I do not own any Harry Potter Characters.
Chapter 9:
It was December, and Katie hadn't gone back to confront her "Uncle" she didn't know what to do about it. He had sent her a few letters, but she had refused to respond. She also had yet to speak to Angelina. Which meant that Alicia was stuck in the middle. She tried her best to play a neutral party. One day, Alicia and Katie were leaving class, and Alicia noticed how sad her friend looked. "Why don't you try to talk to him?"
Katie looked up at her surprised "I can't." She looked back at the ground not able to look Alicia in the eyes.
"Just admit it Katie, you're attracted to Marcus." Alicia said stopping to turn to her friend.
"You think I don't know that?" Katie had already come to terms a while ago of her feelings for him. She held her books tightly to her chest looking up at the ceiling. "He came into my life at a time when I needed someone most."
"Then tell him already, you dummy" Alicia laughed, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder "Stop making excuses." Katie knew she was right.
So, Katie waited at dinner for the right opportunity. Her plan was to wait for him to leave The Great Hall after dinner and then get him alone. She wasn't going to make any more justifications; she was going to tell him how she felt. When he left The Great Hall, she followed catching up to him in the hallway. "Marcus" She called his name.
He turned around looking at her his face softened. "What's up, blondie?"
"Can I have a word?" She asked starting to lose her confidence. Nodding his head, they made their way outside and he followed her. "I'm not afraid anymore."
"What do you mean?" He looked confused.
They stood a couple feet apart, Katie with her fists clenched at her sides. She took a deep breath before continuing "You may be a total ass half the time, but I need you."
He let out a chuckle "I can't tell if that's a compliment or an insult."
The air was wet and cold, as they stood still, the chilling damp creeped into their bones. "Marcus, I love you" She did it. Feeling relieved that she finally said it, having held it back for so long. Not fully wanting to believe it herself. She had seen his eyes, dark with anger and cold with hatred, but she'd never seen them as they were at this moment. Hopeful, full of joy and disbelief.
Shaking his head, he walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "No, you don't." How could he not believe her?
"Please Marcus, I need you to hear this." She all but screamed in frustration. "We've been through a lot, you and I, and it's not a secret that we didn't get along at first. I know it won't be easy, and I've been too scared to admit it, but I love you."
"Katie, you can't mean it." He took a step back from her, not fully processing what she was saying. Marcus looked like he had been hit over the head.
"Do you want me to go back to the scared little girl, who couldn't admit her feelings?" She stepped closer to him pushing at his rock-hard shoulders. Maybe thousands of other women had made a similar speech, but she meant it sincerely.
"I don't deserve you." He stroked her hair, tucking some behind her ear. His eyes on her, waiting for her to speak.
"But you have me" she said taking his hand. His palm was turned up to greet her palm, and his fingers clasped hers. He seized her by the back of her head and kissed her, and oh boy he could kiss.
Her heart was pounding as she leaned greedily into the kiss, sliding one of her knees between his. He gasped against her mouth, hands gliding over her back. They pulled apart, smiling at each other with a hooded look. And then he kissed her again and again. And she kept kissing him back. Time ceased to be more than a notion. This kiss would change everything for them.
The year flew by and Katie and Marcus spent as much time with each other as they could, even spending her seventeenth birthday watching the sunset while curled up in his arms. They would often get confused looks from other students, a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, an improbable duo. Katie ignored it though, loving him all the same. He was the one person who genuinely cared about her. Katie still wasn't speaking to Angelina, only spending time with Alicia when they had class together, or when they attended Harry's DA group.
She had found it weird that a third-year student was teaching older kids how to defend themselves. After Professor Dumbledore was fired, the school drastically changed. Dolores Umbridge had an enormous power over the school, often using it to punish kids in the cruelest ways. Almost all the students despised her, and Katie couldn't help but wonder if the ones that didn't, were under a spell like she had been. Katie did her best to remain silent when Umbridge abused her power, not wanting to stand out from the crowd. It was a cowardly thing to do, not like a Gryffindor at all. But she was a Thunderbird, seeking adventure, and she found that with Marcus.
Katie had tried to get Marcus to join one of the DA classes, he tried it and went to one of the classes with her. At the end of the class, he had said "I'm sorry, I can't go to another class with you. I don't fit in." She knew he was trying his best, but the Gryffindor students disliked him. Smiling up at him she had said "If you need to leave, I get that, but you'll always fit in with me."
She noticed that he was nicer to Alicia now a days when they would all walk together to their potions class. He had even offered to help Alicia with her enormous load of books one day. When they sat together at the table Katie had whispered a "thank you" to him.
"For what?" He asked confused, staring down at her with a smile.
"For being you" She whispered, grabbing his hand she laced her fingers with his.
Katie would never forget what he had said to her. "You are the best influence on me. You are good and I need a little good in my life. Cause without it there's an awful lot of darkness." He kissed her forehead, and they shared a loving glance.
About a week later Katie found herself sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet Marcus. They had planned to meet in the room of requirements, Katie eagerly headed there, hoping to take the next step in their relationship. She was confident that she was ready to be with him physically. She briskly walked, trying to be as silent as she could. It was risky with Umbridge roaming the halls, at all hours. It was one of their last chances to see each other at school though. Marcus was graduating and it was coming up fast.
When she made her way into the room, Marcus was on her. He was kissing her, as if he could not get enough of her. He was everywhere, up her back and arms. Kissing her deeper, harder, more fervent then ever before. The kiss stole her breath away and it just showed her that all the kisses she had shared with Oliver had been wrong.
He was kissing her like his life depended on it, his tongue slipping inside of her mouth, exploring. She felt every part of her melt, as her body dissolved into his. Marcus suddenly pushed her backwards towards the wall, trapping her. The weight of his body pressed against her felt extraordinary. He broke the kiss briefly to pull his long-sleeved shirt over his head. That's when Katie pulled away from him. "Marcus what is that?" She asked him already knowing.
Glancing down at what she was pointing to and his eyes widened with shock, breathing still labored. There on his arm sat a red skull with a snake wrapped around it, the dark mark. Marcus hadn't meant for her to see it, hadn't wanted her to worry about him. He had done this for her. "I did it to keep you safe" He whispered.
"How could you do that?" She asked her voice betraying her filled with emotion.
"It was the only way to get the information about your uncle" He tried to reassure her, not wanting this to upset her.
"I never asked you to do that for me!" She screamed not being able to pretend that everything was okay, because it wasn't. Not anymore. "You've been lying to me. Is this why you left school last year? You told me it was family stuff" Her voice cracked, a tear falling down her face. "Is this why wouldn't attend the DA classes with me?"
"I'm sorry" His voiced filled with emotion not meeting her eyes.
She was livid, how could he do this to her, he was the one person who was always there for her. Yet he betrayed. "Every time you do something horrendous you say you're sorry and then you do it again."
"I'm not the good guy, remember? I'm selfish, I do what I want, and I fall in love with some other blokes' girl. I don't do the right thing. But I needed to do the right thing by you so yes, I took the dark mark, but it was to help you."
"I… I can't be with you Marcus, not after this" Her voice cracked as she tried to build up some resolve. She knew that forgiveness wouldn't come easy. Maybe over time it would, in small increments, but he had made her life hell and she needed to recuperate from her fear and anger. Before she could even think about staying with him.
"I understand" His voice was low and filled with and distinctive pain of rejection.
"Marcus, can't you see this isn't who you are." She pleaded with him. Katie knew deep down that he knew what he did was wrong, hoping he'd see that.
"You're wrong" He said in a distant voice. How could he say that? If you love someone, shouldn't you suppress the bad parts of you that offends the other person? I guess she had known all along that they were still there, but shouldn't she also love every part of him? "I just want to say thank you." He looked at her, heart breaking "At some point you decided that I was worth it."
She ran directly to Alicia and told her everything, not being able to hold back. Needing a friend and hoping Alicia wouldn't report Marcus. Surprisingly, Alicia was not shocked about the news. "Katie its all my fault. When I asked for his help, I knew what I was asking him to do." Alicia's voice pleaded for Katie to understand. "I'm so sorry Katie, we didn't know what else to do."
"Alicia You-know-who could summon him at any time" Katie sounded desperate knowing she would lose him all too soon.
"There's no way to get rid of it." Alicia said with a sympathetic look on her face. "He could go to Azkaban."
"Marcus has done a lot of things, things he's going to spend the rest of his life atoning for, but I believe he can do it. He just needs to believe in himself." Katie whispered hurt clearly written on her face.
Katie found herself standing outside Spintwitches Quidditch Store. She finally had willed the courage up to go speak with him. Walking up to him she said "I know the truth" he looked at her shock written on his face.
"What do you know?" He asked.
"That you're my real dad, and you killed my mom" She accused glaring at him while holding her mother's journal.
He looked ghostly and ashamed, not willing to meet her eyes. "Katie I…I'm sorr..."
Before she could finish, Katie said. "You're a horrible person, and I can't believe I've been talking to you for the last three years!" She ran from the shop as fast as she could not looking back once.
The next time she saw Marcus was on the train leaving Hogwarts, they sat together in a compartment, alone. He had told her everything that had happened when he left school the previous year. How he had taken the Dark Mark, how he had even killed a No-Maj family at the request of You-Know-Who.
"Marcus you're not a murderer. There has to be a way for you to get out of this." She pleaded with him, grasping his hand in her own. Willing him to fight for her. Isn't it sad, when you get hurt so much you can finally say that you are used to it?
"Katie who we are, and who we need to be to survive, are two very different things" he said in a voice so low she had to strain to her it.
"You risked everything to be a better man, you can't give up now." She begged him.
"I'm sorry Katie." He said in a quiet voice. He took in a deep breath, gaining confidence "but I'm not sorry for taking lives to help protect you."
"Please don't do this" said Katie with instant rejection, as she loosened her grip on his hands.
He dropped his hands from her as he spoke, not meeting her eyes. "I have no choice." He said it absently, as if he were thinking of something else.
"Tell me that going to war is not what you want." Katie said.
"Katie, I'm not good for you, you deserve so much better." In the light of the train compartment, his face looked hard as stone. The train had arrived at their destination, kids pilling out. Katie followed Marcus, spinning him around to face her.
"Marcus, I love you." She protested, hoping he would see reason.
"Katie Bell, I love you too. But loving someone means letting them go when you know you aren't right for them. I love you enough that I know I have to let you go." He said, as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and put his chin on top of her head. Burying her face in the sweet-smelling warmth of his chest.
She felt heartbroken, wasn't the sweetest part of life sharing it with someone else. Katie couldn't help but feel like her life wasn't good enough to share. "But most of all I'm terrified of failing you, so I'm leaving. I'd rather let you down once then let you down over and over again, because you weren't meant for this kind of life. And I hope it's an amazing life Katie Bell." He said, leaving her there at the train station as she stared after him.
"You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." —Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire