Master of Disguise

Barty Crouch Jr. / 19 / Ministry Intern I used to think [ violence ] was never the answer. Until one day it was─ and the guilt I expected never came.

[loganfwhite]

Battle Scars || Barty & Logan

@bartythegrouch

Logan didn’t care if Malfoy Manor was somewhere he really wasn’t welcome - he needed to check on Barty. He’d tried to reach him by owl but hadn’t gotten a response. He cared about the other - counted him as family, even - and Barty’s best friend had just died. Honestly, Logan had taken far too long to go to the Manor, worried he’d get caught there. He picked a time that seemed most likely for Lucius and Narcissa to both be out and went, looking for Barty when he arrived. “Barty?” he called softly, not sure where to start looking, other than maybe the library, though he wasn’t sure the other would be in the mood for studying even.

[bartythegrouch]

Barty really couldn’t say how long he had been at Malfoy Manor. It might have been a few hours. It could have been a few years. Time was frozen while he was there. (Though, time was such a silly thing. A measurement from one event to the next. A measurement of life. Eighteen years.) It wasn’t like it mattered. It wasn’t like anything at all mattered. Not anymore. Not ever. None of it was real.

On rare occasions, Barty ate or slept. He was usually supervised by Narcissa while eating, who had quickly realized he’d forget to eat. Sleep was short and plagued by either nightmares or unusual dreams. He’d wake up, and for a few moments he’d forget what had happened. Then he’d remember that Regulus had died, and the heart ache, the pain, the emptiness would renew itself once more. Missing him was simply too weak of a phrase for it.

It took Barty several moments to realize that he had actually heard someone calling, and that he should probably get up and go see what it was. Barty considered pretending to be asleep, but eventually convinced himself to get up. “What do you want?” Barty asked, his voice speaking soft Italian. English. Right. He was talking to Logan. It took him a second to switch his thoughts back into English. “Yes? Why are you here?” Barty glanced at Logan. Barty looked exhausted, pale, and like he needed his best friend back.

[bartythegrouch]

goldsebastian:

“I’d have been stuck outside. It’s not secret you’re more clever than I am anyway. Except when it comes to potions, apparently.”

“I was, for a bit, with that one.” Barty flashed a small smile, which only grew brighter when Sebastian called him clever. “I was a Ravenclaw for a reason. You’re right, though. You’re brilliant at potions.” Barty wasn’t horrible at potions. It was just the only subject where he wasn’t excelling above everyone else. “We could get food after that this week.”

[bartythegrouch]

loganfwhite:

“I’m convinced you love that owl more than you love anyone or anything else,” he said with a smile. The thought made him happy, though he couldn’t say why. “What did you get her?”

“I might.” Barty said with a vague shrug. “I’m getting her some owl treats and ordering a new cage... Why are you here?” Barty had nearly forgotten that Logan knew his owl’s name. "Christmas?" He ventured a guess. Logan seemed like the type to buy every person he had ever met in his life a Christmas present.

[bartythegrouch]

lightandpurity:

“I’m not sure if that’s a jab at me or my flock, but I can assure you they’re intelligent. I trained them to jump on my arm and peck at my father’s feet every time he insults me – and made that look like an accident.” He paused to shake his head. “My family had a bunch of dogs, so why not have one for my child to grow up with?”

“Both.” Barty said with a grin and a slight nod. “You trained some birds. Congratulations.” He paused, picturing Lucius actually training the peacocks to jump up onto his arm. Gently cooing and urging each one onto it. Getting whacked in the face when the peacock missed. Rewarding them with treats. Walking about with a fucking peacock on his arm. Barty had to see that in person, eventually. “Because you have a flock of very talented peacocks, apparently.”

[bartythegrouch]

riddikuluswolf:

Remus gave a nod, impressed with what he was hearing. “Every class,” He raised an eyebrow. “And you managed to do that with no problems?”

“I lost some sleep. You saw me fifth year.” Barty joked half-heatedly. He had been quite a wreck the entirety of fifth year. It wasn’t an excellent time to be taking every single class. “Passed everything, so yes. No problems.”

[bartythegrouch]

ofnxrcissa:

Her lips pursed into a thin line as she stares at the young man from across the room. Her breath caught in her throat and it came out almost like a sob. Tears began to stream down her pale cheek. Her stomach wrenched merely from listening at his question. Her fingers grip onto her robe and twisting the fabric. It wasn’t until she felt her husband’s firm hold around her waist and pulling her closer. He was staring at her with a perplexed expression, which was now mirrored by their guests.

Narcissa gulped, before fixed her gaze back at Barty. “Regulus..” She murmured in the between her sob. Tears prickling from her densely shuts eyes. Both the pain and the hollowness swell on her chest. It’s becoming even harder for her to ignore. “He wasn’t there.. in the Grimmauld Place.. He wasn’t in anywhere..”

Barty’s eyes narrowed as he examined her. She was obviously very upset about something. “What’s up?” He repeated, approaching her slowly. He struggled to think of something that could have upset her that badly. Narcissa in tears was a rare sight that he, quite frankly, didn’t know how to deal with. He really didn’t know what to do with anyone in tears. Still, as he looked at her, crying, with her husband holding her, he felt terrible for her. 

Regulus. “What about him?” Barty asked immediately, his voice dark. His mind raced to conclusions, especially at the comments about him not being anywhere. He has just gotten him back. They had just become friends again. Regulus couldn’t have gone off to Italy without a single word to him. Again. “Where is he? What’s happening with him?” Barty asked, the questions coming just as fast as the first, but with a degree of panic. His best friend had left him for fucking Italy. Again.

[bartythegrouch]

trapezingtonks:

“How is it distracting?”

“Because I don’t know why you’re doing it. You try concentrating on reading about a complicated branch of magic with someone staring at you.”

[bartythegrouch]

maestromontgomery:

“Well, there are a bunch of As, because they repeat in the same pattern. You sort of want to start with C for the keys,” she said, and pointed to the logo embossed on the black wood. “Look down from there for the white key right in front of the two black keys. That’s called Middle C. The key to the left is a B and the key to the right is a D. Does this sort of make sense?”

“Sort of. Yeah, I guess.” Barty looked from the paper and the keys before him. It seemed to make sense. He pressed the Middle C hesitantly, and moved to the keys beside it. “It does. But, why don’t you play something? I don’t know if I’ve ever heard you play piano.”

[bartythegrouch]

lightandpurity:

“She will probably claim your presence is enough,” Lucius shrugged. “But you can’t go wrong with flowers or –” He paused then shook his head. “Go with the flowers. I usually get daffodils because of her name.”

Flowers. Daffodils. Barty’d pick them up for her, of course, but buying flowers for Narcissa Malfoy wasn’t something Barty ever saw himself doing. Flowers weren’t a particularly useful present. They just died. But if she wanted them, Barty wouldn’t protest. “Right. I’ll get her some daffodils then. Because she likes those.” He didn’t sound exactly sure of himself.

[bartythegrouch]

isadorachittock:

I repeat: get some thicker skin, honey. 

“My skin’s plenty thick, thanks.”

[bartythegrouch]

griermckinnon:

“What’s the point of reading long paragraphs that have nothing to do with Quidditch?”

“Well, I mean, it does have a bit to do with Quidditch. Took place at a match. Players were stuck in the air for a while. Had to reschedule the match.”

[bartythegrouch]

musicalilyevans:

“Things have got rather boring at home.”

“If you’re looking for entertainment I suggest searching elsewhere.”

[bartythegrouch]

lightandpurity:

“I’m going to look at dogs,” Lucius shrugged. “The wife is important too, but I am interested in expanding the family to be more than just feathered and human members.”

Barty grinned. Lucius and his peacocks. It was the most ridiculous, and therefore, the best thing about him. “Birds aren’t enough for you? I don’t know if you can handle something so intelligent.” He teased carefully. "Better stick to the birds."

[bartythegrouch]

riddikuluswolf:

“Interesting choice,” Remus shrugged. He had planned on leaving once getting the answer he was looking for, but Barty caught his attention at the mention of using one in Hogwarts. “I didn’t know the school allowed students to use them.”

“You can if you’re good enough to.” Barty explained, not at all surprised that the time-turners weren’t a well-advertised fact. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about his while at Hogwarts. “It’s used to take every class.”

[bartythegrouch]

franklylongbottomed:

“You know I’m not at liberty to discuss. Heard anything from your dear old dad?”

“Haven’t seen him since Christmas Eve, and I think that was by accident. He’s been busy with work, obviously. I’ll take it that you haven’t caught anyone yet? He likes to publicize things. It’s nice knowing that there’s at least one less Death Eater out there.”

[ofnxrcissa]

Stirring from her unconsciousness, Narcissa found herself in a soft and warm bed. Wincing, she was startled by the bright light that was swimming by her sights. She blinked for a moment before her husband came into her view. He was holding in her hand and looking at her, half in fear and half in relief. She frowned and about to ask him questions before cut by a low groan coming from her because of a sharp pain from the back of her head. She must’ve hit her head or something. There is not much she can recall before she realized that now she is back in the bedroom that she shared with Lucius at the Malfoy Manor. All she remembers was Kreacher disappeared in front of her eyes and then, there’s nothing. Suddenly, it all rushing back through her. What was happening earlier is not a dream.

Narcissa glanced at his back, where a few people she was rather familiar with standing at the doorway. They must have had a meeting. She spots Barty among them and tears begin to fill her eyes. She can tell that her husband was completely bewildered by her reaction. But there’s nothing he can say, nor do, not when he doesn’t know what really happened.

@bartythegrouch

[bartythegrouch]

His leg bounced restlessly as he sat. It wasn’t a meeting, exactly. Those were more formal, and usually wouldn’t take place at Malfoy Manor. Meetings took place in much less comfortable settings. There was never anywhere to sit at a meeting. The only reason why it remotely resembled a meeting were the people participating in it and the current discussion. They could have been talking about anything in the world, but, of course, the Boxing Day Match was the topic of choice. It was everyone’s topic of choice. It had been quite the massacre. 

“They’re saying the Minister’s still in St. Mungo’s. I heard a few people- no one important, unfortunately- talking about if he’ll be replaced. Knowing that we should have done something like this months ago.” Barty spoke with ease, a slight smirk across his lips, but he quickly lost it upon catching Narcissa’s eyes behind Lucius. “Are you- What’s up? What’s wrong?” Barty asked, looking over at her. The attention of the room immediately shifted to her. Narcissa in tears wasn’t a sight he was familiar with in the slightest. Or, frankly, equipped to handle. It was likely the pregnancy getting to her. 

[bartythegrouch]

maestromontgomery:

“It shows which notes are which,” Allie explained, settling down on the bench next to Barty. “The notes go on the lines and the spaces between them. This little circle shows the line that G sits on. Then you just go up from there, so the space above it is A, the line is B, the space is C, et cetera,” she continued, pointing at each piece as she mentioned it. Then, turning her attention to the piano she pointed at the key under the logo embossed on the wood. “Here’s middle C, and-” she hit each key as she moved down to G, “this is G. So the notes on here,” she shook the paper, “correspond to the keys here. It’s like reading out loud but it’s a different language and instead of speaking you hit notes.”

She wasn’t wrong. It reminded Barty of learning a new language. Only the syntax and characters were completely foreign to him. He nodded as she explained. “So, it’s only A to G, and it repeats?” He asked, examining the music sheets carefully. That line was G, so the first note was an A. Barty looked down at the piano keys. How the fuck was he supposed to know which one was A? “Where’s A? Are there multiple?”