Diagon Alley

"Alright everyone come on! We need to get...oh man that's a lot books!" Charles Barnes said paling as he read the list of curriculum books for the year.

Charles and Alexis Barnes had healed from their wounds and decided to take a small sabbatical from their work to make up for leaving Daniel alone for over a year. After the initial hugging and kissing among them Marcus insisted that the Barnes family stay with them to heal and recuperate. The process took longer than expected because they had a few broken bones that needed to mend.

Marcus, Dan, and Nile all walked with Charles through Diagon Alley, Amelia had asked for him to take them because her and Seamus were busy hunting down the now exposed Knights of Le Fay and wanted revenge over the kidnapping of their friends. Anna and Sam had gone back to their homes to spend some time with their families and promised to see them on the train.

As they walked into the bookstore it was packed with wizards all murmuring and swooning. Marcus frowned before he saw who it was they were all infatuated with, Gilderoy Lockhart, smiling and signing books. The boys all looked at their list of their DADA books and realized they were all Lockharts books, even his autobiography.

"Oh you got to be kidding me!" Dan said in annoyance and Charles gulped hard.

"Don't worry we can move some money around, I'm sure their is..."

"I'll pay for them Mr. Barnes! Don't worry about it." Marcus interrupted as they all collected their books and went to pay.

"Marcus I appreciate the gesture but really it is not necessary to..." he was cut off again.

"Mr. Barnes may I speak with you in private? Just for a second?" Marcus said and they walked over to an isolated corner of the store.

"Mr. Barnes, over the summer Dan told me a little bit about your...financial problems. Now I am not going to give you my sympathies because I have never been in your situation but that's exactly why I want to help. It's nothing to be ashamed of or feel like your pride has been damaged sir. You were kidnapped and tortured, by my own grandfather! I want to make up for that, and if that means using my families fortune to buy these unnecessarily expensive books then please let me sir. I want to help you and your family. You deserve so much more than you have." Marcus explained.

Charles was in shock before he placed the heavy books on a table and pulled Marcus into a bone crushing hug "Thank you Marcus! Truly! No one has ever treated us with this much kindness, they always look the other way because we come from muggle families."

Marcus smiled "It's the least I can do, I'll gladly help with supplies whenever I can and my parents said you are welcome to our house anytime too."

Charles wiped a few tears away before he picked the books up and walked back to the group who were talking to a muggle couple.

"Oh yes we are so proud of our little Hermione! She received top marks last year!" the man said, just as he was finished Hermione Granger popped up behind them with an armful of books.

"Oh Marcus! Did that book I sent you help?" the little girl asked and Marcus nodded with a smile and thanked her before the door opened and a massive family walked in, crowding the small store even more.

"Hermione!" the small red headed boy from last year, Ron Weasley, shouted.

Hermione and Ron both started talking and Charles turned and shook hands with who could only have been Rons father "Good to see you Arthur! How is everything at the Ministry?"

Arthur smiled "Lots of raids as of late, very taxing but all for good reason!"

Charles nodded and then he turned back and put his books on the counter, Marcus pushed through the group to the counter and handed the clerk a sack of coins "For all the books here alright? I'm paying for two sets."

She nodded and then Dan walked over and helped him carry the books "Did you just pay for my books?"

Marcus nodded "Your father is okay with it." as he handed them to Charles and his friends.

Dan mumbled something and Marcus turned and before he knew what was happening Dan was dragging him out of the store by his arm.

They stopped at a small corner next to the store and he saw that Dan was glaring "Why did you pay Marcus?!"

Marcus gulped, he had never seen Dan this mad before and it was terrifying "I just wanted to help. You told me yourself that..." Dan raised a hand to silence him.

"I told you that in confidence! It's embarrassing Marcus! I feel horrible now because this makes me feel like my family is less than yours!" he snarled.

Marcus shook his head "No Dan not at all! This years curriculum is particularly expensive and I just wanted to help your family have a little breathing room financially. My family has more money than I know what to do with and I will gladly use that money to help anyone that needs it."

He could see Dan's anger was starting to simmer down but he wasn't dropping his scowl.

Marcus looked down, ashamed, "I...I just wanted help. I'm sorry." he said softly.

Then he heard Dan sigh and before he could process it he was hugging him "It's okay I understand where you're coming from. You're very sweet Marcus and I appreciate you selflessly spending so much just to help my family. I'm glad you're my friend I really am."

Marcus laughed "I'm glad we're friends too!"

Marcus pulled away and was about to say something else when Dan pressed his lips against his. It was only for a couple seconds but it was enough for Marcus to realize that he didn't pull back.

He pulled his head back and stared at Dan with wide eyes, he was staring back at him with a look of horror.

"I...I didn't...I" Dan stuttered before he just bolted into the store and out of sight. Marcus was confused, he sat down against the wall just thinking about that kiss. Why didn't he pull away? He didn't like guys, at least he thought he didn't. That kiss made him shiver, he liked Daniel of course but only as a friend, right? No it didn't matter he was dating Anna after all and this was cheating, but he didn't instigate the kiss, unless he gave some sort of mixed signal?

Marcus groaned loudly, his brain hurt so much from this new information. His best friend had just kissed him and he didn't know what to say to Anna. Wait, should he say anything? It's not like he did anything wrong, it was probably just a one time accidental thing. Maybe Dan was thinking about something else and he forgot where he was?

Marcus slammed his head into the wall and then winced at the pain from the brick. He wasn't sure what hurt more though...

The wall or his heart.

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