Title: The Florence Nightingale Effect
Prompt: One of my entries for the 'Your Favorite Hogwarts House Boot Camp Challenge' - Common Room
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties with the exception of two characters of my own creation. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please do not sue me.
About two weeks after the end of Easter holidays, Ernie Macmillan staggers the Hufflepuff Common Room, mentally fatigued from a three-hour OWL study session in the library. As he surveys the area for a suitable place to flop down in exhaustion, Ernie can't help but notice that Susan Bones sits by herself at corner table, looking more than a bit dejected.
And Ernie's 99.9% positive that he knows what's caused the normally outspoken redhead to fold in on herself, but it takes him a moment to decide what to do about it. He ponders this conundrum for a brief moment. 'A: it's none of my business, b: I'm much too tired to attempt to politely deliver news that will probably not be well received, and c: it's none of my business.'
In the end though, Ernie decides to ignore this well thought-out reasoning and starts walking in Susan's direction, because that's what Hannah would do, and she's the one with all the experience in these sort of situations.
"Hi Susan." The half-blood looks up from her doodling when she hears her name, but if she's surprised to see Ernie she doesn't show it.
"Ernie," she says neutrally, not annoyed by his presence, but not particularly enthused to see him either
He fidgets, feeling awkward. "Can I, uh, sit down?"
Susan turns back to the piece of parchment in front of her. "Sure."
The stout teen glances briefly at the three other unoccupied chairs before choosing the one directly across from her.
As he settles himself, Ernie is suddenly struck by the realization that he has absolutely no idea how to go about this. Sure, he and Susan have become much better friends this year through mutual participation in the DA, but they're definitely not close enough to be on the confess-all-of-your-troubles-to-me level.
Ernie decides not to beat around the bush. "Justin's upset you, hasn't he?" he says bluntly.
Susan glances up again, her blue eyes meeting his gray ones calmly, but she neither confirms nor denies Ernie's accusation.
Ernie continues, too used to the redhead's trademarked poker face to be deterred by her lack of an outward response. "He's too nice to have done something on purpose, and I can't imagine that Justin's manners would allow him to be oblivious enough to slight you accidentally," Ernie says, crossing possibilities off his mental checklist as he speaks. "The only situation even half-way believable is that Justin hasn't actually done anything wrong… but you're upset with him anyway, which doesn't make a lick of sense but sounds like the sort of mental thing a girl would do, so that's probably what happened."
The silence that follows is tense and uncomfortable. Perhaps this was a bad idea.
"What do you want Ernie?" Susan asks finally.
'A nap,' Ernie thinks sullenly, but he's not about to be mean to the girl his best mate fancies, so he instead he says, "You looked depressed and I felt morally obligated to try to cheer you up."
"Because you're doing such an excellent job in that respect."
Ernie considers this, not missing the similarities between this statement and his earlier thoughts. "Okay, point taken. Seriously though, it's Justin, isn't it?"
Susan hesitates before answering, but her obvious frustration overpowers her hesitance at the oddness of the situation. "I don't know what else to do: I've pulled every trick in the book trying to get Justin to ask me to the next Hogsmeade trip! I thought at first that maybe…" Susan looks especially reluctant here, "Maybe he just didn't like me the way I liked him, but Hannah assured me that he did, and if anyone would know, it would be Hannah. I even tried simply asking him out myself but –"
"-every time you try he conveniently has an excuse to be somewhere else and rushes off before you can finish the question," Ernie finishes with a knowing look.
Susan nods earnestly. "Yes, exactly! How did you…?"
"It's not anything you've done," Ernie reassures her firmly. "Well, actually it is what you've done, but you couldn't have known not to…" He trails off, unsure of how much he can tell Susan without betraying Justin's confidence.
"It's not your fault," he says again, because if the way Susan's expression has faded from bewilderment to sorrow during his prolonged silence, it's important to make sure that this point gets across.
Ernie frowns when the redhead's expression doesn't change. "Can I give you some advice?"
"There's only so many times a girl can watch the boy she fancies run from her like she's got spattergroit before she starts to feel insecure; I'll take any advice you're willing to give."
"If you want Justin to take you to Hogsmeade, you cannot ask him out yourself." That statement would sound ridiculous even under the best of circumstances, so it's a true testament to Ernie's default jokeless sincerity that the redheaded half-blood doesn't immediately assume that he's taking the mickey.
Instead, she leans forward, a sight crease between her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Ernie's never had to put Justin's behavior into words before, so he's not really sure how to go about explaining this, but for the sake of his best mate's love-life, he makes a genuine effort. "Justin is old fashioned. His family's really old and important back in the Muggle world, important enough for him to basically be the Muggleborn equivalent of Malfoy, so ever since he could talk he's been taught all these rules and behaviors until they became as natural as breathing."
He pauses to make sure Susan's following before continuing. "I suspect that a large part of that training is the way a gentleman acts towards a lady. I'm sure you've noticed how Justin always opens doors and pulls out chairs for Hannah?"
"He carries my books for me when we walk to class together," Susan offers, her smile admiring.
Ernie resists the urge to roll his eyes at her dreamy expression. "Er, right. Well this is just a guess mind you, but based on the way Justin's been acting around you lately and how he behaves towards women in general, I'm pretty sure I know what's going on."
Ernie can't even bring himself to pause dramatically before he reveals his information. "When it comes to a relationship, or at least the first date, Justin believes that it's the guy who should ask out the girl."
Susan looks slightly placated but still a bit confused. "Then why hasn't he asked me already?"
Ernie can't help the eye roll this time. Hasn't she been listening? "He's been waiting for the 'proper moment'," he explains. "But you're not making things easy on the poor chap."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asks, looking affronted.
"You know how Hannah doesn't handle stress well?" Susan nods firmly, clearly remembering the blonde witch's recent outburst in Herbology. "Justin's the same way, only with pressure. He hates feeling pressured or put on the spot, and I know you didn't mean to, but that's how you've been making him feel by being so… pushy."
Susan opens her mouth in outrage, clearly offended by the slightly unflattering but accurate description, but Ernie continues before she can lay into him. "He's been really nervous you know, trying to work up the courage to ask you out, so when you keep cornering and hinting at him, he feels even more pressure to make sure that the moment is perfect, so instead of possibly messing things up and risking rejection -"
"- he chooses to abandon ship instead," Susan finishes, finally making the connection.
She frowns suddenly. "But- but that's ridiculous!"
"That's Justin," Ernie replies with a shrug. "He will ask you eventually Susan, but you've got to be patient and give him some space."
Susan smiles sheepishly. "I think… I think that Hannah tried to tell me that. She said something like 'Don't talk to Justin, let Justin talk to you,' but I realize now that I didn't really understand what she was trying to say, though I don't think she could have been more obscure."
She shakes her head as if that will clear the memory from her brain. Ernie stands as she does so, happy to leave her to her thoughts. He's halfway to the dormitories before Susan realizes he's moved.
"Ernie!" she calls. The fifth-year turns back, one foot already through the barreled entrance to the boy's hallway.
Her smile is fond and her message is simple. "Thanks."
Ernie grins back, suddenly feeling as though his effort was worth the loss of relaxation time. "No problem."
I think... this is done! I considered very, very briefly to include a fourth chapter from Susan's POV, but I like the idea of the story ending here. :) Thanks to everyone who read or reviewed! - Cadid423
