Justin Finch-Fletchley (condign) wrote in riddikulus,
@ 2008-04-18 23:29:00

January 10, 1998 - Friday Evening
Characters: Justin Finch-Fletchley & Julianne Dorny
Setting: Ancient Runes Classroom to Hallway. 18:00 (6PM)
Summary: After the Ancient Runes meeting on Jan 10, Julianne and Justin have an awkward chat that leaves her feeling disappointed and him thinking she's a crazy.
Status: Complete!

As the first Ancient Runes Club meeting of 1998 came to an end the members trickled out of the classroom. The meeting had been relatively productive. They'd caught each other up on their individual winter holidays, and even entertained the idea of holding an actual meeting involving the actual club. They discussed club agenda's for the rest of term, future projects, book lists, tutor assignments, and even a few rumoured apprenticeships that Babbling had found for the summer months. There was even brief talk of a fundraiser for an organization that was yet to be picked - detailing was limited but there'd been talk all the same.

It went well to say the least, well Justin thought so. It was a pleasant meeting and it was really nice to see everyone again. Though they didn't exactly do much Ancient Runeing(?) it was a good two hours of fun conversation - and there'd been free sweets and snacks acquired from the kitchens. They got a lot of the planning done for the remainder of the year and in the Hufflepuffs book - collaborative agendas were the best sort.

As Justin did after every meeting he made sure that he was the last to leave. He figured it was his responsibility as head of the club to clean up the classroom when they were done with it. Though the kids that were involved were relatively cleanly it wasn't much of a surprise that a few spare pieces of trash were left behind on a regular basis. He took his time packing his book satchel of things while the others left. Scribbling down notes of last minute tutor changes of a particular fifth year, while saying his farewells to other's who did the same.

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piano
2008-04-19 03:20 pm UTC (link)

Julianne enjoyed Ancient Runes: unlocking the secrets of ancient spells was fascinating, like a treasure hunt of sorts. Not that she wanted a career in the field, but it was one of the areas of magic that she could pretend was like a class that real people would take, like history, digging back into what had come before to understand what was happening now. In a way, it was like music: Beethoven begat Chopin who begat Liszt who begat Rachmaninoff. You could trace the evolution of theme and structure, like an everlasting line, how it was changed and looped with each generation.

She enjoyed the club, then, though she did prefer the meetings where they actually Runed (If that was a word at all? She didn't know), but everyone was still in catch up mode, still slightly dazed from the holiday and trying to shake that off, still swapping stories of I did this and How was your break? Besides, they had even come up with an agenda for the year, and a small current of excitement rippled through Julianne at the idea of having something to look forward to, especially since she was still slightly melancholy for home.

In the last ten minutes of the meeting, a song had begun to snake through Julianne's head. She was still new at composition, but lately, she had been coming up with more of her own songs, and this melody was so insistent: A major, andante, six-eighths time. The moment the meeting ended, she grabbed her quill and her sheet music and jotted down the six measures of music, her ink splattering on her fingers as she wrote as quickly as she could before the music evaporated like steam. When she finished and looked up, the room was almost empty. Flushing slightly, she gathered her books and her sheet music in her arms and stood, giving Justin a smile.

"So it's goodnight then, yeah? I suppose we won't be having a few post-meetin' beers?" she teased, hitching her books higher in her right arm.

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condign
2008-04-20 04:15 am UTC (link)

Justin tilted back his head theatrically and offered a sarcastic, "Ha-ha." Through his smile he gave Julianne a teasing glare before stuffing the last of his things in his book satchel. "Unfortunately," he explained, "I've given up on the alcohol for a while....a good long while." A near embarrassed chuckle left him as he shook his head.

To say the young man was still getting smart remarks for his .... unfortunate encounter with a choice variety of German beers was an understatement. He'd not yet been able to go an entire day without someone saying something. Though he figured that was to be expected, it was getting a little old and he was running out of counter comments for all the pseudo-witty ones.

If Justin had a choice he'd have erased it from his memory. It'd been a relatively long while since he made an open fool of himself thanks to the aids of alcohol. The fact that the latest encounter with the stuff was the first instance where he shared his poor drinking habits with the masses of Hogwarts made it a bit more embarrassing. First mistakes were usually the worst to live down.

"I'm sorry again about that, by the way." He offered as he hoisted his bag onto his shoulder. He realized this was the first time since they'd been back at Hogwarts that he and Julianne Dorny were able to have a conversation without the presence of others.

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piano
2008-04-20 04:43 am UTC (link)

Julianne clucked her tongue, shaking her head. "Now, doncha be blamin' the alcohol." She raised up her eyebrows. "Blame the Germans, right sods they be. I'd write a letter of complaint, right to the Reichsminister. Who won't read it, but ya know, it be the act of it that counts."

Her grin was tugging up the rest of her face, and she had to swallow back a larger smile. It was still strange, to be a teaser: back before she had lost the weight, she wouldn't have dared joke with someone who wasn't an intimate friend, afraid that they would think the wrong thing of her. Now - well, either they found it funny or not. She could always turn to her piano for comfort, that she had learned. Embarrassments, stupid moments, regrets, all of it melted away. It was liberating, finally, to be this person who wasn't afraid to be more than The Nice Girl.

Though, her temper was still an uneven thing. She winced at Justin's apology; that had been on her as much as him, for being such a hair-trigger about the subject of appearance, given that it was something that was quite tender and raw with her. "No, you don't need to be apologizing neither. Ginger here's got a real red temper sometimes," she said with a sheepish grin.

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condign
2008-04-22 08:25 am UTC (link)

"No-no. I do owe you an apology," Justin replied as he made a quick walk to the back of the classroom and scanned the desk spaces for garbage. "I don't even remember what all I said," he explained. He picked up three crumpled piece of parchment from the floor and continued his once over the room.

Justin thought it appropriate to have this conversation with her. Whether she was going to accept his apology or not was besides the point - he felt obligated to say it. Why? He wasn't entirely sure - but for the sake of his conscience he continued.

"But, I read it afterwards and...well...I was out of line regardless. And the formal letter isn't the same as offering an actual verbal apology in person, you know? So...." he stopped in front of her having made the move back towards the front of the classroom. After a sigh he finished his statement with, "I'm sorry."

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piano
2008-04-22 09:33 pm UTC (link)

Julianne shrugged and opened her mouth, looking to the side for a moment before she repeated how unnecessary this was. Yet something in her made her shut her mouth, biting on her lower lip before she looked at Justin, giving him a subdued but sincere smile. "Thank you."

Pulling her wand from her pocket, she aimed it at the rubbish bin and summed it over, catching it in her hands and offering it out to Justin for him to put the trash in. She looked down, half of her mouth twitching up in a rueful smile and then falling again before she sighed and decided to just say it. "Hols can be hard," she said simply.

Pausing again, she shrugged. "Going from here to a world that's so different and then - it can be hard, tis all. I wrote ye in that journal for you said somethin' that I - you know, no one ever mentions how hard it is, and - that's why I wrote," she explained, her smile wry and crooked as she shrugged again. She laughed slightly and added, "That, and I was bored."

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condign
2008-04-22 11:01 pm UTC (link)

Justin was a bit thrown off by Julianne's addition. He'd not expected the conversation to steer off in any other direction than 'i'm sorry's' and 'it's a-okay's.' It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. His furrowed brow and suspicious glance quickly turned to closed eyes and shake of his head. "Oh, yeah...." a strange uncomfortable tension was tightening in his shoulders. He tried to hide it with a smile in response to her laughter as he tossed the garbage in the trash bin and took the can from her to return it from wince it came.

He'd conveniently avoided having to have a conversation with anyone about the more...serious issue he'd written about in that damned journal. And he'd hoped he'd have been able to manage not discussing it with anyone for a good long while. But obviously, Julianne had thought otherwise. He wasn't sure whether he should be flattered she were making the effort or mildly annoyed that she seemed to be prying.

"I ...uh," he trailed off a moment as placed the bin back in the space next to the professor's desk. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond. He rubbed the back of his neck out of nervous habit before trying again. "You know, you seem to have been the only one to pick up on that?" he smirked at the Ravenclaw as if trying to make the conversation less ..... uncomfortable for him as possible.

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piano
2008-04-22 11:49 pm UTC (link)

Having not lost her sight in the past minute, she could see that Justin had reacted tensely to what she said. She felt a bit deflated, hoping that he would be like she thought, that he felt the same way: strange, odd, this weird tension that came from being in this world and the real one. She had to stop saying that, "real world." It would fade the longer she was at school, but for now, it was at the front of her mind still, what was left on the other side.

She watched him rub his neck and pressed her lips together, giving him a mildly surprised grin. "Really, the only one? Well then, I hope I be getting a prize for it, hopefully something blue, that's m'favourite colour," she deadpanned, hoping to take a bit of the oddness away. She was suddenly quite aware that they didn't know each other well, outside of the club. Even then, that was polite, club-knowing ways.

Julianne looked down at her Mary Janes, scraping the heel of one of them against the stone floor and then shrugging. "Doubt anyone else ever thinks of it but me. I think you be safe," she said, glancing up and smiling that crooked smile again.

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condign
2008-04-23 12:08 am UTC (link)

"No," Justin corrected, "I meant...from that entry..." He'd not meant she was the only one who - merlin, self centered much? "You're the only one that brought up the muggle issue." He snorted halfheartedly as he moved back towards his book bag, "Everyone else apparently only saw the bit in regards to.....MacDougal." He rolled his eyes in aggravation at the other girl's name. That was by far one of the dumbest things he'd ever mentioned in public - ever. And he'd be paying for it for months.

He hoisted his bag onto his shoulder with a sigh turning his thoughts back to Julianne. "But, you know, I wouldn't give yourself so much credit." He offered the sixth year a teasing grin, "I doubt your the first to ever realize that crossing the borders from the muggle to wizarding worlds are a pain in the arse."

Justin wasn't exactly willing to play the guilt game of who's life was harder in the aspect of who felt the preassures more. But he figured he had just as much of a right to say what he had. Despite their not knowing each other outside of Runes club Justin honestly didn't think the girl had any real claim to being the only one burdened with being related to muggles or living for them for that matter.

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piano
2008-04-23 12:48 am UTC (link)

She rolled her eyes. Was he really that daft? Or that humourless? Of course she didn't think she was the only one, what did he take her for, some vain twit? She meant a joke of - oh sod it. Wasn't worth it. "I got your drift," she said dryly, looking at him from the top of her eyes. She shrugged, her grin returning. "Yes, well, Morag does tend to be the center of attention, regardless of how."

Though he was teasing, a ruffle went up her nerves. "Aw, shite, and here I had been hoping that I was a fierce pioneer in that area," she said with a bite of sarcasm, though she was grinning. "I so dreamed of having a wing in the Irish Ministry dedicated in my honour."

She looked him square in the eye, her face becoming serious. "When I say that I'm the only one that thinks of it - it be because my friends, my form mates that be halfbloods and Muggle-borns, they've made their choice. They're wizards, sod it, and they don't look back. When they go on hols, they don't come back feeling mixed up. I be a sixth form, and I should be 'over it' by now," she said, using air quotes, her mouth tightening as she quoted a friend. She shook her head. "That's what I meant."

Now all she wanted to do was leave. Julianne felt like he saw her as some daft, conceited fluff, and it made her pulse pound in her temples. All she wanted was her piano now: it didn't understand, either, but at least she knew she belonged there.

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condign
2008-04-25 07:23 pm UTC (link)

Justin's brow raised slightly when her attempt at sarcasm turned suddenly to near hostile conversation. It made the Hufflepuff uncomfortable. Absently he wondered if the girl really was bi-polar. It was something he'd considered when he was reading over their comments ... but speaking to her made it seem all the more likely.

Regardless, however, Justin made the effort to listen to the girl's....logic. He found it hard to believe that her roommates to whom dealt with muggles on a regular basis were 'over it'. If anything he made the assumption that Julianne was just as guilty of assumptions herself - but... didn't bother to mention it.

"Well," he offered with a shrug and a sigh as he neared toward the door. "Just because people don't talk about it as openly doesn't mean it's not an issue for them. I mean - it's not something you go around bragging about. Feeling out of place at home and school isn't actually a socially acceptable train of thought." He held open the door for Julianne and motioned for her to follow since he had to lock up. "I don't blame your friends for not wanting to talk about it. It's a personal issue that not a lot of people want others to know."

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piano
2008-04-25 08:41 pm UTC (link)

She blinked once and looked out the window. Was he for real? Was he fooling with her? That - friends wouldn't discuss problems and worries with each other? What kind of 'friends' did he have, that he wouldn't see them as the people you would talk to, especially about problems? Maybe that explosion of his on New Year's Eve wasn't just about him with too much alcohol: maybe Justin was so badly knotted up, locked down, that it was just an explosion. Maybe he was slightly unbalanced because of all of this repression, who knew. Mr. Nice Guy at school with this meltdown on the journals. He just had the excuse of the beer, didn't he, who would know.

But she knew. She walked past him into the hallway and looked at him, feeling stung though she forced herself to look placid. "It not be bragging to say that you be confused and upset, Justin," she informed him quietly, her shoulders square. "To talk about 'personal issues.' That not be bragging, no. That be friendship. Or something simple - like human decency, reaching out to someone who be like minded, maybe."

Sighing, she took a few steps down the hall and then stopped. "I be sorry then, my apologies, I thought you might feel like me. I be sorry for 'bragging.' Good night," she added, blinking again as to clear away his words and turning away.

She had been so hopeful, hadn't she.

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condign
2008-04-26 01:14 am UTC (link)

To say Justin was entirely over this conversation was an understatement. He was hungry, drained and in need of a civil wind down - not a wind up. And unfortunately for Julianne....the Hufflepuff wasn't going to give her the pleasure. He'd decided that was probably why she acted the way she did. To get under people's skin. People that talked a lot of smack had a tendency to need more attention than he was willing to offer when he wasn't in the mood. And Justin Finch-Fletchley....was far from in the mood.

He would have responded to her assumption that he didn't know a thing about friendship, but immaturity tended to grate at the boy's nerves. And when he knew he was lacking patience for such things he tended to respond with very little emphasis for the sake of keeping civil. Another raise of his brow followed and though he was tempted to point out that she had the very bad habit of picking out only the negative bits of what he was saying the entire conversation - he decided against it.

"Night," Justin offered refraining from a mock worthy head waggle and eye roll. He wasn't entirely genuine in good wishes as he watched her go. He wasn't going to talk with the girl about something if she wasn't going to be mature about it and be on the defensive the entire time. He didn't need people who'd shoot his observations down just because it wasn't what they wanted to hear. If she wanted to bloody mope about it and try to prove to him that he had no idea what it was like to be torn between two worlds she could just go fuck herself. Honestly, he didn't care if this interaction ended poorly. She was clearly delusional and in need of a good shove off of her high horse.

He locked the classroom door and intentionally turned toward the opposite direction that the Ravenclaw had headed. He'd rather walk the long way to the Great Hall for dinner than have to continue the conversation of what would undoubtedly turn into the game of "My Life is Worse Than yours" - a game her refused to play not only because it was petty but he was too damn tired to humour her.

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piano
2008-04-26 01:54 am UTC (link)

Defensive judgmental prick. Defensive judgmental prick. Closed off, selective-hearing, negative, snobby - raise your brow again, I be so sure your eyebrow needs the work out - unsympathetic jerk. How come all you did was going with leapin' all over me when all I wanted was to find someone, someone who, just someone who would talk about this and - judge me, go ahead. I've been judged for years. Just the fat girl, that I'd be. All I ever been my whole life was a doormat. All I ever wanted was to be liked, and -

He doesn't know me at all, she realised, trying to console the hurt feelings as she found an empty classroom and transfigured her piano, not bothering to close the door as she quickly sat at it and absently played an arpeggio in A major shifting to A minor and then E minor before transitioning to the Moonlight Sonata within the span of a minute. The song Mozart wrote for his pupil, Giulietta Guicciardi, the one true love of his life - the love he yearned for and never got. The song was full of want, in C-sharp-minor, an odd key, violating every rule of the traditional sonata.

He doesn't know me. And I suppose he never will, she thought, pressing harder against the keys and waiting for the music to sweep over her like the wind. Waiting, waiting.

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