Chapter Thirty-Eight: Absolution

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 juggled Emily while reaching for the stove. He knew that he should not have Emily so close to it, but he could not get her to let go. Every time he put her down, she would start to cry. Amee and Dara were also staring at him from the kitchen table.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Amee asked.

Marcus poured the noodles into the boiling water. "Yes, why wouldn't I?"

Amee rolled her eyes. "Because you're a boy."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Boys aren't supposed to know how to cook."
Marcus frowned. Was today the day to gang up on him?
Haley was laughing as she entered the kitchen with Jenna right behind her.

Amee looked at Jenna and Haley. "Can you finish supper?"

"Why?" Haley asked.

Dara rolled her eyes. "Because Marcus is a boy and is not supposed to know how to cook."

"He could know how to cook," Jenna pointed out. "And he should also know better than to have Emily that close to the stove."
Marcus stepped away from the stove.

"It still doesn't change the fact that he's a boy," Amee muttered.

"What's wrong with that?" Marcus asked.

"Nothing, there's just some things that boys are not supposed to do." Amee paused. "Like, play with dolls."
"I don't do that."
"But you will," Jenna said.

Marcus looked at her.

"You have a daughter, so it's bound to happen at some point," Jenna said as she stepped forward and stirred the noodles. "Did you salt the water?"
Marcus nodded.

Jenna peered into the pot. "You don't need to be up much anyway and probably shouldn't be carrying Emily around as much as you are."

Marcus rolled his eyes. He was still a little sore, but he was capable of standing and holding a baby. Nothing was going to go wrong with that.

"She's right you know," Haley whispered.

"I'm fine," Marcus muttered.

"You didn't see yourself when Dad carried you in, though. Had you, you probably would be concerned too."
Marcus was concerned about what happened, but he was not about to spend another day in that bed. It hurt more to lay there, then it did to move.

Marcus sat down and held Emily up on his thigh. She kept looking back at him.

"She'll be walking before you know it," Jenna said. "She's picked up crawling pretty quickly."

Marcus nodded. "I caught her trying to climb up the stairs earlier."
"Have you tried climbing the stairs yet?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah and it didn't go too well." Marcus paused remembering what had happened last week. "I may have passed out and would have fallen down them backwards had my dad not been behind me."
Jenna gave him a look. "Are you sure that you should be out of bed?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Because you probably shouldn't be."
Haley smirked at him. "I can see you being Mr. Mom."
"Funny."

Dara looked at Haley. "He can't be a mummy. He's a boy and has to be a daddy."
Marcus smiled.

He wondered how long it would be before the others got back. It had only been a few hours, but he still could not help but to wonder. Was everything going okay? Are they almost done? This was when being on the sidelines sucked: you had no idea what to what was going to happen.

"Have you had your bandages changed?" Haley asked in an undertone.

"They're fine," Marcus muttered.

Haley eyed him. "No, they're not." She looked at Jenna. "Can you take Emily for a little bit."
Jenna took Emily from Marcus's arms. "Go."

Sighing, Marcus followed Haley down the hall and into the bedroom where he had been staying. He really wasn't sure how he felt about his younger sister changing his bandages.

Haley closed the door and turned to Marcus. "Strip." She took a pile of bandages off the dresser.

Marcus slowly pulled his T-shirt over his head and started undoing the bandages that covered his side and stomach.

Haley approached him and started rubbing a disinfector over the wounds. Marcus winced and wanted to point out that he was capable of doing that himself.

"You do know that Wood went with them, don't you?" Haley muttered.

Marcus jerked away from her. She was getting kind of rough. "Katie won't do anything."

"But will he try to move in on your wife since you're supposed to be dead and what not?"

Marcus frowned. He hadn't thought about that one. To the rest of the world, Katie was up for grabs.

Haley looked up at him. "Arms up."
Marcus slowly lifted his arms as she started putting the bandages on.

"I don't think they had enough people to do this."
"I don't think they did either."
Haley tugged on the bandages. "How tight?"

"That's good."
"It was too soon and they will probably pay for it."
"Let's just hope your wrong."
Haley picked up Marcus's shirt and handed it to him. "I hope so too."
Marcus pulled his shirt back on. "How long do you think it will take?"

"I don't even know. They didn't really talk about it in front of me."
"Me either."

Haley gave him a surprised look. "I would have thought they would have told you everything."
"Nope. I think they thought that I would try to go along with them."

Haley went over to the door and leaned against it. "Then, you won't know this one. I'm not even sure anyone but the heads of the Order know it."
Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. "Then, how did you find it out?"

"I accidently heard them talking about it when I passing by the upstairs study."
Marcus knew that there was no accident about it, but did not say anything.

"You-Know-Who is after the Deathly Hallows," Haley said.

Marcus frowned. "Why is he after something from a children's story?"
"I don't know. Mum caught me and ordered me away."

"That sounds like her."
"Do you think they exist?"

Marcus bit the inside of his mouth. It was just a fairy tale after all. It was just something that parents told their children late at night to get them to go to sleep. He would probably be doing the same thing in a few years.

However, why else would the Dark Lord be looking for it? He would not waste his time trying to find something that did not exist. Time was something that the Dark Lord did not have a lot of and he would be doing everything in his power to make sure that time did not run out on him.

Haley waved her hand in front of Marcus's face. "Are you still with me?"
"Yeah."

"Well, what do you think?"

"It is possible, I guess."
Haley nodded. "I know that they were pretty concerned about it."
"I guess You-Know-Who must be getting worried. Fear does make people do strange thing."
"And it's not like he's looking for absolution either."

"No, he's not."

Marcus stared down at the unmade bed. Everyone was running, but were they running away instead of running forward. If they could just come together, then what would everyone be running from? It was about power after all and if they could come together, who knew what would happen.

Haley pulled on Marcus's arm. "We'd better get back out there before they come looking for us."
Marcus nodded and followed his sister.

Jenna was just putting their on the table. "I was wondering if you two would be back soon."

"Yeah, if you were going to make us wait, we were just going to eat without you," Dara said as Jenna placed a filled plate in front of her.

Marcus slide into a seat. "You just couldn't wait, huh?"

Dara stuffed some food into her mouth. "Nope, I am hungry now."
Marcus started filling his own plate.

"Besides, you're old and we all know it takes you longer to get down the hall."
Amee nodded. "You're, like, in your twenties and have been around forever."
Jenna laughed. "How old do you think I am?"
"Younger than Marcus," Dara said. "Boys always age faster than girls."

Marcus really was not sure how to respond to that.

Haley giggled. "See what you have to forward too?"
"I guess."

Haley nudged him. "Admit it, you just can't wait?"

Marcus didn't respond.

The Deathly Hallows-he hadn't even thought about them in years. It was just something that only existed in the back of his mind. Why was everyone focusing on them now?
"How are your wounds healing?" Jenna asked snapping Marcus out of his thoughts.

"Okay, I guess. There's no infection or anything like that," Marcus answered.

"That's good."

"Yeah."
After they finished eating, Haley motioned for Marcus to follow her upstairs, telling Jenna that she needed him to reach something for him. Marcus stared at the huge staircase; this was going to hurt, but not nearly as bad as Apparation.

"Come on, old man!" Haley called from halfway up the steps.

Marcus gave her look before slowly starting up the steps, each on spending a jolt of pain through his body.

Once they were on the second floor, Haley darted down the hallway to the study in question. Marcus followed.

Haley pushed open the study door. "I feel like a child again."
Marcus caught up with her. "Why?"

"Seeking around for answers. It's kind of a great feeling."

Marcus frowned. Who was this stranger and what had she done with his sister?
Haley went to the desk and started looking around. "They probably wouldn't keep them here anyway, but it's worth a look."

"What are we looking for?" Marcus asked.

Haley shifted some papers to the side. "Anything that will give us some kind of answers."
Marcus frowned. "What makes you think that they would have something just laying around?"

"Nothing, but it doesn't hurt to look. It's not like we have anything better to do."

"I have a child."
"Who is taking a nap."

Sighing, Marcus picked up a pile of papers and looked through them. For being a Healer, Nathanial was not the most organized person in the world. Marcus was not even sure how his brother found things. Marcus shifted through the pile and froze about halfway. He knew what they were.

"Did you find anything?" Haley asked.

Marcus picked up a piece of paper that looked like it had been torn from a healing book. "What exactly did they make me drink?"
"When?" Haley asked.

"When they healed me."

Haley shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure. Some kind of herb that they had to go find. They were away long enough for Mum to get worried."
"Where did they do?"
"It started with an 'A."

Marcus looked at the paper. Did they really got to Arctica? He jammed the paper into his pocket; he would just have to ask them later.

"Anything?" Haley asked.

Marcus shook his head."No. Knowing them, they probably burned all the good stuff."

"Well, that's no fun."

"You could say that one again."

"Does Nathaniel have a safe?"

"I really don't know."

Haley walked over to a large painting. "It always works in books." She pushed the painting aside and revealed a small wall safe. "Bingo."

Marcus went over to her and studied the lock. There was no way they were breaking it with magic.

Haley turned the lock. "Nathanial, you are so predictable. Using your kids birthdays, really?" She pushed the safe open and looked inside. "Here we go."