Sparks

Sparks 09

Chapter Nine:

Marcus impatiently waited outside the Slytherin broom shed for Katie. She was late. He closed his eyes and leaned against the shed wall. "Merlin, I hope she comes," he thought to himself.

"Marcus," said Katie softly.

His eyes snapped open. Katie was standing in front of him with an uncertain look on her face. Marcus smiled at her reassuringly and took her hand. He opened the shed door with his wand and led her in their hideaway. In the dimly lit silence of the shed, they looked at each other.

"Marcus," said Katie as she broke the silence. "I don't know what came over me today. I think it was a lack of sleep. I don't...,"

"No, don't apologize Katie," said Marcus as he interrupted her. " I like that you are jealous. It means that I actually mean something to you."

"What?" gasped Katie. "Marcus, of course you mean something to me!"

"Do I really?" asked Marcus. "Do I mean something to you Katie?"

"Yes!" said an outraged Katie. " Don't you know how I feel, Marcus?"

"No, not really," said Marcus quietly. "I know how much I want you Katie. I tell you all the time. But you never say anything back. "

"What?" said a confused Katie. Suddenly, a look of comprehension flooded her expressive face. "Oh, I've never said anything back to you, have I?"

"No, you haven't," said Marcus quietly.

"I'm sorry Marcus," whispered Katie. "I want... I like...I thought I told you this morning. I want to be with you all the time Marcus. I hate that we can't be together in public because of an inter-House rivalry that began before we were born."

Suddenly Marcus smiled and he pulled her over to the chaise lounge and sat down. He held her hand and started to talk.

"Katie, I have something to tell you," said Marcus as he looked into her eyes. " It's going to be hard for me so I wanted to find out if you had feelings for me first. But, please don't look at me while I tell you."

"Okay, " said a confused Katie. She held his hand tightly as Marcus began to talk again.

" You know that my father and I do not have the best relationship," said Marcus as he took a deep breath. " I've never told you why have I? Well, when I was younger, he used to hit my mother." He could feel Katie stiffen in shock beside him. He closed his eyes and kept talking.

" He had the Flint temper my mother would say after each time he hit her. She defended him all the time. My father was upset because my mother could not have more children after I was born. He couldn't divorce her because they are married in the old pureblood tradition. So, he hit her and said it was all her fault. He would tell her that his mistresses were always getting pregnant but his worthless wife couldn't even do that. He never hit me though."

"When I was twelve, I was already a pretty big guy so the next time he went after my mother, I hit him back," he said in a monotone voice. "I told him if he ever hit my mother again, I would make him regret it. He stopped hurting her but he would come after me occasionally after he'd been drinking but he wouldn't get very far. Funny thing is that my mother still loves him."

"A few years ago, he started in on me. No hitting, just words. He's a control freak, my old man is. He wants to control every part of my life, " said Marcus as a bitter smile crossed his lips. " Do you know Katie what he said to me after I became the Slytherin Quidditch captain in my third year? Nothing. Not a single word. To this day I not sure whether he knows I'm even on the Quidditch team." Marcus could feel Katie's hand tighten on his own.

"Tarquin says that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. He should know. At least my mother is caring; Tarquin's mother is a nightmare. I swear my old man plots in his study for days on how to make my life a living hell. I guess I shouldn't have defended my mother so strongly but I couldn't stand by and watch him hurt her. For years he and I have been waging a silent war but he's winning. He has me over a barrel. My trust funds are under his control until I turn thirty-five or until he dies, whichever comes first. He knows that in the end he has to pass control of the family trusts to me but he's going to make sure I pay for them in spades. This year he has stepped up his little war by planning the next twenty years of my life out in exacting detail. I'm supposed to be grateful that he's bothering to do this."

He turned and finally looked into Katie's eyes. Her eyes were damp and she was gripping his hand fiercely. He suddenly turned and pulled her onto his lap. "Katie, what I have to tell you next is going to upset you," whispered Marcus. "But I trust you to hear me out."

"A few weeks age, he owled me with a list. A list of possible brides because he wants me to marry within the next year," said Marcus quickly. He could feel Katie stiffen as she turned her head away from him. She tried to get off his lap but Marcus wouldn't let her. "Please Katie, listen to me. I don't want to marry some girl I've never met but if I tell him to sod off he'll see that as a challenge to his authority and try to make me. I'm trying to find a way out of his trap."

A dark silence fell in the shed. He could hear his heart pound as he waited for Katie's reaction. He didn't have to wait long.

"Have you told your father about me?" Katie asked. Marcus shook his head. "I guess that the list of brides doesn't include me does it? All those girls are from wealthy pureblood families, aren't they? Of course they are, you wouldn't dream of marrying a middle class witch."

Marcus stared at Katie in shock as her voice started to rise and her face flushed. She pushed herself off his lap with a hard shove and stood over him.

"I bet you only told me about that list because you thought I was going to find out," said Katie shrilly. Her face paled as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Wait a minute. Why are you telling me about it? You didn't have to. Is that girl Circe Jones on that list, Marcus?"

Marcus blanched and his mind started to race. "Merlin, I'm fucked, " thought Marcus to himself. "I have to distract her. She'll go barmy if I say yes. Seriously, not like she's calm at the moment. She's not taking the list like I thought. Where did the sweet sympathetic girlfriend go? Well, a good defense is a good offense."

"Well Katie, I thought that we had a real relationship. One where we could tell each other anything," said Marcus with a hard edge to his voice as he got to his feet.

"Well Marcus, in real relationships, you don't tell the other that you will soon be marrying someone else. No matter how sorry you'll be!" said Katie sharply. "And answer my question about that Slytherin tramp."

"What? Circe Jones is not a tramp!" said Marcus unwisely.

"How pray tell do you know?" said Katie softly and dangerously.

"Fucking hell," thought Marcus to himself. "Why did I say that!"

"Just because some people think that there is something going on between Circe and myself doesn't give you just cause to call a member of my House a tramp Katie," said Marcus sternly.

"Oh really Marcus?" said Katie softly. "Why are you defending her then?"

Marcus and Katie glared at each other in the gathering gloom of the evening.

"Oh why am I bothering? You've made your feelings clear Marcus. Although, I cannot understand why you would go through the charade of asking me how I felt about you when you were going to break up with me ten minutes later," said an obviously distraught Katie. "Good-bye Flint."

Katie quickly whirled towards the door and had already opened it when a hand came out and slammed the door shut in her face. Two hard hands flipped her around to face the inside of the shed. A startled Katie looked into Marcus Flint's furious face. The blind jealousy that drove her to fight with Marcus faded as she braced herself for a blast of the famous Flint temper. She lifted her chin in defiance but she had never seen him this angry before, not even with Oliver Wood during a Quidditch match.