Not Quite Coincidence ((Justin))

[Heather Foster]

Heather ran her fingers through her dirty blond hair tiredly as she walked down the main hall of Gringotts. It had been another exhausting day of training, and all she wanted to do was get back home to go to the beach. There were many goblins sitting up high in their desk recording information in a book and others walking around in groups. Heather had grown used to Gringotts surroundings, even though the goblins were never all that nice. Goblins weren’t exactly the nicest of wizarding creatures, but she tolerated them enough to have a civil conversation. It had been a month since Heather graduated from Hogwarts. In that time her saved up money, and some help of her father and step mother, had bought a house in Zennor, Cornwall. She loved Zennor ever since she was a little girl. It was small and peaceful and barely anybody was out on the beach. “See you tomorrow Dowse!” Heather said with an large smile toward the goblin at the end that had helped so far with her training. He didn’t bother to look up from his writing and let out a low grunt. Sighing, Heather continued walked out into the busy streets toward the checkout where Aurors guarded. Once past the checkpoint, there was a loud crack and she disappeared out of sight.

In the blink of an eye Heather was once again back in reddish color of her living room. Unclasping the front of her cloak, Heather hung it on a rack and with a swift motion of her feet her boots came off. Quickly grabbing a water from the counter, Heather made her way up the stairs to her bedroom. Lucky was laid out on his little bed and looked up at Heather as she walked into the room. He let out a loud bark and jumped up wagging his tail, excited that she was finally home. Scratching the Dalmatian behind the ears for a couple of seconds she watched as Oreo darted out of the room. Lucky had noticed and started to have a little game of chase with the cat. Laughing Heather slipped out of her work clothes and into a stripped bathing suit. Tugging on a pair of jean shorts and a white tee shirt she swung a yellow bag on her shoulder that had sun block, a towel, magazine, and a pair of sunglasses inside. Once ready, she bounded back down the stairs, the large yellow bag swinging on her shoulders. Heather always kept a large bag packed with certain items needed when going to the beach after a full day of training. “Lucky! Stop chasing Oreo you silly!” she called out with a laugh seeing Oreo on top of the windowsill hissing down at the dog. Picking up a couple of envelopes from the kitchen table, she set them inside of her bag while also slipping her wand and some money into her front pocket. Opening the front door she watched as Lucky ran out of the house and sat down by the mailbox waiting for her. Locking the door behind her Heather followed Lucky down into town.

The weather was always perfect in Zennor during the summer. It was rather warm with a refreshing breeze that swept by. Little kids were playing in the streets and a couple of cars passed by. There were even couples that sometimes held hands while walking through town. But Heather tried her best not to stare at them, but it was sometimes hard not too. She always thought back to Justin, and how they had such a fun time at the Beltane Party where he dressed up in an Eton school uniform. Whenever Heather thought back to Hogwarts it brought a small smile to her face. It was still hard to believe that her seven years were up. But at least she was still keeping in touch with Hannah, Ernie, and Susan and she was going to see all of them again during Ernie’s and Hannah’s wedding. Heather always knew they were going to end up together. Hearing a loud bark come from Lucky, she turned attention toward the black and white spotted dog that was beginning to chase a flock of birds that were pecking for food at the ground. “Lucky! Stop torturing the birds! Can you be a good boy for at least ten minutes?” Heather asked as she reached the post office. Bending down to the dog’s level she eyed him with a serious look in her eyes. “Be good for ten minutes and you’ll get an extra long belly rub with a large bone.” Lucky perked slightly at her words. Taking out a leash from her bag she clicked the end to the dog’s collar and tied him up by a lamppost. She couldn’t take him inside the post office with her. Smiling knowing he understood, Heather walked up the stone steps and entered the post office.

The post office was rather small, but never really crowded. There was a white stack that twirled around if you put some force on it that had greeting cards and other things. Taking out the set of letters from her bag, Heather walked toward the end of the room where a woman stood behind a table. With a smile, she handed the letters to her so they could be mailed out of the Zennor area. “Thanks.” Heather said once her task was completed turning around to walk out of the post office. But someone entered through the door which made Heather halt in her place. Noticing a familiar mob of curl brown hair and face a large smile appeared on her lips. “Justin!” she partially squealed, running up to him and pulling him into a hug. “I’ve haven’t seen you since the last day of school! It’s so good to see you…” Heather said continuing to hug him tightly. Pulling back a bit her eyebrow rose slightly. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see you…but I’m just rather curious.”

((YEAH! We don't have to write on an eight page Microsoft format anymore! *gives you some orange juice for a toast*))

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin whistled to himself as he walked down the main street in Zennor, bathed in late afternoon sunshine as it was. This time of the day was always lovely – not too hot, but warm and absolutely perfect for a stroll. He was dressed merely in shorts, a white T-shirt with a logo on it and sandals, and wasn’t cold at all. He was rather enjoying the sun shining into his face and the coolish breeze ruffling his curls. The sea air with its hint of saltiness; the view of the dark blue sea reflecting the sky that wasn’t blocked from here by buildings. The coast along here was so unspoilt, and Zennor was one of the smallest places he’d ever seen. Not much ‘company’ here for his parents, but there were enough people about. Just not a whole load of them to spoil the atmosphere. He smiled to himself in satisfaction. Zennor had been a good choice of place to come on holiday. However much of an ulterior motive he might have had in suggesting it to his parents, it was peaceful. Lovely, beautiful. Idyllic. Perfect. He could see why Heather had fallen in love with it enough to want to live here.

Justin smiled to himself again as he thought of the other girl. She didn’t have to be here for him to be able to imagine her. Her facial expressions, her attitudes, her voice, her liveliness. He’d come to like her a lot, very quickly. Even before he’d actually realised it was happening. He wasn’t sure she was aware of that. But he would make sure she knew someday. But today was today. Justin’s ears were just slightly sunburnt since he hadn’t taken sufficient precautions earlier on in the day and he fingered them tenderly. They’d better not blister. He’d walked along the beautiful coastal road today to St. Ives where he’d done the main grocery shopping. Zennor was small and didn’t exactly have all the goods needed to keep one going. But St. Ives had sufficient. He’d found a present for a small relative who was turning eight soon there, but hadn’t sent it in the post office there. There was only one bus back to Zennor a day and he’d had to run to catch it – he would’ve missed that if he’d stayed in the queue at the post office. So now he was on his way to the post office with the present they’d wrapped in the shop to send it off on its way. Ah, here it was. Not easy to miss, really, considering the colourful oval sign that proclaimed it to be a post office. A lively looking black and white spotted dog was tied to a lamppost nearby and Justin gave it a friendly pat as he entered the post office.

He himself was soon the subject of affection. Justin grinned and allowed Heather to hug him, feeling overjoyed that she liked him enough to do that. “And you, Heather,” Justin returned earnestly, his eyes glowing with amused happiness as he regarded her. He took hold of her hand and led her back into the post office again, over to the birthday cards. They’d need to send a card to the birthday girl too after all. “How have you been faring?” he asked as he looked through them. “You look well, I must say,” he added as he looked back to Heather. She did. She looked lively as always, young but yet grown up at the same time. “Which of these do you think would be good for a young lady?” he asked, pausing slightly to look at the cards before he handed them over to her. One had a large silver number ‘8’ on it with colourful ribbons intertwining around it; the other one had a gold ‘8’ in the corner and a picture of a present pile which a giraffe was perusing, its head only just above the top of the pile. “I’d be mortified if you weren’t pleased to see me,” he said. “I’m certainly very happy to come across you. But I’m here on holiday. Lovely place, I must say.” Justin’s eyes twinkled slightly and his lips quirked as he said this, and he looked away from Heather and down to the cards as though they were his main concern at this moment in time.

[Heather Foster]

Heather loved to feeling that she always got when hugging Justin. She felt a sense of closeness and security. It was good feel both at the same time. Justin took hold of her hand and than was taken toward the back of the post office where the racks of cards were. Watching as he looked through the birthday cards, she let her bag down on the ground enjoying the weight that had been take noff from her shoulder. Making her way to the other rack that was next to Justin, Heather thought of how to answer his question while looking through random cards. “Everything’s alright…I guess. Expect for the curse breaking training and tolerating and not trying to get in an argument with the goblins, things have been running smoothly…” she started out, picking up a rather pretty post card that had a picture of the beach when the sun was setting. “How have you’ve been?” she asked setting the card back she turned back toward Justin noticing that his ears were quite red. “I see that your ears have been quite sunburned. It’s a good thing I have my long hair to cover mine.” Reaching up toward his ears she touched them gently, “I have really good balm back at home that soothes sunburns.” Heather looked back toward the cards as he said she looked well. Did he really mean that, or was her just trying to flirt and charm her at the same time. “You look good yourself. I don’t see any grey hairs and the Eton uniform I hope it locked away in your closet to never been seen again.”

Noticing Justin hand over a couple of cards for a birthday girl, she looked them over. The first one was alright, maybe a little to adult for an eight year old. But the second one seemed to be more for a four year old with the Giraffe and all. “The first one is alright, but the second one is a defiant no.” Heather turned the rack slightly watching as it moves in a spinning motion. She always loved as a little girl to just keep on spinning and spinning the racks until the cards would fall or her mother had to stop her. Seeing a rather eye-catching light purple card, she took it out too look it over. There was a large ‘8’ covered in glitter along with balloons were on each side, also covered in glitter. It seemed perfect for a little girl. “This one seems good, unless your cousin is a big tom boy and hates glitter. But if she isn’t than this one seems perfect.” Heather said with a smile handing the card over toward Justin. Putting the other two cards back onto the rack she began to have her rant about her new home town, “Zennor….It’s just wonderful and perfect. The beaches aren’t too crowded and everyone is quite nice. Though the bad thing is I sometimes have to leave out of town to get some things that the town doesn’t supply. But I’ve always wanted to live here when my parents took me and brothers and sister on vacation here….But I’ve already told you that in our letters.” She said picking her bag off from the floor.

Making sure the strap was secure on her shoulder Heather took hold of Justin’s free hand toward the counter where the women seemed to be stacking cards behind the glass screen. Letting her hand drop to her side, she half leaned up against the wall watching as Justin dealt with his present. It was really good to see and be around Justin again. But lately she couldn’t tell if they were either flirting or being real. “What did you get the birthday girl? I hope something nice, and suitable for an eight year old.” Heather asked with a twinkle in her blue eyes.

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin nodded solemnly at Heather’s explanation of what she’d been doing and rocked back and forth on his heels a little as he often did when he felt tempted to say something discretion warned him it might be best to leave alone. He’d been through enough social situations to learn to heed that discretion though and merely gave her a playful upturn of the lips. Something had been wrong though, something that was ringing warning bells in his head. Ah yes. Muggle world. Curse breaking and goblins were not regular features of the Muggle world. Justin glanced at Heather in slight alarm and then over to the lady waiting to weigh his parcels. She was looking at them with some curiosity. Standing there was probably not the most interesting way to spend a day as lovely as this, so he could easily excuse her eavesdropping on the couple of young people conversing easily within her earshot. Still a problem for them though. Justin whispered, “Whoa, baby,” quietly in Heather’s ear to reinforce the other lady’s view of them as a couple of people that knew each other well enough to talk about seemingly incomprehensible matters. And hopefully the added word would communicate to Heather the image he was trying to convey and let her think over what was wrong. “Just coming,” he said with a smile to the post-office lady, adding to Heather as he took the card she’d suggested off her, “This one then? You’ve much more taste than me, I must say. But I’ve never been an eight-year-old-girl, that’s perhaps where my problem lies.” Justin looked over the card again briefly before handing it to the lady with a courteous smile and a “Thanks very much.”

Justin rummaged around in the plastic bags he had with him from St. Ives until he’d found his ready-wrapped presents. They’d even put them in brown parcel paper for him in the shop. Infinitely helpful. Using masking tape wasn’t one of Justin’s strong points. He’d already written the address on one of them but the other, a rather irregularly shaped thing, was still awaiting the honour. “Do you have a pen I might borrow?” he asked the post-office lady, who handed one over unsmilingly. “Thanks ever so much,” he said, proceeding to scribe a message to the birthday girl in his almost calligraphic handwriting. “Every walk of life has its fair share of gremlins, I fancy,” he said, going back to their previous conversation but using slightly safer vocabulary. “I’m sure you deal with yours perfectly charmingly.” Justin smiled at Heather and then at the lady as he handed his packages to her to weigh and paid the correct amount for the postage. “Thanks very much,” he said to her again as he took hold of Heather’s arm and led her out of the post office, starting up their conversation again as they stepped into the street.

“She’s not too much of a tomboy, no. Elizabeth. I’m not entirely sure she’s actually a cousin though… let’s see.” he said, pausing his walk for a moment as he put his mind to the complex task of working out her precise relationship to him. “Well, she’s the… granddaughter of my grandmother’s half-brother. So my half-great-uncle… that would make her my half-first-cousin-twice-removed I think.” Justin smiled at Heather playfully as he leaned on the red post-box that resided outside the post office. “Family’s family.” he stated. “Anyway, I got her some wooden wind chimes with some little dolphins on them – she has her own end of her garden you see, with a tree she’s fond of slinging a hammock between the branches of. So I thought she might want to put it there. And a box covered in small shells was the other thing since she likes collecting bits-and-bobs. That has a small model of a ship in it at the moment. She’s always a tremendous help on the Crest. Might be a bit small to help with sailing it yet but she enjoys it so much it spurs the adults on.”

He’d wanted to explain what had gone on earlier in the post office but found now it still wasn’t that easy since they were still in Muggle surroundings. And he rather wished the pretence had been reality anyway. “You suggest I grow long hair then?” he asked teasingly, but took hold of one of her hands gently between his palms as he did so as a non-verbal attempt to apologise for it. He glanced at the black and white dog he’d petted earlier on which looked happy to see Heather. As it should be then; everyone should be pleased to see Heather. He certainly was. “I shan’t though, if getting my ears sunburnt means I get ministered to by you.” Justin regarded a seagull that had just settled from flight on a nearby bollard. Cornwall seagulls had sharp, curved beaks that he knew from experience could give a really nasty peck. And strong wings that would carry them away again once they’d stolen your sandwich. “Why, I didn’t realise you’d admired the Eton uniform so much,” he said with a wide grin as he thought back with already a hint of nostalgia to those Hogwarts days. “I shall have to ensure it makes another appearance.”

Justin smiled and nodded enthusiastically about her description of Zennor. “Yes, indeed,” he said in reference to supply problems, indicating the bags he himself was loaded with. “I’ve been to St. Ives today. Lovely town in itself. Not as quiet as Zennor though of course; not as peaceful.” He started to look into his bags to see what he’d brought, picking a few items out to show Heather. “But I have bread – the Cornish type of course – groceries, fruit – lots of that as you can see – confiture or rather raspberry and blackcurrant preserves, Cornish clotted cream, meat, fish, cereal… anything and everything your heart could ever desire.” Justin smiled at Heather charmingly. “We could have a picnic on the beach with this lot. There’s sufficient; the lessened amount brought home can all be put down to my being a male and not being able to purchase sufficient amounts of food to sustain the family.” He hadn’t been entirely serious but Justin returned to his vigil by the post box and regarded Heather with his head tilted to one side for a moment. “Yes, you did tell me in your letters of course. I thought I should come and see what earned this village such high praise. But I must say the scenery is even more satisfying in reality. As is talking to you face to face.”

[Heather Foster]

Heather eyed Justin curiously for a while as he didn’t respond. He just merely rocked on his heels like he always did when something was troubling him. Slightly confused, Heather felt a jolt of surprise rush through her as Justin whispered ‘whoa baby’ into her ear. With an arch in her eyebrow she turned toward the lady who seemed quite surprised by her comments on goblins. Oh no. Did Heather just talk about the wizarding world right in front of a muggle? She felt like banging her head into a wall for being so stupid. Though, it was quite rude and disrespectful too eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, but it was mainly her own fault. Heather normally always thought before she spoke about Hogwarts or anything of the other world she lived in. Maybe it was the fact that Justin was here and she wanted to tell him everything that happened in her life so far. It had been months before Hannah and Ernie went through own separate ways together and Justin on his own. Heather still kept in touch with all her Hogwarts friends, but lately she had been too wrapped up in dealing with her training to even send letters. After all she had really worked hard to be a full time curse breaker. Deciding it was best not to talk, she just smiled mentally cursing in her head. She had to be a lot more careful from now on. She soon than was laughing at Justin’s remark of the card. “You have to know that not all little eight-year-old girls are the same. I most certainly wasn’t. I was more into playing in the dirt and being exactly like my brothers than a fairy princess. But your other card wasn’t that bad either. At least you know what makes little children smile and even older ones.” Heather reassured him looking back at the woman who seemed to forget about her words about goblins. Her mother always fell silent when Heather talked to her about Hogwarts or her curse breaking, which made Heather feel like her mother didn't care at all.

Watching as Justin began to dig through his bag for the present she waited patiently. She was rather curious what Justin had gotten his cousin. Leaning her hands on the counter Heather glanced over toward the card hoping that his cousin would like the card. Purple and sparkles did make an awesome combination. Snorting lightly, Heather stood up straight. “Yes, but I’m just about had it with them. I guess my patience does run thin when I can’t stand being with something so rude,” she said, her face looking sour. Why were goblins such dark creatures? When Justin finished sending the card, Heather smiled toward the woman saying goodbye before he took her arm and lead her out of the post office. The conversation soon picked up again. Nobody else was around which was quite odd for this was the popular time go out during the day. Looking back at her friend's explanation about his cousin, she fell confused. A half-first-cousin-twice-removed. Wow, did family ties really get that complicated? “Is there such thing?” She asked tucking her blond hair behind her ears. Her hair wasn’t all that much of the dirty colour it was before, but a lighter shade the sun did wonders on your hair. “That sounds like a wonderful gift. Does Elizabeth like dolphins?" She didn’t know anyone else who really like dolphins like herself. Someday Heather wanted to swim with them, but that was only just a dream. “You know how to sail? I didn’t know that. So does that mean your family owns their own sail boat?” Heather asked quite interested. She knew Justin came from a rather wealthy family. Maybe that's what family did. “I’ve always wanted to learn how to sail or even go on a sail boat. It looks like so much fun, but there are many things I would like to do, but don’t have the time or money too.”

Feeling relaxed as Justin took her hand she smiled at him. She couldn’t help but smile. Justin always seemed to have a way to make her feel more happy with herself and his touch always seemed to either send a shiver up her spine or relax her. Laughing again at his remark she slipped her fingers through the caress of his and gave it a light squeeze. “Your hair is just fine the way it is. It has that right length and curliness. I don’t think you would like me much to touch that sunburn again. It looks quite painful. I'm still giving that offer if you want the balm or not." Dropping her hand to her sigh, she tried to hide the disappointment from her face. Heather could probably spend the whole day holding his hand. Unfortunately it would seem odd, since they weren’t a couple. Jumping at the sound of barking behind her, Heather turned around swiftly seeing Lucky run forward wanting to chase the seagull that rested on the post office sign. Laughing, she untied Lucky the lamp post and stuffed the leash inside her bag. The dog excitedly pounced fore hard, barking madly at the seagull which shrieked away. “If you take out the Eton uniform again, than that would mean I have to take out that St. Trinians outfit...If I still have it." Heather said with a grin before saying more, “I most certainly did admire you in the Eton uniform. As I did say you looked like a dashing penguin.”

Giggling at the remark about penguins, Heather watched as Lucky began to continue to bark at folks of birds. He took out a few items from the grocery store which began to make Heather’s stomach ache. She hadn’t eaten since that morning before leaving to Gringots and he even suggested the idea of a picnic. Was he reading her mind? Smiling, Heather nodded her head, “That would be quite lovely actually. Haven’t eaten since this morning…are your sure your family won’t mind you sharing your food with me?” Heather asked with slight concern in her voice. She didn’t want Justin to return home with barely any food left. The spotted dog than began trotted up towards the two sitting down in front of them panting. “Do you like dogs? If not than I could take him back home. My house is just a couple blocks from here." She said taking hold of one of the grocery bags Justin was carrying. “I really did miss talking to you. There’s only so much you can write in a letter.”

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin fell contemplative for a while as he thought over what Heather had said about the goblins. They could be somewhat baulshy, granted. He wondered whether there was anywhere else she could work as a cursebreaker. But then that might take her permanently out of the country, apart from the times she came to visit her family whom he believed lived up in the North, and he wouldn't be able to intrude on her while she was visiting family. No, he decided even as his brain whirred into action to think which other treasure seeking organisations (non-goblin led, of course) in need of curse-breakers Heather might join - no, he would rather not risk her company being forever lost to him, he would remain silent and for now, she would have to grin and bear the goblins.

"Well I'm sure you'd make a much better job of being a brother than of being a fairy princess anyhow," he said, so as to break away completely from what he'd been thinking about before, "So you made a good choice of hobbies. What does Heather with dirt on the tip of her nose look like, I wonder?" he asked, smiling jovially. He sighed for a moment, the depressing nature of his previous thoughts still affecting him. Heather deserved wonderful things to happen to her, not to be stuck with grouchy goblins for the rest of her days, but yet... if that would take her far away from him, he wasn't sure whether he could quite view it as wonderful. He took her hand again, this time entirely unselfconsciously, even though she had dropped it. He wanted to keep hold of her, and be sure he wouldn't lose her - and his thoughts made him fear that. He nodded distractedly as she asked about what sort of relation Elizabeth was. "There is, and there are many other obscure relations you can have." he said. "I learn of more every year as I meet new people and try to work out where they fit into the picture." He wasn't particularly eager to talk about his family. He didn't, in general, consider them the most interesting part of his life - only certain people were any fun. "Yeah, she does like dolphins. We saw some once while we were out sailing together, quite late at night actually, for a little girl. But it was still almost light of course because it was the summer. So ever since then she always likes to talk about them. Did a project for school on them too."

Justin regarded the dog absentmindedly for a moment as Heather mentioned him. "He's fine," he said. "If you come with me, he wouldn't be on a public beach anyway so it's still allowed even at this time of year. And my family will be fine without a morsel of food if need be." He winked at her. "Yes, my parents do own a sailing boat. I hope to someday as well, since it's a hobby and probably an obsession too." He paused in his walk suddenly at a narrow little sidetrack to the road, scratching his head as he often did whilst thinking. "Heather, write your whole self in a letter and it still wouldn't be the same as you being here with me." he said, seriously, his startling blue eyes penetrating and absolutely remorseless in holding hers. Then just as suddenly as he'd gone into that mood, he snapped out of it. "I wouldn't mind in the least if the St. Trinians' outfit were to make a return. By the way, you'll have to not make too much noise but... this is the way to go for a beach. If you think I can afford to wait for the balm, that is. Coming?"

[Heather Foster]

Heather looked over her shoulder, her eyebrow rising slightly at Justin’s comment. It was something that her sister had told her many times before. Growing up, Heather was the tom boy daughter while Erica was the girly. They were complete opposites and Erica would always try to make Heather do stuff with her that was considered girly. She laughed at his second comment about dirt on the tip of her nose. “You would have to look through old albums to get the mental image of what it looked like. But, believe it or not, I was a tom boy,” she told him with a grin while turning her head back to look at the road ahead. Heather had really changed a lot since she was a child. Her sense of style had changed, and also the way she acted. “I used to always wear all these different color overalls that had so many holes in them and even dirt stains. My hair was also always in braided pig tails and my nails were dirty,” she described, looking back over at Justin, her grin never disappearing. “Then one day I changed, but we all change one point of our lives.” Stopping suddenly as Justin picked her hand back up, Heather looked down at their hands together. Somehow, Heather thought they looked perfect together. She wasn’t sure if Justin felt that way either, but she had never felt so attracted to someone before.

Still staring down at their hands together, Heather shook her head slightly as Justin talked about the whole family ties. Looking up at him, her head tilted to the side slightly as she thought about it. Her family was no where near as complicated as Justin’s was. All she had were siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Since her parents were divorced and didn’t get married again, it didn’t make things even more complicated. Heather never wanted a step mother or father, so she was quite happy that her parents never married again. Though, they did have numerous girlfriends and boyfriends. “That’s still really confusing. I’m glad that my parents don’t make me have to visit my cousins too many times…I guess what I’m saying is that my family isn’t into the whole reunions things….Well they were, but that was before they divorced,” Heather said, sending Justin a slight smile. He knew about her parents, but she rarely ever talked about them and so did Justin. It was just something that wasn’t exactly the most fun thing to talk about. Grinning as Justin said Elizabeth loved dolphins she stared off into the distance where the ocean was. “Looks like something we both have in common. I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins, but I’ll probably only do that in my dreams.”

They continued to walk down the sidewalk, Lucky running ahead of the two. Justin didn’t mind the dog, or the fact that he was sharing food with her. When he stopped, she did that same waiting for him to say something. Justin then was staring into her eyes, speaking in a serious tone. Biting the bottom of her lip, Heather kept her composure, even though her knees were feeling a bit weak. The moment soon passed and Justin began to make a silly comment about the St. Trinians uniform. Sticking her tongue out at him she continued walking beside him. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind at all if it did make reappearance, but I’ll only wear it if you wear your Eton uniform,” she teased looking back behind her shoulder to see Lucky sitting down on the ground behind him. With one look he quickly picked up the pace, zooming between their hands and out in front of the two. Laughing, Heather ran her thumb over the top of Justin’s before looked in his direction. “How far exactly is this beach?”

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin listened silently as Heather described how she'd been as a child. He couldn't really think of her as anyone other than the girl who stood beside him now. That might be because she was so ingrained into his consciousness, just as she was, not as anyone different. As Heather stopped abruptly Justin returned from his abstract world of thought to follow her gaze to where his hand clasped hers. Her hand fit so well there, but he must have disconcerted her for her to have stopped so suddenly. Justin attempted to cover up for it so she wouldn't feel awkward for showing it.
"I'm sure you were as perfect then as you are now." he said softly. "I would even look through photo albums voluntarily for your sake, despite the countless photos my relatives ply me with. I would be interested to know whether your brothers and sister are anything like you. I don't have any siblings to notice similarities with, although I suppose you could say me and my cousin Paul are somewhat alike." He smiled at her, although in some ways he wished he hadn't mentioned her family. He wasn't sure he was ready to introduce her to his own parents. He hadn't even mentioned her to his mother. He wondered whether any of Heather's family knew of his existence. They weren't exactly a couple; he didn't know how Heather saw the two of them. Justin avoided the difficulties of trying to fathom what exactly their relationship was by avoiding evaluating things between them at all. He just went by what seemed to be natural on the spur of the moment.

"Do we change at one point?" he asked. "I change with every passing day I suppose but I still feel exactly the same as I ever was, even if I don't have grass stained knees and muddy socks anymore." He gave her his most boyish grin to demonstrate. He wondered whether Heather would change from how she was now - well other than the inevitable - and then with some concern he tried to work out whether it would affect his perception of her. But the answer he found, or rather which popped into his consciousness as a simple truth which came from his heart rather than his head, was that he would never be left behind by any change, so long as he was there to keep up with it. Suddenly he found that he'd been staring at her again, but this time without enforcing eye contact because he'd been unaware of it after the first moment he'd trained his gaze on her. He hoped she wouldn't mind his looking at her while allowing his mind to wander off into thought. It must have been obvious by the far-off look in his eyes.

"You know what? Everyone's family is confusing. I'm sure your cousins have just as many relatives as you do and not all shared with you, and then so do those relatives of theirs... it's just that it only gets complicated when you insist on keeping in contact with every member of the extended, whether linked by blood or just acquired somewhere along the way." he said. He nodded at what she'd said about reunions. "You're probably lucky because that means a few less lives to keep up with. I find keeping up with my own difficult enough, myself. Having said that, I wouldn't want to miss out on the companionship of the cousin I mentioned before, though. I don't know what I'd do without him at parties. Have to woo - or rather try to avoid the obligation of wooing - threefold as many girls, I suspect." Justin looked down at the ground, two comments she'd made resonating in his mind. He was afraid he'd let her down somehow, someday, over her parents' divorce. Maybe he wasn't supportive enough; maybe, and more likely considering that Heather was a strong person without his help, he would make a blunder in letting his parents know about it. His dad didn't know much about Heather, and he certainly didn't know that. Justin had become increasingly aware as he grew up of a rather snooty attitude regarding divorce in his family. For them, it seemed to hold about the same stigma as being in the workhouse had used to do. He wanted a way to make the point that it really had no bearing on how Heather would act, no matter how fond they might be of the dictum 'Like father, like son; like mother, like daughter'. He just wasn't sure he had the courage. The word 'dreams' lingered in his mind. Was this closeness nothing but a dream that could never become properly possible? What did he have to do to make it reality?

He heaved himself out of such thoughts. Anything was possible if he wanted it enough; his fate was in his hands and no one else's. He laughed as she goaded him to wear his Eton uniform again.
"But it would be a little hot for my Eton uniform right now!" he protested. "That's why they have a summer holiday around this time of year you know... to save them all from collapsing of heat exhaustion." He paused momentarily and grinned at her before adding his next cheeky comment: "Your St. Trinians' outfit, on the other hand, would be admirably suited to this sort of weather, what with its... minimalistic style." He took a steady breathe as she moved her thumb over his, although it was a little shuddery as he released it again. Did she know that she'd just induced a swooping mixture of euphoria and pain in his stomach by doing that? He watched Heather's dog speeding away from them, and without asking any further led her after it. "Well, it's just under half a mile down here that you come to a villa, which is private, so we do need to be quiet as I said... then round the side of the garden there's a path that leads to some steps onto the beach. They're a little overgrown and cracked but it's okay... I'll catch you if you fall." He grinned at her, knowing his safety measures might sound a little inadequate but that really she'd be fine. "Do you mind walking that far?" he asked. "The track is good until you get to the path round the garden."

[Heather Foster]

Heather smiled brightly at Justin’s sweet comment. Did he really think she was perfect? He was far closer to perfection that she could ever be. Though, what did it mean to be perfect? Everyone had some flaws, even Justin. It just so happened that Heather had a lot more than others, but didn’t mind covering them up with stupid jokes. Biting her lip in worry, Heather noticed that Justin saw her looking at their hands together. He didn’t do anything, and went on talk about looking through old photo albums. Heather found herself wondering about the thoughts that rushed through his hands seeing their hands together. Running her fingers through her golden hair as they picked back up walking, Heather thought about his comment. She knew she was very different from her siblings, but what was it exactly? It wasn’t something that she just sat down and thought about when bored. Anyways, she rarely had the time anymore to have some time to herself. “I’ve never talked about my brothers and sisters haven’t I?” she asked sending him an apologetic smile. “Well, Cameron is the oldest, around twenty four, and I guess he’s the sweet, sensitive guy who at first was really mean to me, but then grew up. Then its Erica who just turned twenty three, and she’s the big girly girl in the family. Always trying to encourage me as a kid to be more womanly, never really worked. Last but not least, is Alex.” Heather groaned at the name as she remembered about him. There was never a time when they weren’t fighting or trying to knock each others heads off. “He’s now twenty and we were always arguing at kids and getting in fights. It started to happen after my parents divorce, but he’s changed too slightly.”

Taking a deep breath after explaining, she turned back toward Justin with a small smile. "Don't want to bore you too much with my life. So how are you and Paul similar?” she asked quite interested to hear about this close cousin of Justin’s. She had never heard about him, then again, she and Justin weren’t exactly friends during their first six years at Hogwarts. When he said something about changing every single day, Heather looked in his direction. Justin seemed to be perfectly the same when she left Hogwarts. “What kind of changes do you make every day?” she asked, secretly wanting to add about how wonderful she thought of him to be. That would be saved for another day and time. Heather was noticing the far off look in his eyes as her stared at her. She didn’t really mind too much, as long as he didn’t look into her eyes. Heather didn’t have any excuses on covering up about falling on the ground because he knees when weak when he looked into her eyes. She hated that feeling because no one was able to do that with her, not even any old ex boyfriend. “I guess I’m lucky then not to have any obligation with any other family members…” she responded, wondering why she felt so sad talking about it. It sounded so boring to just stand there with a bunch of people who just mingled with your parents. “Though, there isn’t a passing day that I wish my parents could be back together.” Realizing she said this, Heather bit her bottom lip. She never told anyone this, not even Hannah. Tucking her hair behind her ear and smiling in Justin’s way, Heather tried to cover up for it. “If you can’t stand someone though, I guess it’s a good thing to not be with them.”

Upon hearing Justin talk about the uniforms, Heather stuck her tongue out at him. “Try wearing something so short. It may be breezy, but I’m not exactly the kind of person who wants people to look at me for my lack of clothing on.” Noticing the tension in Justin as she ran her thumb over his, Heather stopped as he said the beach was only a half of a mile away. They walked in silence for a while, Heather look at the new scenery around her, and keeping a watchful eye on Lucky. She didn’t know what to say to cover up the silence. Dropping her hand slightly, and without thinking, her fingers gently stroked the back of hands. The softness of her skin on his made her smile and wonder if Justin would laugh or not at the ticklish feeling. Realizing he actions, she dropped her hand to her side, trying had to hide the embarrassing look on her face. “Sorry…” she whispered as they came around to the steps. The gentle breeze of the ocean air rushed by her, she walked down the steps with a large smile on her face. She loved the smell and feel of the beach. Not even thinking about where she was placing her feet, Heather gasped as felt her body loses its balance. Quickly grabbing onto Justin, she closed her eyes hoping that she didn’t fall. It would be a long way down if she did. Her arms were wrapped around the middle of his body, and her head on his chest. Then a crazy thought rushed through her mind. What would it be like to kiss him? Staring up at him with sparkling eyes she stayed where she was wondering what would happen next.

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin simply nodded at Heather's explanation of each of her siblings, memorising the information as he did with each person he was introduced to or told about. He'd developed quite a good mental filing system for such things over the years. Perhaps he should have applied it to his History of Magic studies. It might have saved a lot of painstaking hours. Then again, social networking was hardly a carefree way to spend your time, much as it might be supposed to be. It seemed to Justin sometimes that it was a full-time job. He struggled to see what she meant when she said Erica's efforts had never really been successful, though. Perhaps she was a different sort of woman than had been Erica's intention, but she was nevertheless a woman. He couldn't really imagine Heather getting in a fight - at least not in a scrap. But then he'd never had a sibling himself, so he didn't know what it was like. It wasn't like he hadn't got into fights himself in the school playground (much to his parents' displeasure), just as most young boys did, but he didn't have any experience of fights with brothers or sisters. Again, the comment about her parents' divorce stuck in his mind. It had evidently had an effect on the family; Heather had been through much more than he had. He'd led a very easy and protected life. Being aware of it always made him very thoughtful.
"Do you still argue often?" he asked, not making any other comment as he continued to wonder about what she'd just told him.

He wasn't bored. Quite the contrary. But perhaps Heather just didn't really want to talk about her family, Justin thought suddenly as he was about to protest at such a suggestion. In that case, he wouldn't lead the conversation back to a point she'd led it away from - he wasn't the kind of person that would go round in a stubborn circle. So instead he tried to think what he had in common with Paul. Their similarity to each other was something he heard being commented on more than once, but he couldn't remember anyone actually saying what it was. He had no starting point to draw from other than his own opinions.
"Well, I suppose we talk in much the same way," he said ponderously. "We often find that our thoughts are entirely in sympathy with the other's, and as a result we tend to react to situations in the same way too. Say the same things about them; laugh about the same things." He sighed slightly, knowing that he hadn't approached anywhere near the root of what made them similar. It was hard to explain how they had the same manner of expression - Heather would need to meet Paul to understand. "Indeed, he is just as infuriating as me." he said, hoping that Heather never found him truly annoying. "He's a very talented guitar player and singer - that's why he plys his trade in the musical world." Justin ended up adding this as just a piece of information about Paul. It was a similarity - if you missed out the 'talented' part, but Justin was surprisingly reserved about his limited ability on the guitar. He wasn't a self-conscious person, but his mother's suppressed yet clearly evident disgust at such a plebeian activity when he'd taken it up had encouraged a small amount of shyness over it. He'd never disclosed to Heather that he even knew how to pick a guitar up, and didn't intend to.

He laughed as she suggested he wear something as short as her St. Trinian's outfit, an idea fixing itself into its head with such amusing appeal that he was hard-pressed to stop himself from laughing at that too. "You should be careful with what you tell me to try," he said with a somewhat unsettling grin in her direction, "- I might just interpret it as a dare." He didn't know what to say though, when she started talking about her parents. Her wish was just such an indicator of what he'd been thinking about before - that just because her parents had divorced didn't mean she was the same. It did help him to understand better why his parents were so opposed to it though - well, with them it might just be the stigma but perhaps it wasn't - because it was obvious that it affected not only the couple but everyone around them. Justin looked at Heather thoughtfully as she made a further comment. She'd seemed saddened for a moment, and he wanted to hug her to make things better. Instead he just squeezed her hand comfortingly, wishing he knew what to say that wouldn't mess things up. He didn't, but it must be obvious that he'd been listening and thinking about what she'd said.

Justin paused at Heather's next question, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Well, I get a day older. A day closer to my hair falling out," he added with a grin, and then, seeking eye contact as he brushed her arm lightly, he added, "And I like you more with every passing day." He thought as they walked in a half-amicable, half-awkward silence of how much he would have liked to be closer to her at that moment. The repeating irregular pattern of waves breaking on the shore that he could hear gently asserting itself in the distance seemed somehow a hundred times magnified in significance - first the noise of a wave skipping over the rocks, then the crash as it fell with full force on the coarse sand, and finally the hiss as each wave spread a little further up the beach. Immersed in listening to this, Justin nearly jumped when she started tickling his hand, but managed not to. Instead he just looked over at her and smiled contentedly. He was surprised when she withdrew her hand and apologised, but didn't have a chance to say anything as they started to make their way down the steps, glad to see a reflection of the happiness inside him on Heather's face. But in a moment he was filled with sudden fear as he saw her lose her footing, and with a jolt of shock he realised he might do too as she grabbed onto him. With one arm he held her tightly round the waist, afraid to let her go no matter how hard she was hanging on, and with the other he groped wildly for the metal railing at the side of the steps as he fought to stay upright. He met her eyes as she stared up at him and he felt a rush of feelings that had nothing to do with his fear for their safety. It was with great relief that he found the rail and, balance regained, he mustered all his strength to lift Heather onto the step below him and guide her hand to the rail too. The fact she was just below him on the steep steps meant that he could easily whisper into her ear from behind her, and on impulse he did exactly that.
"I don't want you to ever have to apologise to me."

[Heather Foster]

Heather sighed quietly as she looked off into the distance. Her hand was still clasped with Justin’s, just like the couple she had seen walking by before heading into the post office. Those people were probably together, but what were Heather and Justin? They were really good friends, and she liked him a lot, but the main question was, did he like her back? Shrugging off those thoughts, she stared at the visible outline of the waves in the distance. The sunlight was reflected off the water, and the subtle roar of the waves was slowly reaching her ears. Heather remembered when she first came to Zennor. She had chased after Cameron and Alex down the road after they stole Erica’s favorite sun hat. None the less, she retrieved the hat, with sand all over her clothes, including her hair. Hearing Justin ask a question about Alex, Heather snapped out of her memories from the past. Did she and Alex really fight now? Well, they had their occasional arguments over things they disagreed, but nothing ever went back to the way they were when growing up. “Alex has a reason to be the way he is,” Heather began, stopping her self, trying to figure out how to put everything into words. “He’s bipolar.” Glancing over her shoulder at Justin, she sent him a soft smile. “We never really found out until a couple years ago. He would go from one mood to another, until finally he would just blow up,” sighing as she looked away, Heather ran her fingers through her light hair. “He got mad at mom for taking his car away, so he trashed the whole house. Cameron and my dad had to take Alex away where he got treated.” Heather squeezed Justin’s hand reassuring him that she was fine. “He’s a better man now Justin. Though, he is completely changed into the quiet type, but none the less, he’s himself now.”

Looking back off into the distance as the view of the ocean seemed to appear closer than before, Heather listened to Justin explain about Paul. It sounded like they were twins, but really just cousins. If Paul was anything like Justin, then Heather knew she would take a liking to him too. She actually wanted to meet his mother and father too. That probably wouldn’t happen anytime soon, only if they still saw each other after this moment. Heather looked over at Justin, smiling as hi said that he and Paul were quite infuriating. “Justin, you’re not at all infuriating. Your more…..refreshing,” she told him, knowing she could come up with a better word to describe Justin’s personality. Though, she did remember that time in the common room, where he asked her to the Beltane party. Heather wasn’t in the best of her moods, but Justin had changed that, which was not an easy task. “Do you sing Justin?” she asked, referring to Paul being a singer. Heather knew that Justin liked some old music, but she didn’t know too much about that. When Justin said that he would interrupt the dare of wearing a short outfit, Heather tried hard not to laugh. The mental image of Justin wearing a short skirt that went to his mid thighs, along with a tank top, made Heather want to laugh. What if he had really hairy legs? “You’re going to have to shave your legs if you want to wear something like that. Unless, you don’t have really hairy legs, but who am I to know?” Laughing softly under her breath, she squeezed his hand back. “Did you really like that outfit enough to wear it?”

Smiling happily at Justin’s sweet comment, Heather looked down at the ground wondering if he really meant that. She knew what he said was true about herself, but what about him? Why would he say if he didn’t mean it? Soon enough, Heather became her klutz self, tripping, but was caught by Justin. Her heart was still pounding loudly in her chest, as she buried her face into his chest. She could of probably have really hurt herself if he wasn’t there. Heather stood there in his embrace, her heart slowing its pace down with each second. Sighing as Justin lifted her up, setting her onto the step below. He gaze followed his hand which guided hers to the railing. A shiver went up her spin as his breath tickled her ear when he spoke. Glancing over at Justin, she smiled gratefully at him running her fingers through her blonde hair. “I’m such a klutz.” His hand still rested on top of hers on the railing, as she took his other hand setting it down on her waist. Heather sent him a smile before continuing down the stone stairs, watching her footing more carefully this time even though she felt safe with Justin behind her. When they finally reached the sandy part of the beach, Heather sighed with relief as she walked over toward a picnic table, kicking off her sandals. She headed toward the shoreline, her bare feet sinking into the wet sand as the waves rushed by. Heather closed her eyes, a gentle ocean breeze passing by. The ocean always seemed to calm her slightly. Reopening her eyes, Heather noticed a boat farther off to the left. Turning around at Justin, her eyebrow rose. “Do you use the boat often?”

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin listened to Heather’s explanation of her brother’s condition silently. He didn’t really know what to say… it was utterly out of his experience range, utterly different from anything he’d heard discussed in polite conversation with company. He didn’t know what the correct response to this sort of information was. He supposed he had asked, but the answer had taken him a bit aback, and he felt slightly uncomfortable. On the other hand, his humility was enough that he recognised the failing lay with himself, and his ignorance and lack of life experience. He looked at Heather with a quick respect, unable to understand what she was describing to be able to sympathise fully with her, but still able to guess and in doing so, appreciate the fact that she had overcome so many more obstacles than he himself had. He assumed that she would probably have been more virtuous and wise than he himself had been in the past. With that stirring of his conscience, he shifted slightly, walking a little further away from Heather, although he didn’t let go of her hand. His past wasn’t quite untainted, and, while he was thinking of it, he didn’t want to be forming memories of the wonderful girl next to him at the same time, lest those memories be tainted by association with the thoughts of… other things.

He still felt duty-bound to say something, but… no, he couldn’t think of anything that would be appropriate and nothing else would do. So he just nodded at what she’d said. She would know that he had been listening, and had taken it in. He couldn’t offer any more, whether or not it was enough. Justin took the change of subject gratefully, smiling quietly at Heather’s reassuring comment. In some ways, he didn’t think he would have minded even if she had affirmed that he was infuriating! The fact that she cared enough to attach some sort of adjective to him was sufficient. He didn’t want to fall beneath her notice, out of her memory… ‘I hope she keeps me in her thoughts’, he thought suddenly. ‘All the time.’ He was jogged out of that train of thought by Heather asking him about his musical abilities. He hadn’t been prepared for this; he hadn’t wanted to say anything about it at all. It seemed like a very trivial thing to not give her a straight answer about, but the one thing that Justin could be shy about was… his music. It was just as well that his ears were already red with sunburn, or else they might have got noticeably redder with the pressure.
“No, no – I’m not a singer. That is to say… not anything special. Every now and then, I do break out into song in private, I must admit… and you’re not safe from being serenaded by me! But yes… yes, Paul is a proper musician.”

It was an inadequate reply, but he wasn’t prepared to say anything further. Instead he laughed at her comment about hairy legs. “Well, if you really want to know, you need only look downwards.” he pointed out, considering that he was wearing shorts, “but if you take my advice, then you don’t want to see. And yes… well, I have some sense of nostalgia about St Trinian’s films. It’s one of the only amusing things that my mother allows on the television. Most other things are deemed inappropriate and blocked out by her skirts for the short amount of time that it takes to turn them off.” He laughed. “I was forced to lead a very sheltered childhood, as you can see.” ‘Much good it did me in the end.’ he thought, slightly bitterly. Perhaps being less sheltered would have prevented him from making some of the unforgivable mistakes that he had made. On the other hand, he really had to face up to them and admit his responsibility. He shook himself out of this reflective mindset. It wouldn’t do him any good, and he was angry that he had allowed himself to mar this beautiful, happy day with recollections of events that were now in the past.

It took arriving at the beach to clear his mind again. Being by the sea was always the best way to come to terms with things, and to allow memories to be washed away. The beach here was extremely small, and more pebbles than sand, but it was theirs alone and would remain so, since it was privately owned. Now that he was here, his focus shifted back to Heather, and he forgot his reservations. His past wouldn’t hurt her, here on the beach he was sure of it – he could try to win her heart on a fair and equal basis. He followed Heather as she walked towards the edge of the sea. His shoes came off first, followed by his grey socks after a moment of hesitation. Then he stuck his toes in the sea, the salty water surging over them with each new wave, and then drawing sand grains through them as it retreated. If he stood here long enough, his feet would start to get buried, and they might even stop feeling quite so numb. The Atlantic was still cold enough to be a shock at first, even on such a warm day. He grinned happily as she enquired about the boat.

“Well, it’s a ship, not a boat, Heather,” he said. “Pay her more respect! She’s the White Crest, every plank of her solid oak… lovely ship. Pride and joy of the whole family – well, at least of my father and I. Yes, almost every day when it’s possible to sail.” he answered her question happily. “That’s why Cornwall is such a great place for us to come on holiday. Although… I did suggest that we come to Zennor in particular. It was… not quite coincidence.” He smiled at her fondly, his eyes twinkling. “Now, that over there is a boat. A rowing boat, to be precise.” He pointed to a small boat that was moored off a makeshift jetty. Not that the jetty was visible, since it was made of large, smooth pebbles underneath the surface. Just enough to make the water shallow enough to walk along at low tide. He started off towards it. “You coming? I’ll help you in.” And indeed he did. He helped her along the ‘jetty’, ignoring any protests, and handed her into the rowing boat, also trying to steady it so that it didn’t wobble too much. Then, in the boat himself, with his hairy lower legs now prominently on display, he pushed them off and started rowing towards the ship that he was so proud of. He was eager to show it off to Heather. Now that he thought about it, he would like to spend his honeymoon sailing in the White Crest… that is, if his girl was prepared to spend their honeymoon getting wet.

[Heather Foster]

A soft summer breeze blew by sending Heater’s blonde hair in its direction. A few curls were beginning to escape from the secure band that was holding her hair up. Her blonde waves were more frizzy that day than their usually straightness. Heather was experimenting with her hair, and she always loved trying new hair styles. She wouldn’t change the color though. Blonde was like Heather’s signature color, plus all the members of the Foster family had brunette roots. Though there was a time Heather wanted her hair red, but that was when she was going through her rebellious teenager stage. Tucking a strand of flying hair behind her ear, Heather looked over her shoulder at Justin. He was beginning to drift further away from her, but their hands were still clasped shut together. There had to be something on his mind that was causing his distance. There was that supple far-away look glimmering across the surface it was the kind of far-off stare when someone was recalling something they weren’t quite proud of. Was there something Justin was holding back? Confused, Heather kept to herself glad when she finally heard the low rumble of his voice. Smiling at his words, Heather shook her head grinning in the boy’s direction. “Serenade me? Oh goodness, Justin. What song would you sing to me? Just for a warning if I do happen to catch you outside my cottage in the middle of the night throwing rocks at my window.” Laughing lightly at the day-dream Heather’s eyebrow rose as Justin asked for her to look at his legs. “I think I’ll pass on looking to see how hairy your legs are.” Nodding Heather advert her gaze toward the distance watching the country hill side fly by them. The rhythm of their footsteps was one, mixed in with the claming roar of the ocean. Hairy legs didn’t gross Heather out too much, but men’s legs in short skirts were what scared her the most. Hearing Justin mentioned having a sheltered life Heather shook her head tearing her eyes away from the ocean. “I’m glad my parents weren’t to overprotective, but after having three other children, I’m sure they were tired.”

Sand filled the spaces between Heathers toes, her muscles flinching in shock at the cold waves that washed by. The two were silent, memorized by the beauty of the ocean. Heather loved the salty sea with all her heat. It was just amazing at the calming effect it had as though cleansing her soul. Plus, this had to be a private beach. She hadn’t ever seen been on it before. Kicking at the water, Heather’s blue eyes fell back upon the boat listening as Justin corrected her calling it a ship. Well, whatever it was, Heather had always wanted to go in one. Justin seemed to be an expert on them since he went out on the sea with his father. Smiling at the though, Heather followed Justin’s gaze at the rowing boat stepping back as he stepped forward toward it. “Justin-” she began slowly stopping as he drifted further away from her. Sighing, Heather followed after him letting the boy helped her through the shallow end of the jetty. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Heather chirped in again as Justin settled her into the rocking boat. It wasn’t that she was afraid to go out in it, but just more frightened of what she would do with the boy who climbed in as well. They were off again, Justin rowing the oars along slowly. Heather looked down at his legs laughing at the truth. “You do have hairy legs, Justin,” she joked offering one of her dazzling smiles before adding more, “I like it though.” Tilting her head away Heather heard barking as she turned around completely in the boat. The Dalmatian dog jumped in the water. “Lucky, no! Go back!” she shouted shaking her head as the dog slowly paddled himself away jumping out of the ocean, pouncing on the land.

Laughing Heather tucked a strand of blonde hair back behind her ear before turning her attention back on Justin. She watched his curly hair blow in the wind feeling that same unease churn deep in her stomach. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she tried to come back from her trance. Why did he always do that to her? “I don’t quite trust you, Justin,” Heather began as he continued rowing further away from land. “Well, we are in this small rowing boat and quite frankly you might try to take advantage of me.”

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin laughed and shook his head slowly as she teased him about the idea of his serenading her. Several songs did come to mind, but none that he would feel comfortable sharing with her right now.
"I hadn't been contemplating doing it secretively... why on earth would I want to go breaking your window?" he asked, looking a little puzzled. "But if you want me to make it a challenge to see if you can work out who I am, then it would hardly be pertinent for me to reveal myself before I've even started by letting you know what I'd sing." He smiled at her. "You'll find out when - if - the time comes." That was all that he would say on the subject, and in the ensuing silence it was quite easy to lose oneself simply staring into the distance - the view of the sea that didn't change in essentials but yet was in constant flux thanks to the sunlight dancing on the waves. Usually the light was fragmented on the choppy surface but occasionally it would wink blindingly towards them. Even with this to watch, Justin couldn't help surreptitiously watching Heather instead, because seeing her enjoyment of the scene was equal to the scene itself.

"What is there to be afraid of?" he asked, finally responding to her protests once he was already pulling away from the jetty. He regarded her seriously. "You can swim, yes? I will take you straight back to shore by all means if you can't: it's not advisable to take you on board if you're not able to swim." He smiled back in acquiescence as she conceded that his legs were, indeed, hairy beyond the norm, and smiled even more as (to his surprise) she added that she actually liked it.
"I'm a lucky fellow then - I have reason to believe that your taste is somewhat unusual," he responded, glancing at his legs slightly self-consciously. However a moment afterwards he was busy trying not to be alarmed by Heather manoeuvring herself round in the small rowing boat. It was hardly made to withstand such inadvisable behaviour, and quite predictably (to Justin) she was making it rock from side to side with some violence. Justin tried to counteract her movement with his own weight as best he could - some water still came in the sides, but thankfully not enough that he'd be bailing it out till kingdom come. Once she'd managed to turn round, he eyed her ruefully and decided that he would have to comment:
"If you want a different view, I could just turn the boat round for you, rather than you turning round," he informed her, and then laughed because he couldn't maintain any sort of dry (that was a really ironic word for the situation) humour for very long. "Like so," he said, demonstrating by using his right oar to turn the boat around by a full 360 degrees.

"Oh I see; is that the reason why it's not a good idea?" he asked in reply to her next (really quite unprecedented) comment, his tone hardening very slightly. He was almost affronted - she was impugning his honour, his honour as a gentleman. Gentlemen did not place themselves in intimate situations with pretty girls, just as he was in, for the sake of 'taking advantage' of them - Justin could never have set out with that intention in mind. But he smiled again and reverted to jesting. 'Quite frankly' that had almost sounded like an invitation anyway.
"You know, it really hadn't occurred to me, but now that you mention it... that is a splendid idea." He paused a moment, his eyes twinkling. "Would you like me to implement it now?" he asked, but without waiting long enough for her to reply, for he continued on with a trace of hurt in his voice. "Am I really so little to be trusted? Will you not trust me, Heather?" He was breathing hard, inexplicably since he'd only been rowing at a gentle pace; he stowed the oars safely inside the boat and then with another smile he interrupted the moment she might have been obliged to reply. 'What's the harm?' he asked himself, and his conscience had no impending answer, so it must be all right. He leaned towards Heather and whispered breathlessly in her ear, "You were right not to trust me." He made to kiss her, but very slowly and gently, leaving her plenty of time to force him to desist in this eminently capsizable flat-bottomed boat.

[Heather Foster]

Heather bit the inside of her bottom lip when Justin finally responded back to her protests before. What was she really afraid of? She and Justin were only just friends. Heather felt comfortable to be herself around him. They also shared the same best friends whom were already happily married and also hadn’t even met until the end of their seventh year. Yet there was something about Justin that Heather couldn’t quite put her finger on. The way he made her heart race, the twinkle in his eyes when she was around, and his boyish grin that made her so happy. No guy had been able to do that to her before, and she had dated a lot of different men in her life time. Maybe she had a crush on him? There were so many signs that pointed to it. All the emotions that were racing through her veins were proof. “Of course I can swim, Justin. Remember? I love swimming,” she informed looking over the side of the boat into the ocean. Her mind was still circling around the possibly of liking Justin more than a friend. She was probably afraid of entering this boat with him because she wouldn’t control herself. Either Heather or Justin would do something that tested the murky water they were swimming in. Looking over at Justin as he commented on her predilection his hairy legs, Heather rolled her eyes lightly at him. “You should consider yourself lucky, Justin. Not many girls go for the hairy type of men.” Offering a mischievous grin, Heather folded her hands on her lap. “I have some unusual tastes. You know one of mine, but what about yours? What do you like different about girls?” Heather asked not even realizing she was shaking the boat violently. Luckily Justin was keeping it balanced so it wouldn’t trip. Heather didn’t feel like being trapped under a heavy boat.

Her eyebrow rose slightly as Justin suggested different views and before she could say another, he turned the boat around. Heather was now facing the beach and Justin at the expansive ocean in front of them. Smiling at the sight of Lucky rolling on his back in the shade, Heather just hoped he wouldn’t go into the bags of groceries on the small wooden picnic table a few feet away from his resting area. “I think my dog might eat all of your food if he notices it.” Looking into Justin’s eyes, Heather smiled softly forgetting about her dogs that was now chasing a flock of seagulls. When he responded back to her witty comment, Heather shook her head slowly in approval not taking her eyes off his. “That – and I don’t trust myself around you,” Heather stated bluntly biting her lip again as Justin continued on calling it a splendid idea to take advantage of her. Heather’s mind was in a daze as she watched him set the oars down, the boat now floating in the same spot. “I do trust you, Justin….to a point.” That was all Heather could get out before feeling his breath against her ear. Her heart raced wildly in her chest. Was he going to really kiss her, or would he stop deciding it a bad idea. Did he even like her that way? Oh, Heather didn’t know. Her brain couldn’t function properly anymore. Her blue eyes stared into Justin’s face, watching as he inched closer to her. “Justin,” she whispered breathlessly wanting nothing more than to kiss him. Though, before she could even think, Heather leaned her weight on the side feeling the boat tip over.

With a loud shriek, the boat tipped over both of them crashing into the cold water. Rising to the surface, Heather wiped her face of the salty water running her fingers through her wet blonde hair. Her blue eyes scanned around noticing Justin too resurface. Laughing, Heather shrugged as she looked over toward the tipped boat. “I lost my balance,” she said with another laugh as she slowly swam her way over in Justin’s direction. She floated in front of him, kicking her legs under her to keep afloat. The moment they had was ruined to her carelessness, but Heather didn’t care. She found herself wrapping her arms around Justin’s neck, leaning into him. Her blue eyes stared into his, a small smile on her face. “What were we doing?” she asked sort of breath wondering if Justin would continue.

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

It came as a shock to Justin when they were tipped into the frightfully cold water. Usually there would have been approximately a second in which he could have prepared himself – that resigned second in which one realises they are in for an unpleasant experience but that it is too late to prevent it. As it was, he had been somewhat preoccupied with his heady proximity to Heather’s scent and the way that she’d whispered his name, so he’d had far less than a second in which to minimise the shock of the cold water by mental preparation. He resurfaced, gasping at the Atlantic cold, and just had time to splutter, “Great Scott!” before he dipped below the surface again. “It’s cold enou-”, below he went again, “- to freeze the-”, submerged again, “-ffff a brass monkey,” he finished, finally remembering to tread water properly (it was easier to think now that he’d numbed to the cold) so that he was able to form an uninterrupted phrase, although he’d made a strange noise as he was trying to get rid of the salty taste left in his mouth from the seawater that had inevitably entered it.

“It’s fortunate that you like swimming,” he commented, and then gave Heather an accusatory look. “You capsized my boat!” he complained, tickling her as she floated in front of him. “It was very troublesome of you, although I suppose that I must partake of some of the blame. I should have known better than to mess around in a small flat-bottomed boat.” He smiled at her as she floated closer. “I don’t regret it, though,” he added, taking a sharp breath as Heather wrapped her arms round his neck. He returned the gesture by hugging her close to him round her waist as she leaned into him. Having her so close gave him a simultaneous thrill and sense of security, and he didn’t let go as she reminded him of what he had been about to do before the Atlantic had so rudely interrupted them.

“Something that would be easier in the shallows,” he replied. “The water will be warmer there as well,” he added, grateful at the thought. He set off for the shallows using a modified sort of backstroke, holding onto Heather’s hand so that he was slowly dragging her with him. As he went, he answered her question from before. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think that I have any particularly unusual tastes. It wouldn’t be acceptable to insult a girl about their appearance, anyway, by saying that my liking some part of it was unusual. I suppose that I prefer women without too much glamour – laboured or not. I think that is due to overexposure. It’s not that I can’t appreciate it in short bursts, but some women… are glamorous to the exclusion of… anything else that might be interesting. They’re simply… pretentious. Stiflingly so. But what I like… I like a woman who knows her own mind. Not that I would wish to be ordered around the entire time,” he laughed, “but – you may object to this, I don’t know – I’d like a woman who is at least my equal. I think that mutual respect is very important.” He glanced at Heather and stood up in the shallows, the water now just waist-high on Justin. He felt for her other hand and pulled her in towards him, wrapping his arms round her again.

“I doubt that this is particularly unusual,” he said, resting his nose on her forehead, “but I like you, Heather.” He smiled down at her and began placing gentle kisses on her forehead. He was about an inch away from her lips when he remembered something she’d said earlier, and he stepped away from her very slightly. He took and kept hold of her hands again, but the small distance between them allowed him to think enough to speak coherently. “Is this… this is what you want?” he asked. “It’s not the thing that you didn’t trust yourself not to do?” His eyes were still intense with passion and desire, but he had checked himself and his voice was steady and gentle, not really betraying how much his head was whirling right now. His heart seemed to be beating twice as fast as normal – it was urging him just to go ahead and kiss her. But the gentleman that he usually managed to be was still in control, marginally, and he had to make sure. “If there’s any chance you’d regret… if you’re not sure yet, then tell me to stop and I will. You tell me one way or another,” he demanded, clasping her hand tight because he was having trouble restraining himself with Heather still so close. “Do I carry on, or stop?”

[Heather Foster]

Heather moved her hands to wipe the salt water dripping down her face moving them through her thick blonde hair. Shivers broke through her body, creating goosebumps along her pale skin. The Atlantic was cold even in the heat of the summer and came was a shook to anyone who decided to dive into its icy depths. Heather’s blue eyes watched Justin in the distance containing the laughter building up as he kept resurfacing stuttering a few words. “Cold, Justin?” Heather called over teasingly paddling her way toward him. When he finally figured out how to keep above the surface, Heather floated in front of him waiting patiently as he tried to collect his thoughts. She was used to this water by now. It wasn’t he warmest, but still the ocean; one of the only places when Heather was really at peace. Though, she did want to visit the Virgin Island or Bahamas to see the crystal clear water she saw in travel brochures. She was saving up for the trip, but it probably won’t happen unless it was for a honeymoon and Heather wasn’t going to get married anytime soon. “You know me,” she began finally tasting the salt in her mouth. “I do love swimming.” When he gave her that look Heather looked over toward the capsized boat containing her laughter. “I didn’t realize that I could tip it over so easily. Though, you were quite distracted to even notice.” Grinning Heather than found herself in his arms her blue eyes staring into his twinkling ones. It was the perfect moment for a kiss. The sun was outlining his face casting a beautiful light around him. “Really? You don’t regret taking advantage of me?” she asked with a slow raise of her eyebrows. Heather wondered if he could feel her heart racing in her chest at the closeness of their bodies. “And I let you…to a point.”

Sending him a joking smile, Heather nodded at his answer looking over at the boat again. It just floated there mindlessly. “What are you going to do with the boat? You can’t just leave it out here,” she asked noticing Justin had already started pulling her toward the shallows. Heather smiled as she let him drag her along listening as he began to explain what unusual traits he liked about girls. There wasn’t anything in his case, but he didn’t throw her a little bone explaining what he wanted in a girl. Heather soon found herself wondering if she was the right match for Justin. Could she match him intellectually? He was smart, and studying to be a lawyer. That had skill all in itself but Heather did know herself and she wouldn’t do anything that was too out of character. It took years to find herself, but maybe she was still on that journey. She was living on her own now with a steady job and house to pay for. It was fun to live on your own, but Heather got lonely especially when working at the banks. No one gave her respect. Well some people did, but it was her first year working there so she had to understand. Feeling Justin take her other hand in his, she too found her footing, standing just a couple inches shorter than him. “What do you like about me? Do I fall under any of those categories you’ve mentioned?” Heather spoke softly her blue eyes piercing into his softly. She wanted to know what he thought of her. Justin’s words were important to Heather, almost like they were all that mattered.

His arms found around her again causing Heather’s heart to race once more. She tangled her own arms around his neck playing with his curly, blonde locks. There was a serene appearance in the lines of her face as she tried hard not to let her desire get the best of her. When he told her he liked her, Heather felt her breath caught in her throat closing her eyes as she felt his lips press against her forward gently. Her mind was once again in a daze as he was just an inch away from her parted lips. She desperately wanted him to kiss her, but he didn’t. Instead he took a couple steps away from her, holding her hands in his large palms. Heather’s eyes fluttered open, confused on why he didn’t kiss her. It was another perfect moment, but this time he ruined it. Taking a deep breath, Heather looked into Justin’s face listening to his words. His hands held her tightly as if trying to restrain from making the wrong choice. Shaking her head Heather wished Justin would just get rid of the whole gentleman front. Taking another deep breath she closed the gap between them again her lips hovering over his just barely. “It was the thing I didn’t trust myself with, Justin,” she began her voice only at a soft inaudible whisper. “I really like you Justin…..and I want this more than anything.”

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

Justin didn’t know if he’d be able to let go of Heather’s hands even if she did tell him ‘no’ now – he was already holding on so tightly and he couldn’t relax at all. He didn’t want to let go. His chest held an odd burning feeling, a mixture of desire and nerves about what she might do or say. Involuntarily, he thought of how it had felt to have her fingers catching in his curls (not something that anyone had done to him before: his last serious girlfriend hadn’t much liked his curls, considering them too boyish), and how good, how perfect it had felt to have her held in his arms, somewhere that no one could take her away from, at least while she was there. He subconsciously swayed a little closer towards her, and when Heather closed up the gap between them, he was quite glad and grateful to allow her to take a step towards seducing him. She was capable of making him forget himself almost entirely – he could remember how much he liked her, but not any reasons for caution in the matter.

He couldn’t really make sense of what she’d said – how she could not trust herself when she wanted it anyway was beyond him. He knew that he couldn’t trust his drunken self – that was why he was now teetotal – but Heather wasn’t drunk, although being so close to her was quite intoxicating for Justin. Would she still want to have been so close to him, after this moment had passed? He just couldn’t work out the logic of what she’d said - he couldn’t think much at all actually – but even if her words were confusing, her actions had made her intentions quite clear. Justin couldn’t ignore his own desire any longer either, so he simply closed his eyes and kissed her softly, gradually intensifying the kiss as he used it to silently convey all his sincere admiration for his friend. They’d never been just friends, really, but through all their light-hearted flirting, he’d never managed to say just how serious he was about liking her. It felt impossible that she could not realise that now. He opened his eyes as he slowly drew away from the kiss, smiling gently at her. She was so wonderful that he had to kiss her again, and then he stood there gazing intently into her astonishingly blue eyes.

Saying something would ruin the perfect moment, so he didn’t say anything. But then one of them shifted – he didn’t know which of them, and the eye contact was broken. Justin looked out to sea and saw that the rowing boat had drifted out of the cove already. He looked back to Heather and slowly disengaged himself from her.
“You were right about the boat,” he explained. “I’ll have to go and retrieve the old thing before it drifts too far out.” He kissed her hand in an old-fashioned way of taking leave, and then, wading back out into a depth of water he could swim in, set off with a strong front crawl to catch up with the rowing boat. He would have to use ‘Accio’ to retrieve the oars once he was back in the boat.

It was about quarter of an hour later by the time he had moored the rowing boat back at the jetty and returned to Heather. Justin sat down silently beside Heather and put an arm around her, at which point he noticed that she was quivering slightly.
“Are you cold?” he asked, scrutinising her more carefully. “I can fetch you a towel from my room.” He stood up and offered her a hand. “Come on. Walking will probably get you warmed up anyway.”

[Heather Foster]

There was silence after those last words left her throat, eyes not moving away from those that only gazed a few inches above her own. Everything felt still, like time had stopped just for this moment. It sounded cliché, coming straight from the movies when the couple kissed creating the camera to spin around them. This was real. There were no cameras, no audience watching them. Well, human spectators. There was Lucky in the background, but the canine was to busy chasing off seagulls. Her chest heaved rapidly against the warm body towering over her, short warm breaths residing on the boy’s sharp chin structure. Then the torture was over. Everything inside of her seemed to turn into mush as his lips gently pressed against her own. Heather’s eyes fluttered closed as her fingers untangled themselves from those strong hands. They lifted lightly between the empty spaces of Justin before entangling back into their secure grasp. The kiss was slowly growing intense Heather’s arms gently pulling Justin close to her, allowing herself to kiss him back fully.

It ended just like that. Heather’s blue eyes stayed closed for a few seconds before finally willing them to open. She just gazed lightly into his eyes, a smile curling on her small, plump pink lips. Heather could feel her eyes twinkling lightly into the depths of Justin before laughing lightly as he kissed her again shortly. Heather’s eyes wavered closed then open not able to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. It was hard not to smile when she was around Justin. There was part of his presence that created such a serene emotion to pulse through her body. A loud yelp made Heather finally break contact, her blue eyes searching the sandy beach for the noise. Lucky was at the far end of the beach running away from a bird that decided to take a nip at him. Heather couldn’t resist the urge to lightly chuckle before following Justin’s gaze back out into the sea. The boat was slowly making its way out against the current. She didn’t say anything as Justin kissed her hand head back out into the sea. Instead she watched him for a moment before settling herself comfortably on the ground.

Heather didn’t mind waiting for Justin to return. She loved watching him row that boat back to the jetty, tying it to the dock so it didn’t decide to tug away. Heather smiled as he made his way over toward her, plopping himself down next to her small frame. His arm wrapped steadily around her trembling shoulders. It was beginning to get dark, the sun disappearing from the horizon. Heather tore her gaze away from the ocean as Justin offered to give her a towel from the house. She nodded slowly, taking the outstretched hand pulling her self up from the ground. “That sounds nice…maybe I could steal on your jackets before heading back home,” she replied lightly, wrapping her arms around Justin’s leaning against him as she followed his lead back into the house. Lucky followed closely behind them as Heather just rested her cheek against his shoulder until they finally made it to the front of house. “This is where you stay on vacation?” Her voice sounded questioning. These were the expensive houses. The ones that she could never afford in her lifetime. Heather knew Justin was rich, but not to this point.

She followed him into the house, making sure Lucky stayed outside in the fenced yard. Heather didn’t want her dog to get into anything like he did back at home. She had to keep her socks securely in the drawers or the dog would rip them into shreds, along with her shoes. That would just be horrible. Heather let go of Justin’s arm as they entered the warm kitchen her blue eyes taking in the surroundings around her. It held that country, homey theme to it reminding her of the one back in her own house. The place where she just recently spent rebuilding to meet her own needs. The bedroom was next on the list. Heather smiled as Justin vanished briefly, returning with a towel in hand. “This is a really nice home,” she whispered in the boy’s direction feeling the warmth of the towel wrap around her quivering shoulders, greeted soon by his strong arms. Heather chuckled lightly as she pulled away from him a bit, her eyes locking onto his. Before she could even realize what she was doing, Heather leaned in toward him again, her lips claiming Justin’s in another kiss. It was soft kiss, her arms rising up to the back of his neck as she took a few steps backward stopping at the edge of the sink.

Her fingers glided gently through those blonde locks as she slowly began to deepen the kiss, not even realizing someone had entered the kitchen. It wasn’t until she heard a light gasp when Heather pulled away quickly her eyes landing on an older woman at the head of the island, watching them with large eyes. Heather felt her cheeks begin to glow red as she look down toward the ground, biting her lips lightly. Wonderful. This was exactly how she needed to meet his mother.

[Justin Finch-Fletchley]

She immediately settled into a close, comfortable attitude as they walked back up the steps to the top of the cliff, the bags of groceries bobbing along behind them courtesy of a levitation charm, and Heather’s dog bounding ahead of them. Justin though he shared in the dog’s joy – his heart gave a little leap every time he looked at Heather or was reminded of her proximity to him. The only thing he could possibly complain about was that he didn’t have free use of his arms… they’d have been doing something a little more adventurous if he had.

“I hope my jackets aren’t utterly out of fashion, then,” he replied with a grin. He had a less ready answer for her next inquiry, and there was a hint of a challenge in the look he gave her in response to her questioning tone, a ‘Yes. What of it?’ sort of look. Yes, he was rich, privileged and, well, upper class, but Heather already knew that and ought to have dealt with it already. He wasn’t overly worried – it hadn’t made any of his friends like him less in the past: they had an inclusive group of friends who just didn’t need to consider that sort of thing. Justin tilted his head a little and acknowledged her question: “Yes, yes it is.” He smiled as he watched Heather shoo her dog away from the door a little so it wouldn’t follow the couple into the house. “Well then, come in, come in,” he welcomed her, ushering her into the kitchen. “I won’t be a moment,” he promised, disappearing to get a large towel.

The towel was luxuriously soft from the tumble dryer (in all honesty, Justin had never experienced towels being much else), but that wasn’t the reason why he kept hold of it even after he’d wrapped it round the shivering girl opposite him. He was just rather enjoying the opportunity for physical flirtation which was so newly opened to him, and his arms moved slowly down from Heather’s shoulders to her waist. He smiled mischievously as Heather looked him in the eyes; his own held a playful twinkle within them. Justin’s breath caught as Heather leaned towards him, and he closed his eyes as he returned the kiss, so absorbed in it that he did not notice his mother enter the kitchen until Heather inexplicably pulled away. Once he had acquainted himself with the mortifying reason, Justin’s eyes flickered between his mother’s face and Heather’s cheeks, which were unusually bright pink. He was blushing himself – actually just as much in reaction to the way they had been kissing as in embarrassment at the present situation. The situation was not a good one.

Justin’s mother was in her fifties, and managing to pull off without any effort the fifth-unknown-something image achieved by older women of her generation who had, fortuitously or actively, retained their figures, and who knew how to dress appropriately in middle-age, neither looking as though they believed they were still in their twenties, nor as though they had resigned themselves to old age. She had neat black curly hair that framed her face but was no longer than that. Right now, her facial expression seemed to be mixing two exclamations. The first of these was general surprise: ‘What is my son doing?!’ The second, which was perhaps the stronger of the two feelings, was resentment against Heather: ‘What are you doing to my son?’ The two expressions mingled to give one of outraged horror. Justin decided to seize the initiative and say something.

“Mum!” He cleared his throat. “Er… Mum, this is Heather, Heather Foster; Heather, this is my mum. Heather is a friend from school, Mum; I’m sure I’ll have mentioned her before.” His mum continued blinking furiously, still looking livid. The situation didn’t seem easily resolvable. Thankfully, Justin’s father (a sprightly fifty-seven-year-old who, although his once sandy hair was now mostly white, had only experienced a very little hairline recession and looked positively full of energy) had heard the introduction being made and subsequently hurried into the kitchen from outside.

“I say, an old school friend!” Justin’s father shook Heather’s hand vigorously. “Delighted to make your acquaintance, Heather-Heather, as Justin introduced you just now.” He chuckled, evidently finding himself highly amusing. Justin gave a weak smile, a little strained by the situation. “Is that your mongrel outside?” his father asked Heather, drawing a chair back from the table for her, and sitting himself down in another one. “He looks hungry. We ought to find him something to eat before we sit down to our meal.” At this mention of food, Justin’s mother seemed to remember her duty of hospitality and held out her hands to Heather in greeting.
“Yes, dear, you will be staying for supper, won’t you?”

Heather could hardly refuse. Justin thanked their fortitude that his father was more interested in sizing up any friend of his than in the strained atmosphere the room had held when he entered it, and took a seat opposite his elder.
“My, Justin, you’re wet!” his father observed with some shock. “I dare say he’s been showing you the Crest, eh?” he guessed to Heather. “That’s my son for you! Did you miss the rowing boat as you stepped into it?” he laughed. Justin laughed with him and then corrected him.
“No, we encountered the Disaster of Pendour Cove. The rowing boat capsized.”
“Goodness me!” his father harrumphed, and then added at a lower volume inaudible to Justin’s mother (who was getting something out of the oven),”You must have been doing something risky.” He glanced at Heather as if seeing her anew. “Rowing boats don’t just capsize on their own, you know. I won’t mention it to your mother though, don’t worry,” he added with a conspiratorial wink. Justin smiled noncommittally, not feeling like mentioning that worrying would be of little use now, and stood up, laying a hand on Heather’s arm and leading her to the bathroom.

“I think that was a hint that we’re not presentable enough at the moment,” he whispered. “Do you need to borrow a comb?” He himself, his hair now combed, went and laid the table. His mother proceeded to chastise him.
“Justin,” she said reprovingly, “I couldn’t believe my eyes! I thought we had an agreement.”
Justin glanced at her unhappily. “I’m not a schoolboy anymore, Mum,” he pointed out.
“No, but she is still a girl you went to school with!” she replied, the pitch of her voice rising slightly.
“Mum,” Justin urged her, worried that Heather might hear from the bathroom.
“No, Justin!” she said, goaded. “We agreed when you first went to that school that you would marry a normal girl.”
“Your mother does have a point,” his father chipped in.
“She is normal!” Justin protested. “And –”
“You know perfectly well what I mean.”
“Mum!” he pleaded. “It’s not so awful… Heather’s parents are Mu-… non-magical, just as you are. Can’t you try to like her? I really like her.”
“I will get to know her,” his mother conceded, “- and then I will decide whether I like her.”

Justin wasn’t entirely satisfied (and neither was his mother), but Heather re-entered the room at this point and so the conversation was broken off. They sat down to eat and Justin’s mother was the first to say anything beyond social niceties.
“Justin tells me you are a ‘curse breaker’, Heather? Is that an desk job, or does your work take you abroad a great deal?” Justin sighed. He wished that the interrogation could be a little less obvious.