Wearing Thin
Title: Wearing Thin
Character(s): Susan/Gregory
Prompt: “Cold Hands, Cold Feet”
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1100 roughly
Summary: discussion amongst the huffle puffs
Author's Notes: thanks to xprosed for being my beta!
"What should I do?"
"Talk to him," Hannah shouted from across the common room, "It's been three weeks and I am trying to study!"
"I was talking to Ernie, Hannah. Besides you started this whole mess with your, 'Oh Susan, he's looking at you again,' and your giggling," Susan said, shooting a nasty look toward her friend. It had in fact been a month since the first day Hannah had pointed out that Goyle had begun to stare at her. The problem was that despite Goyle's not being bright, and the fact that he was a Slytherin, Susan found herself thinking about him from time to time. She also found that the harder she tried not to think about him, the sooner he appeared, and it was beginning to annoy her.
Hannah simply shook her head at her friend's complaint and set back to work, or at least she pretended to. In reality her ears had picked up at her friends' discussion of Goyle and her mind had begun to whir with the possibilities of what Susan might say to Goyle.
Satisfied with Hannah's façade, Susan looked back to Ernie and asked again, "What should I do, Ernie?"
"Well I don't see anything that needs to be done Susan. You've already told him to stop staring at you and he has. That's it then, no need for further speculation."
"No Ernie, it feels like there's more to it than that, alright? He said…he said I was pretty." This admission caused Susan to blush and Hannah to all but squeal with joy.
"So you've got a crush on him," Ernie asked, smiling widely.
Susan pouted for a moment. She couldn't use his once secret relationship with Millicent Bulstrode against him anymore as he'd made it rather public last week by walking up to the Slytherin table during dinner and soundly kissing her in front of everyone, an act that had earned him a punch. Later, he'd confided to Justin that the two of them had made up and the punch had been worth it. Justin then confided this to the rest of the House.
"Don't be silly. I barely know him," she said.
"Would you like to get to know him?"
"I don't know. It's all so very confusing. On the one hand I'd very much like to talk with him, if only to see if he is what I'd always thought he was."
After a moment of silence Ernie asked, "And on the other?"
"And on the other what?"
"You said that on the one hand you would like to talk to Greg, so I assumed that there was a second hand," Ernie asked, baffled by his friend's lack of logic.
"Don't be silly Ernie, of course there isn't a second option. It's only right that I talk to him."
"Well, good for you then Susan," Ernie said as he turned his attention back to his notes. When he realized that Susan was still staring at him expectantly, he turned back to her. "What?"
"Could you speak to him for me?"
"No," Ernie said with a note of finality, his chest puffing up just a little. If there was anything Ernie liked to do it was to give speeches. Long or short it didn't matter, as long as he was able to express his opinion on something then he was happy.
Susan could almost feel the speech that was about to come, but couldn't stop herself from asking, "Why not Ernie?"
"Because it is not my job. You are seventeen years old Susan and about to graduate from Hogwart's I might add. I will not always be there to talk to boys for you, so you need to learn to do it on your own. You can't be getting cold hands all the time just because you're about to do something new."
"It's cold feet Ernie, not cold hands," Justin interjected, hoping to end his friend's speech before his pompous behavior became too annoying.
Unfrazzled by Justin's interruption Ernie continued, "Either way I cannot be your messenger boy. You, Susan, will have to do it on your own."
"I'm not brave like you though, Ernie."
"It's a good thing too. I had to speak to Millicent for him," Justin said with a smirk aimed directly at Ernie.
"You did not," Ernie shouted back, slowly feeling his pride sink just a little.
"Oh she's so beautiful Justin. I can't do it mate. Please, won't you? I'll give you anything you want, just go talk to her for me. I'll do anything-," Justin said in a decent imitation of Ernie voice.
"Alright, no one asked you Fletchley," Ernie yelled.
"Boys! Be quiet! We have NEWTS if you haven't forgotten. So do kindly shut up," Hannah shouted. In truth she no more cared about Ernie and Millicent's relationship and how they'd gotten together than she cared about her studying. What she wanted to hear was what Susan was going to do.
Ernie shot Justin a scathing look, but sat down and resumed his studying all the same. Susan simply rolled her eyes at the boys, knowing they'd be friends again before the end of night. Besides she had something much stranger than her friends' relationship to resolve.
How was it that she, a girl of 17 years, could be so easily taken in by a boy who said she was pretty? Did she find him attractive? He was certainly tall, had a bit of darkness to him, but handsome? No, not at all, his mouth was too small, his nose bulbous, his eyes… She rather liked his eyes actually. They were a lovely sort of brown that just enveloped her whenever she looked at them.
"Oh Gregory, take me away you large block of a boy," Justin shouted from across the room, effectively crushing Susan's reverie.
"You shut up Justin Finch-Fletchley," Susan angrily shouted, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Oh come on Susan you were positively drooling all over your robes, wasn't she Ernie?"
Ernie pretended not to hear, though it was obvious he was trying rather hard not to laugh at Justin's earlier comment.
"I was not drooling," Susan said sharply, daring anyone to disagree, "I was in thought, a state of mind I am sure you have never once been in."
Justin snorted at that, but said nothing. He had learned long ago that Susan had a limit, to push her past it was to invite much weeping and gnashing of teeth upon oneself.
Susan shook her head at his silence and then got up. "Goodnight everyone," she said as she left the room, wishing for the briefest of moments she had transfigured one of the foot stools into a loo and shoved Justin's head into it.
Character(s): Susan/Gregory
Prompt: “Cold Hands, Cold Feet”
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1100 roughly
Summary: discussion amongst the huffle puffs
Author's Notes: thanks to xprosed for being my beta!
"What should I do?"
"Talk to him," Hannah shouted from across the common room, "It's been three weeks and I am trying to study!"
"I was talking to Ernie, Hannah. Besides you started this whole mess with your, 'Oh Susan, he's looking at you again,' and your giggling," Susan said, shooting a nasty look toward her friend. It had in fact been a month since the first day Hannah had pointed out that Goyle had begun to stare at her. The problem was that despite Goyle's not being bright, and the fact that he was a Slytherin, Susan found herself thinking about him from time to time. She also found that the harder she tried not to think about him, the sooner he appeared, and it was beginning to annoy her.
Hannah simply shook her head at her friend's complaint and set back to work, or at least she pretended to. In reality her ears had picked up at her friends' discussion of Goyle and her mind had begun to whir with the possibilities of what Susan might say to Goyle.
Satisfied with Hannah's façade, Susan looked back to Ernie and asked again, "What should I do, Ernie?"
"Well I don't see anything that needs to be done Susan. You've already told him to stop staring at you and he has. That's it then, no need for further speculation."
"No Ernie, it feels like there's more to it than that, alright? He said…he said I was pretty." This admission caused Susan to blush and Hannah to all but squeal with joy.
"So you've got a crush on him," Ernie asked, smiling widely.
Susan pouted for a moment. She couldn't use his once secret relationship with Millicent Bulstrode against him anymore as he'd made it rather public last week by walking up to the Slytherin table during dinner and soundly kissing her in front of everyone, an act that had earned him a punch. Later, he'd confided to Justin that the two of them had made up and the punch had been worth it. Justin then confided this to the rest of the House.
"Don't be silly. I barely know him," she said.
"Would you like to get to know him?"
"I don't know. It's all so very confusing. On the one hand I'd very much like to talk with him, if only to see if he is what I'd always thought he was."
After a moment of silence Ernie asked, "And on the other?"
"And on the other what?"
"You said that on the one hand you would like to talk to Greg, so I assumed that there was a second hand," Ernie asked, baffled by his friend's lack of logic.
"Don't be silly Ernie, of course there isn't a second option. It's only right that I talk to him."
"Well, good for you then Susan," Ernie said as he turned his attention back to his notes. When he realized that Susan was still staring at him expectantly, he turned back to her. "What?"
"Could you speak to him for me?"
"No," Ernie said with a note of finality, his chest puffing up just a little. If there was anything Ernie liked to do it was to give speeches. Long or short it didn't matter, as long as he was able to express his opinion on something then he was happy.
Susan could almost feel the speech that was about to come, but couldn't stop herself from asking, "Why not Ernie?"
"Because it is not my job. You are seventeen years old Susan and about to graduate from Hogwart's I might add. I will not always be there to talk to boys for you, so you need to learn to do it on your own. You can't be getting cold hands all the time just because you're about to do something new."
"It's cold feet Ernie, not cold hands," Justin interjected, hoping to end his friend's speech before his pompous behavior became too annoying.
Unfrazzled by Justin's interruption Ernie continued, "Either way I cannot be your messenger boy. You, Susan, will have to do it on your own."
"I'm not brave like you though, Ernie."
"It's a good thing too. I had to speak to Millicent for him," Justin said with a smirk aimed directly at Ernie.
"You did not," Ernie shouted back, slowly feeling his pride sink just a little.
"Oh she's so beautiful Justin. I can't do it mate. Please, won't you? I'll give you anything you want, just go talk to her for me. I'll do anything-," Justin said in a decent imitation of Ernie voice.
"Alright, no one asked you Fletchley," Ernie yelled.
"Boys! Be quiet! We have NEWTS if you haven't forgotten. So do kindly shut up," Hannah shouted. In truth she no more cared about Ernie and Millicent's relationship and how they'd gotten together than she cared about her studying. What she wanted to hear was what Susan was going to do.
Ernie shot Justin a scathing look, but sat down and resumed his studying all the same. Susan simply rolled her eyes at the boys, knowing they'd be friends again before the end of night. Besides she had something much stranger than her friends' relationship to resolve.
How was it that she, a girl of 17 years, could be so easily taken in by a boy who said she was pretty? Did she find him attractive? He was certainly tall, had a bit of darkness to him, but handsome? No, not at all, his mouth was too small, his nose bulbous, his eyes… She rather liked his eyes actually. They were a lovely sort of brown that just enveloped her whenever she looked at them.
"Oh Gregory, take me away you large block of a boy," Justin shouted from across the room, effectively crushing Susan's reverie.
"You shut up Justin Finch-Fletchley," Susan angrily shouted, trying to hide her embarrassment.
"Oh come on Susan you were positively drooling all over your robes, wasn't she Ernie?"
Ernie pretended not to hear, though it was obvious he was trying rather hard not to laugh at Justin's earlier comment.
"I was not drooling," Susan said sharply, daring anyone to disagree, "I was in thought, a state of mind I am sure you have never once been in."
Justin snorted at that, but said nothing. He had learned long ago that Susan had a limit, to push her past it was to invite much weeping and gnashing of teeth upon oneself.
Susan shook her head at his silence and then got up. "Goodnight everyone," she said as she left the room, wishing for the briefest of moments she had transfigured one of the foot stools into a loo and shoved Justin's head into it.