Romance Awareness: Soulmate marks that grow along with your relationship - e.g constellations that start with a single star, seeds that grow into flowers/trees/vines, eggs that hatch.
…
Susan Bones is born with five jet black lines on her ribs, below her sternum but off centered.
It takes some scrubbing before the doctors realize that this is her soulmark. Most people have a seed, or an embryo, or an egg. Because soulmarks grow and change with the relationship. Eggs hatch. Flowers bloom.
No one has a clue what Susan's lines are going to become.
…
For a long time, Susan's lines don't change.
They're just there, right under the wire of her bra. She runs a finger over them, sometimes, wonders what they are destined to become. She stares at them in the mirror as she brushes her long hair back.
She sighs and pulls on a shirt, letting them disappear underneath it.
…
She is seventeen the first time it changes.
She's seventeen when a treble clef curls itself around the beginning of the lines, and Susan understands.
It's a piece of music growing across her skin.
And she's pretty sure she knows who it's growing for.
…
Daphne Greengrass is already eighteen, the oldest in their year with a September 2 birthday meaning she only just missed the cutoff. She's tall, much taller than Susan.
She's not much like anyone else Susan knows. She's thin and slim with wrists that remind Susan of the fragile, tapered stem of a wineglass. Her hair curls around her ears but no further. When she's not in uniform, she wears dark pants and dark shirts and often the same red plaid flannel thrown over her shoulders, buttons open.
She likes to scowl at the world because she can.
But she's also the kind of person who, despite her House and her upbringing, walked into the DA behind Ginny Weasley and asked how she could help.
Ginny swore up and down that Daphne was to be trusted.
Most of the DA didn't agree.
But Susan? Susan took one look at her and saw straight beyond the impassive face to the eyes. Bright brown eyes that were sharp as hell, seeing straight to the truth of things, but also so tired.
The kind of tired they all are, this year. It's September and they already know this year is going to be hell.
Defense has become just the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies is full of lies and half of their friends are missing and they are tired.
But they are also defiant, and Daphne's eyes have that spark too.
So Susan moves across the room and introduces herself. Daphne smiles in return, small and insincere.
That introduction is the first time they've ever exchanged words. It's also enough to cause a treble clef to bloom on Susan's ribs.
The soulmark isn't why Susan trusts her. That decision was already made.
But it doesn't hurt.
…
Daphne doesn't act like she's noticed anything with her own soulmate, although, to be fair, she probably had a lot more first conversations that day than Susan.
But if Daphne does know and she's just… not mentioning it, then Susan figures she probably shouldn't say anything.
So instead she just strikes up conversations when she can and leaves Daphne alone when she can't.
And they're not… friends, exactly, but they're friendly.
A high C blooms on Susan's ribcage.
The first time they have a real conversation that goes beyond a hello, how are you is the night Susan can't sleep because Hannah's in the Common Room comforting a first year who just got out of detention with the Carrows.
Susan can't. She's not like Hannah. Hannah is all soft kindness, all eternal forgiveness.
Susan is angry.
She's so goddamn angry. They're watching their world fall apart and all they can do is slap patches on the cracks as though that can keep it from fracturing.
It can't.
So she leaves. She slips out of the common room and makes her way to the top of the closest tower.
She needs to move. She needs to see the stars.
She is surprised to find Daphne at the top.
The other girl is sitting on the grey stone, leaning back against the bricks, head tipped back to look at the sky. A cigarette dangles from one hand, looking natural and familiar. Her long fingers cradle it gently.
She's wearing only a t-shirt on top, and Susan can't help but notice it's the first time she's seen all of Daphne's arms. They're slim but corded, clearly full of strength. They taper down into her winestem wrists, one of which rests on a bony knee which is pulled up to her chest.
She takes Susan's breath away.
She pulls in a drag on the cigarette, blows smoke into the night air, and then says, without looking at Susan at all, "Are you going to just stand there?"
Susan startles, caught out in her staring, but she moves forward. At the sound of her footsteps, Daphne's brown eyes fix upon her.
"Susan," she says. Her voice is honey-warm in the cool night air.
"Hi," Susan says awkwardly. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Daphne shrugs, looking perfectly at ease.
"It's not like I own this tower." She takes another drag, and exhales it on a sigh. "You can sit down."
Susan does, moving in closer and seating herself about a foot away from Daphne against the same wall. She tips her head back and looks at the glow of the stars.
"Andromeda is clear tonight," Daphne says.
Susan smiles. She's always loved the stars — an interest beyond just Astronomy. They're beautiful, and the constellations fascinate her. She likes to think of people, centuries ago, finding pictures in the sky and giving them names.
Daphne is right. The galaxy of Andromeda shines bright overhead.
"Can't sleep?" Susan asks. Maybe she shouldn't. Maybe it's too personal too fast. But the words are already out.
Daphne just shrugs.
"I can't," Susan admits. "It's… One of ours had detention tonight."
"I hate them," Daphne says suddenly. Susan turns to look at her.
"The Carrows?"
"All of them. The Carrows, Snape, every single fucking person who looked at a megalomaniac with big ideas and decided to give him power."
Susan sighs, looking back at the stars. "Yeah," she says after a moment. "So do I."
"I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to love everyone," Daphne says, and Susan knows her eyes flash at that.
"Hufflepuff House stands for justice," she hisses, turning back to Daphne. "For fairness. There is a difference between kindness and complacency. This is not justice. It is anything but, and I am furious. Never mistake our meekness for weakness."
A smile plays at Daphne's lips. Somehow, Susan doesn't feel like she's being laughed at.
"Good," Daphne says. "I'm fucking furious as well. I think it's the only thing that's going to turn this mess around."
Susan sighs. She's suddenly so very, very tired.
She wishes anger were enough. But it's not.
She stands up. She descends the stairs. She goes to bed.
She wakes up with a new quarter note and a set of eighth notes inscribed between the lines on her ribs.
…
Daphne joined the DA because she never wanted to be a part of anything the Carrows were doing.
It was Ginny who decided she would make the perfect spy.
Susan thinks she might be the only one who can see how it grates on Daphne.
Daphne's good at it, sure. She tells them things about the movements of the Carrows, about the Headmaster, and about the other Slytherin students. She helps them slip through the hallways unnoticed. She helps them minimize detentions. She's invaluable.
And that's why she does it, but Susan can tell she hates it.
There's something in her face, and Susan doesn't know why she's the only one who can see it.
…
Daphne, it turns out, climbs that particular tower a lot, to smoke and look up at the stars and get away from everything in her common room.
So Susan makes a habit of it, on the nights she can sleep.
They lean against the stone, slowly edging closer and closer, staring at the stars together. They talk about everything.
Susan talks about the aunt that she loved and lost, the uncle she never knew, everyone she's lost to this war — things she doesn't usually talk about to anyone.
Daphne talks about the expectations everyone seems to have for her. She talks about Astoria, the little sister that she loves more than anything but doesn't understand. Astoria is more like Susan — she loves dresses and makeup, which has never been who Daphne is. But Daphne loves her more than anything, and worries about her endlessly.
They also talk about things that don't matter at all. Their favorite colours — powder blue and red. Their favourite foods — shepherd's pie and sweet rolls. Daphne can't cook at all, and Susan vows to someday share her best lemon cake recipe.
They dream about all of this coming to an end.
Susan wonders if Daphne knows that they're soulmates. She never mentions it. But then, neither does Susan. She just watches a symphony grow on her ribs each time they talk. She has enough notes that it's reached a second set of staff lines now, hitting the right side of her ribcage and starting again on the left.
She wonders how big it's going to get.
Some nights, though, when the chill of the cool night air seems to seep into Susan's bones, Daphne curls a long arm around Susan's shoulders and holds her close. Susan sinks into the curve of her arm and lets the warmth wash over her.
…
And the year is hell on Earth and every single member of the DA faces detention with the Carrows, which is more like torture with the Carrows, but Susan has Daphne at her side and a symphony growing on her ribs and she thinks it could be worse.
And then everything explodes.
Everything comes to a head and suddenly their school, their home is full of Death Eaters and Susan is not a fighter but she will fight for this.
And Daphne fights by her side.
And Susan watches Daphne go down, silently. It feels like she should be screaming. It feels like Susan should be screaming, watching her fall.
Susan pushes through the people, winds up at her side on her knees and time is skipping, passing in fits and start and Susan cannot lose her because the symphony isn't over yet and she needs to know how it ends.
Daphne is still breathing, rough and jagged and wounded but there, and Susan is crying in relief and hauling her up with strength she didn't know she was capable of, pulling her out of the firefight and somewhere she can take the time to look at her wounds.
Her leg is covered in blood. Susan isn't a Healer; she doesn't know how to fix this.
But then Theo Nott is there and he's pushing Susan away and saying, "Trust me," and Susan looks at him in terror but Daphne is weakly muttering,
"It's fine, he's can heal."
And Susan lets go and trusts and Theo is swearing and then the fight is stopping and Voldemort is telling them to collect their dead and Susan won't let Daphne be one of them.
Theo sits back and his wand slips out of his bloody hands and he swears. Susan moves in close and spells the blood from his hands and their eyes meet and he must see her terror.
"I'm sorry," he says. "I've… I've stopped the bleeding but that's really all I'm capable of doing and she's got some nerve damage that I… I don't know how to fix."
Daphne is smiling at him fondly, though. "Thanks, Theo," she says and Susan notices only then that she's gripping Daphne's hand tightly. Theo glances at their hands and smiles.
"I've got to go see if there's anyone else I can help," he stays, reclaiming his wand and standing. "I think you've got this."
And he disappears into the Great Hall.
"Theo?" Susan can't help but asks. Daphne shrugs.
"He's a good kid. And he's had a falcon growing on his leg since the first time he talked to Blaise."
Susan smiles. Daphne is proof enough that not all Slytherins are Death Eaters, but she's always been hopeful that there were more who just weren't quite as bold.
And Daphne's alive and she's going to be okay and Susan can't help herself. She's leaning forward, pressing her lips carefully to Daphne's and Daphne is kissing her back and when she pulls away Daphne is smiling.
"You're beautiful," Daphne says.
"I'm covered in sweat," Susan says, because it's true.
Daphne laughs. "I know. You're still beautiful."
And Susan is sitting in the middle of the hall crying, because Daphne is okay and maybe they're going to make it through this.
"How's the leg?" she asks carefully.
"Can't feel a damn thing," Daphne says.
That's both good and bad.
"Want to try getting up?"
"Why not?"
Daphne can stand, balancing all her weight on the left leg, but the right can't bear weight. Susan conjures a crutch and she can hobble enough to move around.
Then Harry is dead then Harry's not dead then they're fighting and then it's over, really over, because Voldemort is dead.
He's dead.
…
Daphne's leg can't be healed completely. The nerve damage sat for too long. She has a little bit of feeling but not much, and most of the muscles are useless.
The Healers give her a crutch and some stretches but there isn't much else they can do.
Susan has a cascade of new notes across her ribs, and when Daphne is released from Saint Mungo's she is standing there, ready to catch her.
"I figured it was time we talked about this," Susan says as they make their way back to Daphne's home.
Daphne sighs. "Probably." She leads Susan up the stairs into her bedroom.
The walls are a dark red and the bedcovers are black and the room is tasteful, but also perfectly Daphne. She gestures for Susan to sit beside her on the bed.
Susan looks at her carefully, but it's quite clear Daphne doesn't want to start this conversation. So Susan does.
"I've had a symphony growing across my ribs since the day I met you," she says.
Daphne takes a breath, looks her in the eyes.
"There's a galaxy on my left shoulder," she says. "I didn't realize it was you until the first night on the tower. But I don't… I've never put much stock in soulmates. I don't want fate to tell me who to be with."
Susan feels her heart plummet.
"Oh," she says.
Daphne sighs. "But that means I don't want fate to tell me who not to be with, either. So I… I figured I'd see what happened. And you… you were everything I didn't know I wanted."
"Oh," Susan says again, lighter this time.
"You're so… unapologetic," Daphne says. "In the best way. You are who you are, and nobody else gets to tell you who to be. I lo– I like that about you."
Susan is beaming now.
"So," Daphne says. "My parents are going to hate this, but they've got Astoria to be their perfect daughter. They've always loved her better anyway. But… if you want to, I'd like to try this with you."
And Susan can't help but kiss her.
…
They grow up.
They do it together. Daphne watches the Death Eater trials like a hawk, and she winds up becoming a lawyer — more than half because she sees the ways the system needs to be fixed. Susan finds out she has a passion for fabrics and goes into robe-making.
They move in together. Susan's symphony grows.
Daphne plays it for her on the piano.
Susan traces the galaxy on Daphne's shoulder and names the stars.
It's not what Susan expected.
It's better.
Writing Month/Dragons: 2657
Auction: Pairing Type: Femslash
RA: Day 11
Prompt of the Day: Soulmate AU
Fortnightly: Women: AU: Lawyer
Debate: Trio, Wizarding War
Seasonal: Days of the Year: National Girlfriend's Day: Write about someone asking out a girl / Flowers: Black-Eyed Susan - (character) Susan Bones / Element: DaphneSusan / Shay's Musical Challenge: Movin' Out - write a cliche plot. alt, write about a war changing someone / Gryffindor Themed Prompts: Trait: fiesty
Book Club:Serena Joy: (scenario) independent woman in a patriarchal society, (dialogue) "Never mistake meekness for weakness.", (colour) powder blue / Count Your Buttons: C1: Susan / Lyric Alley: 17. I'm not scared to be seen / Ami's Audio Admirations: 14. On Air - Use the prompt set: (colour) red, (setting) at night, (word) glow / Sophie's Shelf: 13. DaphneSusan / Em's Emporium: 6. Lin (Marvelgeek42): (gender) non-binary. Alt — write a story set in Hogwarts. / Angel's Arcade: 11. Jax Briggs: (color) grey, (dialogue) "Trust me." (restriction) only one male character / Bex's Bazaar: D1: [Character] Dumbo - write about someone making the best of a bad situation.
Insane House: Shepherd's Pie