Send My Regards

Chapter Nine

The sun came up the next morning a lot faster than Marcus would have liked. He spent the night with Angelina wrapped in a blanket and her soft warmth before the fireplace which was now nothing more than a dull pile of ash again. Sunlight leaked through the windows and Marcus cursed himself. Why did the night have to end? Why couldn't he stay this way forever; watching Angelina sleep; his hands caressing her smooth curves and gorgeous skin? He longed to hear her voice but at the same time, everything was peaceful just the way it was. His arm coiled possessively over Angelina's waist, hugging her back to his chest and kissing her shoulder.

Angelina stirred and took a deep breath through her nose and stretched. Her body was waking but her mind still perceived this as a perfect dream. She felt Marcus behind her; kissing her flesh; and never wanted it to end. Despite that wish, she opened her eyes and smiled and turned her head to lightly kiss Marcus on the lips. They remained that way for several minutes to soak in one another's touch until Angelina had to pull away to yawn.

"Go back to sleep if you're still tired," Marcus said.

Angelina cuddled up to him and closed her eyes. She hummed in contentment but then forced herself awake again. "We should get dressed before Katie and Oliver get back," she suggested.

She wriggled out of the blanket enough to lean over and grab her clothes and, reluctantly, Marcus did the same. His new garments were next to the bloody ones he discarded the night before, as well as the golden amulet. He held the forgotten item in his hand.

"What's that?" Angelina asked.

Marcus closed his fingers over it. "An amulet."

"What's it do?" She sat behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder to stare at the object in his palm.

"It's supposed to protect you from spells but I think it's an old, worthless piece of shit if you ask me."

"Did you steal it?"

Marcus laughed. "No. My mother gave it to me."

"Does it work?"

"It had better," he sighed. "Because you're wearing it."

Angelina lifted her head suddenly. "What? No way! That's a gift from your mother!"

"And now it's a gift from me; the first one I didn't steal."

He draped it over Angelina's head before she could protest. She blushed and stared at it with a silent curiosity. "Thank you," she said. "It's quite beautiful, actually."

Marcus stretched. "Are there any sandwiches left?" he asked, forgetting the amulet altogether.

Angelina glanced at the empty paper bag on the hearth. "No. Sorry."

"Damn. I'm hungry."

And then there was a knock at the cabin door. Angelina gasped and they both scrambled for the rest of their clothes and quickly dressed. Marcus yanked his shirt on as he went for the door and when Angelina gave the 'ok', he opened the door. A half second later, he slammed it shut again and walked away as if no one was ever there.

"Who is it, Marcus?" Angelina asked but then a very angry Oliver Wood stormed in with a bleeding nose care of the door slammed in his face. Katie came in behind him trying not to laugh.

Angelina stumbled eagerly to her feet. "Hey! Where have you guys been?"

Katie set another paper bag down on the kitchen counter. "Oh, we went home. We figured you'd enjoy a little alone time," she said and winked at Angelina.

Angelina blushed furiously. Katie must have known what she and Marcus had done last night...twice. Marcus cleared his throat.

"So, Mister Chivalry over here made me stay at his flat," Katie continued flatly and nodded at Oliver who was trying to control his bleeding nose.

Angelina grinned at him. "Oli, you cad!"

"Oh, trust me," Katie snorted. "It was so innocent that I think the saints would be bored."

"What!" Oliver protested. "Excuse me if I didn't want to play wizards' chess with ourselves as pawns all night!"

Katie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You were just scared because you knew I'd win. What other excuse can I use to push you down and beat you over the head?"

Marcus shrugged. "I never need an excuse."

Angelina was sniggering behind her hand as Oliver glared at Marcus. If looks could kill... "Did you get any sleep?" she asked them.

"No!" Katie and Oliver both said at the same time.

Katie pointed a finger at him. "He made me sleep on the floor!"

"I did not! You wouldn't sleep in the bed!"

"Neither would you!"

"It would have been inappropriate of me!"

"Well, I wasn't going to sleep in there alone! I think you had a shirt underneath your pillow that had been there for years and it crawled out and tried to strangle me!"

"It did not!"

Angelina cocked an eyebrow at Katie. "So, you slept on the floor instead?"

"Sleep?! SLEEP?!" Oliver exclaimed. "She couldn't doze off even if you gave her a gallon of sleeping potion! She put shaving cream in my hand and tickled my nose!"

Katie burst into laughter. "Oh, man, Angelina! You should have seen him! It was hysterical!"

Oliver kept on arguing with Katie for the next five minutes. Marcus and Angelina almost felt like they needed a bucket of popcorn for the show but the bag on the counter caught their curiosity instead.

"What did you bring?" Angelina asked.

"Food," Katie answered quickly and went back to yelling at Oliver.

Marcus gave a thankful sigh and unearthed the contents of the bag onto the counter with Angelina. Chicken and chips. They ate until Angelina really couldn't stand to listen to Katie and Oliver fight any longer. Honestly, they were like an old married couple. She cleared her throat.

"So, did you hear anything from the Prophet today?"

Katie sighed. "Just the usual. 'Marcus Flint is a deranged psychopath hell bent on killing everyone and that he's a Death Eater, yada yada...'."

Angelina stared at Marcus worriedly as he began to fume. Quickly, she spoke again. "I meant anything that could help us."

Katie shook her head. "Where's your mum?" she asked Marcus.

He shrugged. "Hell if I know. Probably out on the street corner..."

"She seemed very...anxious last night," Angelina said with concern.

"Whatever. I have to take a leak."

Oliver glared angrily as Marcus made his way out of the cabin but Angelina and Katie only shrugged and helped themselves to some more chicken.

Outside, Marcus did his business as his mind, once again, began to swarm with bitterness. All this talk about Death Eaters and his mother, not to mention the presence of Oliver Wood, were enough to make him clench his teeth. Marcus stared off into the woods; a light summer breeze making the trees whisper loudly above him. The ground was dewy and soaked his feet but it was quite pleasant. Hell, Marcus wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning just as long as he could have a beautiful girl like Angelina wake up with him. He closed his eyes and recalled the bliss of the night behind him; Angelina's scent, her skin, her hair, her voice, her - snap!

Marcus quickly turned his head and became alert. Something nearby had stepped on a twig and quickly escaped. He shrugged and zipped up his trousers; passing it off as a harmless deer. And then he went back into the cabin.

***

Addison Nott could not believe how exceedingly simple his night had been. All the waiting, the watching, the stalking had all paid off. He had followed Katie and Oliver to Puddletown where he patiently sat and waited; lurking about the complex. When no other visitors arrived, he concluded that the daft boy and obnoxious girl were the only inhabitants of the flat for the night. After many hours passed and the sun had come up, he hid to watch the two youths make their way out of the flat again and hurry along the streets with a paper bag. Supplies, no doubt. Nott followed them; keeping his distance; and after a long run, a short portkey, and a brisk walk later, they had led him unknowingly into a forest. But a most peculiar thing then occurred: they suddenly disappeared from his site. For the next fifteen minutes or so, Nott cursed himself. How could he lose two people in the middle of the woods when he had been trailing them so perfectly; so silently? He touched every tree to see if there was a hidden portkey. And then, just as he had given up, he heard a stirring close by...and smiled...and then disapperated as soon as a twig beneath his foot gave him away.

He returned to the Death Eater base as quickly as he could travel. His heart was racing with excitement and he couldn't wait to inform William and Lucius of his good news. He hurried into the inn, opened the cellar, and ran down unnoticed as usual. When he entered the main room, he was delighted to find Lucius and William enjoying a tea and looking up at him. Nott was panting and his eyes were lit up. He grinned.

"I found them."

"You found Marcus?" William asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Nott said. He then told William the events of the previous night. But when he got to the part where everyone magically just disappeared, William began to chuckle to himself. Lucius, however, was not amused. "Disappeared?" he repeated. "How entertaining, I'm sure."

William was now throwing his head back and filling the room with his hearty laughter. "Why didn't I think of it before?!"

"It seems to be your most predominant characteristic," Lucius said. "Tell us: why?"

"My daft mother in law owned a cabin in the woods just outside of London," William explained. "I should have known Marcus would go there to hide."

"But...there was no cabin," Nott said. "Everything just disappeared."

"It's unplottable to strangers," said William. "Anyone who isn't directly introduced to it would stumble upon nothing at all. Air. It was a summer getaway. Nothing but a run down shack, now, probably."

"So, I'm assuming you have been introduced to this cabin?" Lucius asked.

"Yes." William looked at Addison. "The other two went there but are you sure Marcus and his bitch are there as well? Did you see them?"

Nott swallowed and nodded. "Yes. Your son appeared moments later to...take care of business, so to speak, against a tree."

"So," Lucius said and inspected his fingernails, "you plan on catching all four children by yourself? Impressive."

"No, no. I'm only catching one." They all went quiet. William continued to explain. "Nott, you know where the Puddlemere boy lives. No doubt that he'll return with his lady friend in the evening to retrieve some more goods. Kill them but do it quietly. With the Ministry out for Marcus's head, they know he wouldn't draw attention to himself. A quiet murder is just the ticket; a perfect alibi."

"And that leaves two. You still haven't explained how you're going to kidnap your son and his love object at the same time," Lucius said.

"I'm not. I'm only taking the girl. After that, it's a sure bet Marcus will be storming in here to save her. And when he does, he'll have nowhere to go. This is the ultimate trap. After we force him into allegiance with the Dark Lord, we'll punish him for his uncooperative attitude by doing whatever we like to Angelina and making him watch. Then, it'll be all over."

Lucius was still unconvinced. "And how was it you planned on peeling the girl away from Marcus long enough to steal her?"

Just then, a livid-looking woman entered the room. William grinned and clasped his hands together. "Gentlemen, we have a winner."

***

The hot and lazy afternoon hours in the forest came and went quickly. The sun that was once so bright that the inhabitants of the cabin had to crack the windows to breathe was now fading away behind rolling black clouds. The wind picked up as a storm grew above them and soon, the dim cabin was lit only by flickers of lightning. Rain came down steadily and leaked into parts of the cabin only to seep through the cracks in the floor and return to earth.

Marcus, Angelina, Katie, and Oliver sat in the den in silence for the most part. Building another fire was out of the question as rain splattered in through the chimney. Needless to say, gloom reigned supreme in the cabin.

The rain outside came down in sheets and rumbles of thunder, though loud, seemed to be a lullaby. Oliver and Angelina fell asleep. For the longest time, Marcus and Katie sat up awake; silent as they thought; bored until Katie stretched and tried to make conversation. Marcus was, anyway, her best friend's lover.

"So," she said.

Marcus looked up at her expectantly. "So what?"

"Have you given any thought about what you're going to do?"

Marcus went back to staring at the floor and flicking tiny pebbles across the cabin. "I don't see what I can do with the fucking Ministry out there on top of Death Eaters--."

"No, I meant with Angelina."

He looked up at her again. "What about Angelina?"

Katie gave him the 'oh come on' glare. "I saw you two last night."

For a moment, Marcus stared until he shook his head and laughed silently. "Is that what you did last night? Came in, saw us, and then went home to write a Gryffindor lecture for me?"

"No. I'd just like to know if you had a future in store for my best friend."

Marcus smirked and looked up at Katie humorously. "Is this Katie Bell encouraging Angelina to have a future with the evil Marcus Flint?"

She shrugged. "Her choice was certainly...strange at first. But you're not how you were in school now. I don't hate you. You must have done something in those woods to make her love you. Did you seduce her?"

Marcus laughed. "Did I seduce her? Does saving her ass ever five minutes count as seduction?"

"I'm just making sure," Katie said lightly. "Because if you were just using her for sex, by law I'm required to render you sterile with my fist."

"And whose law is that?"

"Mine." She glared at him.

Marcus, however, thought this was terribly amusing. Katie was so feisty sometimes. "I didn't seduce her," he said. "Calm down, Bell."

"Do you love her?"

"Yeah, I love her," he said exasperatedly. "What are we--like--thirteen years old? Can we get off the subject of my bloody love life?"

Katie sighed and there was another long pause. "So, how are you going to fix all of this?"

"What? All this bullshit with my dad? Get him in a nice range and speak two magic little words to kill him off, that's what," he said.

"So why don't you?"

Marcus lay back on the floor and threw his arms over his eyes. "A Slytherin stuck in a cabin with three Gryffindors. This is torture." He sat up again. "Bell, the entire wizarding population thinks I'm a mad killer. Want me to run on up to the market and grab some milk?"

Katie looked at the floor. He was right; he couldn't just waltz out of the cabin and do as he pleased. "What about your mum? Couldn't she off him?"

Marcus was starting to get impatient. "Why don't you ask her when she gets back, Katie?"

"And when is that?"

"When you stop talking for an hour and a half...at least."

Katie glared and picked up a pebble to throw at his head but he smacked it away and it ended up hitting Wood instead. He woke suddenly and sat up, disoriented. Marcus grinned. "Good shot, Bell."

Oliver muttered sleepily for a few more seconds and then rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Time for us to go get some more food because I'm hungry again," Katie said and stood up. She brushed the dirt from the knees of her jeans.

Oliver sat on the ground still and yawned. Some rain was beginning to leak through the roof and onto his head. What a wake up. He squinted and stood out of the way and followed Katie to the door like an obedient dog.

"We'll be back soon," Katie said to Marcus but he was already sidling up behind Angelina and smirking mischievously.

"Take your time," he said and Katie pulled Oliver out of the door before he could figure out what Flint had in store for his alone-time with Angelina.