"Game Plan"

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and elements from the Harry Potter series belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews. I finished the next few chapters awhile ago but I was too nervous to post them. Things move very fast, maybe too fast. My justification is the fact that the fic is told primarily from Marcus's point of view; and he's not going to spend much time reminiscing about every smile in the hallway.

Marcus told himself that the only reason he'd thought of Katie all Christmas break was for strategic purposes. That she appeared in all his fantasies meant nothing. After all, he'd fantasized about Madam Hooch a couple of times when he was younger and that hardly meant he was in love with her. No, Katie was hot and he was simply behaving as any healthy eighteen year male would. Marcus nodded to himself and left his dormitory to seek out the thinking members of his team. Bole and Derrick were in his year, but both of them were nearly as stupid as Malfoy's two friends. He headed to the fifth year boys' dormitory, considering whether he should ask Malfoy for advice. The kid was pretty smart, but no. Marcus Flint did not ask thirteen year olds for romantic advice. Besides, Malfoy had problems keeping his mouth shut.

He barged into the room without knocking, startling a boy who wasn't on his team into dropping a book. "Leave," Marcus ordered. The boy left and Marcus turned his attention to his teammates. Warrington was writing something, Montague was staring up at the ceiling, and Pucey and Bletchley were sitting on one of the beds looking at photos in a magazine.

"You've got to see this," Bletchley said, waving him over. "I didn't know witches could do that with a..."

"Tell me how to get Bell," Marcus interrupted.

"I thought you said everything was going perfectly before Christmas," Warrington said without looking up from the parchment in his lap.

"It was but - we just got back to school yesterday, who the hell are you writing to?" Marcus demanded, stalking towards Warrington to look at the parchment.

"My pen pal in Australia." Warrington rolled up the letter and shoved it under his pillow before Marcus could read it.

"God, Marcus, did you come storming in here to interrogate us on our letter writing habits?" Pucey asked.

"Watch it, Adrian, or I'll throw you off the reserves too. That girl in Draco's year, Bulstrode, would love your spot on the team."

Pucey looked bored. "Really," he drawled, "You tossed me for Warrington because he's a couple of inches taller and maybe twenty pounds heavier, yet you're now threatening to replace me with a girl half my size?" He shook his head. "There's this thing called logic..."

"How can we help you, Marcus?" Montague asked, sitting up and glaring at Pucey to silence him.

"Stage one is over," Marcus said. "And quite successfully. I kissed Bell before Christmas and she kissed me back. I take it she's falling for me." He lowered his voice, "I don't know what to do now."

"Do what you do with those girls you're always with in the broomshed," Bletchley said idly, still flipping through the magazine.

Marcus strode over to him and ripped the magazine away. He glanced down at the photo of a witch and her broomstick for a second before closing the mazagine and throwing it across the room. "So, Miles, you're suggesting I pull Bell into a dark corner, tell her she's a sexy little thing, and ask if she'd like to ride my broomstick? Yeah, that wouldn't cause her to beat me senseless with her broom."

Bletchley looked impressed. "It's that easy for you?" he asked.

Marcus shook his head. He was not going to admit to Bletchley that his approach to girls earned him as many slaps as it did sexual favors. "I'm asking you what do you do when you want a girl to like you?"

"Well, I try to get her somewhere private and then I tell her that I've never felt this way about a girl before," Bletchley said. "Drusilla Mulciber just about melted when I told her that."

"You have to look like you mean it." Montague added, "No offense, Marcus, but you tend to look like you're about to devour small children."

Marcus bared his teeth. "Witches like the way I look at them. They've told me so."

"Yes, but Bell isn't just any witch, remember? She's a Gryffindor. Her response to a wicked wolf isn't to shag him, it's to kill him." Montague was smiling as if he was remembering something. Marcus looked at him suspiciously.

"Blaise Zabini!" Pucey exclaimed. Marcus stared at him, wondering if he'd lost his mind. Pucey ran out of the room only to return a minute later with a third year. He pushed the boy into the room. "Show Marcus that expression of yours that makes the girls sigh."

Marcus scowled, it looked like he was going to be getting romantic advice from a thirteen year old after all. Zabini looked like he was both having trouble breathing and about to cry. Marcus blinked and looked at Pucey. "What the fuck?"

"Blaise has this expression that all the girls love," Pucey said. "Even Sixth Years say they wish he was older."

"You have to practice it," Zabini said, taking hold of Marcus's wrist. Marcus allowed the kid to lead him over to a mirror. Marcus tried to copy the expression Zabini'd worn a few moments ago. He gritted his teeth as he heard Bletchley and Montague snickering.

"No, no, no," Zabini said. "Like this." Marcus sighed and tried again.

By the next day, Marcus thought he'd gotten the look down. Marcus pulled Katie into an alcove during midmorning break. "I've thought about you all Christmas break," he whispered. He wondered if the line was too much, too sentimental to be believable from him. Katie didn't seem to think so though.

"I've been thinking about you too, Marcus," she murmured, resting her head against his chest.

"Your teammates would kill me if they saw us like this," he said, as he tightened his arms around her. "Kill" was an understatement; beat to a bloody pulp then hex until his mother wouldn't recognize him was a more apt description of what would happen to him if Wood and the Weasleys saw them now.

"What about your fellow Slytherins?" she asked. She felt so good. Marcus sternly reminded his body that this was more work than pleasure. He had to concentrate, he couldn't scare her away.

"They'd think I was just trying to score with a hot Gryffindor." He tilted her chin so he could stare into her eyes. "But Katie, I've never felt this way about any girl before." If she laughed, he was going to go find Bletchley and turn him into a toad. He felt like an idiot, but the stupid look worked for Zabini, didn't it? Though Marcus didn't have Zabini's darkly angelic good looks. Damn, he should have thought about that sooner.

Katie bit her lip and stared up at him. "I want to believe you, Marcus, but you are a Slytherin. It's hard for me not to believe that this isn't a joke to you, that you won't tell your friends you've made Katie Bell fall in love with you. I can picture everyone pointing at me in the hallways and laughing."

"Katie, I'd never do that." Like anyone in this school would believe a Gryffindor chaser had fallen for him.

"I have to go, my friends are probably looking for me," she said. He released her and watched her walk away.

Marcus went to the library fifteen minutes before his usual time on Thursday. He was worried he'd pushed Katie too much and she wouldn't be there today. He set his Charms textbook down on the table and opened it, then turned to stare at the entrance to the library. He tapped his fingers on the desk, waiting impatiently for Katie. The Hufflepuff prefect sitting at the next the table glared at him. Marcus glared back and tapped his fingers louder, daring the Hufflepuff to reprimand him. The Hufflepuff got up with a loud sigh and moved to a table on the other side of the room. Marcus smirked, confident in his superiority over mere Hufflepuffs. His smirk slipped and he frowned as seven o'clock came and Katie didn't show up. She was exactly one minute and thirty-seven seconds late. He stood and forced a smile onto his face as she made her way to his table. "Katie."

"Marcus," she greeted him smiling. She set her books down and began twirling a lock of her hair. She sat next to him, rather than across from him like she usually did. Suddenly he didn't have to work to keep the smile on his face, it widened on its own.

"I've missed you," Marcus said. He moved his chair a little closer to hers.

"You've been staring at me during meals. Luckily, everyone just thinks you're glaring at Oliver as usual."

"Can't imagine why anyone would think I'd want to look at Oliver while I ate, but that's all the better for us, right?"

"Right," she said, looking at him for a few seconds more before turning her attention to her homework. Marcus started reading his own book, though he kept looking at Katie. Really, by this point, he'd hoped to be snogging her, not having to pretend to study any longer. Seducing a Gryffindor was hard work. At least his parents had been happy with the improvement in his schoolwork because of it.

"Katie." He covered one of her hands with his as she started putting books back into her bag. "Do you want to go for a walk around the lake?"

She smiled. "What, going walking outside the castle at night while there's an escaped murderer lurking in the area?" she asked teasingly.

Marcus hadn't thought of that. Still, he wasn't about to give up that easily. "It's silly. Why would Sirius Black hang about a school? I mean, if I'd been in prison for twelve years, I'd go to Knockturn Alley and pick up a cheap witch." He touched the collar of her robe, "Unless he has a thing for schoolgirls, that is."

She didn't brush his hand away. "I think killing Harry is a little more important than consorting with cheap witches."

"Come on, there are Dementors all over the place. We're perfectly safe." He stroked the soft skin of her neck.

"We could go to the Astronomy Tower instead. There won't be any classes up there until midnight," she said, her voice shaky.

He'd been counting on the moonlight reflecting off the lake to provide a romantic setting, but stars would do just as well. "That's perfect. You're perfect." He leaned in to kiss her.

She held up her hand, "Marcus, the library's full of people! We don't want gossip, do we. I'll meet you up there in twenty minutes."

Marcus dashed down to the dungeons, put away his books, and sprinted up to the Astronomy Tower with seven minutes to spare. He knew because he checked his watch. He was fairly certain Katie wouldn't actually have sex with him tonight, but he'd try his best anyway. He looked up at the stars and tried to remember which one was the star children wished upon.

"How'd you get all the way up here from the dungeons before me?" Katie's amused voice came from behind him.

He turned around and pulled her into his arms. "I was very, very eager to see you."

"See me, huh?" She laughed. "That's why we're standing in the dark."

He nuzzled her neck. "There's plenty of light from the stars."

"Which you can see so clearly right now, right?"

He licked the skin over her racing pulse before replying. "Yeah, and what a view tonight." He kissed her before she could reply. He wasn't going to waste their time up here trading banter. He'd expected her to be a little hesitant, so he was surprised when she threw her arms around his neck and aggressively returned his kisses. She was the one who first slipped her tongue into his mouth. Marcus thought this meant she wouldn't mind his hand slipping under her shirt. He was wrong. Katie broke the kiss and pulled away from him.

"Don't do that, Marcus," she said, licking her lips before continuing. "I like you and I want to be with you, but I'm not ready for that. Okay?"

She was looking at him like it was some kind of test, so Marcus said the only thing he could say. "Okay." He reached for her and she melted back into his arms.

Author's Note: The Blaise Zabini thing was an in-joke to myself. It amuses me that he's always portrayed as the slut of Hogwarts when we didn't even know his gender until recently.