Relinquished

Marcus sat still, watching as Katie slept peacefully on the bed in front of him. He was too frightened to lie down beside her and get some sleep because she was furious that he had left her alone. Suffering all day from the terrible pain of his spell had caused her made her very dangerous. He wasn't just about to sleep and wait to see if Katie was brave enough to get revenge while he was sleeping.

So he sat there, watching as Katie's chest rose and fell in time and Marcus' eyes sagged with boredom. Katie lazily rolled over and Marcus sighed, wishing the night would end. His eyes were starting to feel like lead. All he wanted to do was lie down on his soft bed, Katie Bell or no Katie Bell.

Finally, so tired that Katie had become blurry through his red, strained eyes, he rose from his perch beside the bed and dropped himself down, next beside Katie, throwing an arm over her slumbering form and quickly falling asleep.

It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when he heard a loud pounding. At first he thought it was Bell, doing harm to his body, but he realized that he wasn't in pain. Slowly he pulled his head off the pillow of his bed to see Katie sitting up, next to him, her eyes fixed on the door, where the pounding was coming from.

"FLINT!" an angry voice called through the door, "I don't care if that girl's tiring you out! Get out here now!!"

Marcus recognized the voice of Joseph McNair and he quickly pulled himself off the bed and threw the door open. McNair was glaring at him. "Hurry Flint! We're being attacked by the Ministry!"

Flint swore loudly before looking down at his clothing. He realized that he was dressed only in his boxers and quickly ran back into the room and started to pull robes over his head and find his wand.

Looking up a minute later he realized that McNair was gone but Bell was sitting on the bed, confused. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked.

"Stay here," he told her gruffly before moving towards the door but Katie was fast and before he had left the room she was standing in front of him, blocking his way.

"That's not going to work. I'm not going to let you leave me for hours on end, crying in pain," the girl said fiercely, the memory of the pain the day before making her brave.

"Damn Gryffindors," Marcus muttered under his breath and tried to push her out of his way but Bell wasn't moving.

"Take off the spell, I'm not moving," she told him coldly. He glared down at her, knowing very well he could easily stupefy her, but something stopped him from doing it. He reached into his robes and retrieved his wand, pointing it at Katie. "Puissanez!" he cried and Katie looked at him strangely.

He quickly pushed around her and slammed the door, just catching her muffled, "What does that do?"

Well, she'll find out soon, he thought, almost laughing as he hurried to join the other Death Eaters on the wall against the attacking Aurors.

He arrived on the castle walls to see a mass of black below the walls of the Death Eaters' fort. Thousands of Ministry Aurors stood below him, ready to attack Voldemort's defences so they could gain entry. There had been spells constructed around the castle so that Apparating was impossible but if the Aurors used the right spells... the magic shield that Lord Voldemort had built to protected his supporters would fall. Marcus didn't want to think what would happen if the Ministry were able to get through them.

He quickly walked down the wall, looking for an opening for him to step into. During his time with the Death Eaters he had been drilled in many different scenarios, so he knew what he was supposed to do in the situation. Eventually he found a spot not that far away from Osbourne Avery. Of course Jaymes wasn't standing on the wall, all the female Death Eaters were inside the keep of the castle, guarding the main hall where Voldemort resided. The idea was that if Aurors got through the main defence of the wall, they would meet with the female Death Eaters who were anything but tired, giving them an advantage against the exhausted and possibly injured Ministry Wizards.

Looking around him, Marcus noticed he was standing in between Adrian Pucey and William Cotts. He had attended school with both the boys and Pucey had been on his Quidditch team. He had not realized that they had been there. Last thing he had heard, Pucey was playing Quidditch in London while Cotts was training as a medi-wizard near Oxford. He felt relieved that neither of the former Slytherins had yet to set eyes on Katie.

"Pucey," he said gruffly, looking at the former Slytherin, "didn't know you were up here. Want to ruin your Quidditch career, do ya?"

Pucey laughed a soft, sinister laugh before replying, "My Lord commands and I obey. Isn't that always the way?"

Marcus look at him for a moment before nodding, feeling a bolt of guilt for lying to Lord Voldemort. He reached for his wand and pointed it at the Aurors who stood below him, waiting to attack.

Lucius Malfoy stood in the middle of the courtyard, waiting for the Death Eaters' attention. He drew his wand lifted it in the air, producing a spark, getting the Death Eaters' attention. They turned to Lucius Malfoy, Voldemort's second in command.

"Today is the day of truth. The Ministry is here to tear down our walls and punish us for obeying our true leader!" This brought a lot of boos as Lucius continued, "But we will not be brought down and our walls will stand intact. We are a threat to the Ministry, the Aurors and the Mudbloods, just as we should be. When the Ministry Aurors leave this place, they will be leaving in caskets and we will be leaving as conquerors, ready to rule the Wizarding and Muggle Worlds alike with an iron fist. We have everything we need here in this castle. We have food, stability and power, but most importantly we have hostages. We have people within these walls loyal to Dumbledore, whom he will do anything to get back. We must use this to our advantage and we must conquer those who stand outside these walls," Malfoy screamed, encouraging a roar of approval from the Death Eaters.

Marcus felt his face go slightly white. Hostages, Katie was a hostage and he didn't want Katie to die, no matter how he acted towards her.

Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Pucey. "You're white as death. What's your problem? Scared, Flint?" He laughed viciously and Marcus hated him.

"No, Pucey, I think I'm going to take a stroll down the wall and find a position where I'm not surrounded by incompetent idiots," Marcus growled at the man before spinning on his heal and heading away from Pucey and down the walkway, his robes swirling, giving his exit grand effect.

But instead of looking for a new place on the wall, he hurried to a dark stairwell that he quickly descended, not knowing that he was being followed.

Jaymes carefully pulled the white mask over her face, making sure that none peaked out. Although many Death Eaters would not be wearing their masks, there were some who would do so, continuing the tradition, and if she was lucky, she would be able to slip through the crowd and monitor Flint better than Osbourne would be able to.

There was a knock on the door just as Jaymes finished the last touches of her disguise, pulling on a black cloak. She quickly pulled the door open, knowing who stood on the other side. She nodded quickly at him before he turned and she followed him out the door.

Quickly the pair headed through the keep of the castle until they came to a courtyard and quickly mounted the stairs to the wall. Below her she could see all the Ministry wizards lined up for battle and she felt her stomach sink to unthinkable depths. She wished that she was still in the relatively safety of the castle.

Unconsciously she clutched for Avery's hand and he pulled her closer, shielding their hands behind their cloaks so no one would see or suspect that something was out of place. Osbourne's hand stroked Jaymes' carefully, calming her down slightly and expelling some of the fear.

"Jaymes," Osbourne whispered, looking in the direction of one of the staircases. Jaymes looked and saw that Flint was mounting the stairs quickly and looking over the wall with concern in his eyes. She saw his eyes widen at the masses below them before recovering and finding himself a spot on the wall by Pucey and Cotts.

Jaymes looked at Osbourne worriedly, hoping they would survive the battle and leaned over quickly without thinking.

"Avery, I'm not sure if we're going to make it out of here," said Jaymes as Osbourne grunted, watching the ground below and Jaymes continued, "so I just wanted to tell you that I like you, I like you a lot."

Osbourne's hand stopped moving and he just stood there, unable to look at the girl he had loved ever since he had set eyes on her. He couldn't believe that she just said that and he wanted to turn and look into her eyes to make sure she wasn't lying but he was much too frightened and he kept his eyes on the masses below.

Suddenly there was a blast of light that appeared from the corner of his eye and he and Jaymes turned to watch Lucius Malfoy give his speech.

It's funny, Osbourne thought to himself, that Malfoy's son isn't here. He's probably going to be off as soon as this battle is underway, and Voldemort probably isn't even here, it's probably a decoy. The thoughts frightened slightly and he squeezed Nekane's hand, not thinking. He felt her squeeze back and he smiled slightly, glad for a reaction out of her.

Finally Lucius Malfoy was finished with his speech and Osbourne took the opurtunity to sneak a look at Jaymes. She was looking out in the distance, watching something happen along the wall. He stood there, watching her for several minutes, Jaymes unaware that he watched her the whole time.

Suddenly he felt her hand tugging on his and he looked up to where she was frantically gesturing with her eyes. Osbourne followed her gaze to Marcus Flint. He was quickly walking down the wall of the castle, although no one else was moving.

Osbourne detatched his hand from Jaymes and they both followed him from a safe distance. He soon entered a tower and they quickly followed after him to see him quickly decsend a flight of stairs towards the castle.

Nekane gave him a desperate look and Osbourne put a hand on the small of her back, indicating for them to follow Flint.