It was a warm spring day as Marcus walked out into the courtyard, taking a deep breath and fully welcoming the end of a barren winter. Rolling up his sleeves in the process, he made his way over to an empty corner of the crowded yard and leaned up against the warm stone wall. He'd been stuck inside the castle for what seemed like a month now, forced to read about boring goblin rebellions in hopes to improve his slipping grades but with the beautiful, tantalizing weather outside, he had no interest in looking at a book today. Loosening his tie, he finally glanced around at the other students, all littering the area in little clusters.
As usual, the houses stuck to themselves - the Hufflepuffs in one corner looking rather jovial, the Ravenclaws studiously reading their open books in the sun while the Slytherins lurked in a darker corner and lastly, the Gryffindors, looking pompous as usual. Marcus' eyes darted between each cluster with mild interest, making eye contact with only the Slytherin group but he stayed where he was, enjoying the sun. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned to see who had just entered the courtyard and immediately narrowed his eyes wickedly. His lips curled into a sneer, slightly revealing his crooked teeth as he watched the boy with interest. Instantly, numerous ideas on how to aggravate the boy flickered through his mind as he crossed his arms across his chest, waiting to see if the Gryffindor Quidditch captain noticed him. Oliver walked out into the courtyard, carrying his school books in one hand and reading Quidditch Through the Ages with the other. He was trying to think up a new strategy for the team to help in their next victory. He sat down on a nearby bench and placed the book beside him on top of his school books. He looked over at the person next to him, Percy Weasley. He grinned and nudged the boy with his elbow. "Oi, Perce, could you help me with something?" As usual, Percy nodded and asked what it was. Oliver chatted with Percy and they discussed today's homework together. Oliver considered Percy one of his closest friends since they had been best mates since their first years, being the only Gryffindor boys sorted in their year. Oliver was never hesitant to throw a fist into any boy's chin who dared insult his friend.
Oliver couldn't help but notice the crooked toothed boy from the corner of his eye, he glared before turning back to his studies, cracking his knuckles to hold in his hatred for the boy. He rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself
"Control yourself, Oliver. It's just Flint, he ain't doing anythin'..." He looked back down at Percy's book and continued what he was doing.
Marcus watched the Gryffindor with mock curiosity, wondering what he could do to annoy him, since it was so easy to rile him up. He watched as Wood sat next to Weasley and discussed their homework, like good little students. Even when Wood wasn't up to anything in particular, Marcus still found himself getting annoyed with the other boy. He unfortunately shared the same classes with them and knew that they were discussing the latest assignment. Feeling restless, his eyes started to dart around the courtyard again at the other students, who all seemed too self-absorbed in their own conversations to even notice him. That is, until he made eye contact with Oliver.
It was less than five seconds but the two Quidditch captains made eye contact briefly before Wood glanced back down at his books. Marcus took this as his queue to step off from the stone wall and slowly make his way towards the courtyard exit, conveniently located next to Wood. His eyes passed between Wood to Weasley and back again. He wanted to provoke Wood but Weasley's presence put a slight damper on things. As he passed the two boys, he muttered "Wood" disdainfully, hoping the other boy heard him. "Studying new tactics?" he mocked as he walked by slowly. "Good, you'll need all the help you can get if you want to beat Slytherin this year."
Oliver looked up at Marcus and glared. "Piss off, Flint." Oliver said angrily. Percy looked at Oliver and nudged him. "Language, Oliver. Just work on the homework" Percy forced Oliver to look back down at the book, Oliver thankfully listened to Percy and didn't spring up at Marcus to fight him. Oliver tried to focus, but he couldn't, it was either his affection for Percy or his hatred for Marcus that kept him from concentrating. He quietly looked at the book and kept doing his work, his eyes never far from Flint's.
Marcus grinned, his crooked teeth shining in the sunlight. He had no idea of the two Gryffindor boy's relationship, but he didn't care about that. He couldn't do anything as long as Weasley was around. He stood quietly and thought of ways to annoy Wood later. He'd get him really riled up, maybe enough to throw a punch and get him suspended. He slid away from the wall and walked the corridors, pondering. He couldn't wait to put his plan into action. Wood was clueless.