Written for the 1991 challenge - Justin Finch-Fletchey & interested

Pureblood

Pureblood. Pureblood, pureblood, pureblood. It was the one word engraved into her from birth. She was a pureblood and she was only worthy of the attention of other purebloods. The friends she made at school, the people she associated with and the man she would eventually marry.

Pureblood.

"Hi! I'm Justin!" They small boy held out his hand for her to take. He was delighted to be on the train, just like she was.

"Daphne."

"This is all exciting, isn't it?" Justin continued, almost jumping up and down with excitement. "Being here and all. Did you only just find out that everything you could do was magic, too?"

Daphne's heart sank, and she dropped her hand. Muggleborn… Mudblood. And she had actually admired his enthusiasm, too.

"No. Well, good day." She left pretty quickly after that, finding a girl by the name of Pansy Parkinson instead. She was talking non-stop about Slytherin, so she thought that was a safer bet. Her family would be pleased that she had made friends with such respectable people… Malfoy, Zabini, Goyle…. She'd be welcomed home with open arms.

…

Astoria proved to be different to Daphne when she came. She was colder – happier to be in Slytherin. She was pretty and caught the attention of many of the pureblood boys. Daphne soon slipped under the radar, unimportant, just another girl in the family.

"Hey."

"Er… hey."

That boy Justin – the one she had met on the train in first year – stared at her curiously. They hadn't spoken in four years, but it seemed okay to approach him now.

"Do you have a date to the Yule Ball?"

His eyes widened in mild surprise, and then narrowed. "Yes."

"Oh. Never mind, then."

She was a little disappointed, but only because she knew he was lying to her. Most people were finding dates now, and only a few remained without one. She knew that he was one of them – she heard the talk in the girl's bathroom.

She turned to leave, wondering what she would do, when he called her back. "Daphne, isn't it?"

"Yes. Daphne Greengrass."

"I don't have a date. Would you like to go with me?"

"I'd love to." It would have to be a secret, of course. At least until the ball. She was already on thin ice with the majority of Slytherin house, but another part of her didn't care. She just wanted to wait until after the ball for Pansy to make her pay.

…

Justin was a good dancer, which surprised her. He knew his way around the dance floor, swinging and pulling her in all directions. Daphne knew she was getting looks from the other Slytherins but she was having too much fun to care. She liked Justin, she realised. Like… really liked him. He was funny and interesting and she wished in that moment that people didn't care about blood status. He certainly didn't. Why couldn't they all be like that?

"You're not like the others, you know?" He had pulled her aside, leading her by the hand to a quieter section of the Great Hall. "The other Slytherins, I mean."

"How?"

"They would all care that I was… you know… Muggleborn. But you don't."

She smiled, gripping his hand back. "No, I suppose I'm not," she said. "But my family is and they'll be furious. No doubt Astoria has written to them, or will write to them when she finds out. I'll expect a Howler within two days." She tried to laugh it off, as if it was a joke, but really, it would be a lot worse than that. Her family were very much Pureblood fanatics. She'd never get away with it.

"I hope that's not the case."

"It will be, but don't worry about it. I'm used to it." She smiled. "Come on, let's not waste the rest of the night with worrying about my problems. Let's dance!" She pulled him back onto the floor, making sure to send Pansy Parkinson a very nasty, very sincere look. She didn't care what she had to say.

At least not for tonight.

…

They forced her to marry Blaise Zabini. Well… not forced, but she certainly didn't feel the same way about Blaise than she did about Justin. He was a fine partner, but there were no romantic feelings in there. At least not from her end. She suspected Blaise had genuine feelings for her.

"You seem happy enough."

"Not as happy as I could be, though."

"You'll be okay."

"I wish things were different." She looked up at Justin with tears in her eyes. She hated having to say goodbye to him; all she wanted was to hug him, to kiss him, and to run away with him.

"Me too." He leaned forward to kiss her, but she retreated. No, if she allowed that she would never go back to Blaise.

"I'm sorry," she said sadly. "I really am."

He smiled, nodding in understanding. "Me too," he said. "Me too… goodbye, Daphne."

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, smiling her thanks. "Goodbye," she said softly. "I hope that we'll see each other again someday."

He nodded again, squeezing her hand back. "Me too," he said. "I'm sure we will."

This took me about 4 days to write when it's not even 1k :( Uni is just being a pain in the butt right now, sadly.