Quidditch League

Round 3:

Keeper: Tinikling Dance of the Philippines; write about a character who shows grace to someone who doesn't"t deserve it.

Word Count: 995

An Undeserved Mercy

It's moments that you never thought you'd see that can change you. Whether for better or for worse, whether you listen to the angel or the devil, that's something that you decide.

~o~

"I'm concerned about Ernie," said Susan as she doodled on a spare piece of scroll. Justin could see a small flower and an intricate design bordering the top corner. "His detention was meant to finish at ten, but it's now a quarter to eleven. He usually comes straight back."

"Yeah, because no one wants to be out in the castle at the moment," Hannah said with a slight hint of sarcasm, but you could hear the fright underneath. All the Hufflepuff seventh years were waiting up in their common room, but even the soft armchairs and low ceiling couldn't make the room feel like home. The tension could be cut with a knife; no one wanted to leave, yet no one wanted to stay.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," whispered Justin, but his voice shook with emotion and concern for his best friend.

More silence passed until a sudden noise finally brought everyone back to reality. They all turned their heads towards the door. It opened and Ernie fell in, covered in what looked like blood. Justin swallowed hard and prayed to any and every God that it wasn't his own.

The Hufflepuffs quickly ran over to him, clearly able to see that he couldn't make it any further into the room. As they neared him Justin felt bile rising in his throat; Ernie's face was covered with a newly forming bruise and blood was seeping out of a large cut on his cheek.

"Susan! Get your medical supplies. Hannah, clear a table for him. Wayne, help me with him," shouted Justin as he tried to help the fallen man. He and Wayne both put their arms underneath his armpits, supporting him as best they could. He whispered his apologies over and over as he half-pulled, half-supported Ernie to the table that Hannah had cleared. Finally, Ernie was positioned carefully on the table, and Susan was gently dabbing at the bruises with a foul-smelling ointment with an impassive face that Justin could tell was just a mask of bravery.

Something stirred within Justin when he saw his broken best friend. Yes, he'd gotten detention before but never that bad. Something else was wrong, Justin could tell.

"What happened, mate?" he asked.

Ernie swallowed and grimaced before replying. "Neville gone... got me... Ouch!" An apologetic looking Susan smoothed down his hair and whispered into his ear. That was all Justin needed to know—he knew his best friend well enough that he could understand what the injured Hufflepuff was trying to tell him. What with Neville gone into hiding the previous week, the Carrows were onto the others and with Ernie as the appointed leader in Hufflepuff House, it was only a matter of time.

"Who? Who was it, Ernie?" Justin asked as nonchalantly as possible.

"Slytherins..." he replied before his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

The last thing Justin heard before storming out of the Common Room was Hannah shouting at him not to go.

He didn't know where to go, he just felt his feet take him towards the dungeon. He wasn't even aware that Wayne had followed until a tripping jinx hit him. He looked up at and glared at his fellow Hufflepuff.

"What the hell, Wayne?!" Justin shouted in indignation.

"Keep your voice down," whispered Wayne in response.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want, thank you. Did you not see Ernie in there?" Justin thrust his hand towards the direction they came from, his fingers shaking slightly.

"Yes, I did, and it hurt me more than I thought possible but now is not the time for rash decisions," Wayne implored, with both his voice and his eyes.

"What? You're out of your mind, right?"

"Which is why we sneak up on them later. Disillusionment Charms. We can get to them like that first, until we know how many of them there are and how much of a threat they are. We'll wait until Ernie can tell us who they are. Besides, you're not even meant to be here, remember? You can't just go parading around the castle."

"No, they have to pay outright. I want them to know it was me. An eye for an eye. We have to teach them that they can't just attack us because we're trying to make Hogwarts a better place." A tear threatened to escape Justin's eye, but he wiped it away. Now wasn't the time to become emotional; he needed clarity.

"We don't even know exactly who it was."

"Slytherin's. That's all I need to kno—"

"What? You're going to curse some eleven-year-old first-year who had nothing to do with it?" Wayne looked at Justin as though he was only seeing him for the first time, and he didn't like what he was seeing.

"Why not? It'll teach them a lesson." He faltered, only slightly though. He sighed and then rounded his shoulders resolutely.

"Listen to yourself, Justin. What are you saying? This isn't you. Come back with me to the Common Room, please. This isn't just a revenge mission for you, it's bigger than that. We need to work all together, all of us."

Justin looked ahead towards the entrance to the dungeons and then looked back at his friend. He closed his eyes and counted to five, and then followed Wayne back down the corridor.

"Ok, I'm with you. Besides, I think Ernie would want his own revenge. I wouldn't want to take that away from him." Justin clapped Wayne on the shoulder and smiled towards him, and got a slight grimace in return. "We'll think about revenge another day but right now the best thing we can do is be with Ernie when he wakes up. We should be there like two good friends should be."