You Owe Me (PG-13; Susan/Michael)
Title: You Owe Me
Date/Challenge: May 7 - I shall be nothing but sweetness and light at 30_hath and 01 - Pureblood at potterverse100
Character/Pairing: Susan Bones/Michael Corner
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 478
“I shall be nothing but sweetness and light.”
Michael frowned back at the girl reluctantly following him. If he hadn’t been clutching her hand, he would have left her behind at the front gate. Considering her sour expression, he thought about reconsidering and walking her back to the gate so he could leave her. Tonight was going to be hard enough without having to deal with a cantankerous Hufflepuff.
“Honey, I’ve told you a million times. I don’t want you to be anything but yourself. You, Susan Bones, are not sweetness and light. I just want you to be pleasant for once. These are my parents, after all. Just be a nicer version of yourself.”
She pulled at his hold and he stopped to give them a final chance to talk this through. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to start the conversation again, he tried.
“Come on, Susan. One night. Please. I know my parents aren’t like your parents but-“
“Nicer version?”
Uh oh. He hadn’t meant to phrase it like that. “I meant, don’t automatically think less of them because they aren’t, well, you know, the typical sort of purebloods. They aren’t like your parents.”
“You keep saying that but I love your parents. I thought they loved me. Why do you keep harping on this apparent lack of cheer I seem to have. I can smile, Michael Corner. Just because I choose not to look like a idiot all the time like… like… Hannah doesn’t mean that I’m not a perfectly nice person.”
“A perfectly nice person who scares a good majority of the new people she meets on an average day.” Now he knew he was getting into deep water but he was so irritated with this conversation. If anyone asked Susan, she claimed that she was merely acerbic when everyone really thought of her as a shrew. He loved her sharp tongue but he didn’t want to have to explain it away tonight in front of people his parents considered important for his future.
“Why did you invite me if you thought that? Better yet, why do you even like me? Clearly, I-“
He cut her off with a kiss. Deep and smooth, he hoped it would shut her up. Some days it did. Sometimes, he was out of luck and it only sparked more anger.
“Please,” he begged as soon as he let her up for air. “Just smile tonight. Let everyone see the pleasant Susan that I love.”
“Sweetness and light,” Susan replied with a better smile than he had ever given her credit for. “But you owe me. Smiling for this long may give me wrinkles.”
“I’ll kiss every one of them away.” Taking a deep breath, he pulled her hand into the crook of her elbow and walked beside her up the remaining walkway to the house.
Date/Challenge: May 7 - I shall be nothing but sweetness and light at 30_hath and 01 - Pureblood at potterverse100
Character/Pairing: Susan Bones/Michael Corner
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 478
“I shall be nothing but sweetness and light.”
Michael frowned back at the girl reluctantly following him. If he hadn’t been clutching her hand, he would have left her behind at the front gate. Considering her sour expression, he thought about reconsidering and walking her back to the gate so he could leave her. Tonight was going to be hard enough without having to deal with a cantankerous Hufflepuff.
“Honey, I’ve told you a million times. I don’t want you to be anything but yourself. You, Susan Bones, are not sweetness and light. I just want you to be pleasant for once. These are my parents, after all. Just be a nicer version of yourself.”
She pulled at his hold and he stopped to give them a final chance to talk this through. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to start the conversation again, he tried.
“Come on, Susan. One night. Please. I know my parents aren’t like your parents but-“
“Nicer version?”
Uh oh. He hadn’t meant to phrase it like that. “I meant, don’t automatically think less of them because they aren’t, well, you know, the typical sort of purebloods. They aren’t like your parents.”
“You keep saying that but I love your parents. I thought they loved me. Why do you keep harping on this apparent lack of cheer I seem to have. I can smile, Michael Corner. Just because I choose not to look like a idiot all the time like… like… Hannah doesn’t mean that I’m not a perfectly nice person.”
“A perfectly nice person who scares a good majority of the new people she meets on an average day.” Now he knew he was getting into deep water but he was so irritated with this conversation. If anyone asked Susan, she claimed that she was merely acerbic when everyone really thought of her as a shrew. He loved her sharp tongue but he didn’t want to have to explain it away tonight in front of people his parents considered important for his future.
“Why did you invite me if you thought that? Better yet, why do you even like me? Clearly, I-“
He cut her off with a kiss. Deep and smooth, he hoped it would shut her up. Some days it did. Sometimes, he was out of luck and it only sparked more anger.
“Please,” he begged as soon as he let her up for air. “Just smile tonight. Let everyone see the pleasant Susan that I love.”
“Sweetness and light,” Susan replied with a better smile than he had ever given her credit for. “But you owe me. Smiling for this long may give me wrinkles.”
“I’ll kiss every one of them away.” Taking a deep breath, he pulled her hand into the crook of her elbow and walked beside her up the remaining walkway to the house.