A Day with Susan

Amelia Bones paused in the doorway of her living room. Her niece, Susan, was on the floor. Her back was propped against the bottom of the sofa and her stocking-covered feet were sprawled out in front of her. She looked like such a normal girl, gnawing on her thumbnail as she studied the pages of one of the French fashion magazines she so adored. It was a pity, Amelia felt, that her brother, Jerald, wouldn't allow them in his home. He insisted they made girls vapid and vain creatures and with the heroic Bones name to uphold, neither trait could be allowed to take hold in Susan. She was both their legacies and with the start of this new war, they had to make sure she'd survive it – even if it meant Susan would be the last Bones in all of Britain by its end.

As much as they needed Susan to become a woman of steel who would not break, Amelia couldn't help but indulge her niece's softer interests now and again. It was not because she disagreed with Jerald (Amelia herself had always disdained the girls and women who thought of little more than what color lipstick would best suit their new blouse), but because she feared if Susans's heart grew too hard, her eyes too icy, she would not survive after the war. Amelia worried her niece would feel purposeless in the wake of a peaceful world more in need of compassionate witches and wizards who could work interdependently with others to rebuild what was broken in the war instead of merciless soldiers who could draw their wands quicker in a duel and win.

Truly, a fashion magazine was a small thing, but when paired together with the rest of the ritual she and Amelia shared, it became something far greater. Once Susan was finished absorbing the new trends in hats and robes, she and Amelia would give each other manicures. As tradition dictated, Amelia would first do Susan's nails, and as they waited for them to dry the Muggle way, they would talk about how life was treating Susan. About the antics she and her friends got up to at Hogwarts, perhaps a little about the younger students she tutored in Transfiguration, then, if she was having any, they would discuss the problems her niece was having. Academic or otherwise. Finally, once Susan's nails were dried, Amelia would have hers painted by the girl and she would tell her niece a little about work and relay a story or two from her youth (which almost always included Edgar or her parents) and finish by saying how much Susan reminded Amelia of her father or Edgar and how her helpful nature would suit her well should she become an Auror like them.

Amelia wouldn't know for some time to come, but she held a great deal of hope these intimate moments with her niece would help her in the future. That she could look back on the lessons she learned from Amelia and use them when needed in a post-war world.

Smiling at her niece when the teenager finally noticed her, Amelia moved forward, careful to keep her hands steady so none of the bottles of nail varnish tipped on her way to the sofa. Taking a seat on the blue-grey cushion, she set the tray down beside her and looked meaningfully to the empty spot on the other side of the tray. "Learn anything interesting?" she asked.

Putting the fashion magazine in the rack kept by the sofa's clawed foot, Susan said, "Light purple and pale green are popular colors in the summer lines."

Amelia hummed, glad she had looked through the magazine before her niece came. She'd noticed that too, when perusing the pages, and had picked today's nail varnish hues with it in mind. "Aren't we lucky I picked up a bottle of 'He Lilac's you' and 'Seafoam is So You'?"

Susan crinkled her nose, but her eyes glittered with mirth. "Oh, those are awful names."

She shrugged as she uncapped the bottle of purple nail varnish. "Maybe so, but you can't deny these are fashionable colors."

Amelia's niece leaned in. "I do like it…" She nibbled once more at her thumb. "Though, I haven't see the green yet."

"Quite right," she replied, setting the purple aside and opening the green. Susan's eyes darted between the colors. Amelia held herself back from chiding the teenager about her indecisiveness. This was nail varnish, not a life or death situation. Just because she couldn't decide between two colors didn't mean she'd fail to make the right call in battle.

Finally, her niece turned her attention to her fingers. Giving them a considerate wiggle, she asked, "Do you think they'd look good paired together? I was thinking, painting half of my fingers purple and half green could be fun."

Amelia smiled. "Most definitely."

Susan grinned back and for the next ten minutes, she sat patiently as Amelia carefully covered each nail with purple or green. When finished, she stared at them for a moment before nodding her head in satisfaction. Then, as per tradition, she rested them on her knees and asked, "What color do you want?"

"Green," Amelia replied. "So, Susan, how do think you did on your OWLs?"

The girl looked away. "Fine. Transfiguration was quite easy. Potions, though…"

Amelia sighed. "Please tell me you think you at least got an Acceptable?"

"Would it really be that bad if I didn't? What good is potions for a career as an Auror, anyway?"

Her heart fluttered briefly, then fell into her stomach like a bird shot from the sky by a hunter. "Oh, so you've decided then?" Amelia inquired, not sure why she suddenly felt so ill. Amelia and Jerald had always wanted for Susan to become an Auror like her – like Edgar. The thought of another one of their level-headed bunch in the department to keep the brasher Aurors in line after she retired from her post as Head had been a pleasant imagining. Until today, anyway.

Nodding resolutely, the girl said, "Yes. I know, I'll probably have to hit the ground running, especially if things continue as they are now and that I might have a target on my back, because of what happened to Uncle Edgar, Aunt Darlene, the cousins, and Grandma and Gramps, but that's all the more reason to, as well, you know? If I don't become one, some Death Eater sympathizer will and you know they won't go out of their way to help anyone but the purest of wizards and witches."

"That's right," Amelia whispered. "They'll only help those who least deserve it."

Susan beamed. "It'll be kind of neat, getting to work for you also."

Amelia began to grind her teeth. Recently, rumors had started to go around the Ministry, her office, about what was coming to those who'd defied Voldemort in the first war. It had kicked Amelia into high alert and she'd begun to covertly look for a new flat while helping Jerald ward his and Susan's home against a potential attack. Neither had wanted to worry Susan just yet, as talk was just talk. Or it was until something happened. And even if something did happen, it would be her who was targeted first.

She was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and during the first war, worked alongside the Order of the Pheonix to defeat Voldemort (unlike Jerald, who'd been far too busy trying to figure out how to be a single parent). She even narrowly missed being slaughtered like the rest of her family. On the night of her parents', her brother's, and his family's murders, she'd been planning to spend the evening with them. But at the last minute, Amelia had to cancel because she had to cover for a fellow Auror who'd had to leave suddenly after finding out his sister's niece had been killed.

"I'd love to work with you too, Susan. But, just in case things don't go accordingly, have you given any thoughts to other career options?"

The teenager's brow wrinkled. "Do you not think I'll get in? Have you heard something at the Ministry? Are they planning to change the requirements to apply?"

Amelia sighed. "No, nothing has changed." Bringing out her wand, she waved it over her niece's nails, speeding up the drying process with a spell. If this conversation went on much longer, she'd have to reveal more about the going ons of the Ministry than she was comfortable with at this time. Just because she felt a bit hunted there didn't mean she needed to make her niece fret. Besides, even if something did become of that feeling, Amelia would likely be fine (as long as the Dark Lord himself did not come for her), she was more capable of defending herself than most. When done, she tucked her wand back in her robe and said with false cheer, "It's as they say, a backup plan is always a good idea – even if you don't need one."

"Ah," Susan murmured, sounding for all the world as if she understood. But her eyes told Amelia all she needed to know.

Her niece did not believe a word she had just said.

Thoughts? How did you like this first story? Was it interesting? Did you like that it was about some minor characters like Amelia and Susan?

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it :)