jayjustin (jayjustin) wrote in eighth_rpg, @ 2011-01-07 14:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | justin finch-fletchley, sally-anne perks |
Who: Justin Finch-Fletchley and Sally-Anne Perks.
What: A conversation between an open door.
Where: Between Sally and Justin's flats.
When: After the incident. Late.
Rating: Low.
Justin couldn’t sleep. He could hear and practically feel Megan breathing beside him and it seemed relaxed enough to assume she was asleep, but honestly he didn’t know. The whole thing was unreal. Like something out of one of his X-men comic books (that he doesn’t really collect, if anyone asked). Wizards, witches were getting killed and Justin didn’t understand why no one - really - was doing anything remotely constructive to stop it. They really couldn’t be so behind the Deatheaters, that they couldn’t find away to stop them, could they? Justin had actually heard the other day, someone say it was all going to blow over soon and if it didn’t, well wizards were trained to deal with stuff like this and we would all be okay. The wizard was so naive, Justin had even been tempted to hex the man himself. Things weren’t just going to stop, blow over and everyone would be okay. One side was going to win and the other side was going to lose, and he couldn’t help, but fear, that maybe this time good wasn’t going to triumph evil. Justin pulled himself out of bed, and walked back into his kitchen, he needed a drink. Something strong too. He decided against vodka and moved instead over to his liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of scotch. He poured himself a glass and took a sip, before he looked over at his front door; almost like it wasn’t actually there anymore and considered how she was doing. He set the drink back on the table and walked over, pulling his door open and walking across the floor to her own door. He paused and knocked, before he considered the time, and the fact it was late and they weren’t exactly close friends or anything, he even started to walk away when the door finally clicked open.
“Uh, hey. Just wanted to see if you were okay.”
---
Sally-Anne had been lying in her sleeping bag, pretending to sleep.
Her thoughts jumped back and forth between the shocking news of
today's events and what they actually mean, to the cursing herself for
not being better at Transfigurations. But actually having a bed
probably would not have helped her capture sleep tonight. Sally had
been tossing and turning when she thought she heard someone knocking
softly on her front door. She continued lying there for a moment,
debating if she should even get up to address it. But then it crossed
her mind that perhaps it was something important, more news that
didn't know how to process. She finally crawled to her feet, wrapping
her night robe around her and padded her way to the door of her flat.
Pausing, she tried to peer out the little glass hole, but the hall way
was dark and she couldn't see a thing. Gripping her wand, she slowly
opened the door.
"Justin?" She wedged herself in the doorway, thankful that it was dark
and he couldn't see the room behind her. "It's the middle of the
night." Sally hadn't actually talked to Justin since she had become
his neighbor. "Has something else happened?"
--
Justin could see the wand, her wand, being held tightly in her own hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. No nothing has happened.” Again. He wrapped his own arms around himself, realizing he hadn’t even grabbed a robe and he was just in his long blue pajama pants and a white t-shirt, standing out in the middle of their hallway with not even a wand in his hands. He could probably go now. Now that he had seen that she was okay, he felt better and he wasn’t even sure why. He managed to sneak a glance behind her and from what he could make out, she didn’t have too much furniture yet. “Furniture still hasn’t arrived just yet?” It was all pointless, chit chat. Stuff that could have waited till tomorrow morning. But, he couldn’t sleep and he didn’t exactly want to go back into his apartment, and back into his bedroom; where Megan was probably fast asleep by now.
“Do you at least have a bed yet? I would offer a spell, but transfiguration was definitely not best subject.” He couldn't imagine not even having a bed to sleep on at a time like this. Whenever or not, sleep was actually coming with the bed, it still would have been a start.
--
Sally was slightly comforted by the fact that nothing else had
happened. But perhaps more so by the fact that Justin had come to
check on her. Giving it some thought however, she chose instead to
shrug it off. In stressful situations, people often connect more with
those around them, even if was mere due to proximity. She lessened the
grip on her wand a little, now that potential threat had passed. Sally
grew a bit nervous however, when Justin mentioned her furniture.
Mentally she grasped at straws.
"Not yet," she replied, glancing back into the empty room. How long
would she have to go without providing a better explanation. "But to
be honest, I doubt a bed would help at this point." Sally thought
about the fact that he was not good at Transfigurations either. Had
many of their subjects paralleled each other at school, only for her
to never notice?
"I can't stop thinking about the things that happened today. But if I
don't get some sleep I'm going to be a waste at work tomorrow." Sally
leaned her head against the door as she spoke, her short dark hair
mussed from her sleeplessness. "Is that why you're up?"
--
He nodded, of course he knew a bed wouldn’t help. He had a bed, and it wasn’t helping, but he still didn’t like the idea that Sally was without one. He would make a note to make sure her furniture arrived tomorrow. Even if that meant another awkward, conversation like the one they were having now. But, really, was it that awkward? He contemplated the amount of arguments they’d had in the past and he realized, compared to that, it was actually alright.
He nodded, again. It seemed like he wasn’t a man of words tonight. But, what words could sum up how he felt right now? It wasn’t sure if there were any. His hand went up towards his head and one of his fingers, curled a piece of his fringe around for a moment. “It doesn’t feel right to sleep.” Because it didn’t, sleep meant surrender and Justin didn’t want to surrender to just another one of their actions.
Hannah was getting married. Deatheaters were boasting about death on their journals. Wizards and witches were getting tortured. Wizards and witches were being killed.
Everything felt wrong.
“I just don’t understand, why none of us seem to be as powerful as they are - all we hear is our side keeps losing and their side keeps winning, why haven’t we won something yet. Does that make sense? I mean we won last time.”
--
For some reason, Sally was completely distracted by the act of Justin
curling a piece of his hair. A nervous twitch, perhaps? She wondered
what sort of habits she had that may reveal how she was truly feeling
at this moment. Her exhaustion and confusion, her embarrassment and
awkwardness. Why was Justin even discussing this situation with her?
Saying the words "our side" and "we won". In the last war, Sally
succeeding in being on no one's side. She saved herself by keeping her
head down and her nose clean. Except for those few moments, when she
refused to succumb to the Carrows' classroom instruction, she could
have easily been pegged as someone from the other side. "Their side."
"That hadn't crossed my mind," she admitted. Sally had been dwelling
on the fact that the people who had been killed at Flourish and Botts
- there had been no rhyme or reason. Whoever did it were not out to
prove that they were better than muggleborns or seeking revenge on
blood traitors. They wanted to show that no one except their elite few
were exempt from potential harm. In a terrorist society, anyone could
be the next victim. That is until we agreed to give in to what they
wanted.
Sally felt a tightness in her throat. The combination of her personal
problems and the greater world felt heavy on her shoulders. She wanted
to say more to Justin, but didn't feel she could. There was no way
Justin could understand what she was feeling. They came from two
totally different worlds.
"I'm tempted to take a potion. Maybe this will be easier to sort out
after some rest," she said, defeated.
--
Justin wasn’t exactly sure about leaving it at that. He felt more needed to be said, or perhaps, he just felt like himself needed to say something else - something more. But he didn’t fight it and he shrugged his shoulders, taking a step back - not even aware he was that close to her doorway to begin with - hadn’t he turned and walked away a bit before? Why hadn’t he noticed he had made his way back over to her door? Had he really been that distracted? “I’m sure a potion will help. I might even make one myself.”
He turned around, looking back at his door. He could have swear he heard someone call out his name. He looked back at Sally, and just from her expression he could tell she had heard it too, and then it clicked, Megan, she must have woke up. “That’s just Megan. When I left she was asleep.” It wasn’t sure why he was explaining the details to Sally, but they were slipping easy from his mouth. “I should probably get back to her.” There was a pause, and Justin’s finger found a loose piece of hair again. “If you need anything. Just ask.”
He turned around and walked back into his flat. Shut the door and charmed a few extra protection spells here and there. The ones he knew off by heart, the ones that had kept him safe last year. He probably went a little overboard, but he couldn’t help, but think if something happened to Megan, he would never be able to live with himself. He walked back into his bedroom, told her he had needed a drink (he wasn’t sure why he ended it with that) and laid back down next to her. Then somehow, eventually, he closed his eyes and slept.
--
Unspoken words hung heavy in the air between them, but neither had the
strength to find them. The hour was late and they were tired and
distracted. It was clear they were ready to give in, when Sally heard
a female voice calling Justin's voice. "That's just Megan," Justin had
explained. Just Megan? Sally immediately thought back to New
Years, when she argued that Justin should have picked a better
companion to ring in the new year with. Someone who understood him.
Someone like Megan.
All of a sudden, the weary fog around Sally faded and her mind began
dissecting the details. Of course. When the news of today's tragic
events broke out, why wouldn't the pair of them seek comfort in each
other? It was a completely logical course of action. Justin and Megan.
Sally imagined them staying up and confiding their thoughts and fears.
Eventually falling asleep in the solace they offered each other.
Sally nodded at whatever Justin said to end the conversation, but she
didn't really hear his words. She closed the door her and retreated
back to her empty bedroom, feeling surprisingly wounded. Digging in
her trunk, Sally deftly found the bottle she was looking for,
swallowing a few sips of potion she should have taken hours ago. Now
was not the time to think or to feel.