A/N: Winner of an Honorable Mention in the Minor Characters round of Madam Pomfrey's Character Triathlon!

---

As she exited the International Portkey Station in Accra, Susan grimaced. Her worn traveling clothes had begun to stick wetly to her chest, stomach and back. Ruefully, she thought of the Nigerian lady who she had met at her disembarkation point in Liverpool. Gladys, stuffing a hand towel into her purse along with her Wizard Traveling Permit, had told her: "Oh, I must be prepared. My country welcomes me home each time I return with the sun and sweat of my childhood."

Sweat and dirt besides, it was good to finally be in Kumasi. There had been an agonizing and unexpected hiatus in Lagos, where she had been scheduled to take a private Portkey through Hava Nigeria--a company which did not exist, as she discovered upon her arrival. Without a WTP, she hadn't been permitted to leave the Portkey Station, which meant no shower or bed, only a loveseat in the corner of the International Wizarding Transportation official's office. To say the least, she hadn't been very impressed with the United African Ministries of Magic thusfar. How they had allowed her to book a Portkey on a fraudulent company, and then to leave her stranded in the station without any recourse or compensation was unfathomable!

But it was useless to dwell on those nightmarish 48 hours now. She had reached safe and sound, after snagging a spare Portkey from a more reputable company. All's well that ends well, and she'd have an incredible story to tell Hannah when she returned to England.

If it had been up to her, she supposed Ghana would not have been her first choice of destination when it came to the first international trip she took alone. Gallivanting around Europe like Zacharias Smith did a few years ago or exploring Egypt was more aligned with her interests--maybe she'd even have spotted that dishy Bill Weasley around a pyramid somewhere. But just like with the missing Nigerian travel company and the permit-less layover, there was no point in thinking about what could have been... Reality was simple; her responsibilities were clear.

She was doing this for her mother. A child out of wedlock had not been an easy burden for a young, single woman to bear twenty-one years ago, but Sarah Bones had raised her baby on her own without help from anyone, even her own parents, protecting Susan from the judgment of family and society alike without a single complaint. This was the least she could do in return.

Adjusting her grip on her suitcase, Susan approached the road, a streaming river of motorcycles, bicycles, minivans, cars and trucks, and raised her hand. A taxi would come along soon enough.

~.~.~

Bucket showers. Bucket showers with cold water and no bedsheets. The food was horrible, and she already had more mosquito bites than she could count. Why was she still here?

Susan rolled over onto her stomach, burying her face into the crook of her elbow until her nose pressed into the musty mattress. She had so many questions: Where was the supermarket? Was there anywhere she could buy bed sheets? She had always been pants at Transfiguration; the sheets she had made from her khaki capris still held the distinct impression of a metal zipper which jabbed into her spine at regular intervals during the night. And she had done everything the travel guides suggested: sitting in the common room, leaving the door of her room open so people could come in... She still hadn't met anyone who could help her settle in.

If she was honest with herself, though, practical matters like groceries and bed sheets were, for once, an afterthought. More than anything, she simply missed home. Susan never expected to be homesick--after all, she had been living away from home since she was eleven years old! But being at Hogwarts was different. When she was bored, she could go sit on Hannah's bed; if she needed help, professors were always around. At this point, even Professor Snape would be a welcome sight; at least he would be able to brew her something to stop this infernal itching! Moving staircases or a pesky poltergeist who stole her books didn't compare to the immense feeling of loneliness and helplessness she felt now. If she couldn't even figure out how to make her bed, how was she ever going to find a way to help her mum? It had been impossible to start any work in England; all of her owls had simply returned, the seals still intact on the letters they carried. Finding the right doctor at the right hospital in this massive city would be akin to finding an untouched gold watch in a nest of Nifflers; the thought was completely overwhelming...

Susan sat up abruptly, swatting at a mosquito. Remind me, please, Miss Bones, of Hufflepuff House's motto. Her Head of House's office had always been open to her, but she and every other Hufflepuff knew that they had to be prepared to answer that simple challenge if they ever came to Professor Sprout--Pomona, now that I've graduated, Susan reminded herself--with a problem.

Excellence is as excellence does. Enough was enough. Professor Sprout and her housemates would have never allowed her to mope about for so long. She didn't have to move mountains today, but to make any sort of progress at all, she had to get off her bed and leave the room.

~.~.~

Susan placed the last of her purchases on the table with a sigh, wiping her sweaty hands off on the seat of her dusty trousers. There was an immense amount of satisfaction to be gained from a fully stocked pantry. She'd successfully walked downtown, crossed the street twice without getting run over by following in the footsteps of Ghanaian pedestrians, and had even found the supermarket, which was surprisingly well stocked in foods she recognized, unlike the mystery dishes found in her hostel's cafeteria. Even better, she had another story to laugh about with Hannah.

Susan heaved the gigantic pack of water sachets further up her hip, her arm and back muscles straining to accommodate the weight. Only ten more minutes to go, she reminded herself. You are a strong, independent woman. A twenty-kilo bag is no match for you!

This walk was brutal but necessary. Her guidebook had warned her that purification spells on the water wouldn't work here; some of the contaminants had become spell-resistant, so witches and wizards protected their health the way Muggles do, drinking out of little plastic bags of water which had been irradiated. Sweating profusely, Susan soldiered on. She'd rather carry this heavy pack up a hill than fall sick in a foreign country where she couldn't even find the nearest hospital.

"Hey, how are you?" A man fell into step alongside her, smiling.

Susan had heard that it was impolite here not to greet people when they passed you, though no one had said anything to her until now. "I'm fine; how are you?" she said patiently, wishing the man would let her walk (and wheeze) in peace.

"You look tired. Where are you staying?"

Oh dear. "Oh no, I'm fine," she protested.

"No, no, let me help you. You maybe do not know, but men in Ghana, we help women. I am a good man."

"I'm sure you are, but I'm really all right, thank you." Susan attempted to walk a little faster.

The man kept walking with her, protesting his many strengths as Susan racked her brain for a way to put him off. If he kept going much longer, he'd know where she lived without her telling him; they were only a few minutes away from the hostel.

"I’m married!" she suddenly cried, shifting the water pack so that she could show him her mother's ring. The round blue sapphire glinted in the sunlight.

"Oh, you are?" The man eyed her ring warily.

"Yes, yes!" she said hurriedly. "He is coming to help me."

"Is he walking or in a car?" he asked solicitously.

"In a car; he will be here very soon. Please go."

The man stared at her for another minute as she stood still, exhausted and panting. Without another word, he turned and walked back down the street in the direction from which they came. Susan sighed in relief. Looks like the street savvy tips in her Ghana guidebook had come in handy, after all.

Susan chuckled to herself as she tore the corner off a water sachet with her teeth and sucked the bag dry. To think that she would have gone from complaining that she couldn't get guys to approach her in London a few weeks ago to claiming she was married in order to avoid flirtation on the streets of Kumasi now, or that she would be in such a good mood simply from successfully purchasing groceries for the week!

Neither man nor traffic had stopped her from getting things done this afternoon, and for the moment, she felt unstoppable.

~.~.~

The door to her room was open, which was a bit odd, but Susan quickly slipped in before one of the other hostel residents saw her dripping wet in a towel--that was not the way she'd want to make a first impression. As soon as she appeared on the other side of the door, she wished she had paid more attention.

"H-Hello?" A petite Ghanaian girl was looking at her with slight alarm. "My name is Loretta. Are you Susan? I am your new roommate. And this is my friend Andy; he was just helping me. If it is convenient for you, I can come back later..."

Susan flushed scarlet. "No, of course, you are welcome!" The last few days, she had begun picking up Ghanaian turns of phrase; maybe her greeting would make the girl feel more wanted. "But, um, would you mind waiting outside for just a moment; I should change." Poor Andy slipped out the door without ever looking up and Loretta quickly followed.

A few minutes later, Susan let them both back in, this time shaking their hands and looking them in the eye, hoping this would overcome the awkwardness of their first introduction.

"So it is your first time in Ghana? You are welcome. Andy and I are third-year students at Kwame Nkrumah University for Sorcery Training; we are studying to be Healers."

"Oh, right, KNUST, that's wonderful. Why are you staying in this hostel; do you have dormitories on your campus?"

"Oh, we are on break from school right now," added Andy. "We are doing a small project at Komfo Anokye, the biggest hospital in Kumasi, looking at patients with diabetes and hypertension. We think magical solutions might be more effective in rural communities rather than in Kumasi because patients are supplementing the medicines with a very good diet."

Susan grinned. The biggest hospital in Kumasi? That sounded like a good place to start her work. "Could I accompany you there tomorrow?"

~.~.~

"So your mother, she bought this piece of artwork in England, and since then, she's been unwell?" Healer Tony looked past Susan's shoulder for the fourth time. "One moment, Miss Bones." A woman dressed in a knee-length blue nurse's dress approached his desk and they conversed quietly in Twi.

Susan glanced at the clock--after forty minutes of waiting for him to return from a meeting which was supposed to end at 1 pm, she had been relieved when he finally entered the ward, only to realize that their meeting, which had already gone on for a half hour, would only involve brief opportunities for a serious conversation.

"I apologize. My nurses are simply worried about a new protocol that we are using on patients today. We ran out of the newest version of Skele-Gro ran out a few days ago, so the nurses have been substituting an older potion called Bone-Aid. Unfortunately, the dosage table has been difficult to find in any archive since Europe stopped using this remedy twenty years ago. Because there are over 100 patients in our clinic today and only two nurses and myself to handle them, we lack the necessary time for optimization of the treatment, so I've had to direct a standardized treatment based in my own experience with potions somewhat similar to Bone-Aid."

Susan frowned, thinking back to Madam Pomfrey and Snape's close working relationship at Hogwarts. "No disrespect, but that sounds a little like guessing to me. You can't just brew more Skele-Gro?"

"The herbs used in Skele-Gro can't be grown here; the appropriate medicines must be imported, and there are always massive delays in shipments due to the customs fees which must be paid in Accra. We usually never completely run out, but..." Healer Tony shrugged. "This is Ghana, after all."

Susan fought to keep her expression neutral. How could the head of the Magical Maladies unit of one of the best hospitals in Ghana be so ambivalent to a situation like this? Medicines being delayed for months--that was simply shoddy workmanship! With enough effort, there had to be a way to improve the system.

"So do you have a picture of this piece of artwork your mother purchased, Miss Bones? It's not uncommon to have local tribal magicks infused into authentic Ghanaian craftwork, but I need a closer look to be sure."

"Yes, of course," she said, setting aside her shock to focus on the issue at hand. She waved her wand and a replicate of the artwork appeared above Healer Tony's desk. "I talked to a few professors from the Institute of Traditional Magicks in London and they thought that the symbols might be of Ashanti origin."

"I think they're right, but you'll have to go to an expert to be sure. We don't deal with much tribal magic here; the solutions required are a bit... out of the ordinary." He looked at her for a moment, lips pursed. "Miss Bones, you should know the challenge that you are taking on here. Some of the worst curses I've ever encountered have been cast by tribal shamans."

Susan nodded grimly. "I appreciate the warning, but this is my mother we're talking about, Healer Tony. I'm prepared to do anything."

He sighed, shuffling some papers on his desk. "As you wish. Please see Healer Betty in Room 10. If you run, you might catch her before she leaves for the day. Good luck to you, Miss Bones."

~.~.~

Healer Betty was an extremely tall, thin Ghanaian woman with a brilliant smile. As soon as Susan walked in the door, she knew that this would be a completely different visit than her first. Betty's office was quiet and pristine, the only disturbance coming from the gentle hum of a fan blowing gloriously cool air into the sticky humidity.

"Miss Bones, Healer Tony just called me to let me know about your case," Healer Betty began without preamble, indicating one of the three cell phones sitting on the desk in front of her.

Why in Merlin's name would anyone have three cell phones? Susan brushed off the distracting thought. "Pleasure to meet you, Healer Betty. I'm glad Healer Tony told you about my case. Let me show you the painting which is involved."

Betty stood to get a closer look at the image. "Hm, yes, these symbols are Ashanti in origin," she murmured. "There and there," she said, pointing at bits of the intricate filigree, "I see the symbols for anger and loss.. And look, there's a knife here. There was a marriage; a child was born..."

Susan couldn't make head or tail of the various curlicues and streaks Betty was indicating to her, but the doctor's confident narrative made her believe in what she couldn't see. There was a story to this painting, evidently, and maybe that held the key to curing her mother's illness.

"Your mother, does she have stomach pains? Sharp, like someone is stabbing her with a knife?" Betty asked finally.

"Yes, that's exactly right. Sometimes the painting takes possession of her senses--one day, she won't be able to see; for a week before I left, she hadn't been able to speak."

Betty nodded firmly. "The painting is Ashanti, and based on your description of her symptoms, it seems my interpretation of its curse is mostly correct. How much do you know about the tribes of Ghana, Miss Bones?"

Susan shook her head. "Other than the Ashantis are a tribe and that they created this painting? Nothing at all, I'm afraid."

"Ah. Well, to understand the curse you must know something about two tribes in Ghana in particular. You have already named the first yourself. The Ashantis are known for the immense value they place in preserving their own culture as well as centering their lives around their communities. Ashantis will learn Twi and avoid English if they can, and they have developed this region, which is their home, so that it is the most affluent in all of Ghana. The second which you must know are the Fantis, who originate in the coastal region of the country. Unlike Ashantis, they are known for leaving behind their hometowns--even Fantis themselves who live in Kumasi will joke about their "ghost towns," but they are perhaps the most highly educated tribe in Ghana."

"I'm sorry; I don't understand... If this painting was made by an Ashanti, then what does the Fanti tribe have to do with the curse?"

"Together, these two tribes are like brothers--the most closely related of any of the Ghanaian tribes, Ashantis will only marry outside of their tribe if they marry a Fanti. Yet they look down upon Fantis because they believe that Fantis have no appreciation for their own communities. In colonial times, the Fantis and the Nzemas were the first tribes to work for the British since they lived in the coastal regions where the British first arrived. I've heard many an Ashanti call a Fanti a 'British dog.' Like elder and younger brothers, the tribes fight as much as they marry."

Susan stubbornly kept a smile pasted on her face through Betty's monologue. She was beginning to find the Ghanaian habit of story-telling a little frustrating, but she was sure the doctor would eventually explain her mother's ailment. "So the curse, it's between an Ashanti and a Fanti?" she prompted.

"In colonial times, the granddaughter of an Ashanti chieftain married a Fanti boy, who took her away from her family. He sought an education at a British university. Their child was born in that foreign land, and her family never forgave her. They created this painting for them. It was intended to rob the mother of her ability to enjoy her relationship with her husband, both by stealing away from her the ability to connect with him through sight or speech and by keeping them from having more children."

Susan gasped. "What a horrible thing to wish upon your own granddaughter! How could they do that to their own flesh and blood?"

Healer Betty shook her head. "This is foreign to you, Miss Bones, but try to see the situation from the family's point of view. Not only did this girl marry outside of her tribe, which perhaps they could have accepted, but she abandoned her home and her country. In her family's eyes, she had left behind the values and beliefs which made her an Ashanti; she was no better than the British colonists who stole their gold--even worse, perhaps, because she had robbed the family of her child. Ashantis are matrilineal, so by staying in England with her husband, she kept her child from realizing its Ashanti heritage, which spelled the end of the chieftain's bloodline."

Susan shook her head. She couldn't afford to think about Ghana's present day medical problems or the plight suffered by this poor Ashanti woman fifty years ago when her mother's life was in danger. "So how do we remove the curse, Healer Betty?"

"I'll have to consult with some traditional healers and an Ashanti professor teaching in Accra before I can tell you more. Let's meet again next week."

~.~.~

Susan sat by the side of the pool at the Golden Tulip, watching Andy teach Loretta how to swim. It had been kind of them to invite her to come with them. Spending the day alongside a pool seemed to be a popular Ghanaian pastime, though with the twenty cedi entrance fee, she imagined that it was a luxury only afford to more affluent families.

At first, she had been hesitant about spending her time socializing and relaxing in Ghana--after all, that's not what she came here to do. But what real work could she accomplish until her meeting with Betty, anyway? There were no public libraries here, and Loretta and Andy had already told her that the libraries of KNUST were closed to anyone other than enrolled students or professors.

Besides, this relaxing day might even end up being helpful to her search for a cure. Among their friends, she had already met three sixth-year students who had just passed their professional Healer licensing exams as well as two house officers finishing their first year of rotations. Unlike the British Mediwizardry System, the Ghanaian system paralleled that of Muggles--students pursued a six year academic course. After they passed their exams, they became house officers or in other words, apprentice Healers, and spent two years completing four six-month rotations in paediatrics, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, and medicine at one of the two major teaching hospitals in Ghana. Then they would moving on to senior positions at smaller hospitals in the rural districts where they would gain years of experience, and at the pinnacle of their careers, they would either return to Kumasi or Accra or move abroad to work in the UK or the US.

Kofi and Alex, the two house officers, sat down on either side of her. "You look too serious for such a sunny day, Susan!" said Alex cheerfully.

Susan smiled brightly at him. In the past few hours, Alex had already proven to be unbelievably sincere, listening attentively to the people around him. He reminded her of her friends back at Hogwarts, caring yet unassuming. "So you two have come to my rescue? Go on then, distract me from my serious thoughts," she teased.

Kofi pulled off his shirt. "As the lady commands," he said, hopping into the pool with a splash big enough to douse her with its spray.

"Kofi!" As Susan wiped the water out of her eyes, she couldn't help but laugh, all the while looking out of the corner of her eye at the sharp, strong angles of Kofi's chest and arms. His grin seemed even brighter when surrounded by the clear water...

Stop right there, Susan. Kofi reminded her of Michael Corner. Smart, ridiculously charming, sometimes an ass--but never mean enough to really dislike him, just to blush when he teased her and to never quite know whether he was joking or being serious with his more antagonistic comments.

She couldn’t even begin to count the number of times she had quietly cried into her pillow over Michael. Her crush on him had lasted all the way until third year. It was embarrassing to even think of it now, but she had learned from it, too. Flirty, charming men were just that, never more. They would never settle down with one girl, and she was the settling down type. You know better now!

Kofi got out of the pool and walked back toward her and Alex. Susan hurriedly stood. "I'm going to go get myself an Alvaro; do you want anything?" she asked.

"Make sure to get the Passion; it's the best kind," Kofi said with a wink.

Alex elbowed his friend. "I like Pear myself," he informed her, smiling.

"Pear it is," she declared firmly before heading to the café, ignoring Kofi's knowing chuckle. She had no time for distractions, especially not of the Michael Corner variety!

~.~.~

"So you're saying that I have to model this girl and redo her story with a new ending?"

Betty frowned. "Not model, exactly. You're going to embody her, channel her spirit. Then enact love with an Ashanti boy and drink the traditional herbal remedies for all of the illnesses created by the curse. That will pacify the spirits of her family. At that point, the curse should naturally dissolve since its original intent was to take the girl away from her Fanti husband."

"That makes sense. So what exactly must I do to enact love?"

"Well, that depends on you." Betty bit her bottom lip. "How much did Healer Tony tell you about Ashanti magic?"

The tension which had appeared in Betty's voice made Susan's answer a bit hesitant. "Just that it was powerful magic and I should know what I was taking on before meeting with you."

Betty sighed. "That's part of the truth, but not all of it. I understand why he didn't, but I wish he had told you everything before we got so close to a solution. I won't do you any favors if I sugarcoat it now; you've got to know. Europeans have always relied on herbs and wandwork, but traditional African shamans use sex as the base for their magic. It's the reason why Ashanti curses are known to be so powerful--there is nothing more elemental or magically potent."

"So that's what I would have to do? Have..." She took a deep breath. "Have sex with someone?"

Betty shook her head. "No. This curse was based in the most powerful component of all: virgin's blood. You have to participate in a sexual act for the first time with someone. If you've lost your virginity, that obviously won't be sex."

Susan could feel the scarlet flush spreading down from her hairline to her collarbone. "N-No, that won't be an issue," she whispered into her lap. Suddenly, she looked up. "What if I haven't done other things, smaller things?" she asked eagerly.

"Anything that is sexual in nature which you are doing with another person for the first time should suffice. So you're still considering it?" Betty asked, her expression unsmiling for once. "It's an incredible sacrifice to make, and as a mother myself, I can tell you that I would understand if my daughter did not want to do something like this for my sake. In fact, I imagine if you told your mother about this, she would order you not to do it."

"You might be right about that," Susan admitted. "But like I said to Healer Tony, this is my mother we're talking about. I know she would do something like this for me in a heartbeat. It's her own fault for providing me with such an incredible example of what it means to be a strong woman, really... If I didn't do this, I wouldn't feel right calling myself Sarah Bones's daughter." She paused, clenching her fists for a second.

Betty's characteristic smile had returned to her face. "I understand. Now you are a Monday-born girl, correct?" Susan nodded. "So in Ghana, you would be named Adwoa. Adwoas are traditionally considered to be calm and collected. The personality which would balance yours is that of a Friday-born boy, who in Ghana is always named Kofi. Kofis are usually considered to be pleasure-seeking; stereotypically, you'll hear people use the appellation Kofi Babone, or Kofi the bad boy."

Susan gulped. "I know a Kofi here; I suppose I could explain the situation and ask for his help."

"Good. Now this last part is very important, Susan: you must have genuine emotions toward this boy. Love is a bit unreasonable to expect, I understand, but at the very least, there must be attraction. The magic is attuned to the subject's emotions. The boy's feelings will be less important, but not irrelevant, so be sure of the person you pick. And don't forget; he must be an Ashanti!"

~.~.~

Alex, Kofi and Susan sat around one of the front tables at S-Bar, a quiet, relaxed tavern around the corner from the hostel where she was staying. Alex and Kofi had just come off duty, which evidently had been difficult enough to merit a drink or two when they finished for the day.

"So how is your mother doing?" Alex asked when there was a lull in their conversation.

A slight breeze stirred the low-hanging palm fronds by Susan's shoulder, tickling her skin as she took another sip of her Alvaro. "She's okay; thank you for asking. I had another meeting with Healer Betty a few days ago, and I think we might have a solution."

"A solution to an Ashanti curse?" Kofi raised his eyebrows at her and grinned.

Susan rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kofi, sex magic, I know." He laughed, slipping his fingers through hers on the table. Susan swallowed hard, butterflies erupting in her gut at his casual touch. Ghanaian social etiquette allowed for frequent and protracted hand-holding between friends, so he meant nothing by it, she knew, but she couldn't shake the British sensibilities which were telling her this was a signal of intimacy.

Alex patted her shoulder. "He's just teasing," he reassured her. "Healer Betty is one of the smartest senior attendings at Komfo Anokye, though; you're in good hands. What did she tell you?"

Susan sighed. "Actually, Kofi, I have to ask you something. Are you an Ashanti?"

"Half, on my mother's side; my father's Fanti," he informed her.

She nodded. "But both the Ashantis and Fantis are matrilineal, so you're technically Ashanti, right?"

Kofi seemed surprised by her savvy, but nodded nonetheless. "Why do you ask?"

Susan's gaze slipped down to their intertwined hands for a moment before returning to his face. "Well... I'm a Monday-born, an Adwoa, and--"

"A Friday-born would be the perfect complement," Alex finished for her. "You need Kofi's help?"

"Yes, if he doesn't mind." Susan gritted her teeth and turned to face Kofi. "So, um, if you agree, we'd have to kiss."

"Only kiss?" Kofi asked doubtfully. "Reversing an Ashanti curse usually requires an act much more powerful than that."

Heat flooded into Susan's face. "A kiss is powerful!" she said angrily. "It's the most intimate thing you can do with someone. Sex--that's mating; it's biological; animals do it every day. Kissing, on the other hand, is something only humans do. It serves no biological purpose; we do it to express... love or caring or"--desire.--"whatever," she finished hastily.

"Forgive me, Susan, but I think Kofi's right," Alex said quietly behind her. "Ashanti magic demands a very high price of its practitioners. A simple kiss will probably not be enough."

Susan hadn't wanted to explain this part to them, but it seemed like the boys were not going to go along with this unless she did. "Trust me, please. Or rather, trust Betty. She told me that I needed to do something sexual which I had never done with anyone else before," Susan said quietly.

Kofi's hand squeezed hers hard. "Wait. Are you saying that you've never kissed anyone before?" he cried. "But you're--How could that happen? You're twenty-one, you're attractive...

Susan stared determinedly at the space to the left of Kofi's head, unable to meet his eyes but unwilling to look away. She had nothing to be embarrassed about! "So?"

"I mean, I just... I can't believe it," Kofi sputtered.

"I don't know what to tell you," Susan snapped defensively. "I don't have a tentacle growing out of my forehead, as you can see, and you've managed to tolerate my company for two weeks now, so you know I'm nice enough. I just--I just haven't... it just hasn't happened for me."

Kofi's eyes softened in the face of her distress. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." His thumb softly stroked the back of her hand.

She yanked her hand away, blinking as her eyes prickled sharply. "I'm fine," she whispered, staring down at her lap, knowing that her reaction indicated she was anything but.

"Kofi, get us some more beers. And an Alvaro for Susan, of course," Alex murmured. Without another word, Kofi got up from the table and left.

When Alex put his arm around her shoulder, Susan gave into the urge to bury her face into his shirt, breathing in his cologne. "Well, that was mortifying," she mumbled into his shirt.

"You don't have to do this, you know, Susan," Alex reminded her. "Kofi's got a good heart underneath all of his showmanship. I've seen him flirting with all the nurses in the ward, but I've also found him in tears after we've lost a baby. Still, if you've waited this long to have your first kiss, it must be really important to you. Your mother would understand if you didn't do this."

Susan pulled away from Alex to look him in the eye. "Why does everyone keep saying that as if it changes anything? I'm not trying to meet my mother's expectations. I'm her baby; she didn't even want me to travel on my own outside of England. I'm trying to meet my own expectations. She raised me on her own, you know. We had a lot of trouble when I was younger; she kept losing her job because I was a sickly child, but she never let me feel like I was a burden. It's my turn to take care of her, and I won't be able to look at myself in a mirror if I let her down now.

"And I haven't intentionally waited so long to have my first kiss, anyway. I'm not expecting fireworks or true love; I'm not even a romantic, honestly. I just wanted it to be with a boy who made me feel a little spark of excitement and made me feel safe. Generally, I've had one or the other with men, but never both. So I waited and waited, and then before I realized it, I was twenty-one and still unkissed, and now..." She sighed heavily. "Boys have Kofi's reaction when they find out. They think, because I've waited so long that it means heaven and earth to me." Sarcasm lowered her voice to a growl. "They think they're not worthy of it. For Merlin's sake, like it's an emerald or something! It makes me want to toss the damn kiss away and be done with it, but then, I think... I haven't waited so long just for that. I don't need fireworks for my first kiss, but I deserve to have it be nice. So I'm stuck."

To his credit, Alex wasn't stunned into silence at her emotional rant as most of her male friends from Hogwarts would have been. "You're saying you're okay with kissing Kofi," he paraphrased simply.

She laughed, happy that he had listened to her and relieved that they didn't have to dwell on her silliness any longer. "Yes," she said firmly, "if he hasn't decided to run away as fast as he can."

"Oh, don't worry; Kofi never leaves a bar if he hasn't finished his beer," Alex teased.

~.~.~

Besides acting as the biggest open market in Kumasi, Bantama Road was a strenuous exercise in agility. Loretta managed to step on the tiny patches of bare ground between piles of vegetables and bags of spices while avoiding the people streaming from every direction, but Susan nearly smashed a bushel of bananas and overturned a bucket filled with fish before her friend turned back to rescue her from an angry food seller.

"Sorry, Loretta, I try to keep up, but--"

Someone or something hissed sharply, and Susan jerked, her eyes quickly searching the ground for a cat, lips already forming an apology to the poor animal. A hand on her elbow caused her to look up.

"Sssss. Hello obruni!" Susan winced. Obruni was the word Ghanaians called all foreigners; they meant no disrespect by it, but being spoken to by something other than her name made her feel like she wasn't a person in her own right... that the only thing that mattered to people here was her white skin.

A bright-eyed girl dressed in a blue skirt and yellow shirt with a matching backpack smiled up at her. "How are you?" she asked. Several little girls gathered behind her, giggling and whispering to each other. Susan felt her discomfort fade away, replaced by amusement at the children's bravado.

"I am fine. How are you?" Loretta had grabbed her hand and was pulling her along farther down the road but the school girls trailed behind her like ducklings.

"I am fine, thank you," the girl said. "Was you... um, where..." She turned to her friends for help

"Where are you from!" declared another little girl with braided hair excitedly.

"England."

"ENGLAND," chorused the girls.

"I would like to be your friend, please," another girl called. "Can I have your number?"

"Of course we can be friends. But I'm sorry; I don't have a phone in Ghana."

"Can I be your friend too?" squeaked the tiniest of the group. Susan nodded at her, smiling.

"You are very beautiful," the first girl informed her. "Very fit, very nice," she said, laughing. "We must go now, obruni, goodbye!" With that, the entire group veered left down a side alley, leaving her and Loretta alone again.

Loretta stopped by an old woman squatting down over a mat covered with dry herbs. The woman wore a voluminous cotton dress, so large you could barely see the curves of her knees where they bent underneath the fabric. Bold traditional prints highlighted her completely silver head of hair. Perhaps it was in Susan's imagination, but the worn creases of her crow's eyes and the three long wrinkles spanning her forehead seemed to hold decades of experience and wisdom. When she stepped closer, it was almost as if the bustling street behind her faded away a little, leaving behind only the rhythmic babbling of Loretta speaking Twi in hushed tones.

"So that is the herb which will reduce stomach pains," Loretta murmured, pointing as a nondescript brown pile, "and that one for blindness, that one for deafness; she's giving us one to ward off evil spirits too, since I've explained your mother's situation to her."

The woman reached out her gnarled hand and gripped Susan's wrist, hard enough to hurt. She said something in Twi, her voice suddenly as loud and bright as church bells. Susan stared at Loretta helplessly. "What did she say?"

Loretta smiled. "She wishes she had borne daughters like you. She says that you are very brave, and that she hopes her ancestors will come to help you in your task. She will pray for your mother's good health."

Susan pressed her hand over the woman's fingers. Even darkened by sweat and dust, her light skin made a striking contrast with the herb seller's hand beneath hers. "Midasi," she said sincerely. "Thank you."

The woman cackled at Susan's attempt to speak Twi. "Akwaba, obruni!" she said as she accepted the money Susan handed to her.

Loretta walked hand-in-hand with Susan as they headed back to the hostel. "So these herbs are for potions which you will drink, and then you will kiss Kofi?"

"Yes. Thank you so much for taking me to Bantama, Loretta; I would never have found what I needed without your help." Susan hefted the small plastic bag of herbs in her hand. In spite of its light weight, the promise its contents hung heavily from her fingertips.

Loretta paused awkwardly in the doorway of their shared room. "Susan, there's something I should tell you. It's unkind, because it's not as though you have much choice in kissing Kofi, but you can't do that without knowing..."

Susan sat on her bed and turned to face her worried friend. "What is it, Loretta?"

"He's not... People think... There was a girl before you came. Ama. They spent a lot of time together. It was never official, but I don't think a Ghanaian girl would spend that much time alone with a man unless she thought he was her boyfriend."

Susan frowned. "But that doesn't make sense; he's paid so much attention to me since I got here. I know he's a flirt, but... Are you sure, Loretta? What if they have ended their relationship?"

Loretta shrugged. "If they did, it was not her decision, I'm sure." She walked over and patted Susan on the shoulder. "I can see you're upset. I am sorry to have told you such disturbing news. But do not feel bad about it. You are only a visitor here; no one expects you to know. Kofi should have been more honest with you.

"Andy is different from most boys here, so you have not seen it with him and me, but this happens often. Girls usually stay at home with their friends and boys go out and do what they want. It is even easier for them with obruni girls who are only here for a few weeks; there are no complications."

Susan shook her head. "That's horrible. In England, if that happened, the couple would have a terrible row over it, at least. Many times, relationships end because of infidelity."

Loretta nodded. "I know that is how it is in Western countries. I don't know how to explain it to you. Infidelity is not accepted here, but it is very common. Usually, men do not get caught. Sometimes, the man refuses to define his sexual relationships, or even misnames them as friendships, so that he can remain inculpable. Other times, girls will not look at their boyfriends' activities too closely because they fear what they will find."

"So what happens in the rare case that a girl finds out?"

"Among my friends, most will not end the relationship. Sometimes, they will get angry and cheat on their boyfriends as well. Other times, they will simply fight a lot and end up forgiving the man. My friends will usually say to me, 'What is the chance I find a boy like your Andy? Probably I will find someone just like this one or maybe even someone worse.'"

Susan couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So Kofi had a girlfriend when I met him," she repeated slowly, "and possibly still has one."

She wanted to scream at Loretta for telling her the truth and put Kofi in front of the fighting end of her wand, but reacting the way she would have if one of her Hogwarts friends was talking about infidelity at the Three Broomsticks would be childish, rather like a five-year-old shutting her eyes and claiming the sky was purple because they couldn't see the blue horizon anymore. She was in Ghana. She had to face the reality of the way society--men, rather--behaved.

She couldn't kiss a man who was involved with another woman, she just couldn't. Her friends would be so ashamed of her if they found out! But her staid, British sense of morality wavered in light of Loretta's matter-of-fact presentation. Her mother's life hung in the balance over this kiss. She had always known Kofi was a charmer; she had never wanted a relationship with him. She just needed to kiss him to deal with this curse. One kiss, and she would never have to see him again. He could go back to his girl, who would never know, and she would go back to her mother--everyone would be happy. Healthy and happy.

She wanted Hannah to appear in her room right now, or for Professor Sprout's wise words to float into her ear to help her decide what was more important. But there was only her. I've come so far and gotten so close. I can't fail Mum now!

"I've always been a girls' girl," she said slowly. "You know, some girls pick their relationships with boyfriends over their girlfriends; I've never been like that. I would never kiss a guy who one of my friends liked, let alone a guy who was actually involved with someone else!" She crossed her arms against her chest, hugging herself tightly. "But if I don't do this, my mother will stay sick. It's just one kiss, and I'll leave as soon as we finish--I won't get in the way of Kofi's relationship. I'm sure Kofi's not in love with me, so I won't be interfering with his relationship. Just one kiss, and my mother will be healthy again." Susan hated the pleading tone of her voice. There had never been a time when she couldn't stand on the strength of her own convictions, but now, she needed someone else to agree with her, to justify this horrible choice for her before she could go ahead.

"Just one kiss," Loretta reiterated, her expression solemn. "I understand, Susan. You needed to know the truth, but I understand why you have come to this decision."

Susan blinked back tears of gratitude and shame. Pain was radiating from her temples, and she shut her eyes reflexively against the light, which suddenly seemed too bright. Exhausted by the discussion, she didn't even attempt to eat the dinner they had brought home from the market, instead slipping under her bed sheets and closing her eyes.

~.~.~

Susan and Kofi stood within the circle of runes and enchantments that Healer Betty had cast. A series of potions were sitting on the ground in front of her, and Kofi stood to her right. All the chanting had finished; everything was ready. She would kiss him, drink the potions, and the curse would be finished forever.

But Susan stood frozen, staring at Kofi's thin lips, his bright smile as if in a daze, trapped by her own thoughts. You have a girlfriend. You have a girlfriend and yet, you're here, and you're going to kiss me. This is my first kiss. I've been waiting twenty-one years for this, twenty-one years for the spark and the safety, and Merlin, I told Alex that I deserved nice--helping a guy to cheat on his girlfriend isn't nice!

"Susan?" Kofi whispered. "Are you okay? I know it's scary to kiss someone for the first time, but Healer Betty said that you have to make the first move, remember."

Kofi's mention of Betty reminded Susan of the day she had first learned about this ritual. 'Now this last part is very important, Susan: you must have genuine emotions toward this boy. The magic is attuned to the subject's emotions... The boy's feelings will be less important, but not irrelevant, so be sure of the person you pick.'

Oh no. She couldn't kiss a boy who was involved with another girl with genuine feelings of any kind; her conscience simply wouldn't allow it. And she had forgotten that the boy's emotions mattered, too. Merlin only knows how Kofi felt about her; he was probably in love with his girlfriend! And what if his girlfriend was Ashanti? Then she'd be interfering in a relationship which the grandfather's spirit would approve; what if she managed to double the curse on her mother rather than remove it?

"I can't," Susan cried. She turned to Betty. "Healer Betty, we must stop; I can't kiss Kofi."

Betty's eyes widened. "Susan, we can't stop at this stage. The spirits are waiting; we have made them all of the promises which they desired. If you do not fulfill those promises now, there would be dire consequences for both you and Kofi."

Kofi gripped her forearm. "Why, Susan?" he asked, his voice low and urgent, his eyes searching her face for an answer. "Why can't you kiss me?"

The accusation finally burst from her lips. "You have a girlfriend! Loretta told me about her; you've been lying to me all this time. Betty told me that my emotions had to be genuine for this to work. I thought I could do it for my mother, that I could kiss you and ignore the fact that I would be helping you to cheat on your girlfriend, but I can't. I can't even look at you without feeling..."

With a wordless cry, she tore her arm away and turned away from him to scrub angrily at the tears trickling down her cheeks. I'm sorry, Mum. I'm so sorry.

Kofi didn't let her get away that easily. His hands pushed at her shoulders until she had to turn to face him, and she stared into his angry eyes. "People talk, Susan. They always talk, and they don't care whether what they say is the truth or how many people are hurt by it. I don't blame you for listening to your friend or for being upset by what you heard, but I do blame you for the danger you've put us both in with your childishness." He shook his head. "Why didn't you ask me, Susan?" he snapped. "Why didn't you give me a chance to explain? Do you really think that after just three weeks of being here, you know me well enough to judge me?"

Just like that, Susan's anger and indignation turned into shame. "I-I--"

"No," he said firmly. "No more talking. Now you listen. I loved a girl once. Her name was Esther. We were together for five years. We broke up a year ago because she believed I was cheating on her. I never did, not once, but just like you, she believed what other people said rather than listening to me." Tears were glistening in Kofi's eyes now, and Susan looked away, his raw pain too harsh for her overwrought heart to bear. Firm fingers on her chin forced her to meet his gaze once more. "Look at me, Susan. Can you see the truth now?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Reaching out, she intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed hard.

At the touch of her hand on his, Kofi's grim expression finally softened. "I know. You remind me of her, you know...not just in this moment, not just in the bad way, but in the way you feel about kissing and love, the way you fight to protect the people you love." He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, cupping her jaw and angling her face until it was centimeters away from his. "Now," he whispered, "make the first move."

Susan raised herself up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. The motion put her off balance, but he wrapped his free arm around her waist to hold her up. His tongue slid along the swell of her bottom lip and a hot jolt of adrenalin shot through her racing heart in response. This--oh, this was nothing like she had imagined. There were no butterflies fluttering in her stomach; her belly felt molten and heavy; she felt as though she would drip down onto the floor if he wasn't pressing her together, compacting her back into the mold of her skeleton with his hands, which were running over her ribs and hips and...

"Susan!"

Betty's voice rang in her ears and she jerked, Kofi's teeth biting into her inner lip hard enough to draw blood. She pushed him back and held him at arm's length, far enough away that she could clear her head.

"Did it work?" She asked huskily. In her peripheral vision, she could see one side of Kofi's mouth--delicious mouth--snake upwards into a smug smirk.

"Based on the way the runes around the circle changed, it appears you are free of the curse." Betty arched an eyebrow at her. "Free to do whatever you may wish to do--sometimes Ashanti magic has unexpected effects on its subjects."

Without another word, Betty turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving the two of them alone. Susan pressed the backs of her hands against her cheeks in an attempt to cool her overheated skin.

At the removal of her restraining hands, Kofi stepped closer to her, enough that she could smell his cologne. The scent sent another jolt of adrenalin through Susan that made her knees quiver. The effect he was having on her was simply unbelievable.

It's just the residual magic in the air; you're overstimulated. He seems unaffected when he gets close to you. Maybe this is normal, and people get used to it eventually; you're just affected because it's your first time--

"Do you turn pink all over, I wonder?" Kofi whispered, his eyes dancing merrily.

Susan groaned, burying her face into her hands and trying to resist the irrational urge to wrap her arms around his neck and never let go.

Carefully, Kofi pulled her hands away from her face, threading his fingers through hers. She waited warily for the next teasing comment he would make, trying to think of a clever comeback. Instead, he tilted his head sideway and touched his lips to hers.

The only comeback she could make was to kiss him back.

~.~.~

Epilogue

Sarah Bones pulled a tray of blueberry scones out of the oven, her head popping back up above the kitchen counter just in time to see a dusty crow hovering outside the front window. Easing the glass up, she let the bird inside.

"Hullo, Fifi," she murmured, crumbling a bit of one of the scones on the window sill for the crow to peck at. She smiled at the sound of her daughter hurrying down the stairs.

"Kofi?" Susan asked breathlessly as she entered the kitchen, hurrying over to the window.

Sarah laughed. "I don't know, Susan, why don't you open it and see?"

Susan rolled her eyes. "You know; you're just teasing me. Why else would a crow show up in our house?" She rubbed the crow's blue-black head as she broke the seal on the letter, her eyes hungrily scanning the parchment. "Mm," she said as she took a deep breath, "smells great, Mum."

"Took you long enough to notice," Sarah retorted. "Thought you always loved my blueberry scones... guess they can't compete with a Ghanaian knight in shining armor, though."

Susan glared at her mother. "Get her, Fifi," she muttered to the crow. "Go on, I know you have those claws for a reason. I'll feed you some more of that scone," she cajoled.

The crow looked at her balefully before launching itself back through the window.

"Smart bird," Sarah commented. "Doesn't bite the hand that feeds it."

Letter in hand, Susan grinned at her mother. "Neither do I. You didn't feed me when I came into the kitchen."

"Fly in through the front window next time, and maybe I'll think about it."

Susan grinned. "You're on, Mum. Don't blame me if the broken glass makes a mess of the kitchen, though." Overcome by a sudden rush of emotion, she walked over and hugged her mother tightly. Only a few months ago, Sarah had been barely able to speak or move most days. Sometimes, if Susan didn't see it--or in this case, hug it--for herself, she had a hard time believing that everything had changed so dramatically. She pressed her face into the cotton of her mother's shirt, fighting the sharp prick of tears building behind her tightly shut eyes.

Sarah shrugged her off with a light pat to the back of her head. "Oh, go on, Susan. I know all you're thinking about is writing Kofi back. Spend all day daydreaming; I'll keep slaving away down here."

Susan laughed brightly. "What else are mothers for?" With a quick peck to her mother's cheek, she slipped out of the kitchen, already thinking about the letter she was going to write. There was so many things she needed to tell Kofi about England and her home now that he had found time to visit!

~.~.~ Fin ~.~.~

---

Endnote: All of Susan's adventures, funny little encounters with locals, and friends in this story are directly inspired by my own wonderful experiences in Kumasi this summer. This story is dedicated to all of the new Ghanaian friends I have made. Thank you so much for your kindness and for the excellent introduction to the culture, history, politics and medicine of your country! :)