Title: Early Morning Apologies

Prompt: Written for 'HedwigBlack's Weekly Challenge- Hufflepuff Love'

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is a trademarked brand owned by J.K Rowling and Warner Brothers. Any material used belongs to the aforementioned parties. This material is only used in recreational purposes and I receive no monetary or material rewards from using it. Please don't sue me.

"Yous is being sure yous is not needing Twinkle's help, Master Justin?" The house-elf asks one last time, just as Justin's putting the finishing touches on the bacon.

"Yes, I'm sure Twinkle," he says kindly, but firmly. "I think it'll mean more if I do everything myself."

Twinkle nods in rapid agreement. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Twinkle understands, Twinkle does. Mistress will appreciate Master's hard work, Twinkle is sure." Despite his words, the young elf still hesitates.

"Really Twinkle, I've got everything under control," Justin says, covering the skillet full of food with a metal lid as he turns to face the elf. "I think I can handle a simple breakfast."

"If Master is certain," the house-elf says, his doubtful expression in direct contrast to his agreeable tone, "then Twinkle will leave Master to his own devices." He bows once, then points towards the stove top. "Master's bacon is burning," he informs Justin solemnly, and disappears with a loud crack.

Justin turns quickly but it's already too late. Black smoke streams through the spaces between the pan its lid, the acrid smell of charred breakfast foods already filling the kitchen.

"Bloody…" he groans, chucking the lot of it into the bin.

…

Ten minutes later, the second attempt is finishing up under Justin's watchful gaze. He does a quick tidy of the kitchen, tossing dirty dishes into the sink and casting a few 'scourgifiy's on the counters, and after double checking the eggs too make sure that they aren't too runny, he loads everything onto a silver tray and carries it upstairs.

He pauses when he reaches the master bedroom, sudden reminded of a potential problem. Balancing the tray of food in his left hand, he twists the handle experimentally, all the while silently praying that his wife hasn't magically sealed the door from the other side.

The door cracks open unhindered, and Justin mentally heaves a sigh of relief.

(For the sake of his own guilty conscience, he really needs this plan to go smoothly.)

He slips inside and shuts the door quietly behind him, ever mindful of the beautiful redhead sleeping in the king-sized bed before him. He watches her for a long moment, noting that even when sleeping, her brows furrow with worry and stress, and Justin immediately feels ten times worse for upsetting her so badly yesterday.

He skirts around the left side of the bed and sets the breakfast tray on the nightstand. Then, remembering his wife's newfound exhaustion, the Muggleborn casts a stasis charm on the meal to ensure that it'll still be warm when she finally wakens. He reaches for a nearby notepad, scribbling out a quick message:

Sorry for being such a git last night!

-Justin

Satisfied with this missive, Justin turns to leave… and has a miniature heart attack.

"Hey Susan…" he starts weakly. "I didn't realize that you'd woken up."

Intelligent blue eyes stare back at him, her pale face showing no signs of surprise or sleepiness and privately, Justin is amazed that his wife's poker face is so effective even when she's just woken up.

"I came to apologize about, um, yesterday," he explains with only slight fumbling.

Susan Finch-Fletchly doesn't respond, not that Justin really expected her to. He's always suspected that his wife enjoys watching him squirm under pressure.

"You've got every right to be upset with me," he continues. "I know that I completely overstepped yesterday, going behind your back like I did, and I'm really sorry."

Silence.

"I made you breakfast," he offers as a last resort, gesturing to the nightstand at his left.

Susan glances in the direction he indicated, and, as she takes in his earnest efforts at cooking a decent meal, her expression softens.

She sighs. "You've got to stop being so overprotective Justin," she says finally. "I'm a grown woman and your wife, not a ditzy teenager that needs someone to watch out for her."

"I know that," Justin replies quickly, moving to sit on the edge of the mattress, "It's just that I worry about you Sue - especially with you being so close."

"And a bit of worrying is understandable," Susan says, her tone a mixture of loving and exasperated. "Having Ernie walk me to and from work like a small child that needs a babysitter however, definitely isn't."

"Okay, not one of my better decisions," Justin admits sheepishly. "But when we found out last week that you wouldn't be allowed to Floo or Apparate to work anymore because of the baby, I thought you would just stay at home for the rest of your last trimester like a sensible person. I didn't think that you'd ask for special permission to use the guest entrance to Ministry just so you could start walking to work!"

Susan laughs as she moves into a more upright position, and it's only as the bed covers fall away that Justin can see the rounded curve of her obviously pregnant stomach.

"I bet you paced a rut into the floor of your office while waiting for Ernie to send word that I'd made it to work in one piece," she teases lightly.

"I honestly thought that you were going to get mugged."

Susan laughs again. "I must say though, Neville was much more subtle in his approach – I can see why the Auror Corps were so sad to see him go. If it hadn't been for Ernie's blatant obviousness, I probably would've believed that he was just stopping by my office on his way to meet up with Harry for lunch."

"So… you aren't angry?" Justin asks hopefully. "I promise not to send our friends to check up on you while I'm at work anymore."

Susan pretends to consider this carefully.

"As long as it doesn't happen again," she says with a smile. "Now, what was that about making me breakfast?"

I LOVE HUFFLEPUFFS! 3 There needs to be more Justin/Susan on this site! Also, to anyone waiting on the next chapter of 'A Call to Arms': I promise that I've been working on it! I'm having a lot of trouble writing from Dean's perspective, so it's a slow process. Thanks for reading!