A/N: 25 pairings down, 25 more to go! (Took me long enough.)
Ernie is a strange young man, Romilda observes frequently during the free time she steals while walking down the corridors. He oblivious to the world around him. What's worse than an oblivious nature, Romilda thinks to herself with a disdainful sneer, is the fact that he seems to remain content in not knowing this trait of his. It is the same trait that kept him from seeing the world to it's fullest. This was a straightforward flaw, one that is clear cut and relatively simple to understand to those on the outside looking in, like Romilda.
Regardless of this clear cut flaw, Romilda can' help but finds him strange. Ernie MacMillan-just yet condescending and kind yet a brat, intellectual yet a know it all, humble yet a braggart-lacked the agonizing fear that the contradictions in his character would destroy him. Most people spend their whole lives wrestling with fear that their flaws would destroy them. Not Ernie. He remains oblivious to the world, to anything not remotely obvious to him. And that causes many a disaster.
Namely, Ernie is too oblivious to notice Romilda. With her long flowing dark hair and her clear olive skin and her perfectly sculpted brows and her lovely figure and her snapping wit, Romilda is a catch. She is beautiful and can utilize her mouth in many useful ways. Her last name is Vane for a reason, and she is damn proud of what she stands for and who she is as a person. But Ernie is too wrapped up in the bubble provided by being a Hufflepuff simpleton. And being ignored? That hurts, like a flesh wound.
She will not know how to gain his romantic affections, but damn it, she will try. She tries talking to him, but that's not as successful as she'd like. He always seems preoccupied, as if nothing she says interests or captivates him. Romilda curses at herself when she notices Ernie talking to someone else with the same kind of animation that implies self-centered enthusiasm. She sneaks around him, trying to catch Ernie at the right time; she feels predatory, trying to find the right time to talk with him. But finding him at the right time is a full time job, and she'd get amazing grades if this were a class.
She feels ready to give up trying to talk with him. This is a hopeless cause, talking to people and getting to know them. It is a true waste of her time (and possibly his too, if he would stop being so oblivious). Right as she lets her guard down, Ernie greets her with a hearty hello and a kiss on the hand.
Romilda has something to work with, and she grins.