Title: Third Time's the Charm

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.

As it turns out, Ernie only owns one black tie.

It's almost brand new; worn once in the four, almost five years Ernie had it, but now that he's found it he'd be surprised if the darn thing still fits.

And it almost doesn't, the Hogwarts crest fitting uncomfortably tight around Ernie's neck, but it's long enough to tuck under his sweater so it'll do for now.

Hannah and Justin wait for him downstairs by the fire, both outfitted similarly in all black. Hannah's eyes are dry, but it's clear she was up all night crying. The moment the Gaelic boy is close enough, Justin and Ernie exchange worried glances. They know from experience: allow Hannah to get too worked up and she'll have to be taken to the hospital wing for a calming draught.

She has a perfectly reasonable excuse for being so upset: Cedric Diggory is dead. Murdered, accident, suicide… at the moment, Ernie can't be bothered with the details, because knowing every gory play-by-play isn't going to bring him back. And it's not as if Ernie knew Cedric well or anything, but Hufflepuff has always been a pretty close-knit bunch of kids, so the badgers all mourn as though the sixth-year was a close and cherished friend.

He does come to one conclusion though. Harry Potter never wanted to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. It's not something anyone has to point out, and a good half of the student body probably still aren't persuaded, but Ernie knows he's made another error in judgment.

In Ernie's defense, it had been an entire year since the last scandal featuring the boy-who-lived, and attention-seeking-show-off is a lot more plausible than dark-wizard-overlord. But even still, he owes the Gryffindor one.

(Ernie wants to believe in the return of You-Know-Who about as much as a Crup welcomes Halloween. It doesn't stop him from convincing his parents to cancel their subscription to the Daily Prophet though)

When Ernie finally receives his fifth year Hogwarts letter, he is actually genuinely surprised to find a black and yellow prefects badge amongst its contents. Instead of being ecstatic like he thought he would, the first thought that pops into Ernie's mind makes his stomach twist unpleasantly.

"It's really nice of you guys to support me, but do you really have to wear those badges?"

"I don't care if Potter lives a secret double life as the Queen! I'm not wearing that tacky monstrosity!"

"Did you see his face? He looked so surprised!"

"Us 'Puffs stick together Cedric! You should know that by now!"

In all honestly, Ernie's been purposely avoiding Harry this year. Not because Ernie thinks he is crazy, but because he has no idea what to say to the messy haired teen that doesn't sound guilt ridden or insincere.

Ernie's pretty sure the only person who's noticed this behavior is Hannah, but she never says anything about it, so Ernie thinks she understands where he's coming from.

Defense Against the Dark Arts is a complete joke. Professor Umbridge doesn't actually do any teaching, preferring instead to assign reading and essays, and the textbook they're supposed to study is complete…

Baloney.

Maybe that's why when Hermione Granger approaches the trio in the library one afternoon he's so apt to listen.

(You simply cannot mess with education during OWL year! What are they thinking!)

When Ernie takes his first look at the Hog's Head, his immediate thought is that he's ended up in the wrong place, because there's no way Hermione Granger would hold a meeting in a dump like this.

"Come on," Susan says, dragging an apprehensive looking Hannah through the door by the elbow, her long plait swinging in the wind. They disappear behind the heavy oak door and don't immediately start shrieking, so Ernie supposes it's okay to go inside.

It's a decrepit building, all dark wood and gray paint, and the entire area smells like wet barnyard animal. But unless there's another pub named after an animal, this must be the place.

During most of the meeting, Ernie just listens quietly, nursing his Butterbeer like a fine wine.

"Right," says Hermione, looking relieved that something had at last been settled. "Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week -"

"Hang on," interrupts a seveth year that Ernie doesn't recognize, "we need to make sure this doesn't clash with our Quidditch practice."

"No," says Cho, "nor with ours."

"Nor ours," adds Zacharias.

Really? Quidditch practice? If Ernie was making a list of extracurriculars in order from most important to least, this would definitely top the list.

"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," said Hermione, slightly impatiently, as though reading his mind, "but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters -"

"Well said!" He shouts out, "Personally I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our OWLs coming up!"

Ernie looks around at all assembled, waiting for someone to disagree. Thankfully, no one does, so he continues on. "I, personally am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher on us at this critical period. Obviously, they are in denial about the return of You-Know- Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells -"

As he talks, Ernie tries desperately hard not to mention the third task or Cedric or the Daily Prophet, because that's all people seem to ask Harry about these days. And as much as Ernie'd like to know about what happened that summer night, he's not nearly rude enough to demand to know, and he doesn't feel he's entitled to the information anyway.

Ernie likes to think his sudden discretion makes up for never apologizing to Harry for thinking he'd cheated his way into the Triwizard Tournament.

(It's not as if he's got anything else Harry might appreciate)

When Hermione mentions that she wants them all to sign their names, well, you can't blame Ernie for being a little nervous.

"I - well, we are prefects," Ernie burst out. "And if this list was found… well, I mean to say… you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out -"

"You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year," Harry reminds him.

"I - yes," says Ernie, trapped by his own words, "yes, I do believe that, it's just -"

"Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?" says Hermione testily.

Oh, right. Hermione Granger: top of the class, bookworm, Ravenclaw in disguise, and possibly the most responsible person in the school. Of course she wouldn't…

"No. No, of course not," says Ernie, feeling slightly less anxious. "I - yes, of course I'll sign."

He's running as fast as he can, dragging a panting Hannah along with him as he sprints. He has no idea what happened to Justin or Susan, but he can just barely make out the back of Zacharias's blonde head as he takes the marble stairs two and three at a time. The Scottish boy fled from the Room of Requirement long before Harry had given the order to run, and if Ernie was any less of a gentleman, he could think of several jinxes and swearwords he'd like to use on his unreliable dorm mate.

They fly back into the copper covered common room as though You-Know-Who himself was chasing them, but despite the safety of the badger's den, neither want to go up to bed without their missing dorm mate.

(They don't even consider it)

When Susan and Justin finally make it back to the common room that night, the redhead is fiddling with a bandage the muggleborn now has wrapped around his right hand.

Neither seems all that surprised to find their friends up so late, but Justin looks as though he'd hoping against hope for the opposite.

"What took you guys so long?" Ernie asks sleepily.

Susan is practically vibrating with fury as she marches Justin to sit on one of the fluffy yellow couches.

"That Umbridge woman is an absolute monster!" Susan mutters venomously. "Hannah, would you grab some dittany from my trunk?"

It's obvious that Hannah knows what kind of injuries Dittany is used for and they must lead her to a particularly unpleasant conclusion, because her features grow grim in the flickering light as she stares at Justin's bandage.

"Do you want some murtlap too?"

Susan looks at the blonde in relief, "If you have some."

As Hannah runs to her dorm, Ernie turns back towards back to his friend. "Justin," he starts, even more solemn than normal. "What happened?"

The brunette lifts his head from where he stares mutinously at the ground; his brown eyes are dark with a stubborn fire. "Nothing," he mutters in a rare display of petulance. "I'm fine, Susan's just overreacting."

"Don't you dare try to excuse her Justin Finch-Fletchly!" Susan hisses, but most of her anger is obviously directed towards someone who isn't there. "Don't you dare!"

Hannah appears behind her looking unhappy, arms loaded with several bottles and creams.

"I've got all the stuff Susan," she starts, lining the bottles on a nearby table that she doesn't bother to clear of the homework she and Ernie had been working on as they waited.

"How many holders do you need?"

Susan glances at Ernie as if sizing him up. "Ernie should be fine. Are those wraps absorbent or reflective?"

"Reflective I think, but most of them are also tear resistant."

"Wait a moment! What exactly are y-"

"Ernie," Hannah interrupts. "We need you to do exactly what we say. Justin's hand is…"

She trails off, unsure. "How did it happen, Susan?"

The taller girl throws a dirty look towards Justin, "I don't know what exactly because this git wouldn't tell me." She reaches for the wounded hand, carefully unwrapping the bloody gauze as she speaks, discarding it onto the table. "It's Umbridge's idea of punishment."

Ernie doesn't know what he expected, but he didn't think it would be so gruesome. The back of Justin's hand is bleeding freely, the skin gleaming a bright red with rawness. It looks as if someone had taken a quill knife and carved it into the vulnerable flesh. The message written isn't complete, but Ernie's always been pretty good at fill-in-the-blank.

"I must respect my betters," Ernie repeats slowly, fists clenching automatically in his anger, a funny ringing in his ears.

"It'll probably scar too," Susan says sadly. "I'm not sure if Dittany works on cursed injuries, but we'll try our best."

"Can't we take him too Madame Pomfrey?" Hannah starts desperately. "Doesn't she have something that would-"

"I'm not going to the hospital wing," Justin pipes up unexpectedly, brow furrowed in thought. "I'm not letting her win." He casts a sideways glance at Susan who sits to his right. "Do what you can, but I won't expect any miracles."

Susan nods her understanding, taking a deep breath as she turns back to Hannah. "You know what to do?"

"Hold his arm Ernie: keep him still."

Hannah's lower lip quivers, but her hands are steady are steady as she uncorks the flask.

"This might sting a bit," she whispers, before spilling a few drops of Dittany onto the still bleeding gashes.

Justin's cry of pain startles Ernie so badly that he almost lets the other boy go, but he manages to hang on.

"It's almost done Justin, I'm almost finished," Hannah murmurs shakily as she continues despite her friend's howls, tears forming in her eyes.

As the duo try to stop the bleeding, Susan soaks the bandages in a funny smelling yellow liquid that Ernie doesn't recognize. Together, the two girls carefully re-wrap Justin's hand, the muggle-born nearly crying in relief as they finish.

(Who in the… blooming… fudging… heck would let Umbridge teach in a school? Guard a dungeon's more like)

"Mr. Macmillan," Umbridge starts, her voice venomously sweet. "You did not turn in you essay on chapter sixteen, despite the fact that you had a whole night to work on it. May I ask why?"

Ernie answers as calmly as he can, but his tone is clipped and frigid. "I didn't turn in my homework, Professor, because it was covered in blood and I didn't think you'd appreciate the extra mess."

He hears someone snort with laughter behind him; to his left Morag MacDougal rolls her eyes, and Ernie can see Su Li and Mandy Brocklehurst exchanging 'can-you-believe-this-guy?' glances. Clearly, they think he's kidding or trying to get out of work, but Ernie doesn't smile and neither do any of the other Hufflepuffs; even the ones who don't know what happened.

Because the Ravenclaws might not be aware of it, but it's common knowledge in Hufflepuff: Ernie Macmillan does not joke.

At all.

Ever.

Ernie simply gazes at Umbridge calmly, almost daring her to say something against him.

"You'll just have to make it up tonight then, won't you Mr. Macmillan?"

He's well aware that had he not been a pureblood, he'd be suffering the same fate as Justin tonight but as he heads towards the Great Hall for lunch, Ernie doesn't feel any guilt for throwing his name around.

'Us 'Puffs stick together, huh Cedric?' He thinks reflectively.

(Because Ernie can learn… it just takes him a few tries sometimes)

Ernie Macmillan is a very sincere person. When he reaches a conclusion, he will defend his views to his dying breath, and if Hogwarts had a debate team, Ernie would be a founding member.

Ernie's just turned sixteen though, so his arguments are getting better and he's finally learned the meaning of 'proof'. And Ernie likes being right, so he definitely appreciates not needing as many of those admittedly well-deserved 'I-told-you-so' looks Hannah likes to throw his way sometimes.

And Ernie is human, so he, like everyone else, has stuck his foot in his mouth at least once.

(But Ernie Macmillan proud to be able to prove that no, he doesn't have three feet)

Hey guys! Somehow, amazingly, I got this chapter finished waaaaay ahead of schedule. An unexpected side-effect of having finals for three weeks also meant that I had at least an hour each day to work on fanfiction, so yay! Hope you enjoyed! - Cadid423