Entry for the Last Ship Sailing Competition II - Round 5

Prompts:

(object) cup of coffee

(action) staring out of the window

(word) distant

Thank you so much to Dina for betaing this :)

I hope you all enjoy it, I'm looking forward to your feedback!

New Dawn, New Day, New Chances

Katie was quite confused about how little exhaustion she felt, despite having been awake for a long time during the Battle of Hogwarts. She was standing in one of the corridors, holding a steaming cup of coffee someone had handed her earlier and stared out of one of the few windows that hadn't been shattered during the fighting. The sun was rising over the Great Lake, forming a strip of gold and red light on the water, dipping the same on the mountaintops of the highlands and making the parts of the castle gleam. The Ravenclaw tower was a dark, majestic shadow against the golden sky, the destruction barely noticeable from this angle. It was barely believable that only a few hours ago, she'd been facing her potential death while dozens of people were killed right beside her; the scene unfolding in front of her just looked way too peaceful.

But maybe it was also a reminder that even after the most horrible night a new morning would dawn, offering the chance to start over again.

Someone cleared their throat behind her and Katie slowly turned around, feeling like it was a big coincidence that while thinking about new chances, Marcus Flint would appear. Like her, he had marks from the battle, scratches and burns covering his face and arms, and some of them were still bleeding. To her, his presence was quite surprising and equally confusing; he'd suddenly been there, fighting right by her side even though she'd thought he would either be their enemy or too cowardly to fight.

But he'd fought with them against some of his closest friends and relatives, never showing a sign of doubt, and while her mind had been too occupied earlier, she now started to ask herself if everyone had been wrong about him for all these years. A bully, someone who didn't seem friendly toward anyone that wasn't wearing the Slytherin crest on their chest…

Yet he'd done a dangerous thing with his choice, and she couldn't help but be somewhat fascinated by his deeds.

"Hi," he said after clearing his throat, and his voice sounded so tired while an uncharacteristic amount of insecurity was swinging in it. "McGonagall asked everyone who feels up to it to start searching the castle. There are still many people missing."

Katie gulped hard at that, trying to shake off the memory of Fred Weasley's lifeless body. He'd been her teammate and friend for almost her whole time at Hogwarts, and now he was gone. So many good people lost their lives tonight, and though they'd won the war, their deaths still felt so meaningless and wrong.

"So?" she asked without emotion, taking a sip of her coffee, and Marcus actually shifted a little while she tried not to grimace about the bitter and unfamiliar taste. At least it was warming her from the inside, making her feel a tiny bit more human as it chased the numbness inside her away. Maybe everything that happened just was too much to stomach at once, leaving her mind and body overstrained.

"She asked us to go in pairs, and I figured maybe we could go together."

It was obvious to her why he was so hesitant, even though he was obviously trying to conceal it from her: nobody trusted him, not after his father had been spotted in battle, and he was worried someone would think he had bad intentions.

Why he'd chosen her to work together with she didn't know, but she found that she didn't really mind; during the battle she'd fought relatively close to him and had witnessed how unconditionally he'd been on their side. He'd even blocked some curses that probably would have killed her, so she was ready to give him a chance.

"Okay, let's go then," she mumbled with a small, grim smile, pulling her wand from the pocket of her jeans; she figured that even searching for bodies was better than to standing around and allowing her thoughts to torture her. They quietly walked through corridors filled with rubble and climbed up a stairwell that was definitely only held together by the old magic of the castle; Katie tried not to pay too much attention to the light swaying and the big holes where the stone had crumbled away. Marcus was always right behind her, not too close to make her uncomfortable but also not too far away, giving her a feeling of safety, especially on these stairs.

For the last years, they'd called these corridors and little hidden corners their second home, they'd felt safe and protected here, spent all their days with their friends… and now these happy days seemed so far away. Katie knew that Marcus felt the same when they exchanged a short glance as they passed a rather popular place for the older students to hang out: couches were ripped, filling spilling out of them, pictures and trophies of international school competitions that had given every student, regardless of their house, a feeling of unity, had been smashed viciously. She attempted to mend them with a muttered spell, but it didn't work out as well as she'd hoped; some big pieces remained missing and most of the trophies collapsed again after a second.

It was a depressing sight, but Katie felt like it was symbolic for the situation that they were in and the times that were lying ahead of them: it would need many hands working together to put back together what had been broken, and yet nothing would ever be the same as it had been. Somewhere deep inside of her, she had the distant hope that that would mean something good for everyone, especially those who needed second chances.

She gazed over at Marcus for a second as they made their way down another corridor, heading towards the library, and she asked herself once again why he'd come to Hogwarts tonight to fight by their side. If they'd lost…

Shaking her head, she kept herself from finishing the thought and as they turned a corner something else caught her attention, abruptly wiping her mind blank as she froze. A Hufflepuff girl, probably about twelve, was lying on the ground, pale, unmoving, her blue eyes staring at the ceiling, an expression of terror and surprise still lingering in them. Her hands were empty, Katie could see her wand peaking out of the pocket of her dust-covered robes, and she felt a little dizzy at the thought that someone had killed this poor girl simply out of viciousness. She'd been unarmed, and too young to be a threat… and what had she been doing here, the younger students had been evacuated...

A lump formed in her throat and she could only look away from the girl when she suddenly felt Marcus grab her hand; he felt cold and seemed to be shaking, and when she gazed up at him she saw the same feelings pass over his face that were rising inside of her. Not for a second did she consider letting go or making fun of his obvious need for support, even though that would have likely been the first reaction from both of them in the past.

Instead she held onto him too, giving him the chance to show his human side for the first time, glad that she wasn't alone in this moment of shock and grief.

She didn't know for how long they'd been standing there, trying to stomach the situation, but Marcus still didn't let go of her hand when he cleared his throat and quietly said: "We… we should bring her to the Great Hall."

She didn't think she'd ever heard him talk in such a tone before: sad, defeated, hopeless, a little lost. It didn't fit his tall and muscular figure in her opinion, and she had to admit that it was rather weird.

"Yeah, you're right," she mumbled back, a part of her hoping that he would tease her for agreeing with him, but of course he didn't. While it would have lifted the mood a lot, it wouldn't have been respectful towards the girl lying on the ground.

Katie muttered a spell and the girl was slowly lifted from the ground, hovering in front of them as they made their way back to the Great Hall in silence. Professor Sprout took over from them with an expression of grief and Katie needed to go outside into the courtyard to take a few deep breaths of the fresh air and calm herself down again. From time to time she seriously wondered why she hadn't broken down yet.

She didn't know for how long she'd been standing there, arms slung around herself, when she suddenly heard the light crunch of rubble under shoes and she turned her head to see Marcus standing next to her. Obviously he felt the need to get away from the horrible scenes too, and Katie finally managed to voice the question that had been burning inside of her since she'd first seen him during the battle.

"Why are you here, Flint?" she asked quietly as she glanced at him briefly, a tiny bit of nervousness fluttering in her stomach suddenly.

Maybe Katie should have expected his answer to be surprising, after all he'd done lots of surprising things so far… yet she was surprised when he shrugged and replied: "My father informed me of the battle and asked me to join the Dark Lord's forces, but somehow I didn't feel good at the thought. It seemed wrong."

"And yet you came here and risked your life by fighting for the opposite side."

"For the first time in my life, I felt like I would be able to do the right thing. I know how weird that sounds, Bell, and I understand that everyone is wary…" Marcus trailed off and Katie thought she could see a glimpse of a young man who'd been held down his whole life, someone who'd just been brave enough for the first time in his life to act on his own wishes and instincts. She didn't know much about his family, but it was safe to assume that like most other pureblood families, they'd always expected him to fulfill their expectations and follow their ideas. "I should never have expected someone to give me a chance after everything I've done and what I represent."

Her younger self probably would stare at her in disbelief if she could see her now, but Katie couldn't help but feel moved by the defeat in his voice. It wasn't hard to sense his fear that he had nowhere to go now, that neither side would accept him for what he'd done tonight and who he'd been in the past, and she thought that it wasn't fair to push him away now.

"In my opinion, you earned yourself a chance."

Marcus stared at her as if he couldn't believe that she'd just said this, probably assuming that she was making fun of him, so she gave him a small smile. It was her gut feeling that told her that this was the right thing to do, and she was sure that she wouldn't regret her decision.

After all, new times were starting now, and who knew what good things would be born from this, just because she was giving him the opportunity to show that he could become a better person.