"I always knew it would be a bad idea!" Susan mimicked in a high pitched voice. Rolling her eyes, she straightened her shirt and ran a hand through her hair. "I'll show you a bad idea." She griped and shot a glare at the mirror.
"I haven't said a word, dearie," said the mirror in an offended sort of voice. Susan sighed. She wasn't truly in a bad mood. Just terribly annoyed at a certain blonde coworker. Sheila was much too cautious, then again, she'd been one of the girls to run and hide in the cellar during the war, wasn't she? When were they going to learn to live a little? Susan tossed her hair back while scooping up her wand from the hall table under the mirror and tucking it up her sleeve. She'd been in the war. She'd never been in the inner circle of planning, but she'd offered her skills and her life and she knew they were appreciated. She knew she could count Harry and his friends among her friends. Not close friends, but friends all the same. Which brought her back to her stupid coworker, Sheila. Sheila was always going on about how "Couldn't Susan facilitate a meeting with Harry Potter? Or even Neville Longbottom?" Susan snorted to herself. Sheila might think her "charms" could drag Neville or Harry away from Luna or Ginny but Susan knew better. She'd seen the closeness between the two pairs. Between Ron and Hermione too for that matter. There was no way any petty blonde airhead would ever turn their heads. Well, maybe Ron's, Susan grinned to herself. But only long enough for him to thickly realize that she would never be equal to Hermione and he'd quickly snap out of it. She shook her head with slight amusement at the thought as she exited her apartment.
Clattering down the stairs, as much because she loved annoying her neighbors as because she was late to meeting Brian. They could always put up silencing spells around their doors if it annoyed them too much, she always argued. Stepping out into the breezy May night, she turned right, along Nature Alley, off of Diagon Alley. In a shadow, she turned smartly on her stilettoed heel and disappeared with a soft crack-in the way everyone had worked to keep their crack as quiet as possible, aiming for silent if possible. Susan had never managed silent, but she was proud of the volume of her crack and attempted to keep it at such a quiet volume. She knew several of her classmates had let it go and returned to large, dramatic cracks.
Reappearing in a tiny, dark and damp alley near where she had left from, Susan shook out her clothes and stepped smartly out of the alley, avoiding the murky puddles of filth. Turning to the brightly lit, noisy pub next to her, she pushed open to the heavy door and head straight to the bar. "I'll have a gin and tonic please." She tapped the counter as she left, leaving a few pounds on the bar as payment. Swaying with the music, she made her way to Brian's table, drink in hand.
Seating herself on Brian's knee for the time, she grinned down at him. "Hey sexy" she purred.
"Hey yourself, gorgeous." Brian said, pecking her on the cheek. He moved farther in the booth so that she could sit on her own. "What's got you?" he asked.
"Nothing." Sighed Susan. "Nothing with the big fat name of Sheila."
"Aw, honey." Brian pouted for her. "You know you have to tell her bug off sometime."
"Yes, I know.." But Susan couldn't ever seem to find the energy to deal with such a trivial thing when she'd spent her late adolescence fighting the worst villain the world had ever witnessed. It just didn't seem important, but she couldn't explain that to Brian. He was a muggle after all, and she knew all about those laws, Statute of Secrecy and all.
"Hey," Brian leaned in, whispering in her ear. "Want to know who's here?" he asked, sounding like an excited little boy. Susan turned to him with a frown. For a moment she thought maybe someone from her world had appeared, but she dismissed that. This person was probably just some crush of Brian's.
"Sure." Susan smiled at Brian.
Brian leaned in again, mouth breating in her ear. "Jack Davis." He drew back, smiling almost triumphantly. Susan's heart gave an abrupt jump. The name sounded vaguely familiar, as if she'd heard it in passing or she'd been meant to know this person. Nonetheless, she had no idea who this person was. Her eyebrows knitted together, thinking furiously about muggle pop culture. "Who?" she finally asked, resigned to the fact that she didn't know.
"Jack Davis!" Brian almost squealed quietly. "You don't know who Jack Davis is?" Susan shook her head forlornly. "Honey, he's just the most fabulous rocker in the UK! He's gorgeous." Brian almost swooned.
"Oh." Susan said, not in the mood to be impressed with looks. However, there was a small furl of curiousity in her stomach, beating at its sides. She quickly stuffed it down and silenced it. The bartender appeared at their table with one of the fancier bottles of wine. "Compliments of the gentleman at the end of the bar." He bowed towards Susan, a small smile on his lips.
"Why thank you." Susan said, wrinkling her brow. No one had ever done that for her before. She snuck a glance at the end of the bar. A young man sat there, glancing at her surreptitiously. He was dressed nicely, clearly a businessman or lawyer or something. She smiled at him nicely while Brian nudged her, shaking with mirth. She turned to him and mouthed "shut it" He just shook his head and continued silently laughing. Susan's cheeks flamed and she stared down at the wine on ice and the empty glasses. "Well, no better time to drink it then present. Should we invite the man over? For a glass of it?" She turned to Brian.
"Whatever you want!" Brian managed to spit out, between convulsions of laughter.
"Oh calm yourself. You just wish it had happened to you." Susan poked him. Brian had the sense to look mildly insulted.
"From him honey?
Hardly." He sniffed. Susan just snorted as she stood. Walking over
to the bar, she sat herself next to the young man.
"Excuse me,
but I was just wondering-did you send us that bottle of wine?" She
asked. She glanced at him, giving him a once over, noting the fine
quality of his suit.
"But of course, I couldn't let a girl like you go without being accompanied by the finest wine a gent could buy!" He leered at her slightly. Inwardly, Susan shuddered. Why had she thought he'd be a nice man, she didn't know.
"I just wanted to say thanks. Brian and I appreciate it greatly." Susan said as politely as possible. She turned around and walked stiffly back to her and Brian's table, ignoring his comments shouted at her.
"Hard to thank?" Brian asked, still snorting slightly.
"You could say that." Susan said tightly. She glanced over Brian's shoulder, to the back corner, where the most shadowed booth was, near the lavatories. A dark, brooding man sat there, gripping his bottle of beer casually, staring off into space. His eyes too were dark and intense, Susan knew, somehow, that those eyes were, moreso than many others, the key into his soul. She didn't know how, but she knew this. As soon as his head jerked slightly and his eyes moved towards hers, she averted her gaze, meeting his for a fraction of a second. Energy bolted her to her seat, but she looked back at Brian, her cheeks turning slightly pink. She glanced at her watch-"sodding time" she muttered. Standing, she gathered her purse and tucked it under her arm. "I've gotta go, meeting early in the morning." She sighed and leaned in, kissing Brian on the cheek.
"Alright, till later, darling." He grinned at her, waggling his fingers. She giggled and smiled right back at him. Just as she turned towards the door, a young, blonde-Susan could tell it was fake, but who was she to judge?-stopped in the doorway, looking around and zeroing in on the back corner. She practically screeched Jack's name and hurried forward. Glancing backwards, the man called "Jack" that rock star person, he looked terrified. Snorting to herself, she stepped out the doorway, breathing deeply now that she was out of the stench of alcohol and cigarettes. Well, almost. It kind of wafted out of the doors after her and clung to her clothes. No matter. She'd soon be free of that, too. Wiping her hands on her jeans, she walked towards the alley just near the pub. Suddenly, with a crash of the doors, the pub opened, thrusting a shadowy, tall figure out of it. He stumbled, crashing towards her. She stepped quickly into the alley. Lucky for her, she thought sarcastically, he darted into the alley, almost running her over, but seeing her just in time. She had hoped he'd go on his way so she could go home in peace. Instead..he was hiding, no, cowering behind her, as if the blonde thing was the worst thing in the world. The blonde girl's voice could be heard now, calling "Jaaack! Where did you get hiding, diddle dums?" A slight-ahem- manly whimper could be heard from behind her somewhere. Susan rolled her eyes. Turning, she grabbed Jack's arm and tugged him farther into the darkness, where she held on to him, making it look as if they were a couple embracing.
A whispered "What in the bloody-" before Susan silenced him, a finger to his lips. "I'm helping you" She managed to whisper harshly. Thank god Blondie kept going. She pulled away from Jack and turned, deciding to walk a bit, before finding another safe place to apparate home.
"Hey-wait!" Jack followed her, catching up in about two seconds. "What'd you do that for?" He asked without preamble.
"Because you needed help." Susan said, calmly, never breaking a pace, though something in her heart tried to make her.
"I could have taken care of it." He muttered.
"Yes, well, I chose to help you, so get over it." Susan said crisply. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got places to go, thank you."
"What were you doing in the alley anyways?" He asked. Susan rolled her eyes. She couldn't tell him that and didn't he know that alleys were the last place to try and hide? It was better to hide with the crowd. Easier to blend in. Skulking in an alley was no way to hide. It was probably one of the most conspicuous ways to put yourself out there. Why did she know this?
She smiled wryly to herself. Two words, she told herself. Life. Experiences.