Chapter Thirteen: Into Your Light

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 hard on the sofa of his living room. Katie ran her hand through his short hair as she kissed his lips. She climbed on top of him and smiled down at him.

"Well, what brought this on?" Marcus asked. He really wasn't complaining about this. He did enjoy a good make out session now and then.

"Just shut up and kiss me," was all Katie said.

Marcus kissed her. He wasn't one to turn down what the needs of a lady. He let her push him down onto the sofa. She put her hands under his shirt and rubbed his stomach. He fought the urge to pull away. He was very sensitive on his stomach.

Katie gave him on final kiss before pulling away. Marcus sat up slowly. He didn't understand what was wrong.

"Now, that you've had your fun, it's time we have a little chat," Katie said.

Marcus had a feeling that he wasn't going to like where this was going. Whenever a woman wanted to have a chat with him, it normally did not end up going well for him. "About what?"
"Your guest life, your wedding party choices, and Natalia," Katie said in one breath.

Marcus frowned. How had Katie found about Natalia? "Natalia?"
Katie nodded. "She paid me a visit."
Natalia went around visiting people; this was news to Marcus."About what?"
"You." Katie pushed Marcus down onto her lap and began to stroke his hair.

"What about me?" Marcus asked.

Katie brushed Marcus's bangs off his forehead. "I like it whenever you wear your hair a little bit longer. I can see the waves in it."
Marcus frowned. There was no way Katie was going to get him off this subject. "What did she say about me?"
"I also need your wedding stuff too." Katie was now humming.
Marcus reached up and gently took Katie's hand into his. "What did you two say about me?""
Katie sighed. "It's a secret."
Marcus frowned. What was going on here?
Katie pulled her hand away from his and went back to his hair. "You know that you have to be careful, don't you?"
"I see you've been talking to my mother as well," Marcus said. He closed his eyes. What in the world had brought all of this on?

Katie smiled. "You're just a popular subject lately."
"I've noticed," Marcus said. He didn't go on. Why were people talking about him? It kind of made him wonder if people trusted him or not. Plus, why weren't they telling him what was going on?

Katie was humming now. "You don't need to worry about it, though."
Marcus frowned. That was exactly what he didn't want to hear.

"Your mother was just telling me about your stupid habits."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "That's just great."

Katie laughed. "I thought that would be your reaction."

Marcus just smiled, but didn't say anything. It really bothered him that people were keeping secrets from him. Wasn't this supposed to be time when you weren't supposed to keep secrets from the people closest to you? He blinked; maybe he was just taking his too far.

Katie ran her hand through his hair. "You have really soft hair, you know that?"
"I guess," Marcus muttered.
"Girls would kill to have your hair and your eyes lashes," Katie went on.

"What about my eye lashes?" Marcus asked.

"They are so long and just shouldn't be on a male," Katie said.

Marcus just shrugged. He had never heard anyone say anything about his eyelashes before. It was rather odd, but he would work with it.

Katie leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I really do need your wedding stuff."

Marcus blinked. He had hoped she would forget about that. He never knew how much work went into weddings. Why couldn't getting married just be simple? So much planning and time went into it and it was making his head spin.

"Your mother would also like to know your plans as well," Katie said.

Marcus did not want to admit it but his mother scared him more than his dad. He did not want to get on the wrong side of Jasmine. Threatening to go to Jasmine was just low in his book.

"Your mother seems very keen on making sure you get your stuff done," Katie went on.

Marcus nodded. "I've noticed."

Katie kissed his forehead. "Well, why don't get on that?"
Marcus didn't answer. It wasn't that he didn't want to get married, there was just something holding him back on this whole wedding thing. He really didn't understand why they were trying to have a wedding given what was going on. He didn't want to say anything to Katie about it either. It would probably crush her.

"Marcus?" Katie asked.

Marcus looked up at her.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

Marcus nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"You're really quiet today," Katie said. "It kind of made me wonder."

Marcus blinked. He didn't think he was any quieter than normal, but, then, who was he to judge?

Katie sighed. "We really do need to get on this wedding thing."
"I know," Marcus whispered.

Katie sighed again. "What do you want to do about it?"
Marcus shrugged.

Katie pulled him to his feet. "Come on, we have to get something done."
Marcus gave her a playful smile. "Do we have too?"

"Yes."

The sat down at the large dining room table. Marcus really didn't understand why he had such a big table until now. Katie placed different wedding books all of the table. There were stuff that he hadn't even heard of before nor was he aware of how many different kinds of lace there were. It just blew his mind how all of this was possible.

Katie motioned for Marcus to take a seat next to her. "First order of business, guest list. We need to have this invitations sent out this weekend."

Marcus nodded. "How many people were you thinking?"

Katie shrugged. "I don't know."

Marcus nodded again. He knew that this was going to be a long and painful night. He fought the urge to groan. Why did everything have to be so complicated?
Four Hours Later

Katie eyed Marcus. He was driving her crazy.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?" Katie roared at Marcus.

"ME, YOU'RE THE ONE!"

Katie through her hands up in the air. What had happened to them? Where had the magic gone? "I'M SO SICK OF THIS OR YOU!"

Marcus froze. That one had hurt.

She looked at the time 2:30 am. At 2:30 am, everything was slipping right out of their hands.

Katie ran out of the house and into the street. She braced herself for the goodbye that she knew was coming.

Marcus followed her out and pulled her close.

Katie leaned into him. "Sorry, baby."

"Me too." He was silent for a few minutes. "I'll never leave you alone."

Marcus was glad that he had learned the lesson early. It was always better to the let the woman win a fight. It would always work out better for the two of them if he just hurried up and admitted he was wrong.

Marcus lead Katie back inside. He knew that it would probably be in their best interest to call it quits for tonight. Both of them had just had too much for one night.

They made their way up to Marcus's room. Katie sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at him. "What's happened to us?"

Marcus sat down next to her. "What do you?"

"I don't know," Katie whispered.

Marcus didn't response to her. He really didn't know what to say. They were alone in this, but strong. He didn't know how to say that; he really didn't. He looked over at her and her light. She was an angel and he wanted to be in her light.

Katie smiled over at him. "What?"
Marcus kissed. "Nothing." He paused. "There's nothing wrong with us."

Natalia Woods looked around her shop in Knockturn Alley. For two solid days no one had been in. Knockturn Alley was almost a ghost town. There was hardly anything here anymore.

She sighed and looked out the window. There wasn't even anyone walking down the street. She reached up and turned the sign, so that it read closed.

"No point in sitting here wasting my time here," Natalia said to herself.

She had lost Marcus to Katie Bell. She kind of figured that it would happen sometime but when it did it was still a shock. She had been out with a few people but none of them was right for her. Still she could not get that boy out of her mind.

"People talk in Knockturn Alley," she said.

"Freely?"

Natalia nodded.

"Are you willing to share information?"

She smiled.

"How do you know about me?"

"I wasn't sure about you, but I knew about you parents," Natalia replied.

"When was you sure?" Marcus inquired.

"Just now."

Marcus nodded. "Why are you asking me?"

Natalia stared him in the eye. "I am sick of them acting like they own the world."

Marcus nodded again.

"Do want my help or not?" Natalia asked.

Marcus took a deep breath. This was big risk. He did not really know Natalia, but she sounded like she wanted to help. Was he willing to sacrifice the Order? It could be the death of them all. The odds were, however, in their favour with her. The Order needed all the help it could get or the fight would had ended before even started. The wound had been opened and he did not want to be the one to pour the salt.

But, they needed help.

"Can it just be between the two of us?" Marcus asked.

"That would probably be the best," Natalia said. "I will see you around."

Marcus watched as she disappeared into Knockturn Alley.

Natalia had a sister in Australia. Maybe it was time to visit her. Yeah, that's what she would do. She needed to get out of Britain. It was for her safely and to get away from the pain of losing Marcus. She had never realized how much she really cared about him until now. Why did the world have to be so mean to her?

Natalia heard a knock on the front door of her shop. She looked up at the clock. It was 7:00 p.m. This was an odd time for people to be visiting her shop.

She walked over to the door. Slowly, she opened the door. A sick feeling was starting to form in her stomach. On the other side of the door there was something there.

Something black.

Something with its face covered.

It pulled back its mask and Natalia screamed. She tried to run away, but there was no hope.

A jet of green light shot out of its wand and Natalia hit the floor.

Dead.

Murdered in Knockturn Alley.

Yeah, not my best chapter. I couldn't get everything to go together in this chapter. Yes, Natalia is dead. I didn't want to kill her, but she just had to go. The wedding will be coming up soon. I was going to make it two chapters, but I am now leaning toward one big one. Thanks for reading!