Chapter Sixteen: The One That Got Away

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 ran his hand over his unshaven face. Married life had been good to him so far, but things with the war were getting worse. People were disappearing and mass exodus of witches and wizards were leaving Great Britain.

Katie came up behind him and put her arms around his waist. "Smile, it's almost Christmas," she whispered.

Marcus turned to her. "It's been a long year."

Katie nodded. "I know." She paused and looked at her feet. "I just got off the phone with Jenna and she said that they are leaving the country. They want us to come with them."

"I can't, but you probably," Marcus heard himself saying.

Katie stared out the window. "No, I'm staying here with you."

Marcus nodded. He hoped she would say that.

"What about your parents?" Katie asked.

Marcus took a long drink of tea and offered his cup to Katie, who took it. "Dad was talking about going to a Safe House. My grandparents left for Italy yesterday."

Katie took a drink of tea. "Pretty soon there won't be anyone left in the country."

"I know, but not everyone can leave. Someone has to fight," Marcus said slowly.

There was a knock on the front door. Marcus and Katie exchanged worried looks; these days, people didn't knock on other people's doors. They both reached into their pockets and started slowly toward the door. Marcus could feel his heart racing.

He reached out to open the door, but didn't get the chance. A middle aged woman stepped into the entry way with a bundle in her arms. She shoved the bundle into Katie's arms.

"Please, you have to take care of her," the woman begged. "She's Melissa and Peter's baby."
Marcus's eyes narrowed. He now recognized the woman as Melissa's mother.

The woman's eyes were darting around. "They're after me and I can't risk Emily."

Katie was looking down at the baby in her arms.

"Treat her like your own," the woman said before darting back out of the house and disappearing in the woods.

Katie looked at Marcus. Her eyes were big. "Now, what do we do?"

Marcus was scanning the woods. He considered running after the woman, but something told him not too. "I don't know."

Katie looked down at Emily. "I don't know anything about rising a baby."

"That makes two of us," Marcus said as he closed the door.

Marcus and Katie peered down at Emily. She was looking up at them with big blue eyes. Marcus did have to admit that she looked enough like Katie to pass for Katie's daughter.

Emily smiled up at him with her arms stretched out.

Katie smiled over at him. "I think she likes you."

"You think?" Marcus asked. He had been around little kids before. All of his older brothers had children of their own.

Katie went over the sofa and sat down. "What do we do?" She looked down at Emily. "There has to be legal stuff we have to do."
Marcus sat down next to her. "Should we not worry about the legal business until this war is over? The Death Eaters are everywhere. We would be risking her."

Katie sighed. "I guess you're right, but what do we do until then?"

Marcus stared ahead. He had no idea.

"We have to be careful," Katie said. "What if she lead them here?"
Marcus's eyes darted to the window. He really didn't expect the Death Eaters to break down the doors and kill them all, but he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of his standing with them and times were just too uncertain.

Marcus got up and started to pace. "We need to be smart about this."

Katie rocked Emily in her arms. "I know." She paused. "You know what I can't get out of my mind?"

Marcus stopped in front of Katie. "What?"

"That we don't have anything for her," Katie said with a smile.

Marcus couldn't help himself; he started to laugh. "Would our parents have anything?" he asked once he managed to regain control of himself.

"I don't know," Katie replied. "I guess we have a few phone calls to make."

Marcus nodded. "Yeah, I guess we do."

Katie handed Emily to Marcus. "Here, hold her for a minute."

Marcus looked down at the baby. He couldn't even dream about bringing a child into the world in the middle of this. It just didn't seem right and fair. Why would someone bring a child into the world only to be orphaned?

He wasn't saying that he didn't want children. He just didn't think that now was the right time for one.

Katie returned a few minutes later with a blanket. "Wrap her up in this."

Marcus did what he was told.

"What are we going to do?" Katie wondered aloud.

Marcus stared ahead. "I have no idea."

Katie sighed. "We have to come up with something."

"I know," Marcus muttered. "I know."

Marcus shoved his hands deep into his robe pocket; he really hated the cold. Tonks was standing beside him with long dark hair on a small frame. Marcus felt kind of bad leaving Katie with Emily alone, but it had been a week and they were adjusting quiet well.

Tonks stared up at Natalia's shop. "It looks empty."

Marcus nodded as he kicked the door in. "She left."

Tonks stepped through the broken door. "Where would she keep everything?"

Marcus wondered behind the counter. "I don't know. Whenever she handed me information, it was always down here. She has an apartment upstairs."
Tonks looked around the shop. "She has a lot of creepy stuff in here."

Marcus knelt down and shifted some items to the side. "She's a very creepy person."

Tonks laughed as she came around the counter to join him. "It takes a creepy person to work in Knockturn Alley."
Marcus laughed as he pulled out his wand and lit it. His eyes scanned the piece of paper in his hand; it was just a bill of sale for something. He couldn't make it out because the writing was faded.

Tonks looked over at Marcus. "I hear you are now a father."

Marcus shifted aside some more papers before answering. "I guess, but we don't know what to do."

Tonks smiled at him. "It's been a week and Emily's not dead. You must be doing something right."

Marcus paused on a piece of paper. It had what looked like an address scribbled on it. "Tonks, do you know where this is?"

Tonks took Marcus's wand and held it close to the paper. "I think it's in London." She looked closed. "Muggle London."

Marcus frowned.

"Was Natalia the type to go into Muggle London?" Tonks asked.

"No," Marcus said softly. "I doubt she ever ventured into the Muggle world."

Tonks looked at the piece of paper and back at Marcus. "It seems that your friend had a lot of secrets."

Marcus wasn't sure if he would call Natalia a friend, but he didn't say it. There was a lot about Natalia that he didn't know. They never really talked about their personal lives; it was always just business. Now staring at the piece of paper in front of him, he wished that he had asked. Maybe it would have helped to solve some of the mystery surrounding Natalia.

He closed his eyes. A large of him wished that he had never ever seen Natalia's face. She had caused him so many headaches over the past couple of years. He was glad that she was gone and he never had to see her face again.

"Marcus?" Tonks asked.

Marcus looked at her. "Huh?"

"You were spacing out on me."

"Sorry." Marcus got to his feet. "Come on, let's go up to her apartment. I bet that's where she keeps all of the good stuff."

Tonks nodded and followed Marcus out. Marcus could feel her looking at him, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't in the mood to explain his feelings.

They climbed the stairs in silence; their footsteps sounded like soldiers marching off to battle.

Marcus frowned whenever he saw the front door. He was slightly opened. Natalia always made sure that her doors were tightly closed. Tonks pulled her wand and Marcus did the same. He pushed the door open and they stepped in.

A smell stopped Marcus and Tonks in their tracks. It smelled like something was rotting, decaying. They both lit their wands and looked around.

Tonks walked to the right of the door. "Um, Marcus."

Marcus went to her and looked down. Natalia was laying at his feet, dead.

"She's been here awhile," Tonks said as she knelt down next to Natalia.

Marcus got on his knees and looked at Natalia's body. He couldn't believe that she was dead.

"The killing curse," Tonks said. She looked up at Marcus. "Has the Death Eaters said anything about her?"

Marcus shook his head. "I know they shopped here, but they never mentioned her when I was around."

Tonks nodded and looked back down at Natalia. "We need to do something with her body."

Marcus nodded slowly. If the Death Eaters had found out about Natalia, did they know about him? He looked over his shoulder. Were they coming for him?

Tonks had her mobile out and was talking to someone from the Order. He wasn't paying attention to it. He just could not pull his eyes away from Natalia. He frowned and looked closer. Her right hand was closed into a fist. Marcus reached down, pulled the fist apart, and found a little note written on a yellowing piece of paper.

Marcus put his wand close to the paper and read its contents. "The end of it all is near. Be careful as the path isn't always clear. Marcus-," he muttered under his breath. What was she going to tell him?

Tonks was hanging up her mobile. "Well, that's done. Someone will collect her later tonight." She looked over at Marcus. "What did you find?"

Marcus handed the note over to Tonks. He still wasn't sure what Natalia was trying to say.

Frowning, Tonks read the note. "Was she always like this?"

Marcus nodded. "Yeah, I had to have her explain pretty much everything to me." He paused. "She did like messing with people's heads."

Tonks handed the note back to Marcus. "Was she a Seer?"

"Not that I know of," Marcus started in. "I thought she got her information from listening to what her customers were saying."

Tonks reached for the note again and studied it for a few minutes. "But is it possible? This sure sounds like something a Seer would write."

Marcus shrugged. "Anything is possible these days."

"It would explain why she was killed," Tonks said. "If she saw something that someone didn't like, it would give them grounds to kill her."

Marcus looked down at Natalia's body wondering who else knew about her possible abilities. There was just far too many questions and so few answers.

Marcus got to his feet and pulled the hood on his robes up. "Let's get out of here."
Tonks nodded and they left the apartment. As they walked down the outside steps, Marcus could feel someone watching them. He looked down Knockturn Alley and saw someone in a black robe quickly walking away from them.

"Did you see that?" Marcus whispered to Tonks.

"Yeah," Tonks muttered. "We need to go."