A/N: We never really got to see the war though the eyes of a Muggle-born. Sure, we had Hermione, but she was on the run with Harry and Ron the entire time, hunting Horcruxes. She already knew that she was in danger. But what about the other Muggle-borns during the war? The ones who couldn't return to Hogwarts because of the Muggle-born Registration Commission? So I decided to write my version of Justin Finch-Fletchley's story. I, uh, didn't realize when I started that it would be as long as it is. Whoops. So, even though I consider it a oneshot, I've decided to split it up to make reading it a little easier. :) Please enjoy. I've had a great time writing Justin's story, even though it's been a little difficult at times. Enjoy. :)
As a child, Justin had never imagined his life would end up the way it did. How could he? He was a perfectly normal child from a perfectly normal upper-middle class family, even if he sometimes did strange things that he couldn't understand. He never imagined that he would be a wizard, or that he would be a wizard during one of the most difficult times in a wizarding world. The time when the wizarding world was going to war.
OoOoO
Justin first noticed that things were not going so well for their side at Dumbledore's funeral.
Dumbledore was gone. He was their great leader. He was the one who always knew what to do. He was the one they named their rebellious defense group for. And now he was dead. Dead. Just like that, faster than the snap of a finger. Everything safe in the world was now being locked away inside a great marble tomb, an aching scar on the surface of the world. Justin wondered if this was what it felt like for Harry. No physical wound, yet an awful, persistent stinging in his chest that would strike at any moment.
There was a chill deep inside his bones that made him want to start running away from Hogwarts – his home away from home – and not stop. There was something coming, something bad. He could just feel it.
OoOoO
Things had been getting worse and worse over the summer.
People were going missing and entire families were being slaughtered and crimes against Muggles and Muggle-borns were going up. And yet, they weren't being reported as much. A lot of the information Justin was getting was from his friends, not from the Daily Prophet. There were rumors going around that the Ministry had been infiltrated, and that there were Death Eaters working on the inside.
Justin was sitting in his large, comfortable bedroom, his trunk already packed and ready to go back to Hogwarts. At least, that's what he told himself. In all honesty, he was scared that he might not get the chance to go back to Hogwarts this year. He was packed for running. Useful books stowed away in his magically enlarged trunk, clothes for all types of weather, potions ingredients and supplies. Everything was ready, just in case he was forced to leave at a moment's notice.
Somewhere downstairs, his parents were probably watching the news, frightened by the sharp increase of violent crime that had been sweeping the country. Though he hadn't explicitly told them that it was related to the war that was brewing in the wizarding world, he suspected that they knew. Everything was just a little too funny, crimes too perfect, to be the work of Muggles. Doors were never forced, windows were never broken, no gunshots or stab wounds to suggest that the victims were dead at all, besides the fact that they quite obviously were. It didn't take much convincing to get them to pack their bags as well.
Just in case.
OoOoO
With just a month left until his final year of Hogwarts, Justin got the news that the Ministry had fallen. Minister Scrimgeour was dead, and Pius Thicknesse was to take over. The entire wizarding world was in panic. Letters went out to Hogwarts students saying that attendance was required this year, and the new Headmaster was, not Professor McGonagall, like so many had assumed, but Professor Snape, the very man who killed Dumbledore.
And then came the pamphlets.
The Muggle-Born Registration Commission. Even the name sounded sinister, and the content within their pamphlets was worse. It required all Muggle-borns to go before a court to prove they had a magical lineage or admit that they'd stolen their magic from a "proper" wizard. It was all ridiculous, and Justin wasn't at all surprised to see Dolores Umbridge's name on such a project.
But this was bad. Letters were being exchanged at an alarming rate between old DA members and friends at Hogwarts. Students were faking blood statuses, pretending to be related to pureblood or half-blood friends in order to continue on at school. Several of his good friends had offered to add him to their family trees, mostly Susan, which made his heart do little leaps in his chest, but it was in vain. Everyone knew that he was Muggle-born. He'd made no secret of it, and after being one of the Basilisk's victims during his second year, he would be stupid to attempt to claim otherwise.
Justin knew that he only had two options; he could turn himself in, facing possible death and certain imprisonment in Azkaban for being born, or he could run.
Feeling very numb, Justin walked down the stairs of his large and beautiful home to tell his parents the news that he'd been dreading since the beginning of summer.
It was time to start running.
OoOoO
France was a lot nicer on the telly.
Or, maybe, France was just as nice as it seemed, but Justin just couldn't see it in his current state of nervous paranoia. No one could blame him, of course. Justin had a lot to be nervous about. This idea of his was crazy – nay, completely insane – and he knew it. He had accepted that there was every chance in the world that he would be found and captured or killed, but he was determined to finish out his education. That's what he'd said in his letter to Madame Maxime.
It had taken mere hours for the Beauxbatons headmistress to respond to his desperate letter, telling him that she would allow him – and any other Hogwarts students forced into running – to study at her school. She would help each of them fake identities and blood statuses. She already had a group of students that were willing to pass them off as cousins and siblings if need be. Justin only had time to contact a few other Muggle-born students with coded messages before he had to leave. Staying at his home any longer than he absolutely had to was a mistake.
So he and his parents got on the first plane to France, where they had met a very pleasant French girl named Lisette, who took them to Beauxbatons Palace. It was a beautiful place, the Palais de Beauxbatons. It was a glittering white palace, just North of Cannes, tucked away from Muggle view in the mountains, surrounded by an enchanted forest. It was a far cry from the jutting turrets and towers of the sprawling medieval Hogwarts Castle, but it would have to become home.
While his parents waited in the nearest village, Justin was led through the gorgeous palace to meet with Madame Maxime in her office.
"Bonjour, Monsieur Feench-Fletchley," Madame Maxime said behind her ornate and elegant desk, which seemed to have been magically enlarged to be the proper size for her. She gestured to the chairs in front of her. Behind her, the wall was completely covered in vast bookshelves, which held hundreds of books, glittering objects, and moving marble busts of which Justin could only assume were many centuries worth of Beauxbatons Headmasters and Mistresses.
"Bonjour, Madame Maxime," Justin replied gratefully, taking a seat opposite her. "Thank you so much for allowing me in your beautiful school."
"Ov course, Monsieur Feench-Fletchley. Beauxbatons Academy ov Magic eez 'appy to open our doors to you, and eeny ozzer 'Ogwarts students 'oo need a place to stay. Vut eez 'appening een England eez 'orrible. Ve vill do everyzing een our power to preveent eeny 'arm from befalling oopon you vhile you are 'ere."
She opened one of the draws of the desk and pulled out a large, thick folder.
"'Ere eez your new life," she said, handing him the folder, which he began to flip through. "Your new name eez Justin Fortier. You are ze cousin ov Olivie Fortier. She eez een 'er seveenth year, ze same as you. Ve 'ave modified your marks from 'Ogwarts to match our grading seestem. Our books 'ave been changed to look as eef you started your schooling 'ere at Beauxbatons. Eef an outsider tries to do eeny digging, zey vill only find Justin Fortier, a student with extremely 'igh marks 'oo 'as always been 'ere. Please meemorize as much ov ze file as possible."
"Of course, Madame Maxime," Justin said respectfully, soaking in the family tree he was now supposed to belong to. "How many other Hogwarts students will be here?"
"Eencluding you, zere vill be five. Two young ladies named Leanne Spinks and Luca Caruso, and two ozzer young men named Geoffrey 'Ooper and Owen Cauldvell."
"And – my parents. They'll be protected, right?"
Justin had been extremely nervous about his mother and father the entire time. He wasn't just running for himself. He was running for them as well.
"Ov course, Monsieur Feench-Fletchley," Madame Maxime said with sympathy. "'Ere at Beauxbatons, ve are all family. Ve vill nevair desert you."
OoOoO
Justin and the other four Hogwarts students were moved into the palace immediately. There were still three weeks until the Beauxbatons school year began, but everyone agreed that it would be much safer if they settled into life at the school. They were already meeting with their new professors, getting caught up in everything that hadn't been taught back at Hogwarts. Everyone brushed up on their French, which was very easy for Justin, who was fluent, but very difficult for Luca, the youngest in their group at only thirteen, and Geoffrey, neither of whom had ever had much of a reason to learn. Both were given memory boosting potions every few hours to help them with their struggling French.
Leanne and Justin spent a lot of time together, the only two seventh years and Hufflepuffs. They had never been particularly close, but between years of classes and sharing a common room and DA meetings, the two found that they had plenty to bond over.
"I have an idea," Leanne said one day, a week before term started. She dug in her bag and pulled out a spool of wire, a pair of scissors, a long length of leather cord, and her DA coin.
"What's all that for?" Justin asked curiously.
"You've got your coin, right?"
"Always," Justin said, pulling the fat gold coin from his pocket.
"May I?" Leanne asked, holding out her hand for the coin. Justin handed her the coin and watched her as she began unraveling some of the wire. "I was trying to think of a way to make sure that we could feel if our coins burned at any time of the day or night. I know I almost missed a DA meeting once because I didn't feel the change because it happened at night." She started wrapping the wire expertly around each of the coins, making it secure and artful at the same time. When she finished with the wire, she grabbed the leather cord, measured out two shorted pieces and cut them, tying each end to small loops she'd made in the wire.
"Here," she told him, handing him one of the bracelets and slipping the other onto her wrist. She held up her hand, palm out, showing him the coin that rested on the inside of her wrist. "This way, if something changes, we'll always know."
"This is genius, Leanne!" Justin exclaimed. "I can't wait until term starts so we can send an owl to everyone back at Hogwarts. It's been killing me, not being able to contact them."
They'd had very few rules while staying at Beauxbatons, mostly just the basics; don't break things, don't mouth off to professors, and study whenever you could. But there was one more thing that they'd been very strict on, and that was owls. There were to be absolutely no letters in or out of the palace until term had started. It would look very suspicious for an increase in owl activities around Beauxbatons. They were supposed to be in hiding.
Leanne rested a comforting hand on Justin's arm. "We're going to make it through this, Justin," she said knowingly. "Once term starts, we're going to send Ernie, Hannah, and Susan a letter telling them that we're alright, and to signal us with the coins when we're needed. Because we will be needed, Justin. We're going to fight, and we're going to fight so hard that we're going to win."
He really hoped that she was right.
OoOoO
Three weeks finally ended, and it was the first day of term. Each of them had managed to master French at least enough to get through classes. Luca was still having a little trouble, but she was given a little chalk board that wrote out whatever the professors said in French and would translate if she needed it to. They'd all managed to catch up in their course work enough that they would be able to hang on through the first few weeks with minimal extra lessons.
"I think I preferred ours uniforms back at Hogwarts," Leanne complained quietly, looking very uncomfortable in her powder blue silk dress and cape. Justin couldn't exactly blame her, either. His own flimsy silk slacks, vest and cape were a far cry from the relatively sturdy Hogwarts uniforms.
"These hats a very silly," Luca whispered, readjusting the oddly-shaped at atop her head for probably the twentieth time since getting dressed.
"Shh," Owen said. "Get over it. They were very kind to let us in at all. We have to be respectful."
That was probably the most Justin had head Owen speak since they'd gotten here. He'd been, by far, the quietest of everyone, only speaking when spoken to, keeping his head down and working diligently.
"Owen's right," Justin said. "And we only have to wear this for the welcoming speech."
The same as Hogwarts students would wear their black, pointed hats for special occasions, the Beauxbatons students had an entire outfit for special. The silk uniform they all wore – silly hats and strange blue oxford shoes and all – were for such occasions like the welcoming speech. Starting tomorrow, they would wear more similar to their old uniforms. The main difference for the boys was the gray vest and blue silk shirt, along with the typical blue cape. For the girls, they had to wear a gray gymslip instead of a skirt, but at least it was close enough.
"What's going to happen to us if something goes wrong?" Geoffrey asked quietly, voicing for the first time what they'd been wondering all along.
"I don't know, Geoff," Justin told him. "We just have to wait and hope that nothing does go wrong."
OoOoO
"Welcome back to Beauxbatons!" Madame Maxine said in her booming voice to the students, who were sitting at three long tables, not completely unlike back at Hogwarts. "I am sure you have all heard about our brothers and sisters to the North. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has fallen to Dark wizards. You might have noticed a few new faces among you. These are your new classmates. They are in hiding. I hope that you will all make them feel welcome, because they are risking their lives to finish their education here at our marvelous school. They are a part of our family now, and Beauxbatons always protects our family."
Everyone clapped daintily while giving the Hogwarts lot sideways glances. They had been put in the Maison de la Fleur de Lys, the House of the Lily Flower, a powerful and legendary House. Fleur de Lys was a lot like Gryffindor, acknowledging bravery and chivalry along with athleticism. They were there because they had been very brave to flee from Brittan to France for schooling, when so many others were on the run, refusing to stay in one place for fear of being found. Justin would have preferred to have been in the Maison de la Fleur de Romarin, House of the Rosemary Flower, which was more like a mix of Hufflepuff and Slytherin, with ambition, loyalty, and artistry being valued, but, really, how important was a House when the alternative was running or dead?
OoOoO
The letter was hard to write, but Justin wrote it anyways.
Dearest Ernie, Hannah, Susan, and the rest of the DA,
I'm fine, really I am. I'm somewhere that they hopefully won't think to look. There are five of us here, learning from one of our oldest competitors. They are as gracious as we were three years ago.
We must be very careful about our letters, in case they are intercepted. We probably won't be able to write often, if at all after this. If we are needed, simply change the date. We will feel it, and know that the time has come to leave our hiding spot. Leanne and I will come to your call.
Ernie, thank you for being my best mate for all these years. Please keep Hannah and Susan safe. I'm trusting you to do what I cannot.
Hannah, thank you for always knowing what to say. Help hold everything together like you always do. You can move a room with your words, you just have to speak up.
Susan, thank you for understand me, for offering me a way to stay at Hogwarts, though it wasn't possible. You've always been a light in the darkness. Never change.
Please let the others know that at least some of us are alright, and ready when the war come to school.
With love and luck to all who fight for our side,
Justin
OoOoO
Despite the cultural differences between Hogwarts and Beauxbatons that came from being in different countries, there really wasn't much different between the two schools.
Both had a lot of school spirit and demanding academics. Hogwarts had focused a little more on the technical side of spellwork and Beauxbatons focused more on the beauty and artistry, but both challenged their students with difficult spells and potions. The professors were all very eager to teach and the students were very eager to learn. Everyone worked hard and played harder. Sports and clubs were at the center of many students' worlds. Quidditch was just as popular at Beauxbatons as it was at Hogwarts.
The first few months of school brought little news from the war going on back home, which was both a blessing and a curse. At times, it almost felt as though Justin and he fellow Hogwarts students were simply doing an exchange. They made friends with the other students, studied diligently, and even laughed a few times. Other times, the wait for information became nearly unbearable. Not knowing whether your friends were alive or dead, if the war was being won or lost, or if Harry Potter had been seen again was impossible to deal with.
On top of that, each of them were having their own problems.
Geoffrey wished he was allowed to try out for the Quidditch team, but Madame Maxime forbade it. It was too much of a risk to have him representing the school.
Owen, a sixth year, was being forced to retake his exams again, as Beauxbatons students sat theirs during sixth year instead of fifth, as Hogwarts did. He was going through the craziness of major exams for the second year in a row.
Luca was finally speaking French with near fluency. She was a social butterfly, with plenty of new friends who were helping her out a lot, but she also got homesick more than anyone else. She often cried for her friends and parents, wishing that she could have found a way to fake her status to stay at Hogwarts.
Justin and Leanne often found themselves touching the coins while doing their coursework, as if willing it to be time to return to their school to fight. Surely, when it finally burned, the war would be over.
OoOoO
It was three months, during the Beauxbatons Christmas holiday, where all of the Hogwarts five stayed in the palace, before Justin heard from anyone at Hogwarts.
The letter was short, but helpful.
Justin,
Potterwatch on the radio. The next password is the first name of our group's namesake. Keep checking.
E.M.
Finally. At least now they could get some news.
OoOoO
As it turns out, news isn't always good.
In fact, there was more bad news on Potterwatch than there was good news. The list of the dead grew and grew. Sometimes, Justin recognized the names. He and the others could sit around for hours listening to static on the radio, waiting for the magic sound of "River's" (Lee Jordan, the Gryffindor boy who used to commentate the Quidditch games) voice. For months, they waited and waited.
"Justin, Leanne, do you really think that we're going to win?" little Luca asked one night as she rested her head on Leanne's shoulder.
"We will win, Luca," Leanne told her, sounding far more powerful and confident than anyone in their situation possibly could have.
Justin rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "Leanne's right, Luca. Sooner or later, we're going to get the call, and we're going to fight for Dumbledore's Army, Leanne and I and everyone else still at the school. We'll win. Just wait."
OoOoO
By the beginning of April, it appeared that the war was more or less over. The Death Eaters were growing in numbers every day and the Order's numbers were dwindling as more and more were killed or forced into hiding. Almost no news on Harry's whereabouts had been reported on Potterwatch, which in itself had become a scarce thing. Broadcasts were few and far between as safe places were being discovered by the Death Eaters. Their world, which had already been torn apart, was crumbling completely, and it looked as if Justin would never get a chance to return to the castle he loved.
OoOoO
One night, on the last day of April, Justin sat on the floor in front of the crackling fire in the Fleur de Lys commons, wishing that the flames were a normal orange instead of the unnatural violet and blue they always were at Beauxbatons.
On his lap was a photo album, filled with pictures and memories of all the things he missed, like his friends and his school and his home. His eye hovered over a picture of Susan, sweet, understanding, beautiful Susan Bones. She had gone through so many things over the past few years, with the Death Eater who killed her uncle escaping from Azkaban and her aunt being murdered over the summer, but even when she was hurting, she always put everyone first. She was so selfless. He regretting not telling her how incredibly mad for her he was. He'd been sweet on her since second year, when the first thing he saw after being petrified by the Basilisk was Susan's face smiling down on his in the Hospital Wing.
"She fancies you, you know," Leanne said, sitting down next to him, looking at the picture and the way his hand had been tracing the lines of Susan's face.
"Who?" Justin asked, confused.
"Susan, you numpty!" Leanne told him with a smile. "She's always fancied you, ever since first year. Never stops talking about you."
"That's not true," Justin scoffed. "Why would she like me?"
"She does," Leanne insisted, moving closer. "Haven't you ever noticed the way she looks at you? The way she laughs when you're around? She's mad for you. Just like you're mad for her."
"Is it that obvious?" he whispered.
"Between you and me?" Leanne asked, clapping him on the shoulder. "Yeah, it is."
"If I ever see her again," he said fiercely. "If we win this war, I'm going to tell her how I feel."
Both Justin and Leanne touched their coins absently, the way they always did when the war was mentioned.
"Something's coming," Leanne said lightly. "I can feel it. Can't you? We'll get our chance to fight soon. Then we won't have to hide anymore, and you can finally tell Susan everything you just told me."
"Soon," Justin muttered, watching the unnatural purple glow of the fire dance on his DA coin. "Soon."
A/N: So, there's Part 1. Part 2 will be out soon. Oh, and I no longer have a beta reader, so please forgive any horrible mistakes on my part. Hopefully you can look part any grammatical or spelling errors to the story beneath. Please review! I absolutely LOVE reviews! I've never done a story in this style before, so I'd really love to know how you think I've done! It only takes a minute, and it makes me really happy. :)