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Susan Bones is a warrior.
It's in the way she walks, boots stomping, jacket buffeting. Its in the way her eyes track every little detail they can ferret out. Its in the way nobody has ever seen her with a hairstyle that impedes her range of vision since 6th year. Its in the way she duels, or rather, how she does not.
Susan Bones does not duel, she kills.
Susan spins, pivoting on one foot as she flings her body in a twirl, wand arching high over her head. Her body flows effortlessly from dodge to attack, the wand swiping down and an arc of translucent green rips from the end. It bisects the training dummy from shoulder to hip, the pieces flying to opposite sides of the arena. Susan pants, feeling the sweat bead on her brow but she pushes herself onward. Diving into a roll, a Jelly-Legs Jinx whizzing by over her head, her mind barely processes the visual data in front of her before the shield springs to life; a Stunner shatters across its broadside.
"Good, now faster!"
With a grunt, the Witch tanks three more spells with her shield. When the last dummy still standing rotates once more, another Jelly-Legs Jinx flying from the tip of its faux-wand, her shield flickers and dies. The spell whips through the space she once occupied, only Susan's not there anymore. Wand flickering, several cobble bricks wrench themselves from the floor and dive for the construct. Its primitive functions and parameters falter, not reacting fast enough to the sudden change in pace and its flimsy wooden body is pulverized with a shuddering 'Thwack!'
"Excellent use of your environment Susan! Again! "
There is a bout of applause from behind her.
With a heaving breath, sucking desperate and slightly painful gasps into her lungs, Susan turns and tilts her head backwards.
"That was excellent Sue!" Hannah Abbott is bouncing in her seat amongst the empty bleachers, a cheerful grin plastering her face.
Susan huffs, flicking her wand and sighing as the Cooling Charm takes effect. "It was alright," she agrees tentatively.
Hannah snorts, rolling her eyes in long suffering exasperation. "You're too hard on yourself Susan! You just demolished seven of the best Training Dummies on the market on your lonesome! Have some pride!"
"They were slow," she counters, staggering towards the stairway that leads out of the Dueling Pit.
"You were fast!"
"Not fast enough."
Susan shoves her wand back into its holster, her fingers tracing the outline of the soft slip. It was her Auntie's last gift to her.
By the time she emerges from the stairwell, Hannah is there with a water bottle and a towel. Susan gratefully accepts both, taking a long drink before simply dumping the rest of the cool liquid over her head. Hannah giggles besides her and Susan smirks in return, only to then shake the droplets off like a dog.
"Oi! Watch it!" Hannah shrieks, backpedaling, arms raised. "I have a date you know!"
Susan chuckles, loosely brushing the towel over her hair. "You've got it bad for Longbottom huh? Three dates this week alone; he must be good good."
Hannah blushes at the question before shrugging. "Can you blame me? That speech of his was hot."
Susan snorts, the memory flashing through her head. "Can't argue with that logic, Han."
"Of course not," Hannah agrees, "that's 'cause I'm right."
"I suppose miracles do happen on occasion,"
Hannah looked torn between hitting her or preserving her carefully styled hair, eventually settling on simply sticking her tongue out at Susan. "Shush, you."
"Gotta keep you humble somehow, Hannah,"
Hannah pouted at her. "Don't see why. I'm doing the self-esteeming for both of us at the moment."
Susan supposed that was true. "I'm a realist."
"You have unrealistic standards for yourself, you mean?"
"Shush, you."
"I'm serious, Sue," Hannah said, stepping closer, "lighten up on yourself. You're marvelous, a fantastic duelist and there isn't anyone I'd trust more in a fight than you! You're doing great! But if you keep this up, you'll run yourself into the ground!"
"You're doing great Susan! Just a little faster! Focus!"
Susan turns away, shielding herself from Hannah's concerned gaze with the excuse of draping the towel over the back of a chair.
"I know, Han, I know," She muttered, "but-"
"But you aren't satisfied," Hannah interrupted, a hand coming to rest on Susan's shoulder. A wan smile tugged at Susan's lips.
"You're far too perceptive sometimes, you know?"
Hannah shrugged. "I'm your best friend. It's my job."
"And its my job to protect you, Susan."
"I'll see you back in the Common Room tonight, Hannah," Hannah stares at her for a few more seconds before, much to Susan's relief, rolling with the abrupt shutdown.
"You better," she warns, wagging her finger. "I will be most disappointed if I come back only to find you passed out from exhaustion on the couch because you ran yourself into the ground!"
Susan chuckles, the smile morphing into a far more amused one. "Don't get so caught up in snogging Longbottom then and make it back on time!"
Hannah blushes again and flees from the scene with an embarrassed huff.
Susan watches her go, the smile drooping as her best friend slips from the Hogwarts Dueling Room. Only after she was sure Hannah was truly on her way to meet Neville, did Susan collapse into a chair. Her back slumped, head lulled as she let the full weight of her exhaustion affect her body.
"But you aren't satisfied," the words rung in her head. No. No she was not. She was terrified, frankly. Scared shitless that she wasn't enough, that no matter how hard she trained she would still be that helpless girl, crying into Professor Sprouts arms. The last of the Bones', completely unable to do anything as the people she loved were ripped from her grasp with impunity.
It wasn't just that she wasn't satisfied; It was that she wasn't good enough. She hadn't been good enough when Voldermort killed her Aunt, she hadn't been good enough when the Carrow's had terrorized Hogwarts and she hadn't been anywhere near good enough during the final battle.
She'd watched Colin Creevy die. He had looked to her to lead him, tens of students had in the absence of anyone else, and Susan had watched over a dozen of them die.
No, she wasn't satisfied. Far from it.
"C'mon Sue, up you get. Another round and then we're done okay?"
"Okay Auntie," Susan whispered to herself, standing on shaking legs, "okay."
Susan was barely awake by the time Hannah returned to the Common Room, a scuff mark from where she'd taken a spell across her cheek beginning to bruise.
It was with drowsy protest that her best friend put her to bed, but not before Susan remarked upon the suspicious marks along Hannah's neck.