ernie macmillan, head boy. (puff enough for two.) (emacmillan) wrote in caged, @ 2013-09-13 02:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 97-09, [ log ], ernie macmillan, susan bones |
WHO: Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones.
WHEN: BACKDATED to September 11, around 11pm.
WHERE: Hufflepuff Common Room.
SUMMARY: Things are sorted out.
RATING: PG.
STATUS: Complete.
It had been quite a long day, but it had not stopped one Head Boy Ernie Macmillan from doing his Prefect duties for the night. In fact, Ernie cherished it, if only because he did not have to be with many people during this period. It was just him and Hannah, for the most part, and thankfully, he had remembered to bring two bottles of butterbeer with him. He and Hannah had chatted about the day, the past, and the future, but none of the topics were really settling, with so much uncertainty looming over their heads. It was the uncertainty they were so engrossed in conversation with as they returned to the Hufflepuff common room after rounds. Ernie had almost forgotten that he wanted to speak to Susan after rounds, but he was glad to see her seated on the sofa, anyway. He flashed her a smile, glancing at Hannah a moment later. Hannah nodded, as though she understood that this was meant to be a private moment, and retreated to the girls' dormitory. When there was no one in sight, Ernie's eyes fell on his badge that just happened to be slightly crooked -- ah, the horror! Fixing it, he breathed in, as he looked up at Susan. "Hello," he greeted, his hands falling into the pockets of his trousers. It had indeed been a long day, and Susan wanted to be in bed. Normally, she would’ve been eager for late night, secret meetings with Ernie, but this wasn’t the sort of tryst she liked. Instead all that awaited her was likely an awkward conversation. An awkward conversation with her boyfriend. When Ernie and Hannah entered, she closed the text she was reading, making a point to carefully place her postcard inside as a bookmark and taking her time before looking up and meet Ernie’s eyes. “Hi,” she said quietly, her eyes falling on his now perfectly adjusted head boy badge. “Head Boy.” She patted the cushion next to her and added, “sit by me.” A shy smile followed the 'Head Boy', but Ernie did do as he was told and walked over to the sofa, sitting down on the cushion that was now reserved for him. His hands fell to his sides, as he lifted a leg to rest on the edge of the table in front of them, his knee popped up at an angle. "Today was stupid," he started, his eyes scanning the book that she was reading. At least it was not her journal, Ernie thought to himself. You’re stupid, she almost said and stopped herself when she remembered it was something she’d say to Zacharias, not Ernie. “Today was long,” she finally said. She picked up the charms book and ran her finger along the spine. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” That much was true. She hadnt, though she wasn’t feeling particularly apologetic about having said (or written) any of it either. “You know I lo--like you.” "Nor I, yours," Ernie responded truthfully, as he gulped a little. "I have to save face, Susan. You know I do. I do not want this badge stripped from me, only to be given to Malfoy. We do not know whether the Carrows are Death Eaters and if they are, then who knows what they are capable of?" It was a bit of a word vomit, but he had to spew it out. "I refuse to give it up easily. And if I have to say stupid things to appease them, then I do not see it as a big mistake." He paused momentarily, to gather his thoughts. "I do not like being condemned because I am a pure-blood," Ernie finally added, his voice quieter now than before. “I know you can’t lose your badge.” She glanced over at it out of the corner of her eye and sighed. “But you have to know that if you’re going to ‘save face’ then I’m going to give you shit. No one is going to believe that I’m okay with my boyfriend kissing up to the Carrows, not when I’m arguing with other people, too. I gave Padma a hard time. It’s not like I didn’t know you didn’t mean it, but…” She trailed off and looked down at the space between them on the sofa. “You have to know I didn’t mean to condemn you specifically, so much as what you were saying. It looked bad, coming from a pureblood.” Ernie frowned; not because he didn't understand what she was talking about, but because he knew exactly how it looked. He was annoyed with himself for being unable to stick to his gut feeling, but what more could he possibly do without testing the Carrows' limits? Sighing slightly, he raised his hands to his chest, unpinning his badge in the process. Turning it over with his thumb, he traced the letters with his finger. "At least the Carrows are successful in pitting students against one another already," he remarked, a little sullen. Susan sighed and held her hand out to him. “Can I see it? I promise I won’t break it.” The Head Boy badge was an honour, one she knew he deserved, and it wasn’t something she wanted seen taken from him. Even if she thought he and Hannah were being a bit alarmist, she knew Ernie was doing the smart thing by playing it safe, particularly since the female Carrow had seemed to be eyeing it the other day. “Maybe we should have a code for when you’re spouting nonsense in the journals. Like a phrase that means ‘I’m sorry I have to insult you. I still want to rip your clothes off you later.’” Ernie placed the badge on the palm of her hand carefully, with a small smile. "I wonder if they would give me a new one, if I somehow managed to break it." He knew he wouldn't, but the thought was still something to ponder about. He couldn't help but laugh at her suggestion for the code and its meaning, and once his chuckle had simmered down, he nodded. "That would be a good idea. No idea what it would actually be, but I do like what it would stand for." His expression changed, as though he was innocent, and he quirked both of his brows. "The latter part of it, especially." Susan smiled to herself as she fastened the pin to the strap of her tank top. “I already told you, not in the Common Room.” Without much to attach it to, the badge fell lopsided, and the weight of it pulled on her strap. It was not at all perfect and straight, the way Ernie wore his. “I think it looks pretty good, don’t you? I wonder if they’d give you a new one if I lost it right now.” Oh, great. Now her bra strap was visible. Ernie tried his damned hardest to not stare, but -- no. No. He forced himself to look away, and at her face instead, examining it in the process. He could count the faint hint of freckles from this distance, and her dimples were exceptionally prominent. "Please do not lose my badge," he pleaded, repositioning himself slightly so that both his feet touched the ground and he was sitting up straight. "I would hate to test out that theory so early into the term." If she had been in a more playful mood, she might’ve teased him more by hiding the badge, or at the very least dropping it down her shirt and asking him to retrieve it. But the awkwardness from earlier hadn’t entirely dissipated, so she quietly removed it from her shirt and pinned it back on his robes, flushing a little under his gaze. “There.” She gave it a soft pat and smiled. “Back where it belongs. Safe and sound.” She leaned up then and kissed his cheek. “You know,” she said, snuggling closer to him, “if you make me pick the code, it’s going to be ‘Fuck you.’ So, fair warning.” An arm came around to rest on Susan's waist, pulling her closer to him and Ernie kissed the top of her head, smiling in the process. "That will do no one any good," he commented, though the idea of profanity coming out of something Ernie would write was quite a hilarious thought. "It should be something mundane and relating to the weather, or something." He offered a shrug in the process, pulling back just a little. "It would have to change every time." “Sure, the weather,” she said, closing her eyes and resting her head against his chest. He smelled so nice. “Are we okay now?” "I hope so," Ernie replied, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Hannah wondered if we were still 'together'." It made him chuckle, certainly, but considering that Susan had said they would talk about it later, he wasn't all that sure anymore. “Me too,” she said, eyes still closed. For now, maybe they were okay. She wondered how long that would last, considering their relationship was already off to a rocky start. It was easier to push her concerns to the side, though, so instead she said “as long as you still want me.” "No, Susan, I am merely sitting here to entertain the thought of not wanting you," Ernie replied, with some sass and sarcasm. He pulled back from her slightly, a hand reaching for her chin and forcing her to look up at him. "You know it will take more than one argument to push me away, yes?" Susan opened her eyes reluctantly, but when she did, she leaned up and kissed the side of his chin. “I know.” She paused. “But how many arguments is too many arguments?” Ernie paused, not wanting to answer that immediately, mostly because he didn't know what the answer to that question was. Instead, he settled for a shrug. "I am hoping to not find out, if I must be honest." Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her forehead. Susan sighed and pulled away. Sitting upright once again, she said, “I just don’t want you to resent me.” "Resent you?" Ernie frowned, as though that was the dumbest statement he had heard. "Why the hell would I resent you? Pardon my French." “That wasn’t French.” Susan shook her head and smiled. It would probably never fail to make her laugh when Ernie used, or attempted to use, profanity. Turning serious again, she said, “Maybe because I don’t have a badge to save, and I’m not going to bother playing nice with our new professors.” Ernie shook his head, before Susan had even finished speaking. "No, you may not have a badge, nor did I expect you to suck up to the professors. Sure, I did not expect everyone to go at it at once, but -- listen, I am not going to resent you. You have every right to be upset with what has been happening, and if I did not understand that, we would not be in this position right now." He paused, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Plus, you would not be Susan, if you were not spunky. And I am quite fond of the spunkiness." “Oh, Ernie.” They were really an odd pair. “And I’m really quite fond of your--” She paused, giving him a nudge with her elbow and a glance downwards. “--your stiffness.” An awkward laugh followed, though he followed her glance downwards, as well. Thankfully, there was no 'stiffness' visible, but it still made me him suddenly self-conscious. "Yes, all right, thank you. I think." What did one even say to something like that? Good Merlin. Maybe it was due to the late hour, the time when she normally found everything hilarious, but she started giggling then. “I’m sorry.” She buried her face in his shoulder, still laughing. It was clear she wasn’t sorry at all. “I love you, Ernie.” Ernie's awkward laugh turned into something more of a genuine smile as she fell onto his shoulder laughing, and he brought his hand around Susan again. He only froze, however, at her next statement. He wasn't sure that he heard her clearly, so he furrowed his brows together, leaning back to look at her, and simultaneously pushing her away from him, so Ernie could actually see Susan's face. "I beg your pardon?" Fuck. It had slipped out. It was a phrase they said often in her family and something she was accustomed to telling her friends. Except Ernie wasn’t a friend anymore. She blushed and looked up towards the ceiling. The common room really was very yellow. “I like you a lot.” And that confirmed his suspicions. Yes, she had said it. Yes, he had heard correctly. Ernie nodded, suddenly finding the drapery to be extremely interesting. He breathed in and out, quite loudly, and stood up on his feet. He paced back and forth, in front of the sofa, but finally looked at Susan, as though the pacing gave him some confidence. "I heard you, you know." The silence that followed was awkward and a little unpleasant, but she looked up to meet his gaze anyway. “I know,” she said finally. “I didn’t really mean it like that, so can we just pretend I said something else? Anything else. Elephant shoes.” She looked down at her nails and was thankful she wasn’t wearing her mood polish. The last thing she needed was to have both her nails and her cheeks broadcast her embarrassment. "No, I mean --," he paused, sitting down again. Ernie took her hand, though he didn't bother trying to meet her gaze. He was content with staring at her hand, as well. "I like you a lot, too. A lot. And I am completely hopeless for you, but I do not want to say something that would send you running right away. But I feel the same way. A lot." He ended the speech with a kiss to the cheek, though he felt his own cheeks suddenly burning. “I don’t know that it’s anything more than that. Right now. Yet. It slipped out, and I’m sorry.” Day two of the relationship and she was fucking up everywhere. “But I’m not running away, okay?” "Okay," Ernie nodded, smiling as he looked at her. He figured that it was the most honest response that Susan would give him for now, and he didn't want to mess it up, just yet. "I am certainly glad to hear that." And because he had waited entirely too long to do it, he finally pressed his lips against hers, kissing her softly. Finally. This was much more familiar, comfortable ground, and it was a relief to not have to talk about feelings any longer. She broke away from his kiss only long enough to reposition herself and push him down onto the sofa. “This is more like it,” Ernie laughed again, this time more genuinely, as he wrapped his hands around Susan's middle. Smirking up at her, he gently pushed a hand under the back of her shirt, his fingertips barely grazing her skin. "Want to wear my badge again?" “Put it on me, and then no more talking, Ernest.” She considered using his full name then, but it was such a mouthful, and she had better things to do with her mouth. All she really wanted to do was forget this ridiculously awkward day by doing the one thing she was confident she was good at. Ernie's hands worked quickly then -- they moved fast from her back to his badge, and eventually, he pinned it on her tank, though he kept his hands at a not-so-modest distance. "Yes, ma'am," he mumbled, moments later, kissing her again. This was not such a bad ending to a shoddy day, after all. |