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My eyes were sore from over studying, a thing I hadn’t thought was possible until I arrived at Hogwarts and discovered it was very much a real thing. So real in fact that I was ninety percent sure I was now seeing things, as a shadow flicked across the dorm room wall, it was only when it was accompanied with a creak of a floorboard that I realised I was very much not imaging things.
“Evening beautiful,” his voice whispered lazily, as he leant casually against one of my bedposts, looking considerably more relaxed than I felt considering he had just snuck his way from the other end of the castle to reach the Hufflepuff basement. His dark grey eyes glistened brightly in the low light of my fairy lights that had been painstakingly strung around my bed, a small knowing smirk at the edge of his lips,
“what are you doing here?” I hissed breathlessly, glancing across to my muggle clock that confirmed it was well after curfew. Merlin it was well after midnight for that matter. “well you see, I have an itch I just cannot reach, and I know someone who most certainly can,” even in the darkness I could see his cool smile like a predator ready to sink its’ teeth into its’ prey. Approaching the bed at his usual saunter pace, I summoned close the curtains round the double bed I had secured for myself, watching him slowly climb onto the mattress, propping himself up at the bottom of it, his hair damp from a recent shower and a t-shirt hastily pulled on,
“well I'm always happy to help,” I remarked teasingly, stripping my hoodie off my bed as I crawled towards him in my tiny bralette and shorts, he smirked down at me appreciatively. “I figured you would be, Hufflepuffs are always so amenable, and you in particular, are such an obedient sweetheart,” he murmured placing his fingers under my chin, tipping my head upwards as he possessively crashed his lips to mine, gripping my hips through my shorts with his rough hands. Something about Marcus allowed me to let loose. It was a weird way to explain it, but in essence I didn’t have to hold back with him, it was like I was always holding something back to be considered the right type of Hufflepuff, the one who loved wildlife – I had a distinct hatred for dirt, who was sweet all the time – I had an acidic tongue at best. I had always felt like an interloper of sorts.
With Marcus there was weirdly none of that, maybe it was because it was purely physical, but it dropped all the expectations and let me just exist as myself, destress when things got too much, forget what I needed to forget in the moment. It was the perfect fix. “I missed you,” I breathed, climbing to straddle his lap, entwining my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, “yeah?” he whispered quietly, “of course,” I mumbled against his lips,
“good, I like it when you miss me,” he murmured, pushing a piece of hair out of my eyes and looping it behind my ear. The man quite literally took my breath away. Marcus manoeuvred us up the bed with ease, all the hours of quidditch practice paying off as he dragged the duvet up the bed and over us, cuddling me into him as I relaxed into his touch, “one day, you should tell me what you need distracting from me,” he mumbled sleepily, his arms tightening round my waist, keeping me securely against him. “one day,” I murmured quietly, knowing I would probably never tell him just why I needed him quite as badly as it felt like I did.
…
Stifling a yawn, I walked down the corridor leading to the dungeons where potions class was held, my dormmate Allegra walked beside me, looking a lot more dead than I expected. “did you not sleep?” I asked gently as I clutched my textbook to my chest protectively, avoiding the first years who sprinted past us with gusto, where on earth did they get the energy? “no I didn’t, could’ve sworn I heard a male voice too,” she added with a sigh, pressing her fingers to her temple irritably,
“I mean seriously, doesn’t he have a room they can take it to? Why would a man be in our dorm?” looking down to my feet, I nodded my head meekly not daring to risk her wrath and admit that I was the one with a man in my bed. “I'm sure he won’t make a return,” I murmured reassuringly, I was going to be going down to the Slytherin dorms until further notice. “he better not, last thing I need is hearing someone getting off when my latest boy toy disappeared in a puff of smoke!”
She wasn’t joking either , Jenkins who had been her latest play thing hadn’t been seen in weeks, the gossip mill was loving his absence with speculations ranging from hospital wing to a drowning in the lake or a misadventure in the forbidden forest. Realistically it was option number one but that didn’t seem to matter, option two and three were far more entertaining.
“I’m sure you’ll find someone else,” she shrugged as we rounded the corner and walked through the door to the classroom that was empty except for a few students dotted at various desks. “I need to,” she murmured, offering me a small smile before walking over to her desk while I settled at mine, grateful to have been allowed a desk near the door at the back and not have to be under Snape’s nose.
His dislike for Hufflepuffs wasn’t exactly well hidden.
But it didn’t matter, Snape could hate every single one of us, I was still going to pass his class. He wouldn’t have a reason to fail me, I would make sure of it. “good morning class,” the man in question strode in at the same moment I felt Marcus settle in his seat at the desk behind me. I could feel his stare on my back as I shrugged out of my robes and tried to pay attention to Snape who was getting into his stride as he jabbed his bony fingers into the air, proclaiming we were the worst potions class he had ever seen.
I was certain he said that to every class just so he could gloat. It wasn’t like he ever let an opportunity to gloat slip by. No way were we his worst ever class, everyone was on track for O grades. Snape was still giving out when I managed to finally refocus, though not without feeling Marcus scrape his foot on the back of my stool, centring it on the ground and stopping it from wobbling every time I shifted, “today is a theory class,” no one dared groan as Snape smirked wickedly, the man was evil I was convinced. “you will work in groups, groups I have assigned,” everyone wearily dragged themselves to their groups as I turned my stool to face Marcus and wait for our remaining two group members, a shy Ravenclaw girl and a Gryffindor boy who talked a lot of crap.
“well teammates,” the Gryffindor greeted, I couldn’t even claim to remember his name, “let’s get started shall we,” Marcus rolled his eyes at the boy, staring at him flatly as the Ravenclaw girl, Laura shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Marcus certainly wasn’t making it easy on the Gryffindor, he exuded disinterested and broody teenage boy. Sensing he was getting nowhere the Gryffindor whose name was Greg I finally remembered turned to me, “here, y/l/n, you do this, I’ll write down the task for you,” he shot me a wink as I resisted the temptation to wrinkle my nose. “she doesn’t need you to write it down for her, just tell her what to do,” Marcus interrupted, boredly flicking away the piece of parchment Greg had passed to me that didn’t look like a potion’s assignment.
For a moment Greg said nothing before turning back to me, “of course, how rude of me,” Marcus’ eyebrow rose silently as Greg suggested I do the writing up, it wasn’t only Marcus’ eyebrow raising. “any particular reason you want me to do the writing up?” Greg shifted in his seat, his eyes flicking between me and Marcus, as Marcus scraped his stool back with a loud screech, drawing Greg’s eyes away from me and instead to Marcus who stretched, his shoulders rolling back, taking with it the air from around us.
“you have a good writing style, I heard other professors praise it,” Marcus let out a small scoff at the shitty excuse before turning to look at me, “happy doing that?” I shrugged, sensing eyes from around the room were now landing on us, not just the eyes of our table. “if Laura doesn’t mind?” Laua immediately shook her head, eyes widening as she too realised how many people were sneaking our table glances. It must’ve reeked of testosterone.
The rest of the lesson passed in stewed silence as Greg cast looks between us, only glancing to Laura once in a while, poor girl didn’t have a clue what was going on but clearly knew she didn’t want to be a part of it. It was during one such silence that Snape naturally picked his moment to descend, eyebrow raised at the silence, “hard at work?” his nasally voice filled my ears as I slowly sat up from where I had been editing one of Greg’s messily written paragraphs,
“of course,” Marcus replied casually, gesturing to the remaining members of the group, sharing a knowing look with Snape. “very good,” Snape begrudgingly muttered, about to leave when something caught his attention, darling Greg was pointing to my piece of parchment with a stubby finger, his voice soft and sickening as he announced smugly “that’s not how you are meant to write up my notes,” taking a deep breath I reminded myself that Snape’s punishments were notorious for good reason and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my Hogwarts life scrubbing the dungeons clean.
As it turned out I didn’t need to intervene, Marcus was one step ahead, his fist landing inches from Greg’s ink pot, the pot rattling and spilling out onto his piece of parchment, clouding the last of the poorly written notes I would need to write up. “let her do it how she sees fit,” Marcus stated lowly, his fist unmoving from the pot of ink that only needed one more nudge of the table to spill again.
“I’m helping! I'm making sure we get a good grade!” Greg defended, folding his arms over his chest defensively as I looked at Marcus, desperate for Greg to finally shut up and get out of my personal space. “you’re getting in the way,” I stated sharply, my patience at the end of its’ tether, “I had it under control,” Marcus nodded silently leaning forward still glaring darkly, while Laura remained a silent witness, poor girl had got more than she bargained for.
“she told you, back up,” Marcus’ growled lowly, thick with promise, “she doesn’t need your ‘help’ and you don’t need to get into a girl’s personal space to ‘help’” Marcus might have exuded cool calm and collected but in that moment he was ice cold, jabbing air quotes, eyes controlled as he watched silently, waiting on Greg to make his decision. If looks could maim Greg would’ve been through a wall and in a wheelchair for the next six months. Greg finally scraped his stool away from me, allowing me to breath properly since he had joined us. “ten points from Gryffindor,” Snape drawled without looking at Greg, ignoring the low spluttering that echoed off him, instead looking to Marcus with the smallest of nods.
Turning on his heel, Snape disappeared off to the next table, while Laura looked between us, torn somewhere between curiosity and concern, as she spoke up for the second time the entire lesson. “y/l/n, I finished my section,” offering the smallest of smiles I took it off her, placed it down in front of me and began adding it to the unfinished passage from before. Finally, I was able to focus on the task at hand once more, ignoring how Greg’s eyes still darted towards me despite his face being the same shade of red as his robes. Clearly, he still needed a lesson in decorum.
I was sure Marcus would more than happily teach him. That was if I didn’t do it myself, my grip tightening on my quill, firm enough to snap it in two as I caught Greg’s wandering eyes on me once more. “don’t do it y/l/n, he’s not worth the yearlong detention,” Marcus murmured reaching under the desk to give my hand a light squeeze, subtly had officially left the building. “allow me to, me and the boys haven’t had the chance to make Gryffindor soup in a while,” Laura clamped a hand over her mouth, a small giggle escaping her lips as Greg rounded affronted, reaching below the table I squeezed Marcus’ hand back, parroting his words back to him, “he’s really not worth the detention,” no more words were exchanged at our table until the project was handed in. At which point Greg shot off, I doubted he had finally realised he wasn’t wanted, but he had left and that was good enough for me.
“that looked intense,” Allegra murmured coming to my side as I packed away my items, bidding a quiet goodbye to Laura and Marcus, “you could say that,” I agreed as we left the dungeons and crossed through the courtyard finally out into mid-morning sunshine. “it looked one wrong move away from all-out war,” I shrugged not entirely disagreeing with her, “that idiot Greg runs his mouth too much,”
“you’ll get no arguments from me, he’s an utter twat, everyone knows it,” Greg was long gone but that didn’t stop Allegra from glaring at the Gryffindor’s who passed us in lieu of the problem child himself. “it looked like Flint was almost protecting you,” again I shrugged silently, “anyone would step in if they saw Greg bothering someone,” she made a noise that did not sound like agreement but allowed the topic to drop as we split off for our classes, promising to reunite with the rest of the dorm at lunch.
I didn’t pay a second of attention to my next class, my brain still all consumed with Marcus’ intervention and Greg’s apparent inability to take a hint, those thoughts carried me through the class and back out of it down one of the lesser known short cut routes back to the main hall. “waiting for someone?” I teased lightly spotting Marcus’ looming figure propping up the wall as I approached him,
“am I?” I shrugged stopping directly in front of him, his eyes roaming mine for a second before he tugged me into an alcove tucked away behind one of the trophy cabinets. “looked like you needed saving back there,” he murmured, sheltering us in the shadows out of view, as I nodded silently, “try not to make a habit out of it,” I nodded again, my heart racing slowly slightly as I studied him for a moment. “thank you,” “don’t thank me, you did a good job defending yourself it’s not your fault he couldn’t take a hint,” he shrugged nonchalantly, his broad shoulders straining at his robes,
“it’s adorable really, he actually thought he had a chance with you,” he scoffed quietly, running a hand through his hair as I stepped closer to him, cautiously wrapping my arms around him as I rested my head on his chest, “what’s bought this on?” Marcus whispered, his voice barely audible as his arms ever so slowly wrapped around me, encasing me to his chest. “just wanted to show my appreciation,” I murmured quietly, allowing myself to melt into his grasp,
“if you wanted to show your appreciation there are-” “don’t ruin the moment Marcus,” he chuckled quietly, playing absentmindedly with my hair as I pulled back enough to look up at him. “thank you,” he nodded stiffly, patting my head as I laughed quietly, “we’ll get you better at casual affection one way or another,” with that I gently edged out of his arms blowing him a kiss over my shoulder before easing out of our hiding spot, “your room tonight btw, Allegra will have a heart attack if you’re in ours again,” with that I turned on my heel and continued my journey back towards the great hall where my dormmates were waiting.
The rest of the day dragged by as I waited for nighttime, desperate to feel Marcus’ arms around me properly instead of hidden touches that were too fleeting to be fully enjoyed. “no one dare disturb my beauty sleep tonight or I’ll look go Medusa on all of your asses tomorrow!” Allegra threatened, glaring at each dormmate in turn as we all held up various peace signs. Her gaze settled on me for a moment too long as I rapidly tried to remember the girl scout sign,
“not a peep,” she reiterated, finally drawing the curtains round her bed as I flattened myself against my pillows, staring up at my canopy as I waited for curfew to be called and everyone to be asleep or at least heading towards sleep. When I was at long last sure everyone was asleep, I began the arduous process of sneaking down to the Slytherin common room, it wasn’t hard considering it was only a few corridors away, and the prefects weren’t what could be considered thorough but protective of our house points I was slow and methodical in my movements.
Cautiously listening for footsteps as I finally made my way to the Slytherin common room, the portrait’s eyebrow rose looking over me, “let’s not do this,” I muttered under my breath, expecting an argument. Instead the portrait shrugged nonchalantly, clearly a Slytherin through and through, “give my regards to Flint,” with that it swung open, and I carefully stepped over the ledge, I had only been to the common room a handful of times, usually summoned by Flint and I had never paid much attention.
But with time to spare I took my time to fully absorb the room and commit it to memory, green and silver covered the room, dark figures floating outside the windows that I was convinced would give any sane person nightmares. A small fire crackled quietly, burning out as the room was mostly cloaked in darkness which felt far creepier without Marcus, carefully manoeuvring my way through the room to the stairs,
I slipped up towards Marcus’ dorm, taking a deep shaky breath before carefully lifting the door handle to open the door, wincing when it creaked against the frame. It wasn’t my first going to his dorm, it wouldn’t be the last, there was literally nothing to feel nervous about and yet I always did. The room was silent as I slipped inside, only gasping quietly when Marcus shifted on his bed, a small knowing smirk on the edge of his lips. “well well well, it’s like my own perfect home delivery,” he murmured darkly as I crossed quickly to his bed, annoyingly smack dab in the middle of the room.
“shut up,” he chuckled quietly as I crawled onto the bed, amused eyes watching me as I crawled up to him, “you want to tell me to shut up and still sleep in my bed?” I rolled my eyes at him, straddling his lap as I looked down to him, still a hard task as even when slouched against the headboard, Marcus was broad and filled the space. “I do believe I have the high ground,” he scoffed quietly, “in your dreams sweetheart,” his hand wrapped into my hair, tugging lightly to expose my neck and throat, his lips softly moving along it as he watched me.
Before beginning to bite harder, hard enough to bruise, bruises that even a glamour would struggle to hide. But knowing Marcus that was the point, as he said he was territorial. Never jealous. Clawing at his quidditch-made broad shoulders I heard myself whimper softly, “that fucking twat Greg, looking at like you he deserves you, only I get to have you, and I don’t share,” Marcus bit firmer, the bites trailing down to my collarbone as my hands flew to grip his hair. “Only you Marcus,” his lips smirked against my skin, still nibbling, as his hands began roaming…
I was still catching my breath when Marcus turned to me seriously, his eyes levelled with mine, “why, sweetheart?” he murmured quietly, hands splayed across my stomach keeping me comfortably in his arms, I couldn’t remember when we had first introduced pet names to the arrangement, but Marcus could’ve called me anything for all I cared. Any words out of his mouth felt sweet to me, every touch was something I craved,
“why what?” I mumbled tiredly, stifling a yawn as Marcus kept me encased against him, our hot skin flush to each other. “you don’t need an arrangement like this, even as thick as I am, I know that much,” his other hand pressed to my neck, carefully feeling my pulse as I sighed quietly, maybe I would have to tell him. It wasn’t like he would judge me for it. “don’t get me wrong,” he continued as my mind silently battled itself,
“I love nothing more than having you in my bed, but I think you should tell me why, can’t do my job properly if I don’t know what I'm distracting you from,” the last bit was meant to sound humorous but in the silence of his dorm it left me shivering, Marcus being intimate was certainly new. “why are you running to me sweetheart? Merlin knows I'm glad it’s me you run to, but even so,” the silence stretched out as I sighed softly, gently removing his hand from my pulse to entangle my hand with his instead,
“do you ever feel like you don’t belong?” I asked quietly, my voice startling even myself as Flint drew light circles on my stomach, his motion slowing as I rushed on anyway. I'd started already, might as well let it all out in the open. “like you are fighting a losing battle? Like you’ve never once fit anywhere, not at home, not at school, not anywhere. I have to be perfect for everyone and it’s still not enough,”
my shoulders began shaking as Flint rolled me into him, our eyes staring at each other briefly as he wrapped his arms round my shoulders, allowing me to hide in his chest, it was like the dam was broken, tears spilled over, my chest and shoulders shaking as I clung to him, “you know what my parents said to me last time I was at home? ‘mediocracy doesn’t belong here, fix it or you won’t either’ they said that to me, I can’t fail, I can’t not be perfect, I can’t just let loose and be a teenager who is messy and gets stuff wrong, that’s not an option,” tears fell harder as I choked on the words, Marcus remained silent, carefully smoothing my hair away from my damp face as he pressed his fingers under my eyes to soak up the tears.
Silence enveloped the room for several more minutes, Marcus’ soft drawings with his fingers gently decorating my back, my sobs quietening as Marcus looked down to study me, reaching for my face, forcing my eyeline up to his, tears still streaked across my face even though I'd stopped crying. “you don’t need to be perfect for me,” he rasped, eyes staring into mine possessively, our foreheads pressed together, “you can be as messy as you like,” a small laugh slipped past my lips, “I think I already am,” he chuckled quietly, joining in with my laughter, “oh you are, and I wouldn’t have you any other way,” his hands clasped my face, cupping my jaw, as his lips slowly lowered to mine.
No rush, no hurry, just slow and careful, vulnerable.
…
Several nights later, I had allowed Allegra to drag me down to the Slytherin common room party, Marcus’ bites were still dark on my neck but had been covered with a shit ton of muggle make up and a fair few glamour charms. Our dormmates had all but disappeared upon arriving inside the dark common room which was illuminated by small lanterns and a handful of muggle fairy lights only. My eyes had sought out Marcus upon arrival, catching him leaning against a wall nonchalantly surveying the room, his eyebrows raising in surprise at my appearance, I silently gestured to Allegra who was pulling us into the makeshift mosh pit at the centre of the room.
Allegra was dancing happily as I felt Marcus’ eyes on my back, carefully tracking my movements as I attempted to join in with Allegra, far too sober to really get into it. Maybe it was because I'd been playing around with Marcus for so long, that common room parties no longer felt needed as a means to let myself be messy and let perfection slip away for a night. Allegra’s laughter was audible even over the thumping bass of the music but it wasn’t distracting me the same it had used to, I didn’t need it to,
“you look so stiff what’s gotten into you?” she called over the music, elbowing a fourth year in the ribs when they got too close, feigning an apologetic smile as I laughed quietly. “I think I need a drink!” I attempted to shout over the music, relieved when one of our dormmates joined us and I was able to slip away from the crowd towards the edge of the room, conscious of Marcus’ watchful eyes on my back. “you look lonely, I can fix that,” I turned from the drinks table expecting Marcus only to be profoundly disappointed by the arrival of a younger student I didn’t recognise, “and you are?” I questioned flatly, taking a sip of my fire whiskey that burned my throat as it went down,
“your night in shining armour,” the kid winked as I barely held back the urge to gag, “not tonight pipsqueak, better luck next time” Marcus appeared out of the shadows, eyebrow raised challengingly, daring the kid to try his luck a second time. The kid wisely didn’t and disappeared instantly into the new throng of people arriving at the party. “needing saving a second time?” Marcus remarked sardonically as I gripped my drink tighter, glancing up at him carefully, my heart thundering in my chest that he had been serious only to find a fond smile stretched across his lips, “I'm only joking sweetheart, I'd save you as many times as you need me to,” his words softening as they soothed me relaxing into one of the pillars, my eyes watching as my dormmates danced having made their way to the centre of the mosh pit.
Cloaked in darkness, Marcus’ arm rested on my shoulder casually, his fingers gently pressing to my neck where he had left marks just days before, “hiding them?” I shook my head, “didn’t feel like answering questions,” his eyebrow rose silently but he didn’t push it any further. His fingers pressing firmer against the tender skin as I hissed out a breath, he smirked slightly, muttering the counter charm to unveil the hickies still red and angry even in the darkness of the corner we were stood in.
His thumb tracing over the darkest one, “does it hurt?” I shrugged, “it does when you press on it,” he smirked to himself, “I did a good job then,” “you always do,” his smirk widened as he took a hold of my arm, “let’s get out of here,” leading us away from the ever-growing crowd in the direction of his dorm. Steering us through the crowd as his hand moved to grip my waist, glaring at anyone who did a double take.
It was weird having Marcus be so brazen about it all, not the glaring, that was practically his normal expression, the man had an almighty resting bitch face, but his lack of concern for who watched was new. His grip remained firm as he pushed people out the way who hadn’t already parted like the red sea, the eyes following us as we approached the staircase that led to the dorms. I could still hear the whispering ringing in my ears as we climbed the stairs leading to his dorm, only away from the curious whispers and thumping bass when the door slammed shut.
No sooner was the door shut Marcus had me up against it, hoisting me clean off the ground to wrap my legs around his hips, pinning me to the door his eyes dark, pupils blown wide, “say it, say you are mine,” he demanded lowly, my breath racing a million miles an hour, “I'm yours Marcus, I'm yours,” he hummed in agreement, crashing his lips to mine, his hands anchoring me against him and the door, keeping me firmly in place. “are you… are you mine?” the words caught in my throat as I managed to whisper them, “sweetheart, I am whatever you want me to be,” he murmured, tracing the edge of my jaw with his fingers, “whatever you want,” he repeated as his lips crashed to mine once more stealing away my breath and any last coherent thoughts I might have been able to form.
At some point we must’ve fallen asleep as I awoke to the sound of waves crashing against the dorm window, sunlight refracted through the lake that was particularly blinding even if I'd only had one glass of fire whiskey. From beside me Marcus groaned loudly, rolling over pulling a pillow over his head as he went, “Marcus, quidditch match,” I mumbled through a half stifled yawn, my hands rubbing at my eyes as I blinked away the sunlight,
“for fuck’s sake,” he groaned loudly, throwing his legs over the side of the bed as I watched him, pretending it was better than the sunlight in my eyes but we both knew better, he smirked back at me, flexing his back muscles as I sighed happily, rolling into the centre of the bed to get a better view. “make sure you cheer for me today,” he murmured, leaning down to press the softest of kisses to my forehead before strolling towards the bathroom as I flopped back against the pillows.
His dormmates were likely already down at the quidditch pitch, which was one of the main advantages of playing around with the captain. It took another twenty minutes for us to drag ourselves towards the quidditch pitch, having had to go via my own common room for some weather appropriate clothes. The walk down to the quidditch pitch was slow, not because of any adverse weather conditions but because Marcus walked purposefully slowly, his arm slung around my waist, gripping my soft jumper in his hands.
Even from the other end of the castle we could hear the pre match cheers, Gryffindor vs Slytherin always got the highest turnout, banners blowing in the wind, green and red lighting up the skies as we slowly approached, “nervous?” I asked quietly, my words carried on the wind as Marcus glanced down at me, “are you?” I shrugged, “never had this much at stake,” Marcus smiled down at me, stopping us several feet away from the entrance to the quidditch field, “we’re going to win sweetheart, just make sure to cheer,” he winked as I laughed quietly, Marcus carefully lifting my scarf to round my ears and chin to keep the cold out.
The last bite marks still throbbing lightly as Marcus’ fingers brushed over them, patting my head affectionally as he looked over me, when our moment was rudely interrupted. Greg had trudged up the hill from the field, followed by several wary Slytherin players who clearly didn’t trust him as far they could throw him. And rightfully so. His eyes were aflame, eyes locked onto us like we were a bludger he wanted to end once and for all.
Greg continued to stride towards us, ignoring Marcus as he crouched down to my level, his eyes level to mine before smirking coldly, “slut,” his voice was loud enough to draw attention from those still working their way down to the quidditch pitch, “oh fuck off Greg,” I muttered rolling my eyes, fuck being perfect. This prick had everything he would get, coming to him. In my peripheral vision I watched Marcus straighten up, the two Slytherin team members who had followed stepping closer, “Flint’s latest bedtime toy, just another plaything till he gets bored of you, pathetic isn’t it? Hufflepuffs are meant to have some pride and yet here you are settling for that prick?”
His smirk had migrated a sneer, more vitriol exiting his lips as the minutes passed, the cold air whipping up around us, “not even good enough to hide it, huh? Need everyone to know how pathetic you are, whole school knows what a little whore you are,” my fists clenched at my sides as he continued unbothered. My eyes briefly shut as I attempted to calm my breathing, when it didn’t pass, I glared at him darkly, “call me all the names under the sun if it’ll make you feel better, but you’re still a spoilt little boy who didn’t get his choice of toys,” with that I pulled my hand back, slapping it cleanly across his cheek, his cheek immediately tinging red as his face flew to the side.
The two Slytherins behind him silently clapping, “you fucking-” he didn’t get to finish his sentence as Marcus flew forward, pushing Greg away from me till he staggered a good metre away from me. Marcus looked at me briefly, ensuring I was sufficiently far enough behind him before he stalked forward, “you do not go near her,” he exploded, eyes filled with pure rage, pushing Greg again with such force he tumbled onto the grass in a heap of Gryffindor quidditch uniform, “talk to her like that again, and I will bury you,” the two Slytherins sprang into action, hauling Greg to his feet between them, pinning his arms to his sides to give Marcus a great angle to knock his block off.
“aww didums, did I hit a nerve?” Greg never did know when to shut up, his taunting continuing as Marcus pulled back his arm, sending his fist slamming into the side of Greg’s face, the same side I had slapped, his jaw audibly cracking under the force. “talk about her like that again, I won’t just bury you, I will make sure you are never found,” Marcus pulled back again, his fist slamming into Greg’s nose next as several members of the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams sprinted up the hill, several belated referees on their tails.
“Marcus!” I called quietly, my voice carried by the once more, he turned to me nodding slowly, nodding to the two players who dropped Greg to the floor once more as the other Slytherin team members played interference against the outraged Gryffindor’s. “if your beater can’t keep his mouth shut, he should know he’ll get beaten,” I vaguely heard one Slytherin spit viciously, glaring at a Gryffindor player as Marcus approached me.
“you ok?” his voice low enough so only I could hear though after that performance I was sure there were no doubts left in anyone’s minds just what we were to each other. I nodded slowly, staring up to him as he caught my arms around him, pressing me into his chest, sheltering me from view of the crowd forming, “don’t listen to a word that moron says,” he murmured, kissing my hair as I gripped him tightly.
“I'm not ashamed to be with you Marcus, I never was and I never will be,” I promised as he leant back to look at me properly, a faint smile etched across his face, “good to know sweetheart,” my eyebrow rose silently, “and don’t worry, I’ll beat him up as many times as it takes for you to realise you’re the only who matters to me,” my cheeks tinged as I smiled, hiding my face in his chest once more. “Flint, we’ve got a match to win,” one of the Slytherins called, “be there in a minute,” he replied without turning round, waiting for the footsteps to become distant. “I’ll cheer extra loud for you,” I promised as he nodded, dropping his lips to mine, moving softly against me, before breaking away, giving me one last squeeze.
“you okay to get to your seat?” I rolled my eyes fondly, “danger doesn’t lurk round every corner,” his eyebrow rose, “ok maybe it does, but I’ll manage, your team need you,” I watched him stride off before walking towards the Hufflepuff seats. Sliding into a seat beside Allegra who looked at me knowingly, “I heard Flint punched that moron’s lights out,” I nodded silently, “and I'm guessing it was for you,” I nodded again, folding one leg over the other as I settled comfortably in my seat.
“you’ve got your very own little protector there,” she teased as I smiled softly, watching Marcus take to the sky on his broom. “you’re not wrong there,” I murmured, gently running my fingers across my neck for a moment. A sharp screech of the whistle focused my attention on the sky as Gryffindor played dirty, clearly wanting to avenge their asshole beater who had been subbed out for a second year who looked terrified.
I almost felt bad for the kid, it wasn’t their fault the other beater was a dickhead. But I didn’t linger on that thought, my eyes fixed on Marcus as he weaved through Gryffindor’s formation, scoring a goal within the first ten minutes as I cheered loudly, ignoring the sideward glares from other members of my house. If they didn’t know already, they’d know soon enough, why hide it any longer?
The crowd roared around me as Gryffindor failed to secure a goal, Flint barking out orders while smirking widely as one of the other chasers scored, Allegra clasped my hand from beside me, both of us watching as the two seekers shot forward in chase of the snitch that danced its’ way across the field, slipping out of Gryffindor’s grasp as the Slytherin seeker caught hold of it, holding it aloft proudly.
Slytherin had won. My heartrate still thumped, my veins pumped full of adrenaline as me and Allegra erupted in cheers, ignoring the baffled looks from the younger students. As Slytherin completed their victory lap, Flint winking at me as he flew overhead, Gryffindor slunk off in a sulk, Allegra smirking widely, “you know, I'm glad Flint’s looking out for you. I worry you ty to be perfect too much, I know he will keep you in line,” I smiled back to her, squeezing her hand softly as the stands began to empty out.
I slowly made my way down the stands, taking my time as everyone filtered off towards Hogsmeade or the castle, Allegra giving me a teasing wave as she walked off on the arm of a Slytherin I didn’t recognise. Guess she had found her new man for the time being. Time to get my own. My footsteps echoed inside the corridor as I walked towards the Slytherin changing room, hovering outside as one of the two who had manhandled Greg earlier came out.
“he’s waiting for you,” he said simply, hoisting his duffle bag further onto his shoulder as I mumbled out a thanks and slipped through the door. Marcus was indeed waiting for me, chest heaving from where his quidditch uniform was bunched at his waist, shirt off, hair messy, “hi,” I murmured quietly, letting the door fall shut behind and stepping towards Marcus who strode across the room in a handful of steps, “came to congratulate me?”
I nodded as he cupped my face, our lips colliding, the kiss filled with victorious elation, “I saw you cheering” he murmured against our lips, slowly withdrawing so our foreheads rested against each other, “it makes me a very happy boyfriend to see a proud girlfriend in the stands,” my heart hammered away, “is that what we are?” he nodded,
“I'm whatever you want me to be, but fuck me I want you be to my girlfriend. Greg spouted so much shit back there, you’re… you’re not this little plaything for me to use and abuse whenever I want and throw away. I don’t want to just sneak around you with, I want to show you off proudly, protect you properly against assholes who don’t know their place… I want to… I want to love you in the way you deserve, just as you are,”
I was certain I was crying as I leapt into his arms, almost bashing our heads together in the process as I clung to him, “please Marcus, please do all of that, I can’t lose you, you make me feel alive.” His hands ran up and down my back soothingly, balancing me on his knee and hip, “you’re not going to lose me sweetheart, I can’t lose you either,” I don’t know how long we stayed like that, wrapped up in each other. But at some point, he let me slide down him to a bench, where I sat waiting for him to shower, until his eyebrow quirked as he shed the remainder of his quidditch kit. “just going to sit? Don’t want to join?” I leapt to my feet, “well when you put it like that,” he chuckled quietly as I ran ahead of him towards the showers.
…
The following morning felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders, there was no more sneaking around as Marcus lay spreadeagled in my bed, taking over half of it as I rolled my eyes, elbowing him sharply to move over. “that’s just how a man wants to wake up, being elbowed by his loving girlfriend,” he muttered as I giggled, rolling into him, lazily tossing a leg over his hips, “and there was me thinking you would be honoured to be back in my dorm,”
Allegra had mysteriously disappeared the night before, and seizing the opportunity I had dragged Marcus to my dorm, a decision I was beginning to question as he groaned dramatically, wrapping his arms around my waist, hauling me onto him in the cramped bed, his fingers dragging across my thighs lazily, smirking up at me, “honoured?” my eyes flickered briefly to Allegra’s bed as he rolled his eyes.
“let her try and stop me from getting to my girlfriend,” I laughed quietly as his legs interlaced with mine, flipping me over till he hovered above me, eyebrow raised, “now in your words, I believe this is me having the high ground,” he slowly lowered his quidditch bulk, teeth grazing the faded marks on my neck, teasing me as his eyes watched intently, “you don’t need to hide them anymore, I think you need a few more though just to be sure,” he stated, teeth digging in harder, lips bruising the spots once more.
The door creaked briefly as Allegra attempted to sneak in, both mine and Marcus’ heads snapping in her direction, eyebrows raised, “if you don’t ask any questions, I won’t say anything about what I’ve just walked in on,” holding her hands up in mock surrender she walked through to the bathroom, slamming the door for good measure as Marcus chuckled from above me. “I think that’s our cue to get some breakfast, seems like she’s already had hers,”
I cackled loudly, nudging him off me as I scrambled out of bed and dragged on some Hogwarts appropriate clothes, tugging on Marcus’ Slytherin quidditch hoodie with my baggy pj bottoms while he tugged on his sweatpants and the t-shirt that I had tossed across the room when we had first got in the night before. Slipping his hand into mine, Marcus led the way out of the common room which was blissfully quiet so early in the morning on the weekend, and down towards the great hall, keeping me tucked into his side as his arm rested lazily on my shoulder like it had always been there.
I sighed happily, as we passed by the few other students who were awake, sunlight following us down the corridor, a weight had truly been lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t need to be perfect for Marcus to want me, and I didn’t need to hide our relationship either, all was right with the world. Despite the few students around, the hall still had a low buzz of chatter and hum of noise as we entered, eyes turning to look at us as Marcus steered us towards the Slytherin table where several of his teammates were already eating.
The teammates sat down were the ones from before who whistled and smirked good naturedly as we sat down, Marcus settling beside me, “Marcus finally got a girlfriend, alert the media,” one teased as I laughed quietly, taking the plate Marcus held out to me. The other Slytherins laughed as Marcus smiled, slinging his arm round my waist, piling food onto my plate with one hand as I leant into him, “piss off, I'm happy,” they all laughed smiling victoriously, happy to see their captain at ease.
“I heard Greg ended up in a ditch,” one of the younger team members stated, as my eyebrow raised, “did he now?” Marcus shrugged innocently, “I wonder how that happened,” my eyebrow rose further practically in my hairline, “nothing to do with your team motto of snitches ending up in ditches, then?” Marcus shook his smiling sweetly, “not a clue how that happened,” several of the team smiled conspiratorially, winking at me with knowing looks between each other. I wasn’t complaining if they had dumped him in a ditch, he could stay there.
“Hopefully he is still smelling colours during his recovery,” one stated sympathetically, the mocking clear in his voice, “hope he can still taste sounds by that logic,” I muttered under my breath, stabbing my fork into a piece of sausage that was halfway to my mouth when Marcus snuck it away, my eyes expanding at him. “You stole my sausage!” outrage filled my voice as the other Slytherins spluttered laugher,
“the only sausage you need to worry about…” I clamped my hand abruptly over his mouth before he could finish the sentence, “if you even dream about saying that you will wake up and apologise,” the other members were in stiches, clutching onto each other for some sense of stability, he smiled back at me, handing me the largest strawberry off his plate which I accepted smiling sweetly.
The happy ending.