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phil_urich
Recipient:suzanne78
Title: Of Blind Dates and Polite Surprises
Pairing: Michael/Susan
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,008
Summary: Michael goes on his first date in almost five years
Author's Notes: Thanks to [J] for her beta skills and making me back up some of my choices. Suzanne78, I hope you enjoy this.
Michael took a deep breath before knocking on the door of Ernie Macmillan. It had been almost five years since his last date, and he honestly wasn’t quite sure if he was ready for another one. He had tried explaining this to Ernie several times, but his friend was nothing if not obstinate when it came to getting his way.
Still, he’d already knocked; and Ernie, being Ernie, would know that it had been Michael who knocked. He wished he were Ernie at the moment. Ernie had a much better life right now.
Demelza opened the door and gave Michael a quick punch on the arm. “Michael, you’re late. How long have you been standing out here?”
“Two minutes and it’s only 6:33 PM, Melz. I’m fine by the way.” Demelza always had an odd way of greeting him. Everyone else, save he and Ernie, she greeted with a cheerful wave. Ernie always got a saucy wink and Michael got punched in the arm. He had secretly hoped that this habit of hers would gradually fade with time and maturity, but that had been seventeen years ago.
“I know you’re fine, Michael. That’s why I hit you. Now come in. Your date’s awaiting you with anxious trepidation.” Demelza turned as she said this and walked back into the house without looking behind her to see if he was following.
Seeing little choice, Michael entered the spacious hallway and closed the door behind him. Ernie and Demelza’s house was cluttered with furniture, including the many chairs and couches the pair used for entertainment. As he passed by the kitchen, neatly avoiding the odd arrangement of sofas in the hallway, he could see a set of mixing bowls in use as a set of blenders hovered over them and mixed.
“We’re having a party tomorrow night,” Demelza explained from the end of the hallway.
“Oh right, Ernie told me a few weeks ago.”
“You’re coming then?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Good, we’re relying on you for the salmon and crackers. Now come on. You don’t want to keep her waiting.” Demelza turned the corner and Michael reluctantly followed.
“Ah, there he is,” Ernie called out as Michael entered the living room. “What took you so long, Michael?”
“I’m only three minutes late, Ernie,” Michael responded defensively.
Demelza crossed the room and opened the door that led to their dining room. “You can come out now. Your date awaits you,” she announced.
Michael waited on tenterhooks as he listened for the girl’s approaching footsteps. He briefly glanced into Ernie and Demelza’s glass trophy case, his eyes scanning his reflection for any hint of something being out of place. He had known he was handsome at one time, but ever since his divorce from Jennifer he’d begun to wonder about that.
Ginny and Cho had always told him he looked like the classic hero. A strong jaw line, dark brown hair that always fell just right, and piercing brown eyes that all of the girls talked about regularly. That was in school, though. Overtime he’d developed a small paunch, his hair had begun to thin just a little. As for his eyes, well—he’d never really been certain if his previous girlfriends had been teasing him or not.
Michael turned back to see a woman he hadn’t seen in a very long time. She was wearing a long flowing green skirt and white sweater. Her hair still hung down her back and she had just the slightest hint of mascara on to highlight the green of her eyes. He smiled. “Hello, Susan.”
“Hello, Michael. You’ve grown up,” she said with a shy smile of her own as she wheeled her chair towards him. He remembered hearing the story from Anthony shortly after the battle had been fought and won at Hogwarts how’d they had to use Wingardium Leviosa on several pieces of rubble that had collapsed on to her legs during the battle.
“Likewise, so te-”
“Eh, eh eh.” Ernie waved a finger at them as if they were a pair of disobedient children.
“The two of you have a date to begin. I suggest you get on with it.”
“Aren’t the two of you coming with us?” Michael asked as he nervously wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.
“Hmm no, sorry Michael, something’s come up,” Ernie said. He’d always been a horrible liar.
“Oh, really, and what-”
“You know you’re wasting perfectly good time on an argument that you won’t win,” Demelza said as she sat on Ernie’s lap. “We trust the two of you’ll have a great time without us tonight. Enjoy.”
Michael started to say something, but the next moment he blinked as he realized that he and his date for the evening was outside, staring at the exterior of the Macmillan’s house.
“Susan, what just happened?” Michael asked.
“Demelza told me she’d come up with a new anti-intruder charm, but I never thought we’d be her guinea pigs,” Susan replied with no small amount of annoyance over her sudden apparition.
“An Apparition charm combined with-”
“Michael, you’re not about to do that Ravenclaw thing where you reverse engineer charms in your head, are you? I don’t mind really, but could you do it as we go?” Susan asked teasingly.
“Certainly,” Michael said with a slow nod of his head, his mind still half-occupied with what Demelza had used on the two of them.
“I have to admit I’m surprised by you, Michael. Most people actually try to push my wheelchair for me,” she said without looking over at him as they moved down the street.
“Oh, my mum was paralyzed when I was four, and she hated it when people pushed her wheelchair around. She said it made her feel like she had no control over where she was going and how fast she got there. Er, would you like me to push it?”
She smiled at that and leaned back into her chair just a little more. “No, your mum and I are very similar in our dislike of people pushing our chairs for us. Besides, my chair pushes itself.”
“Really? So you never have to push it then?”
“Well, I push it most of the time; mainly for the sake of exercise. Tonight my fingers feel as if they’re about to fall off though.”
“We should find a restaurant then. I haven’t eaten out in this area before. Do you know it well?”
“You didn’t have one in mind?”
“No, sorry. I was expecting Ernie to plan something. I usually just go by what I’m hungry for.”
“Mmm, I’m hungry for roasted pork and chestnuts. What about you, Michael?”
“Oh, roasted pork sounds fine. I know of a restaurant that makes wonderful roasted pork. Would you like to go?” Michael asked with a sudden excitement.
Susan returned Michael’s boyish grin with a smile of her own. “Lead the way.”
Michael grabbed her hand and the back of her wheelchair with his free hand. “Get ready,” he said.
“Wait, Michael don’t Apparate, please. Don’t,” Susan said, her voice trembling as the words left her mouth.
“What? Wh—oh, Susan, I’d completely forgotten about your splinching. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-” Michael looked about for rescue from his blunder, but found no way out. It was just another example of his mouth running away from him. It never ran in his best interest. “We can go somewhere else. There are plenty of good restaurants around here.”
“No, I—I’m—” Susan closed her eyes and sighed for just a moment.
Michael just stared, unsure of what to do next. Whenever Anthony or Terry got down, he just told a joke or two. Right now, he couldn’t even think of a simple knock knock joke. Well, except for one.
“Um Susan, I’m not good at knowing the proper times to tell jokes and what not. This probably isn’t one.” Michael nervously shuffled his feet as he continued. “It doesn’t feel like one anyways, but I’d like to hear you laugh. So can I tell you one?”
Susan opened her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just think about sixth year and…I get tense sometimes, Michael. Yes, please tell me a joke.”
Michael nodded at her. “All right then. Knock, knock.”
Susan gave him a curious look. “Who’s there?”
Michael mirrored her look and said, “Interrupting cow.”
Susan screwed up her face at that. “Interrupting cow, wh-?”
“Moo!”
“That was awful, Michael,” Susan said though she fought to keep from smiling.
“Why are you laughing, then?”
“I’m not.”
“You’re smiling very hard right now.”
“I believe I saw a few street vendors on the way here, Michael. Why don’t we just get something to eat from them and have a walk in the park?”
“Brilliant.”
“My idea?”
“No. Your smooth change of subject. I barely noticed it,” Michael said as they began to walk back toward the street they’d been on.
“Yes, well I believe I smell roasted pork that a way,” Susan said with a nod to the left as they turned onto the street. “Shall we go?”
“Certainly.”
“You were right,” Michael said as he brought a fork full of sweetened pork to his mouth.
“My nose never fails,” Susan said with a grin as she copied Michael and took her last bite.
Michael had produced a bluebell flame to help keep them warm while they ate. Susan found the small flame to be quite comforting.
It had been so long since she’d been on a date where she didn’t feel as if she was the one having to do all the talking. Most men she knew seemed inordinately proper when they were around her. It was almost as if the very act of talking to her might cause her to break down in tears. Now here she was enjoying a nice, albeit freezing evening in the park with Michael Corner. Best of all he didn’t seem awkward in her company. That was very nice.
“Michael?” Susan asked.
“Yes?”
“Would you like to take a turn around the park with me?”
“Yes.”
She liked that. Not a “sure” or a “why not”, but a “yes”, and one with no hesitation at that. The way he looked at her was lovely too. Small sideways glances as they began to make their way around the park, each one as if seeing her for the first time. It felt good to be looked at like that.
“And that’s how you three got a cow into Umbridge’s room?”
“You sound disappointed,” Michael said as they rounded the lake a third time.
“I just expected something so much more complicated than that. The school talked about it for weeks, but no one was ever caught,” Susan said.
“I’ve always suspected that Professor Dumbledore knew, but he found the humor in it and no one was hurt, so I suppose he just decided to overlook it.”
“And what about Professor Flitwick?”
“I think he and the other professors didn’t really mind. Professor McGonagall actually lectured her about keeping pets at Hogwarts.”
Susan laughed at that. “So will you be bringing a cow to Ernie and Demelza’s party tomorrow night?
“If the mood strikes me,” Michael said with a grin to show he was joking. “What about you?”
“It’s a surprise. We chefs like to keep our secrets, you know?”
“Ernie told me you were a chef, but he didn’t tell me you kept secrets. Could you give me a hint as to what it is?” he asked.
“No.”
“What if I were to pick you up at your apartment tomorrow? Could I have a taste test?” Michael asked as they came to a stop.
“Am I to be your date to the party, Michael?” Susan turned to look at him directly.
“I’m sorry, I meant to ask you. Would you like to be my date to Ernie and Demelza’s party tomorrow evening?”
“Yes,” she said. “That would be nice.”
“Good,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Susan smiled up at him. “Me too.”
phil_urichRecipient:
suzanne78Title: Of Blind Dates and Polite Surprises
Pairing: Michael/Susan
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,008
Summary: Michael goes on his first date in almost five years
Author's Notes: Thanks to [J] for her beta skills and making me back up some of my choices. Suzanne78, I hope you enjoy this.
Michael took a deep breath before knocking on the door of Ernie Macmillan. It had been almost five years since his last date, and he honestly wasn’t quite sure if he was ready for another one. He had tried explaining this to Ernie several times, but his friend was nothing if not obstinate when it came to getting his way.
Still, he’d already knocked; and Ernie, being Ernie, would know that it had been Michael who knocked. He wished he were Ernie at the moment. Ernie had a much better life right now.
Demelza opened the door and gave Michael a quick punch on the arm. “Michael, you’re late. How long have you been standing out here?”
“Two minutes and it’s only 6:33 PM, Melz. I’m fine by the way.” Demelza always had an odd way of greeting him. Everyone else, save he and Ernie, she greeted with a cheerful wave. Ernie always got a saucy wink and Michael got punched in the arm. He had secretly hoped that this habit of hers would gradually fade with time and maturity, but that had been seventeen years ago.
“I know you’re fine, Michael. That’s why I hit you. Now come in. Your date’s awaiting you with anxious trepidation.” Demelza turned as she said this and walked back into the house without looking behind her to see if he was following.
Seeing little choice, Michael entered the spacious hallway and closed the door behind him. Ernie and Demelza’s house was cluttered with furniture, including the many chairs and couches the pair used for entertainment. As he passed by the kitchen, neatly avoiding the odd arrangement of sofas in the hallway, he could see a set of mixing bowls in use as a set of blenders hovered over them and mixed.
“We’re having a party tomorrow night,” Demelza explained from the end of the hallway.
“Oh right, Ernie told me a few weeks ago.”
“You’re coming then?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Good, we’re relying on you for the salmon and crackers. Now come on. You don’t want to keep her waiting.” Demelza turned the corner and Michael reluctantly followed.
“Ah, there he is,” Ernie called out as Michael entered the living room. “What took you so long, Michael?”
“I’m only three minutes late, Ernie,” Michael responded defensively.
Demelza crossed the room and opened the door that led to their dining room. “You can come out now. Your date awaits you,” she announced.
Michael waited on tenterhooks as he listened for the girl’s approaching footsteps. He briefly glanced into Ernie and Demelza’s glass trophy case, his eyes scanning his reflection for any hint of something being out of place. He had known he was handsome at one time, but ever since his divorce from Jennifer he’d begun to wonder about that.
Ginny and Cho had always told him he looked like the classic hero. A strong jaw line, dark brown hair that always fell just right, and piercing brown eyes that all of the girls talked about regularly. That was in school, though. Overtime he’d developed a small paunch, his hair had begun to thin just a little. As for his eyes, well—he’d never really been certain if his previous girlfriends had been teasing him or not.
Michael turned back to see a woman he hadn’t seen in a very long time. She was wearing a long flowing green skirt and white sweater. Her hair still hung down her back and she had just the slightest hint of mascara on to highlight the green of her eyes. He smiled. “Hello, Susan.”
“Hello, Michael. You’ve grown up,” she said with a shy smile of her own as she wheeled her chair towards him. He remembered hearing the story from Anthony shortly after the battle had been fought and won at Hogwarts how’d they had to use Wingardium Leviosa on several pieces of rubble that had collapsed on to her legs during the battle.
“Likewise, so te-”
“Eh, eh eh.” Ernie waved a finger at them as if they were a pair of disobedient children.
“The two of you have a date to begin. I suggest you get on with it.”
“Aren’t the two of you coming with us?” Michael asked as he nervously wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.
“Hmm no, sorry Michael, something’s come up,” Ernie said. He’d always been a horrible liar.
“Oh, really, and what-”
“You know you’re wasting perfectly good time on an argument that you won’t win,” Demelza said as she sat on Ernie’s lap. “We trust the two of you’ll have a great time without us tonight. Enjoy.”
Michael started to say something, but the next moment he blinked as he realized that he and his date for the evening was outside, staring at the exterior of the Macmillan’s house.
“Susan, what just happened?” Michael asked.
“Demelza told me she’d come up with a new anti-intruder charm, but I never thought we’d be her guinea pigs,” Susan replied with no small amount of annoyance over her sudden apparition.
“An Apparition charm combined with-”
“Michael, you’re not about to do that Ravenclaw thing where you reverse engineer charms in your head, are you? I don’t mind really, but could you do it as we go?” Susan asked teasingly.
“Certainly,” Michael said with a slow nod of his head, his mind still half-occupied with what Demelza had used on the two of them.
“I have to admit I’m surprised by you, Michael. Most people actually try to push my wheelchair for me,” she said without looking over at him as they moved down the street.
“Oh, my mum was paralyzed when I was four, and she hated it when people pushed her wheelchair around. She said it made her feel like she had no control over where she was going and how fast she got there. Er, would you like me to push it?”
She smiled at that and leaned back into her chair just a little more. “No, your mum and I are very similar in our dislike of people pushing our chairs for us. Besides, my chair pushes itself.”
“Really? So you never have to push it then?”
“Well, I push it most of the time; mainly for the sake of exercise. Tonight my fingers feel as if they’re about to fall off though.”
“We should find a restaurant then. I haven’t eaten out in this area before. Do you know it well?”
“You didn’t have one in mind?”
“No, sorry. I was expecting Ernie to plan something. I usually just go by what I’m hungry for.”
“Mmm, I’m hungry for roasted pork and chestnuts. What about you, Michael?”
“Oh, roasted pork sounds fine. I know of a restaurant that makes wonderful roasted pork. Would you like to go?” Michael asked with a sudden excitement.
Susan returned Michael’s boyish grin with a smile of her own. “Lead the way.”
Michael grabbed her hand and the back of her wheelchair with his free hand. “Get ready,” he said.
“Wait, Michael don’t Apparate, please. Don’t,” Susan said, her voice trembling as the words left her mouth.
“What? Wh—oh, Susan, I’d completely forgotten about your splinching. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-” Michael looked about for rescue from his blunder, but found no way out. It was just another example of his mouth running away from him. It never ran in his best interest. “We can go somewhere else. There are plenty of good restaurants around here.”
“No, I—I’m—” Susan closed her eyes and sighed for just a moment.
Michael just stared, unsure of what to do next. Whenever Anthony or Terry got down, he just told a joke or two. Right now, he couldn’t even think of a simple knock knock joke. Well, except for one.
“Um Susan, I’m not good at knowing the proper times to tell jokes and what not. This probably isn’t one.” Michael nervously shuffled his feet as he continued. “It doesn’t feel like one anyways, but I’d like to hear you laugh. So can I tell you one?”
Susan opened her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just think about sixth year and…I get tense sometimes, Michael. Yes, please tell me a joke.”
Michael nodded at her. “All right then. Knock, knock.”
Susan gave him a curious look. “Who’s there?”
Michael mirrored her look and said, “Interrupting cow.”
Susan screwed up her face at that. “Interrupting cow, wh-?”
“Moo!”
“That was awful, Michael,” Susan said though she fought to keep from smiling.
“Why are you laughing, then?”
“I’m not.”
“You’re smiling very hard right now.”
“I believe I saw a few street vendors on the way here, Michael. Why don’t we just get something to eat from them and have a walk in the park?”
“Brilliant.”
“My idea?”
“No. Your smooth change of subject. I barely noticed it,” Michael said as they began to walk back toward the street they’d been on.
“Yes, well I believe I smell roasted pork that a way,” Susan said with a nod to the left as they turned onto the street. “Shall we go?”
“Certainly.”
“You were right,” Michael said as he brought a fork full of sweetened pork to his mouth.
“My nose never fails,” Susan said with a grin as she copied Michael and took her last bite.
Michael had produced a bluebell flame to help keep them warm while they ate. Susan found the small flame to be quite comforting.
It had been so long since she’d been on a date where she didn’t feel as if she was the one having to do all the talking. Most men she knew seemed inordinately proper when they were around her. It was almost as if the very act of talking to her might cause her to break down in tears. Now here she was enjoying a nice, albeit freezing evening in the park with Michael Corner. Best of all he didn’t seem awkward in her company. That was very nice.
“Michael?” Susan asked.
“Yes?”
“Would you like to take a turn around the park with me?”
“Yes.”
She liked that. Not a “sure” or a “why not”, but a “yes”, and one with no hesitation at that. The way he looked at her was lovely too. Small sideways glances as they began to make their way around the park, each one as if seeing her for the first time. It felt good to be looked at like that.
“And that’s how you three got a cow into Umbridge’s room?”
“You sound disappointed,” Michael said as they rounded the lake a third time.
“I just expected something so much more complicated than that. The school talked about it for weeks, but no one was ever caught,” Susan said.
“I’ve always suspected that Professor Dumbledore knew, but he found the humor in it and no one was hurt, so I suppose he just decided to overlook it.”
“And what about Professor Flitwick?”
“I think he and the other professors didn’t really mind. Professor McGonagall actually lectured her about keeping pets at Hogwarts.”
Susan laughed at that. “So will you be bringing a cow to Ernie and Demelza’s party tomorrow night?
“If the mood strikes me,” Michael said with a grin to show he was joking. “What about you?”
“It’s a surprise. We chefs like to keep our secrets, you know?”
“Ernie told me you were a chef, but he didn’t tell me you kept secrets. Could you give me a hint as to what it is?” he asked.
“No.”
“What if I were to pick you up at your apartment tomorrow? Could I have a taste test?” Michael asked as they came to a stop.
“Am I to be your date to the party, Michael?” Susan turned to look at him directly.
“I’m sorry, I meant to ask you. Would you like to be my date to Ernie and Demelza’s party tomorrow evening?”
“Yes,” she said. “That would be nice.”
“Good,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Susan smiled up at him. “Me too.”
no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 03:05 am (UTC)Haha! :D
Susan screwed up her face at that. “Interrupting cow, wh-?”
“Moo!”
INTERRUPTING COW! ♥ That joke is so ridiculous, it always makes me laugh.
This is really great. I love how you've characterized everyone, but Susan especially - giving her a physical disability is something that most authors don't do, and it's refreshing to see her so human. And she's still Susan, too.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 03:22 am (UTC)This story really touched me. I loved the not-too-angsty glimpse of Michael, older, jaded, insecure. He felt very real, a new bachelor stepping back out into the real world. I really loved the naturalness of the dialogue, how, despite the fact that they've known each other for a while, there's still this awkwardness as they sort of venture into this new frontier together. Michael's humor and his Ravenclawness comes through so well (the knock knock joke was just sweet and I could visualize that in my head!) And I loved this Susan--loved how you explored her with her injuries and how Michael treated her with a welcome normalcy. The small moments of flirting worked so well throughout this piece; realistic, and great character development.
Demelza was great. I dug the way Ernie and Melz sort of forced them to just get on with the date, with that sort of friendly, "oh, just get on with it already!" attitude, of two people who do seem to have everything and they're trying to get their two wounded friends together.
Thanks so much! I really loved this :-D
no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-18 04:26 am (UTC)Back to guessing . . . .
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Date: 2008-12-18 04:30 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2008-12-29 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-26 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 01:10 am (UTC)Susan wants a man who is all of those things you listed because that's the type of men she grew up with and admired in her own House.
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Date: 2008-12-30 07:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-05 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-30 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2009-01-12 02:52 am (UTC)