ernie + hermione
WHO: Ernie MacMillan & Hermione Granger
WHAT: Prefect schedules lead to chatting
WHEN: Monday, Oct. 19th
WHERE: Classroom
RATING: PG
STATUS: Done!






Hermione nearly tripped up the stairs in her rush to get to McGonagall's classroom. The Gryffindor had completely lost track of time. Why? Because she was completely engrossed in a certain book that she was in the middle of. After Peter Pan had been the subject of conversation the night before with Professor Lupin and the pages and the story that unraveled inside of them, she had been entranced by the familiar tale. So much so that she was late to meet Ernie for their planned evening of doing prefect schedules. She'd been in the library, pouring through the pages when she happened to look up at the clock and learned a good fifteen minutes or so had passed since she was initially due to see him.

"Please still be there, please still be there," she chanted under her breath as she regained her balanced and hurried up the rest of the steps, moving at a brisk pace to the Transfiguration classroom. She was quite out of breath by the time her fingers turned the knob of the door and she pushed it open in quiet hope that Ernie hadn't left just yet.

"I'm so sorry!" she breathed. "I was in the library and I was..." she held up the book for illustration before she continued to explain in incomplete sentences."Completely lost track... So awful you had to wait... I'm so sorry," she finished, finally taking a breath. Was somebody on edge or what?

It was unlike Hermione Granger to be late. For that, Ernie had started to worry when the clock chimed ten after their promised meeting time. At first, he had assumed she had gotten caught up with assignments or that a professor needed to speak with her, but when the minutes kept ticking, his heart had began to pound. He was a worry-wart by nature, but usually with good reason. Hermione never kept him waiting before so of course he'd fret. He had tried to distract himself in reading over some of the prefects' scheduling preferences, but, really, his mind was on the Gryffindor. Therefore, when she came in, all apologies, he grinned. "There you are!" He stood up, squeezing her shoulder. "No problem at all. Just glad you made it. You know I'm a dunce when it comes to this."

It was a good thing he didn't confess that he had been worrying or else Hermione would have been wracked with even more guilt. She made it a point to always be on time, especially when meeting for an important reason. Or meeting a significant person. And both applied in this case. Still, she relaxed when he squeezed her shoulder and assured it was all right that she was tardy. His added comment made the corners of her lips twitch in a grin. "You're on time,” she said. “I’d say you have one up on me already tonight.”

She breathed a calming sigh as she settled into a seat, collecting herself and her thoughts after having been in such a rush only a few moments beforehand. “I guess that means you don’t want to have a go at them all alone?” she asked in jest.

Truth be told, Ernie didn't have much choice but to be on time. Hannah was always busy with Quidditch or assignments and Helga knew the males in his dorm didn't much like him anymore. Hence, it wasn't like Ernie was rolling in social obligations. Hell, even his homework was done far more in advance than usual. He didn't tell Hermione any of that then, choosing instead to just wave off that comment with a hand. "You know the last time, I buggered it up. I thought Zabini was going to hex me!"

Hermione grinned fondly at the memory. It was always a terrifying and yet oddly exciting thing to see the reactions of the prefect’s when they received their schedules for rounds, especially since nine times out of then, they were displeased. “Luckily I was there to back you up,” she said. “It would have been much more difficult for him to get away with hexing pig ears on two students as opposed to only one,” she said. “Just in case though, we should probably see if there’s any way we can spare him from doing Saturday night rounds again, yeah?” Another grin as she leaned down to set her bag on the floor beside her, pausing to withdraw her quill and ink in order to get started. “Where to begin...”

Ernie didn't see what the big deal with schedules was anyway. When he had been a prefect, he simply accepted his duties as assigned. It was part of fulfilling job obligations and MacMillans took that very, very seriously. As long as it didn't conflict with a birthday or something, why did prefects think they were entitled to choose any round they wanted? That wasn't how it worked. It wasn't practical. No one would do weekend rounds then! Nonetheless, Ernie still didn't want Zabini trying to test out the latest curses on him, and thus, grinned at Hermione's reminder. "You were, indeed, thank goodness. I think you're quicker with me when it comes to your wand!" Sure, Ernie was good enough, but Hermione was brilliant from what he had seen in the DA. He glanced down at the parchment as she did, pointing to Padma's name. "Hm. She can't do Thursday."

Hermione couldn’t help but to laugh at that. “Maybe he did manage to blotch up your vision when you weren’t aware of it,” she said in regard to his comment about her being good with a wand. “Because I beg to disagree. I’d say I’m actually quite slow when it comes to wand handling,” she said, running her finger down the list of prefect names in the process.

And it was true. Hermione was great with actual hexes and spells themselves, but there was more times than not when she could have acted quicker, going by instinct rather than skill alone. It could have gotten her killed had she not been lucky. Or had she not been fighting alongside so many who were backing her and the rest of the Order. “I’m sure you’ve got me beat there as well. That’s two you have on me then,” she said. Tapping Pansy’s name she said, “She can do Thursday,” before writing the name in the designated place.

Truthfully, when it came to Hermione, Ernie's judgment was quite clouded. He wouldn't admit it, not even really to himself, but he had a crush on the bushy-haired muggle-born from the first conversation they had their first year. He knew she'd never return those feelings and she was very likely Ron Weasley's soul mate so Ernie never dreamed of bringing it up. To anyone. Ever. Pushing all that from his mind, he nodded at her remark concerning Pansy. "Sounds good." Then, after a second's deliberation, Ernie glanced at Hermione. "We had an interesting chat the other day. Pansy and I that is."

“Yeah?” she asked, pausing in her browsing over the list again to turn to fully face him. She didn’t ask anymore questions such as ‘What about?’ or ‘How was it?’ as she wasn’t sure which to go on and bring up. Besides that fact, she knew very little about Pansy Parkinson aside from the fact that the girl was positively dismissive toward her for most of their school career and she knew even less about anything dealing with she and Ernie.

Ernie didn't dwell much on his childhood and, really, Hermione would have little knowledge concerning most to do with the MacMillans' dealings with the other pure-blooded families. Nevertheless, he found that he wanted to share it with her. He didn't know if it was fair considering all she had to deal with it, but this had a possibly happy ending, didn't it? He still wasn't sure Pansy hadn't been charmed or something, but he was hopeful to have a small part of his full life back. He had never felt completely whole losing his childhood chums as much as he loved his new friends. Ha. New friends. Justin hated him. Zach likely thought Ernie was being a pompous arse and Susan would undoubtedly run to them like always. Merlin, couldn't he get through one day without thinking about them and how much it hurt? Would it ever get better? He thought back to when he had been eleven and losing Draco, Teddy, Pansy, and a few others. Had it hurt this much? No, he realized, it hadn't. He had been too young to realize the repercussions. Still, he had never truly stopped caring or wondering. Was this growing up? Growing apart from some while rediscovering others? Why couldn't he have them all? At the same time? Would he always miss someone?

"It…it was interesting." Ernie sat at the desk he had been leaning over, turning his full attention to Hermione. "She seems to want…to want to be mates again." He laughed almost bitterly at himself. "I'm half afraid it was all some prank. Or a charm."

It would have been scary to look at the insides of their heads at the time being. Hermione and Ernie. They had so many of the same fears involving childhood and how it was now affecting the present and would eventually drift into the future. Her conversation with Professor Lupin the night before had been full of emotion concerning her woes about all of the above, especially the worry that she would always been missing someone. It was a dull ache that she feared captured too much of her than it should have at the time being, when she was sure that at this point in her life, she was supposed to have things sorted and some idea of what to expect in the future. But how could she when the things she had always relied on and the people she had always trusted with everything were slowly drifting away. It made it hard to hold out much hope.

“Don’t say that,” she said. “I doubt it was anything of the sort,” she assured him, though secretly, she wouldn’t have put it past Pansy. That, though, was because of her own past experiences with the Slytherin girl. “You were mates once, weren’t you?” she asked.

Ernie had to hand it to Hermione. She had a memory like an elephant even when it came to the most mundane of details. And honestly? Ernie felt his life quite mundane. This was especially true when it came down to his life versus the one she had experienced since befriending Harry Potter. "Once. A long time ago." The words were spoken softly as Ernie looked at the next prefect. "We'll put Zabini here." He wrote him in for Tuesday. "Shouldn't complain for that one."

“Then it shouldn’t be so hard to believe it was with ill intent,” she said as if she were trying to assure him. And she was. She couldn’t imagine why a former friend would want to somehow maliciously hurt another by tricking them into thinking they wanted a rekindled companionship. “If it is true though, I’m sure we could ask him about that pig ear hex?” she said, nodding to Blaise’s name after Ernie wrote it. Why was it so easy to joke right now?

Smirking, Ernie thought about Blaise's expression if they actually asked him about how to hex pig-ears on Pansy. "Oh, sure, and then he'll take us for tea." He gave her a playful nudge in the arm. "I guess…just good to be cautious, yeah? I mean…I forgave someone once and it just…went right back to what it was." Ernie averted his gaze, knowing hurt would reflect in his light eyes. "And here goes Ron…" He cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable again.

Again, their frames of mind were matching like a pair of twin pictures so clearly displayed on a mantel. Hermione didn’t miss the way his gaze changed when he admitted to the truth about the things that could happen when one forgave another. And how it could never make even the slightest difference to one person, but for another, like Ernie, it could change everything. And it could hurt like hell. It was her turn to reflect some of that hurt when he mentioned Ron, but the eyes at did so were averted to the list to avoid it. It was getting to be ridiculous now. Not just the way her supposed best mate was distancing himself so much from her, but that even the sound of his name made her tense and her poise stiffen. Just from a name. It was sad that something so simple could do that, but then she remembered ‘Voldemort’ and how it was impossible for some, Ron included, to ever speak his name.

“Here is fine,” she said, dipping her quill into her ink pot and penning Ron’s name into the Saturday evening rounds.

"Right." Ernie nodded his agreement. He had noticed the look, but was afraid to pry. Instead, he moved on to the next prefect and then the next until all the spots were filled. "Well, good work, Miss Granger!" He beamed at the girl, pleased that he had been given such a fine Head Girl to work with. "We make a pair with this thing, don't we? Think we can do this every time?"

Hermione grinned, feeling relaxed when they worked through the schedules. Good company and assignments in addition to books were her favourite remedy to any hardship in her opinion. That and a spot of fun, something that the bookworm sometimes neglected too much for her own good far too often. “I think we could,” she said, setting her ink quill back in the pot. Instead of leaving it however, she pulled it out again and “accidentally” drew it across his hand. “Though next time, you might want to mind your ink,” she said, holding back a laugh.

The always proper Ernie jumped back on instinct, but then laughed. "Hmmm. I saw you, you know." Taking his hand, he used the still wet ink on it to place a dot on Hermione's nose. "Oh, whoops. My apologies!"

The ever proper Ernie was a sneaky one apparently. Hermione didn’t immediately think that he would retaliate and so when he did, it surprised her. “Hey!” she said, scrunching her nose and rubbing at it with her hand... which of course, smeared it all over. “That was no accident,” she said. “....And neither was this,” she said before not-so-innocently drawing the quill across his cheek. She may not have been so quick with a wand, but her inking skills were hard to match it seemed!

It felt good to just let loose. Ernie hardly ever did and even less so since the whole fiasco with Justin and Zach. Hannah was really the only one he ever got silly with so it felt good to have someone else to do so as well. Especially since it looked like he was going to have even less time with Hannah no matter how innocent she claimed her friendship with Teddy Nott Theodore was. "Oy! Headmistress is going to murder us, you know!" Nonetheless, he was laughing hard.

Oh, how nice it felt to laugh at let loose indeed. There was a difference between faking it for the sake of appearances, and genuinely having a good time. And for right now, it was the latter. And she couldn’t recall when that had last happened, not to mention the fact that Hermione was never really one to be known for being silly either. But like so many other things, it went along with the fact that she was just a girl. In spite of everything. She was only a girl. And this girl would take friendship and joking around when it was offered to her as opposed to upholding her pomp and circumstance, especially when she needed it. “Are you planning on tattling?” she asked, unable to look at him without laughing. “I’m sorry,” she said to apologize for her most recent fit of giggles. “You look ridiculous.” Then she added. “Especially for someone who has such a proper journal signature!”

Ernie knew he looked a mess. Ink speared on his face and hands and robes…oy, the elves would not appreciate this. He'd have to do something special for them. Muttering a spell, he managed to clean both he and Hermione well enough though their robes were definitely still stained and in need of laundering. "Yes, well, so do you," he teased back though, really, he thought she looked awfully adorable. "And, hey, you all need to leave my signature alone. It's a way for everyone to get in touch with me!"

“Thanks,” she said when he helped her get cleaned up, examining the palms of her hands when he was through and making sure they were spotless before rolling up the schedule and neatly setting it on the professor’s desk for the final approval as her usual. “I’m only having a laugh with you about the that,” she said, nudging his arm with her elbow to ensure that he knew she wasn’t being serious when it came to mentioning his signature. “It makes you look very important,” she said. “Perhaps I should make mine as formal to be taken as seriously?”

"I know, love, no worries at all." He squeezed her about the shoulders. "And everyone knows you're plenty important, signature or not. I just like…well, I like it." He laughed at himself, blushing.

Was she blushing? It would have been safe to assume she was when he complimented her accompanied by a small sign of affection. “Parkinson would be right foolish if she was only playing a trick,” she said, growing serious for a moment in the midst of their fun. “How anyone would turn their back on you is beyond me,” she said.

How a mate could ever turn on another was beyond her in truth.

And such was a thought she’d run through her head several times that year, not just regarding her own friendships, but those of others as well. Especially after she learned a bit about the tension between Justin, Ernie, and Zach. Or Ginny and Harry. Or Ron. Right now though, she was addressing Ernie specifically. And she meant it when she said she couldn’t understand why anyone would do such a thing to him. Then again, the fact that he was being more friend to her than most that year might have accounted for why she felt so strongly about that point.

Ernie wished he knew, but he had gone over it in his brain time and time again. Anything he would have said or done differently and…well, there wasn't. He didn't regret moving forward with Zach, but it was still tentative. He was getting the chance Justin had and messed up. Ernie wasn't one to let his heart get hurt time and time again. He took it seriously, maybe too seriously, and couldn't lend it out to just anyone. He was guarded and when it came to what he saw as betrayal…well. "Something about Zach needing him." It was said with more than a hint of bitterness and Ernie quickly felt guilty for saying it. "Sorry. Shouldn't bring it up…I just…yes, sorry."

Hermione frowned, but not because of the words, but because of the fact that he was apologizing for saying such a thing aloud to her. “Please,” she said, putting a hand on his arm. “Don’t say you’re sorry.” After the night she had just had when she finally broke down and cried to someone, she understood that it really was better to get it out, even just a little bit, instead of continually bottling everything inside.

Instinctively, he rested his hand on hers just as if she had been Hannah. Merlin, he needed someone to understand. "I just…I mean it's petty really in the end." Except his feelings weren't.

“No, it’s not,” she said, almost with a bitter laugh accompanying it. “It seems like it to you, I’m sure, but that means it’s usually far from it.” Trust me.

"I just…he's my supposed best mate and I gave him a second chance and he still…" The pain flickered in Ernie's eyes, but he didn't hide it from her this time. He released her hand though, wondering if she'd think him as awful as Justin and the rest clearly thought. "He knows why I was so upset that first time and then barely two weeks later…" Had it even been two weeks? Time was so foggy. "He'd rather have Zach which is fine, I guess, but…to act like I had done something so heinous in not blindly siding with Zach?" As he spoke, the hurt started giving way to anger again. He stood up, pacing. "Never mind Zach and I worked things out. Never mind my own father holds Zach's hand! Just…how the…" He stopped, exhaling sharp breaths.

Hermione wasn’t necessarily expecting him to spill so quickly, but that didn’t at all mean that she wasn’t grateful. She knew it would be good for him -- it had been good for her, and knowing that, she wanted to be there for him. For anyone who needed someone in the way she needed someone to confide in when others were missing.

She was quiet and listened as he spoke, not even flinching when the tone of his voice change and the volume increased to express his anger, words seemingly fueled by the steps in his paces. There was no interruption and until he’d stopped speaking somewhat abruptly, whether it was because he was collecting his thoughts or didn’t want to say them aloud, she didn’t respond. But it was then that she did. “Just how what?” she prodded as gently as she could.

He wasn't sure why he had told Hermione all that. Maybe because of the entire trio, she had always been the one who seemed the most interest in branching out? No, that wasn't fair. Maybe it was because she was just so…open. Her eyes, her expression…

Still, when she questioned him, he looked over again, feeling self-conscious. "It's not important." He began gathering his things. "I didn't mean to bring down the mood."

For a moment, she felt guilty. Maybe she shouldn’t have asked. He seemed rather uncomfortable after all. But then she thought about if she were in Ernie’s shoes. And in a way, she already was. And all she wanted was someone to give a damn enough to listen. But not only that, but to really care enough to want to know what was going on with the other person that was so distressing for them.

She wanted someone to not make it feel as if she were alone with her faults and her emotions.

And Hermione thought that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that Ernie felt the same way. So, again, she put a hand on his arm to stop him from packing up. “It’s always important,” she said, tilting her head downward slightly to catch his eyes. “If everyone realized that, I don’t think you’d be feeling like this right now.”

"It wasn't to him. Them." Ernie stopped getting ready, finally turning back to her. "I don't know. I don't know how to fix it. Nor do I know if I want to and…that scares me."

Again she laughed softly, dropping her hand from his arm. “Ernie, you have no idea how much I understand that...” she said, but her voice was low as if she were speaking more to herself than to the boy she addressed specifically by name.

“I feel like... I want to give you advice on it or tell you something that sounds even close to some sort of right answer, but in truth, I’m not sure if I can be fair in the matter because I already empathize far too much,” she said, glancing up at him again. Sighing, she sunk back into one of the desks before giving it a go anyhow. “I think it all has to do with growing up,” she said. “I had a talk with Professor Lupin yesterday and I think... well, I think it all comes back to that. You can’t really grow up if you have people holding you back. And it’s... it’s sad that sometimes the people who are used to be so close, people that you never thought would do anything but support you. No matter what. But... I guess that’s what makes it so hard,” she said. “When you realize that maybe people aren’t always what you expect them to be and that time changes people. Sadly... for the bad more often than not,” she said, fixating her gaze aimlessly on blackboard as she continued. “People can only turn their backs on you so many times,” she said. “Before it hurts too much to let them do it again.”

She understood. It was almost too much to hope for. "But what about those like Pansy then? Suddenly finding their way back?" He ran a hand through his hair, thinking over all she said. He couldn't let go of friends that easily even if he did in physicality. "It's just…you never stop caring though."

“Of course you never stop caring,” she said. “There was a reason you let them get so close to begin with. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to hurt you as much. It’s always the people who you trust the most who have the power to make you feel the smallest,” she said. Shrugging, she continued. “There’s no guarantee about how things will turn out, I suppose. But sometimes they can surprise you. I imagine that’s Pansy did.”

Ernie nodded his concurrence. "Let' s hope, hm? Everyone gets a second chance. Thirds have to be given sparingly though." He winked jokingly.

“Did you ever read Peter Pan?” she asked, looking back to him.

"What?" Surprised, he just sort of gaped at her. "No...what?"

Hermione laughed at his reaction. Standing, she moved to her bag and pulled the book out that had been the reason for her emotional thinking as of late as well as why she was late meeting him that evening. “You’ve really never read it?” she asked, handing the book out to him.

"No...I...is it a muggle book?" Ernie glanced at the object in her hands.

“Oh my goodness. Ernie!” she said, shaking her head. “You’ve been missing out,” she said. “Here,” she said, offering it to him once more. “It won’t bite!” she added with a smile. “It’s a wonderful story, but it really makes you think. There’s all sort of things in it -- adventure and secret worlds and fairies and pirates and things,” she said, trying not to ramble. “It’s about a boy who never wanted to grow up,” she said in summary.

He looked from the book to her. "Read it...like now?"

“Well not this very second,” she said, unable to keep from laughing again. “I borrowed it from Lupin. I’m sure he won’t mind that I’ve passed it along. If you even like to read, that is,” she said, suddenly wondering if Ernie hated the idea and was not at all a bookworm like she or their professor was. It wouldn’t make much sense to be applied to every day life if he didn’t enjoy it.

"No, I do." Ernie smiled. "Thanks...really. I'll read it tonight. Promise not to tear it or anything."

Hermione eyed him suspiciously. “Does that mean you don't know much about other fairy tales and things?” she asked with curiosity. “I already know you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice,” she added with a grin.

"Well, wizarding ones. Not much about these though Hannah does try." He smiled fondly thinking of his friend. Hannah was there for him always and he was more than grateful. "I'm sure it will be brill though. I trust your taste."

Hermione nodded, thinking of Hannah and the conversations they sometimes had over such stories. “I can’t believe she never mentioned Peter Pan!” she said. “Well... if you hate it, just pretend it was Lupin all along who recommended it, all right?” she asked with a grin.

Smirking, Ernie leaned in to whisper, "It'll be our secret if I hate it. Promise."