Title: Third Time's the Charm
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.
Ernie Macmillan is a very sincere person. When he reaches a conclusion, he will defend his views to his dying breath, and if Hogwarts had a debate team, Ernie would be a founding member.
Ernie is only twelve though, so his opinions aren't always correct and his reasoning is rarely sound. But Ernie also likes being right, so you'll be hard-pressed to convince Ernie he's wrong without some conclusive evidence.
And Ernie's a pureblood, so it's not as if he's ever heard that muggle saying about assumptions and their consequences.
(Because despite his sincerity, earnest has never meant the same thing as right.)
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.
Ernie has no idea what this could possibly mean, but a chill seems to ripple through his body as if he'd accidentally stepped through the Fair Friar again.
To his right, Hannah clutches fearfully at his elbow, eyes wide with horror at the fate of Mrs. Norris, and on his other side Justin is muttering under his breath, probably about how distasteful the entire situation is. And Ernie isn't sure specifically what the Chamber of Secrets is, but it sounds kind of familiar in the same way the title of song does even if you can't remember the words.
And despite the serious threat lurking in the painted message, Ernie isn't all that worried. He would however, like to know what exactly he's supposed to be cowering in fear from before he casts judgment.
But he can hear Anthony Goldstein muttering rapidly to Kevin Entwistle behind him about some book or another, so Ernie's sure he'll be informed tomorrow during double Charms.
A secret hidden chamber created by Salazar Slytherin that contains a horrible beast used to kill muggleborns along with that small first-year who's always scurrying about with that weird muggle camera getting petrified? That is definitely something worth worrying about.
Suddenly, the pure-blooded ancestry Ernie's so used to throwing around makes his skin crawl with the uncomfortable feeling of being unclean. Especially when Justin, his best mate, has become such a huge target for the exact opposite reason.
But Hannah's already freaked out enough for all three of them, so Ernie tries to keep acting normally as possible.
(And if Ernie suddenly starts to walk a little in front of his friends as they journey from Transfiguration to Potions, well… that's just a coincidence.)
The thing about Hannah Abbott is that you have to ask her opinion before she's had the chance to doubt herself. The girl is perceptive like no other, but despite her confidence in her observations, she has little confidence in herself. Put her up against a large crowd or any bloke with a loud, opinionated voice and she crumbles in an instant.
"I don't know about this guys," Hannah says, twisting the ends of her blonde pigtails nervously. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Oh come on Hannah! When could there possibly be a better time to learn to duel than now?" Justin points out. "And maybe if we're lucky, Professor Lockhart will be teaching!"
"Don't worry about it; Justin and I will be there to protect you Hannah," Ernie reassures, a bit condescendingly.
The half-blood girl pulls a face and drops her hands from her hair. "Yeah, maybe."
When Harry Potter and Malfoy are called upon as an example for dueling club, Ernie mentally questions Lockhart's sanity, teaching skills, and his possible lack of common sense.
Because knowingly asking a Slytherin and a Gryffindor to cast harmful spells at each other, let alone a pair with a known rivalry, is an accident just waiting to happen.
Ernie didn't expect Justin to be dragged into the line of fire though.
He and Hannah almost run into each other in their haste to follow Justin out of the Great Hall. Then they turn as one and march towards the Hufflepuff common room.
Unsurprisingly, after crawling through the barreled entrance they find Justin pacing in front of the purple flutterby bush that sits on the far side of the common room, breathing heavily from adrenaline.
Good manners and pacing: the two things that Justin Finch-Fletchly can always be counted on for.
"Justin!" Hannah cries, throwing her arms around the much taller muggleborn. "Are you alright?"
"Fine, fine – I'm fine. I'm good, I- I'm good."
But Justin shakes her off and continues to pace, two fingers reaching up to massage each temple. No one says it aloud, but it's obvious what they're all thinking. In the span of a few minutes, Justin has gone from bowtruckle to bicorn on the risk scale.
"Justin, I think you should stay in the common room for a few days. Keep a low profile and all that," Ernie offers quietly.
Fact: Ernie Macmillan barely knows Harry Potter.
Fact: Harry Potter is a Parselmouth.
Fact: Harry Potter just tried to attack Justin Finch-Fletchly.
Conclusion: Harry Potter is the Heir of Slytherin.
Other variables: none considered.
(Fueled by his own worries and with little time to decide on a course of action, what conclusion did you expect Ernie to apparate to?)
"That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?" Ernie's catching Megan and Stephen up on the happenings of yesterday, both being too far away from the stage to know what had happened.
"You definitely think it is Potter, then, Ernie?" says Hannah anxiously.
"Hannah," Ernie murmurs solemnly, "he's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."
"He always seems so nice, though," says Hannah uncertainly, "and, well, he's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. He can't be all bad, can he?"
(Maybe Ernie should learn to take his own advice)
It takes Ernie a few minutes to realize that Nearly-Headless Nick isn't the only victim of this attack.
"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, You're killing off' students, you think it's good fun —"
'Students? I thought only Nick…'
Then Ernie notices. There's a weird half-circle formed by the nosy students from third period Transfiguration as they gawk at something on the floor. Slowly, painfully slowly, Ernie's gaze is dragged towards the other figure that lies at Professor McGonagall's feet. He's almost completely out of view and it's too dark to see much detail, but Ernie would know that profile anywhere.
There's a funny ringing in his ears as he stares at Justin's stiff body, and Ernie stands frozen in shock for long after the other boy has been carried up to the hospital wing. He barely even hears Professor McGonagall when she directs him to float the now blackened ghost up the staircase.
Looks like he was right after all.
(Yay.)
When he finally returns to the common room, Ernie isn't surprised to find Hannah waiting for him. He is, however, shocked to find her in such high spirits.
"Oh Ernie, thank Merlin, I've been waiting for you for ages!" The blonde girl says cheerfully, long pigtails bouncing in her excitement. "Would you go upstairs and get Justin? I've been calling through the barrel for him, but I think he's gone off and fallen asleep and he promised to help me with the Astronomy assignment. I'd go and get him myself, but you know how flustered he gets whenever I go into the boy's dorm."
For a moment, Ernie simply stares at the shorter girl blankly, her words washing over him like the tide. He looks around the common room in disbelief, but not a single student would meet his gaze.
'No way,' Ernie thinks horrified. 'Nobody told her.'
"Ernie? Did you hear me?" Hannah asks when her fellow Hufflepuff doesn't answer immediately. "Are you okay?"
"Justin isn't in the dorm Hannah." Even to his own ears, his voice sounds hollow.
"What do you mean? Have you already checked?"
"Maybe - maybe you should sit down Hannah."
"Ernie, what's going on?" Hannah's worried now, but she follows his instructions. "What's happened?"
For a moment, Ernie flounders for something to say. He's never been good at delivering bad news and he doesn't see that changing within the next three seconds. But Hannah Abbott is sharp as a whip when it comes to noticing things people would rather keep hidden. After studying his expression for a few seconds, she lets out a gasp of surprise, cupping a hand to her mouth.
"It's Justin, isn't it?" she whispers hoarsely. "It got Justin."
Unable to speak, Ernie nods in conformation. Ernie's always been pretty handy with words and in this moment, there's nothing Ernie wants more than to be able to say something that will make this awful situation a little better. Ernie can see tears forming in Hannah's blue eyes, but for once in his life, Ernie Macmillan has no idea what to say. Almost immediately he wishes Justin was here because emotions make Ernie uncomfortable and Justin's always the one who comforts Hannah when she cries.
But Justin isn't here.
It's just Ernie and Hannah: an incomplete trio.
So Ernie does the only thing he can think of and opens his arms in a hugging gesture. Hannah basically falls into him, crying heavily into his broad shoulders.
"Come on Hannah," Ernie whispers into her ear as he leads over to sit in front of the fireplace. "It'll be alright."
(But will it? Ernie's never been any good at this whole reassurance thing.)
At breakfast the next morning, Ernie and Hannah sit in their usual places, but Justin's absence is blatantly obvious.
Ernie can barely even stand to look at the empty space across the table and next to Hannah, and the smaller girl's lip quivers as she munches her toast.
No one even attempts to fill the unoccupied seat.
(Ernie isn't sure if that makes him feel better or not.)
In the end, Ernie never brags about his seemingly correct assessment of Harry Potter: dark wizard in disguise. Half of him simply doesn't want to, because the memory of Justin lying stiff as a board in the middle of a crowded hallway makes him sick to his stomach. The half that does want to is quickly chided by his conscience, which, at the moment, speaks with a posh, upperclass accent that sounds strangely familiar.
(You should never boast or say 'I told you so' Ernie. No one ever appreciates being told they're wrong, and doing so just makes you look arrogant.)
It doesn't happen often, but there are times when, during his intense glaring at Harry Potter during Herbology, that Ernie's sure he's missing something extremely obvious.
But even though Ernie's gaze is trained on Potter with Snidget-like precision, he's also studiously ignoring the empty fourth chair in the group all students work in during Professor Sprout's class, so maybe that's it.
("Mandrake or Mandragora…" "Venomous Tentacula should always be planted in solitude lest they…")
The final Quidditch match is between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor is a bright spot in a sea of misery that Ernie's forced to call his second year.
(Maybe he should've known better than to honestly believe it would go off without a hitch.)
The news spreads like wildfire: Hermione Granger's been attacked by the monster. And some Ravenclaw girl was too, which has most of the upperclassmen in an uproar, but Ernie's mostly just concerned with Hermione.
When they hear the news, Hannah and Ernie exchange guilt-ridden glances. Now that it's been highlighted so brightly, Ernie can't believe he missed it such an obvious hitch in his reasoning. Over at the Gryffindor table, Harry and Ron sit together, alone. And maybe it's just Ernie's imagination, but the two lions look strangely lacking without the customary frizzy brown hair to fill the spot across from Ron and next to Harry.
This effect is not lessened any in Herbology. And it doesn't make Ernie's stomach twist. Really!
Previous Conclusion: Harry Potter is the Heir of Slytherin.
Fact: Hermione Granger is a muggleborn.
Fact: Hermione Granger has been petrified.
Fact: Hermione Granger is best friends with Harry Potter.
Revised Conclusion: Harry Potter is not the Heir of Slytherin.
(And Ernie's more than a bit stupid to have believed otherwise.)
It's a couple weeks later that Hannah decides she's finally had enough of Ernie's stubbornness. Professor Sprout has set them all to work pruning the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs, and Susan and Wayne had come to join them at their table as usual. Before they can sit down though, the blonde interrupts.
"Actually guys, would you mind terribly to work by yourselves today?" Hannah asks pleasantly, but she isn't looking at the pair as she voices her request. Instead, she's staring at Ernie; chin lifted defiantly and a steely glint in her blue eyes. "Ernie's got something he needs to take care of, don't you Ernie?"
Ernie decides to take the hint.
He takes a deep breath and starts a formal Macmillan apology, "I just want to say, Harry, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger, and I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well —"
He holds out a pudgy hand, and Harry takes it without hesitation. Then, he and Hannah come over to work with the Gryffindor boys at their table in the back.
(It doesn't occur to Ernie just how similar the two pairs are in this moment. Perhaps it never will.)
"That Draco Malfoy character," says Ernie, breaking off dead twigs, "He seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think he might be Slytherin's heir."
"That's clever of you," says Ron, who didn't seem to have forgiven Ernie as readily as Harry. Ernie doesn't mind though; he'd probably do the same thing.
"Do you think it's Malfoy, Harry?" Ernie asks.
"No," says Harry, so sure of himself that Ernie and Hannah can't help but stare.
…
"Ouch! What're you —" Ron shouts out suddenly, startling the two Hufflepuffs.
Harry points out something on the ground, following some obscured movement with his eyes screwed up against the sun.
"Oh, yeah," says Ron, trying, and failing, to look pleased. "But we can't follow them now —"
Ernie and Hannah were listening curiously. 'Follow them? What does that mean?'
"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest…"
...Ernie is a Hufflepuff, and life-threatening adventures always ruin his appetite, so he bites back the question that dances on the tip of his tongue and decides that he really doesn't need to know.
Three days before their first exam, Professor McGonagall makes an announcement at breakfast.
"I have good news," she says, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupts.
"Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yell joyfully.
"You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" squeals a girl at the Ravenclaw table.
"Quidditch matches are back on!" a burly Gryffindor teen roars excitedly.
"Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."
Never before has Ernie been so excited for plants to grow.
When Ernie is shaken awake at 2am by a person with familiar brown eyes and short, dark hair, he's sure he's dreaming.
...And he might have questioned that out loud.
"No, it's me Ernie! Justin! All the victims just got the healing draught from Madame Pomfrey so of course I-" Whatever Justin was about to say is cut off when Ernie tackles him.
...
...
Tackle hug.
...
...
Whatever.
"Ernie! What're you doing?" the Muggle-born asks bewildered.
In the haze of sleepiness, Ernie answers a lot more honestly than he'd intended. "I just really missed you Justin."
There's silence for a second before the stout boy realizes what he's said and starts backtracking quickly. "I mean… It's just Hannah's been really upset and I'm rubbish with crying girls so-"
But Justin's expression softens and he claps Ernie on the back awkwardly from where he lies on the floor.
"Me too mate, me too."
Chapter One is finished! I'm hoping to have the story finished by next Monday, so watch out for that! Also, reviews are cherished and loved! Thanks for reading!
