Chapter Eighteen: Sceneries of Hope

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 looked over at Katie's sleeping form. She was his angel, one of his sceneries of hope. He put his arm over his eyes. He wanted to protect her, but also knew that Katie didn't need to be protected.

He watched her roll over in her sleep. He simply couldn't imagine watching someone die in over and over in his dreams. He knew that he couldn't do it, let alone tell the person what he had seen. Yet, he understood why Katie kept it a secret from him.

"Marcus," Katie muttered sleepy. "I know you're awake because I can feel you watching me."

Marcus removed his arm from his eyes. "I'm not watching you."

Katie climbed on top of him and smirked down at him. "Yes, you are."

Marcus patted Katie's leg. "Prove it."
Katie bent down and pressed her lips against his. "I don't need too because I'm right and you know it."

Marcus returned the kiss. "And what if I'm right?"

Katie slid her hands up under his shirt. "Then, don't tell me about it."

Marcus started to say something, but Katie silenced him with a kiss.

The next morning, Marcus woke up to the sound of someone banging on the front door. He and Katie exchanged looks. Without saying a word, they both climbed out of bed and crept down stairs.

"Take your wand out," Katie whispered.

Marcus nodded and turned to tell her to do the same thing, but saw she had already done so. As they approached the door, the knocking grew louder.

"Why didn't the alarms go off?" Katie asked.

Marcus shrugged. Come to think of it, it didn't go off when Emily arrived. They needed to look into that.

Slowly, Katie pulled back the curtain of the window next to door.

"Katie," Marcus hissed.

Katie dropped the curtain. "It's your parents."

Marcus opened the door.

"Aren't you going to ask us?" Jasmine asked. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down.

"Ask you what?" Marcus said as he put his wand in his pocket.

"The question and don't put your wand away."
Brad gave Marcus a small smile.

"Fine," Marcus muttered. "What is your most prized possession beside your family?"

"The doll my grandmother made for me when I was two," Jasmine said.

Marcus nodded and let his parents step in.

Jasmine looked around. "Where's Emily?"

"In bed," Katie said.

Jasmine nodded.

Marcus was frowning. He really didn't see why his parents were here. They only came to his house when they wanted something or when they had bad news.

Brad nodded toward the dining room. "Why don't we go and sit down?"

Marcus and Katie follow Brad and Jasmine into the dining room, both of them exchanging confused looks.

"We took care of Natalia's body," Brad said once they were all seated around the large table. "I understand that you and Tonks took a few things from her apartment."

Marcus nodded. "It was just a small piece of paper."

"What was it about?" Brad asked.

"I really didn't understand it. Natalia always was very strange about her stuff."

Brad eyed Marcus, but didn't ask to see it. Marcus was thankful for that; he wasn't in the mood to explain the whole death bits to his parents, well just his father considering Jasmine was already in the loop.

"All things considered, we need to get the rest of the Natalia's belongings out of the apartment before the Death Eaters raid it," Jasmine said.

"I thought the Death Eaters killed Natalia," Marcus said with a frown on his face.

"We don't know for sure that they did," Jasmine stated. "Someone like Natalia must have had a lot of enemies."

"Yeah, she probably did, but she never said anything about it to me." Marcus sighed.

"Anyway, we just need to get that stuff out of there," Brad said. "It's just too dangerous to leave it in there."

"When?" Katie asked.

"The sooner the better," Jasmine said.

Katie looked at Marcus. Marcus could see in her eyes that she really wanted to go. "We could take Emily to my parents. They want to spend as much time with her as possible before," Katie paused and gulped. "Before they leave."

Marcus nodded. "Yeah, that would work."
Jasmine smiled at Katie. "It's nice to have another woman along. It's hard to be surrounded by men all the time."
Brad and Marcus looked at each other. Marcus found it hard to be around women all the time.

Jasmine got her feet. "Let's get going then."
Katie pulled Marcus to his feet and lead him to Emily's room. Once inside the room, Katie shut the door behind them.

"Are you okay with me going?" Katie asked as she shoved some of Emily's things into a bag.

Marcus leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Katie shrugged. "You were just being quite."
Marcus went over to Katie and kissed her. "I am fine with you going." He paused. "Are you okay with me going?"
"Of course," Katie muttered. Marcus noticed that she didn't look him in the eye.

"Katie, I'll be careful," Marcus reassured her.

"I know you will, but bad things usually happen to good people."
Marcus knew that she made a good point. Bad things never did seem to happen to bad people.

Without saying a word, Katie picked Emily up and handed her to Marcus. However, Katie's eyes were quiet loud. He knew that she would stand beside him no matter what, but he also knew that if she didn't like something that he was going to hear about it.

They made their way out to Marcus's parents.

Jasmine took Emily from Marcus and held her like an expert. "She looks so much like Katie," Jasmine said. "Is she sleeping through the night?"
Katei nodded. "She's almost a year now."
"That's good." Jasmine rocked Emily. "The boys never wanted to sleep through the night, but I didn't have any trouble with Haley."

Katie smiled. "It's always the boys."

Jasmine laughed. "That is very true."

Marcus frowned. He didn't see anything wrong with his gender.

Jasmine handed Emily back to Marcus. "Why don't you two go drop her off and we'll meet you there?"

"Sounds good," Katie said as she took Marcus's hand and pulled him out.

After dropping Emily off, Marcus and Katie joined Brad and Jasmine outside Natalia's shop. Although it was always dark, there was a much darker tone to it now. It felt as if all of the hope in the world was gone.

Jasmine pushed open the door and motioned for everyone to step inside. "Lit your wands, but keep the light as hidden as possible."

Marcus took his out and did as he was told.

Jasmine looked back at Marcus. "Does she has a safe?"

"I don't know," Marcus said. "I've never seen one."

Jasmine nodded. "Take anything that looks important." She handed everyone a bag.
Marcus knelt down next to Katie and started shifting through papers.

"This is just about as much fun as our honeymoon," Katie muttered.

"Come on, I wasn't that bad," Marcus shot back.

Katie didn't answer and just shoved some papers into her bag.

Marcus frowned. "It wasn't that bad was it?"

Katie smiled. "No, but it's not like I have anything to compare it too."

Marcus frowned. Did he just get insulted?

They spent the next couple of minutes in silence.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Marcus asked.

Katie just shrugged.

Marcus shoved some papers into the bag. He wondered if they were even talking about the same thing? Knowing Katie, she was talking about the food they ate or the site seeing they did.

Katie patted him on the shoulder. "Don't feel bad. I'll always forgive you."
Marcus snorted.

"Marcus, snorting does not sound like you are looking for information," Jasmine called.

Marcus rolled his eyes. Why did everyone seem to gang up on him?

"Marcus, this has your name on it," Katie whispered. She had a box gripped tight in her right hand.

Marcus frowned. "My name is pretty common."
Katie shook her head. "No, it has your first, middle, and last on it."
Marcus took the box from Katie. The last box he had seen like this was the chest that contained the directions for Fairyland.

Marcus and Katie looked at each other.

"Can you open it?" Katie whispered. She kept shooting nervous looks at Brad and Jasmine.

Marcus tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. He pulled out his wand and tapped it, still nothing happened.

Katie held her hand out. "Let me try."

Marcus handed the box over to her.

"Natalia must have kept something good in here," Katie grunted as she attempted to open it.

Marcus watched her. "Or it's cursed."

Katie shot him a dirty look. "Don't even say something like that."
The box started to creek and groan. Marcus hoped that was a sign that is was starting to give a little. Freedom, they needed just a little bit of freedom.

"What are you two doing?" Jasmine called.

Marcus and Katie didn't answer.

Katie pulled harder on the box. Marcus winced as he heard the box cracking, but didn't say anything. He wanted to know what was in it.

Marcus heard movement behind him. He looked up and saw that his parents were standing behind him.

"What do you have here?" Jasmine asked as she knelt down next to them.

"A box that won't open," Katie muttered as she pulled harder. More grinding filled the room.

Jasmine looked at Marcus. "What kind of man are you making your woman do all of the heavy work?"
"She's made more progress than I did," Marcus stated.

"That's the first time I ever heard you say something like that aloud," Brad said.

"It happens," Marcus muttered.

Katie was pulling on the box with all of her might. Marcus could see that one final tug and she would probably have it. He hoped that she managed to get it open.

Katie gave one final grunt and the lid and box separated. With a small cry, she fell back onto Marcus's lap. Right before their eyes, a bright scene unfolded.

She was so prefect. He was so angelic. They belonged together in an eternal unity of light. No darkness surrounded them; blackness never entered their souls. Both souls were pure.

Tests have proven that they were meant to be together. The stars all line up for them. There was no death star in the sky. Therefore, nothing can rip them apart.

They unite against the forces of darkness. Light outshines darkness. It is through lightness that causes the forces to disappear. It is the power of the angels that cause the devils to run.

Never get jealous or mad at others. They are so good, so gentle. No matter how the ones close hurt them, they forgive and forget. This includes those who don't deserve it.

They stare into each other's eyes. They don't look at anyone else expect for each other.

"My kind, gentle Lady," he whispers, "may I have this dance?"

The Light Princess smiles. "Good sir, there's no music."

The Light Prince placed his forehead against hers. "You are the music. I can feel it in my soul."

The Light Princess and Light Prince joined hand.

As they joined hands, the forces of good united.

As they joined hands, all the darkness was gone from their circle.

As they danced, the fire shone on the faces of the other lords and ladies. All the evil was gone from their souls. Goodness was all that existed.

Together, their hearts beat as one.

Together, everything was all right, even if they were no longer in charge of the circle. It was still theirs, it always would be.

Together, the possibilities were endless.

Marcus found himself being pulled back into the world with a shock. "What was that?"

Katie was gathering the box back up. "Natalia gave us something, sceneries of hope."

Marcus blinked. Who knew that Natalia would offer than something good, something gave them the hope that light would soon take their path and give them their freedom back.