Chapter Thirty-Six: Promise Me Everything

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 Half Blood Prince

Genre: Romance, Drama, and Friendship

Rating: PG-13

A few days later, Marcus leaned against the stadium railing at the pitch. Katie had gone back to school. That night would not leave his mind. It was making him lose his focus at training. No other girl had ever made him feel this way.

"Are you going to stand there all day or are you actually going to move!" his trainer, Daniel Young, bellowed up at him. "You are not getting paid to stand around all day and daydream!"

Marcus rolled his eyes and took off running. Daniel enjoyed ordering him around, but Marcus knew that Daniel liked him. They had went to quite a few bars together.

He rounded the corner and ran up the stairs. Sometimes he wondered why they even bothered with practice if all they was going to do was run. He usually did not mind running, but today it was ticking him off.

Marcus watched as his fellow Chaser, Jamie, round the corner in front of him. Marcus was usually faster than Jamie, but since thinking about Katie he was rather slow today.

The Falcons' players came from a wide range of backgrounds. Trent Hastings, twenty-eight, was a large Beater from southern Germany. Kevin Blair, twenty-two, was a medium built Beater from eastern Finland. Jamie Taubenfeld, twenty-one, was a medium built left Chaser from western Canada; he was also dating the Seeker. Carter Collins, twenty-five, was a small right Chaser from South Africa. Sebastian Reynolds, twenty-two, a transfer from a Dutch Quidditch team, played Keeper; this was his first season with the Falcons. Raine Daniels, twenty, was the only female on the team and was Seeker from eastern Russia. She and Marcus had been signed together.

Marcus took off after Jamie. Within a few minutes, the two of them had fallen into pace with each other.

"Thought I lost you," Jamie said.

Marcus shrugged. "I kind of spaced out for a bit."

Jamie nodded. "I am sure that I don't want to know what was running through your mind."

Marcus nods. "It is probably for the best."

Jamie picked up the pace. "You Brits scare me."

Marcus paced the pace with ease. "I'm not really British."

Jamie waved his hand. "Whatever, you was born in Ireland. That's close enough in my book. Plus, you went to school in Britain."

"At least I can speak three languages," Marcus said.

Jamie glared. He hated being the only one on the team who was not bilingual. "At least English is my native language."

Marcus smirked and rolled his eyes. They had this argument at least once a week. It was all in good fun and they really did not mean any of the comments that they said.

Jamie's leg darts out and connects with Marcus's shin. The surprise makes Marcus wince. He does not say anything and increases the pace. Jamie would pay for that; that was a promise. When it came to revenge, Marcus could be very crafty.

Practice ended without any further incidents. Marcus did not get back at Jamie yet. Jamie would have expected something today. Marcus wanted to wait until Jamie's guard was down.

Marcus went home and threw his bag on the bedroom floor. He showered and got redressed. He had to met with Natalia tonight. She had sent him an owl last night requesting a meeting, but he was not sure what is was about.

Natalia flipped through some paperwork that she had "borrowed" from some bloke who had come into her shop. Most of it was boring. She was studying the wanted list. Some of the names she knew, but didn't care about them. One name managed to catch her eye.

"Oh, great," she said under her breath.

Within a second, she heard the bell ring above her shop's door.

Marcus appeared a few minutes later, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here.

"This had better be good," he snapped.

Natalia smirked up at him. "Oh, trust me it is." She started up the stairs and beckoned him to follow.

Marcus stormed up the stairs and followed her into her room. She tucked the paperwork into a giant book and handed them both to him.

"You need to watch your back," she whispered as he took the book.

He eyed her. "Why?"

"Because your name is on the wanted list!"

He just looked at her. "On whose list?"

"The Death Eaters."

Marcus rolled his eyes."That's not surprising."

Natalia sat down next to him. "You already knew?" When he nodded, she slapped him across the face.

"What was that for?" Marcus asked as he rubbed the side of his face.

"FOR NOT TELLING ME THAT YOU KNEW!" Natalia was now on a full blown rampage. "FOR LETTING ME WORRY ABOUT YOU!"

He looked at her. "You were worried about me?"
Natalia opened and closed her mouth. "Just don't do it again."

Marcus smiled. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises." He shook his his.

Natalia gave him the evil eye. "Don't joke about this." She stood up. "Try to be good."

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."

"Shut up and go away."

Marcus left the shop laughing. It was really fun to get under Natalia's skin. He enjoyed being the one to make her blow. Taking his attention off of Natalia, he looked down at the book and wondered what it could be. With her, it was very hard to tell.

Once outside the shop, his expression turned serious. He had to get out of here. The sooner the better. Everything was so risky right now.

He tucked the book into the outside pocket of his robes. He would take a closer look at it once he got home. The last thing he wanted to be caught with evidence the last place he wanted to be caught with evidence against the Dark Side was Knockturn Alley. There was too many connections to the Death Eaters, hell even Diagon Alley wasn't even safe anymore.

Marcus ducked his head and Apparted to his parents place. The book was not even safe for him to keep at his place. His mum and dad's place had more hiding places than his own.

He strolled into the main floor study. Jasmine was sitting as a writing desk in the corner and looked up as her son entered the room. She flashed him a smile.

"Guardate cosa ha portato il gatto dentro," Jasmine said as she placed a seal on her letter.

"Non è stato così a lungo. Mi hai visto un paio di giorni fa," Marcus said as he sat down in an overstuffed chair.

"Non sei stato a casa per un po. '" Jasmine paused. "Almeno si comea intorno a più di tuoi fratelli."

Marcus's half-brothers really came home. They worked all the time, only Ryan and Shawn lived in Great Britain. The rest of them were scattered around the world. Brad's daughters, Alice, came around even less; she preferred the company of her mother.

He had never realized how much his mother missed having her children around. She really had not had a lot of time for them growing up because she was always doing Auror stuff or Healing. However, she had always showered her children with love, even when she wanted to kill them.

Marcus pulled the book out his pocket. "I need a favour." He handed Jasmine the book.

She studied it for a few minutes and looked up at her son. "Do you know what this is?"

Marcus shook his head. "Do you?"

Jasmine studied it again. "I'm not sure. I've heard about it, but I can't be sure that it is the real thing." She opened the book and read the page.

"Can you hide it for me?"

Without looking up from the page, Jasmine nodded. She pulled the papers that Natalia had stuffed in the front of the book out. She frowned as she read them. "You need to be careful."

Marcus nodded slowly, not really paying attention. He had heard it all before and wondered why they all just did not get together and give it to him at once.

Jasmine put her hands on her son's knees and stared up at him. "Marcus, I mean it." She took her hands off his knees and took his hands into hers. "If it was up to me, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"But it's not up to you," Marcus countered.

Jasmine gave him a small smile. "I know." She patted Marcus's right hand. "You've grown on up on me."

Marcus looked at his mother. She was still rather beautiful, but her age was starting to show a little. There was small wrinkles around her gentle brown eyes and her dark wavy hair had little bits on gray in it. She also had a tried look to her.

Jasmine moved over and sat down next to him. "Promise me something."

Marcus nodded slowly.

"Don't lose yourself along the way," she whispered. "It's a dark place in there. Sometimes yourself is all that you will have."

Marcus nodded. "I promise."

Jasmine dropped his hand. "Well, I've had just about enough of that. Would you like something to eat?" She started toward the kitchen.
Marcus nodded. He had just realized that his mother had never answered his question about the book. "So, what about the book?"
Jasmine turned back. "Don't worry about it." She beckoned him. "Now, come on."

Marcus rose slowly. He should have looked at the book when he had the chance. His mother was going to do everything in her power to keep him away from it. He just wanted to know what the book's secrets were.

"Marcus, come on," Jasmine said again. Her voice wasn't snappish yet, but Marcus knew that it was pretty close to it.

Marcus took his eyes off the book and followed his mother. He would find out what was in that book. He would just have to do so when she wasn't around.

Translations

Guardate cosa ha portato il gatto dentro: Look what the cat dragged in.

Non è stato così a lungo. Mi hai visto un paio di giorni fa: It's not been that long. I saw you a couple of days ago.

Non sei stato a casa per un po: You haven't been home in awhile.

Almeno si comea intorno a più di tuoi fratelli: At least you come around more than your brothers.