Forgetting Others
Disclaimer: I do not own the people or any other references to the Harry Potter series. They belong to J.K. Rowling.
Sixteen year old Marcus Flint stood on top of the hill that overlooked the huge ranch his parents owned in Nevada. He hated it there. He wished that his parents had let him live in England as he wanted, but they packed him up anyways. He was the new kid that no one knew. He was alone and mad.
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and watched his father head out of the yard to start mowing hay. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was only seven, why was Adam heading out so soon? He shrugged and put his phone away. Behind him, his horse, Wild Fire, snorted and pawed at the ground. He smiled sadly and walked over to him.
"What's wrong?" he muttered and stroked the side of the horses face. He dug in his coat pocket and produced a sugar cube. He fed it to the horse before mounting and heading back to the ranch.
"Little brother!" Jordan shouted. Marcus knew from his spot behind the truck that Jordan was approaching on foot. He grabbed the hammed from the bucket and walked back over to the fence. "I see how you are. I come home, from Spain might I add, and you ignore me." Marcus pushed his dark hair out of his face and drove the fence post into the ground.
"I'm not ignoring you," Marcus said, wrapping the wire around the post. Jordan laughed quietly.
"He speaks," he said dramatically. Marcus sighed and looked up at the stupid sun.
"Why does it have to be so hot?" he asked. The previous night and the early morning had been cold, but now it was in the high nineties. It wouldn't have shocked him if it was in the hundreds.
"Because it's Nevada, on the border of California," Jordan said, handing Marcus another post.
"It's also miles from England," Marcus muttered. Jordan sighed.
"Look, you live here now, this is your home. Stop acting like a child," he said. Jordan was probably lucky that Marcus wasn't allowed to use magic outside of school or else Marcus would have turned on him. He calmed himself down before speaking again.
"Everyone talks weird here," he said, not hiding his accent.
"Yeah? Well, everyone probably thinks that you talk weird," Jordan said, kicking the dirt with the toe of his boot.
"Everyone at school wants to know if I'm a foreign exchange student or something," Marcus said, hooking the wire onto the electric fence. "Grab that, will you?"
"What?"
"The wire. Make sure it's tight."
"Looks fine to me."
"Just grab it."
"Fine, I'll do it if it'll shut you up," Jordan grumbled. Marcus watched in disbelief as Jordan's hand shot out and grabbed the wire.
"City boys," Marcus muttered. Jordan's hand shot away from the wire and he turned on Marcus cussing. Marcus smirked and threw his hammer in the truck. "Guess you shouldn't have done that."
"Marcus Keith Flint," Jordan snarled as Marcus started the truck. He saluted and drove away, leaving a fuming Jordan behind. Sure, he'd pay later, but it was worth it.
"Okay. So. Tell. Me. Why. Are. You. here?" the blonde girl asked, talking like she would to a little kid. Marcus stared at Halley.
"I can speak English, you know that, right?" he asked, sitting on the stool in chemistry. Halley shrugged.
"I just wanted to see what you would say," she said, pulling her hair back before sitting next to him. "So, how much trouble did you get in?"
"Other than having to haul in the square bales with Hank? Not much actually. Dad actually laughed for the first time in years," Marcus said, flipping through his notebook.
"So you can go to the square dance Friday?" she asked hopefully. Marcus looked up at her.
"What's up with you and square dances?" he asked.
"I love to dance, it's in my blood," she said, shrugging. True, her parents were professional actors and most of their roles were in musicals.
"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?" he asked.
"No," she said plainly.
"No."
"What?" she asked, staring at him.
"No, I don't want to go," he said. She gaped at him.
"But you love going to square dances with me!"
"Halley."
"Please."
"Halley."
"Please, please, please," she begged like a five year old. He rolled his eyes.
"Fine," he said. She threw her arms around him before turning her attention to the teacher. He shook his head and smiled to himself. Halley was so easy to please.
"Yeah, I understand, Katie, but I'm kind of stranded," Marcus told his girlfriend as he watched Halley dance with Hank.
"Stranded? How?" Katie asked on the other end.
"You know it's impossible to get to England. Trust me, I'd be there for the ball if I could, but I can't," he said, turning his back on the dancers.
"I know. I thought it was worth a shot. I just wish we didn't have a long distance relationship and only get to see each other every few months," she said sighing.
"I already gave you my solution."
"And I'm seriously considering it, considering what a player you are. I mean, you could be flirting with some girl while I'm here with a bunch of untrained wizards and Voldemort's out there somewhere.
"Just think, maybe you can get on a professional Quidditch team. I'm here with no way to train, so there's probably a slim to no chance of me getting on to one," he said, thinking about the sport he loved.
"At least Griffindor's having a good season without you kicking our butts."
"At least," he muttered.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing. Um, look, I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow."
"'Kay," she said.
"Bye," he muttered and hung up before she could say anymore. Halley spotted him and skipped over. She smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Who was that? I missed you out there," she said.
"No one," he said and took Halley's hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. She buried her face in his broad, firm chest and molded into his body. Marcus pushed the thought of Katie from his mind. She was in England, nothing he could do about that.
