A/N: Originally posted to LJ and AO3. This is a gift for Bee as a congratulations for reaching three hundred followers. Ah this got more angsty and sentimental than I wanted but alas! Hope you enjoy!
Sweater Weather by KatieFlint
Hannah doesn't like winter clothes. Or, to be more accurate, Hannah doesn't like her own winter clothes. No, she much prefers to borrow things from her girlfriend, Susan's, trunk and closet. It's fairly easy, all things considered, and Hannah's actually surprised that Susan doesn't seem to have noticed.
This could have something to do with the absurd amount of clothes she's received from everyone this past Christmas. Everything from wool cloaks to lingerie (from one absurd female cousin). All of the remaining Bones family has been scattered, for their own protection, but they still managed to send Susan something for Christmas. Something from each of them to remind her she's not alone and they love her. Even if they can't be with her just now.
Clothes seem the obvious gift for this, because they're practical, and you never know when you'll need a new set of clothes to travel (or fight) in.
While the sentiment has done wonders for Susan's peace of mind, it's also given way to something of an overcrowding problem within the girls' already cramped quarters. Hannah does her part by not adding to the lot, or least that's how she thinks the abduction. Less clothes in her side of the closet means more room for Susan's things.
Truly, Hannah knows Susan won't mind, and that the emotional sentiment of her relatives far exceeds the physical gift of the clothes. All the same, it almost surprises Hannah the day Susan finally realizes that this has been going on.
"Is that my sweater?" Susan asks in the library one evening. The pair of them are studying for a herbology exam, and given Hannah's aptitude in the subject, she's slacking off quite a bit more than Susan can afford too.
Hannah glances down, looking to see exactly what she's wearing. It's the grey wooly, the one Susan wore last week to potions class. It still smells faintly like her, and the obnoxious Draught of Confusion she slaved over. Susan's actually quite good at potions, when the Professor decides to give her half a chance, and Hannah's been after her to consider a job in the field come graduation time.
There's an unspoken promise between them not to talk about the 'what ifs' and the impending war. Everyone else wants to talk battle plans, and both Hannah and Susan have done their duty joining the DA, but that doesn't mean they can't spend a few moments away from the fray. If they can't find something to look forward to beyond the war, how are they going to find a way to live a life after it's over?
"Yeah, it is," Hannah at least has the decency to blush, being caught red-handed at last.
"You could've at least waited until I'd washed it," Susan smiles, returning to her book, "And the trousers, mine too I believe?"
Hannah nods, "You're not mad are you? Honestly, I didn't think you would be or I wouldn't have-"
"No Abbott, I'm not mad. I think they're cute on you. But I'd wished you would've asked me,"
Hannah feels a bit ashamed of herself. She's always missing the finer points of things. A trait which has led many to the notion that she's daft or thick. In her head, she'd known Susan would be fine with this exchange so she hadn't bothered to ask. Missing the point once again, Hannah feels foolish and dull.
"Hannah," Susan's voice is kind, drawing the blonde from her brewing thoughts, "I'm not mad, honest. Jealous that you fill them out a little better than me perhaps, but it's honestly not that big've deal."
"But it is-" Hannah knows Susan understands how she is, but for Susan, Hannah has been trying for better herself. Picking up on things like this was supposed to be one of her goals.
Susan shakes her head, leaning against Hannah's thigh, as she's sitting on the table, "I can tell you're starting to beat yourself up because of me. Don't. I like you just the way you are, clothes stealing and all."
"But you said you'd wished-"
"And I do," Susan smiles reassuringly up at Hannah, "But, I also know, you were snatching my clothes because you knew I wouldn't mind. You weren't trying to be inconsiderate. If you weren't snatching clothes Hannah, you wouldn't be you. And I love you for who you are."
Susan gives Hannah's leg a squeeze and a kiss, before returning to her book. Hannah sits, contemplating what Susan's said, when she notices a scrap of fabric sneaking out from beneath Susan's cloak, "It that my blouse?"
"Well," Susan smiles secretively, "If you're allowed to take my clothes, I only thought it was fair I took some of yours."
Laughing quietly, Hannah knows she'll remember this silly exchange between them for quite some time. What she doesn't realize, it that borrowing one of Susan's sweaters on the eve of May 1st, 1998, is what's going to keep her going through it all. Because she'll tell herself she has to give it back to Susan, and she's got to be alive to get it back to her.
When the dust settles after the battle, and the victors begin to sort through the aftermath, Hannah climbs desperately over every scrap of the battlefield, hoping to find her Susan, alive and relatively well.
Indeed, she finds Susan by a rubble of staircase, and Hannah lunches herself at the brunette, tears beginning to fall freely and without remiss, "I had to find- I had to… Give you back this sweater. Your favorite. Oh god, I just- I had to find you."
Susan's crying too, Hannah can feel the tears soaking into her clothes, but she doesn't care. They've both survived and they've got their future to look forward too. Susan will have her Potion's store, and Hannah her herb garden, and there'll be plenty more clothes to steal. Most importantly though, they'll have each other.
And still, even after all this time, that's all Hannah's really ever wanted.
End
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