Chapter Thirty-Six: Sitra Ahra

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

It was a week later before Marcus found the strength to pull himself out of bed. As soon as he put his feet on the floor, the world starting spinning again. Maybe this was far too early. He sat on the edge for a couple of minutes, hoping that the dizziness would pass.

Katie's blond form appeared in front of him. "You shouldn't be up."
"And you have been around my mother for too long."
Katie frowned at Marcus and crossed her arms over her chest. She had been around his mother a little bit too much.

Sighing Marcus flopped back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He knew that something was up, besides the whole faking his death thing, but just was not sure what it was.

Katie patted his arm. "There, now isn't that better?"

Marcus did not answer. He could think of a lot of things that were a lot better than this.

Katie handed him a thick book. "This will keep you out of trouble."

Marcus took the book without looking at the cover. "Where's my wand?" He hadn't seen or thought about it since he got hurt. Now, he kind of wanted it.

"It's upstairs. I can go and fetch it for you."

Marcus nodded as Katie disappeared. He had no idea why he his wand had slipped his mind. He had always carried it since he was eleven and hardly ever let it out of his sight. It was a part of him and a part that he simply could not believe that he had not missed.

He flipped open the book to the first page and started to read. It was some kind of nineteenth text that he was not familiar with at all.

Katie came back in a few minutes later with Emily. "Someone wanted to see you."

Marcus closed the book as Katie handed Emily over to him. She looked up at him with her big eyes and touched his rough cheek.

"I think she remembers you," Katie said. "You have a petty unforgettable face."
Marcus nodded, unsure of rather she had just complimented or insulted him.

Katie set his wand down on the night table and watched them.

Emily yawned and stared up at Marcus with sleepy eyes. "I'm so exciting that she's falling asleep."
Katie just laughed.

Marcus pulled his knees up a little. It didn't hurt, much. "Who's all still here?"
"Damon and Remus went back to England while you were sleeping. Damon wanted to stay, but he was afraid that he wouldn't get back if he didn't go now."
Marcus nodded.

"Everyone else is still here, but they're kind of keeping to themselves."

"They're planning something."

Katie's head jerked up a little bit too quickly. "What makes you think that?"

"The fact that no one seems to be moving around as much."
"How can you tell that?"
"I can hear."

Katie didn't answer.

Marcus looked down at Emily. Why was everyone keeping him shut out? He was still a part of the group, even if he could not fight at this moment. He still had the right to know.

Katie took Emily out of his arms and kissed his lips. "I'm going to take her upstairs. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Marcus watched her leave, really wishing that he could get out of this bed. He hated being stuck in one place. What did it really matter if he could get out of this bed? He couldn't really go or do anything. No one could see him.

Katie came back and sat on the edge of his bed. "Are you sure that you don't remember anything about my father?"

Marcus nodded. He had told her all that he knew. He really wished that he could give her a better answer, but there just simply wasn't one.

The unknown was the greatest evil that God could give them. This was just simply evil from God, sitra ahra. Nothing they could do would change this. They were just mere mortals.

Katie squeezed his hand. "I know, but I can't help but to wonder."
Marcus nodded. "If there was anything else, I would tell you."
"I'm just glad that he's alright."
Marcus just nodded. There was still something off about Katie. He didn't expect to know everything that went on in her life, but this had put of the entire house off. It was really bothering him.

Katie looked at Marcus. "Do you want anything to eat? I think there's still some leftovers from lunch in the kitchen."
"Not right now."

"You need to eat."

"Once again, you sound like my mother."
Katie just gave him a look. "Sometimes I feel like your mother."
Marcus pulled her down next to him. "You do lots of things with me that you couldn't do if you were my mother."
Katie ran her hand through his hair. "I guess you are right."

Marcus smiled. "You'd better believe that I am right."

She sat up and started to leave the room. "But you are still going to eat something, even if I have to force feed you."

"That's considered torture in some places," Marcus pointed out.

"Then, I guess you had best eat something."

Marcus laid back against his pillows, wondering what he had gotten himself into too.

Marcus did have to admit that he did feel better the next morning. He wasn't as sniff and the wounds did not hurt nearly as bad. It still hurt, but he could actually move around a little bit more.

He sat carefully up on the edge of the bed and stuffed his wand him his sweat pants pocket. Grabbing his hoodie off the chair, he pulled it over his head and slowly made his way out of the room.

It took him longer than necessary to make his way down the kitchen, but he didn't care. As long as he was able to move, it didn't matter to him.

"We should be ready to move in next week," Brad was saying.

Marcus paused and peered in. His parents, Nathanial, Demi, Jenna, and Katie were all sitting around the island looking at something. The children were nowhere.

"Remus believes that if we don't strike now, then we may never get another chance," Jasmine said.

Jenna chose that moment to look up. "You're up." She got to her feet. "Here, sit down."

Marcus shook his head and looked at the papers on the island. "Azkaban?"

"You shouldn't be up," Jasmine said.

Marcus had no idea why they didn't want him to know about this. He knew that he couldn't go with them and would only slow them down. "Are you going to use Fairyland?"

Brad nodded. "Damon said he could manage it."

Marcus nodded. He sat down in Jenna's empty chair and filled a bowl with some cereal. He was about to pour the milk when he realized that everyone was watching him. People watching him always made him nervous, especially when he was trying to eat.

"Are you sure that you should be up?" Katie asked.

"I'm doing anything other than trying to eat," Marcus pointed out. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"
"No, but if you tear those wounds, it's not to hurt and I'm not listening to you whine about it."
"And I'll get the grand pleasure of cleaning them out again," Nathanial said.

Marcus took a bit of cereal and eyed his brother.

"Anyway," Jenna said. "You said that the sooner the better, right?"

Brad turned his attention away from his son. "Yeah."
Marcus suddenly liked his mother-in-law a lot more.

"We are small in numbers, but that will allow us to sneak in better and be in position before the Death Eaters even know what hit them," Brad went on. "They think that they have us beaten back and their guard is down, which makes this the perfect time to strike."

"Or will they have their guard up because they think we could seek revenge on them for Marcus's death?" Jasmine asked.

Marcus winced slightly at the use of the word "death." If was strange to think of himself as being dead to the rest of the world.

"We don't know that and we'll have to risk it."

"Has there been any more news of the Potter boy?" Nathanial asked.

Jasmine shook her head. "No one knows where he is. It's probably for the best."

Marcus really did not understand why Harry Potter was staying hidden. Okay, he could see the whole You-Know-Who wanting to kill him thing, but Potter always came forward during a battle. Marcus figured that it was Hermione keeping them alive; he knew that she was the brains of the group. Marcus just really didn't understand why Potter had left them hanging.

Brad bent back over the maps. "We still haven't figured out a way to get everyone out of the prison. Even if we don't take it, we need to get as many out as possible."
Nathanial looked at the maps. "It's bloodily Azkaban, there's not going to be an easy way in and out. They only way in and out is through the front gates. I don't think they are going to scale the walls."
"You're climbing walls?" Marcus asked.

Nathanial nodded. "This is the part where I'm worried about the old people holding us up."

Marcus smirked.

"Excuse me?" Jasmine said giving her sons a look.

"Well, Mum, you know as you get older..." Marcus trailed off at the sight of the look she was giving him.

"I can climb a wall better than you can right now," Jasmine pointed. "And your father is older than me."
Marcus did not know what to say to that.

"We'll just have to take it," Jenna said. "There's no other choice."

Brad nodded. "I know."
Marcus thought they were taking a huge risk, one that he wasn't sure was worth it. It would make him feel a lot better if his family wasn't involved. There was just no one way everyone was going to get in and come back out.

"Wands work in Azkaban, don't they?" Katie asked, nervously.

"Yeah," Nathanial answered.

Marcus could see that Katie was still very unsure about that.

"Fairyland is other issue," Demi said.

Jasmine pointed to the map. "There's an island here that we are going to set it up on. It should be able to reach from here."
Marcus looked at the map's scale, then at the island and Azkaban. "It will reach."
"Good," Jasmine said.

Marcus sat back in his chair. He didn't like this one bit. There was just so many thing that could go wrong. The only thing that could be worse than breaking into Azkaban was Hogwarts. Only a fool would start a battle at Hogwarts.

Haley appeared. "Emily's crying."
Katie got to her feet. "I'll be back."
Marcus started to get to his feet.

"You are not climbing stairs."
Marcus rolled his eyes as he sat back down.

"Whipped," Nathanial muttered under his breath.

"I am not whipped," Marcus shot back.

"Whatever you say, little brother. Whatever you say."
Marcus flung a piece of soggy cereal at Nathanial.

Nathanial gave him a look before flickering jelly at him.

"Children!" Jasmine snapped. "You two are worse than the grandkids."

Marcus and Nathanial just laughed.