Chapter Four
"And yet another goal for caption Marcus Flint! And the crowd goes wild. Oh my god, they're ransacking the Gryffindor stands. Oh it's getting hard to watch. I don't think I can take –"
"Adrian will you just shut the hell up and throw the quaffle back already!" Marcus yelled angrily, stopping Adrian in the middle of his ranting.
"Hey, I'm just trying to give ya some encouragement over here. Stop being such a prat already."
Marcus just rolled his eyes and waited angrily for Adrian to pass him the quaffle again. Pucey signaled for Miles to get ready once more and tossed the quaffle at Flint once more. Marcus tucked the large ball under his arm as he dodged his way pasted Bletchley once more and tossed it into the closest hoop.
"And there's another goal, how will Gryffindor ever recover from that loss."
"Will you stop that? It's getting annoying. It's bad enough that Jordan can't keep his mouth shut during the games, but I really don't need to you doing it." Marcus groaned and signaled that he needed a break.
"Aw, is our fearless caption tired?" Adrian swooped down toward Marcus and settled his broom next to his caption. "Man, you're on fire today, Wood won't stand a chance Saturday."
Marcus tightened his jaw and nodded. "Mm-Hm."
He moved his eyes back and forth watching his players closely. Bole and Drake were chasing the two bludgers around the arena and trying their hardest to hit them. Adrian and their new chaser Montague were discussing flying tactics next to him and Terence Higgs was diving after the snitch.
Marcus smiled happily. He had a good feeling about his team this year. This would be their year and they would make him proud.
After a few more minutes, Marcus rolled his shoulders and flew back towards the goal posts once more and waited for Adrian to toss him the quaffle.
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After a very long, relaxing shower, Marcus felt a lot better. His muscles had loosened up incredibly and he finally felt the stress of the past few days melt away.
He hadn't seen much of Oliver since his fall, but at the same time he wasn't complaining. He was even more nervous to be around the Gryffindor then ever. Oliver had seen his human side and Marcus suddenly felt vulnerable because of it.
He wanted Oliver to notice him but not like that. He wanted to be seen as a fierce rival, not as a weak link. Even though he couldn't exactly find out why saving Oliver from a hundred foot fall made him feel weak.
After performing a small cleaning spell on his Quidditch robes, he redressed and walked back out onto the pitch. He felt like a few small laps around the pitch wouldn't hurt and slung his broom over his shoulder and walked back towards the center of the field.
He took off and circled the entire field a few times. Even though he'd probably never admit it, Marcus was always at his happiest when he was in the air. A thought never came into his head and the whole world almost disappeared out of his vision.
All he could focus on was just flying and which way to turn next. Nothing else mattered to him. Not school, not Quidditch, not even Oliver...
...Who was now standing in the middle of the pitch looking up at him.
Marcus blinked and pulled the nose of his broom up. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and gazed down at the small dot that stood under him. It was Oliver Wood and he waved shyly when he saw that Flint was looking at him,
Marcus swallowed and waited a few moments before he summoned enough courage to fly down on the ground next to the Gryffindor.
"Hey." Oliver smiled at him nervously, trying to find a topic to use. "Um, nice day huh?"
Marcus studied him for a moment and was relieved when he noticed that Wood wasn't treasuring his shoulder or that nothing was poking against his shirt.
"Yeah." He mumbled and dismounted his broom.
He could tell that Oliver was nervous, they've never been this close without trading insults with each other or trying to crush each other's fingers with a handshake, and he kept shuffling from foot to foot.
It was Marcus who finally broke the long silence between them. "How's your shoulder?"
"It's alright." Oliver replied and gently rolled his arm around for him to see. "Nothing's broken anymore."
Flint nodded and leaned against his broom for support. He was happy that Oliver was okay now, but he still felt like he should stay quiet. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth he would blurt out a large number of things that Wood didn't need to know, like just how hot that black sweater looked on him.
"Um, I just..." Oliver cleared his throat and looked him clear in the eye. "I just wanted to say thanks... for saving me and all."
Marcus's heart jumped a few beats and he shrugged. "It was nothing. Really. I was just there and was lucky enough to grab ya in time, that's all."
He still didn't feel like he was a hero for it, but the look Oliver gave him still made him feel lucky that he had been there and did it.
"Still. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Marcus said quietly. "But it was my fault actually, I suggested the race after all."
"Which you won by the way." Oliver replied quickly. "But I wanted too, so it's not your fault."
Flint nodded and studied the ground before his mind caught something.
"What do you mean I won?"
"Well...you were closer to the goal then I was, so I guess that makes you the victor."
As wrong as his heart was telling him that was, an idea grew inside of his head.
"Really? Well then, what did I say I wanted?"
Oliver shrugged. "I don't know. You said you'd think of something, but you never said it."
This became too perfect for him and Marcus drew closer.
"Hmm? Now let's see...what do I want?"
Oliver raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin as he watched him pretend to think. Knowing Flint, he'd probably have to polish his broom for a week or something like that, but the long silence was disturbing for him.
"I know..." Flint purred as he moved closer towards the Gryffindor, hardly an inch away. "How about this..."
Before Oliver could react, Flint tilted his chin upwards and gently seized his lips in a soft, non-aggressive kiss.
Oliver couldn't believe it; he forced himself to blink a few times before he could react. He felt Flint's tongue gently ghost across his bottom lip before he pulled away and gazed down at the Gryffindor, waiting for a response.
Marcus held his breath in. Would Oliver be disgusted and hit him or...
Oliver stared at him in disbelief. Flint just kissed him. Marcus Flint, caption of the Slytherin team, just kissed him!
"Flint what the hell...?" He breathed, trying to grasp what had just happened.
He saw Flint's eyes darken and he looked away, unable to answer him. He coughed and fought to get his voice back.
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because, why?" Oliver demanded.
"Because I care about ya." Flint just shrugged and slung his broom over his shoulder. "The same reason I grabbed you the other day."
Oliver was frozen on the spot. Flint's words making absolutely no sense to him. "You what?"
"Dammit Wood, stop being so thick headed." Marcus growled ready to hit him upside the head with his broom. "I fucking care about you okay! Wither your scrawny ass likes it or not, you mean a lot to me."
Now Oliver was completely silent, which made Flint feel worse.
"Look. I'm sorry okay. If you didn't like it, I won't bother again." With that he turned around and started walking away.
Before he never what he was doing, Oliver grabbed his arm.
"Wait..."
Flint stared back at him annoyed and Oliver took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was about to do.
Slowly Oliver leaned forward and pulled Flint against him into a kiss of his very own. Marcus grunted loudly against his mouth before he realized what was happening and quickly responded by crushing Wood's smaller frame against his.
Oliver cringed at first, never being this close to another male before, but as soon as he felt Marcus's hands move around his shoulders he could instantly feel himself melting. He could feel the heat from the other boy's body as he the Slytherin pushed against him.
After what seamed like a millennium, Oliver had to remind himself that he needed to breathe and pulled away. Marcus kept his eyes focused on the ground trying to gather his thoughts.
Oliver just kissed him. The boy who'd been haunting his mind all summer just kissed him. To say he was a surprised was a huge understatement. He could feel Oliver's eyes on him and he took a deep breath before he raised his own.
Oliver held his gaze and forced himself to speak. "Flint?"
Marcus gazed at him and Oliver suddenly felt like even if he could form words, they'd be completely useless at the moment. Marcus seamed like he understood what he was about to say and gently grabbed his hand.
"Come on. I'm sure we don't want Hooch to get an eye-full."
Oliver had to laugh at that and gave Marcus's hand a light squeeze as Marcus lead him away from the center of the filed towards one of the Slytherin grandstands. When they reached the base, Marcus pulled back the covering and waited for Oliver to slide under it into the small opening.
Flint followed him under and made sure the green cloth covered their entrance before he led them both into an opening large enough for both of them to stand up in. Oliver hesitantly got to his feet and risked a small glance at Marcus.
"How long have you know about this place?"
"Since fourth year." Marcus replied and brushed the dirt off his robe. "Some of my fan girls tried to maul me, so I hid in here."
"You have fan girls?"
Marcus looked up at him and for once, Oliver saw amusement flash in his green eyes.
"Course. Don't you?"
"Lots, but they don't claw me half to death."
Marcus smiled and drew him closer. "Good, 'cause I want that to be my job."
Oliver's eyes widened in confusion from Flints words. "What?"
"I mean...I want to be the only one that gets to touch you, genus." Flint sighed in annoyance.
Oliver was still in shock but brought himself to smile. "Really? Well, I think I should be the judge of that."
A warmth spread through Marcus's cheeks and for once he smiled, not his usual sneer or growl that he was famous for, but a warm, friendly grin that Oliver couldn't help but love.
Returning Flint's smile with one of his own, Oliver pulled him closer and soon both boys were locked in another deep, soul searching kiss.
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Marcus walked back to the Slytherin common room in a daze. He mumbled the password and waited until the door appeared and walked inside.
Adrian waved at him in the fair corner of the room and Marcus nodded in his direction but kept walking towards his dorm room.
Without even undressing he collapsed on his four-poster bed and sighed. His hands were still warm from Oliver's skin and his lips still tingled from their kisses.
He couldn't believe what just happened. He'd been dreaming of Wood for years and now he finally had him. This was just too good to be true.
'So this is what love feels like...'
He smiled happily and closed his eyes.