A/N: Hey, long time no see, kiddies. Well, I'm "back." Who knows when I'll resurface again, though I don't plan to keep you hanging. Sorry, I'm lazy. One lazy ass mofo. Flint and Bell… continued.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not mine. And, oh, lookit that! Not mine.

Forgiving Flint

Katie knew the tour was a farce.

Flint had told her.

It was all a cover, a stupid fake-out, so he could get her alone to clear his own guilty conscience.

She'd spent the entire night lying in the hammock on deck and thinking over their brief and exposing conversation, or rather, his painfully humanizing confession. It had been so much easier to think of Marcus Flint, the pureblood bastard, as the bad guy. For years she had blamed him, dreamt of the ways she'd make him pay if they ever came face-to-face. Well, here they were. Face-to-face. And she'd discovered he was as guilty as she was.

It was a shitty situation, but that's it.

It hadn't been her fault. It hadn't been his.

And that was the way it went.

It had been a hell of a lot easier when she had been able to blame him. That way she wouldn't have to face it. She could live off her hatred; it could keep her sane. Now that she'd been stripped of it all, she felt oddly empty. Maybe that was how she was supposed to feel so many years ago when she'd found Oliver had been murdered. Maybe instead of enraged at the world and filled with disgust, it was supposed to be this quiet, maddening desperation and pain only endured through silent acceptance.

It had been five years since her husband had died and only now was she learning to deal with it. It was beyond twisted.

Katie docked the small boat near the edge of the lake and lowered the anchor with a tap of her wand. It was superfluous, but just in case the river got especially irate today. They were a half day's hike from Zuwanga now. From here they could probably take the smaller boat to shore and take a good look at the wildlife before packing in and finding their way into the Wizarding park.

Yes. She knew the tour was a complete sham but she planned on finishing it anyway. She didn't know what else to do.

She heard steps behind her, but didn't bother turning around.

Within seconds, Flint had appeared beside her.

He slanted his gray eyes to look her over and said frankly, "You don't have to do this. I'm going to give you the money."

Katie froze for a millisecond, taken by surprise, before resuming her preparations for the small boat.

"Bell?" Flint growled in irritance.

She swallowed harshly.

"I'm giving you the money," Flint said again, this time louder, as if she hadn't heard the first time.

"Why?" She managed to ask. She threw in the last few trail packs and began loosening the ropes tying the smaller boat down.

"I told you I promised Wood I'd make sure you were all right, didn't I?" Flint sighed.

"I don't take charity," Katie said dismissively.

Flint snorted in disbelief. Then pointed out, "Your entire foundation is built on charity, Bell. Or is it you won't take charity from a Flint?"

Katie's hands jerked.

"Can't help hating me, is it? It's been burned into you?" Flint sneered.

Even after she'd resolved to forgive him, he could make her madder than anyone she knew. She had lived her life without emotion for the last five years but one smirk from Flint could send her into a fit of titanic proportions.

"Don't push me, Flint. If you don't want to get your money's worth, it's your loss," Katie snapped.

"Look at me when you talk to me, Bell," Flint said flatly.

Katie flinched, "No."

"My money isn't worth shit to me. You can take it all if you want," Flint snarled.

"I told you, I don't take charity," Katie ground out.

She didn't have a chance to argue, because he'd grabbed her hands away from the roping she was trying to unknot and jerked her around to face him. She gasped and twisted away from him vainly.

"You have to make everything difficult, don't you?" Flint snapped.

"Let go of me," Katie hissed as she jerked backwards.

Flint followed her fluidly and retained his grip on her effortlessly. She struggled against him, refusing to give in to his superior leer. After minutes of thrashing with no result, she finally slackened against him in defeat.

She was so tired.

His grip on her loosened, but she didn't move. She did the unthinkable and later blamed it on her exhaustion. She leaned forward and sank into Flint's reassuring warmth and solidity. She couldn't remember the last time she'd willingly made human contact for comfort, but she was so damn tired.

"I hate you," she muttered hoarsely.

Flint couldn't help but smirk at her statement. The girl would never give up. That was something he had to admire. When she went down, she went down fighting tooth and nail every inch of the way.

"I know," Flint sighed painfully.

They sank to the deck of the boat.

"Because… I can't hate you anymore," she said quietly.

Flint paused.

"What?"

"It's not your fault. And it never really was. It was just easier for me to blame you than actually deal with it," Katie sighed.

Flint released his hold on her wrists and snaked his arms around her slender back as Katie closed her eyes. She hadn't slept all night.

Flint remained silent, thinking to himself. The news that she didn't hate him or blame him anymore should've been something to smile over but instead, he was growing more desperate by the second.

"Go home, Bell. Let it go. It's over," Flint finally muttered.

That was when she started crying.

She cried for what seemed like an eternity, with Flint quietly rocking her to sleep.

She couldn't remember what happened next. Everything was blurred together, but she remembered kissing him and being kissed in return. Heated exchanges in the early morning light. His hands on her face. His mouth on her. Hands roaming in places that hadn't been touched in years. Muttered curses and flashing gray eyes. Exquisite torture. Then nothing.

And she woke up in her own bed two days later. Out of the jungle. Alone. And without Marcus Flint to haunt her dreams anymore.

It had been the first time in five years she'd slept peacefully, her night demons gone.