Quite the Catch

MarcusxHermione; DracoxLuna

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Quite the Catch

Chapter 15

Ever since finalizing their relationship, things had been nothing but great for Marcus and Hermione. Sure, they had their arguments from time to time, but they were small ones and they were always able to resolve them. It was almost hard to believe that they had been a legit couple for three months now, but at the same time, it felt as if they had been together for much longer. It wasn't a weird feeling, in fact it made them smile when they thought about it, but it was there. And most importantly, they were happy together, happier than they thought they could be.

As their relationship had progressed, Hermione thought it imperative that Marcus meet her pet, her beloved half-cat, half-Kneazle, Crookshanks. She had waited for Harry to leave Grimmauld Place one day during the first month of their relationship to invite Marcus over. After he was there for ten minutes, the brunette decided to go and get her cat, bringing the fluffy creature to the library where they had been settled. Marcus had smiled upon seeing her pet, asking his name and smiling more at hearing it, stating it was rather cute. Hermione had blushed and smiled at that, though she did panic a bit when Marcus reached out to pet the cat. Crookshanks didn't take too kindly to most people, especially new ones. Then again, she had had him since Third Year and the cat still didn't like Ron to this day and would rarely let Harry pet him before scurrying away. However, before she could possibly warn her boyfriend, he was already petting Crookshanks's head, Crookshanks purring in delight before leaving his owner's lap and moving into the older wizard's, snuggling into him. The sight had been as cute as it was surprising. What more was that when Marcus had to take his leave, Crookshanks had nearly followed him out of Grimmauld Place as if to try and go home with her boyfriend. Marcus had simply laughed and suggested that Crookshanks spend the night with him from time to time, provided his owner come along as well. That had made his girlfriend blush before he kissed her 'goodbye'.

Yes, things were going well, but there was still one thing that was bothering Hermione: she hadn't told her friends that she and Marcus were official. Harry knew that she and Marcus were seeing each other, but he didn't know that they had become official. Then again, they weren't exclusive with their relationship, both being private people and wanting to spend their time together away from prying eyes and listening ears. Of course, dating in the Wizarding World was hard, so most of their venturing was out in the Muggle World. Luckily Marcus was alright with that, as he wanted to learn more about the world his girlfriend was from, something Hermione appreciated. Anyway, she wanted her friends to know she was in a serious relationship, and she wanted to introduce Marcus to them officially as her boyfriend. That, and she also hoped that past petty Quidditch rivalries would be swept under the rug. She had a feeling Harry and Ginny would be okay, but Ron and whether he would accept her relationship was something she just wasn't sure about.

Deciding to just broach the subject with her boyfriend, Hermione took the opportunity to ask during their next date. For this one, Hermione was taking Marcus to see a Muggle movie, an activity he had been wanting to do but didn't quite understand. She had explained it to him, but decided just taking him to one would be better than explaining it. The two of them sat inside the movie theater and watched an action movie, munching on buttery popcorn and sharing a fizzy soda pop; Hermione had laughed at Marcus's comical reaction to tasting the carbonated drink, his dark grey eyes widening at the taste and the feel of many bubble in his mouth and down his throat. The movie had been a good choice of a date, as Marcus was nothing but enthralled with it, not believing that Muggles could create something so amazingly entertaining without magic.

Later as they left the theater, Marcus's arm thrown over his girlfriend's shoulders, he said, "Blimey, that was great. I've never seen something like that before."

"Yes, it was a good movie," Hermione agreed. "I could have done without all the explosions, though."

Stopping, Marcus looked down at her in concern, a frown on his face as he asked, "Are you alright? Did it trigger memories from the war?"

"A bit, but I'm fine, honestly."

Marcus searched the brunette's face before nodding, holding her close to him and hugging her. He knew that Hermione suffered from PTSD from the war, though she held it together well. But there had been times when she had stayed over at his place (his Pureblood supremacist father rotting away in Azkaban due to fighting alongside the Dark Lord during the war and being caught, thus not having to worry about what he thought) and would have nightmares, sometimes crying in her sleep and being exhausted in the mornings. He felt terrible not being able to do much to help her and it made him wish he knew what she had gone through so he could help her through it. But all he could do was hold her and tell her it was all alright and that the war was over. It comforted her and so long as it did, he would continue to hold and sooth her until she forgot or calmed down enough to handle it on her own.

Hermione returned his hug, holding him just as close, softly saying, "Really, I am fine."

"I know, but I do worry sometimes. And sometimes, I feel guilty because I chose not to fight but you did."

"Marcus, it's alright. I don't hold you not joining us in our fight against you. You had your own life, and the war wasn't it. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"I know, but-"

"Oi, you kids can't stand here and perform PDA," a security guard suddenly spoke from next to them. "Move along, now."

Marcus glowered at the man and replied, "Bite me, Muggle."

"Marcus!" Hermione admonished. Turning back to the security guard, she apologized on her boyfriend's behalf before the two of them beat a hasty retreat, the guard's face having turned a nasty shade of red.

After a while, they finally slowed down and laughed a bit, Hermione telling Marcus he shouldn't have said that to the man. Marcus simply replied that he didn't appreciate him interrupting his time with his girlfriend, Hermione shaking her head in amusement. As their laughter died down, Hermione thought back to what had been on her mind before taking a deep breath. Letting it out, she said, "Marcus?"

The older wizard looked down at the brunette, silently giving her his undivided attention.

"I want you to meet my friends."

Marcus blinked before asking, "What?"

Hermione smiled slightly. "I want you to meet my friends."

"…I've already met them."

"Yes, but not as my boyfriend. I haven't told them that we're together, and we're not exclusive in the Wizarding World, but I at least want my friends to know the truth about us."

"Doesn't Potter already know?"

"He probably does but is waiting for me to admit it."

"Alright. And what about Weasley?"

"As far as Ginny goes, I think she'll accept it." Her relationship with Ginny had slowly been repairing itself, Ginny having apologized for not saying anything when she found out her brother was cheating on Hermione. "As for Ron, even if he's not okay with us and doesn't accept it, I can only hope he won't cause a scene."

Marcus looked off to the side, not really sure he wanted to formally meet Hermione's friends. He knew it was important to the brunette and that he really should, but he didn't really want to start any fights between his girlfriend and her friends because she chose to date him. That, and he was afraid that if Weasley went there, he wouldn't be able to hold himself back from bashing the redhead's face in.

Seeing her boyfriend's hesitance, Hermione asked, "Please?"

He looked into her mocha brown eyes and knew instantly that he was going to agree. Sighing, he nodded with a small smile and agreed saying, "Okay."

Hermione grinned and hugged the tall wizard, molding herself against him happily. Marcus himself returned her hug, bending his head to kiss the top of hers. When she tilted her head up to look at him, he kissed her rosy pink lips sweetly. He wasn't sure about meeting Potter, Weasley, and Weasley formally, but for the brunette in his arms, he'd do it and anything else she asked of him.

Awkward didn't even begin to express how this meeting was going. At least, that was what Marcus thought. He and Hermione had decided to meet her friends at the Leaky Cauldron, a place with some common ground where everyone would be comfortable. Upon arriving, they had already encountered Potter waiting there, as well as the female Weasley. They had warmly greeted Hermione before curtly greeting him. It would have been awkward if it weren't for the nearly scrutinizing stares they were giving him. It was like they were trying to interrogate him with their eyes, and he wasn't sure he liked that.

Hermione, seeing her friends seemed content to sit in silence and silently judge her boyfriend, kicked Harry under the table they were seated at and cleared her throat, giving him a pointed look. Green eyes looked at her before the wizard nodded. Looking back at his best friend's significant other, Harry asked, "So Flint, what are you doing nowadays?"

Blinking in surprise at the question, as it wasn't the one he had been expecting, Marcus answered, "Not much, just gearing up for the next Quidditch season."

"That's right, you play professionally," Ginny piped in. Looking thoroughly interested, she said, "You play with the Montrose Magpies. How is that going?"

"It's not going anywhere as they let me go for taking too long to recover."

"Too long to recover? That's bullocks. They should have still held your position for you?"

"Yeah, well they didn't think so. But it's alright, I tried out for the Falmouth Falcons last month."

Harry's eyes widened at the news. "Did you make it?"

Marcus smiled and nodded, Harry and Ginny genuinely congratulating him before asking him questions about what it was like to play Quidditch professionally, as well as what tryouts were like, as well as practices and how it differed from playing in school. Hermione had shook her head that the thing that would have her friends and boyfriends bond would be Quidditch, but she also knew that Ginny planned on playing professionally, and that Harry just enjoyed the game in general, so it was fine. Either way, she was glad Harry and Ginny were warming up to Marcus.

As Ginny asked Marcus about certain plays she could attempt to use while playing Quidditch, seeing as they both played the position of Chaser, Harry took the time to turn his attention back to Hermione. In a low voice only she could hear, he said, "Flint is much different than I thought he would be. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Hermione smiled with a slight blush on her face. "Yes, he is. And yes, I did."

"You know, you never really explained how you two became friends. It couldn't have possibly been after he saved your life."

"No, it wasn't. It actually started when I found him in the Hogwarts Library during our Fourth Year. He had to repeat the year."

"What for? I mean, I remember seeing him, but why?"

"He failed his N.E.W.T.s, but he got defensive when he assumed I wanted to know why. I mean, I still do, but I don't think it has anything to do with him being terrible in any school subject. Between you and me, I think it had something to do with his home life, but I didn't want to pry."

Harry nodded. "Maybe he'll tell you now. I can tell he cares for you a lot."

The brunette looked over to Marcus who was still talking to Ginny. Marcus looked at her for smiled, Hermione smiling in return, her heart fluttering in her chest. Blushing she said softly, "I care for him a lot, too. I always have since Hogwarts."

The bespectacled wizard looked back and forth between his friend and her boyfriend before saying, "You have hearts in your eyes, Hermione."

"I-I do?"

Nodding, Harry replied, "You do."

He leant closer to the witch and asked in a low voice, "Hey, are you in love with him, Hermione? I mean, you two have history together and these feelings have obviously been around for a while, even if you only just started dating. So, are you in love with him?"

The question had Hermione blushing something furious, but it also made her think. She had already thought this at one point, had even almost asked Harry if she was falling in love with Marcus. But for Harry to ask her instead had to mean that he saw that she was. Looking over towards her boyfriend, she thought about Harry's question.

Are you in love with him?

Was she? Sure it had only been a short three months of them dating, but like her friend had said, they had history, their feelings obviously having stemmed back from their years at Hogwarts. And everything felt so natural with Marcus, like everything would be alright. He made her stomach flutter and heart sing, made her smile and cared for her, even holding her whenever she'd have a nightmare about the war when he didn't have to. Marcus was always considerate of her and always took what she said into account, never judging her or making her feel bad about her shortcomings. No one had ever taken such genuine interest in her before—expect Viktor Krum—nor had wanted to know more about the world she came from. Marcus wasn't anything like she had originally thought of him and was glad that she got to see his true self. She had never felt so safe with anyone before—except Harry, and that was only sometimes—and always wanted to be by the older wizard's side. Like he cared for her, she cared for him, liked him so much. But love? She wasn't sure. Then again, perhaps the truth was simply staring her in the face, and she wasn't acknowledging it.

Looking back at Marcus, all the emotions she felt for him bubbled up inside her, her heart pounding and cheeks burning red. Biting her lip, she ducked her head as she finally came to a realization. Turning her attention back to Harry, she opened her mouth to answer him. However, before she could, a loud voice shouted, "Oi! What's this Slytherin troll doing here?"

Quickly turning to the source of the voice, Hermione found Ron glaring at Marcus, him having finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Glaring at him, Hermione scolded, "Ron, keep your voice down. And don't call Marcus that."

"Hermione, what is he doing here?"

"I invited you here to meet him."

"I've already met the snake."

"Come on Ron, don't be like that," Harry said, quickly casting a Muffliato Charm on the other patrons of the pub so they wouldn't be able to hear the impending shouting match that was sure to come.

Ron glared at Harry before turning his attention to his sister. "So you're cozying up with this Slytherin troll, too? What the hell, Ginny?"

Ginny pursed her lips at her brother. "Ron, we're here to get to know Hermione's boyfriend properly, and for your information, I'm picking his brain about Quidditch tactics to use for the Gryffindor team."

"Boyfriend?" Turning back to Hermione, he yelled, "This ugly troll is your boyfriend?!"

"Ron, stop calling him that!" Hermione yelled back at him.

"Mione, he's just using you! He doesn't give a damn about you, and once he gets what he wants and tosses you aside, you'll see I was right!"

"How dare you?!"

Marcus glowered at the stupid Weasley and stood up from his seat, making his way towards the redhaired male. Stopping in front of him, he stood to his full height, towering over the other wizard and practically growled, "Shut your mouth, you foul git. How can you say something like that to someone you claim is your friend, whether you dated briefly or not? Only someone with a fragile ego who takes pleasure in tearing those they claim to care about down so long as they look good. And you call yourself a man, but all I see is an insecure boy."

Ron bristled at Flint's words before bellowing, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT, TROLL!"

Seeing Ron pull his arm back to punch Marcus, Hermione gasped before shouting, "Ron, don't!"

But it was too late. Ron had already thrown his fist forward to punch her boyfriend in the face. However, Marcus blocked it with his own hand before grabbing him by his wrist and twisting his arm behind his back. The redhead let out a cry of pain before his face was slammed against the table, Marcus holding him there. Harry was telling Marcus to let Ron go while Ginny was admonishing her brother for starting a fight with Hermione's boyfriend and threatening to tell Mrs. Weasley.

Angry with the turn of events, Hermione yelled, "Stop it!"

Marcus looked to his girlfriend, and upon seeing the angry tears in her eyes, he let Weasley go, but not before tripping him and letting him fall to the floor. Stepping up to her he had the sense to look guilty saying, "Sorry."

Hermione nodded and wiped her tears away before turning back to Ron who was picking himself back up off the ground. Frowning at him she said, "Ron, you are being ridiculous. Why must you act like this every time someone is interested in me?"

"I don't care if someone is interested in you, but not this snake."

"That's a lie and you know it. Remember Viktor Krum?" Ginny said, Harry shushing her.

Ron glared at his little sister before turning back to the brunette. "Look Hermione, we all know this "relationship" with this troll isn't going to work, let alone last. Just save yourself the trouble and end things with him now."

Hermione scowled at him. "No. I like Marcus and am not breaking up with him just because you don't like him or accept our relationship."

"Hermione, be reasonable about this! It'll never work! And besides, I've liked you for a while and want to be with you. I know you like me and we can work again, so long as you give me another chance and drop this troll." Seeing Hermione wasn't budging, he glared and said, "Fine, then you give me no choice. Hermione, it's either him or me."