his backpack for a while before pulling out an old photograph and holding it out to Olivia. She took it and looked at the picture that depicted herself and Salim when they were younger. She saw her mini me smile and laugh in a way that modern Olivia hadn't done in a while. She was lying to herself.

Salim studied her and then said that she could keep it because it made her smile.
Olivia looked up at Salim with the same smile. "Thank you," she said and put the photograph down carefully. When she got home she would find a suitable frame, she told herself.

Then Salim's voice came again: "I also think you should talk to your dad about this."
“Yeah, absolutely, that sounds like a great idea,” Olivia said sarcastically, grinning. Then she met Salim’s gaze. “Are you serious?”

Olivia sighed and bit her cheek as she looked around. “I can’t,” she said finally. “I can’t just talk to him. It was hard enough getting him to tell the truth about you. But what about everything else? He’ll have apparated to the end of the world before I even finish my sentence!”

She propped her head in her hand. “How am I even going to start that conversation?” she asked, half to herself and half to Salim. “Hey Dad, you know you lied about Salim and all? Now I just wonder what other things you’ve lied about too? You’ve never mentioned our family or history or your time at Hogwarts or anything!”

Olivia leaned her head in her hands and let out a groan. “It’s not working, it’s just not working,” she said, looking up at Salim for his reaction.