Pictures Aren't For {Burning} -Justin-

[Susan Bones]

The floorboards creaked in the old library. Dust jumped up and floated back down with every step one took in the large room, which was- surprisingly- very empty on the Monday evening. Sneakers hit the ground, making a sound a bit too loud for a single person to like, as the owner walked with purpose to a far-off aisle. She had a goal- a mental list, really- of things to do before the week progressed too far along, before each and every student was bogged down with five essays and three tests and... Well, you get the picture. And for the first part of her mission, Susan Bones simply wanted to find a book from one of her younger years. Back before she was close with much of her family. At least, the few remaining relatives. Of course, there were a few issues with the whole not knowing exactly what the name of the book was... But she could deal with that when she arrived at it. As long as the redhead remembered which section- or even general area the book was in- she'd be able to find it. And she was almost completely sure she could, somehow.

Pausing in the middle of an empty aisle, Susan's brown eyes flickered back and forth. She was almost completely sure that it had to be near... Maybe it was a sense or something, but it had to be nearby. Standing tall, she turned down the nearest aisle in hopes of discovering the book, "C'mon, book. Please be here..." It couldn't take that long, could it? That'd be strange. The book she was looking for? One she discovered in her second year. While the title was still a blur to her, the details of it were still clear in her mind. Images of her parents, her aunts, her uncles. People that had all been murdered what seemed like decades ago. Sure, it never really hurt her, but it still changed some things. How would you feel, living for so long without knowing the truth? At least she knew now, it was better than nothing. And the book. It made her feel better, like they were still watching over her. Who knew? Maybe photos of Amelia were there too, now. It had been a few months, after all. Susan had yet to come to terms with the death, but she knew seeing the photos would help her. They always did.

Staring at the books as she looked up and down the aisle, Susan's mind travelled the deep depths of the world. Pushing her red hair out from her eyes, she thought of before. More than anything else, Susan missed her aunt Amelia Bones. A famous witch. The small funeral had been nice, and connecting with Peter was fun, but she still missed Amelia. With the wizarding world changing so much, it was hard to have time to really think about things. Everyone was always rushing around, choosing sides- everything but taking a break. She needed one from everything, though everyone did, even if they didn't realize it. Running a hand up and down her arm in a small attempt to keep herself from freezing, the redhead stood still. It wasn't on this aisle, and that was where she last found it. There was no way she's be able to find it now...

Sighing deeply, Susan sunk into the nearest chair. There wasn't anyone around as far as she knew, though she wouldn't mine the company. It would be nice to talk to someone, to have a distraction. If this plan wasn't going to work out, then she'd just have to pass the time some other way. Obviously.

((OOC; Sorry if it's iffy, low muse and this was written during shows. ^.^'))

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin woke up with a start. It was raining outside, and there had been no real need for him to be awake when he came back to the common room, so he had simply fallen back down onto his pillows in the dormitory and closed his eyes. Almost immediately, he had found himself surrounded by images of his father once again. He turned and looked at his watch, which he always kept right next to his pillow despite its tendency to fall to the floor constantly. It was already mid-evening, although it had only felt like seconds in the dream.

​Justin got up and pulled on his Hogwarts uniform. He would go to the library, he decided. No place was better for being distracted on a day like this. Justin walked out of the dormitory, still thinking about his father. He wasn't sure why Peter Finch-Fletchley had become such a big deal for him that year, but knowing wouldn't change the fact that he was dead.

​Justin quickened his pace, hoping that speeding up would somehow make him outpace the painful thoughts. Peeves flew overhead and yelled something unintelligible after Justin. He paid no attention to it. He only had room for two thoughts now. One being the quickest way to the library and the other being the Question.

​Why?

​Why was there so much death in the world? Why did it choose to take someone Justin cared about? Someone he needed? Why not Voldemort or Bellatrix Lestrange or anybody else? Justin didn't know. He never would know, and he knew that was true, but it wouldn't stop him from asking the questions.

​Justin was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost passed the door to the library. Sighing, he turned and wandered inside, still focused on his multitude of questions now that thinking about getting to the library wasn't an option. He walked over to a small stack of books sitting alone and dust-covered on a nearby tableand picked one up at random. He flipped through it and was intrigued by what he found. Pictures of dozens of witches and wizards, some with a vaguely familiar surname, some unknown, and some definitely related to people at the school, such as members of the Bones family. He tucked it under his arm and continued walking around the library, unsure of why he had taken the book and where he was going.

​This was when he saw a flash of red hair behind a bookcase. Justin had thought nobody else was in the library. Apparently not. He walked backwards a bit and saw Susan Bones sitting alone and looking a bit sad. She was looking in another direction and he was fairly certain that she hadn't seen him. He had heard about her aunt, and wondered if she had woken up thinking about her in the same way Justin had woken up thinking of his father. Then he remembered the book he had found. Justin took it in his hands and took a step towards Susan. He suddenly wondered if showing it to her would be a good idea, but it was too late to stop now. He tried not to look nervous as he strode towards her, but knew he was failing. He wasn't even sure if she had seen him. Maybe he could walk away the way he came. She was one of the people he counted among his friends, but bringing something like this book up to her at random seemed ill advised, particularly if she was already looking a bit down. Before he could stop himself, however, he arrived next to her.

Unsure of what to do, he said the only thing that came to mind and, unsuccessfully, tried to smile. "Hey Susan. How are you?"

(OOC: Your post was great, don't worry about it. :D Mine wasn't quite up to snuff and I rambled a bit. Sorry. DX)

[Susan Bones]

The soft pitter-patter of raindrops against the giant windows could easily lull anyone into a daze, a daydreaming state, anything. For once, this didn't apply to Susan as she searched aimlessly for that one single book. What if it had been destroyed? That wouldn't have surprised her much at all, seeing as so many people didn't care for history in the slightest. It was terrible, yes, but true. Even if it hadn't been destroyed on purpose, there were still people who threw their books around with little care for whomever had to use them next. She honestly didn't care that much, it just bothered her occasionally. What would people do years from then when there was no history left? Susan always wanted to remember her family, more than anything else. She wanted to, one day, show her children pictures of those who had died for such great causes. Of course Thomas had boxes of photos at home, but that was different. That wasn't a published volume of pictures including her own family.

Staring out at a window, Susan noticed a shadow go by. Well, at least she wasn't completely alone. Hearing only her own footsteps could be a bit awkward at times. A bit lonely too. Her eyes switched to staring out of the window to at the pile of books around her. She needed to come up with a good enough reason as to why she didn't need to find to book. Because it wasn't good to dwell on the past, right? It would just slow her down in life, she wouldn't get over it. Not that Susan really thought she could forget about her aunt. After all, Amelia had basically been her mother. Susan hadn't known better for so long anyways. Why had things been so confusing?

"Hey Susan. How are you?"

The voice of a male brought Susan out of any deeper thoughts that she could have gone into. And she recognized the voice as one of her friends. Thank god. It was utterly terrible when it was a young naive student, who never realized that they were hurting her when they asked how it felt to have her entire family dead at the hands of someone who was once again rising to power. At least she managed to control herself around them, before she burst into tears or started shouting for them to leave her alone. Brushing her hair out of her brown eyes, Susan looked up to see Justin Finch-Fletchley. A good friend of hers. Now a smile grew on her face as she turned more towards him, "Hey Justin!" she said happily, her voice still quiet. It was hard to talk at a normal volume when you had previously thought you were alone. In a library. "What's brought you here? An essay?" that was the normal reason that she herself went to the library for, expect for recreation. There were some fairly interesting books lining the walls of the grand library. And, after all, he was holding a book under his arm at the moment.

Looking down, Susan shut the random open book in front of her. It hadn't captured her attention at all, there was no reason to read it any further. Maybe Justin would have a few suggestions? He was easy to talk to, and they had both gone through similar experiences. She had heard his father died, while she lost so many. Still, it was better than no one, and he understood where she came from. Realizing she had ignores his question, Susan shrugged, "I'm as good as you can be with all this going on." she raised an arm slightly. He knew what she meant, that was no issue at all. They'd be able to talk perfectly fine.

(OOC: Yours was good tooooo. :P)

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin silently sat down next to Susan, the old weathered seat creaking slightly as he did. He knew exactly what Susan meant when she said "All this going on". He wasn't completely sure how to respond, however. It was a sensitive subject, and while he had gone through a death as well, he couldn't think of any considerate way to bring it up and talk about it, even if she needed help. The book could be a decent way to say something, but he had no idea if Susan would want to talk about it. With this in mind, he decided to focus on the question he had been asked earlier.

"No," he said, "No essays. I come here when I think of my dad. It distracts me."

He shifted his position slightly and the book, which had been perched on the side of his seat, fell to the floor with a crash and a puff of dust. He looked down and saw that it had, rather conveniently, fallen open to a page with several pictures of the Bones family. Justin looked up at Susan and tried to explain.

"Er...I found that book while I was wandering through the library. It has some pictures of your family in it. I thought you might've wanted to look at it."

(OOC: Written during a crappy computer lab period involving lots of yelling people making it very hard to concentrate, so it was pretty bleh in quality. I'll try to do better on future posts)

[Susan Bones]

It was a surprise anytime that Susan ran into someone she knew- a friend at that- in the library on their own will. Especially on a Monday evening, that was almost ten times as rare. Susan was use to sitting alone, reading books quietly, whenever she visited the large room. Besides, there were so many shelves that it was fairly rare to hit into someone you knew. Most of the time, when trying to find a friend in the library, they turned out to be as far away as possible. It was insanity. But now, now she had Justin. And maybe, just maybe, he could keep her from going insane from the thoughts pouring out of her mind. Of the constant memory of her aunt shooting across her brain.

Of course he understood what she meant, Justin lost his father, he knew exactly what she meant. Just not as extreme, seeing as almost his entire family was still intact. He was lucky, just like so many others at Hogwarts. At least she still had Harry, he understood. There was Sirius, his parents, everyone. She wasn't completely alone just yet. It was hard to talk about things, sure, it was for everyone. But somehow she would find a way. "I understand complet-"

She was cut off with something- a book, maybe?- hitting the ground. It was old, dusty, and full of pictures of her family. Susan turned away for a moment, not really realizing exactly what he had found. Her mind almost drifted back into her thoughts, back to how she and Justin both needed each others company, just to sit and think. His words meant nothing as she stared down at the book, at the smiling photos of her parents, her aunts, her uncles... Even her cousins were there, smiling and waving up at her. Just for her. "How did you find it? she asked, pushing her chair back. With the utmost care, the redhead picked up the book, almost tearing up at the sight of her family.

"Thank you for finding it." she finally said after a few moments of silence. Her brown eyes flickered up to Justin, "I use to look at this book all the time when I was younger. It made me feel better." she was talking more than usual, with something so comforting in her hands. It was so nice to see them... Flipping through a couple of pages, she wondered if Justin's family would be in the book. Susan didn't know much about her friend's past, she didn't often ask. Maybe now was her chance.

(OOC: Don't worry about it! It was wonderful. I don't know where my sudden explosion of writing came from. XD))

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin was surprised when Susan seemed almost happy to see the book he had found. He watched as she flipped through the pages, awaiting a reaction.

​"How did you find it?" Susan asked.

​Justin contemplated saying that he had found it when he entered the library and had come over with the express intention of giving it to her, but pushed the thought out of his head almost as soon as it arrived. He couldn't lie to her about it.

​"Thank you for finding it, I used to look at this book all the time when I was younger. It made me feel better."

​Justin rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I found it when I walked in. There was this old stack of books that I flipped through because I wanted to be...Distracted." Justin didn't know why he said the last word. Nobody wanted to hear about his daddy issues. Besides, he hadn't been able to talk about it in the few times he had tried to during the year. For some reason, however, he wanted to talk about it with Susan. He felt like she would understand somewhat, even if the circumstances of their relative's deaths were completely different. And maybe she would want to talk about what had happened in her family too. The only problem was finding a way to say something without making it awkward, which was not his area of expertise.

​"Distracted from my father, of course," Justin said, "He died years ago, but for some reason I've been thinking of him more and more this year. The library is my only real escape from it sometimes."

​Justin stopped speaking and immediately regretted saying anything at all. He still didn't think anybody would want to hear him whine about his dad, even if they could relate to him in some way. He tried to change the subject as quickly as he could.

​"So why did you come to the library today?"

(OOC: Sorry this took so long. Homework and interruptions kept happening whenever I got any motivation to write. :p)

[Susan Bones]

To Susan, seeing that book open on the ground was the best thing to have happened all day. Maybe even all week. She had completely given up on discovering it, assumed that it was destroyed by careless students. After all, it had photos of so many families inside of it, why wouldn't someone just rip out the pages with their own? Seemed almost logical to the redhead, in a very negative way. She'd never do that, of course, no matter how bad she wanted to. Looking at it occasionally was enough for her.

A smile crept its way onto Susan's face. Seeing the photos was just so amazing, wonderful, everything like that. Looking to Justin, she nodded, "I understand." mentally, Susan was hitting herself in the head for not finding it right away... Well, the exercise was good for her. Maybe she'd shed a few more pounds with the walking she got done in the past few hours, from dinner to all around the library.

Of course Susan understood what Justin meant the moment he said 'distracted'. It was obvious to both of them. No matter how long ago something occurred, it would plague your mind for the rest of your life. At least, it would as long as you knew about it. Susan didn't even know most of her family was dead until she was older, and it was terrible. Because now the thoughts came of how she never got to know them, to be with them... Clearing her head of those thoughts, she looked to Justin again. If he wanted to, he could talk. She wouldn't mind. Susan understood what he had gone through, no matter when it was. And she'd be there to help him out.

"I know what you mean. I still think of my family some times... Especially..." that was the one thought she couldn't finish. Amelia's death was still fresh in her mind. Her cold body on the table as they buried her... Those images wouldn't leave her head, ever. "The library is just the place for that sort of stuff."

His sudden change in topic made Susan wonder if he didn't want to talk. Or if he was just too shy to. Either way, she'd let him speak when he wanted too. "Just to find that book, really. It's a bit of a lame reason, I know." she rubbed the back of her head. Nope, not studying, or working, or anything. Just looking for a single book.

((OOC: No problem! Sorry I responded back so quickly, haha.))

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin knew why Susan came to find the book. If there had been a book that contained a picture of his father or any of his other family members in that library he would have become obsessed with finding it and reading it as often as he possibly could.

"No, it isn't stupid at all. I wish I had a book like that sometimes. I've got a picture, but it got left at home. Mum says that she can't find it in my room or anywhere else in the house, and the only other photos of my dad are framed and in my mother's bedroom, and I couldn't force her to give those up for my sake."

Justin began to wonder why he was opening up so much to Susan. They were friends, sure, but he had never really talked to anyone about his father like this before. He hadn't even really talked to his mother about it. What made Susan different? Justin began to hope that he wasn't sounding like a child, worrying about something like this so many years after it had happened, although he was fairly certain that he did. He looked over at Susan, and something about her expression prompted him to speak again.

"Is there anything about your family that you...Want to talk about?"

(OOC: Wrote this two days ago and forgot to post it. -_- Sorry for the delay.)

[Susan Bones]

For both her and Justin, things were easy to figure out. They were both similar, at least to a point. So she didn't need to explain anything, just like he didn't. It was some unspoken rule of being friends with some people. Just like talking with Harry, the redhead really did understand everything he went though. Well, except the whole 'Chosen One' thing, seeing as she wasn't one. But, then again, if she was one, than it wouldn't be a very rare position, would it? Shaking herself from these strange thoughts, Susan focused on the moment, there and now. No use thinking of strange things when you weren't alone, really. You never knew when your thoughts might escape you. Of course, if she had been the Chosen One, she would have had so many more photos of her family, and this book wouldn't be her only friend.

Thankfully, as she assumed, Justin did understand. That was always a good thing. She nodded, "You think your family might be in this book?" she wasn't too sure on his background, but there was always a chance. And then they could share the book, both be happy. Susan pushed some hair behind her ear, "I understand, my uncle... I could never take a photo of my aunt front him. He needs them more than I do." She could feel her small tattoo ache as she thought of her uncle and aunt. At least she had something to remind her of them, and that was better than what some people had. She didn't even have memories of the rest of her family. The redhead was too young when everything happen. The only memories she had were made up, or so she assumed.

Susan didn't mind that she was telling Justin things. They were similar, they both needed someone to talk to. Sure, she talked to her uncle about it, but not too many other people. But with Justin... Same age, same house, similar problems. And it wasn't like he would go off and tell the entire school about the deaths in her family. So no problems at all. Plus she'd do the same to him, keeping anything he could possibly say in her mind and not in her mouth. She looked at Justin, her expression soft. Susan was, in no way, expecting him to say that.

"Yes. No... I mean..." there were so many thoughts running through her mind as she found the page with her parents smiling up at her. Lightly biting her lip, she nodded. "I wouldn't mind, no. I'm just, you know, not sure of what to say, really. What about you?"

((OOC: Sorry it took a whileee. Really stressed out right now.))

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

"Oh no, we wouldn't be in any of these books. I'm muggle born, you see."

Justin fixed his eyes at a point just past Susan's ear as he said this. He wasn't ashamed of his family, but he had gotten used to people making fun of him for it and tried not to bring it up too often. He trusted Susan with this knowledge, however. There was something about her that made him trust her completely. He couldn't name it exactly, but Susan just seemed like a trustworthy person.

Susan seemed to understand him. That was it. There was a kind of understanding between them that he hadn't really felt before. Talking about her uncle only made it seem stronger.

"I honestly don't know what to say either," Justin replied. He looked directly at Susan again. He felt his jaw tighten slightly, as it always did when he was nervous. "Nobody's ever actually talked to me about it before, and I'm not all that good at talking about myself."

Justin felt a slight tension in the ensuing silence. He looked back down at his feet before continuing.

"Well," he said, "I suppose I'll just tell you why it's been bothering me lately. I've had...Dreams. All sorts of them. Always about him. Dad, I mean. I hadn't really thought about him until this year. Pushed him into the back of my mind, I guess. But for some reason I haven't been able to stop thinking about him lately. And even though it's been years since he died, I miss him. A lot."

Justin stopped talking, fearing that he had divulged far too much. He tried to subtly wipe away the tears welling up in his eyes, but failed to disguise it particularly well. He looked back up at Susan, hoping she wouldn't think badly of him for it.

(OOC: Sorry for taking so long. I've been writing other stuff and had a hard time getting back in character for this post. :p)

[Susan Bones]

"Oh, really? I'm sorry, I just thought..." Susan stopped awkwardly, looking down at the table. She never really remembered people based on blood status, it wasn't important to her. Even if so many people judged others by it, she didn't care. Why did it matter if you were born from two muggles? You were still a wizard or witch nonetheless. And Susan didn't still expect there to be any muggleborns left in the school... So many were dropping out, it seemed, and going into hiding. Everyone was so afraid, it wasn't good. Susan had even lost a few friends to the fear of being caught, when no one even knew what would happen.

Slowly, the redhead allowed her eyes to travel up a bit. She still felt plenty awkward, not knowing that Justin was a muggleborn. After years of knowing it, she would have assumed to actually knowing it... But no. There wasn't anything wrong with him being muggleborn anyways, it was the same as being halfblood or pureblood. So she wouldn't try to use it against him in any way. Justin obviously trusted her if he stated it so simply, and she was glad. The trust didn't just go one way, she felt the exact same.

It was nice, being able to talk to someone again. So openly and carefree... Except for where they were. Being in the library made things a bit hard, she felt weird saying too much. Too many people around, she couldn't bare someone knowing something they shouldn't. Even if she was fairly sure they were alone in the room. Of course, that was what she thought before Justin appeared, and that was all wrong. "Glad I'm not alone, then." Susan smiled lightly. She wanted to talk, it was just such a challenge to do so.

When Justin finally began to speak, Susan was surprised. He was being so honest, so free about everything he was saying. Awkwardly, she reached up to pat his shoulder, rub his back a bit. She could see the tears, they were incredibly obvious. "It's okay, you don't have to hide them. It happens to me too..." she bit her lip lightly, "I never even met my parents but I still have dreams of them, of being with them. It hurts, a lot. I miss them and I didn't know them. We all miss someone, I guess."

It was a bit hard to be deep and meaningful, but Susan would try. Better to try than to sit silently with Justin. "Even if you don't want too, you always miss the people who leave you." it was a quote she once read, and it rang true daily. She looked up at Justin, her eyes soft. It was good someone could trust her with something like this, it made her feel better.

((OOC: It's fine~ Your posts are always so awesomeeee."))