Infatuation

Frustration

The quiet moan was what made him look up. You'd think after almost a year he'd have grown used to this, yet he never did. There, seated on the couch, his two housemates were clasped together, holding each other close and gently moving closer. Watching them, it seemed they were trying to occupy the same space.

He watched, fascinated, as hands slipped up to a pair of tightly tied braids and pulled the ribbons loose, freeing a stream of blonde hair to drop down towards a tapered waist. Those same hands carefully ran through the golden cascade, untangling and practically petting.

Justin knew Susan didn't really like it when they were watched, if only because she was rather shy, and he always tried to respect her wishes. But really, the sight of them snogging in the middle of the Common Room wasn't something he could look away from.

He saw Susan's hands run up to tangle in a dark mass of hair, as yet another moan escaped her. The hands which had been undoing her braids had followed the flow of hair up to more interesting places, and Justin had to suppress his own gasp as he watched the small, elegantly manicured hand of Susan's dorm mate and lover, Hannah, caress Susan's collarbone and trail slowly back down.

***

The first time Justin had walked in on the two of them had been quite a shock. He'd gone up to the girls' room to pick up Susan's notes from a class he'd missed, and seen her laid out on her bed with the dark haired Hannah kneeling next to her and slowly removing her top.

His gasp must have been quite audible because Hannah had looked up at him expectantly.

"Yes?" she'd asked, in a quiet and, Justin thought, rather seductive tone. "Can we do something for you?"

"I ... uh... I came for... um, notes. That's right, I came for Susan's Transfiguration notes."

"Oh really?" Hannah's voice was downright teasing and the boy gulped. "So, you came for her notes, did you?" The inflection was light, but he noticed and so did Susan. The blond blushed to her roots and swatted Hannah.

"Hold on," she said. "I'll get them." Rolling off of her bed away from Hannah she reached into the bag on the floor and pulled out the notes Justin needed. "Here you go." She offered them to him.

"Thanks." Justin's gave up his attempts to stop blushing and took the notes. "Sorry for, um, for interrupting."

"Don't worry about it," Hannah said. "I'm sure I can find my place again."

"Hannah!" Susan's tone was scandalized and as Justin left he could hear her berating the other girl. "Really, Hannah, you're awful!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart..." the words echoed down the hall as he shut the door to the room.

***

Susan had come to him later, and explained. The two of them had been involved off and on since sometime in the sixth year, but were starting to get serious finally. They were thinking of getting a flat in London after leaving Hogwarts.

He apologized again for walking in on them and congratulated her, and she apologized for Hannah's teasing, both of them blushing all the while.

***

The second time he walked in on them he knocked first. He'd wanted to be certain he wasn't interrupting anything, and when Hannah called out for him to enter he blithely opened the door, not hearing Susan's delayed "One second!"

Neither girl was wearing a top and Susan had a small bruise forming below her collar bone. Susan was making an effort to reach something that would cover her, but was hampered in these efforts by Hannah's seeming unwillingness to move from where she was straddling Susan's hips.

Justin shut his eyes and, valiantly restraining himself from peeking, said, "I was just wondering if you girls were planing on going to dinner tonight."

"Ah, no," Hannah's voice was silken and highly distracting. "I think we were planing on eating in tonight."

It took Justin exactly 2.5 seconds to catch on to what she meant, and his eyes fluttered open while his jaw dropped. He saw that Susan's blush started at her roots but went down much farther than her neck before he recalled himself and slammed his eyelids down.

"Right, ok..." he stuttered. "I'll tell Ernie then and we'll go alone. Or rather, together... well, not together but... um... without you... Right."

"Ok. Have fun with Ernie."

Justin refused to open his eyes and see the grin he could tell was on his housemate's face, although he was sorely tempted when he heard the sharp retort of flesh striking flesh and Susan's muttered, "Behave!"

***

Justin stopped going to check on the girls after that, sending Eloise or one of the younger girls if he needed anything from Susan and Hannah. So the next time he wandered upon them was in the middle of the courtyard.

***

"And so I said to Terry... Good Gods!"

"Why on earth would you say that when he asked you... oh, hey Hannah, hallo Susan." Ernie apparently didn't let anything phase him. He nodded to the two girls locked in each other's arms then turned back to Justin. "But what did you say?"

"I... I ... I said..." he tried, but didn't make it very far.

"Oh, hi, Ernie. Hello, Justin." That tone in Hannah's voice, Justin would swear later, was becoming hard wired into his back brain and there really wasn't anything he could do about it. He heard it and his brain just shut down.

"Hannah..." Susan sounded exasperated and had pulled away from her girlfriend.

"Yes? What?" How she managed to sound sultry and innocent at once, no one would ever know.

Ernie reached over and physically closed Justin's mouth. "Come on you," he said, pulling Justin out of the courtyard. "I want to know what you told Terry, and I'll never find out if you stay here."

***

Hannah must have apologized to Susan for her teasing and returned to what they'd been doing before, because they were caught not more than three minutes later by Snape, who gave them both double detentions for "disturbing him." Justin privately admitted later that the site of the two of them wrapped in each others' arms was very disturbing, and he'd probably give Hannah at least a detention for each time she arranged for him to see it if he could.

***

Thus began the forays into the Common Room, which had led to tonight. Lisa had broken up with him this last weekend, claiming he was distracted and uninterested in her, and three nights this week he'd been presented, rewarded, tried, obsessed with this sight. Justin was quite sure he would go mad soon.

He watched, transfixed as Hannah bore Susan to the couch, sliding her hands everywhere. The soft sighs and quiet moans driving him to distraction, he finally managed to get his stuff together, only crushing one quill at a sudden, sharp cry.

Standing shakily, he said, "I'm going back to my room."

"Have fun." Hannah's damned voice came from the couch and he almost dropped his things.

After Justin was safely out of range Susan spoke up. "You're a dreadful tease, you know that."

"Yes," Hannah's voice held no apology in it. "But then again, you're an exhibitionist, so it all works out in the end."

Susan giggled. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

"Do that thing again," the blonde commanded.

"What, this?" A sharp cry greeted her motion. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."