Chapter Two: In the Same Predicament
"You think Fred's eyes are wandering, but who's being a little tease, missy?" Katie asked her friend.
Angelina smacked her on the arm. "How could you say that right in front of them?" she demanded. "If you wanted a job, Katie, that surely wasn't the way to get it. You were acting just as bad as he was."
With a sigh that made her shoulders slump, Katie rose from her seat. "I've got to get home and work on that damn application," she muttered, feeling suddenly very tired. "Talk to you soon?"
"Yeah," Angie smiled warmly. "Tell me if you need anything, okay?"
"No problem," Katie lied, before waving, and walking back to her apartment. It looked the same, a tiny building sitting off by itself, split into different areas that were sold off as cheap apartments. Pulling out her key, she unlocked the door and entered.
She had never been one to stoop as low as someone else had. And Marcus Flint was under the category of lowest stoopers. However, seeing the financial fix she was in, she would have to do something. She couldn't sit around in her apartment all day feeling sorry for herself. No, that was not the way a Bell was, or at least that wasn't how her mother had taught her to be.
While growing up, Katie had always looked to her mother for what to do and how to act. Perah Bell had never been one to loose hope. It was her unending inner strength that made her so lovable. Perhaps that was why it was so hard for her daughter to move on after her death. Out of all the things the witch had done in her time on earth, Katie couldn't see why something as Muggle as cancer could claim her life. It wasn't supposed to be that way. Cancer couldn't steal the only person she had.
Slamming her fist against the nearest wall, she took in a slow, steady breath. She was overreacting and she knew it. Her mother had died ten years ago. There was hardly anything she could do about it now. She wasn't meant to bring back souls from the dead. She couldn't play the sport she loved more than oxygen, so how in Godriac's name was she going to raise the dead. And even if she could, what would that do to help her problems?
It was a lose/lose situation. Either she applied to Flint's store and labored under his devious eyes, or she stayed here in her apartment going through the Daily Prophet's Wanted Ads every morning until she could stand it no longer. The choice was hers to make. She was running out of time. Her funds could only hold so long and that wasn't long enough for her to hesitate.
There was nothing left in her Gringott's account. In fact, she no longer had a vault in the Gringott's bank. The goblins had taken her key when she had no more money left in it. "We'll be needing this for our next investment," a chubby fellow had snapped, when he snatched away the golden key. "See you when you can start to make end's meat again." And that was that.
No one held any pity for her, least of all her father. He was too busy with Ms. Lange to pay her any head. His new girlfriend of eight months was too young to even be considering Richard Bell. The thought of him becoming intimate with yet another dumb girl right out of college made Katie's stomach turn. How could he do that to her? It was just the same as if he was being with her. The idea was vial.
Thinking of vial, why had Angie brought up that crack about Flint having a crush on her. That was so long ago, and even when it had been going around, she had always just considered it was something he had started to get a rise out of Oliver Wood. Being sworn enemies for their own personal reasons, Flint and Wood had fought over everything, including Katie Bell, but not in a way she would have preferred.
Where she cared for Wood more than a friend, he wanted to protect her like a big brother. She was convinced by the end of her Hogwarts career that he was only in love with Quidditch. If the game was a woman, he would have had her eating out of the palm of his hand by now. However, the sport was not a physical thing, therefore, he was too involved with it to have time for her, unless Flint was around, then he managed to make all the time in the world to back her up.
Things had begun when Katie first started playing. She was the smallest girl on any of the teams. For their first game, Wood had kept a special eye on her, mainly because he wasn't so sure about having placed her on Gryffindor's team in the first place. His doubts were so heavily burdened on his shoulders, he spent extra time with her during the entire game. This led to the theory that they were an item.
Obviously, this made Flint mad. He didn't want Oliver to be happy, no matter what the conditions. So things started between him and Katie. At first it was little things, tripping her in the hall, charming her hair so it turned an unnatural shade of periwinkle, or dropping a mini-dungbomb in her Potion's cauldron. Things of that nature usually annoyed her, but never had he physically harmed her. At least not until their third year.
Gryffindor had had a secret scrimmage with Slytherin. Wood and Flint had wanted to get a bit of action before the real game. No Seekers, no Beaters, just three Chasers against three Chasers and one Keeper for each side. When Katie had heard of what was going on, she had thought it was an exceptional idea. Only after the fact did she realize how stupid they had all been.
Things went wrong right from the beginning. Flint had beat on her and beat on her hard. He knew that out of all the players, Wood worried about her the most. It was because ever since their first game together, she had been the skinniest one on the team. He had never let her be herself and do what she could do to prove why she had been placed her in the first place. If he had just let her go, she wouldn't have been in for it, but either way, Flint wouldn't leave her alone.
Throughout the game, she was brutally shoved, smacked, and even punched once. Devin Montague had been in league with Flint back then just as he was now. Though evil, he had never once raised a hand against her. He had had an awful time with Angelina though. She had given him hell and for good reason. She wanted him to pass the message on to his captain to stop beating on her best friend. However, it was not meant to be.
Falling from the sky like a rock, Katie had landed on her leg. Where it broke then was where it had broken once again during her training on Morgan Pitch. It was Marcus Flint's fault, she suddenly realized, that she could no longer play Quidditch. Her one love, the thing she had always had to count on had been ripped from her fingertips when that blasted troll had pushed her off her Cleansweep 14.
He owes me, she thought angrily. As she thought about it, she came to the conclusion that it wasn't such a bad idea. He did owe her. It was his actions that had ultimately led her to this fate. Had she managed to snag a place in Professional Quidditch, she would have made a small fortune. It was quite clear that she wouldn't be living like she was now had she gone on to bigger and greater things. Flint needed to redeem himself and giving her a job was just the way to do it.
Beaming with a smile, the first real one she had shed in a long time, Katie pulled out her best quill and jar of ink. They were actually her only jar of ink and quill, but she referred to them as her best, to make them sound more important. In no time, she was working hard on her resume so she could apply to work at Flint's QQS.
She didn't know exactly what to write. It wasn't like Flint didn't already know she was qualified for the job. She had been around Quidditch since she knew what it was. She definitely had the background for it. Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't reject her just for the fun of it. He had never had a special liking to her, besides the attention he paid her to irk Wood. Katie still couldn't believe that Angelina thought that attention was attraction instead of annoying pranks.
The vision of how Montague had stared at Ang made her wonder what he had been thinking. It was odd how Angelina doubted her relationship with Fred. If she was so concerned about him being unfaithful, why had she been returning Montague's curious gaze? Things just didn't add up. She'd have to have a long talk with her friend as soon as the time was right, but first, she had to get this job.
It was a little after lunchtime when she completed the application. Pleased with the work she had finished, she sealed it in an envelope. The professional side of her told her to owl it to him, but since Diagon Alley was close by, she decided she'd deliver it herself. More than likely, Flint was out to lunch. That would give her time to slip the resume under the door without having to actually face him again. Besides, the store wasn't opened yet. He didn't stop by it everyday, did he?
Shrugging, she told herself that if he was there, she'd deal with it. She was a big girl now. She had to learn to stand up to the bastard if she was going to be working for him. All that inner strength her mother had once possessed was something she would have to strive for. If she had that inside her, nothing could weigh her down, least of all Flint.
Diagon Alley looked much nicer today. It was amazing what a small turn of events and twenty-four hours could do to one's perception of the world. Suddenly finding herself happy for no one particular reason, Katie started to whistle.
Quality Quidditch Supplies came along quickly. In no time she was climbing the stairs to the door. The inside was dark so she relaxed. Flint wasn't here. She wouldn't have to see his signature smirk as she stooped to apply to his store. It made coming here a lot easier on her. She didn't feel so inferior.
Slowly, she slipped the envelope under the doorframe, hearing the paper brush gently across the fine grain wood of the floor. It was money that could buy such elegant surroundings. It was money that she needed to regain all her furnishings. It was money that she was looking to get from this job. It was money that she didn't have. How she prayed that Flint would be kind and let her have this position.
She backed away from the steps, eyes focused on the paper inside. Deciding that she might as well go home, she turned around, nearly walking right into another figure. She groaned when she saw who it was.
"Funny how certain people seem to grow on you," Flint gloated when he saw how pleased she was to see him. "Did you drop by to stare into my empty store, or did you actually hand in a resume like I said?"
"You know what's really funny, Flint? The fact that you could have made it big and instead you're stuck here, with nothing but a store," she hissed.
"Yes," he nodded, one finger stroking his chin. "I suppose that could be comical, but then again, you're in the same predicament, Bell." She glared at him. How did he turn around everything so that it benefited himself?
"I'll have my people call you. You should have word in less than a week," he commented, not sounding interested in her application. Instead, he strolled away from his shop, leaving her to wonder why he had stopped by in the first place.
A/N: I have noticed that Sara and I aren't getting many reviews for this. Come on people! Even if my chapter sucked, you could at least review the first one. It was awesome! ~ Nev