Relinquished

Marcus woke up with a pounding headache. He was sprawled across the floor, and his back ached terribly.

Looking around, he could not see Katie anywhere. His eyes fastened of the bathroom door and he felt his stomach turn and feeling naucious he stumbled to his feet and made for the door.

Leaning against it he turned the handle to find that it locked. Suddenly he heard movement in the bathroom, most likely Katie and he slammed on the door, "Bell, let me in!" without thinking, saying her real name.

There was a muffled sob but the door would not open and Marcus felt much to hungover to point a wand straight and charm open the door.

Suddenly the previous night flashed before him, faded memories, yet the truth came to him vividly. He had attacked the girl, attempting to kiss her and Katie had fought him off. Eventually he had ended up on the ground after Katie had kneed him in the groin. Moaning in frustration, the vomit raising quickly in his stomach, Marcus banged on the door again.

"Let me in, you stupid little whore!" he screamed in rage, swaying as he removed himself from against the door and leaned on a wall beside it for support, holding his stomach. "Open the god-damned door!"

A muffled 'no' was heard through the door and it did not opened. In frustration Marcus found himself struggling over towards his bed and searching for his wand. Throwing off his covers, he was unsuccessful in finding it until he saw it stuffed under the corner of the bed. He fell over the bed, grabbing it before pushing himself back to his feet.

Walking towards the door, holding his chest to keep the vomit in, he moaned out a feeble, "Alohamora," and the door flew open as Katie Bell fell backwards from her place against the door.

Running past her, Marcus made his way quickly to the toilet where he then began to regurgitate everything that he had digested the prior day.

Katie looked at him with shook, surprised that he was vomiting in a toilet instead of re-arranging her face, but when he had finally stopped puking Marcus turned to the girl and glared.

"You will be punished," he muttered, almost to himself, looking her over, "I am going to punish you."

Katie took a quick step back but Marcus matched her with three or four even quicker steps until he stood right in front of her. "Well Bell, what do you have to say for yourself?" he snired. "Want to kiss me better?" he added, laughing quietly at Katie's disgusted reaction.

Suddenly Marcus found himself grabbing Bell's wrists in pure rage and pulling her towards him. He stopped just four inches from his chest and looked down at the blond girl who glared up at him, slightly trembling.

"So, what have you learned today?" he asked, his charcoal eyes glaring down at her, his mouth set in a cruel line.

Katie glared up at him, not letting Marcus Flint get the better of her and answered, "That you're a raging drunk!"

Flint's eyes buldged at that he let her go just long enough to push her back a deck her in the face. Katie fell to the ground, landing half on the ground, half on the nearby bed.

"What did you learn?" he asked again, standing above the fallen girl.

Katie looked up at him pleadingly, a little gash on the side of her head had started to bleed and blood had gotten into her eye and it was starting to sting. She didn't answer him, she couldn't. She couldn't talk to the bastard sanily and if she opened her mouth and said something he didn't like, then he had the option of beating the living crap out of her.

Flint seemed to realize that she wasn't going to say anything, so he reached down and pulled Katie up by the collar.

"What did you learn today?" he shouted at her, spit flying in her face and then he flew her onto the bed and stood above her. He was all she could see. Tears slide unbiddingly to her eyes and Katie suddenly realized she was shaking.

"I learned not to attack you," she finally replied in a flat voice and Marcus snired viciously, knowing that something had broken in her. Katie had always been so strong and she always held her ground, but now she seemed weaker... not by much though, but it was still a difference.

"Good," Marcus muttered and left the room. Katie heard him lock the door behind him as he entered the rest of the castle and not two minutes later the terrible headache came, the one from not being close enough to Flint.

When they had entered the castle, he had changed it to ten feet, but he was probably a lot more than ten feet away. Katie rolled on the bed, clutting her hands to her head and did her best to not scream in pain. Her head was on fire and a tear streamed down her face. She buried her face into her blankets and rolled up into a ball, wishing for Flint to return, for the first time in her life, and put her out of the terrible misery.

But he did not return in the next two hours and Katie felt her self rolling over on the bed, over and over in pain.

Finally she heard the door unlock and someone entered the room. Her back was to the door at the time but the pain did not go away, it was not Marcus.

Katie could feel herself shacking, remembering Flints words about the Deatheaters, how they watched, how they listened. Maybe they knew she was Muggleborn, maybe they were here to take her away! The thoughts flew through Katie's head and she sniffed as quietly as possible.

Suddenly she felt something on her shoulder... a human hand and Katie screamed. She screamed in terror. She was found out! She was going to die. A tear slid down her face and she looked up to see the face of a young girl, about the same age as her, with short, redish hair and startling green eyes.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked quietly and Katie looked at her blankly, still shacking. "Please say something. Did Flint do something to you? Cast a spell? He's always been a terrible troll, has he not?"

Katie found herself nodding, wondering if the girl had any idea that Marcus had troll blood in him, that he wasn't a pureblooded wizard but she didn't feel like asking.

"Come, get up," the girl said softly but Katie's head throbbed and she didn't want to rise from the bed.

"No," Katie finally mumbled, "Flint would get angry at me."

"He'll never know," the girl told her but Katie shook her head.

"He put a spell on me," she started to tell the other girl in a feeble voice. "When he gets more than 10 feet away from me, I get terrible heads aches and it's unbarable. I can hardly move or talk and he's left me like this for hours."

The other girl's eyebrows rose in disgust and suddenly Katie felt herself being pulled off the bed. "Well, then we must find Mister Flint. By the way, I am Jaymes, Jaymes Lestrange."

Katie nodded weakly as she took a hesitant step foward, swaying. "Angelina Johnson," Katie told the other girl, fortunately remembering her alias, even through all her pain. "Can I ask you a question?"

The girl, Jaymes, looked hesitant but nodded. "Are you a Deatheater?" Katie found herself asking Jaymes.

Jaymes looked at her for a second before rolling up her sleeve to show Katie the dark mark. Katie starred at it and almost feel over but Jaymes grabbed on to her hand.

"Oh," Katie murmured, "then why are you helping me?"

Jaymes looked around for a second in thought, supporting Katie's weight at the same time while they walked. "Well, I've never meet Flint, but from what I've heard he's terrible."

Katie nodded her head, agreeing that Flint was indeed terrible.

"Hmmm," Jaymes murmured as the girls wandered through the mass of halls. Finally they walked through a large pair of doors and the headache started to wain. "Flint is in here somewhere," Jaymes annouced and Katie nodded, looking around for the big man.

She finally found him standing in a corner, sulking with a drink in hand. Katie nodged Jaymes and then Jaymes started to lead the weakened girl over to Flint and with every step Katie's footsteps became more alive. Finally the two girls stopped right in front of Flint.

"Marcus Flint," Jaymes said formally, "we meet again. I found this girl, she's yours I believe, in your room. She was gravously ill because of a spell you set on her and you left her in that condition for hours."

Marcus glared at the girl, and grabbed Katie by the shoulder, roughly pulling her behind him. "She is my responsibility," Flint told Jaymes, hiding the girl behind him protectively, "and I will dicipline her however I see fit. So do not come to me with complaints, because she is not your business."

Jaymes glared. "I beg to differ. You see, I am in the Great Lord's favour, you are not. So if you keep on abusing your charges, I will have to talk to the Dark Lord about you."

Flint laughed. "A bastard like you would never be in his favour," he told Jaymes, making her face fall, "and yes, Lestrange everyone knows your mother's dirty secret, even the part about how even she doesn't know who your father is."

Jaymes eyes widened in shook and she clenched her hands into fists, ready to punch the asshole but a voice interupted.

"Is something wrong, Lestrange?" a voice asked behind her. Not needing to look, Jaymes knew it was Osbourne's.

Looking behind her, she gave Osbourne Avery a slight smile and replied, "Nothing I can't handle."

Flint laughed at this while Osbourne just glared. The girl stood behind Flint still, her wrist still clenched in his tight grasp and before Jaymes or Osbourne knew what was happening, Marcus Flint was pulling the other girl out of the room.

"Where are you going Flint?" Jaymes called after him, determined to follow them but Osbourne grabbed her hand and refused to let go. "Let them be, Lestrange," Avery told her. "There's obviously something strange going on, so don't get yourself involved."

Jaymes glared. "I can make my own desicions Osbourne, I don't need you to make them for me."

Osbourne laughed. "Have you ever meet the Johnson family, Jaymes?" Jaymes shook her head. "Well that girl," he said, pointing to where they had last seen Marcus and Angelina, "is not a Johnson. The Johnsons are pureblooded wizards and they lived in the same town as me. My mother was very friendly with them."

"She might be a cousin of the Johnsons you know," Jaymes told him.

"No," Osbourne shook his head.

Jaymes felt frustrated as she almost screamed, "What are you trying to say?"

"That Flint is covering something up."

"Marcus Flint doesn't have a good heart. He's not the kind of person who would cover something up to save someone else, someone he can't stand like Angelina."

"Are you sure?" Osbourne asked, and Jaymes knew that she wasn't.

"I'm sure," Jaymes replied, letting the words tumble out of her mouth ungracefully. She would lie and cheat, do what ever she could... but to what purpose? Why was she about to fight for Flint's girl?