Tweak

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Tweak says, "Take me to Babylon."

Hazel Constance Ridgebit (wichehazel) wrote in attheclose,
@ 2011-05-11 22:44:00

Entry tags:

character: ernie macmillan

Hazel's lips and fingernails had been chewed raw with worry. She hadn't seen Ernie at breakfast that morning, and not at lunch, either, which meant she hadn't been able to swallow a bite herself. She'd returned to the common room in hopes of finding him there, and when she hadn't, she didn't think she could get through her afternoon lesson without bursting into tears.

Now that she was thinking about it, though - curled in a chair after waving a miserable farewell to all of the other Hufflepuffs who weren't completely batty and could manage things like stress - crying might have warranted her a detention, and perhaps that was where Ernie was.

Blast.

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erniemacattack
2011-05-12 03:07 am UTC (link)

Filch's dungeon of choice, as it turned out, was a tremendously awful, horrible, and dreadful place to spend any length of time. Especially after what he'd experienced in the Carrow's office. Ernie couldn't even think about articulating how awful he felt, and he had no idea how awful he looked. He just walked, almost in a daze with no real recognition of where he was going or who he passed on the way, his feet taking him back to the Hufflepuff common room.

If his mind had been working, he might have gone straight to the hospital wing, or maybe even the prefect's bathroom to try and clean up to some degree, but his mind was completely numb, his body still in a tremendous amount of pain.

Once he reached the common room, he found himself collapsing on the nearest couch, unable to walk himself any farther. He was rather oblivious to whether or not anyone else was around.

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wichehazel
2011-05-12 03:30 am UTC (link)

Though Hazel had been watching the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room expectantly, after two third years had scurried upstairs and a fourth year had given her a strange look before doing the same, she'd gone herself to fetch a packet of biscuits. She was positively starved, and sweets would just be guilt on top of guilt and therefore agreeable to her current state of feeling.

To come back down the stairs to see Ernie just falling into a couch, well. She nearly dropped her biscuits. Walking as though on glass over to where he had collapsed, Hazel's voice was soft and reedy.

"Ernie?"

She didn't go so far as to ask something silly like, Are you okay? For he so clearly was not.

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erniemacattack
2011-05-12 03:40 am UTC (link)

Ernie had almost drifted back into an unconscious state when he heard his name spoken somewhere rather far away. It took him a moment, for he felt like he was fighting his way through a stifling darkness, but he managed, finally, to crack his eyes open just enough to see Hazel's face.

"Hullo, Hazel," he said quietly, his voice hoarse and barely audible. "...I'd offer you a seat, but I'm not sure I can move." He tried to smile, but found that it rather hurt, his lip reopening from where it had split at some point over the previous night. Ernie raised a hand, touching it and noticing the blood. "...lovely."

He was rather unaware of how he looked, but figured it was unlikely to be pretty.

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	wichehazel 2011-05-12 06:24 pm UTC (link)
	"Oh, Ernie!" The exclamation was soft but pained, and she knelt thoughtlessly beside the couch. "What happened? Is there anything I can do? What do you need?" Too many questions and answers he might not be able to give, but Hazel could feel her panic rising, tight in her throat. It was a good thing she hadn't eaten. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

erniemacattack
2011-05-13 12:44 am UTC (link)

Ernie was trying really hard to listen to what Hazel was saying but really didn't grasp anything more than the last question. "...water, maybe?" he asked, thinking that would help a lot.

Very slowly, Ernie tried to move himself into more of a sitting position, though he found it to be remarkably difficult. "...did you ask what happened?" he asked after a moment, the other words just starting to catch up to him.

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wichehazel
2011-05-16 12:55 am UTC (link)

Hazel summoned one of her ceramic mugs from her room, caring not in the least that it was the one with the chipped handle that came zooming down the stairs into her hand. She sat down carefully next to Ernie on the couch, using her wand to fill the cup with cool, clear water and passing it to him. She was this close to bringing the cup to his lips and bidding him to drink... but she knew from experience that grown boys didn't generally like to be nursed, even if they looked like they needed it.

"I did, but you don't have to tell me right now. I just," want to take care of you, "just want to help. However I can."

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erniemacattack
2011-05-16 01:11 am UTC (link)

"Thanks," he said quietly, taking the mug with shaking hands, needing to use both of them to keep himself from dropping it. Slowly, he took a slow sip of the water, which really did help. It had been a rather long time since he'd had anything to drink.

He never thought he'd be so happy for water in his life.

Ernie closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again and looking at Hazel. "...I'm not very smart, Hazel."

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wichehazel
2011-05-16 01:16 am UTC (link)

Hazel steadied Ernie's hands around the mug with her own, her expression lapsing to one of incredulity at his words.

"That's not true, Ernie! You're the Head Boy. You're smart and honest and good."

She didn't want to ask him again, but she did anyway, waving her wand to summon something from her room again, this time a little kit for minor injuries.

"What happened?"

Carefully, she applied a little healing salve to a cloth and dabbed at the bruises on Ernie's face. Hazel's family was practical, and what she hadn't learned at school she'd picked up a little at home with her mother and father. Here was something she felt needed doing without asking.

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erniemacattack
2011-05-16 01:28 am UTC (link)

"I don't know if I'll be staying Head Boy for much longer. But at this rate, I'm not sure it really matters or if they really care..." He coughed slightly, clearing his throat. The water helped his voice at least.

Ernie winced as Hazel dabbed at his face with the cloth, but he tried to say still and didn't protest against her doing it. He knew that what she was doing would probably help, even if it currently hurt.

Ernie wasn't really sure what to say in answer to her question though, or if he should really tell her what he had really been up to. He knew he could trust Hazel, he did. But he wasn't sure if she'd entirely like what she heard. But he didn't really have the energy to lie or to gloss over the truth, either.

"I went to talk to the She-Carrow. Try to suss out information about what they've been planning. It didn't go well. She saw right through everything I was saying...and then I may have said a few...provoking...things..."

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wichehazel
2011-05-16 01:34 am UTC (link)

Hazel gasped when Ernie admitted to having confronted Alecto, and she withdrew her hand before she could apply pressure to his wounds. Had Professor Carrow done this to Ernie? The notion that Ernie could have said anything to deserve what had been done to him was one Hazel could not accept.

"I, well, Ernie," Hazel breathed, eyes filled with a new impression of the boy she was beginning to feel rather strongly about. The bruise that spread from cheek to brow was like a badge of courage, and though she did not like to imagine how he must have gotten it, she admired him for how very scary it must have been to do such a thing.

But why would he do it?

"With the things other students have been saying I'm surprised she didn't... didn't do something worse. Oh, Ernie!"

She wanted to hug him, but he could have more bruises, bruises she couldn't see.

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erniemacattack
2011-05-16 01:54 am UTC (link)

Ernie looked down at the mug at his hands, avoiding eye contact for a moment. "Well, it wasn't all her...a lot was. A couple crucios and a slap to the face, but then she passed me off to Filch and the dungeon. I'm a pureblood; they're not going to kill me. At least not yet..."

Ernie sighed, rising his eyes from the mug to look at Hazel. "Turns out they don't take kindly to you telling them that they're wrong about everything they're teaching..." he said, with the tiniest hint of a smile gracing his lips. But not too much of one, for it would hurt too much.

He wasn't sure whether or not to tell her why he had been doing it in the first place. He didn't really know how she'd react, and was a little worried to tell her about his involvement in the DA. Not because he thought she really supported the Carrows, per se, but he didn't know if she would quite appreciate the rebellion, either.

Merlin, everything hurt.

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wichehazel
2011-05-16 02:02 am UTC (link)

Ernie dying was not something Hazel felt fully capable of considering, and she continued her work on his bruises, struggling to appreciate the slight reduction in swelling. She didn't know enough about healing to know if anything was broken, but she imagined he'd be a little less placid if that were the case.

"Is there, is there anything else I can do for you? Do you need to go and see Madam Pomfrey?"

Her concern was plain, and it was as much for the consequences of what Ernie had said as it was at the fact that he'd said it. She knew she couldn't expect everyone to be like her, scared of everything, scared to do anything, but telling off the Carrows didn't seem like the best idea, either. But she wasn't a Pureblood... maybe if some of them didn't stand up, the whole world would be filled with people like Amycus and Alecto.

There wasn't much more she could do for his face, and Hazel balled the cloth into her palm. Her fingers, though, threaded ever so slightly into the hair at his temple. She hoped it did not hurt.

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erniemacattack
2011-05-16 02:30 am UTC (link)

Ernie shook his head just very slightly, not wanting to make the throbbing in his head any worse than it already was. "...I probably should but I don't really think I could make it there at the moment. If she'd even be allowed to do anything. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been banned from healing me anyway..."

He sighed, looking at Hazel for a moment. Really looking, and seeing how concerned she was, which made him feel worse. He didn't want her to be worried about him. "I'm okay, Hazel...really, I am. I just...I can't sit back and just watch it all happen anymore. Consequences be damned."

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wichehazel
2011-05-16 02:39 am UTC (link)

"I understand, Ernie," she said softly, and she meant it. Hazel couldn't understand Ernie's reasons and might never act in kind, but she respected that he had to do what felt right to him. That was what being a Hufflepuff was all about. "If... if Madam Pomfrey isn't allowed to heal you, I'll study harder. Just in case."

She smiled weakly, but truly, her heart more than a little swollen with feeling for the older boy. Goodness, Hazel hadn't realized she found bravery attractive.

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erniemacattack
2011-05-16 03:22 am UTC (link)

"Not that I'm immediately about to go back and provoke them again..." Ernie sighed, setting the mug aside gently. "Do I look wretched? I feel pretty wretched, but I haven't a clue how I look..."

It was undoubtedly not pretty. Bruised, battered, dirty...ugh. He really should go take a bath. But the last thing Ernie wanted to do was try and move again. He didn't think his body would really let him, at any rate.

"...I really hate everything," he said after a moment, feeling so utterly lost.

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wichehazel
2011-05-16 03:53 am UTC (link)

Hazel blushed at being asked to express how Ernie looked, as her response was that he looked as handsome as ever, handsomer, even, for knowing the cause of his bruises and where he'd spent the last hours.

When he spoke again, though, her compliments were swallowed unspoken, and she watched Ernie with a careful expression. She'd intruded upon him, and he really needed a Healer, not some silly girl who thought she could do good by him just by wishing it.

"I can go if you want," she said quietly. "Or I could go and get Madam Pomfrey, even. You can... sleep. That should help."

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erniemacattack
2011-05-16 05:03 am UTC (link)

Ernie groaned inwardly, immediately regretting his words. "Hazel, that's not-I mean-I don't-you weren't-" he stopped, letting out a sigh. "You weren't included in that. I just meant...Merlin I don't know what I meant. I just feel like my entire world has been falling apart all year, and there's nothing I can do to make it any better. And to me it's so infuriating, because I feel really strongly about what's right and what's wrong, but standing up for it's so bloody hard..."

Ernie sighed, bringing his hands up to rub at his eyes which were feeling hot and prickling, but he was not going to cry of all things. He just didn't feel particularly brave at the moment. In fact, he felt considerably more broken than brave. He knew that he'd need to get over that, to move past this in order to keep fighting the good fight, but right at that moment, he just felt lost. And in more pain than he wanted to admit.

"I don't want you to go. I want you to stay with me. That's about all I want at the moment." He didn't have the energy to be anything but honest and frank with her.

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wichehazel
2011-05-16 06:45 pm UTC (link)

Hazel felt a little like she had the first time she'd tried to fly a broomstick, when the wind and her poor sense of direction had whipped her to and fro, up and down, nearly causing her to fall of the broom and incur some grievous injury. Ernie's words were having the same effect, and as crushed as she was in one moment she was filled with heady elation the next.

"Then I will."

She was determined not to give him any further reason to lament, though, if she were going to stay. Returning her attention briefly to the kit in her lap, Hazel removed a Potion with pain relieving properties, one she'd brewed and stoppered herself only a few months prior under Professor Slughorn's supervision.

"Here, drink this. It should help with the pain, at least. And I'm going to get you a blanket."

On an impulse, she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead - the side where he wasn't bruised - before rushing back up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

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erniemacattack
2011-05-17 05:13 am UTC (link)

Taking the potion from her hand, Ernie smiled when she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, before watching her head upstairs. It was entirely psychological, he knew, but having Hazel around made him feel at least a little bit closer to sanity.

Maybe the potion helped too, he thought as he drank it slowly. He closed his eyes again, shifting just slightly on the couch and almost thought he might be able to fall asleep when he heard Hazel come back down. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw Hazel and the blanket and wanted nothing more than to cuddle and sleep. Which wasn't, perhaps, the most manly course of action, but he really didn't care.

"I'm glad you're here," he said after a moment. "I really...I'm glad you're here."

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wichehazel
2011-05-18 01:32 am UTC (link)

Hazel's smile could have lit the whole of the little fishing village she called her home, so bright did it become at Ernie's words. She shook the blanket out - one her mother had crocheted, a double layer of tightly woven black and gold wool - before laying it across Ernie's knees.

"I'm glad you're safe," she said shyly, settling down beside him. Though she considered very seriously saying something like, You can sleep and I'll just run my fingers through your hair, she refrained. "Did the potion help?"

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erniemacattack
2011-05-18 02:32 am UTC (link)

While logic suggested that it was probably the potion, Ernie was pretty sure that smile on Hazel's face, the fact that she was there with him, was what was really making him feel better. While his body objected to his admittedly rather unconscious decision to forgo the Hospital Wing, he really did find so much comfort in having Hazel there.

Running his hand over the blanket lightly, Ernie smiled before nodding just slightly. "It did, I think. I'm just tired." Pausing for a moment, Ernie reached over, taking Hazel's hand in his. "I'm glad too."

Though he knew that it wouldn't likely be long, that safety was a fleeting concept that meant very little in the increasingly dangerous days they were living in, Ernie decided that being safe in this moment was enough to focus on. At least for now.

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