The Risk Of The Job

Susan just rolled her eyes. She must scare James a bit. She really isn’t that bad, it’s just she has a tad of a temper a times. When it comes to her family and her magic that is, she just wasn’t one for help. She didn’t blame James for not knowing that though.

“Honestly, did you think I was going to hex you something? He may be old but I’ve seen him do some nasty effects with his hexes and such. Let me give you a short lesson on the Bones family. See those pictures up there on the board. They are prime examples of the Bones family. The first Edgar and his whole family were killed; the younger was only two months old. The lady that looks an awful like Amelia is the first Amelia, Voldermort killed her himself. The Bones family doesn’t directly accept help; they barely like to admit when they have pain. I was raised that way and I will die that way. I know you guys can help me honestly maybe I do need it, maybe I don’t. You aren’t going to get me to admit I need help,” she said plainly. She knew James didn’t know her family that well so she wasn’t scolding the boy, yet that was.

James gave a short laugh.

"I actually thought you were about to engage me in a bit of muggle dueling. Had I thought you were going to hex me, I wouldn't have been worried about your magical abilities."

James regarded the pictures indicated by Susan. Being a Potter boy, he knew all about living up to a family name, but there was a time where one needed to break away and create their own family tradition.

"Well, I guess you will be receiving help indirectly then...though I may need some tips on being discreet," James said, tipping Susan a wink.

Susan glared at James. She kept her temper under control. She was good at managing her temper. It was taking a lot of work to do so though.

“I might have slapped the back of your head but that’s about it,” she stated not breaking her glare. Glaring at her kids all these years had proved a better punishment then yelling or grounding. She had even used it on Ernie a few times. The thing was it wasn’t half that bad besides the fact she doesn’t stop glaring easily and she can do it four hours on end.

“I don’t need help hiding my problems; I’ve been hiding them since I was sixteen. I have had a muggle for a mother, so don’t tell me how to act like a muggle. I live in muggle London if you can remember,” she said.

James shrugged, his temper beginning to rise slowly as well. Only his upraising teaching him to respect his elders helped him manage to keep his voice light.

"That's perfectly fine," James retorted, "I actually wouldn't dream of helping you hide your problems. I would be trying to root them out, so that I could help. If you're going to be that determined to turn away the help of friends, though, then so be it."

James turned to leave, withdrawing his wand.

"I'll just take care of your sign and any damage that needs to be fixed, then I'll be out of your hair, ma'am."

Susan knew that James was getting irritated but she wouldn’t take back a word. She chuckled at thought of James trying to handle Amelia. She knew that the annoyed a lot of people. James could ask her ex-husband, he could have told James that.

“You’d understand why I am what I am if you lived a week in my shoes. You’d understand my girls if you did the same things. All Bones are alike; they all are feisty and stubborn. If you want to know the secret to not getting chewed out like that again it is not letting us do it,” she stated firmly. She had no shame in saying that. She had no fear whoever she was talking to no matter their status in community.

James turned back, chuckling. Susan reminded him of his mother...stubborn, she was. Perhaps that is why he liked her so much.

"Well then, Susan," James chided with a tiny grin, "Have any tips in how I waylay you from getting into the 'chewing me out mode'? Surely it isn't as simple as using a mere Silencing Charm?"

James smile grew a bit wider as he waved his wand in a mock threatening way, hoping to surprise some sort of laugh out of her.

“If it was that simple I wouldn’t be divorced,” she joked rolling her eyes. She often joked about her divorce, mostly because she was so insecure about it. It was one of the few things she regretted. Getting her to say that wasn’t something to take lightly.

“First don’t be afraid to yell and if you are going to say something think about and make sure there isn’t a way to twist it around,” she said with a slight smile. That’s why her marriage was so easy in the beginning, back then Ernie held his group when she got mad and though things through completely. She wasn’t really sure what had happened. Who knows?

"Alas," James said in a pained way, "I, as you said, am too blunt and straightforward to think ahead far enough to how my words could be twisted."

He laughed a bit humorously. Sometimes he believed that the world would be a simpler place if more people were blunt...but then of course, everyone would likely be trying to murder each other.

"I could probably work on the yelling part, though," James added, his eyes twinkling a bit, "There has been plenty of times where I've wanted to yell, but hold my tongue rather than risk a full-out confrontation."

He tipped her a wink, "Must be the man in me. Too chivalrous to yell at a lady....either that or we're just plumb cowards."

“James if you ever find yourself with a lady who is a bit feistier not yelling is stupid. Fighting is what keeps the passion burning. What happened to my marriage is we lost that fire because we stopped fighting. When you stop fighting you hide things and bottle them until they explode,” Susan said.

Susan shook her head. Most men were cowards when it came to woman like her and her daughters. It takes a real man to handle them. That’s why she and Ernie worked so well together. He was anything but a pushover and neither was she. They were defying what people saw Hufflepuffs are and so is their daughter Amelia, one of their kids were bound to get that trait.

“Most men are cowards. If you can’t hold your ground in an argument then you aren’t worth my time. Families like mine who had once been pureblood it’s very common for woman to be a bit feistier. Look at your mum’s side.

"And here Arthur always taught me that you'll never win an argument against your wife, so why try," James laughed, "Always talking about compromise, and give and take. Honestly, I couldn't imagine butting heads with the woman I love everyday. Maybe that's why I don't settle down...all the fighting just doesn't seem worth it."

James waved his wand in the air, casting a non-verbal Reparo charm to fix the roof as he waited for what she would have to say about that. Arthur and Molly had been together for a very long time, and Arthur had a tendency to defer to Molly in an argument.