Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.
Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please utilize understanding of personal sensitivities before and while reading.
Author's Note (Generic Note for the Houses Competition): All my works should be considered to be Not Epilogue Compliant and I treat everything that is not the HP books and the Hogwarts Library Collection as apocrypha (supplementary to canon but still outside of it) and treat it as such (including ignoring it unless it suits me). I also make a policy of not ignoring abusive and distasteful actions/decisions of characters and not handwaving the effects of trauma experienced by characters. If you feel that a character isn't acting like their "canon self" chances are good that it's because of one of these two things and they are merely displaying a more realistic response than they did in canon.
Author's Note: If you have never listened to Tim Minchin's "9 Life Lessons" speech, I highly recommend it. It's life-changing. It's also very influential on the tone of this piece, especially his directive to "Run, my intellectuals, run."
Challenge/Competition Block:
Stacked with: Houses Competition (Term 03); MC4A (LL; NC; SI(N); StL; ToS; BAON; FPC)
Category: Standard (750-1500 words)
Theme: Must feature a character from one's House (Hufflepuff)
Prompt: Jogging (action)
Representations: Hogwarts; Alice Diore; Jogging in Circles; Pre-Lesbian Ship (Hannah/Susan); Aurors/Teachers; Boneses; Susan Bones
Bonus Challenges: Mermaid; Second Verse (Not a Lamp); Second Verse (Ladylike); Second Verse (Clio's Conclusion); Second Verse (Non-Traditional); Second Verse (Mouth of Babes); Second Verse (Middle Name); Second Verse (Nightingale); Second Verse (Some Beach)
Word Count: 1144
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Meaningless Existence
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Susan allowed herself to sink into the steady rhythm of her daily run. It wasn't the same as it was when she was back home. Her aunt always jogged with her when they were both home, even though Susan was sure that when she was younger she had been more of a distraction than a companion. Normally, Hannah would have come with her, but the other girl had been up late the night before studying for the end of term exam for Defense and Susan hadn't wanted to wake her earlier than necessary.
She worked her way around the edge of the Black Lake, careful to stay on the crushed gravel path above the more jagged rocks that made up of the beach of the loch. Hannah's mother may have made sure that both girls knew the simple spell for treating sprains, but Susan knew from experience that the spell still left her tender for a few hours. She didn't want to risk it when she had heard the rumor that Professor Lupin had set up an obstacle course for his exams.
It sounded almost as fun as running the assault course for the first-year recruits for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which Susan knew for a fact had been redesigned in the late seventies by their current Defense professor. The way the story went was that Sirius Black had complained about the course being boring, despite the fact it had been meant for the standard fare officers, not the Auror Corps which had higher standards for recruits. On a whim, Remus Lupin had created the designs, mixing Muggle and magical obstacles, and then Black had sweet-talked the department head at the time, Bartemius Crouch, into letting them implement it. It made so many of the soft-bellied purebloods who had joined the department thinking it would be a cushy do-nothing job wash out of training that Crouch had almost had it dismantled.
It had been saved by Alice Diore, Hufflepuff and first-year Auror trainee, who had strode into the course (and past the bickering men) before proceeding to not only beat the course but set a record for the quickest time which still hadn't been beaten over a decade and a half later. The woman's soon-to-be husband, Frank Longbottom, had cheered her the loudest of all the spectators and apparently hadn't let any of the jeering about being shown up bother him a single whit. Susan's aunt had loved that part best of all. Frank Longbottom had simply been proud of her achievements without boasting about his own. The pair had been assigned to work together in the field, too, which was normally not done due to both the lack of female Aurors and how romantically involved pairs tended to lose focus if the other is in danger.
Aunty held them up as a shining example of how to be a good partner, both romantic and otherwise. Most of magical Britain held the Potters up as their romantic ideal, but Susan had never met an Auror, active or retired, who didn't hold the Longbottoms up instead. The Potters were a powerhouse couple to be sure, but they weren't the unit that the Longbottoms were. Maybe it was just that the Potters weren't trained like the Longbottoms had been, since despite the frequency the couple had ended up on the same battlefield, the Potters weren't Aurors. Maybe it was what Aunty had claimed and just better compatibility of their magical cores. Whatever it was, every Auror who had seen the Longbottoms in action agreed that they moved as if they were one being, completely trusting the other to have their back in every way without minimal discussion of tactics.
Susan left the graveled path along the lake behind as she jogged along the compacted dirt trail that weaved through the corpse of trees on the opposite side of the castle from the Forbidden Forest. At the halfway point in this particular leg, there was a path that led to the spot Hannah favored when she was wanting to hide from the bullies and could disappear for a few hours. Like all of their secrets, Hannah hadn't kept it to herself. Even without detouring to visit, Susan smiled as she continued past the almost hidden trace that led to Hannah's clearing. Maybe they should try for a little celebratory picnic before the term ended, just to say goodbye to the spot before the summer break.
With the way that Hannah's anxiety had been acting up the last few weeks, the blonde could probably use the chance to relax a bit before being trapped on the train for nearly an entire day.
Susan picked up the pace of her jogging as she left the woods behind for the paved path that curved around the back of the farthest greenhouses. The runes pressed into the edges of the Roman concrete ensured the path was always clear of snow and ice. It was also never covered in mud, despite being at the bottom of a hill. As it often did, it crossed Susan's mind that it would have been useful to have the path connecting more areas of the grounds, especially since the type of concrete used for this back path was nearly indestructible and now the recipe was lost forever. Hannah thought that Salazar Slytherin might have been the one to do it specifically for Helga Hufflepuff, since the founder of their House had been the herbologist of the four and it was a well-established piece of House lore that Slytherin loved Hufflepuff and had for years before Hogwarts' founding.
Susan could see the logic in that. Aunty always said that love was demonstrated through serving others, through protecting them in little ways. A path that was always safe, even in the depths of a Scottish winter, would have been a very touching gesture that demonstrated just how powerful and knowledgeable Slytherin was. Susan still thought Hannah's wistful sigh at the story was a bit much.
Deciding that she needed the extra challenge, Susan took the fork of the path that went up the hill to the door at the base of the clock tower rather than following the one that curved around Hagrid's hut. The bluestone monoliths hummed as their internal magic matched the slow ascent of the sun. Susan breathed in the excess as she panted with the effort it took to keep the same steady jog up the hill as she had on the rest of the run.
Exercise done, Susan slipped inside the castle just as the sun finished rising. Before returning to the dorms, she went to the kitchens for a thermos of breakfast tea. After staying up so late the night before, Hannah could probably use the help getting out of bed.
Susan was more than willing to be of service.
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An Ending
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