Miles to Go - a gift for lady_green_bat
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. All fics posted at this community were written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Title: Miles to Go
Author: ceirdwenfc
Gift for: lady_green_bat
Rating: R/borderline NC-17
Word Count: 3661
Pairing:Katie Bell/Marcus Flint
Warnings: Language, light bondage, sexual situations, some fluff
Summary:It's a post-War world, and that makes unlikely bedfellows.
A/N: I tried to get in as many of your elements as I could. I hope you enjoy this. I did not expect this to go on like it did. They would not let me stop writing until they felt their story was complete. They were very insistent. The place, item, prompt were: bookstore, bouquet and the quotation, "For we have many miles to go and promises to keep." I used the British bookshop. Thank you to my beta. Great job as always.
Happy Spring lady_green_bat
The bell rang in the front of the store. Katie let her head fall forward, her hair falling into her face. Not again, she thought. Every time she settled down in this section to do the inventory, someone came in. Maybe this time, they'd browse first before heading to the counter.
Ding.
Katie bit her tongue. She glanced at her cup of coffee and the stack of books in her lap.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
She rolled her eyes.
The counter bell had the most annoying sound, and whoever it was obviously didn't understand the sign, "Ring bell and wait"; she huffed as she picked herself up off the floor, pushing the old books off her lap, and leaving them beside the shelves.
"I'm coming," she called. She refrained from her usual, 'keep your knickers on.' The last time she'd said that it was Professor Flitwick looking for that old Ravenclaw tome by that crazy nephew of Rowena Ravenclaw. They barely had that dusted and on the shelf in the display case before three other Ravenclaws had come in looking to catch a glimpse of it. None of them had the Galleons for such an important work, though. Professor Flitwick tried to appeal to her sense of loyalty to Hogwarts, asking for a professorial discount. To have such a book in her family’s possession would be an enormous triumph in the book world, what with so many clamoring for it, but she turned him down flat.
Katie was tempted. She always liked Professor Flitwick, but in these uncertain times right after the War, she thought it best to keep her family as the owner of that particular book, but she did inform him that if they ever decided to sell it, he would definitely be the first to know and that she'd consider a discount for him, even though he’d never let her catch a break in his classes, including during Quidditch season.
As she emerged from the stacks, she stopped short, her eyes widening.
Leaning on the counter, his arms crossed, eyeing the bell as if he were willing it to ring again was Marcus Flint. She hadn't seen him in a couple of years at best, and he was the last person she expected to see in her family's bookshop.
Any bookshop.
She pulled her hair back and fastened it with an elastic, moving towards him, then skirting behind the counter he still leaned on.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked, cordially.
"Um, well, I was…is Jonas here? He usually helps me with this sort of thing." Marcus looked around Katie, trying to see into the storeroom, but his eyes came back to her when she shook her head.
"No, sorry. He's in St. Mungo's. He got hit with a nasty hex." She looked down at his arm, the bottom part of the mark visible. When Marcus noticed where her gaze was, he hastily tugged his sleeve down and folded his arms over his chest.
"I'll wait for him to get back."
Katie smiled. "You can wait, but we close at half-seven, and he got hit with the hex last week. Let me know if you need anything else." She smirked, turning on her heel and began to go back to her inventory when he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. She spun around, wand drawn, and his hands went up defensively, quickly.
"Hold on," he snarled, taking a step back when she put her wand to his chest.
Their eyes remained fixed on the other while she put her wand down and took one step back, giving them both a bit more space.
"What is it you're looking for?"
He looked momentarily surprised, but hesitated only a moment before handing her the parchment he had crumpled up in his hand.
She read the scrawl, and looked at him, and then back to the note in her hand. She tossed it on the counter, not sure if she should laugh out loud. "You're not serious?"
"Jonas always -"
"Then he was a fool. I can't get this for you; even if I wanted to."
"Last month," he argued, but she interrupted him.
"Last month, Voldemort was in charge. I can't get this for you. What do you need it for anyway? Dark Arts working out for you then? Need to add to your collection?"
He glared at her, snatching the parchment from the worktop. The door clanged to a close as he went out into the street.
*****
It was a week later that he came back.
The bell on the door rang, and Katie came out of the back straightaway, once again surprised to see Marcus Flint leaning on the counter.
"Are you looking for a different book today?"
"No," he said, quietly.
"I already told you that I can't-"
"I understand that your brother works at the Ministry," he interrupted. "My family is considering selling some of our …my grandfather's old books. We'd like to get top dollar for them, but we also know that the Ministry might want them for their Archives, and they might be willing to pay that price for them."
"You're all heart, Flint."
"I am," he said, smiling darkly.
"Do you have a list of what you're willing to sell? I also think they'd want to examine them, appraise them to see if they're actually that valuable before they make a commitment to buy them."
He pulled a folded parchment from his pocket and handed it to her. He grabbed her arm, pulling her against the counter. "Only your brother," he said through gritted teeth. "No one else knows what my family possesses. Please," he added in a bit of a softer tone.
"You're afraid they'd arrest your whole family?"
"They'd be targets from both sides, and you know it. I'll come back in two days for your offer." He left quickly, not looking back.
The next day
"I don't understand. Why do I have to go? I don't work for the Ministry."
"Katie, will you stop your whinging. I can't go because I'm expected in the Minister's office for the monthly meeting -"
"And you can't skive off?"
"Skive off? I'm not at Hogwarts, Katie. I can't skive off the Minister as though his meetings were Grubbly-Plank's class on flobberworms and their digestive systems. I need you to do this. You're just as much an expert as I am; you can report back to me, and then I'll take it to the Minister himself."
"Jeff -"
"No. Katie. You wanted to take over the shop after the War, now you'll need to do this for me."
"This isn't about the shop."
"No, it's not. You are the resident expert and your government is calling on you -"
"When did you become such a bloody politician, Jeff?"
"When I joined the Ministry, Katie. I am the head of the Manuscripts and Artifacts Department. It is my responsibility to send out my underlings to do the legwork on these kinds of appraisals. You, my dear sister, are my underling."
She glared at him, a string of curses on the tip of her tongue. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
"The only other one I could send is Adrian Pucey, and he hates the Flint family ever since Flint's father turned his brother in as a Death Eater, and got out of his own troubles. That would not go well for any of them. Or me. So please, Katie, do me this favor? The Ministry will pay you for your services; I've already cleared that with the Exchequer. Please, Katie. Marcus knows you. He'll convince his family to take our offer."
*****
Katie couldn't believe that she was in this position. The room was dark, and there was a slight chill in the air. She had made the offer, but Marcus had refused. Prat. It was a very generous offer. More than he would have gotten if he sold those books privately. Having the Ministry take charge of them was a boon to both sides. They would be saved for all time, studied, kept as part of the Wizarding world's history even though they were Dark texts. They were willing to pay the Flint family a tidy sum for the entire collection. It was very generous.
Marcus refused. What was up with that arrogant prat? Did he really think he could get more?
She knew when he touched her hair that all was lost. She had been fighting it for too long. It had taken a week to get a proper look at the books, and then there were at least fifty of them worth the Ministry's time. She catalogued them carefully, taking an imprint with her special equipment to show her brother and the Minister. Once the books were approved, she had a letter from the Minister with the official offer. And that bastard refused. He wanted more. He wanted prestige for his family. He wanted a fucking nameplate at the Ministry. He wanted his father's old job back.
Pah! That would never happen.
But then he touched her hair. Sliding a long strand between his two fingers, pushing it back over her ear, he spoke quietly to her. He had been standing very close to her and his whisper could be felt on her skin. "I thought you had dark hair. Do you use glamours?"
"No. It's always been blonde."
He pushed his fingers through her hair, pulling forward from her ear, winding his fingers around the long blonde locks, tugging slightly. "Perhaps, I'm thinking of that other chaser, Spinnet was her name, yeah?"
Katie laughed. "Yeah, perhaps. But Alicia's hair is also blonde."
"Hmm." That "hmm" was disarming. His hand was still in her hair, and the 'hmm' was almost a hum, but he glanced at her. His eyes were dark, shadowed by the setting sun.
She hadn't expected it when he pushed her against the book case. He had pushed so forcefully that she expelled a breath, and when the case rattled, a book fell from over her head, hitting the floor with a thud. She had no time to react. His lips were on hers seconds after that, his body pressing her into the shelves in his family's library. Two more books fell, bumping them. His hands roamed without restraint over her curves, slipping briefly between her thighs.
She wanted to push him away. She didn't want to admit that she wanted him as well. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't doing this, not here, not with him, but inexplicably her arms went around his neck while one of her legs slipped between his. He pulled her shirt free from the waistband, tugging it open. Katie heard her button pop off, hitting the stone floor. When his hand brushed against the fabric of her bra, her moan vibrated on his lips.
That was an hour ago. She couldn't believe that she’d let him do it. It was so unlike her, but as she lay on the bed, her clothes falling off her haphazardly, she felt a cool draft on the naked parts of her body. She was still blindfolded, and her hands were tied lightly to the top of the wrought iron bed. She tried rubbing her head to dislodge the blindfold, but that wasn't working. She thought he might be watching her and felt slightly self-conscious.
How long ago had he gone away?
She felt his presence more than anything, but his finger on her bare skin startled her and she flinched somewhat.
He laughed.
She'd never noticed his laugh before. It was sweet, not harsh as she had expected. So unlike the boy she knew at Hogwarts; even unlike the man she'd become reacquainted with this week. He ran a rough finger over her lips. She opened them slightly, and when he taunted her by slipping his finger into her mouth, she licked him. He pulled his finger back in surprise and then she felt a tug on the binds around her head, her hair pulled harder than she'd expected as strands were tied in the scarf around her eyes. She blinked several times as Marcus tugged the blindfold down so that it now rested around her neck. It was still dark in the room, but certainly brighter with the blindfold removed from her eyes.
He was shirtless. She'd never found him much of anything at Hogwarts, but there was something about him now. She studied his face, wondering what he was thinking. She was lost in thought, staring at him, letting her eyes wander along his body. He'd really kept himself fit when he left Quidditch -- oh yes, she remembered now as her eye lingered on his mark - when he'd left Quidditch for the Death Eaters. The mark was beginning to fade, but still remained dark enough that it made her frown and left her feeling a bit uncomfortable. She squirmed, wondering what she'd let herself get taken into, but just then she let out a surprised gasp as his thumb brushed across her nipple and her eyes darted once more to his. He pressed harder, rubbing his fingers around the soft flesh, taking another step closer. She tugged at her bonds, frantically wanting to touch him, but he shook his head.
"Not yet," he whispered. "Do you remember our last game of Quidditch?"
"I do."
"I brought you that bouquet of flowers."
"They were dead."
"They were," he nodded. "It is the thought that counts, though, and you were the enemy team. Do you remember what I said?"
She nodded, but remained silent, letting him repeat the phrase that he'd said to her in sixth year.
"For we have many miles to go and promises to keep."
"I had no idea what the fuck you were talking about. I still don't."
"Voldemort."
She cringed at his name. Even dead, he was still frightful. She had grown up terrified of him, not allowed to speak his name until Dumbledore finally made it okay, and that was even more terrifying.
"Voldemort," he continued, but he seemed to notice her discomfort, and he rubbed his knuckles across her forehead and down along her cheek. He gave her a small smile. "I wanted you then, Katie Bell. Well, to be fair, I was a randy teenager, I'd've taken any one of you, but that was the beginning of the end. Choose sides. Are you with us…or against us? And you, you, Katie Bell, you were against us.
"Miles to go, and promises to keep. I'd been promised to him. We all were. Slytherins. My services; whatever he needed. I was fucked either way. Damned if I joined him," he paused to look at his Mark, and then back at her, "damned if I didn't. It was better to be on his side than not…you know?"
Katie felt a bit funny, still tied to the bed. She wasn't sure where this conversation was leading, but each time he looked her in the eye, she felt a chill. He had been on the wrong side of it, and now that Voldemort was dead, his family was paying the price for that. She thought that the sale of the books was strictly a way to stick it to the Ministry, but it seemed that they truly wanted to repair their reputation, and they desperately needed the money. When Marcus was in school, they had three House Elves. They were forced to discharge two of them, keeping on only the most feeble of the three, whom they knew could never find employment elsewhere. Now, they were selling their valuable collection of Dark texts. She had heard from her brother that they'd already sold their silver to a Muggle merchant before it could be confiscated by the Ministry. Confiscations seemed to be slowing down as more and more of the Dark Wizards and their families were coming forward to help capture Death Eaters and give out information.
She stopped thinking when she realized that Marcus was staring at her. He smiled, teasing her with his thumb, putting one knee on the bed, leaning into her. He slowly traced his fingertip over her curves, in at her waist, around her hip, splaying his hand to squeeze her arse a bit roughly, lifting her off the bed. She whimpered when her skin touched his, but he let her fall back to the bed. His hand went between her thighs again, but before she could react with a breath or even a proper moan pleading him to untie her, he was leaning down, kissing her, pressing his body against hers, licking her until her nipples peaked, rubbing against her until she could take it no longer.
"Marcus! For fuck's sake, untie me!" Her hands rattled the iron as it thumped the wall, her body writhing beneath his, and he spoke between his kisses.
"Why, Bell? This isn't working for you? It certainly feels as though something's working for you." He let his finger slide along her knickers. He grinned, not saying anything else as he pressed on her, cupping her, running his thumb in a half circle that made her groan. She knew that her knickers were soaked. He smirked, but continued moving his hands, kneading and grasping until finally one hand slid along her arm, reaching her bound hands and pulling the knot loose.
Katie pulled her hands free as soon as he had loosened the bindings enough, pulling Marcus' head to hers, his body crashing to hers roughly and then easily fitting, and she wasn't sure what she was feeling at this moment. Her mind, which had been racing and full of their history at school and then this week and the world that once was, was soon blank, filled only with the sounds of their breathing, heavy at times, and trying to find the words for the taste of him, the feel of him, his scent in her nostrils. Their hips met and soon he had filled her. They had their own rhythm going now, the squeak of the bed, and the bang of the iron headboard on the wall adding to the rhythm of her mind, filling it with something.
Marcus' mouth covered her breasts, his nose tracing their outline, his lips tasting her as their bodies twined and tangled, each taking their turn to shudder and tremble until they were both stilled.
*****
Katie was awoken by the floo call.
"Lazy arse, what are you still doing in bed?"
She rolled over, keeping the quilt over her as she faced her brother in the green fire. "What do you want this early, Jeff?"
"Did it go well with Flint the other day? I really expected to hear from you."
"Well enough," Katie smirked.
"What does that mean? Well enough. Did he accept the Ministry's offer? It was more than fair. You've been bargaining with that bastard for nearly the whole week."
"Yes, that's exactly what his father said. 'More than fair.' I believe that they'll accept it. I'm meeting with him in Diagon Alley to settle on the details this afternoon. Should we stop by the Ministry after?"
"Is he authorized to sign for his family?"
"I'll find out, but I believe that he is, yes."
"Fine. I want this over with. I'll expect you this afternoon, then."
"See you." She slumped back down into her bed as the green fire left the empty fireplace, and turned to the lump on the other side of her. "Are you?"
"Am I what?" he grunted.
"Authorized to sign for your family in legal matters?"
"Oh. Yes, I am. I thought you were asking if I was a bastard."
"Psh. I know the answer to that one." She rolled over him until she was straddling his waist, the blanket between them. He shifted beneath her and smiled when she noticed him rub against her.
He reached up to tug on her mess of blonde strands, and he pulled her down, fighting to get inside her despite the impediment of the blanket.
She pushed off him with a giggle. He answered with a groan, but she was already off the bed.
"Sorry, Marcus. I have a very important meeting this afternoon, and if I expect to be on time with my client, I need to get dressed."
"I don't think he'd mind if you showed up naked. It might put you at an advantage actually."
"Do you really think so?" She paused at the door to the bath, turning slightly. She knew that she'd stopped at the right moment when he let out a tiny gasp, and she waited until his eyes were through wandering along her naked body. "I'm not sure about the rest of the people in Diagon Alley, though. As a representative -"
She was attempting to be funny, but he interrupted her and at the same time sat up in the bed, throwing the duvet aside. "If you don't get in that shower right now, Katie, you're going to miss your meeting."
"I have plenty of time until my meeting."
"Not if I drag your naked arse back to bed and fuck you senseless."
She turned to face him fully, crossing her arms over her chest. She scowled at him, but he gave her a grin and licked his lips, startling her with how fast he took to his knees and scampered off the bed. She shrieked and slammed the door before he could catch her.
This was going to be an interesting meeting, she thought as she turned the dials of the shower to just the right temperature, wondering what would happen once their transaction was over. She thought about his words, "for we have many miles to go and promises to keep." Indeed they did; only this time she hoped that the next bouquet he brought her had living flowers.
Title: Miles to Go
Author: ceirdwenfc
Gift for: lady_green_bat
Rating: R/borderline NC-17
Word Count: 3661
Pairing:Katie Bell/Marcus Flint
Warnings: Language, light bondage, sexual situations, some fluff
Summary:It's a post-War world, and that makes unlikely bedfellows.
A/N: I tried to get in as many of your elements as I could. I hope you enjoy this. I did not expect this to go on like it did. They would not let me stop writing until they felt their story was complete. They were very insistent. The place, item, prompt were: bookstore, bouquet and the quotation, "For we have many miles to go and promises to keep." I used the British bookshop. Thank you to my beta. Great job as always.
Happy Spring lady_green_bat
The bell rang in the front of the store. Katie let her head fall forward, her hair falling into her face. Not again, she thought. Every time she settled down in this section to do the inventory, someone came in. Maybe this time, they'd browse first before heading to the counter.
Ding.
Katie bit her tongue. She glanced at her cup of coffee and the stack of books in her lap.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
She rolled her eyes.
The counter bell had the most annoying sound, and whoever it was obviously didn't understand the sign, "Ring bell and wait"; she huffed as she picked herself up off the floor, pushing the old books off her lap, and leaving them beside the shelves.
"I'm coming," she called. She refrained from her usual, 'keep your knickers on.' The last time she'd said that it was Professor Flitwick looking for that old Ravenclaw tome by that crazy nephew of Rowena Ravenclaw. They barely had that dusted and on the shelf in the display case before three other Ravenclaws had come in looking to catch a glimpse of it. None of them had the Galleons for such an important work, though. Professor Flitwick tried to appeal to her sense of loyalty to Hogwarts, asking for a professorial discount. To have such a book in her family’s possession would be an enormous triumph in the book world, what with so many clamoring for it, but she turned him down flat.
Katie was tempted. She always liked Professor Flitwick, but in these uncertain times right after the War, she thought it best to keep her family as the owner of that particular book, but she did inform him that if they ever decided to sell it, he would definitely be the first to know and that she'd consider a discount for him, even though he’d never let her catch a break in his classes, including during Quidditch season.
As she emerged from the stacks, she stopped short, her eyes widening.
Leaning on the counter, his arms crossed, eyeing the bell as if he were willing it to ring again was Marcus Flint. She hadn't seen him in a couple of years at best, and he was the last person she expected to see in her family's bookshop.
Any bookshop.
She pulled her hair back and fastened it with an elastic, moving towards him, then skirting behind the counter he still leaned on.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked, cordially.
"Um, well, I was…is Jonas here? He usually helps me with this sort of thing." Marcus looked around Katie, trying to see into the storeroom, but his eyes came back to her when she shook her head.
"No, sorry. He's in St. Mungo's. He got hit with a nasty hex." She looked down at his arm, the bottom part of the mark visible. When Marcus noticed where her gaze was, he hastily tugged his sleeve down and folded his arms over his chest.
"I'll wait for him to get back."
Katie smiled. "You can wait, but we close at half-seven, and he got hit with the hex last week. Let me know if you need anything else." She smirked, turning on her heel and began to go back to her inventory when he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. She spun around, wand drawn, and his hands went up defensively, quickly.
"Hold on," he snarled, taking a step back when she put her wand to his chest.
Their eyes remained fixed on the other while she put her wand down and took one step back, giving them both a bit more space.
"What is it you're looking for?"
He looked momentarily surprised, but hesitated only a moment before handing her the parchment he had crumpled up in his hand.
She read the scrawl, and looked at him, and then back to the note in her hand. She tossed it on the counter, not sure if she should laugh out loud. "You're not serious?"
"Jonas always -"
"Then he was a fool. I can't get this for you; even if I wanted to."
"Last month," he argued, but she interrupted him.
"Last month, Voldemort was in charge. I can't get this for you. What do you need it for anyway? Dark Arts working out for you then? Need to add to your collection?"
He glared at her, snatching the parchment from the worktop. The door clanged to a close as he went out into the street.
*****
It was a week later that he came back.
The bell on the door rang, and Katie came out of the back straightaway, once again surprised to see Marcus Flint leaning on the counter.
"Are you looking for a different book today?"
"No," he said, quietly.
"I already told you that I can't-"
"I understand that your brother works at the Ministry," he interrupted. "My family is considering selling some of our …my grandfather's old books. We'd like to get top dollar for them, but we also know that the Ministry might want them for their Archives, and they might be willing to pay that price for them."
"You're all heart, Flint."
"I am," he said, smiling darkly.
"Do you have a list of what you're willing to sell? I also think they'd want to examine them, appraise them to see if they're actually that valuable before they make a commitment to buy them."
He pulled a folded parchment from his pocket and handed it to her. He grabbed her arm, pulling her against the counter. "Only your brother," he said through gritted teeth. "No one else knows what my family possesses. Please," he added in a bit of a softer tone.
"You're afraid they'd arrest your whole family?"
"They'd be targets from both sides, and you know it. I'll come back in two days for your offer." He left quickly, not looking back.
The next day
"I don't understand. Why do I have to go? I don't work for the Ministry."
"Katie, will you stop your whinging. I can't go because I'm expected in the Minister's office for the monthly meeting -"
"And you can't skive off?"
"Skive off? I'm not at Hogwarts, Katie. I can't skive off the Minister as though his meetings were Grubbly-Plank's class on flobberworms and their digestive systems. I need you to do this. You're just as much an expert as I am; you can report back to me, and then I'll take it to the Minister himself."
"Jeff -"
"No. Katie. You wanted to take over the shop after the War, now you'll need to do this for me."
"This isn't about the shop."
"No, it's not. You are the resident expert and your government is calling on you -"
"When did you become such a bloody politician, Jeff?"
"When I joined the Ministry, Katie. I am the head of the Manuscripts and Artifacts Department. It is my responsibility to send out my underlings to do the legwork on these kinds of appraisals. You, my dear sister, are my underling."
She glared at him, a string of curses on the tip of her tongue. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
"The only other one I could send is Adrian Pucey, and he hates the Flint family ever since Flint's father turned his brother in as a Death Eater, and got out of his own troubles. That would not go well for any of them. Or me. So please, Katie, do me this favor? The Ministry will pay you for your services; I've already cleared that with the Exchequer. Please, Katie. Marcus knows you. He'll convince his family to take our offer."
*****
Katie couldn't believe that she was in this position. The room was dark, and there was a slight chill in the air. She had made the offer, but Marcus had refused. Prat. It was a very generous offer. More than he would have gotten if he sold those books privately. Having the Ministry take charge of them was a boon to both sides. They would be saved for all time, studied, kept as part of the Wizarding world's history even though they were Dark texts. They were willing to pay the Flint family a tidy sum for the entire collection. It was very generous.
Marcus refused. What was up with that arrogant prat? Did he really think he could get more?
She knew when he touched her hair that all was lost. She had been fighting it for too long. It had taken a week to get a proper look at the books, and then there were at least fifty of them worth the Ministry's time. She catalogued them carefully, taking an imprint with her special equipment to show her brother and the Minister. Once the books were approved, she had a letter from the Minister with the official offer. And that bastard refused. He wanted more. He wanted prestige for his family. He wanted a fucking nameplate at the Ministry. He wanted his father's old job back.
Pah! That would never happen.
But then he touched her hair. Sliding a long strand between his two fingers, pushing it back over her ear, he spoke quietly to her. He had been standing very close to her and his whisper could be felt on her skin. "I thought you had dark hair. Do you use glamours?"
"No. It's always been blonde."
He pushed his fingers through her hair, pulling forward from her ear, winding his fingers around the long blonde locks, tugging slightly. "Perhaps, I'm thinking of that other chaser, Spinnet was her name, yeah?"
Katie laughed. "Yeah, perhaps. But Alicia's hair is also blonde."
"Hmm." That "hmm" was disarming. His hand was still in her hair, and the 'hmm' was almost a hum, but he glanced at her. His eyes were dark, shadowed by the setting sun.
She hadn't expected it when he pushed her against the book case. He had pushed so forcefully that she expelled a breath, and when the case rattled, a book fell from over her head, hitting the floor with a thud. She had no time to react. His lips were on hers seconds after that, his body pressing her into the shelves in his family's library. Two more books fell, bumping them. His hands roamed without restraint over her curves, slipping briefly between her thighs.
She wanted to push him away. She didn't want to admit that she wanted him as well. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't doing this, not here, not with him, but inexplicably her arms went around his neck while one of her legs slipped between his. He pulled her shirt free from the waistband, tugging it open. Katie heard her button pop off, hitting the stone floor. When his hand brushed against the fabric of her bra, her moan vibrated on his lips.
That was an hour ago. She couldn't believe that she’d let him do it. It was so unlike her, but as she lay on the bed, her clothes falling off her haphazardly, she felt a cool draft on the naked parts of her body. She was still blindfolded, and her hands were tied lightly to the top of the wrought iron bed. She tried rubbing her head to dislodge the blindfold, but that wasn't working. She thought he might be watching her and felt slightly self-conscious.
How long ago had he gone away?
She felt his presence more than anything, but his finger on her bare skin startled her and she flinched somewhat.
He laughed.
She'd never noticed his laugh before. It was sweet, not harsh as she had expected. So unlike the boy she knew at Hogwarts; even unlike the man she'd become reacquainted with this week. He ran a rough finger over her lips. She opened them slightly, and when he taunted her by slipping his finger into her mouth, she licked him. He pulled his finger back in surprise and then she felt a tug on the binds around her head, her hair pulled harder than she'd expected as strands were tied in the scarf around her eyes. She blinked several times as Marcus tugged the blindfold down so that it now rested around her neck. It was still dark in the room, but certainly brighter with the blindfold removed from her eyes.
He was shirtless. She'd never found him much of anything at Hogwarts, but there was something about him now. She studied his face, wondering what he was thinking. She was lost in thought, staring at him, letting her eyes wander along his body. He'd really kept himself fit when he left Quidditch -- oh yes, she remembered now as her eye lingered on his mark - when he'd left Quidditch for the Death Eaters. The mark was beginning to fade, but still remained dark enough that it made her frown and left her feeling a bit uncomfortable. She squirmed, wondering what she'd let herself get taken into, but just then she let out a surprised gasp as his thumb brushed across her nipple and her eyes darted once more to his. He pressed harder, rubbing his fingers around the soft flesh, taking another step closer. She tugged at her bonds, frantically wanting to touch him, but he shook his head.
"Not yet," he whispered. "Do you remember our last game of Quidditch?"
"I do."
"I brought you that bouquet of flowers."
"They were dead."
"They were," he nodded. "It is the thought that counts, though, and you were the enemy team. Do you remember what I said?"
She nodded, but remained silent, letting him repeat the phrase that he'd said to her in sixth year.
"For we have many miles to go and promises to keep."
"I had no idea what the fuck you were talking about. I still don't."
"Voldemort."
She cringed at his name. Even dead, he was still frightful. She had grown up terrified of him, not allowed to speak his name until Dumbledore finally made it okay, and that was even more terrifying.
"Voldemort," he continued, but he seemed to notice her discomfort, and he rubbed his knuckles across her forehead and down along her cheek. He gave her a small smile. "I wanted you then, Katie Bell. Well, to be fair, I was a randy teenager, I'd've taken any one of you, but that was the beginning of the end. Choose sides. Are you with us…or against us? And you, you, Katie Bell, you were against us.
"Miles to go, and promises to keep. I'd been promised to him. We all were. Slytherins. My services; whatever he needed. I was fucked either way. Damned if I joined him," he paused to look at his Mark, and then back at her, "damned if I didn't. It was better to be on his side than not…you know?"
Katie felt a bit funny, still tied to the bed. She wasn't sure where this conversation was leading, but each time he looked her in the eye, she felt a chill. He had been on the wrong side of it, and now that Voldemort was dead, his family was paying the price for that. She thought that the sale of the books was strictly a way to stick it to the Ministry, but it seemed that they truly wanted to repair their reputation, and they desperately needed the money. When Marcus was in school, they had three House Elves. They were forced to discharge two of them, keeping on only the most feeble of the three, whom they knew could never find employment elsewhere. Now, they were selling their valuable collection of Dark texts. She had heard from her brother that they'd already sold their silver to a Muggle merchant before it could be confiscated by the Ministry. Confiscations seemed to be slowing down as more and more of the Dark Wizards and their families were coming forward to help capture Death Eaters and give out information.
She stopped thinking when she realized that Marcus was staring at her. He smiled, teasing her with his thumb, putting one knee on the bed, leaning into her. He slowly traced his fingertip over her curves, in at her waist, around her hip, splaying his hand to squeeze her arse a bit roughly, lifting her off the bed. She whimpered when her skin touched his, but he let her fall back to the bed. His hand went between her thighs again, but before she could react with a breath or even a proper moan pleading him to untie her, he was leaning down, kissing her, pressing his body against hers, licking her until her nipples peaked, rubbing against her until she could take it no longer.
"Marcus! For fuck's sake, untie me!" Her hands rattled the iron as it thumped the wall, her body writhing beneath his, and he spoke between his kisses.
"Why, Bell? This isn't working for you? It certainly feels as though something's working for you." He let his finger slide along her knickers. He grinned, not saying anything else as he pressed on her, cupping her, running his thumb in a half circle that made her groan. She knew that her knickers were soaked. He smirked, but continued moving his hands, kneading and grasping until finally one hand slid along her arm, reaching her bound hands and pulling the knot loose.
Katie pulled her hands free as soon as he had loosened the bindings enough, pulling Marcus' head to hers, his body crashing to hers roughly and then easily fitting, and she wasn't sure what she was feeling at this moment. Her mind, which had been racing and full of their history at school and then this week and the world that once was, was soon blank, filled only with the sounds of their breathing, heavy at times, and trying to find the words for the taste of him, the feel of him, his scent in her nostrils. Their hips met and soon he had filled her. They had their own rhythm going now, the squeak of the bed, and the bang of the iron headboard on the wall adding to the rhythm of her mind, filling it with something.
Marcus' mouth covered her breasts, his nose tracing their outline, his lips tasting her as their bodies twined and tangled, each taking their turn to shudder and tremble until they were both stilled.
*****
Katie was awoken by the floo call.
"Lazy arse, what are you still doing in bed?"
She rolled over, keeping the quilt over her as she faced her brother in the green fire. "What do you want this early, Jeff?"
"Did it go well with Flint the other day? I really expected to hear from you."
"Well enough," Katie smirked.
"What does that mean? Well enough. Did he accept the Ministry's offer? It was more than fair. You've been bargaining with that bastard for nearly the whole week."
"Yes, that's exactly what his father said. 'More than fair.' I believe that they'll accept it. I'm meeting with him in Diagon Alley to settle on the details this afternoon. Should we stop by the Ministry after?"
"Is he authorized to sign for his family?"
"I'll find out, but I believe that he is, yes."
"Fine. I want this over with. I'll expect you this afternoon, then."
"See you." She slumped back down into her bed as the green fire left the empty fireplace, and turned to the lump on the other side of her. "Are you?"
"Am I what?" he grunted.
"Authorized to sign for your family in legal matters?"
"Oh. Yes, I am. I thought you were asking if I was a bastard."
"Psh. I know the answer to that one." She rolled over him until she was straddling his waist, the blanket between them. He shifted beneath her and smiled when she noticed him rub against her.
He reached up to tug on her mess of blonde strands, and he pulled her down, fighting to get inside her despite the impediment of the blanket.
She pushed off him with a giggle. He answered with a groan, but she was already off the bed.
"Sorry, Marcus. I have a very important meeting this afternoon, and if I expect to be on time with my client, I need to get dressed."
"I don't think he'd mind if you showed up naked. It might put you at an advantage actually."
"Do you really think so?" She paused at the door to the bath, turning slightly. She knew that she'd stopped at the right moment when he let out a tiny gasp, and she waited until his eyes were through wandering along her naked body. "I'm not sure about the rest of the people in Diagon Alley, though. As a representative -"
She was attempting to be funny, but he interrupted her and at the same time sat up in the bed, throwing the duvet aside. "If you don't get in that shower right now, Katie, you're going to miss your meeting."
"I have plenty of time until my meeting."
"Not if I drag your naked arse back to bed and fuck you senseless."
She turned to face him fully, crossing her arms over her chest. She scowled at him, but he gave her a grin and licked his lips, startling her with how fast he took to his knees and scampered off the bed. She shrieked and slammed the door before he could catch her.
This was going to be an interesting meeting, she thought as she turned the dials of the shower to just the right temperature, wondering what would happen once their transaction was over. She thought about his words, "for we have many miles to go and promises to keep." Indeed they did; only this time she hoped that the next bouquet he brought her had living flowers.