Greye's Notes: So I've not posted a story in two weeks. I am a terrible sister! No excuse but work and laziness. So here dear sister is this installment-I hope that you enjoy it! I'll try to add another this weekend yet to bring me back up to the correct story count.
One Note-this is a continuation of the last chapter. I decided that a second Flinty Encounter was in order.
Harriet feinted left for a moment, drawing off the Slytherin Seeker from her true goal before bring her broom around in a hairpin swerve to the right that nearly unseated her as she bore down on the Snitch. Slytherin's Seeker shot past her in the other direction, trying to bring their broom around to follow. Unfortunately for them, Harriet's Firebolt wasn't about to lose to a mere Nimbus 2001. She did admit though that this Seeker was better than Slytherin's previous Seeker-Malfoy. Even his father's donation of the brooms to the team wasn't enough to keep such a shoddy player on for long.
Harriet's fingers closed confidently around the Snitch and she heard the stands around her erupt into a loud cheer as Lee Jordan's voice boomed, "Gryffindor Seeker Harriet Potter has captured the Snitch! 150 points to Gryffindor!" She heard Madame Hooch's whistle, and then found herself surrounded by a mass of red and gold as her team converged upon her, happy and laughing. The team descended from the air together, arms wrapped around each other as they celebrated their victory, adrenaline pounding at the continuing chant of "Go Go Gryffindor" echoing around them. Harriet didn't spare a glance for the green and silver figures slinking back to their Quidditch tent.
Harriet found herself alone in the Gryffindor tent once again, enjoying the quiet, satisfied stillness after their big win over Slytherin. Being around her energized team had been wonderful-but Harriet still struggled in large crowds sometimes, and was finding equal pleasure currently in being quietly alone. She sat on one of the benches by the lockers and took in a slow breath. The game had been intense, certainly. Slytherin almost won despite her catch of the Snitch. The fact was they just had good Chasers. Well, one really good Chaser in particular. Slytherin had lost by a narrow margin of twenty points.
She frowned. Really though, it had been strange. This game, she hadn't been fouled once. At least, not deliberately. There had been that moment at the start of the game when one of the Slytherin Chasers had collided with her as a result of being hit by a bludger themselves-but there had been no attempt made to hurt or unseat her all game. At least, none that she had caught. That wasn't to say that the rest of her team had received any reprieve. No, Slytherin had been just as hard on them as they had always been. But Harriet had somehow escaped unscathed-and this had allowed her to search for the Snitch in relative safety. She wasn't sure what to make of it, because Slytherin had never been known for their fair-mindedness. Perhaps it had just been luck?
A sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind persuaded her otherwise.
It had been over a month since Marcus Flint had approached her that night on her way back to Hogwarts, and this had been the first Gryffindor/Slytherin match since. It would be the last match between them too if Slytherin didn't beat Ravenclaw in the next match too. Had Flint really made a conscious decision to play a relatively clean game? Was it possible?
Harriet passed a hand over her face and got to her feet, fatigue weighing her down. Perhaps...perhaps this was the Slytherin Captain's way of making an effort. His first step in meeting her challenge.
Harriet picked up her Firebolt, which had been leaning against the "command" table, as Angelina called it, and left the tent. Hogwarts was dark again, and she could see that the Great Hall was dark too. She'd missed dinner, but that was alright. She wasn't really hungry anyway.
It wasn't until she'd reached the front doors that she heard the familiar voice she hadn't realized she'd been waiting for.
"Hey, Harriet." Marcus Flint seemed to materialize out of the darkness, but Harriet knew it was just her eyes adjusting to his shape in the poor light from the stars. Marcus was leaning against the cold stone of the wall beside the front door. She could tell he'd been waiting for her a while-he as still in his Quidditch robes. The Slytherin boy pushed off the wall and took a few steps toward her before stopping. Harriet continued until she was just a couple of feet from him before halting herself.
"Marcus." She greeted, voice neutral. It was a far cry from friendly, but it was also lightyears away from the cold, angry voice she'd used before. Marcus seemed to pick up on it, and his grey eyes lightened.
"Good game." His words came fast, like he was excited, but he kept his voice soft too. Harriet raised an eyebrow.
"Good game." She responded. The young witch paused for a moment, debating leaving it at that, but figured she had to give him something. "It was nice to play the game without worrying so much about...interference." That was the closest Harriet would get to saying "thanks". He had been the one cheating anyway-she shouldn't have to thank him for playing fair. But it still felt right to acknowledge his obvious effort. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, feeling a little anxious now. What did he want this time?
A faint smile flashed across the Slytherin's face so fast she would have missed it if she'd blinked. "You're not a target anymore." He declared, as if that was some great mercy. Harsh words rose swiftly to Harriet's lips, but Marcus continued speaking. He either anticipated her response and cut her off deliberately, she thought, or he was oblivious to her irritation. "But you are a challenge. A challenge I will meet." This time, she knew she saw the smile.
"Marcus, you've got a lot of work to do if you think-" Her words broke off as a delicate flower, a white lily, appeared before her. Without thinking she raised a hand and took it carefully by the tender green stem. She stared at the flower, a hundred thoughts and a dozen feelings running through her rapidly. Had he chosen a lily on purpose? Did he know she liked white flowers, or was that coincidence? Harriet's green eyes rose to meet Marcus' grey ones, and when he read the confusion in hers, he spoke again.
"I am going to show you a different side of Marcus Flint," his voice came steadily in the night. "Try not to hold my past misdeeds against me"
She lifted the flower to her nose and breathed in the comforting scent as another smile came to Marcus' face, this time Harriet tentatively mirrored it with one of her own. Marcus' tall form leaned forward then in a surprisingly elegant bow, reminding Harriet that he likely came from a pureblood family with old traditions. Tentatively, the older boy reached for her hand, and Harriet surprised herself by allowing him to take it. Marcus' hand was large and warm around her own, and his voice reflected that steady warmth. "I'll see you again soon, Harriet." She felt the lightest touch of lips to her hand, and then Marcus was gone, only the dark of night before her.
Marcus Flint stood just inside the huge front door of Hogwarts, his heart beating erratically against his chest. He could hardly believe he had managed to pull off such a cool air when the entire time he'd been sweating and wondering if he was about to have a heart attack. With a start, the Slytherin boy realized there was still a goofy grin on his face, and he managed with some effort to get rid of it, replacing it instead with his trademark sneer. Just in time too, as another Slytherin wandered by, headed back to the common room. The other boy gave Flint a brief nod, and continued on his way. Marcus waited until he was a ways ahead before heading back to the common room himself.
As he walked, Marcus ran over the events of the day in his mind. He had given his team strict orders not to play dirty with the Gryffindor Seeker. They hadn't liked it-had liked it less when they lost-but he had managed to convince them by saying they should lay off for a while, because they were getting to0 obvious and Madame Hooch might say something. He couldn't tell them the real reason of course, that he was developing feelings for the feisty Gryffindor Harriet Potter. No, they would never understand. Marcus hardly understood himself.
There was something about that mane of wild dark hair and those intense green eyes though that arrested him, a captivating aura that he knew now had affected him for a long time, and was likely the reason he had been so hard on the girl up until now. He felt ashamed to think he'd let himself respond so immaturely to his feelings. At first, the fact she was a Gryffindor was enough to keep him away. But after she'd hexed the hell out of him, Marcus couldn't deny his growing desire to get to know the girl. She had made it clear that night though that she had wanted nothing to do with him. Marcus had come up with a new plan.
A plan so simple, he doubted most of his fellow Slytherins would have considered it a "plan" at all. He, Marcus Flint, was going to do his damndest to be kind to Harriet Potter. While not really in his nature, he found himself willing to do things for her that he would never had considered before. His grey eyes glinted in the dark as he drew nearer his dungeon common room. And he was planning to pull out all the stops to get her to go with him to Hogsmeade this weekend.
Harriet Potter continued to stand outside the great main doors of Hogwarts for a time. A shiver passed through the-Girl-Who-Lived, and it had nothing to do with the dark night. It had even less to do with any dark threats she currently faced. It had everything to do with a boy. Not a situation she had ever considered finding herself in, Harriet concluded as she ascended the last few steps into Hogwarts, but not necessarily a bad one. A smile curled her lips as she beheld the white lily in her hand. Somehow she knew it would never wilt. It would remain forever as fresh as it was on the day Marcus Flint declared his intentions. That left Harriet with a very beautiful reminder of an important decision she had to make. Was she going to give Marcus a chance?
Greye's Notes: And that's all this time! Thanks for reading. I know this wasn't super fluffy, but I thought it was a good, believable sequel to the last one. Next chapter will probably be an all new pairing. Stay tuned!