Who: Susan, Lavender When: 13 December, after this What: Quite a bit of anger Where: Gryffindor tower
Rating: PG
Susan bit her lip; Nyx was nestled into her lap, snapping his beak around in what he probably thought was a very ferocious way. A note was tied to his leg, but she wasn't sure if she really wanted to send it. It was early, and she didn't know if Lavender would be awake, much less in a talking mood. She wasn't sure Lavender would be in a talking mood no matter what time of day it was. A resigned sigh, and she wobbled Nyx's beak up and down with a playfulness that belied her uncertainty. Shooing him off her lap and out the window, then, she pulled an overcoat over rumpled pajamas, hoping Lavender would get the note by the time she made it up to Gryffindor tower.
Dear Lavender,
Could you meet me at the Gryffindor portrait hole? Just a quick chat, if that's alright.
--Susan
Lav had only been upstairs for a few minutes after her little snit with Neville when she received the note from Susan. Honestly, would it never end? Steeling herself, she pulled the sweater she had just discarded back on and walked downstairs, pushing open the portrait with a bit more force than was necessary.
It took Susan a bit longer to get up the several flights of stairs (particularly in her fuzzy slippers) and to Gryffindor tower. Rounding the corner to find Lavender waiting for her, clearly not in the best of moods, she just sighed inwardly and got on with it. "Hey," she called out quietly, moving closer. "Tired of being asked how you're doing yet?" She tried to smile, but it was more an expression of awkwardness than anything else.
"I'm sure it would bother me less if I thought the people who were asking actually cared." She said, then immediately wished she could bite her tongue off. Damn it, she had just fought with Neville, now she was going to fight with Susan too?
Susan didn't give any indication that she was upset by the comment, just smiled a bit, tiredly. "If I didn't care, I could've pretended from downstairs, right?" Honestly, she wanted to just reach over and hug Lavender, but it would have been a bit awkward, given the circumstances. "I'm really glad to see you. It's been a while."
"Yeah, about a week. That is how long I sat upstairs, embarrassed out of my mind and wallowing in misery, isn't it? Glad to see you finally managed to make the trek. Because, you know, you care so much." She was still burning with hurt over the way everyone had reacted, and her mood was showing no signs of improving any time soon.
The comment stung, and Susan bit her lip. If Lavender wanted to lash out, she wasn't about to try and stop her, but she was, at the very least, going to defend herself. "I know you're angry, Lavender, and if you want to be hurtful, fine. I'm sorry I didn't come and see you, but it's a bit difficult when you lock yourself in your tower and don't tell anyone what's going on. I had to find out from Hermione what had happened. Then I had to figure out what I could possibly say to you. Apologize to Hermione? Would you have taken that suggestion had I made it?"
"Apologize? Apologize? Oh, that is it, Susan. I am so sick and tired of everyone acting like I am the only person who was being insulting, and poor little Hermione was the one with her innocent feelings hurt. I'm sick of everyone acting like I'm the villain. God, you wonder why I'm not inclined to hang out with you and all your little friends in the Hermione Granger fan club? It's because you act like I'm the one who's at fault here. Did anyone ask Hermione to apologize to me? I don't think so."
Susan bit back her anger. She had to remain calm. This is what head girls did, remain calm. It didn't help much. "Maybe if you'd bothered to let me know what happened, or anyone for that matter, we might have. All we got was her side of the story because you were too busy wallowing instead of asking for help. This is why the DA is going to hell," her voice raised and her eyes gleamed as anger and upset fought back. "No one will talk to each other anymore. Why do we need you-know-who at all when we can just hate each other for him?" She angrily brushed a stupid, useless tear from her cheek. She was definitely not making head girl fame, right now.
"Please, Susan. I guarantee you the fact that I hate the girl my boyfriend cheated on me with doesn't really give comfort to the enemy." She said, rolling her eyes. Were Head Girls supposed to be so damn dramatic?
Susan shook her head. "It wasn't the point." She ground her teeth for a moment. "You have every right to be angry at Hermione. But lashing out at the rest of us? We're supposed to be unified, even if we don't always get along. Doesn't that mean anything to you? Unification? If we sit around and bicker all day, yes I think that gives comfort to the enemy." Impassioned now, Susan stood a bit more erect. "It's not a joke. The school was attacked before, in case you've forgotten. Do you think it's going to matter what sort of person you think Hermione Granger is if that happens again?"
"Of course. A unified front that let me wallow in misery for a week after I was provoked in saying something stupid because Hermione can't let a day go by without rubbing salt in my wounds. And of course, you were all so gallant and noble and unified to go sniggering around behind my back about it." She tossed her head proudly. "But of course, it's all a joke to me. I'm just an dotty little girl with absolutely no concept of reality, a true idiot. Ask anyone. I mean, Merlin, I used to kiss my boyfriend in public and I say things without thinking. A stupid cow and a trollop. What a deadly combination." She was incensed over the insinuation that it was all a joke to her, two spots of anger appearing on her cheeks.
Anger sparked in her. She wanted to yell at Lavender, tell her to stop feeling sorry for herself, to stop being a prat, but it simply wasn't in her to do it. "I was -not- sniggering behind your back." A flush had long since risen past her cheeks to her ears, and now it burned. "Some of us thought the pair of you would be mature enough to sort something out. I'm sorry it took us a week to realize how ridiculous you'd both be. BOTH of you." Susan's anger lashed across those syllables, and she turned to go. "I'm sorry you felt we didn't care, but you're wrong. If you need something I'm still here for you, even if you want to hate me, too."
"Wonderful. I'm glad I can continue to be assured that you'll have a care for my feelings from a distance. Merlin knows real friends don't operate in close proximity." She said, storming back through the portrait hole and slamming it closed behind her, eliciting an angry exclamation from the Fat Lady.