This round, we each had to choose a different genre, and I chose spiritual. This one was especially interesting for me to write because it takes place on 17 June 2015 - in other words, next week. :)
I gift this piece to Nymphxdora, the writer of The Escapades of Teddy Lupin.
Word Count: 2,543
It started with Mohammed Ali not showing up for lunch as May rolled to an end.
Teddy hadn't thought this was strange, though. Moe was a seventh-year, which meant that he would no doubt be burrowing under a pile of books and notes as he studied for his N.E.W.T.'s – and Teddy knew that he had taken on six courses at N.E.W.T. level. Plus, he was Head Boy; he had to set a good example for everyone else, and that meant keeping up good study habits.
That is, until he came down the Tuesday of their last week. Moe had been sitting with his friends when Teddy and Alfie had come down for lunch. They had just gotten their scores for their course exams (they had both done pretty well, if he did say so himself) and sat down next to Moe. It hadn't been planned; that's just where there was space for two people. They had had every intention of wolfing down some lunch and rushing out to the Black Lake to race the boats they had spent the morning making and decorating.
Until Teddy realized that Moe wasn't eating.
"Do you not eat now?" Teddy had teased, nudging Moe in the ribs. "Mortal food too good for the Head Boy."
"If you reach my status, Edward, you will feast like a god. Ambrosia, milk, and honey, as far as the eye can see." Teddy had made a face; he hated when people used his full name. Moe had only grinned.
"Seriously, though, you're not eating?" Teddy prompted once more.
"I can't eat right now," Moe said, shaking his head. "Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan, and I've been fasting for weeks to get in shape for it."
"It's the first day of what?"
"Ramadan – it's a month-long, Muslim holiday. I won't get into all the specifics, but it's a time of cleansing and reflecting."
"You're Muslim?" Alfie asked. Moe raised his eyebrows.
"My name is Mohammed Ali, probably the most common name in the Arab world, and you didn't get that I was Muslim?"
"Oh," Alfie said sheepishly.
"What do you do during Ramadan?" Teddy asked.
"We pray and fast – fasting is very important. No food, water, sex, or cursing from when the sun comes up to when the sun goes down."
"What, all month?" Alfie demanded. Moe nodded.
"No food for a month?" Teddy said, gaping at him.
"Yep."
Teddy stared down into his plate. No food? No food all day? No food all day for a month? That sounded like slow torture to him. He could barely go through an entire class without wanting something to munch on. And here Moe was preparing to go sun-up to sun-down without a single bite of food.
"Oh, don't look like that. It's not that bad. Tell you what," Moe said, turning around to face Teddy fully. He was smiling with amusement. "Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan. Why don't you fast with me? We can make it like a challenge. Then you can say whether it's crazy or not."
Teddy had taken a moment to think about this. A day without food? A whole day? His stomach had growled just thinking about it. But then again, it was only one day, and Moe was going on week three.
How hard could it be?
"All right, sure," Teddy had said. He had stuck out his hand to shake on it and everything. Alfie agreed to fast as well. Then Moe had clapped them on the back and said, "See you tomorrow morning." That was it. That was all that had transpired.
That was also why Teddy, his stomach rumbling and whining with hunger, rushed down into the Great Hall the next day for dinner with Alfie on his heels like someone had promised to give a full set of O's in the exams to the first student to arrive.
Teddy spotted Moe immediately, and he wondered if hunger could give one highten sensory capabilities. Whatever it was, he grabbed Alfie's arm and dragged him over to the Hufflepuff table, sidestepping a pair of third-year Gryffindors that clearly were not as excited about dinner as they were. Teddy sat into the seat directly in front of Moe, while Alfie settled down on Moe's right. The older boy grinned at them.
"Well, how was it? How are you guys feeling?"
"Starving," Alfie replied. Teddy agreed, wishing the rest of the school would hurry up and get in already. Moe was grinning at them all.
"First day is bad, but the second is always the worst," he said.
It took about eight minutes for the rest of the students to settle down, but finally the Headmaster stood up, clapped his hands, and the dishes on the table filled with food.
Glorious, glorious food.
"And now, we break our fast," Moe said.
They dug in.
Teddy was halfway through his second serving when he spotted Miriam Khurshid at the top of the stairs. She had taken off the padding and training gear, but she was still wearing muddy trainers, black trousers, and the yellow, long-sleeved shirt she used for Quidditch practices. There was a streak of dirt across her cheek, and a few tendrils of dark hair were poking out from the black head scarf she wore while playing. Teddy raised a hand and waved her over. She caught sight of him and raised her chin in acknowledgement but didn't smile, and as she descended into the Great Hall, he rather thought that she was stomping.
She looked grumpy.
"Oh, thank God, food! I'm starving!" She threw her bag onto the table, clipping Alfie's shoulder and knocking over Moe's goblet of apple juice in the process. The both made noises of protest and, in Alfie's case, pain, but she ignored them, glaring at the spilled juice seeping across the table like it was its fault it had spilled. Huffing with impatience, she whipped out her wand and removed the mess. Then she barked for Alfie to move over, dropped into her seat, and began to pile food onto her plate.
"Er, bad Quidditch practice?" Teddy asked tentatively. Miriam was a kind and cheerful sort of girl. He actually liked her a lot – that was, until she got hungry. Hungry Miriam was snarky and sarcastic. Hungry Miriam was easily frustrated and prone to glaring. Teddy noted the hamza hand on her necklace and the scarf around her head.
Considering she hadn't eaten since about five that morning, she was positively charming!
"Superb, actually," she said, reaching for the chicken drums. "So long as everyone practices over the summer like I've told them, that Quidditch Cup has our name written all over it next year."
Miriam was the captain for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and this was her second year being so. She was a tough captain (Teddy didn't envy the team players at all, the way they were expected to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for Saturday morning practices), but no one could argue that she wasn't effective.
"Why are you having Quidditch practice, anyway?" Alphie asked. "We've already won the Quidditch Cup, and there'll be no more matches this year."
"Yes, but I want to win next year's, too. We're a good team, and I'm tired of people thinking we're no good at Quidditch just because we play by the rules. I am determined to win that Cup for Hufflepuff every year I am captain, and that means next year, too." She nodded fiercely.
"Here, here!" Moe raised his glass, grinning. Teddy laughed and clinked his own goblet against Moe's. Miriam wasn't the only one who wanted to bring back some respect to the House of Hufflepuff.
"How do you do it?" Alfie asked, gazing at her with a sort of awestruck expression. "I mean, I went down to the common room and slept every chance I got. How do you go to class, be a prefect, and hold Quidditch practices, all with an empty stomach?"
"Normally I don't," Miriam replied. "Today, though, I had to meet with Professor Longstaff about this one kid, and he only had time during lunch. I had Madhuri grab me some things but…well, it had to be done. Mind you," she gazed at them all seriously, "I am never missing lunch again." She nodded once, and then turned her attention back to her plate. Teddy frowned. Wasn't she supposed to be fasting?
"Er, Miriam?" He asked tentatively. She seemed satisfied enough to hold a conversation, but that didn't mean she wasn't still hungry enough to give him a verbal lashing. "Weren't you supposed to miss lunch?"
The look she gave him was one of such shock that he might have sprouted another head.
"Why would you ever want to miss lunch?"
Teddy and Alfie exchanged glances. That's exactly what they had thought yesterday, but Miriam was Muslim. She was supposed to understand these things, wasn't she?
"Well, you're supposed to be fasting for Ramadan, aren't you?" Teddy prompted.
Miriam shrugged.
"My father says that Islam can stand all on its own without any of the pillars. Okay, well, except for one," she conceded, waving around a chicken thigh, "belief in one God and the Prophet Mohammed. And I do." She bit into her chicken.
"Miriam's family has been here too long," Moe teased, bumping her with his shoulder. "It's all this Western influence."
"No, we just think that a Muslim's relationship with God should be personal rather than filled with all this institutionalized ritual."
Moe opened his mouth, but Teddy cut across him; if Moe and Miriam got started, no one would get a word in edgewise.
"But you wear the head scarf! And you pray! If you aren't religious, then why cover your head?"
"It's a sign of respect and humility. I am religious, you know. I wear the hijab," she patted the scarf around her head, "and I don't eat pork. I believe in God, and I pray every night. For Ramadan, my family goes through the entire Q'ran. We even have read-a-thons with the whole family so that we can stay motivated! It's fun!" She shoveled up a forkful of vegetables and looked at it happily. "I just don't think that giving up food you can afford just because it's Ramadan makes you a better Muslim or person."
The fork disappeared into her mouth, and she smiled as she chewed. Teddy poked at his own veggies, mulling this over as he chewed. It was odd, in a way, because he had always assumed that there was one way to practice a religion. If you practiced it with traditional rituals and rites, then you were religious; if you didn't, then you weren't. But to hear Miriam talk of it, religion was more of a spiritual understanding. It was a broad spectrum of beliefs, rites, and practices that had more of a personal flair than what was initially assumed.
It sort of made sense.
"Asalamu alaykum!" a familiar voice chirped from behind him. Teddy spun around in his seat to find two girls standing behind. Fatima Boul, a fifth-year Gryffindor, and Leilah Nadir, a very pretty fifth-year Hufflepuff, stood behind him.
"Wa alaykum asalam!" was the resounding chorus behind him. Normally, this would have grabbed Teddy's attention, but he barely registered the foreign words of greeting. Leilah was smiling at him. Teddy swallowed the mouthful of food and prayed there wasn't anything in between his teeth. Then he smiled.
"Hey, Leilah."
"Hello, Teddy," she said. "How are you?"
He was just about to respond when Alfie cut him off.
"Teddy and I fasted today," Alfie said, leaning forward. He was smiling hugely, like he was in on a huge secret. Teddy tried to discreetly find Alfie's foot and stomp on it, but this was much harder to do with Leilah and her friend standing right next to him. It also only made Alfie grin even wider.
"We're celebrating the first day of Ramadan," Alfie continued. "Care to join us?"
"Oh, thank you, but I already told Fatima I'd eat with her." She motioned with her head to her friend, who smiled in greeting. "I only came over to share the helwat my mother sent me this morning."
She opened the tin can she was holding in her arms and offered it to Teddy. Inside was what seemed to be a month's supply of sweets, though they were nothing like the sweets Teddy was used to seeing. There were some biscuits and cookies, but most looked like a sort of toasted dough drizzled with a honey glaze or pastry with green nuts poking out from the middle.
"How did you like fasting?" Leilah asked as Teddy grabbed two pastries and passed the box around. He was pleased to note that her friend, Fatima, had engaged Alfie in conversation and that this question was directed to him.
"It was cool," he answered. "It was hard during lunch and not being able to drink something, but after that it was like I stopped being hungry. Well, until it was dinner time."
"Yeah, it is always easier to fast with other people who are fasting because no one has food. It's best to just stay away, like Mohammed was does."
Teddy nodded. "Alfie and I ended up taking a nap in our dormitory."
"That's what we do when we go to Lebanon to visit our family for the summer. All the stores are closed until late, too. But this time, Ramadan started early." She smiled. "Will you fast again tomorrow?"
Teddy hesitated.
"If you do, we can break fast tomorrow. Not that we can't eat dinner together tomorrow, but it would be more fun if you fast, too, no?"
"Will you teach me some Arabic words?"
She beamed. "Of course! We can do that during lunch. If you want to, of course."
"Then, I'll fast with you tomorrow, too," Teddy promised with a smile.
She exchanged a few words in Arabic with her friend, and Alfie returned to her the tin of sweets. With a final good-bye to Teddy, both girls moved to sit at the Gryffindor table. Teddy watched them go, feeling very excited and not at all hungry all of a sudden.
When he turned back around, it was to find Alfie, Miriam, and Moe all grinning at him.
"What?" he demanded.
"You should start brushing up on your Arabic, Teddy," Moe said with a wicked grin. "It might help you to score her hand in marriage from her father."
Teddy flushed.
"Oh, bugger off!"
"Ah, ah, ah, ah," Miriam said, waggling a finger in the air. "Remember, no foul language during Ramadan."
He settled for scowling at her across the table and chucking his napkin at her face. She caught it easily, laughing.
"Alright, come on, you guys. In all seriousness, I am glad that you are going to fast tomorrow, too. And while I won't be roughing it out with you tomorrow," Moe's eyes twinkled, "I wish you the best and will be here to break fast."
Moe reached out, poured himself more apple juice, and then topped off everyone else's drink. He raised his goblet.
"Ramadan mubarak," Moe said then, beaming at them all.
Teddy grinned.
"Ramadan mubarak!"
Teddy Lupin, of course, belongs to Rowling, but he was written with Nymphxdora's characterization of him in mind. The OC Alfie Hayes belongs to Nymphxdora, as does the OC Madhuri. The two other OC's, Mohammed Ali and Miriam Khurshid, I gift to her as well.