A Light in the Dark

When Marcus woke up the next morning, he still had a smile plastered on his face. He got up, got dressed, and left his apartment, all with a spring in his step. He made his way down to the Records Office in Diagon Alley to see what he could dig up on Miss Bell. There should be plenty of information on the Bell family, since they were pure-blooded.

The motherly witch behind the counter at the Records Office smiled warmly and gave him the pile of papers concerning the Bells. Marcus returned the smile, which was now dazzling since he'd had his teeth fixed. Many witches had gone giddy when Marcus smiled at them, and it was entirely possible for him to charm his way into even the most stubborn set of robes.

Marcus sat down at a table in the back by a window so he could watch witches and wizards with their shopping bags bustle to the next shop in the alley. Marcus loved to people watch and spent a good ten minutes watching the shoppers before he started leafing through the Bell papers.

After shuffling through papers for what seemed to be hours, Marcus sighed in frustration. He didn't really know what he was looking for. He'd settle for anything by now. Katie, it seemed, had a squeaky clean record. She'd done everything right. She didn't speed her broom around, she didn't do magic in front of muggles, and she had even waited until she was seventeen to practice magic outside of Hogwarts. Marcus even ventured to guess that she volunteered at St. Mungo's, helped little old witches cross the street, and was a school prefect. She defined the phrase "Goody two-shoes."

How can anyone be so perfect? he mused. She was a good citizen, athletic, popular, and cute to boot. He glanced over her mother's profile. Natalie Bell was a healer at St. Mungo's and had been Quidditch captain for Ravenclaw during her time at Hogwarts.

It must run in the family, he thought bitterly. This was not going how he had hoped. He was hoping for some indiscretions that would shame the Bell family. Curious, he looked at the picture of Natalie.

Katie must get most of her looks from her father, he concluded. Natalie and Katie looked nothing like one another. Upon closer inspection, Katie didn't look much like her father either. This confused Marcus for a moment. Then he looked back at the picture of Natalie. She looked too young to have a seventeen-year-old daughter. Marcus shuffled through the papers to find a marriage certificate.

A-ha. Marcus smiled. Natalie is his second wife. What happened to his first? Divorce was largely frowned upon in pureblood marriages. Marcus found a death certificate for one Mrs. Chelsea Bell. Katie obviously was Chelsea's daughter. They had the same blonde hair, same face shape, and same spirited eyes. Chelsea had died due to an illness during Katie's first year at Hogwarts. Marcus hadn't even really noticed Katie until she had made the Quidditch team her second year, so if she had been upset about her mothers death, he hadn't known or cared at the time.

Not that I care now, either, he thought quickly, leafing through more papers. Chelsea's parents had been the Skinners, another upstanding pureblood family. Marcus knew that some of the Skinners were Death Eaters as well. And Natalie's parents were...

Hmm ... Interesting. Marcus smiled wickedly. Muggles.

*********

Katie wandered around Hogsmeade with Angelina. It was the annual Halloween Hogsmeade visit and Katie was enjoying every moment of it. Alicia had stayed back at the castle, sick with the flu. Katie decided she would get her a get well present on this trip. But it was hard to worry about Alicia when Hogsmeade looked so beautiful. The leaves were starting to turn, and the wind had a chill in it. Katie was thrilled to dig her scarf out of her trunk to wear on the trip. Fall and winter were her favorite seasons, if not just for the delightful clothing opportunities.

Angelina dragged Katie into The Three Broomsticks for a quick Butterbeer and some chips. Katie reluctantly went in, much preferring to stay outside. Fred and George were waiting at a table for them. They had decided to floo in for a drink with their favorite chasers.

"So who's minding the shop while you two are gone?" Katie asked.

"Oh, well, since we're the bosses, we decided to take an extra long lunch hour. Who's going to tell us no?" George smiled and handed Angelina and Katie Butterbeers.

"Where's Spinnet?" Fred asked.

"She's in bed with the flu," Angelina answered. She stole some chips off of Fred's plate and gave him a wicked smile.

While Katie did love her friends to pieces, she was not in a sit indoors mood today. She waited for a few minutes of idle chitchat before she got up and put on her scarf.

"I'm going to go get Alicia a get well gift. I'll be back in a little bit." She smiled at them and made for the door. Fred, George, and Angelina waved farewell to her and the returned to their conversation.

Katie wrapped her scarf snugly around her neck and put on her mittens. She did plan to buy Alicia a gift, but only after she had walked around in the pleasant weather for a while. She smiled at some passing Gryffindors she knew from class. Hermione managed to drag Ron and Harry into the bookshop and Katie laughed to herself as Harry rolled his eyes at Ron.

This is my last Halloween Hogsmeade trip, she thought sadly. She was going to miss everyone so much. But I won't think about that now. Right now I'm just going to enjoy today. I'll think about unpleasantries later.

She made her way up the hill toward the Shrieking Shack. She turned to look down at the village of Hogsmeade and sighed happily. She figured she could get a better view if she climbed a bit higher. Once she reached the top she sat down and let her mind wander.

She didn't even hear the Apparating pop behind her. She had lain back with her eyes closed and only opened them when a shadow passed over her face. She couldn't make out the face because the sun was behind them. She sat up and squinted at the figure.

"Hello?" she asked, still not being able to see whom it was.

"Bell," a deep, throaty voice answered.

That voice sounded so familiar. She couldn't place it though, so she stood up and stepped a bit closer. When Flint's face was clear to her, she gasped.

"Flint? What do you want?" she asked sharply. She could count on one hand how many times Marcus Flint had talked to her willingly.

"Oh, just thought I'd pop in and say hello." He smiled at her. Katie was shocked to see that his smile had become very agreeable since she had last seen him. She shoved her momentary shock aside, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and took a step back.

"Now, now, Bell. I'm not going to hurt you," he took a step closer. She hadn't changed much since he had last seen her, which had been almost three years ago. She was still cute as a button. Marcus had always thought so when they played against each other and he had prided himself on not letting her cuteness get in the way of his game.

And I won't let it get in the way of this either, he thought, smiling again. He took another step towards her, and was now close enough to touch her. She stiffened up and hardened her stare. She would not back down from Flint.

"I asked what you wanted," she said quietly, still not taking her eyes off of him.

"Oh, well what I want..." he said, taking another step closer, "...is you."

She narrowed her eyes, but didn't step back. He intrigued her; she couldn't lie about that. He placed his hand on her arm and she flinched slightly. She kept her eyes on his while she felt herself being pulled towards him. She knew she should turn and run like hell into the village, but she felt like she couldn't run even if her life depended on it. She prayed silently that it didn't. She arched an eyebrow at him in response to his statement. His face was so close to hers now and she felt lost of all coherent thought.

Am I really going to let Marcus Flint kiss me? she thought after a second. She argued with herself for a moment. Good Katie said no, she should not let Marcus Flint kiss her because he was the spawn of all that's evil. Adventurous Katie said why not? He had that lovely bad boy thing going for him.

Adventurous Katie won out and Katie closed her eyes in preparation for what she guessed would be a fabulous kiss. Marcus's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her in as close as she could decently be. Katie smiled to herself and placed a hand on his chest and waited.

And waited.

Then she heard the pop and felt as if someone was pulling her from behind. She grabbed on tighter to Marcus so she wouldn't fall when they landed. She looked around at where they were. It was a very nice house and there was a house-elf entering the room.

"Welcome to my home, Bell," Marcus said smiling. He let go of her, and took a few steps back. The house-elf handed him a drink, which Marcus gratefully took.

"Would you like anything to drink?" he offered. Katie shook her head, still confused as to what happened. One moment she was anticipating a heated kiss with Marcus and the next she's taken from Hogsmeade. As the reality of what happened hit her, she shortened the distance between herself and Marcus. She hit him in the shoulder repeatedly.

"You kidnapped me! WHY?!" she hollered, still hitting him. He took her hits as if they were just a mere annoyance and continued to drink his drink. Once he had finished it, he grabbed Katie's wrist as she was preparing for another blow. She whimpered as he tightened his grasp on her, but her icy glare didn't waver.

"Because, Bell, you're going to help us," he whispered to her as he pulled her close again. Katie wasn't going to be taken in this time, though. She leaned back to keep a respectable distance between them.

"Who's 'us?'" she asked, a bit curious. Why on earth would Marcus Flint want her help?

He let go of her wrist with a chuckle and started to roll up the sleeve of his robe. Katie gasped as she saw the Dark Mark on his arm. He held it up and smiled at her shocked face.

"This 'us', Katie Bell."