Chapter 4

Marcus sighed. The paper in front of him did not make any sense whatsoever. Everyone around him was writing furiously which did nothing to make him feel better. When he had arrived for his Herbology lesson this morning he was hoping to see a cheery Professor Sprout. What he did not expect was a substitute teacher who was still going to conduct the test. Marcus could not believe he had spent hours snogging a Hufflepuff for nothing. They only had a quarter of an hour left to complete the test so Marcus just wrote random words, but made sure to try include his love for plants in all his answers. Maybe he would be able to pull on the Herbology teacher's heart strings somehow.

Later, in History of Magic, he complained to Adrian about the test.

"We haven't covered shrivel figs since fourth year. Why include something in a test that nobody has cared about for years?" Marcus was in a decidedly foul mood. He and Adrian sat in their usual spot right at the back of the classroom. Professor Binns, as usual, did not pay his students any sort of attention so most of the final years were either completing work for other classes, dozing or talking.

"Well, it did come up at the end of last year when we-" Adrian wisely did not finish his sentence when he saw the expression on Marcus' face. "Let's forget about the test, it was just a random assessment anyway. It won't count. Plus, Sprout loves you for snogging all her little darlings." Adrian said amicably. Marcus nodded in agreement.

"We need to start phase two of our plan. I told Wood what to do in detention last night but we need to figure out which girl is going to talk to Bell." Marcus brought up their grand plan, eager to talk about something else rather than Herbology. He looked around the room, considering. Adrian followed his gaze.

"It can't be a Slytherin. There is no reason for them to talk to Bell." Adrian said and started to write down the names of some girls they both knew.

"It can't be anyone in our year either. That's too random. We need someone who is friends with her friends. Spinnet has lots of friends, and the two of them seem closest." Marcus added and Adrian crossed off some of the names on his list.

"So we need someone who is friends with Spinnet but not close enough to tell her everything." Adrian said whilst crossing off even more names from his list.

"This is bloody impossible." Marcus buried his head between his hands. Adrian ignored his best friend's dramatics and chewed on his feather.

"What about Mia Harrington?" Adrian suggested. Marcus just grunted. "Ainsley Frank?" Another grunt. "Daphne Higgins?" More grunting. Adrian sighed. His knowledge of girls in the year below was limited. Boys, on the other hand..He excitedly banged his fist on the table, which made Binns and some of their class mates look in their direction for a moment. Adrian smiled a winning smile and Binns continued rumbling on about some long dead wizard.

"I've got it, Marcus! Do you remember that sixth year Hufflepuff I snogged in the library at the end of last year? When Pince banned me from the library until, well I think I can go back after Christmas? Anyway, he has a twin sister in Ravenclaw. And she is friends with Arabella Santos who in turn is friends with Alicia Spinnet." Marcus looked at Adrian between his fingers. Adrian saw that as a sign to continue. "So, I am going to talk to the male twin, he's called Aaron by the way, and he needs to get his sister to talk to Bell." Adrian scrunched up his list and threw it towards the bin. He got nowhere near it and Marcus was worried for a minute that this was someone whose aim he trusted to keep the bludgers off his face but then he focussed back on what Adrian had just said.

"So you can get this twin, this Aaron, to big up Wood to Bell?" Marcus asked, not feeling very sure about the whole thing.

Adrian just grinned. "Oh Marcus, Aaron owes me big time. The things I let him-" Marcus put his hand over Adrian's mouth before he could finish.

"Thanks, Pukey. I'll take your word for it."

Marcus sat down at his usual spot at the Slytherin table in the great hall. Snape had kept him behind after Potions to give him a pep talk about his achievements, or rather lack of, and the resources available to him so he would not fail final year. Again. So now Marcus was not just ravenous but also furious. He did not need a constant reminder that he should have graduated last year. He was just about to take a bite of his chicken sandwich when Adrian plonked himself down next to him.

"Mission accomplished." His best friend said conspiratorially and nodded towards the Gryffindor table. Marcus put his sandwich down and followed his friend's gaze. A severe looking blonde girl was talking to Bell and Spinnet with a dreamy - or maybe she felt nauseous?- expression on her face. Marcus assumed that this must be the Ravenclaw twin, whose brother Adrian had, well, whatever Adrian did with boys.

"What did you tell her to say?" Marcus asked before finally taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"Just the usual. Say something that makes the other girls, and especially Katie, realise that Wood is dreamboat and not just their team captain and friend. I didn't actually talk to her, but I'm sure Aaron will have told her what to say. He's always been good with his mouth." Marcus put his sandwich down and Adrian laughed.

"Perfect. Well, Wood knows to tone down on the whole 'I'm happy to be your best friend and brother only' thing he has got going on. I don't think he'll be able to actually pull off the treat them mean, keep them keen spiel but you never know." Marcus said and ticked off phase two on his internal strategy sheet. Just then Wood happened to walk past the Gryffindor table and both Spinnet and Bell looked after him with a dreamy -nauseous?- expression on their faces. Well, what do you know, Marcus thought to himself.

Marcus carefully tied the letter around his owl's left leg. He could still feel where Archibald had nipped him the last time so he made sure to be extra conscious of his actions this time around. Marcus was not really a fan of writing letters home, but his mother had made him promise that he would write her once a month to let her know how he was getting on. Getting on academically that meant as she did not want to be surprised about him failing like last year. So like the good son he was, he had written his September letter and was now going to send it off with Archibald, the cruel. Marcus would much rather use one of the school's owls, but that would only mean Archibald nipping him for being disloyal. By Merlin, he hated that bloody bird. That was also why he always came to the Owlery as late as possible. It would not do for anyone to see him tenderly touching a bloody bird. Not when he had a bad boy image to protect. So it made Marcus flinch when he suddenly heard someone cry out followed by a tirade of swear words that were just downright dirty, even by his standards. But also very imaginative. Marcus sent Archibald off and went to have a look for whoever was in the Owlery with him. When he got to the section reserved for the school owls he saw the back of a petite dirty blonde haired girl in a Gryffindor uniform. Maybe Bell? Or Spinnet? Marcus was not quite sure as her hair was up so it could have been either of them.

"You okay?" He said quietly, not quite sure why he had said anything at all as soon as the words had left his mouth. The dirty blonde turned around and now Marcus could see that it was Bell. Her cheeks were flushed and she was sucking on her right index finger. Bell regarded him, obviously uncertain what to make of him talking to her. Marcus did not think that they had ever said anything to each other aside from maybe some snide remarks on the pitch.

"Yeah. I just wasn't careful enough with tying my letter to Sprunilla's leg." The younger student said eventually. Marcus nodded knowingly. Sprunilla was a very bitchy owl. Most students avoided her but he realised with one look behind Bell that all the other available owls were sitting way too high up towards the roof. Obviously Bell was too short to reach any of them and had also been unsuccessful in coaxing a more gentle owl to come closer. Bell had stopped sucking on her finger now and regarded it worriedly. Marcus could not quite make out whether it was bleeding or not, but he reached into his pocket. He had made a habit of bringing a plaster with him whenever he had to send letters with Archibald. He pulled the plaster out and offered it to Bell. Bell just stared at him for a good while before scrunching up her forehead, but taking it.

"Thanks?" She said and Marcus could hear the confusion in her voice. So much for protecting his bad boy image.

"No worries." He replied as nonchalantly as he managed to. He was definitely not going to explain why he was carrying a plaster around with him. Let her think what she wanted, Marcus did not care. So before the situation could get any more bizarre, Marcus pushed past her to make his way back to the dungeons.