A/N: Here's the last part of The Final Year of Justin Finch-Fletchley. I've had so much fun writing this fic, even though it's probably one of the more emotional pieces I've written. I have to admit, halfway through writing, I wished that things could end differently. But my head-canon was decided before this, and I had to follow it through. Justin had to die for other pieces to fit together. Even though he became this strong, living entity in my head, I knew that by the end, he would die, and it would kill me. But at least he died a hero; the last hero to die in the war, in fact. I had to give him that, at least. And I had to give him this chapter of closure, mostly for myself, because I had to picture him somewhere else, somewhere nice. So, without further ado, here's the final part of this fic. It's been a great run. Enjoy. :)
It was a very odd feeling, indeed.
Instead of blackness, Justin's world erupted into blinding light. He was lying on the ground, but there was something very odd about it. He was… comfortable. His bloody, torn clothes hard been replaces with a white shirt and light tan pants that were as warm as of they'd just come out of the dryer. And the pain – in his tired muscles, his various wounds, and every nerve ending in his body – was gone.
Suddenly, a light hand touched Justin's shoulder, and he wrenched his eyes open and pulled himself into a sitting position.
"Hello, Justin," a kind, beautiful young woman said gently. She was dressed entirely in white, which made her vivid read hair and bright green eyes stand out.
"Where – where am I?" Justin asked, looking around. Everything was a soft white, barely in focus, and a warm light seemed to radiate from every inch on the place.
"You're safe now, Justin," the woman told him, extending a light hand to help him up, which he took. "My name is Lily. You were very brave, Justin. Everyone is so very proud of you."
"Everyone…?" Justin asked, still trying to get his footing. Everything was so confusing.
Lily smiled and nodded, looking over her shoulder, drawing his gaze there are well, and drawing his attention to the large group of people that were standing there, all dressed in airy light colors as well.
Some of them he recognized as students or Order members. He noticed Professor Lupin, who looked far younger than Justin remembered him, holding a young woman with bright pink hair in his arms, looking both happier than anyone in the world and also sadder. It was a strange combination. Near them were two men, one with messy black hair and glasses that looked so much like Harry that he had to be James Potter, and the other was Sirius Black, who'd caused so much turmoil during Justin's third year for escaping Azkaban, but was then found to be innocent of the horrendous crimes he'd been imprisoned for after his death two years ago. Alice Tolipan and Colin Creevey had their arms wrapped around each other, which was an odd sight to Justin. He wasn't aware that the two had been particularly close. Anthony Goldstein stood near them, a slightly sorrowful half smile on his face that Justin knew was meant for him. With a surprised sort of shock, he also recognized Professor Snape, who looked particularly strange without his usual black cloak.
Justin turned back to Lily, staring her straight in the eyes, those bright green eyes, which sparked a sense of recognition. He'd seen those eyes in a picture, one that hung on the wall of the Room of Requirement when the DA would meet there during fifth year. The same eyes that he'd seen etched on the face of his classmate. Harry Potter's eyes.
"You're Harry's mother," Justin said matter-of-factly. "You're Lily Potter."
She gave him a smile, one that Justin recognized immediately as the grin of a proud parent. "I am," she said. "My son has done more good in his life than I ever did in mine, more than I ever got the chance to. My greatest accomplishment was giving my son the opportunity to be the great man he's grown into."
"You must be so proud of him," Justin told her.
She beamed at him. "More proud of him than he could ever imagine. And so proud of everyone who's fought in these wars."
Justin looked at Lily Potter and everyone who stood behind her. If they were all here, and Justin was here, that could mean only one thing.
"So…" he started, unsure of how to properly voice his question. "So… I'm… I'm dead, right?"
He knew the answer, he really did, but he needed to hear it. He had to hear from someone else, because if he didn't, he would never fully accept it.
A sad look crossed Lily's eyes, and she lifted her hand to stroke his hair in such a loving and motherly way that Justin could almost imagine that it was his own mother's hand. "I'm so sorry, sweetie," she whispered.
Justin tried to keep a stiff upper lip, tried to force back the tears as he nodded, showing her that he understood, but it wasn't enough. Several tears escaped, betraying him. He knew that he must look so weak right now. He wasn't one for crying.
Lily's light hand brushed his cheek, wiping the tears away gently, and pulled him into a warm embrace. She was shorter than he was, but she treated him the same as if he were a small child, which was what he needed, honestly.
"I know it's hard," Lily murmured in his ear. "You're so young, you had your whole life in front of you. But because you decided to step in front of that spell, you changed another young man's life forever. You're a hero, Justin. Generations of children will be safer because of you."
"We haven't won yet," Justin mumbled. "We were still fighting."
Lily pulled away, her arms still resting on his shoulder. "I have faith in my son to do the right thing," she told him. "My Harry will do what we could not, and end this war."
"Right before I… died," Justin said slowly, almost choking on the word, "I heard You-Know-Who say that he'd stop the fighting if Harry gave himself up. Is that what you mean?"
"Something like that," she said with a little sparkle in her eye. "Now come over here. There are some people who'd like to meet you."
She led him over to a group of people within the masses of all different ages. The youngest appeared to be only about five or so, while the oldest had to have been at least seventy-five or eighty. With a jolt, he recognized one woman with cropped gray hair and blues eyes that matched Susan's exactly. The woman was her aunt, Amelia, the one who'd been killed by You-Know-Who summer before last.
Amelia Bones gave Justin an appraising look. "So this is the boy our little Susan gushed about so much," she said with a slightly mischievous smile. "I had hoped that we'd get to meet someday. I just wish it wasn't like this."
Justin wished they weren't meeting like this either. He also wished that he hadn't brought up Susan's crush on him. It just reminded him that they could never be together anymore.
She seemed to notice the broken look on this face, because she softened up a bit. "You were definitely good enough for my niece, Mr. Finch-Fletchley. You did a good thing for that boy back there. You saved his life. He'll always remember you for that. Susan will always remember you for that."
"We never even got the chance," Justin told her. "We'd both been too frightened to tell the other about how we felt. Now we'll never get the chance. Not unless –"
He broke off suddenly. He could believe he'd even think such a thing! Susan had to live. She couldn't die, because the second she left the world, a beautiful light would leave it, too, and the world needed that light. She was still needed.
"Young man," a slightly younger gentleman with similar features to Amelia said, his hands resting on the shoulders of the smallest two children, probably about five and seven. "The worst thing about death is the ones you leave behind. But you just have to remember that every moment you're without them is another moment they're back there, living their lives."
"Edgar is right. And I think that young Mrs. Potter's son is taking care of that as we speak," she said, nodding to Lily. "With any luck, no more of our side will fall tonight. Susan will be fine. Harry Potter is a good boy, very bright. I noticed that when we met for his trial. He'll figure it out."
Justin nodded his head numbly. He was still so conflicted. He wanted to be with Susan, but he also didn't want to have to see her for a very long time.
A hand touched his shoulder suddenly as he thought, and Justin turned around to see Anthony standing there.
"Hey, man," Anthony said with a sad little smile. "Guess all my positive thinking didn't either of us much good, did it?"
"I guess not, Anthony," Justin replied, and to his own surprise, there was a hint of a joke in his voice. "That was probably one of the dumbest things I've ever heard a Ravenclaw say."
Anthony couldn't control his laughter, and neither could Justin. The two boys laughed so hard that others around them couldn't help but join in.
"It's not really that bad," Anthony remarked, looking down at his soft, light clothes. "Death. If it weren't for all the people back home, I might actually think we were better off here. It's… kind of nice."
Lily placed a hand on each of them with her kind, motherly smile. "It really is. And I'll be here forever, to watch over you and guide you. I'm paying the way for my own son, who's had so many there to help him, that I feel that I must do my part to help you."
Her words soothed and comforted both of them, and Justin found himself thinking that having Lily Potter as a sort of surrogate mother could almost make up for no longer having his own.
Lily looked up gently, as if she had heard a small noise. She smiled and gave a little, relieved sigh. "The decision has been made," she stated, and though Justin didn't know what she was talking about, he trusted her completely, and knew that it was a good thing. "No more of ours' will die tonight."
She glanced over to the group again. "James, Sirius, Remus," she called. "Our boy is calling us." The men all nodded, each wearing the same relieved, proud smile upon their lips. Lupin removed himself from the young girl's arms and held her hands in a comforting way for a moment before the three moved to join Lily.
She took her husband's hand, and Remus's, and Sirius held onto James's shoulder. They looked like they had been friends for eons, and now they had all the time in the world to be with each other. Together, they turned and began to walk away, disappearing more and more with each step until they were gone.
No more of ours' will die tonight, Justin thought to himself, watching the place where the four had vanished. Susan would be safe, Ernie would live on, and generations of magical and Muggle children would have better lives because of their sacrifices. His final year had been a hard one, full of trials and tribulations, of heartache and misery, of strangely peaceful moments and even some laughter with his little renegade group of Hogwarts runaways, but he'd made a difference, and that was what mattered in the end.
No more will die.
He could live with that.
A/N: I'd like to thank PinkBell for reviewing each chapter. Your reviews were so sweet and I really enjoyed reading them. I honestly didn't like it either, when Justin died, which is why I decided to write a little scene in the afterlife, with Lily there to protect him. It gave me closure. :) Anyways, reviews are great, as always. And feel free to check out some of my other stories based in the same head-canon as this one. It's been a great ride.