Chapter Twenty-Seven: All Eyes On Me

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

Bold: Flashback

A Few Minutes Ago...

If Marcus was caught, it would mean death. He would be killed and he feared that they would come after Katie.

Katie looked at him. "But what about you?"

Marcus kissed her. "I'll be fine."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry," Marcus told her again.

Katie looked at him.

"Just remember all the good times."

"That's really cheesy, you know?"

"Yeah, that wasn't supposed to come out that way."

Katie laughed.

Now

As soon as Katie stumbled into the longue, she found herself in the tight embrace of dark haired seventeen year old.

"Katie!" Haley greeted as she untangled herself from Katie. She looked down at Emily and, then, back at Katie. "She looks just like you."

Katie handed Haley one of her bags. "Yeah, I guess she does."

Nathaniel and his wife, Demi, appeared in the doorway. Nathaniel leaned against the wall in a way that mirrored Marcus.

Demi came over and took Katie's other bags. "Let's get you settled. You've had a long journey."

Katie nodded. "Thanks."
Katie followed Demi out of the room and up a flight of stairs. She saw signs of wealth on every wall. It never ceased to amaze her how wealthy this family was.

"I just want to thank you for letting us stay here," Katie said as Demi opened a door on the second floor.

"It's not a problem." Demi stepped aside and let Katie enter the room. "We're family now and this what family does."

Katie smiled and sat Emily down on the bed.

Demi looked over at Emily. "She's beautiful."
"Yeah, she is. I really have no idea what I'm doing though."

"With parenting, you kind of have to make it up as you go."

"I've noticed."

Haley balanced into the room. "Nate wants to know if you want something to eat."

Demi looked at Haley. "Is he offering to cook?"

"Nope, he's offering to go pick it up."

Demi rolled her eyes. "I figured," she said as she excited the room.

Haley sat down on the bed next to Emily. "So, how long are you staying?"
"I haven't really decided. I would like to go back, but I don't know if it would be a wise idea," Katie said.

"That bad?"

"Yeah and it's getting worse."

Haley sighed. "At this rate, I'll never get to go back home."

Katie didn't answer. She was feeling the same way. Would any of them ever be able to return home?

Haley picked Emily up. "I'm just glad she looks like you instead of Marcus."

"And why is that?"

"Everyone looks alike and it's time to add something a little different."
"Are you saying you look like your brothers?"

Haley rocked Emily back and forth. "I hope not. I would like to think I have a little more curves than them."

Katie thought about Marcus's body. She did have to admit he did have a little curve to his body, but nothing like a female's. "I think you do."
Haley made a face. "You were thinking about Marcus, weren't you?"

Katie gave Haley a smile.

"You were! I like to talk about boys as much as the next girl, but he is my brother and that's just gross." Haley handed Emily back to Katie.

"I could do a lot worse."
Haley gave her a look. "You wouldn't dare talk about the honeymoon."
"It could be arranged."

Haley got to her feet. "And I'm out." She quickly excited the room.

Katie smirked down at Emily. "And that's how you get rid of her."
Emily gave Katie a big smile.
Katie stood up and started to pace the length of the room. She still didn't know if she was going to return to England. She knew that Marcus would respect either decision and she knew what he wanted her to do, but she wasn't sure what she should do. Emily did need her, but, even though he wouldn't admit it, Katie knew that Marcus needed her. It seemed like all eyes were on her.

Emily's eyes were growing heavy. Katie put her down in the crib. What was the right thing to do?
Demi's dark head poked into the door. "Nate's got food ready, if you are hungry."

Katie looked back at Emily. "Sounds good. I think she will be out for awhile."

"You'll learn to get some me time in when they're out," Demi said.

"I know," Katie said as she followed Demi downstairs to the kitchen.

Nathanial was just putting the last of the food on the table with two small children under his feet. The twins, Amee and Dara, both stared at Katie with great interest. Katie did have to admit it made her rather nervous.

"That should be it," Nathanial said as he settled into a seat.

Katie slid across from him and looked at the mountain of food in front of her.

Nathanial gave her a small smile. "I wasn't sure what you liked so I just made a little of everything."

Katie began shoving the closest food onto her plate. "I can see that."

Demi laughed. "You should be honoured that he cooked for you. I'm surprised he knows where the kitchen is."

"Sometimes it pays to marry a man who lived on his own for a few years," Katie said.

"Yeah, it does," Demi agreed.

Nathaniel just shook his head. "I'm not stupid."

"Never said you were," Demi said.

Katie took a big bite of food. She was aware that the twins were watching her.

"How long is Katie staying?" Amee asked innocently.

"As long as she wants," Demi said.

"What about Marcus? He promised that he would show me how to fly," Dara asked.

Nathaniel made a face. "Did he now?"
Dara nodded. Her big brown eyes were wide. "Yeah, he even promised to take me up on his broom."

"We'll see. It looks like I need to have a chat with my little brother," Nathaniel said.

"He already took me up, but Dara was too afraid," Amee piped up.

Demi sat her fork down. "When did he do that?"

Amee looked at the wall. "Summer, I think. It was a nice day and the sun made my eyes hurt."

Demi and Nathanial exchanged looks. Katie was trying hard not to laugh. She really didn't see what the problem was with teaching the girls how to fly. She personally believed it was best to teach a child to fly when they were young.

"That is the last time I leave my children with him," Nathanial muttered.

"No one fell," Amee said. "As long as no one got hurt, then really isn't a problem."

"You are too young to be learning to fly," Nathanial said.

The girls looked at their food.

"I take them up," Katie offered. She thought that maybe Demi and Nathanial would feel better about her over Marcus. "I'm not as reckless in the air as he is."

Demi and Nathanial exchanged looks.

"I guess that would be okay," Nathanial said slowly.

Dara and Amee cheered.

After finishing eating, Katie went upstairs to check on Emily who was still sound asleep. Katie flopped down on her own bed, figuring it was best to sleep now because there was no chance of Emily sleeping tonight.

She closed her eyes and allowed darkness to overtake her.

Harry tossed the Quaffle to her and so took off toward the goals, flying with ease. About halfway down the pitch she passed it to one of the giggling girls, who dropped it. Katie swooped around her and grabbed the Quaffle before it hit the ground.

Katie dived back up and scattered a group of the giggling girls. As she passed them, they were no longer giggling, but screaming. This just furthered her belief that these girls were not and never would be Quidditch players. They would be the Quidditch groupies.

She pulled out of the dive and glided around a Bludger with ease. She raced toward the goals. None of the other Quidditch hopefuls moved to stop her. She scored without any difficulty.

She turned back to see where the rest of the pack was. They were still at mid-pitch. She smiled and shook her head. This was going to be fun.

Katie watched as one of the giggling girls attempted to score a goal. She suppressed a laugh as the Quaffle fell several metres away from its' proper location.

She raced down the field and grabbed the Quaffle. She tossed it back up to the girl, who smiled warmly at her. It almost made Katie fell bad for mocking the girls. They really wanted to impress Harry. However, Harry was not the type of guy to fall for this sort flattery.

Katie returned the girl's smile and flew deep into the pitch. She had to get out of the shallow bay those girls were living in. Normally, she did not like to drift out to sea, but those girls gave her no other options.

From the distance, she watched as the girl went back up to score again. This time a Bludger hit her in the back of the head. Katie winced, but did have to give the girl some credit. She did at least manage to stay halfway on her broom.

From the ground below, Katie heard Harry's whistle.

She gently flew down toward the ground and landed with ease.

Harry made his way over to her. "Welcome back, Katie." He paused. "You are our first Chaser."

Katie found herself relaxing as she dreamed about Quidditch and hoped that the girls would enjoy it. Who knows maybe when everything got better maybe they could play a game of Quidditch? She wondered if Nathanial would be open to Katie taking Amee and Demi to see Marcus play.

Something was shaking her. "Katie, wake up!"
Katie opened her eyes and found herself looking into Demi's olive face. "What is it?"
Demi took her lit wand out of Katie's face. "There's someone here to see you."

"Marcus?" Katie asked as she pushed the covers back.

"No, she says that it's important that she sees you right away."

Katie nodded. "Okay."

Katie followed Demi down into the longue. Nathanial was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest; Katie wondered if that was a Flint thing.

Someone was sitting in front of the fireplace wrapped in a mountain of blankets and slowly sipping a steaming liquid.

"She'll be alright," Nathanial informed Katie.

Katie nodded and took a small step forward. She fully believed that Nathanial would not let someone dangerous into the house, but she really wasn't sure.

The figure on the couch looked up at Katie. "Hello, Katie," Jenna whispered.

Katie rushed over to her stepmother's side and embraced her. Tears were running down Katie's face. "Ho-how did you get here?"

"I'm really not sure," Jenna whispered.

Katie sat down next to Jenna and looked around the room. "Where's Dad?"

Jenna looked at the mug in her hands. "I'm not sure. We lost each other during the raid."

Katie closed her eyes. Sure, she was glad that Jenna was okay, but it would have been better had they both come. She opened her eyes.

Her father was lost and there really was nothing she could do about it.

Katie put her arms around Jenna. "We will find him."