Chapter Three: Whispers

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The underlined portions are taken directly from the novel; I do not own those parts. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: This fanfiction is going to be different from my other stories. This picks up where "The Heart of Everything" left off. The time in the books also changes. So, pay attention the time, so you don't get confused. Some of the chapters are other Marcus Flint/Katie Bell stories, just with more changes and deleted scenes added.

Time: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Genre: Romance, Drama, and Friendship

Rating: PG-13

Bold: Flashback

Marcus sat down on the corner of his bed. It had been two days since he last talked to Natalia. He still had not taken Avril to meet Natalia and was not sure when that event was going to occur. He really did not want to get the two young women together because both could potentially turn on him and the Order. He did not trust those two.

With a sigh, he pulled his boots off and threw them in the corner. It had been a long, hard Quidditch practice today. Holder's, the head coach, back had been hurting and he took his pain out on the team. Marcus's personal coach, Daniel Young, afterwards decided to work with him on a new move, that involved him dangling from his broom by one hand. Marcus did not even want to think about doing the move during a game.

He stripped off the rest of his uniform and laid back on his bed in just his boxer shorts. He loved Quidditch, but hated the hard workouts. Workouts normally made his muscles fell worked, but relaxed. This time, however, they felt tense and overworked. A cool down had failed to do any good.

He rested his hands behind his head and looked upwards. Since he had quit drinking heavy, he spent more time at home. It was just a few hours a day, but it still felt good just to have time to wind down and think. He felt more normal and more in control know.

He supposed that the experts would call this a growing up moment. He did not want to think of it as a growing up moment. That thought made him feel old.

Marcus closed his brown eyes for a moment. He could not sleep tonight. He had Order duties again. Sleep was a luxury now and tonight he was not going to have that luxury. A two minute nap would not do any harm. Someone had once told him that micro sleeps were good or it may have been that they were bad. Whatever, it was no matter.

It was just for a few minutes.

Marcus felt himself drift off. He knew that his sleep was deeper than it should have been for a nap, but he could not force himself to wake up. Love was supposed to be the best thing in the world, but at this moment he felt that sleep was the greatest.

What seemed like a few seconds later, Marcus felt someone poking his shoulder. Hoping that this was some kind of sick dream, he opened his eyes and found himself staring into a set of blue ones.

"You really should put some clothes on," Katie commented as she sat down next to him. "You never know who may show up.

Marcus sat up with a groan and a kink in his neck. He really needed to stop sleeping with his body twisted. "No one was supposed to be coming over."

Katie shrugged. "Well, you never know. You may also want to invest in an alarm system. It was so easy for me to get in here."

"Invest in a what?"

Katie sighed. "You purebloods just really do not have a clue, do you?"
Marcus opened his mouth to object, then quickly closed it. He did not want to have this discussion now. "What are you doing here anyway?" He reached off the corner of his bed and grabbed a pair of somewhat clean shorts.

"Fred and George got me out," Katie said with ease. Marcus wondered briefly when she had gotten so at ease with breaking the rules. He was starting to think that Hogwarts was not a good influence on her.

"I thought you guys were under strict surveillance or something like that," he mused as he pulled the shorts on.

Katie watched him. "There is always loopholes."

Marcus nodded. He supposed that was very true indeed. "Are you not worried about getting caught?"

Katie gave his hand a squeeze. "See that is the thing, I am not worried." She let a small laugh escape from her mouth. "I do not know why, but I feel as if I am standing up for something."
"Such as?"

"I do not know. I feel like I am not letting people boss me around by coming to see you." She forced his head to the side so that he was looking at her. "They try to tell me that I should not be with you and that you are a bad influence on me. They say that we are not supposed to be together."

Marcus nodded. He had heard it all before. By standards, they should not be together. However, they tended not to follow the rules and listen to people. Over the years, they both had gotten quite good at turning people out and not heeding to their whispers.

He was form a wealthy pureblood family. He was the result of his mum and dad's second marriages. His dad had been married to some crazy Polish woman for five years and they had a daughter, Alice. Alice was thirteen years older than he was and he had only met her twice. His mother had been married to his dad's brother for eleven years. Then, he was murdered by the Death Eaters. (His uncle, mum, and dad were Aurors.) His mum and uncle had six sons: Brain, Luke and Logan (twins), Shawn and Nathanial (twins) and Ryan. They were anywhere from eleven to three years older than Marcus. Well, Marcus's mum and dad overtime fell in love and got married two years later. A year later that Marcus was born. Then, four and a half years later Marcus's sister, Haley, was born. Most of the time none of them was around. His parents both worked seven days a week and were only off for holidays. His half-brothers moved out right after Hogwarts and only came home maybe twice a year. He and Haley were close.

Katie was from a middle-class half-blood family. Both of her parents attended Hogwarts. Her mum was a pureblood witch and her dad a Muggle. Her mum's family did not approve of the relationship. They had two children: Katie's older brother, Anthony and Katie. When she was five, her parents got a divorce. Shortly after the divorce, her mum remarried. She had one son, Seth. Three years after it, her dad remarried. He had two daughters: Sierra and Zoey. Katie lived with her stepmom, Jenna, and her dad. She did not get along with her stepdad, Mike.

Marcus kissed her lips. "We will just not let them stop us."

Katie leaned into the kiss. "I like the sound of that." She ran her hands along his bare chest.

Marcus enjoyed her rubbing him. She had a special touch that made him feel relaxed and childlike. Her hands were smooth. He did not understand how female Quidditch players were able to keep their hands so smooth. His were so rough and beaten. Maybe that was what they called the female touch.

Katie stopped rubbing.

"What?" Marcus asked as he sat up.

Katie looked at him. "You got quiet."

"Oh. Is that a problem?"

"Whenever you get quiet, you are usually scheming to do something evil."

Marcus raised an eye brow. "So I am an evil person?"

Katie smiled. "You said it, not me."
Marcus felt his frown line come out. He did not think that his plans were evil. Okay, someone's feelings may get hurt now and then, but that was beside the point. "I am not evil."

Katie just smiled. "Speaking of evil, you never answered a question for me."

"And how is that evil?"

"You never told me why you hated Oliver Wood."

Katie turned, her blond hair flowed out like the limbs of a tree. Oliver Wood was smiling at her. "Hey, Oliver."

Wood walked over to her. "How is it going?"

Katie looked at him. "Good, I have been with Marcus for a large part of the summer."

Wood winced. "Why are you with him, Katie? You could do so much better!"
Katie sighed. She was sick of them hating on each other. "He is a good guy once you get to know him!"
"And you think you know him!" Wood exclaimed.

"Yes, I do Oliver!"

"I've known him for twelve years, Katie, and the entire time he is been nothing, but a thickhead!"

Wood glared at her. "It's not you I can't stand, it is him."

Katie looked at him. "Why do you two hate each other so much away?"

Wood does not look her in the eye. "It is complicated."

"There is nothing complicated about it."

Wood started to walk away. "Everything is complicated about it."

Katie does not respond and stormed off. She knew that there was nothing complicated about hating someone. Nothing complicated about it at all...

She stormed back to the tent, unaware that Marcus was asleep. She pulled back the flap in anger and went into Marcus's bed. He was on his side with his back toward her. She was thinking that he was ignoring her or something, so she kicked him.

Marcus woke with a jerk and cursed. "I was asleep!" he exclaimed. He had not turned around yet. He did not know that his attacker was Katie.

"Well, get up!"

Marcus rolled over and looked at her. "Can I help you?"

Katie sat down on the side of the bed. "Yeah, why do you and Oliver hate each other?"
Marcus looked taken aback. "What?"

"You heard me."

"What brought this on?"

Katie shrugged. "He and I had a little chat."
"And?"

"Your name may have come up."

"And?"

Katie shrugged. "And I may have asked him, but he did not tell me a thing. He said I was complicated."

Marcus leaned back into his pillows. "Well, it is complicated."

Marcus looked at Katie. "I supposed you really want to know."

Katie nodded and whispered. "Yes."

"I am actually surprised that no one at Hogwarts has whispered you the answer." He looked down at his hands. "We were on the same junior league before my family moved to Italy. At the end of the year, there was cuts in the budget and they had to combine teams. The league had three teams. There was tryouts and I made the team. Wood did not and has hated me ever since. I did not even get to play on the team anyway. Two days later, my dad found out that he was being transferred."

Katie nodded. "So, it was over Quidditch?"
"Yeah."

"Nothing else."
Marcus felt his heart miss a beat. He hoped that no one whispered to the entire truth. "Yes."