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Justin Finch-Fletchley (finch_fletchley) wrote in strugglewithin,
@ 2008-11-12 12:41:00

Entry tags:

august 1997, justin finch-fletchley, megan jones

RP: Whazat?
Date: 12 August 1997
Characters: Megan Jones, Justin Finch-Fletchley
Location: Their homes, London.
Status: Private
Summary: Justin receives his letter from Hogwarts, gets paranoid, and decides to call Megan to see if she's heard the news.
Completion: InComplete

Justin looked up from his History of Magic text when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. He wished he'd dropped the subject after his OWLs, but Mum wouldn't hear of it. 'History is important, Justin,' she had said. 'Those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it,' she had reminded him. 'You'll look like a bleeding idiot if you can't discuss the subject, Justin,' she had warned. yeah, she made him keep up with his Muggle history studies during summer holidays too.

The source of the movement turned out to be an owl, who was now perched on the arm of the lawn chair he was currently sitting in, with it's leg stuck out and his letter from Hogwarts dangling from it. He dumped his history book in the grass - thankful Mum was distracted with gardening - and took the letter the owl offered. The envelope was thicker than usual, he noted.

The first two pages were expected; a reminder about school starting on September first, and his booklist. Justin barely looked at them before moving on. The third caught him by surprise. It was a notice that attendance at Hogwarts was now compulsory. It seemed a little strange after all the talk that Hogwarts may not even be opening again at the end of last term. He couldn't imagine Professor - Headmistress, he reminded himself - McGonagall forcing students to go against their will.

The last page was the real shock, however. It was a form. Justin looked it over, his mouth falling open when he read that students would be required to show proof of Wizarding ancestry. He looked at the notice again and tried not to leap to conclusions. Which was altogether not easy. The Ministry already had their bloody Muggle-born registration commission - which Justin had decided to ignore for the time being - why should the students have to prove anything? There had never been any rules about who could and could not attend Hogwarts. And there weren't now. There was nothing that said those who could not prove magical heritage couldn't attend. On the contrary, the had no choice but to go. The two things combined, and well, it really felt like a trap for the Muggle-born students. Which was utterly ridiculous.

Unless You Know Who had somehow managed to infiltrate the school, as he suspected he had infiltrated the Ministry.

"Mum," he said, glancing up at his mother, who was cutting roses that she would arrange in a vase later. "Do we have any magical ancestors that you're aware of? I mean, I can't be the first, right?"

"No," she replied. "You're the only one."

He’d known it was a long shot, but it had been worth trying. He sat there for several long moments looking at the form before speaking again. It was probably nothing. Really. But he couldn't manage to shake his uneasiness. He needed to talk to someone about this, and he was not daft enough to bring it up to Mum.

"Booklist arrived. I'm going to go call Megan. See if she wants to go school shopping with me." He added the last to discourage her from asking questions.

Mum turned to look at him with a brilliant smile. Like she hadn't been fretting about sending him back to school all summer. Like he'd just made her entire day by announcing he wanted to take a girl shopping. That was a little much, he thought. Sure he didn't ever ask girls to go shopping with him, but it certainly wasn't for lack of interest in girls. It was lack of interest in shopping that held him back there. Megan would probably be particularly horrible to shop with. She actually enjoyed that sort of thing, so it would likely take a lot longer than it should have. It was lucky he wasn't planning to ask her any such thing.

"That's a great idea, Justin," Mum said happily. "You should invite her to have lunch with you, too. Or better yet, dinner. Somewhere nice."

"Right, I'll consider it."

Yeah. Because Meg would want to go on a date with him. That was absurd. He stood up and sprinted inside the kitchen to the phone, quickly dialing the number to Megan's mobile.

"Hey, Meg, it's me, Justin," he said the moment she picked up, not paying any attention to whether or not she'd even said hello. "Did you get your Hogwarts letter yet?"

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megs
2008-11-12 04:41 pm UTC (link)

Megan was spending her afternoon out with her friends. It was a usual Wednesday afternoon and Megan was really just spending the time with two of her closest muggle friends, girls she'd know since she was very little. They were part of Megan's inner circle and as she hardly saw them over the year it was great being able to spend time together during the year. As it was, they were currently sitting at the cafe on the fifth floor of Harrods having a bit of tea before finishing off for the day.

It was in the middle of this when Megan felt her phone go off. She hadn't expected a call, but then it was hardly uncommon for her to receive calls. Looking at hte screen to see the number, Megan smiled.

"Shush. It's Justin." Megan told her friend as she fished her mobile out of her purse. She rolled her eyes at the girls as they leaned in toward her as if to better hear the conversation. They all knew about Megan's fancying Justin although most of them hadn't really met him. "Justin! Love, how are you?" Megan said with a grin at her mates as she finally pressed the answer button on her mobile. Sophie and Tiffany giggled as Megan shot them a dirty look, silently telling them to shut up. When he mentioned Hogwarts, however, Megan knew she needed to step away from there. Sliding to the edge of her chair, Megan stood in one fluid move and took a few steps away from the table so she could listen to Justin better.

"Letter?" She echoed once she was out of earshot. Walking through the cafe, Magan made her way toward the front of the gated off area. "I haven't no? Why what's going on?" She said as she paused and rested against one of the nearby pillars.

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finch_fletchley
2008-11-12 07:50 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, the Hogwarts letters came today," he repeated. "It was strange there was the booklist and such, but there was also-" He cut himself off when Nicola sauntered into the kitchen. His sister had big ears and an even bigger mouth, she'd be sure to go straight to Mum. He hadn't even considered his options yet, he certainly didn't want to be discussing them with his parents just yet.

"Erm, I can't really talk about it right now. Nicola's in the room." He shot his sister a dirty look when she turned to look at him in interest. Maybe it would be a good idea to take Mum's advice. "Do you want to have dinner with me later? I can show it to you then."

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megs
2008-11-13 04:39 am UTC (link)

“Something else?” Megan echoed, not entirely certain what Justin was getting at. Based on his tone it seemed like something was wrong. The fact that he mentioned his sister made things just made it more confusing. It wasn’t like his sister didn’t know about Hogwarts, so whatever it was clearly was not good news. “What does Nicola have…” Megan said softly then trailed off as Justin continued talking.

“Dinner?” Megan squeaked into the phone. Was he really asking what she thought he was asking. When he mentioned the letter it was fairly obvious he wasn’t, but that didn’t make Megan the slightest bit unhappy. Realizing that her little squeak either made her sound a bit mental or far too into him, Megan mentally willed herself to relax just a little before responding: “Sure, dinner sounds fab. Do you want to pick me up at seven or should we meet somewhere?”

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finch_fletchley
2008-11-13 02:12 pm UTC (link)

Well damn, was the prospect really so horrible that she had to go all high pitched like that? He was debating with himself whether to explain that he wasn't trying to overstep and boundaries of friendship here, or just keep his mouth shut and wait for the inevitable when she actually agreed. Well. All right then. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll make reservations somewhere and pick you up at seven," he said in a rush. Before she could change her mind, or anything.

Nicola was giggling rather maniacally, he thought.

"So I can show you the letter, yeah," he rushed to add. "See you then."

"Who was that?" Nicola asked the moment he'd hung up the phone. "And is 'show you the letter' code for show you my prick?"

Justin gave her one last dirty look and dashed off to plead with his brother to make dinner reservations for him. Eddie was good at getting a table on short notice, Justin likely would have buggered it up and had to take her to a McDonald's. He really hoped Megan wouldn't think he was trying too hard. It was just that if you were going to tell a girl something potentially really horrible, you should probably do it in nice surroundings.

At seven sharp he was standing in front of her door dressed in a shirt and jacket with a tie stuffed in his pocket. Mum had been beaming the rest of the day, and Dad had smacked him on the back and given him a bit of well meaning - albeit totally useless - advice on the way out the door. It was good to know they had more faith in his ability with the opposite sex than he actually possessed. Shifting nervously from foot to foot, he rang the bell. Because of the letter. He was not nervous about a non-date.

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megs
2008-11-13 02:53 pm UTC (link)

"Great. Yeah, the letter. Sure," Megan managed to respond in what she hoped was a neutral tone. She bounced up and down a little on her toes in excitement though she tried so hard not to let her excitement come across the line. "I'll see you tonight." Megan added quickly and hung up before Justin decided that they needed to meet tomorrow for lunch. The muinute her phone was off, Megan squealed and hurried back to her friends.

It didn't take long to leave the shops and before she knew it Megan was on her way home much earlier than usual. As she rode in the taxi, Megan spent most of the fairly short ride discussing and dissecting every last second of the telephone conversation. Of course, Megan kept reminding herself that it wasn't a date. However that hardly stopped the girls from talking or Megan from needing to look absolutely perfect.

It took three dress changes, five pair of shoes, four lipsticks and seven different hairstyles before Megan finally decided on something for this non-date. After much deliberating and many telephone conversations, Megan had decided on a slinky black Dolce dress with matching Gucci shoes. As she looked at herself in the mirror, Megan decided she looked looked the perfect mix of sexy and yet not trying to hard.

Normally Megan would have waited for someone else to answer the door, making sure to be just the right amount of tardy, but she really didn't want to risk Preston opening the door, so shortly before seven, Megan headed for the staircase to wait impatiently for Justin to arrive. When the knock finally sounded, Megan grabbed her purse before heading toward the door. Touching the large front door, Megan paused for just a moment. She took a deep breath before finally opening the door. She flashed Justin her best smile. "Hiya," she said as she stepped outside of her home and out onto the step. She took a step toward Justin and hugged him in greeting before giving him air kisses on each cheek. "I haven't seen you in forever." she said with a smile as her eyes ran across him. Helga, he looked better than she remembered.

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finch_fletchley
2008-11-13 03:58 pm UTC (link)

Justin blinked several times when the door opened to reveal Megan looking more beautiful than usual. He hadn't thought that was actually possible, but somehow she'd managed. Which was bad, really, because he was used to regular gorgeous Meg, and could still manage full, coherent sentences around her. Right now he was having trouble thinking up with words that were not 'Wow!' or 'Fucking hell.'

And there was hugging, and lips mind-bogglingly close to his face. In that moment - although not for the first time - he wished he was one of those blokes that girls like her actually took an interest in, rather than the sort who got the, 'You're like a brother to me,' speech. Not that Meg had ever said anything like that to him, but only because he was exceedingly careful not to give her any reason to do so. A feat that was proving difficult at the moment.

He reminded himself why he was there, and also remembered he should probably say something. Instead of staring at her with his mouth hanging open. Damn it. He quickly snapped it shut and managed a smile. "Hi." There that was good. Voice sounded only slightly awed. "You look really good." Not bad at all.

Placing a hand lightly on the small of her back, he was careful to stare straight ahead as he led her to his car. After opening the door for her, and waiting until she was settled inside, he ran around to the drivers side, silently pleading with himself to please not do anything foolish tonight.

"I made reservations at the Capital Restaurant, I hope that's all right," he said as he slid the key in the ignition. "How's your summer been?"

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megs
2008-11-13 04:28 pm UTC (link)

The few moments of awkward silence, made Megan a little nervous. She was concerned that Justin thought it too much or Helga forbid that he think she was making a bigger deal. "You look pretty good yourself," Megan responded with a smile, blushing ever so slightly at the compliment from Justin.

Megan couldn't help but smile up at Justin occasionally as they walked toward the car. She'd only turned seventeen a few weeks ago and so Megan hadn't yet attained her driver's license. She didn't normally mind, what with it being easier to have someone drive her around in London. Nevertheless she did plan on taking a course soon enough. It was nice that Justin could drive though, allowed them to be alone for a little while.

Smiling at Justin in thanks as he held the door open for her, Megan settled into the passenger seat in his car. "Of course, that'll be great." Megan said when Justin joined her. It was a lovely restaurant, although she didn't eat there often, which would make it a nice treat. "My summer's been good, fairly busy though, how has yours been?"

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finch_fletchley
2008-11-13 08:18 pm UTC (link)

"It's been nice. I managed to get my license," he said with a hint of pride in his voice. "And we just returned from holiday in Tuscany." Other than that there was nothing of interest to report. He usually spent most of his days sprawled out in front of the telly or down at the amusement arcade playing pinball. He didn't really think she would care to hear about his high score on Black Knight 2000, even if it was a classic. He should probably get some better hobbies.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. The car was new, and ridiculously extravagant considering after this month he wouldn't be able to drive it again for nine months. Dad would kill him if he wrecked it already.

He didn't really want to bring up the letter. This was nice, and it would be a shame to spoil it by reminding her that the world was going to hell in a hand basket. He decided it wouldn't hurt to bring it up after dinner had been served and the waitstaff stopped hovering. "Did you go anywhere interesting?"

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megs
2008-11-14 04:52 am UTC (link)

"I noticed, this is brilliant, Justin. I love your car," Megan said as she glanced around the inside of the car, wanting to take everything in. It was loads nicer than Preston's but then her brother wouldn't really let her ride in his. "Really?" Megan asked, now paying far more attention to Justin than to where they were going. it really didn't matter to her, aftrall she'd been hoping for ages to get sto spend some time alone with him, privacy was a rare comodity at Hogwarts. Especially when the other persona had absolutely no idea you fanciex them. "How was it? I love Italy, it's laways just the right kind of warm."

Megan shrugged at his question. What was she supposed to say to that? She'd spent most of her summer shopping or sitting by the pool and looking at handsome blokes. Wasn't exactly the sort of thing one brought up, was it? Besides he would surely think her stupid. "I did actually. We spent two weeks in Florence. Preston wanted to go to New York, but mum said it would be too stuffy, so we spent some time at this lovely villa with the nicest pool, and daddy actually took a week off. We just got back about two weeks ago, it was kind of sad coming home, but I've been to a few galas since. You should have been there, last weeks benefit was hardly the usual stuffy sort."

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finch_fletchley
2008-11-20 06:35 pm UTC (link)

"Thanks," he said with a grin. Dad had really picked it out, but he was rather fond of it. "Italy was great. 'Cept I had to spend a day baby-sitting Nicola. She tried to leave the hotel in a bikini top and skirt, and Mum had kittens. Made me follow her around for the rest of the day." He pulled a face at that. Like he could really stop his little sister when she got an idea in her head.

"Oh yeah? Sounds like you had a nice time. I don't think I've ever heard anyone describe New York as stuffy, though," he said with a laugh. He most certainly was not thinking about what she might have been wearing in the pool. Parties and benefits weren't really his thing, although Mum liked to drag him to a few every summer and during the holidays. Somehow Megan managed to make them sound more appealing in a few words than Mum had done on all her years of wheedling. "Maybe I'll go to the next one."

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megs
2008-11-22 09:01 pm UTC (link)

Megan made a face when Justin mentioned having to babysit. She was sure Preston felt the same about having to babysit her when she was younger too. "That sounds really horrid, Justin. I know mum always made Pres run after me too," she sighed and rolled her eyes. "As if a bikini wasn't enough coverage."

"That's what I said!" Megan said grinning. She was quite pleased that he was agreeing with her. "I could have used you in my argument with mum. Oh! You know what would be brilliant. We should go next holiday. I bet it would be so much fun," she said as she looked over at Justin, grinning at him. "You should come. You get to be all dressy and talk to loads of important people, and then after you get to have fun with all the great people, like me!"

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finch_fletchley
2008-11-24 12:48 pm UTC (link)

And he was not thinking about Megan in a bikini. No, no he was not. He was very carefully watching the road, and not thinking about it. "It wasn't too bad, she drug me down to a cafe and wouldn't let me sit at the same table as her. Apparently I cramp her style, or something," he said rolling his eyes. "So I read and made sure she didn't run off with any of the locals."

He glanced over and gave her a grin before turning his attention back to the road. "Oh sure, I could have expounded on all the cultural opportunities in New York. She wouldn't have stood a chance. That would be fun, though. No parents, no siblings." Just Meg and him. Alone. He had to admit that the idea was just slightly terrifying, as well, even if he seemed to be doing well enough at the moment. "Can't we just skip ahead to the having fun with you?"

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megs
2008-11-24 03:15 pm UTC (link)

Megan found herself a little disappointed that Justin didn't seem to be thinking about her in a bikini. It had been what she'd been aiming for. Smiling over at Justin, Megan made sue not to get in the way of Justin's left hand so he could drive, as she gently patted Justin's leg as if to reassure him. "Aw, love. It's okay. Younger sisters are supposed to dislike their older brother."

Crossing her arms Megan glanced up through the wind shield of the car toward the skyline. "We should do that. It would be brilliant. Christmas in New York." Looking over at Justin, Megan found herself grinning. "We could totally skip to the fun part. Although we could so not sit inside al day and watch tv."

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finch_fletchley
2008-11-24 10:37 pm UTC (link)

Good God, and now she was patting his leg. He wished it wasn't summer, because then it would be dark right now. And it would be less likely that she would see him blushing. As it was, he just hoped she didn't notice. "That's good, glad it's not just me," was his very lame and unclever response.

"Yeah, it'll be something to look forward to." Especially if they couldn't go to school this year, but he was keeping his suspicions to himself for the moment. "I've always wanted to see the tree in Rockefeller Center." He gave her a sheepish smile. "I don't watch tv all day."

Unfortunately the trip was over all too soon. Justin found a place to park, and quickly went around to the other side of the car to open Megan's door, offering her his arm. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. His mother would have his head if he didn't.

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megs
2008-11-25 01:43 pm UTC (link)

Megan had to admit, Justin was particularly cute when he blushed, it kind of made her want to see if she could get him to blush more. Then again, that was hardly the sort of thing she would do, but oh he was adorable. Maybe if she - wait, no, he could very well crash the car and well they couldn't have that, could they?

"Me too," Megan said with another smile, as if to add, 'see we do have things in common!' "I bet it would be really pretty too. Oh! And ice skating. We'd have to go ice skating," Megan was saying as Justin opened her door for her. She managed another dazzling smile as Justin held his arm out for her. Okay she was officially melting and they hadn't even had dinner yet!

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