Mensch: a decent, upright, mature, and responsible person.

May 6, 1993

"Ernie?"

The tentative voice edged its way around the circular dormitory door left ajar to let out the uneasy quiet that had descended upon the castle lately. Ernie Macmillan glanced up from the long roll of notes he was diligently copying.

"Come on back, Hannah," he called, and a moment later Hannah Abbott appeared in the doorway, pushing her blond pigtails out of her face.

"Cedric Diggory is going to take me and Susan and the others down to the lake for a bit. Did you want to come along?" she asked. "It might be fun."

Ernie shook his head, carefully replacing his quill in the inkpot and blowing on the last lines to dry them. "No thanks. There's something I've got to do."

Hannah came over to lean against his desk. "Is that all herbology notes?" she marveled, measuring the thick scroll with her fingers.

"Just form last week," Ernie told her, unable to completely disguise the pride in his voice.

"Wow. That's pretty detailed even for you. How come you're copying them?"

Ernie began to carefully roll up the freshly written scroll. "When Justin wakes up, he'll have a lot of catching up to do."

Hannah noticed the catch in his voice, but she was probably one of the few people who would have. She looked over at the bed that belonged to Justin. After almost six months, it should have been thick with dust, but someone must be keeping it tidy. There was a feather duster lying beside Ernie's alarm clock.

"I'd better get going," Hannah said, pushing off from the desk. "They'll be waiting for me. Are you sure you don't want to come? It might… take your mind off it."

Ernie shook his head again. "Can't. I promised Madam Pomfrey I'd help her clean out potion bottles. It's the only way she'll let me in. But Hannah… you'll be careful, you and Susan?"

"We're pureblood," Hannah reminded him.

He shrugged. "All the same…."

Hannah glanced at the feather duster. "We'll be like ninjas," she said, striking a karate pose. Ernie cracked a smile, and Hannah turned to go, satisfied. "You too, though," she added over her shoulder, pausing at the door. "Be careful wondering around on your own?"

Ernie nodded, and she left.

XxX

"Hey, Justin," Ernie murmured, slipping between the curtains around his friend's bed.

Of course Justin didn't move. Not a muscle twitched, no matter how closely Ernie watched. He moved around to the chair beside the bed and added his latest set of scrolls to the teetering stack already piled on it.

"Hermione Granger got attacked a couple weeks ago," Ernie said, even though Madam Pomfrey had told him a hundred times Justin couldn't hear him. "Guess Potter isn't to blame after all," he added after a moment, fiddling with the sleeve of his robes. "I apologized to him, you know. Figured it was the right thing to do. He's a good enough bloke, I reckon. Bit weird, him and Weasley are, talking about following something. We didn't see anything out the window, but Potter seemed to."

He stood a bit longer at the foot of Justin's bed, but there was no movement, no indication that Justin even knew he had a visitor.

"I've just been trying to do the right thing, you know," he said abruptly. "Since I sent you back to our dorm alone. Should have went with you. I'm sorry about that."

Ernie nodded a couple of times, swinging his arms backward and forward, but Justin didn't stir, so he turned and went to help Madam Pomfrey.

A/N: There's an old date, huh? Told you I'd fill it in eventually. Some Hufflepuff for you :) This was another one of those ideas I meant for Small Gestures. I think this story will swallow all of those, which is okay by me. Two birds with one stone, right? Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review! :)