THE LEGEND OF THE 12 LETTERS
A/N: Next Chapter...
Disclaimer: I don't own HP and its characters.
Chapter Twenty One: The Letters of Justin Finch-Fletchly
Hermione stared at the parchment in Justin's hand. She stared at it, horrified. She knew he was the one sending letters to her but she still couldn't avoid the shock, the surprise, the sadness she felt. God, the sender of the 11 sweet, lovely letters was standing in front of her now, handing her the 12th letter personally. It actually felt bad than it sounded.
"Hermione..." she heard him say.
She forced her head to look at him with wide eyes.
"I really, really, really like you, 'Mione." Justin emphasized the word 'really' with sincerity. She could've liked it, only if it wasn't him. "I admire you so much, I idolize you of all people. Even my mother likes you, maybe much more than I do. So please..." he paused and stepped closer, opening his palm to reveal the parchment in his hand.
"Please, Hermione. Give me your autograph."
Silence.
They could hear the clock from the tower ticking.
Hermione blinked. Then blinked again. Once more. Then frowned, "What?" she asked, flabbergasted.
"I said, may I please ask for your autograph?" Justin repeated. "I really want your autograph Hermione and so does my mother. She's a muggle if you must know and she knew you were a muggle-born just like me. She heard stories of your bravery, fighting against the Darkest Wizard of all time alongside the great Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. She was amazed and proud of you for being such a brave woman."
Hermione gaped.
"She requested me to tell her stuffs about you, and tell her of your everday life here in Hogwarts. So, since the first day of 7th year, I've been watching you, 'Mione." he confessed.
"Watching me?"
He nodded, "I know I sound so much like a stalker but honestly, I'm not stalking you. I just look at you from afar during meal times, classes, Quidditch games, in the library...then I write to my mother."
"You write to your mother?" she echoed again.
He nodded again, "Yeah. I tell her what you've been doing, that you're doing fine, that you're still the smartest, that you're graduating as Valedictorian. She wanted to come today to personally meet you, but she couldn't. She's in Greece right now for some business..." he finished.
Hermione processed all the information she got. And she realized something. "Justin, you weren't sending me letters, were you?"
He looked surprised but shook his head, "No, I was not."
"Positive?"
He nodded surely, "Yeah. I'm sure the Hogwarts owls knew where to send to my letters...to my mother. I never sent a letter to your address..."
Her heart beated so fast. Justin wasn't sending her letters! Justin wasn't in love with her! He and her mother only idolized her for her bravery for fighting against Voldemort. Nothing more! Justin wasn't handing her the twelfth letter like she assumed, but some empty parchment he wanted her to sign.
GOODNESS, he only came to her to ask for a bloody AUTOGRAPH!
"So, uh, 'Mione? May I ask for you autograph?" Justin asked.
Hermione beamed. She was relieved. She was free of her worries. She was so happy. It was the first time she actually liked talking to Justin Finch-Fletchly.
Turned out his letters weren't for her. But for her mother.
She wanted to scream in joy!
"Sure, Justin." she said gleefully and took the parhcment from his hand and took out a quill from her robe. She quickly dipped the tip of the quill on the ink bottle Justin held. Then she meticulously signed the parchment with her name in the best penmanship she could apply.
"Thank you so much, Hermione. Mom's going to be ecstatic when she sees this parchment with your autograph. I'm sure she's going to frame this and hang it in her room wall and caress it every morning after waking up and every night before going to sleep." he grinned. "Bye, Mione. See you later during the ceremony. And thanks for the autograph again! Million thanks!" With that, he sprinted away back to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
Hermione happily watched his retreating back and couldn't help but...laugh.
Laugh in pure happiness.
All this time, it wasn't Justin. She actually hated seeing him since the day she thought he was the mystery letter sender. Poor Justin, been wanting nothing but her autograph since then.
So, it wasn't Justin.
The real question was... 'Who is it, then?'
Hermione felt excitement rushing in her body. She wanted to know who the real sender was.
Then hope sprung in her heart.
'Could it be Draco?' she asked herself. 'I wish. I hope. I want it to be Draco.'
Then, she hopped childishly back to the Great Hall to continue her work and to see Draco again.
A/N: Sorry...I knew I said the 12th letter would be here. But I kind of though, this wasn't the right chapter yet. I was busy this past few days, so I don't have time for long chapters. But don't worry, this story won't run that long. Maybe the last letter will be in the next chapter. Maybe... Sorry if I disappointed anybody. Thanks for the support again! And please leave some REVIEWS. :D