Marcus flew in circles around the school, cawing every now and then. His sharp eagle eyes picked out several students wondering around the grounds. He tried to see if any of them were Rose but from this height it was hard to tell. With one last caw, he changed his path, and flew towards the Owlery. He reached the window and transformed just before he hit the ground. He stood up and smoothed down his coat, smiling at the familiar surroundings. He had had to leave, and fast, which meant no word to Rose or anyone who might have been worried about where he was. He hoped that Rose wouldn't be too mad. He had been very good on his trip, only sleeping with one other girl, but that was only one person and she didn't really have to know about that. He lent against the window sill and looked out across the grounds, to the glittering lake. The memories in this small room where amazing and he closed his eyes and smiled, allowing himself to drift off into the land of daydreamers.

Rose wandered up the stairs to the owlery, clutching a letter to her father explaining that she would be home very shortly, and singing to herself quietly. There was no sound except the rustling of feathers, so her voice became a little stronger as she guessed there was no one else there.

"Hand in glove, the sun shines out of our behinds,
No, it's not like any other love, this one's different,
Because it's us...

Hand in glove, we go wherever we please,
And everything depends upon how near you stand to me...

And if the people stare, then the people stare,
I really don't know and I really don't care..."

But as she reached the top of the stairs and pushed gently on the door, she saw a figure with his back to her at the window, and she quickly became quiet, frozen in her tracks. It wasn't...was it? And he was chatting to a girl, it seemed. Oh.

Marcus turned around, his smile disappearing and being replaced by a glare. "What does it matter to you?" he asked, in a cold, clipped voice. His eyes narrowed and he straightened up, using all of his old habits which sent people running. His eyes shifted to the door and widened as he saw Rose standing there. His glare faded, replaced by a different look, one which could almost be described as...relief. He ignored the other girl and walked over to her, "Rose," he said, all of the coldness gone from his voice.

The letter fell from her hand. After all this time, he was back? Was he back for good, or was he on a flying visit? Or was she imagining this? She'd felt slightly manic lately, this could easily be an hallucination. It wasn't really him. The other woman was Blair - Rose recognised her from the forest with Alex and from Paris. "Marcus," she breathed inaudibly, and her hand went subconsciously to where her necklace ought to be. She had missed the cold metal against her chest; the silver that never, ever became warm, much like Marcus himself, but Alex had taken it from her when she tried to throw it in the lake. She couldn't. She couldn't throw it away, because he was still her master. If he said, 'Kiss me,' she would, without hesitation. If he said, 'Come away with me,' she would, without hesitation. If he said, 'Throw yourself out of the window,' she would, without hesitation.

Marcus blinked and walked over to her but stopped when he saw where her hand was. The necklace he had given her was gone. Did that mean she had moved on or that she just simply hadn't put it on today? "Hello Rose," he said, too formally for a proper greeting between the two of them. It was strange how much that little detail had hurt him. Or maybe it had just taken him by surprise.. Either way, he didn't like the fact that she wasn't wearing his necklace.

"I... Someone took it," she explained, when she saw him looking at her hand. She knew what he would be thinking. But she had been loyal, except that small escapade with that Slytherin prefect. That didn't count, though. She didn't think he had, but...he needed it, didn't he? She just hoped he had been thinking of her while it had been going on. He'd missed so much; he'd missed her being blonde, her arguments, her news about her father. And just looking at him made all thoughts of Alex disappear. Alex was nothing compared to how she felt about Marcus. "I thought...I thought I could throw it away, but I couldn't do it. And then someone stole it." The necklace was still a tender subject for her; after all, it represented all of her disappointments and fears. And Alex stole it.

Marcus raised an eyebrow, "You tried to throw it away?" he said, wondering why that had been. Then he remembered that he had been away for nearly 2 months with no word of where he was or why he had left. He closed the remaining gap between them and stroked Rose's cheek with the back of his hand. He had to make sure that she was real and he wasn't just still daydreaming. Although it was highly unlikely that a stranger would enter one of his daydreams. "How have you been, Rose?" he asked, his voice softening more as he realised that she was real and not a figment of his imagination.

"Not well," she said, crumbling. "Not well at all. I missed you... I cried. A lot. Over other things too. But a lot over you." She allowed him to touch her cheek, though she was most definitely the wronged party in this sorry state of affairs. She would create the compromise, issue the forgiveness, demand nothing in return, and he would act as though he hadn't done anything wrong in his proud, stubborn way. But that was partly why she loved him; he was so unconnected to everything, and he distanced himself from everyone except her. Even the other women he slept with. Rose knew they wouldn't have seen him. They would have seen Marcus, not Marcus. Not the man she knew.

Marcus nodded, "Mmm i thought you would. But i had to leave and you had to stay here. I hope you'll forgive me for being away for so long, but i'm back now," he said, smiling softly. In his mind, he had nothing to apologise for. He had needed to leave, so he had, and now he was back. "I'm here to keep you happy again, my darling," he whispered, leaning closer to her. He had missed her, more than he would like to admit, but she didn't have to know that. As long as she was still willing to be with him, then that was all that mattered.

She turned away and picked up her letter, pushing past him to go to the table. She called a school owl to her and proceeded to tie her letter to its leg hurriedly, purposely not looking at Marcus. If she looked at him, she felt she would cry. The tie kept coming undone, since she was fiddling with it so hastily, and soon she banged her palms down on the table in frustration, startling the owl. Calm down, calm down, she told herself, breathing deeply. She started again and managed to complete her task, but now she was even closer to tears.

Marcus turned and watched her as she tried to tie the letter to the owl. The other person in the room had been completely forgotten about, in his mind, it was only himself and Rose. "Rose?" he asked, walking over to her, but keeping a distance between them. It was clear that it would take her some time, and that was all he had. "Rose, i had to leave," he said, not really sure why he was trying to justify himself to her. "There were some things which needed sorting out. But it's all done now, and i'm not leaving again." He wondered if she still wanted to run away with him, or if he had been gone long enough for her to have moved on.

"You have the nerve to tell me you can make me happy when it's so very clear I am not enough for you," she breathed, still leaning on the table and not looking at him, while the owl took the hint and flapped haphazardly out of the window. "It would be a lie to say I don't care about your little affairs, but I would mind much less if you simply told me, instead of pretending you are the most loyal, caring man in the world. I know you; that's not you."

Marcus smirked, despite himself, so she really did know him well. He wiped the smile off his face and sighed quietly, "Ok. I slept with one other girl while i was away, once and only once. But you can't tell me that you have done nothing either. I know you too, Rose," he said, his voice staying level rather than filling with anger. If she didn't want him anymore, then he would be fine with it. He had missed her a lot while he'd been away, and that had been one of the only reasons he had slept with somebody else. But it wouldn't break him if she wanted him to stay away. He was good at not attaching himself to people.

The blow hurt, despite the fact that she had expected it. "I kissed a boy, but I didn't sleep with him," she replied bitterly. "He reminded me of you." She left the words hanging in the air, thinking hard. He did come back, though. He did come back. He didn't stay with her. He came back to me. Suddenly she turned and ran at him, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling herself to the right height to kiss him softly. Very softly indeed; softer than ever before, with parted lips, her warm breath tickling his cold lips.

Marcus smiled at the statement, 'And she reminded me of you,' he thought, although he didn't voice the words. When she kissed him, he felt his heart stutter. He had missed her taste, her smell, her body, everything about her. He wrapped his arms around her, slowly running a hand up and down her back. She had kissed him so softly that it almost felt like there weren't any lips there at all.

"Will you still have me?" she whispered, staring desperately into his eyes. She needed him to say yes. In her mind, he'd already let her down with the necklace, and she needed a vow of some sort. "Do you still want me?" She kissed him again, her heart flitting like a hummingbird's wings. Her hands tickled his neck and one slipped upwards and buried itself in his thick, dark hair, while the other moved down to his chest, searching for his elusive heartbeat.

Marcus smiled and cupped Rose's face in his hands, "Of course i want you. Why do you think i came back?" he asked, smiling softly at her. It was strange how much this moment meant to him, even though he had told himself that he didn't love her, that it was only lust. But these little things did mean something to him and that meant it was more than lust, didn't it?

She smiled and kissed him again, still with that fleeting, soft touch of her lips, brushing them together. She moved her mouth to his ear, kissed the lobe, and whispered, very nervously, "I love you." It was very true, but she had only just admitted it to herself. They could run away again, and all their plans would fall back into place. Their little house alone, visiting her father, travelling where they wanted, not needing money or even food, just living off the heavenly pleasure they both received from each other.

Marcus smiled and stroked her hair gently, "I know," he whispered back. He wondered if they would still run away together, the idea had stuck in his mind all the time he had been away. "I love you too," he said, his voice strangely nervous for a change. He wasn't normally a nervous person but it seemed that those words were actually true and it worried him. It worried him that he was now so attached to one person, a person who he would have to leave when he came to the end of his life.