The New Normal

Susan sprang awake at the sound of a loud knock on Remus' bedroom door.

Remembering she was completely bare, she clenched her arms to her chest and nudged Remus to wake him.

"Uhhh, hmm?" He barely muttered between deep breaths.

"Remus. Remus, someone is knocking on your door," Susan whispered, as she frantically stood in search of her pajamas.

The knock sounded again, this time accompanied by a voice.

"Remus, mate, come on! Harry is here, wake up!"

Susan sighed. Knowing that Sirius Black was standing on the other side of the door while she was standing naked in Remus' room, which was not a position she was comfortable being in.

"Remus please!" Susan urgently whispered, as she kicked around at the darkness, hoping to at least find her top.

"Yeah, yeah okay," Remus mustered, and rolled out of bed. He was still weak from his transformation, not to mention exhausted from earlier activities.

"Um, one moment, Sirius," Remus called, while he pulled on a pair of bottoms that he kept on top of his dresser.

"Susan," Remus whispered, "just lay back down in bed, love. I'll handle this."

Even though it was dark and Remus could not see her face, Susan glared, unhappy with his cool demeanor. Typically he was more concerned that others would find out about their relationship. However, Susan complied, crawled back in bed and gripped Remus' thin sheets to her bare body.

There was a click and Remus cracked open the door.

"Yes, mate?" Remus answered, blinded by the sliver of golden light that flooded his room.

Sirius raised a brow and stated, "Remus, Harry is here."

Remus nodded, "Right, I understand."

Sirius stared at Remus for a moment.

"Remus, do you know what time it is?"

Remus shrugged, his eyes still squinting in the light.

"I don't know, 1am?"

Sirius barked, "Oh boy, no! It's nearly 9am. You better get downstairs before people start questioning you, mate."

Remus glanced at Susan, who was holding her head in her hands.

Sirius lowered his voice, "make sure Susan goes down first, you can use your recovery as an excuse."

Remus nodded and shut the door.

"It's okay, Susan. No one will know, just make sure you change into new clothes," Remus said with a laugh, as he rejoined Susan in bed.

Susan pushed away his advances, feigning embarrassment, but quickly resigned to his touch. He slowly traced the curves of her body with the palm of his hand, leaving a trail of goose bumps on her soft skin.

"If it were anyone else but Harry, I'd say 'bugger off' and stay in bed as long as we pleased," Susan muttered into the crook of Remus' neck.

Remus smiled, "I know, love. But fortunately it is Harry and he is finally safe because he has our protection."

Susan nodded.

"You're right," she said and pulled herself up, "but just one more kiss."

"Of course," Remus said, kissing Susan lightly on the lips.

Susan sighed, wanting more, but knowing she had to go downstairs and join the others.

"Alight," she said reluctantly getting out of the bed.

"I will see you downstairs."

"Well if it isn't Harry Potter," Susan exclaimed as she walked into the dining room, but her joyous demeanor quickly changed.

There was an unusual silence in the room as she slowly approached the long dining room table. Everyone turned to look at her, their faces somber, then turned their attention back to the food they were eating. Harry sat next to Sirius Black, his face disgruntled in a look of confusion and anger.

"Susan," he half shouted as he stood from the table.

"How are? How was your trip? Glad to have something to be happy about," he said giving her a half-hearted hug.

A little taken aback by his behavior and unsure of what to do, Susan awkwardly patted Harry on the back, "good to see you too…"

Harry flashed a hasty smile and turned to head toward the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were cleaning up after breakfast and having a seemingly hushed conversation.

Susan paused and looked at the others at the table, unsure if she had missed something. Tonks twirled a piece of her violently purple hair while she flipped through the latest edition of the Daily Prophet, as Ginny and the Weasley twins slowly picked at their food, and Hermione and Ron intently eyed Harry with a look of sadness and worry.

Sirius looked up at Susan and then hung his head with a sigh.

Susan stepped toward him and sat down at the table.

"Did I miss something," Susan whispered to Sirius, though she knew he was not in the mood for conversation.

He shook his head and stared at the bowl of porridge in front of him, "nothing I should not have expected, dear."

Susan opened her mouth to say something, but immediately shut it, knowing now was not the time.

"Right," she said with a nod and grabbed a piece of toast off the tray in front of her.

In the midst of spreading butter on her bread Remus walked through the door. Their eyes met for a brief moment, then Susan immediately directed her attention back to her toast. A warm blush spread across her cheeks and she silently cursed herself for being "such a girl."

"Where's Harry," Remus asked Ron, who was sitting closest to the door.

"He kind of stormed off that way in a manic sort of fashion," Ron pointed to the kitchen with a shrug, unsure of where Harry went.

Remus pursed his lips and nodded, and warmly greeted the quiet group, "good morning, everyone."

Everyone looked up and smiled.

"Morning, Remus," Tonks said in a singsong tone.

She was still fiddling with her hair, while she scanned the last couple pages of the prophet for any juicy gossip.

"Morning, Tonk."

Tonks patted to the seat next to her at the table, "you can sit here if you'd like, Ginny and the twins just left the table."

Remus politely smiled and sat down beside Tonks and across from Sirius.

Sirius looked up from his porridge to glance at Susan, who stared intently at her toast, as she fumed inside. He then turned his attention to Remus, whose posture was ridged, but he was too polite to say no to Tonks, who sat happily next to him and leaned her body closer to his direction. A smirk spread across Sirius's face and he let out a bark-like laugh.

Susan eyed Remus and then turned to look at Sirius, "is something funny?"

Tonks nodded in agreement, "yeah what's gotten in to you?"

Sirius took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No, nothing. Sorry," he said shaking off his random bout of laughter, "But, eh! What a morning," Sirius said pensively.

Remus raised his brow, "why is that?"

Sirius threw his head back and relaxed in his chair, as if he was to recap the events of an eventful evening.

"Well, Harry and I had a bit of a heated conversation this morning."

Susan shifted in her seat, keen to her more.

"About?" Remus inquired.

"The Order and what is going on with you know, everything. He wants to help and I was not the person to give him permission, however, I sort of said no," Sirius explained.

Susan nodded to herself as she took a bite of her toast. Not it made sense why everyone was tense when she joined breakfast this morning. Sirius was right; Harry was too young to fight or to be involved in such a dangerous situation. But at what age is someone ready for war? She thought. Surely no one ever deserves to be put in such a compromising situation. And surely no one is ever ready for such an egregious act.

"I mean," Tonks said putting the Prophet down, "I get why he wants to fight and honestly I think we should let him."

Susan furrowed her brow in anger and set her toast down mid-bite.

Remus eyed her intently and opened his mouth to talk, but Susan beat him to it.

"Are you mad?" She asked Tonks, her voice a bit louder than she intended.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the two young women, including the Weasley's who were in the kitchen.

Tonks rolled her eyes.

"No, Susan. I am not mad," she said fiercely, her hair turning a dark shade of burgundy. "Unlike you, not everyone gets their perfect chance at their perfect little life. Others have to fight for what they want, and considering Harry's past I think it's only fair that we let him. We can't protect him forever. Sooner or later he is going to come face to face with it all. I mean, who am I kidding? He already has! Multiple times."

Everyone was looking at Susan, waiting for her response.

Her eyes were locked on the plate of toast before her. She was silently willing herself not to cry or overact.

She took a deep breath and rose from her chair.

Looking at Tonks straight in the eye she said, "I just think that we should protect and hold onto the ones we love for as long as we can. And if you would excuse me, I need to take a shower before Dumbledore arrives."

Before anyone could say anything, Susan snatched her piece of toast from her plate and jetted out of the room.

Sirius eyed Remus, but Remus sunk in his chair. There was nothing he could do.

So...I'm back? Not really sure. I just had the urge to continue writing this out of the blue.

This was obviously a very unimportant chapter, but it's something and it gives me a springboard to work off of.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Things you'd like to see happen?

Gosh, it's been so long since this story was originally posted, I need to remember what was supposed to happen.

If you're new to the story, welcome. Happy to have you. This has been a work in progress. I mean I started this when I was in high school...I have since then graduated college and I work in the city. Weird, but it's kind of nice. Reminds me of the old days.

Pleaseeeee provide reviews and feedback, it definitely helps with the creative process.

Thank you!

Teawithme