Hufflepuff's Keep

Justin's parents raised him to be the right sort, so he apologized after the Chamber of Secrets debacle. He thought that would be the end of the matter, but Holly Elizabeth Potter had a knack for piquing his interest, regardless of how unintentional it was.

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"Aren't you coming Justin?" Ernie Macmillan asked, an inquisitive look on his face.

"I think I'll skip today," Justin replied, grimacing down at his Charms book, "I still have a lot to catch up on if I don't want to be held back from Third Year."

"Do you want us to help?" Hannah Abbott quickly volunteered. His housemates all added their agreement, even if some were less enthused than others. No one wanted to stay in the library and do extra studying when blue skies and brisk winds beckoned, but they wouldn't consider leaving a Hufflepuff in need. It warmed Justin's heart.

"Thanks for the offer everyone, but I'll be fine on my own," Justin replied. It took a few more reassurances, but soon all of his friends were heading outside.

Once he was sure that they'd left, Justin quickly put his books away and started searching around the library. He felt bad about deceiving his friends, but Justin felt that it was necessary in this case. Earlier in the year, Justin had gone and acted like a total berk when he accused a twelve year old girl of trying to murder him. Admittedly a large, possibly poisonous snake had been involved, and no one had known that the Girl-Who-Lived was a Parselmouth, but he had still overreacted.

And Justin wasn't some kind of asshole who would ignore his own shortcomings and refuse to apologize even though everyone knew he was in the wrong. Besides, he didn't even want to consider how his mother would react if she found out that Justin had gone and practically made a girl cry. Isabel Finch-Fletchley prided herself on having raised a gentleman, and the only action that she would accept right now would be a full-fledged apology to the girl in question.

So once Justin spotted his target, he took a deep breath, firmed his flagging courage, and headed towards a head of bushy brown hair.

"Excuse me, Miss Granger?" Justin was rather proud of himself when his voice didn't waver.

The girl sitting in front of him was certainly someone to be intimidated by. Her keen, frosty gaze fell upon him with all of the disapproval of Professor McGonagall channelled at the Weasley twins, and her lips tightened. Hermione Granger clearly remembered his previous actions.

"Yes?" she asked, politely. "May I help you?"

"I was wondering if you knew where Miss Potter was," Justin gulped. As her eyes became colder, he hurriedly added. "I'm not going to- I wasn't- I just wanted to apologize to her!"

"Apologize… to Holly?" Granger repeated, looking surprised. Justin nodded.

"Well, if you only want to apologize," Granger hesitated, "She's on the Second Floor, in one of the empty rooms near the Defense office."

The Gryffindor Muggleborn then fixed the nervous boy with a gimlet stare. "But if you say anything to make Holly upset…"

"I won't," Justin yelped, and quickly scurried out of the library before the girl that reminded him uncomfortably of his former SAS grandfather could finish that sentence. Justin didn't like explicit threats... they quickly became promises.

He walked to the stated room, finding less and less people about as he got closer. 'She definitely wants her privacy then,' he realized, once he stood outside the door to the secluded classroom.

'Maybe I should have told Hannah and Ernie what I planned to do,' Justin thought nervously, mental images of being left for dead without anyone the wiser by a vengeful Girl-Who-Lived flitting through his head. 'No, I'm being ridiculous again. Potter is a hero, and won't kill me. Probably.'

He raised his hand and knocked it smartly against the door, just like his father, Franklin, did, when he absolutely had to enter a private room. In response, there was only silence, so Justin rapped the door again. Assuming that Granger hadn't lied to him in spite, Holly Potter didn't want any visitors now.

'It just has to be the last day of school,' Justin sighed. "Miss Potter? Miss Potter, will you please open the door?" Silence.

"Alright, I'm coming in then," Justin said, raising his voice slightly, as his hand twisted the doorknob. It opened to a wide, dimly lit room with white sheets over all the furniture. A thin layer of dust was covering every inch of the floor, except for one semi-circular spot by the corner. In that spot sat a scrawny, bespectacled girl with messy, black hair and bright green eyes.

Those eyes looked up to focus warily on him, and Justin squirmed a little on his spot. Holly Elizabeth Potter. Girl-Who-Lived, Gryffindor Princess, Youngest Seeker in a Century, and, if rumors were true, Slayer of Slytherin's Monster. For all her titles, Justin's first thought now- as it had been before, when he sat next to her in Herbology- was that she was in desperate need of his mother's stylist.

And perhaps some contacts? Her eyes really were very beautiful.

As he stared at her, the young Gryffindor scrambled to her feet.

"Do you want this room then?" Her eyes were challenging as she looked at him. "I was here first."

"Er, no," Justin answered, primary school lessons in debate and elocution being of no help whatsoever.

"Then why are you here?"

"I wanted to apologize," Justin answered. His eyes were averted in embarrassment, so he couldn't see the shock that was present on her face. "I was a complete berk; I should never have accused you of being Slytherin's Heiress. I mean, your mother and best friend are both Muggleborns, and you seemed alright for all of first year. I was an idiot."

"Yes, you were," she agreed. Her reply made him look at her, to see that her face was carefully blank.

Justin's heart sank, but he mustered up his last bits of bravery and continued anyway. "I know this doesn't make up for saying those terrible things, but I had to say sorry regardless. I was in the wrong. And- and I owe you for keeping that snake from biting me at the Dueling Club. Thanks for that."

She still didn't say anything, but Justin hadn't expected her to. He turned around, ready to leave, at least somewhat reassured that he had done what he needed to do, when she spoke.

"You… don't have to thank me," Holly spoke, her voice soft. Justin turned back to her, startled. She had a slight smile on her face.

"You revealed that you were a Parselmouth just to save me," the brown-haired boy pointed out. "Then the entire school accused you of being the Heiress of Slytherin."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't know that there was anything wrong with being a Parselmouth."

"You didn't?" Justin was amazed. "Wait, was that the first time you used Parseltongue?"

"I used it once when I was at the zoo," Holly answered, smiling in a wryly reminiscent sort of way, "I thought that it was normal trait that all witches and wizards could do."

"No way!" Justin marvelled, "It's Salazar Slytherin's most famous trait. Didn't you read that in the Introductory Guides?"

"What are the Introductory Guides?" Holly asked, frowning.

"It's basically a series of pamphlets given to each of the Muggleborn students," Justin replied, "I mean, I known you aren't technically a Muggleborn, but I heard that you grew up in the Muggle world, so I thought you would get a copy."

"Oh," Holly said, and this time her smile seemed a little forced, "I didn't get one."

Justin perked up. An opportunity to help! He still felt bad for yelling at her, and this was a good way to start making amends.

"Mine are at home, but I don't need them anymore. I can owl them to you, if you like," he offered.

"Er… I don't want to inconvenience you," she hedged, looking very tempted to just agree.

Justin simply waved her concerns away. "It's not a problem at all! My parents said that the guides were really useful to understanding British magical government and culture. And I have a few pamphlets from Gringotts too, if you want?"

Holly stared at him, blinking a little owlishly in shock. Justin privately reaffirmed his belief that no one looking that disheveled and clueless could be Slytherin's Heiress.

Finally, Holly settled for smiling at him. "Thank you," she said, softly.

"You're welcome, Miss Potter," Justin replied, glad that his apology was accepted, "I'm happy to help."

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