Chapter Nine: Business Suits and Combat Boots

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. The underlined portions are taken directly from the novel; I do not own those parts. They belong to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: This fanfiction is going to be different from my other stories. This picks up where "The Heart of Everything" and "The Heart of Everything: Shallow Bay" left off. The time in the books also changes. So, pay attention the time, so you don't get confused. Some of the chapters are other Marcus Flint/Katie Bell stories, just with more changes and deleted scenes added.

Time: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Genre: Romance, Drama, and Friendship

Rating: PG-13

Marcus sat down with the rest of his team feeling rather uncomfortable in his dress clothes. Why they had to wear dress clothes to the first day of training was beyond him. It was probably because the press was normally there, but today there would be no press. They had been called to come to a meeting room rather than going to the pitch. He looked around at the confused expressions of his teammates. Something just wasn't right here. Usually on the first day of training, Holder ran them until they died, but not today.

Brent Holder and Daniel Young stepped into the room and shut the door behind them. They looked around at the team in front of them.

The Falcons' players came from a wide range of backgrounds. Damon Monroe, nineteen, was a small, but powerful Beater from Ireland. Kevin Blair, twenty-three, was a medium built Beater from eastern Finland. Jamie Taubenfeld, twenty-two, was a medium built left Chaser from western Canada; he was also dating the Seeker. Carter Collins, twenty-six, was a small right Chaser from South Africa. Sebastian Reynolds, twenty-three, a transfer from a Dutch Quidditch team, played Keeper; this was his first season with the Falcons. Raine Daniels, twenty-one, was the only female on the team and was Seeker from eastern Russia. She and Marcus had been signed together.

"Why do you look like you're a dying?" Jamie asked.

"We have come to a very difficult decision," Holder said after taking a deep breath.

Everyone looked at each other.

Daniel Young stared down at the floor.

"We have decided that with the given events that it is too risky to be a part of any league this season. You will still be paid regular pay, but we will not be playing until the current situation changes," Holder said slowly. He looked at his team; his eyes were sad. "I am very sorry to do this to you and I understand if any of you wish to transfer to another team." He paused. "I just can't risk any of you."
Silence filled the room.

Marcus stared down at his hands. He kind of expected that something would happen like this. He just did not expect the season to start this way.

Young looked around at the team. "The Cups have all been chanced anyway. This will just give us more time to kick them all," he said with a smile.

A couple of the team members let out a small laugh.

Holder looked around at his team. "You can all go home now. I want you all to be safe and I will hopefully see you next season."

The team gave each other one final look before going their own ways.

Marcus ducked his head as he walked away from the building. There was somewhere he had to go, but he wasn't to go there in a something that looked like a business suit. No, he needed something like combat boots.

He Apparated home and changed into jeans and long sleeve button down shirt. As soon as he had laced up his boots, he was out the door.

He landed outside of Natalia's shop. The sign on the door was still on "closed." Frowning, Marcus knocked on the door and peered inside. There was no one in sight.

He climbed up to her apartment and banged on the door. "Natalia!" he called. "It's me."
Marcus stepped back and waited. Maybe she had already left the country. He was about ready to turn and leave, when he heard the door creep open.

"I thought I told you not to come back here," Natalia said in a hushed voice.

Marcus turned to look at her. "I'm not very good at listening to directions."
"I noticed, but for your own safety, please, don't come back here."

He turned to look at her, but she was already gone. What was going on with her?

His mind was racing, the Ministry falling, Potter disappearing to who knows where, Natalia, and the Horcruxes; these things just didn't keep happening.

Marcus strolled down Diagon Alley. Normally, the place was crawling with witches and wizards, but today was another story. He normally couldn't get down the street without someone stopping him, asking him how the Falcons were doing this season, asking him for tickets, and so on. Lately, not so much.

Everyone was living in a state of fear.

He did not blame people for not lingering. He certainly did not want to be caught here after dark. These were dark and dangerous times.

He looked at all of the empty shops and wanted posters. Some of the people on those posters were old classmates and friends. He hated it all.

Marcus took one final look and headed toward the Leaky Caldron. He did not even know why he bothered coming here.

People turned their backs on friends. Families were divided. No one dared made friends with people they did not know. Marcus took a deep breath. He had a feeling that the world was only going to get colder.

Marcus exited the bar. Usually he stopped to get something to drink, but not today. He was not in the mood. He Apparated home.

Katie Bell, his long time girlfriend, was waiting on him. "Anything?"

Marcus sat down next to her. "It's a ghost town. '

"Did you expect anything different?"

"No, not really."

He looked into the flameless fireplace. "It's so strange out there. So cold."

Katie looked at him. "It could also be because it is really cold outside for August."

Marcus laughed. "Yeah, it is."
"Have you thought anymore about the November wedding date?" Katie asked as she stared up at the ceiling.

Marcus closed his eyes. What did he really have to lose with getting married in November? It wasn't like he had a job to worry about anymore. "That sounds good."
Katie put her arms around him. "What about Quidditch?"

"That's not going to be a problem anymore," Marcus muttered. This would the first Quidditch season he had sat out of in eighteen years. It was a rather strange feeling now that he thought about it.

Katie frowned. "Why not?"

"Because we're not entering any leagues this year." Marcus paused. "Holder and Young think it's too risky to too. I think they are going to flee the country."
Katie nodded. She didn't want to leave the country.

"Mum and Dad aren't sending Haley back to Hogwarts. My brother, Ryan, got transferred to Canada and she's going to go to school over there," Marcus continued.

Katie nodded. She knew the story. . Like most Slytherins, he was form a wealthy pureblood family. He was the result of his mum and dad's second marriages. His dad had been married to some crazy Polish woman for five years and they had a daughter, Alice. Alice was thirteen years older than he was and he had only met her twice. His mother had been married to his dad's brother for eleven years. Then, the Death Eaters murdered him. (His uncle, mum, and dad were Aurors.) His mum and uncle had six sons: Brain, Luke and Logan (twins), Shawn and Nathanial (twins) and Ryan. They were anywhere from eleven to three years older than Marcus. Well, Marcus's mum and dad overtime fell in love and got married two years later. A year later that Marcus was born. Then, four and a half years later Marcus's sister, Haley, was born. Most of the time none of them was around. His parents both worked seven days a week and were only off for holidays. His half-brothers moved out right after Hogwarts and only came home maybe twice a year. He and Haley were close. The family also moved around a lot. Marcus had lived in four different countries and two different continents.

"Yeah, Dad and Jenna don't know what to do with Sierra and Zoey. They don't want to send them to Hogwarts like they've been ordered to."
Marcus shook his head. "It's just getting bad."
Katie nodded. "Yeah, it is," she echoed.

They sat there in silence for the next several minutes.

"Which is way we are going to test Fairyland on the Riddle House," Marcus muttered.

Katie eyed him. "What?"

Marcus nodded. He wasn't even sure why he had told her that. "Yeah, we're going to give the Dark Side a little wake up call."

"Is it wise?" Katie inquired.

Marcus shrugged. "Who knows."

"That's what I thought."

Marcus smirked over at her. It clearly hadn't hit her yet what he had planned. "That's why you will be going with us."
Katie gave him a look. "What do you mean?"

Marcus got to his feet. "You are the one who said you wanted to be involved in the war and this is your chance."
"That's not what I had in mind! You just got done saying that thing has a mind of its own!" Katie objected, even though she was getting to her feet.

Marcus knew that she felt honoured to be asked to tag along. "That is our chance to change history," Marcus said as he took her hand.

Katie looked up at him. "Or our chance to get killed."

Marcus didn't respond. He hoped that didn't happen.

An hour later, they found themselves standing in front of Fairyland. The weapon looked like a Muggle weapon right out of World War 2, which it was. It was modelled after the BL 4.5 inch Medium Gun and the British Ordnance BL 60-pounder. Instead of shooting out bullets, it acted like an extended wand and shot spells.

Damon Knightly was already there, sitting under the weapon waiting for him. "It's about time," he said as he got to his feet.

"We got a little held up," Marcus muttered.

"I can see that."
"The others are supposed to meet there," Marcus said as he walked around Fairyland.

Damon nodded. "Do they know about us?"

Marcus shrugged. "They will soon."

Damon ran his hands over Fairyland's side. "Let's just hope everything goes to plan. With any luck, we will be home in time for breakfast."

"Let's hope so," Marcus muttered as he studied the weapon. "So, any ideas of how me move this stupid thing?"
"Shouldn't you guys had this planned out already?" Katie asked speaking for the first time.

"They probably didn't think about that part," a voice said from behind them.

"Maybe," Marcus said to his grandfather.

The Randolph family was an old wizard family. They had a lot of power and wealth. Marcus's grandfather, Jonathan Randolph, had been Minister of Magic during the last Dark War and was a fierce destroyer of anything that had to do with the Dark Arts. He had retired a few years ago.

Jonathan Randolph just shook his head. He looked at Katie. "I hope you are able to keep them in line, my dear."

"I'll try," Katie answered with a smile.

Marcus tried not roll his eyes. They didn't have time for gang up Marcus; they had to get the weapon to the Riddle House right now.

Damon came around from the other side of the weapon. "So, how do we move it?"
Jonathan smiled at them. "That is an old man's secret."

"Are you going to help us?" Marcus asked.

"That depends on rather or not you can keep a secret," Jonathan answered. He leaned in close to them. "Just promise me that you won't this."

Damon, Katie, and Marcus nodded.

"Just remember that the border is breached but not broken. There is still time for use to save ourselves."