The Usual Disclaimer: None of this is mine. It never was mine, it never will be mine. It all belongs to JK Rowling. I'm not making any money from it.
A/N: J.K. Rowling said that Voldemort killed Susan Bones' grandparents (Barnes and Noble chat). Hagrid said in book 1 that the Bones were killed by Voldemort and that they were among the best witches and wizards of the age (SS, pg. 56, hardcover). We also know Susan was sorted into Hufflepuff and that she is a half blood. All other information about Susan and her family is from me. St. Mungo's Children's Home is taken with much appreciation from Arabella and Zsenya's After the End. Many thanks to Jade and Aristyar, for their insight and their help, and to Jessabelle, for Brit picking.
Chapter One: The Wand in the Window
Susie Bones awoke with a start. She had been dreaming of her beloved Granddad, who had died two short years ago. In her dream, he had been in his dusty wood shop, building a cradle for the doll she had just received for Christmas. She could still see him standing there, highlighted by the bright morning sun streaming in through the window, making the wood dust in the air sparkle.
Working in the woodshop with him was one of the things she missed most. His wrinkled hands were sure and steady as he sawed and planed and polished, creating masterpieces. The transformation of raw lumber into beautiful furniture had always fascinated her, and she remembered with pride the small table she had built nearly by herself. Her grandmother had set it in the kitchen, moving a baker's rack into the garage to make room for it.
With an aching pain in her heart, Susie pulled herself back to the present. She looked at the clock on the far wall of her dormitory-- 5:40 a.m. It wouldn't be long until the six o'clock wake-up call. Quietly she climbed out of the narrow white bed and pulled a small, battered wooden box out from underneath it. With her finger, she traced the floral design her Granddad had carved into the lid, and then rummaged through her outgrown childhood treasures until she found it. The small cloth doll she remembered from her dream. Her Grandmother had made it for her when she was just five. She studied the doll carefully. The yarn hair was nearly gone and the face had faded away to an empty circle. The once blue dress was stained and torn. How she loved the simple toy! She held the doll tightly to her as silent tears streamed down her face. It still smelled of her grandparents' house, and of another, happier life.
Susie started as an older girl a few beds down turned and gave a particularly loud snore. She glanced at the clock-- it was almost six. She shoved the doll into the box again and pushed it under the bed. They would tease her for sure if they saw she had been crying, and she couldn't afford to get into anymore trouble. She climbed back into bed and tried to wipe away any trace of her tears.
She lay in bed listening to the snores of the others and staring up at the ceiling. She hated the orphanage and everything in it, from the snoring girls who teased her to the cheap brown wallpaper.
All too soon the bell rang, breaking into her thoughts. Girls all around her began to stir, yawning and complaining. Another day at St. Mungo's Children's Home had begun.
~~*~*~*~~
Like nearly all the children at St. Mungo's Children's Home, Susie had been orphaned by Voldemort. He had slaughtered her parents and her father's parents with one foul spell. Only Harry Potter had been able to stop the terrible destruction, though he was just a baby. Susie knew Harry was her own age, and she wished more than anything it had been she who had defeated the Dark Lord, not Harry. She knew that if she had, she wouldn't be here, just one more unimportant orphan in the Home. She would be loved and respected. Everyone would cater to her. She would be rich. She could have everything she had ever wanted and it would all be new. She would have been able to save her family, but that was Harry Potter's life, not hers. It just wasn't fair!
Susie's family must have had time to hide her, maybe they had even known the attack was coming, for Susie had later been found in the back corner of a dark, dusty closet. She had been frightened and upset, but otherwise unscathed. At least her mother's parents had survived the War. Death had waited to steal them till she was nine, taking them both in a car accident. Two grave looking witches had come to tell her that Grandmother and Grandad wouldn't be coming home. Then they brought her here. She hated it. At home she had been special, her grandparents had always had time for her. Now she was just one more orphan to feed and clothe and educate at an overcrowded, understaffed orphanage. No one cared about her at all. She was all alone in the world and it scared her to think about it. She didn't even have any friends here. All the others had formed their own little groups, and no one wanted to include her, afraid she would get them into trouble, too.
She had run away three times already. She wasn't certain what she was looking for, or running to, but she was certain she'd know it if she found it. She had to keep looking until she did. After her third and most successful attempt (it had been two weeks until they found her) they had put a charm on her, which not only tracked her location, it set off an alarm when she tried to leave the grounds.
For awhile she had set off the alarm on purpose in the middle of the night and then run back to bed, just to annoy the matrons. After a few times, they had set her to scrubbing the mountains of dirty dishes produced by each meal, and she hadn't been inclined to try it again.
Surely Hogwarts would be better than this. It had to be. The older children all went to school there and it was all they talked about when they came back over the summer holidays. Letters from the school would be coming today to all the students. She couldn't wait to get hers.
Susie ran down to breakfast, knocking over some of the younger children in her hurry, and earning dirty looks. She plopped down in her seat near the matrons' table and held out her bowl to be served oatmeal, making a face at it as she received it. This was the fourth time they had had oatmeal this week! She stirred her it around and around, too excited to eat.
She peered anxiously at the window through which the Hogwarts post owls entered, willing them to hurry up and come. At last they flew into the hall in a great mass of hoots and feathers. Letters rained down on the students, who caught them eagerly and tore them open as the younger students looked on jealously. Where was hers? It had to be coming! It just had to!
After what seemed like an eternity, a big brown owl flew over and dropped a letter in her oatmeal. Hastily she wiped the sticky oatmeal off the envelope. Then, with trembling fingers, she tore open the envelope and slid the letter out. She had been accepted! There they were--the letter, the list and the ticket!
"I got in!" she squealed to a matron passing by.
The matron gave her a thin smile. "What a relief!"
Susie grimaced at her and began to eat her now cold oatmeal.
~~*~*~*~~
Susie stared back at her reflection with disappointment. Her new school robes were at least two sizes too big and badly worn, but were the smallest the Home had. She lifted the hem of her robes from where they brushed the floor to reveal the scuffed black shoes she had also been given. Bad as they were, at least they fitted.
She sighed. With these robes, she'd stand out like a sore thumb at Hogwarts. Everyone would know she was a charity student just by looking at her. It wasn't so bad here, where everyone had shabby robes and worn possessions, but everything all the other first years had would be new. She didn't want to ruin her chances of making friends at Hogwarts by sticking out. "Aren't there any newer ones?" she asked. "Carter McKinnon got new robes this year."
"Carter outgrew his and we didn't have any bigger ones. You know that. Step up and I'll alter yours. They'll look good as new," the sewing matron assured her. She obediently stepped up on the stool, not wanting to push her luck. She had gotten in a lot of trouble for knocking down the younger children the other day, and didn't want to get in any more. The annual trip to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies had been announced this morning, and she didn't want to miss it.
She continued to watch her reflection as the seamstress magically altered the robes. Straight sandy hair, light blue eyes too large for her small pointed face, and a smattering of freckles across her nose completed the picture. Even with the hem the right length, the robes still hung loosely on her slight frame. Susie wondered if she would ever begin to grow and fill out.
"All finished."
With that, Susie stepped down and pulled the robes over her head. After handing them back to the matron, she went down to the aptly named 'Hand-Me-Down Room'. Filled with outgrown school things and donations from charitable wizards and witches, it was where all the students got their school supplies. Susie looked around. Judging by the disorderly state of the room, she must have been one of the last to be given her school things. After several minutes of searching, Madam Dray, the tired looking matron in charge of the room, found a badly dented cauldron and a tarnished brass telescope with a cracked lens. After a few more minutes of rummaging, the matron came up with a potions set with half the contents missing.
"You can just fill those in using the supplies from the student store cupboard at Hogwarts," the tired matron said quickly when she saw Susie open her mouth to protest. Remembering the field trip, Susie promptly closed her mouth and watched the matron select some books from the piles stacked against one wall. She came over and dumped the books into Susie's cauldron. Susie bent over to stack them neatly. They looked as though they couldn't take much more abuse than what they had already received.
Straightening up, she saw Madam Dray unlock a cupboard on the wall and pull out a beaten up cardboard box with 'WANDS' written sloppily on one side. She peered into the box the matron had set before her. The selection was disappointing. There were a dozen or so wands, all of them chipped and scratched. A few were obviously unusable. Susie reached in and took one that appeared a bit less worn than the rest. She held it uncertainly, wondering what she was supposed to do with it, until--
"Go on then, give it a wave." Madam Dray said wearily. Susie waved it a bit. Nothing happened. "Try another," the matron suggested. Susie pulled a second wand from the box. Was something supposed to happen? She tried every wand without success.
The matron sighed. "That's strange. We'll have to see what else we can do. Maybe Ollivander's will have some cheap wands. All the other students have found wands without any problems."
~~*~*~*~~
Susie wished Madam Scatcherd would slow down. The matron was speeding through Diagon Alley as fast as she could go short of running and the handful of students accompanying her were doing their best to keep up. Madam Scatcherd had Susie's hand in a vice like grip, preventing her from lingering as the other children did. They reached Flourish and Blotts in record time, and as soon as they entered the dusty, book-filled shop, the matron began haggling with the store clerk for quills, ink, and parchment for the students.
"Erm…let me check with the owner," the intimidated teenaged clerk stammered and then fled.
The matron yanked Susie so that the little girl was facing her, then barked, "Go down to Ollivander's and find a wand. I'll come for you when I'm done here. And don't you dare try to run away!" Susie winced as the matron's nasal voice went through her head. Madam Scatcherd turned from Susie, straining her neck in the direction the clerk had gone. As soon as it was safe Susie stuck her tongue out at her. She tugged on her captive hand until the matron let go, then hurried from the shop. As if she would run away now, just before she was to go to Hogwarts.
Once out of sight, she slowed down and strolled the short distance to Ollivander's, drinking in the sights and sounds of the crowded street. She had only been to Diagon Alley once, on a field trip with the other orphans shortly after she had come to the Children's Home. They hadn't stayed nearly long enough for Susie, to whom the whole magical world was still new. She always tried to come back here when she ran away, but had never been able to find it.
Finally at Ollivander's, with no excuse to linger, she entered the shop. The air seemed to sparkle with something almost visible, and a heavy, dampening sort of silence filled the shop. Susie peered into the darkness, wondering if there was anyone else back there.
"Susan Bones." A soft, hissing voice echoed in the store. Susie spun around, startled. An old man with wild white hair and eyes as pale as the moon stood behind her, where she was certain no one had been before.
"I thought I'd be seeing you soon," he whispered as the perused the tall, box-filled shelves. "Those wands at the orphanage…they're not for someone…like you."
"Like me?" Susie asked eagerly. Was it true? Was there something special about her? Hope rose within her and she felt as if she'd die if she didn't find out.
"Yes," and the old man fixed Susie with a stare that made the words die on her lips. "Like you."
It was clear she'd find out no more from him. Doubt replaced hope. Maybe he hadn't meant anything by it after all. Maybe all he meant was that she wasn't as gifted as the others. She pushed the thought aside and tried to ignore the disappointment she felt and concentrate on her first impression, that she was too good for the orphanage wands.
"Try this one—willow and phoenix feather, 7 ½ inches, nice and flexible." Susie had barely grasped it, when Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand. "Here you go, rosewood and dragon heartstring, 9 inches, a bit stiff, good for transfiguration." Again, he took it from her almost immediately. "Ash and unicorn hair, 10 ¼ inches, inflexible." Mr. Ollivander had gone all the way to the top shelf for this one, but it was no better than the other two.
Susie tried wand after wand without success. Rejected wands overflowed the spindly chair and were stacked on the floor and counter. Susie looked at them uncertainly. Why was she having so much trouble finding a wand? It couldn't be because she was a squib? Could it? Cold fear filled her. No! She was special! She had to be! Granddad had always said she was! He ought to know! Mr. Ollivander just didn't have the right wand for her! That was all! Maybe he'd even have to make a new one just for her! She was too special to have just any old wand! Susie grinned at the thought, stuffing away her doubt.
Madam Scatchard walked in and gasped. She opened and shut her mouth soundlessly for a moment before stammering, "Are…are you doing inventory?"
"No." Mr. Ollivander didn't even look at her.
Madam Scatcherd looked a bit put out, but quickly regained her composure and her bad temper. "Just give her a wand! We haven't got all day! And make it a cheap one, she's an orphan, not an heiress!"
Mr. Ollivander froze in place, his hand stopped in midair as he reached for another box. Slowly, he lowered his hand and began to noiselessly descend the rickety ladder with deliberate care. He reached the dusty floor and paused again, the slowly turned to face the matron, who was starting to look nervous. Mr. Ollivander gave her a long, piercing stare with his large, pale eyes, like he could see right through her and didn't like what he saw. Susie was certain no one had ever given the matron a look like that before, and she felt the a bit smug at seeing her old enemy get her comeuppance.
Madam Scatchard closed her mouth and told Susie in a strained sort of voice, "I'll be in the Leaky Cauldron when you're done." She rushed out of the wand shop. Susie stared after her, amazed and elated. No one argued with Madam Scatchard and lived to tell about it. Susie wondered if she'd have to pay for the matron's humiliation later, or if the she would ignore the incident entirely.
She didn't have time for contemplation, though, for Mr. Ollivander had handed her another wand. Automatically, she took it, and, as she had come to expect, Mr. Ollivander took it away. Susie looked around the once tidy shop at the piles and piles of wands lying everywhere and grew a bit discouraged. What if he couldn't find her a wand? Could she go to Hogwarts without one? There were now more wands stacked on the counter and against the walls than there were on the shelves. Mr. Ollivander, however, didn't seem at all upset. Indeed, he seemed almost…pleased. He handed her another wand. And took it away. He continued to hand her wands, but it was clear to Susie his mind was elsewhere. Every so often he would glance over Susie's shoulder, to something she couldn't see. She turned around to look, but saw only the bustling street. Maybe he was watching for other customers?
"I wonder…" Susie heard him mumble. And he looked behind her again. Susie watched him slowly descend the rickety ladder he'd been using to reach the top shelves. Without looking at her, he walked past her. Susie turned slowly to watch him. He approached the window. What on earth could be out there? But he wasn't looking out the window. Rather, he bent down and lifted something off a faded purple cushion in the window display Susie hadn't noticed before. A wand. Carefully, almost reverently, he offered the wand to Susie. She took it from his hand and as she lifted it, the wand grew warm in her hand.
Suddenly she was in dark, closet-like room with a young woman she didn't know. The woman was surrounded by ancient books and papers. As Susie watched, the woman lifted the wand, her wand, in triumph. Suddenly, the woman spun around, startled by a noise Susie couldn't hear. The look of joy on her face changed instantly to one of terror, and Susie could see her mouthing the word no! Susie quickly spun around to see what had frightened her, but only saw Diagon Alley, looking anything but dark and mysterious. Susie looked around wildly for the woman and the tiny room, but they was gone, as suddenly and unexpectedly as she had appeared. The vision was gone, but it left Susie feeling cold and frightened, and for some strange reason-- sad, as if she had lost a dear friend.
She stared down at the wand, not sure she wanted it, but half hoping to see the woman again.
"You've got it then…," he murmured.
Susie listened anxiously, waiting to learn more, but Mr. Ollivander's voice faded away. After a few silent moments, Susie knew she'd hear no more, and rummaged through her pockets for the coins Madam Scatcherd had thrust at her as the matron fled the shop. She was full of questions, but was certain he'd give her no answers.
"Take it, take it!" Mr. Ollivander cried softly. "It's yours by right!" Susie slowly put the money back into her pocket.
"Go on now," he said gently. "The matron will be waiting for you." Susie turned to leave the shop, giving the shop and the strange little man one last look. "Good luck, Susan Bones," she heard him whisper as she left the store.
Susie wandered down Diagon Alley a trance, her mind full of all the strange things Mr. Ollivander had said and the young woman she had seen. Who was she? What had frightened her so? Susie shivered in spite of the August heat.
She was surprised when she reached the brick wall dividing the pub and the Alley, she hadn't noticed anything during the short walk there. She pulled the wand out of her pocket for one last look before she reached Madam Scatcherd. It was made of some dark wood that Susie had never seen before. Maybe it was a reflection, but it seemed to have a faint golden glow about it, and it felt the tiniest bit warmer than it should have been. Clearly it was old, very old, but not battered like the second hand wands at the Home. It was obviously well cared for. The design was simple, not much more than a plain polished shaft with no real handle, but it had a sort of dignity even the most fashionable new wands couldn't match. Mr. Ollivander had told her the length and qualities of every wand she had tried. Every wand except this one-- the wand in the window.