For the "First Kiss" challenge by Hufflepuffluv on HPFC. Title: Sweet, Prompt: Sugar, Pairing: Ernie and Susan
Her very first kiss happened when she was 7. Jake Chisholm, her neighbor and frequent playmate, was 8, and Susan felt terribly grown-up on the afternoon that he leaned over and kissed her in the shelter of their make-believe fort. "That's in case I don't come back alive," he'd said matter-of-factly. "Bears are very dangerous." With that, he'd charged out into the yard, chasing off Susan's long-suffering pooch who, coincidentally, was named Bear. When Jake did make it back alive and well, Susan proudly served him lemonade and sugar cookies that she'd helped her mum bake.
oOo
The first time Susan imagined being kissed, she was 12, and Professor Lockhart called her by name – by name! – during class. In all her years growing up in a Wizarding family, never before had she felt anything so magical as when Gilderoy (as she referred to him in her head) looked her way, or gave her points for answering a question, or smiled as he perused her lengthy quiz answers about his life and accomplishments. Susan never forgot to mention his Witch Weekly award for Most Charming Smile. Susan had to visit the hospital wing in February when Gilderoy blew her a kiss in the hallway. The bump on her head from when she fainted was worth every taunt from Ernie Macmillan when he heard why she'd missed class.
oOo
Two years later, the entire school was swept up in the glamour of the Triwizard Tournament, and Hufflepuff House even more so than the others. Cedric Diggory was the very embodiment of the noble badgers: loyal, strong, dedicated… and handsome. Oh, so handsome. Susan was not immune – every Hufflepuff girl, from first-years right up through seventh, fancied themselves Cedric's biggest supporter. After Cedric asked them not to wear the "Potter Stinks" badges, Susan simply moved hers to reside under her robes, where only she knew it was there. She imagined it kept him closer to her heart, anyway. When Ernie glimpsed it as she was putting on her cloak, preparing to watch the second task, he announced to the common room that little Susan was in loooove with Cedric. Cheeks flaming, Susan never took her eyes off Ernie as she marched up to Cedric and planted a large, loud kiss on his cheek and wished him the very best of luck. Kissing Cedric (oh dear, had she really done that?) was almost as nice as watching Ernie's eyes narrow as he stormed out of the room.
oOo
During her fifth year, Susan found herself at a loss when she practiced conjuring her Patronus. Try as she might, the best she could do was a puff of silvery mist. Frustrated, she was rapidly Expecto Patronum-ing one night in the common room, to no avail. A voice interrupted her assault on the piece of parchment where she'd drawn a crude Dementor.
"If you need some help, Susan, I'd be honored to offer my assistance."
Whirling, she'd seen Zacharias Smith leaning against the fireplace, looking highly amused at her pathetic efforts. Shrugging, she'd indicated for him to go ahead, because at this point, it certainly couldn't hurt, could it? Oh, how wrong she'd been. Zacharias had strode forward and grabbed her about the waist, whispering roughly that all she needed was a little happy inspiration, before slamming his lips down onto hers. The kiss was sadly lacking, and Susan was not sorry in the slightest when a loud cough broke them apart. Zach had winked at her before wandering back to his room, and Susan was left with a strangely irate Ernie.
"What are ya playin' at, Susan?"he'd said, his cultured tones forgotten when he was upset. "He's just a brute, he is, an' ya could do so much better."
Irritated by his pompous manner, Susan had archly informed Ernie that it was none of his business, and then turned to begin practicing her Patronus again. Goosebumps broke out over her entire body when Ernie came up behind her to murmur into her ear: "If it's kissin' ya want, sweet, ya know where ta find me." His large hands whispered over her arms before he stepped back, grinning. Curiously light-headed and aggravated by boys in general, Susan had flounced off to bed. If her Patronus improved drastically when she remembered the way Ernie's voice promised kisses, well, no one had to know but her.
oOo
The Hufflepuff common room was an explosion of light and sound. They had trounced Gryffindor 320 to 60 in today's match, and every badger was busy celebrating. Butterbeer flowed from the barrel that Professor Sprout had snuck in, and the desks which normally housed their textbooks and parchments were laden instead with sandwiches, cakes, and all manner of sweets. There was some regret, certainly, that the win came on the heels of Harry Potter being knocked unconscious, but as it had been by one of his own team, the Hufflepuffs didn't worry themselves too much about it. The excited chattering of the assembled students increased drastically when the team entered the common room after showering off. Backs were patted, hands shook, cheers and whistles abounded. Susan couldn't stop herself from smiling. It was the happiest she'd felt since the day over the summer when the Ministry official had arrived to tell them of her Aunt Amelia's murder. She had just picked up a pumpkin pasty when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Spinning around, prepared to share the exhilaration with whichever of her friends was there, Susan was surprised to find Ernie looking at her instead. Offering him a large grin, Susan leaned in and yelled, "Congratulations! Excellent work with those Bludgers!"
The din was reaching even higher levels and so she found herself standing practically nose to nose with Ernie to hear his reply: "How about a little kiss for the handsome Beater then, eh, sugar?" Astonished, Susan could only stare. When Ernie winked and swayed toward her, Susan reacted instinctively: she smashed her pumpkin pasty in his offending face and raced off to the relative safety of her circle of girlfriends. Sugar, indeed, she fumed. I'm not his sugar! Susan Bones was too proud, too certain of her self-worth, to be anyone's sugar. She was, however, not too proud to pretend not to notice when Ernie spent the rest of the evening shooting angry glares in her direction.
oOo
Susan awoke, groggy and disoriented, to see the fuzzy face of someone hovering over her. Instincts and training kicking in, she reached for her wand as she hurriedly tried to sit up. Dizziness overtook her, however, and she fell back, still groping around for her wand.
"Hush, lass, you're alright, just take it easy, now," the deep voice was surprisingly soothing, and Susan closed her eyes against the brightness of the room.
"What's happened?" she asked wearily.
"You were Crucio'd, love, don'ya remember?" Cool hands brushed the hair back from her forehead and Susan fought the urge to wrap her arms around her unlikely nurse.
Sighing, she struggled against the nausea that swamped her when she'd tried to sit up, and thought back over what had just happened. Ah, yes – detention with the Carrows. Susan had volunteered to go in place of a small second-year girl who had earned detention for "writing too loudly".
"Bridgette, they didn't make her go after all, did they?" Susan was afraid the Carrows had gone ahead and punished the tiny girl after she'd passed out just to make a point.
"No, darlin', she's just fine. Here, drink some water, and let's sit you up. Hold onto my shoulders." Susan drank obediently and squeezed her eyes shut as she was lifted into an upright position by strong arms that were surprisingly gentle. When the nausea did not return, Susan opened her eyes slowly.
"Ernie… thank you for staying with me," she said, unable to meet his eyes. Ever since the Carrows and Snape had taken over the school, the DA members had grown closer than ever, but there was still awkwardness between herself and Ernie that was due entirely, she knew, to her uncontrollable attraction to the arrogant wizard. He hadn't offered to kiss her any more since she'd shoved the pumpkin pasty in his face last year, and Susan didn't know whether she was more relieved or saddened.
"DA take care of their own," Ernie said simply. "Do you think you can stand?"
"With some help," Susan answered, and Ernie slipped one hand around her back and the other beneath her knees. He stood and lifted her in one smooth motion that had Susan gasping. He was smiling as he stood her up, and Susan noticed that he did not relinquish his hold, both hands now circling her waist. She swayed unsteadily and grasped his shoulders for support.
"I can carry you back if you need, sweet," he said, brushing hair back from her face once again. "Just say so-"
But she didn't let him finish, instead leaning forward and fiercely pressing her lips to his. If the Carrows were going to torture her and if she was likely to die before the end of the year, she wanted every drop of happiness she could get. And kissing Ernie was currently making her very happy. She felt his arms tighten about her waist, and he kissed her back for a moment before pulling away.
"If this is the thanks I get for hanging around after someone gets Crucio'd, remind me to sign up for duty more often," he joked, but his eyes were searching her face seriously. "Susan, I thought ya didna like me much," he whispered uncertainly.
"I like you rather too much, I'm afraid," she replied, resting her forehead against his.
"Well, then, by all means continue, lass!" Ernie held her chin with one hand and the next several minutes were lost to his skillful kissing.
When she finally had a chance to speak again, Susan sighed happily. "That was the most marvelous first kiss a girl could ask for."
Ernie looked horrified. "Darlin', don' be tellin' me that's your first proper kiss! I'd never have-"
Susan smacked him on the arm. "No, you ridiculous man, that was not my actual first kiss." Ernie's relief was palpable. "But it was my first kiss with you, and that's what counts."
Ernie's only response to this was to make sure that Susan had her second, third, fourth and fifth kisses from him, and she barely even registered the lingering pain from the Cruciatus and passing out. Their uncertain future was completely forgotten, and every past misunderstanding was merely a twist in the road that had brought them to here. Eventually they resurfaced, and knew it was long past when they had been expected back in the common room. Bowing low, Ernie gestured for Susan to precede him out the door. Giggling, she linked her arm in his.
"Would you like to go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?" she asked shyly.
"Aye, lass, as long as ya dunna make me step foot in that Puddifoot prison," Ernie shuddered. "Ain't no amount o' sugar can tempt me in there."
Susan grinned before steering them into an alcove and demanding another kiss – their first kiss in a hallway. She could be terribly creative when it came to categories of first kisses, and she planned to explore them all with Ernie.
A/N: This story is entirely un-beta'd, so if you see anything that needs correction, please feel free to point it out! The Ernie/Susan pairing comes from thanfiction's Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness, a marvelous alternate-POV Deathly Hallows. I highly recommend it. The line "DA take care of their own" also comes from that. I'm a Hufflepuff myself, according to Pottermore, and I've been miserably sad at the lack of good House of Huff fics, so hopefully I did them justice in this one. I'm not even J.K. Rowling's poor, unstable fourth-cousin-thrice-removed, so don't get confused. Thanks for reading!