closed: susan at the leaky

[nnnoah]

While most Ministry workers had the benefit of working regular Monday through Friday, nine to five weeks, the Department of Magical Games and Sports had its own slightly varied schedule. Between evening and weekend Quidditch matches, press events, news roundups, and scattered meetings that overlapped with other departments and their respective

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[susanbones_x]

Susan always looked forward to her shifts behind the bar at the Leaky, happy to pass the time on her feet and making idle conversation with the customers, most of which were extremely pleasant, if not even a little bit flirty. It might have been a little bit sad but it wasn't as if she had anything else going on and usually ended up down here anyway, nursing a few drinks while she wanted for Hannah to be free enough to swap stories, eye up the cute guys, and gossip a little bit. It was better than wandering the streets by herself or getting lost in yet another mindless television show.

It was funny just how much she liked being around people, seeing that she didn't have very many in her life. She had gotten used to being shuffled around at a very young age and learned to take care of herself, taking up football games in the street with the neighborhood boys just feel like she was apart of a team or volunteering to do the grocery shopping for her aunt so that she could make idle conversation with the cashiers. She liked crowds, the bigger the better actually because it meant that everything was lighter, more casual than one on ones and she didn't actually have to get close to too many people. It was better not to get involved, not let too many people mean that much to her because it hurt that much more when they were gone.

The Leaky was perfect for just that, people just drunk enough to entertain her but never staying long enough to form any sort of relationship or expecting too much from her.

Though, there were a few people that were the exception to that rule and Noah was definitely one of them.

"Don't look so disappointed to see me," she teased, a wide smile pulling at her lips as she leaned against the countertop on the other side of the bar in front of him.

"You could probably head up to the greenhouse if you're looking for your cousin. She's probably up there since it's her night off-"

[nnnoah]

Hannah's polar opposite in so many ways, Noah had always quite liked Susan. From being one of the handful of kids that got shuffled through his aunt and uncle's in their pre-Hogwarts years to becoming a solid fixture in his cousin's life, the two still practically attached at the hip as they had been for years, she had always had a tough sort of nonchalance about her, a resilient, sensible optimism. Seeing her was hardly ever a disappointment.

"I'm technically looking for Bernardo, actually, but he can wait," Noah waved a hand, similarly leaning against the counter on his own side of the bar.

"It's been a minute, hasn't it? How've you been?" he asked, a genuine smile flashing across his face.

[susanbones_x]

It was possible that the best part of being at The Leaky and working behind the bar wasn't actually the flow of drunken strangers and their incredibly hilarious stories but rather the look on her friend's faces when they stepped through that door and saw her. There was something very special about that warm smile that Noah offered, something that had always tugged at her heartstrings.

"The same-" she told him, and tried not to make it sound quite as depressing as it actually was. Susan liked the slow steadiness of her life, not a lot of highs but that meant there weren't any lows either.

She leaned in a little further, balancing on the tips of her toes to press a kiss to his cheek, right there close to the corner of his mouth.

"Better now, though. How are you?"

[nnnoah]

Noah's grin widened that much more against the press of Susan's lips on his barely-just-cheek, eyes squinting down to mere slits, as they tended to when dealing with anything that went beyond a half-hearted crooked half-smile.

His cousin's friend she might be, and firmly ingrained standards and manners he might have, but only a blind or stupid man could have been unfazed by that woman and the way she so casually carried herself and interacted. He wouldn't exactly have gone as far as to call it an overgrown schoolboy crush, but, well- he was neither blind nor stupid.

"Glad I could at least serve a purpose beyond making a dog's day," he nudged an elbow at the bag of baked treats he had brought along, a laugh playing at the edges of his tone.

"Bit busier what with the quarter finals coming up, but more of the same," he shrugged.

"Anyway, I take it this place is still holding up, if the boss can still afford to take days off?" It was a joke more than anything else, the staying factor of the Leaky Cauldron having been established long before he or anyone from his generation had even been able to give it a thought. While Hannah had certainly done a hell of a job with the upkeep since somewhat unexpectedly being handed the keys to the place, keeping it afloat was hardly something anyone should have had to worry about.

[susanbones_x]

The Leaky Cauldron was definitely a staple in the Wizarding World, not just in London but probably all around the world, which was that much more apparent to Susan now that she got to see first hand just how many people came through here. It was actually very surreal at first when Hannah told her that she was taking over for her uncle (or great-uncle....great uncle twice removed? She had never been too sure what the relation was there).

It was a good thing that she was used to making herself comfortable in strange places because moving in here had definitely put that to the challenge.

Even now she didn't feel completely settled, even after six years, but that was more out of habit than how homey they had made the top floor flat.

"I think the only reason Hannah leaves me alone is because Wednesdays are the slowest day. She's too paranoid," she laughed, grabbing a pint from under the bar for him, pulling back to fill it from the tab.

"Try this- we just got this in-"

[nnnoah]

"What'd'you mean? Hannah Abbott? Paranoid? Noooo," Noah drawled, a playful roll of his eyes and a shake of laughter accompanying the quip.

As lightheartedly as he went about catching and building up on that tease at his cousin's expense, had it been anyone other than Susan, it likely would have been met with narrowed eyes and a clenched fist rather than laughter. But if anyone knew about and adored Hannah's disposition as much as he did, Susan was obviously it.

His laughter died down as he reached for the offered pint, briefly raising it up to gage the colour against the hanging lighting of the bar, then giving it a quick sniff (he balked at the term 'beer snob', but, well, it may not have been all that much of an exaggeration if the way he went about collecting rare-batch growlers and carefully picking through the microbrewery/local section of any liquor store he frequented had anything to do with it) before actually taking a sip.

"Huh. Not bad. New brewer?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, taking another careful sip for good measures.

[susanbones_x]

Susan watched Noah carefully as he took the pint, taking up her usual position leaning against the bar, fingers playing with the ends of her long blonde hair. While beer had never been her first choice of drink she could appreciate the finer brews and she knew that if there was anyone to pass final judgement on a selection it was going to be Noah.

"Yeah, Finnigan actually-" she told him, still a little bit in shock that Seamus of all people was now their supplier.

"Apparently he started brewing a few years ago? Just added it to his line of stock too-"

[nnnoah]

"Oh, no kidding?" Noah replied, eyebrows shooting up in pleasant surprise. While he'd hardly known Seamus Finnegan well enough to consider him anything more than a vague passing acquaintance, he'd certainly never had any issues with him (not that having issues with anyone was something Noah ever really had a problem with, short of the few snotty individuals who had ever tried to give any of his family a hard time). He had always seemed like a nice enough bloke, somewhat stereotypically Gryffindor attitude-wise, but as likable as they came.

"Good for him. Leave it to an Irishman to do it right, this is solid stuff," he nodded after another sip, every one somehow settling in even smoother and hoppier than the last. Though really, he could've knocked back sewer swill without complaint if it came from one of the Leaky's taps, shameless die-hard supporter of his cousin's enterprise as he was-

"Leaky aside-" He set his glass down, leaning forward with that usual casual smile on his face. "-how're you? Other than 'the same'? Really, nothing new to report?"

[susanbones_x]

Whenever somebody took any sort of interest in Susan's life she wasn't sure quite how to react to it. After all, it wasn't like she could dive into stories about family vacations or talk about how hard she'd been working for that next big promotion as a fail safe, there was only her and the pretty slow paced life she had fallen into.

Nobody ever actually wanted to hear about how lonely she often felt, eating almost every meal alone in the flat upstairs or laying awake at night, sometimes pulling out old pictures of her parents just to see if she had grown up to look more like her mum or her dad. When she had been younger her aunt had often said that she looked most like her father, but that was mostly in the eyes and the way that she smiled, and as the years went on her features favored her mother's, all soft and button nosed. Susan was never able to tell if her aunt actually enjoyed watching her grow up or not, remembering the intense heartbreak in the older woman's usually serious tone each time she brought up the past.

Even if they never spoke about any of it, Susan knew that Noah could sense that pain deep inside of her on some level at least and she appreciated the effort that he made with her. Still, that was hardly any reason to burden him with any of it.

"Some old Susan. I figure why change the house favorite?" she said instead, her fingers drumming against the curve of her cheek bones as she met his gaze.

"Unless of course you don't find me nearly as exciting anymore-"

[nnnoah]

As long as he had known her, Noah had never known Susan to be one to make any kind of deal out of her life, tragedy-filled as it had been. Any single facet of it would have been enough to break anyone down, to kill their spirit or turn them into a self-pitying headcase. But Susan had a resilience about her that went beyond admirable and bordered on awe-inspiring.

"Don't you worry," Noah grinned teasingly, sliding his leaning elbow forward on the counter to nudge against hers, "you might be getting boring in your old age, but you're definitely still the favorite."

And there was no denying that, after and considering everything that had plagued the early years of her life, Susan had more than earned the right to a little bit of boring.

[susanbones_x]

She wasn't going to deny that there were short stretches of her life over the years that were much more difficult than others, but that was mostly only around the cheerful holiday season and kept mostly to herself. There really was no reason to burden her friends when they were off celebrating, getting excited about seeing extended family and taking the time off of work to enjoy themselves.

Then again, whenever those feelings crept up inside of her she knew exactly where to go, escaping to visit the only person who still had his own memories about hers and just how brave they had been during The First War. Remus Lupin always seemed to have a new story to tell, making even the most mundane memories sound absolutely thrilling.

How could she ever feel sorry for herself when her parents died to ensure she had a better life?

"Well, that definitely doesn't mean I'd decline an invitation to a Quidditch match to spare you the loneliness of going alone-" she told him, edging her way out of a conversation that mostly just focused on her and how little she had going on in her life.

[nnnoah]

"Oh, I see how it is," Noah huffed, his attempt at a look of indignation not quite sticking long enough to give it any kind of real bite over the grin that still insistently tugged at his lips.

"Don't think I don't know that's why most of you people keep me around. Shameless bunch of moochers-" He shook his head before caving in to a laugh, spinning his glass between his hands.

"You know you only need to ask. Pick a game and it's done."

[susanbones_x]

"You can be so terribly dramatic when you want to," she sighed and clicked her tongue as she rolled her eyes, the gesture just as dramatic before the laughter bubbled up from inside of her.

Susan actually found Noah's job to be fascinating, a sports fan herself since she was very young. The game was a nice escape, something to look forward to when the days and weeks stretched out before her.

It was also nice to get lost in a crowd.

"You pick. I don't want to get in the way of official business-"

[nnnoah]

"Business, shmusiness," he said dismisively, a quick roll of his eyes and a wave of his hand adding to the point.

Truth was, there really was hardly any actual work to be done during the games themselves, the majority of his efforts spent on the preparations - checking in on the Portkey organization, making sure all the Muggle-warding was up according to specifications, supervising the officiating staff's arrival and the official equipment prep (after the Bludger-sabotage of '08, that whole bit had gotten that much more tedious).

For all intents and purposes, he would usually be free to leave once the whistle was blown and the whole thing fell into the hands of the players and referees. He just stayed for the sake of the game, like anyone else, always happy to drag someone along up to the Department-Only box just above the announcer and score keeper's spot. Or down to the teams' benches. Or to the locker rooms. That DoMGaS badge could work wonders around a stadium..

"Though, the Wimbourne Wasps are playing Pride of Portree next weekend. Should be a good one, they're both a shoe-in for the semis. You busy?"

[susanbones_x]

Over the years Susan had tagged along to a few matches with Noah, always happy steal his attention for an afternoon and never once disappointed by the thrill of his job. It was perfectly suited for him actually, his easy going nature allowing him to fall into pleasant conversation while still managing to get right back down to business. Then once the match wold start they'd share a few pints and let everything else fall away.

Actually, it sounded like the perfect distraction from what was currently clouding up her head.

"You know I love the Waps," she grinned, a wide smile pulling at her lips and she didn't even try to hide her excitement.

"I still have the jersey I picked up the last match we went to-"

[nnnoah]

"Hm, that was a Horton jersey, wasn't it?" Noah said thoughtfully, squinting slightly as he thought back to that last Wimbourne match he had taken her to.

"If you plan on wearing it you might want to get that altered, the die-hards are still pretty ticked he got traded to Falmouth mid-season. There was a bloke that chased down the commentator just last week and nearly knocked him out for letting the name slip," he shook his head, remembering the incident which had ended with a very drunk, belligerent fan being escorted out of the stadium and distraught, bloody-nosed commentator quitting on the spot.

In hindsight it was all rather hilarious, though at the time it had been a disaster to deal with. And he didn't fancy any kind of repeat incident that involved Susan being on the receiving end of misplaced overzealousness.