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Chapter 6:

The following day Angelina and Alicia explained how they suspected her brother was wiping her memory and had put an Imperius curse on her. They even told her about going to Marcus and getting information about Theodore Bell. That Marcus had told them it might be her dad erasing her memories and not her brother. And lastly the rumors about her father poisoning her mother. Katie felt betrayed, her friends had been lying to her for over a month now. Not only that but Marcus had gone behind her back and helped them.

Months flew by, and Katie had eventually forgiven Angelina and Alicia. It was hard not to when Marcus wasn't around anymore, having heard from another student that he had dropped out for the year. Was it because of her? Why hadn't he at least said goodbye to her?

Over the summer break she spent a lot of time with her father practicing Quidditch. No matter how hard she tried she could shake the feeling of uneasiness around him. Katie had tried to speak to her mother a few times but she was firm in her story that she tried to kill herself. Katie had witnessed the fight the night before though. Could her mom have been so depressed after the fight she tried to take her own life? Or had her dad tried to kill her? Katie didn't know what to believe.

Sighing she pulled out the ruby red journal, disappointed that it remained sealed. Katie opened her desk drawer and placed the book inside, hearing a distinct clicking sound. Surprised she turned the book over, it had opened. The necklace Mrs. Bell had given her glowed a light blue before dimming out.

The necklace had been the key this entire time?That means her mom knows she had the book? Was that what she was going to tell her the night her dad interrupted them?

Not wasting anytime, she started flipping through the pages, the handwriting was neat and written mostly in black ink. It was strange though, this handwriting looked nothing like her moms perfect script.

There were doodles, and random things taped to pages. A few flowers were pressed between the pages. Katie began reading the journal, it started in her teenage years, until the story turned into one about a woman who's betrothed didn't love her back. The tragedy of it made Katie close the book.

When it was time to return to Hogwarts, Katie made her way through the train, searching for Marcus. When she found him with a few other Slytherin students, making eye contact with him, she nodded her head to the side. A silent message.

He followed her as she looked for an empty compartment, flicking the door shut behind them. Sitting down across from each other, she broke the silence and asked, "Why did you leave school last year?"

"Family stuff" He was short with his response. Katie could tell that he wasn't telling her the full story.

"Is everything okay?" she asked softly, uncertainty lacing her words.

He leaned forward in his seat, placing his arms on his legs. "Nothing to worry about princess" giving her a charming smile.

Swallowing the boulder that was in her throat, she asks, "I need to ask you a question and I need you to be honest with me" Katie searched his eyes.

He tilts his head at her before replying, "Shoot."

"Why did you help Alicia and Angelina sneak behind my back?" She had thought about it all summer.

"I was just trying to help, figured they would tell you when the time was right." He seemed sincere. Clearing his throat he adds, "I hope you can forgive me." Hope lighting his eyes. He grasped her right hand, holding it with both of his own.

Katie smiled up at him, "I do."

Katie was in the library studying after dinner, wanting to get ahead in her schoolwork. She was almost finished with her last assignment when Marcus sat at the table with her. "Hey princess"

"Hey Marcus, how are you?" She asked smiling at him. They had been meeting in the library the last couple weeks after dinner and it was nice. Their conversation was usually casual and lighthearted. They sat there for a while, Katie going back and forth between studying and talking with Marcus.

Breaking the silence "So when are you going to let me take you out on a date?" he asked as his hand slid across the table to hold hers.

Katie could feel apprehension twisting her up in a knot. Staring at their joined hands for a while; she replied. "Marcus, I just want to.."

He cut her off before she could finish "be friends?" he began rubbing small circles on the inside of her palm, sending shivers up her body.

"Marcus" Her voice cracked, and he pulled his hand away, disappointment plastered on his features.

"You won't even give me a chance?" He asked his voice cracking slightly, searching her face for any clue.

"Marcus I don't…" before she could finish, he cut her off, voice raising with his emotion.

"Do you expect me to wait, like some love sick puppy? If that's the case then I don't wanna be friends anymore." He rakes a hand through his hair in frustration.

Katie squeezes her eyes shut, just to escape his face. "If that's what you want." She whispered, but even to her own ears she didn't sound happy about it. Katie had made a lot of mistakes in her life, and she couldn't help but feel like this was one of them.

"It is." Silence ices over the both of them.

That night, there was a party in the Gryffindor common room and Angelina had gotten completely drunk. Stumbling all over the place and when George had tried to get her to go to bed, she had yelled at him. Starting a huge fight in the middle of the common room, all eyes were on them. "George Weasley find yourself a new girlfriend" She screamed.

Alicia eventually convinced Angelina to go upstairs not wanting the situation to get out of hand. When Katie made her way to her bed, Angelina was still venting "Who does he think he is, telling me to stop drinking. It's a party, that's the point to get wasted."

"He was worried about you" Alicia reasoned with her. Angelina was too drunk to understand that though.

"Well, I'm done with him" she said angrily throwing things around the room.

Katie had never seen her get this upset before. Deciding to try and help she said "Give him another chance."

Angelina spun in Katie's direction fury in her eyes "What like you did with Oliver? I mean we all know you dumped him for Marcus Flint." Angelina was beyond angry "He's just going to use you, and you're too thick to see it."

"Marcus and I are friends." Katie argued.

"Give me a break, that's called Stockholm syndrome. Anyone with half a brain can see that you're just leading on two guys at once or was it three?"

The following morning Katie made her way to The Great Hall. Deciding to sit with Hermione instead of her normal group. That's when she noticed Marcus at his table with Daphne Greengrass holding onto him for dear life. He had an arm loosely wrapped around her and she was pressed up to his side. Kate couldn't help but feel the jealousy wrapping around her.

Pushing her emotions down, she continued to read her mother's journal. She hadn't been able to read more than a couple pages at a time before stopping. It was heartbreaking to read the tale of a woman, who wanted so badly to have the man she was with, love her back.

Then she stopped in her tracks, rereading the same page repeatedly, not fully believing what she read. "Today I had a home birth, a baby girl, Katie Bell 04/19/1977. She's the most beautiful baby in the world. It's been a while since I've written in here. To fill you in a week ago I gave him an ultimatum. Either leave her, or I would tell everyone about the affair with a muggle. I'll let you know what happens. Love, Clarissa Greengrass."

Katie didn't understand, her mothers name was Caroline Gaut before the marriage, not Clarissa Greengrass. Then she noticed a letter folded up in the second to last page, it was a letter written from her father. The thing that stood out to her was the signature, Cassius Theodore Bell II.

When she got to her bedroom, she ran to her broom and noticed the same print etched into the wood. She was so confused. Her brother was her actually her father? So, that meant that her parents were her grandparents? Had they adopted Katie after her father had killed her mother? Did they simply not want her to be raised by a murderer? Or had they stolen her as a baby?

It was a month later when she finally spoke to Marcus again. She saw him leaning against a tree observing her, walking up to him. "Hey Marcus" She stood in front of him awkwardly, not sure if this was a good idea. "Are you still mad at me?" Timidly she asked looking up into his eyes.

"Of course." His hands thrust into his pockets, and he looked more serious than she'd ever seen him before.

"You seem to have moved on." She knew it was petty to make a comment like that. He deserved to be with someone. Wondering if maybe it stung a little bit more, to know it was with her long-lost cousin.

He looses a breath, his shoulders drooping slightly. "Why are you jealous?" His voice was stern and calm.

"Yeah, I am" She answered honestly. giving him a small smile; inside she felt like she was dying. Against her better judgment she admitted. "I'm done making excuses."

"Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it." — Albus Dumbledore