A/N: This one is really dialogue heavy but I hope you guys like it:)

Chapter 21: Friendships

"Do I really have to do this?" Marcus asked with a pained expression. They were standing right outside The Great Hall. Students were going in for supper, and Marcus had promised to join Oliver for his. He was happy that Oliver had suggested this, but the idea of actually spending time with his biggest rival, his nemesis, was almost unbearable.

"Yes, you do," Poppy said firmly and crossed her arms.

"But we hate each other. That's not going to change," Marcus tried to argue. At least not without a lot of alcohol, he thought to himself.

"I'm not asking you to be best friends, but you need to tolerate one another."

"Fine, I'll go. The things I do for you."

He headed towards the Gryffindor table. Students gave him weird looks as he passed them and he glared right back at them. Some first years looked at him as though they'd seen a dementor coming their way. He was glad to know he could still scare people even though people said he'd gone soft when Poppy came along.

"Hey," Marcus said and sat down opposite his fellow captain.

"Hey," Oliver replied indifferently, barely even lifting his gaze from the plate he was slumped over.

Neither of them knew where to start, or even wanted to be there, so they sat in silence for a while. Marcus twiddled his thumbs and Oliver cut up his chicken into a hundred little pieces. He was just about to start on his potatoes, when a red-haired boy scooted to sit next to him.

"Oliver, why is he sitting at our table?" Percy Weasley asked while shooting mean looks in Marcus' direction.

"We're bonding, Weasel. Go mind your own business," Marcus said sharply, causing Percy to get up in a huff and move much further away. Oliver quickly waved at him apologetically but Percy simply turned in the other direction, protesting what had just happened.

Oliver turned back to Marcus with a frown on his face. "Are you always that rude?"

"Yes," Marcus simply said with a smirk. He was there to make Oliver not hate him, he couldn't care less about some Weasley.

"Ah. Now I get what she sees in you," Oliver said.

Marcus stopped smirking. While trying to think of something to say, he realised that Oliver was probably feeling the same way about this meeting that he was, or maybe even worse. "This isn't going very well."

"No, it isn't," Oliver replied.

"I heard you got tickets to see The Falcons over the summer," Marcus said, when he couldn't think of anything else. He figured they both liked Quidditch and they both liked Poppy, and Quidditch seemed a much safer topic to discuss. He really wanted to have something positive to report back to Poppy, so this wouldn't all be for nothing.

"Yes. Although, I don't know why Poppy likes that team so much," Oliver said, rolling his eyes. He piled more chicken onto his plate.

"Well, you wouldn't," Marcus scoffed and grabbed a plate and some food. Oliver, like the rest of the Gryffindors, was too much of a goody-two-shoes to understand a team like the Falcons.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess, they're your favourite, too?"

"Pretty much," Marcus replied with his mouth full of delicious sauce-soaked bread.

"How can you support a team like that? With their foul plays they should've been kicked out of the league years ago!"

"It's much more entertaining to watch when you don't know who's going to end up in the hospital," Marcus said with a grin.

Oliver laughed. "That's crazy!"

"No, it's fun. Who do you support, then?" Marcus asked, pleased that their exchange seemed to be going rather well now.

Oliver rubbed his chin and hesitated for a moment. "I have a soft spot for The Cannons, but my favourite team is probably The Ballycastle Bats."

"Because they have the best mascot?" Marcus asked, not understanding why anyone would pick the Bats as their favourite team. To him, they were boring.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "No, because they have some of the best players. I mean right now they're got McGideon, Templeton and Bowen!"

"Falcons have got O'Leary," Marcus reminded him.

"True. But I'm sure he's switching to another team soon," Oliver said.

"Or maybe he'll stay and help them win," Marcus said hopefully, though he knew it wasn't likely. A player of that caliber was bound to have offers flying in from every corner of the world.

"That would probably be a nice change for them. To see what it's like," Oliver replied, laughing a little.

"That coming out of the mouth of a Chudley Cannons fan just sounds really ironic," Marcus retorted. Oliver chuckled and agreed while dipping his bread into the sauce, looking skeptical of the whole concept. After trying it, he declared it to be delicious.

Percy Weasley appeared at Oliver's side again and declared in his pompous manner, "I am Head Boy, you know."

"I'll make you a headless boy, if you keep bothering me," Marcus said through gritted teeth. Oliver chuckled but quickly stopped when he noticed Percy's angry face.

"You can't sit here!" Percy shouted. His face matched his bright red hair and Marcus thought he saw smoke coming from Percy's ears. He'd never met a Weasley worth liking and this one was no exception. At least some of the others played Quidditch.

"Why not?" Marcus asked.

"Because you're not a Gryffindor!"

"Is there a rule against it?" Marcus asked, knowing there wasn't. In detention a few years back, Professor Snape had made sure Marcus read the schools rulebook over and over until he knew it by heart. Percy was flustered and started mumbling incoherently. "You find out and get back to me, alright?"

Percy stormed off again, this time leaving The Great Hall entirely.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thank you Marcus Flint!" Fred or George Weasley declared from further away.

"You have to tell us how you did that," the other twin continued. Their little brother laughed. Marcus seemed to remember his name to be Reginald, maybe. He was sitting next to Harry Potter, who was giving Marcus a really evil stare. Marcus stared back intently with narrowed eyes and his lips curled into a smile. Potter quickly looked in the other direction.

"He may be a bit too eager, but you shouldn't make him mad. He can get you in trouble," Oliver said, snapping Marcus out of his thoughts.

"There's no rule against me sitting here," Marcus said.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "I was referring to you threatening to cut off his head."

"Oh, right."

"Now, I have to go to practice, but I have something to say before I go," Oliver said and stood up.

"I'm all ears," Marcus said.

Oliver placed both of his hands on the table and leaned over. He spoke quietly but his voice was cross. "My sister is the only important person to me in this world. I don't think you deserve her but you seem to make her happy, so I'm not going to stand in your way. But if you hurt her, I swear..."

"I won't," Marcus said quickly, irritated.

"I hope for your sake that's true," Oliver said. He grabbed his bag and left, leaving Marcus to ponder what just happened. He was slightly insulted by Oliver's words. Suggesting he could ever hurt her was ridiculous. It almost made him want to punch Oliver's face.

"Apparently they found some common ground," Poppy said to Grace while glancing over her shoulder to see how Marcus and Oliver were getting along. It was very important to her that they could be in the same room and not kill one another.

"That's good!" Grace exclaimed happily. "So, how's it going with you two?"

"It's good. Everything's good," Poppy said, still trying to hear what was going on with Marcus and Oliver.

"That's it? You're giving me nothing after I've spent years telling you every little detail about my love life!" Grace complained.

Poppy turned her focus back to Grace, who was not looking too happy. "Some of it I could've lived without."

"Oh, come on! I heard you guys were caught rolling around the Quidditch pitch early one morning."

"What? Who told you that? It's not true!" Poppy shouted. These rumors were really starting to annoy her.

"I won't reveal my sources," Grace simply said.

"Grace!" Poppy insisted.

Grace crossed her arms and pouted her lips. Poppy reached over and pinched her arm, making Grace flinch. "Fine! It was Montague."

Poppy should've know. Montague was definitely the type to spread rumors around. "What were you doing talking to him?"

Grace twirled her short curls between her fingers. "I'm not going to tell you until you tell me everything."

"Fine. What do you want to know?" Poppy huffed.

Grace leaned in closer. "You've snogged him, right? I mean, after Christmas?"

"Yes, I have," Poppy said.

"And it's good?" Grace asked with her eyebrows lifted so high they almost touched her hair and her face practically an inch from Poppy's.

"Yes, it's very nice," Poppy said, still trying to glance over her shoulder. It looked as though Marcus and Oliver were actually laughing.

"You are so boring. Tell me more! Where are his hands? Where are your hands? What are your hands doing? Is he shirtless? Are you?" Grace started babbling and waving her hands.

"Oh, Merlin's beard! Nobody is shirtless. Why do you need to know this?" Poppy said, annoyed. Just because Grace shared every little detail of her life didn't mean Poppy should have to.

"So I can make sure he's treating you right. Why is he not shirtless? You've slept in the same bed when you were both half-naked," Grace asked with a pondering look, scrunching up her tiny nose.

"That's different," Poppy said quietly, feeling slightly uncomfortable, but she wasn't sure why.

Grace rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I don't get it."

"Well, you don't have to," Poppy remarked and quickly changed the subject. "Now tell me what you were doing talking to Graham!"

Grace put her elbows up on the table and leaned on her hands. "He's in my Charms class, you know that. We partnered up the other day to learn... Something. I can't remember what it was."

"I see you're still taking your education seriously," Poppy noted with half a smile. Occasionally, Grace did not fit the mould of a hard-working Hufflepuff. Grace had once said that when it was her turn, the Sorting Hat just picked a random house to get it over with. Allegedly, her sorting took twenty minutes, but Grace was known to embellish the truth a little bit.

"I am! Sometimes. Anyway, he just wanted to share the latest bit of information. He was also saying since I'm your friend and he's Marcus' friend, that he and I should be friends," Grace babbled on with excitement.

"They're not really friends, though," Poppy said.

Grace looked at Poppy's stern expression and tilted her head slightly to the right. "Does that mean I can't be his friend?"

Poppy shook her head lightly. "No. But I've warned you about him before."

Grace's brows furrowed at first but then she just rolled her eyes and smiled widely. "Oh, lighten up. It's harmless fun. I'm not looking for a future husband."

"Fine, it's your life."

"What's happening here?" Marcus asked, suddenly appearing beside Poppy.

"Grace wants to date Graham," Poppy said as Marcus sat down next to her.

Grace slammed her hand on the table. "Poppy! I don't! I mean, not date. Maybe just to pass the time."

"I would advise against it," Marcus said and Poppy looked at Grace with her best 'I told you so' face.

"You people have been together five seconds and suddenly you know everything," Grace snapped. Poppy had been expecting this to happen since the beginning of their conversation. Grace didn't like it when her actions were questioned, even with good reason.

"I know Graham Montague well enough to recommend you stay away from him, but other than that I know nothing," Marcus said calmly before Poppy had a chance to react.

Grace started waving her hands around again frantically. "Everybody at this school already knows everything I've ever done and when reality isn't enough, they make something up. So why does it matter who he tells? I've got nothing to hide."

"Alright. Go for it then," Marcus said and smiled. Poppy's jaw dropped slightly and she looked at Marcus, then at Grace and back at Marcus but said nothing.

"I will!" Grace said decisively and left the table in a hurry, shouting a quick goodbye when she went. Her smile as well as her 'bye' were clearly directed at Marcus and she barely even looked at Poppy.

Marcus gave Poppy a quick kiss on her cheek. "She's got a great attitude."

"Yes. And a lot of it," Poppy replied, grabbed a roll onto her plate and started shredding it into little pieces.

Marcus looked quizzically at what she was doing. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer but asked anyway. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Poppy lied.

"Did I do something?" he asked, pretty sure he knew the answer to this one. She was a bad liar.

Poppy put down the roll and looked him straight in the eye. "Well... Suddenly you're pro Graham?"

"I'm not. Grace just doesn't seem like she cares about what we think. And I think it's better to be supportive so you don't lose your friend. You don't have many," Marcus said.

"I have more than you!" Poppy snapped which made Marcus laugh. He agreed. Poppy continued, "I just don't want to see her hurt."

"He won't hurt her if she knows what she's getting into. And I think she's always been supportive of us, though I doubt she liked me very much in the beginning," Marcus said, while gently stroking her back. She leaned her head onto his shoulder.

"Okay, I get it. When did you get so smart?" she asked.

"Well, you see, I'm dating this incredibly clever girl and I have to keep up with her wit," he said jokingly, making Poppy laugh a little.

"What did you and Oliver talk about?" Poppy asked.

"Ah, it was more of a debate than a talk. About Quidditch, mostly," Marcus replied, not wanting to tell her about the end of their conversation.

"Who won?" Poppy asked excitedly, sitting back up. She was happy they'd managed not to get in a fight.

"Well, he had to go to practice, so I think I win by default but he did say this was not over yet, so I guess we'll find out at a later time," Marcus replied with a grin, only slightly modifying the truth. He figured she did not need to know absolutely everything.

After supper, Poppy went to look for Grace and found her in the Astronomy tower. Grace explained that her class had been cancelled because of cloudy skies and she'd stayed to get some studying done. Poppy sat down on the cold stone floor next to Grace. Grace was doodling on a small piece of parchment, ignoring her friend.

"Grace, I'm sorry for not being more supportive," Poppy started her apology.

Grace didn't even lift her eyes from the doodle that looked suspiciously like professor Snape in high heels. "You should be."

"I know. You've been a great friend while I've been dealing with this Marcus stuff and I've just been crummy to you," Poppy said. Grace glanced at her sideways.

"Yes. Keep going," she said and stopped drawing.

"If you want to do whatever with Graham, I promise to support you," Poppy continued.

"Well, thank you," Grace responded, lifting her head and directing her eyes towards Poppy. Her lips curved into a small crooked smile.

"And also, I'm sorry for not telling you everything," Poppy said.

"You mean about the snogging?" Grace asked, taken aback slightly.

"Yes. It's just... Oh, this is so stupid."

"Tell me!"

Poppy bit her lip. "Well, you see, you've done all this stuff and had many boyfriends and I don't know. I guess I'm not ready for all that."

"You know I haven't done half the stuff people say I've done?" Grace asked in an annoyed tone.

"I know. But when you keep asking me why Marcus has his shirt on while we snog it just feels as though I'm doing something wrong," Poppy said with a frown on her face.

"Oh, no," Grace said and pulled Poppy in for a hug. "I was just asking, since you've already slept in the same bed with him and you were both half-naked."

"But that's different. I was sleeping. And I see him shirtless all the time and that's fine. I don't know. I'm not like you," Poppy said as as Grace let go.

Grace pondered for a while, trying to read Poppy's sad face. Her face lit up. "Oh, I get it! You think that once his shirt comes off, yours should too?"

"That is a definite worry of mine, yes," Poppy said, still frowning.

Grace shook her head as she spoke. "Oh, Poppy! You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"I know that! But isn't it silly if he's half-naked and I'm fully-clothed?" Poppy asked.

"No, of course not! Next time, just take off his shirt, enjoy what Quidditch can do to a man's body, and hold onto your own clothes. And promise to tell me everything!" Grace flashed a big smile and winked. Poppy giggled.

"I promise," Poppy said. Grace could always cheer her up.

"I'm not going to judge you for going slow. You do what you got to do," Grace said.

"What are you going to do about Graham?" Poppy asked.

"I might not do anything. I'll let him do all the work," Grace said and started gathering her things. It seemed the only thing she got done while supposedly studying was three parchment scraps full of doodles.

"How old-fashioned of you," Poppy said, getting up from the floor. She reached out her hand to help Grace.

"I know!"