T. J Fenwick

Achiever. Codebreaker. Victim. Traitor. You can only try and right your mistakes or live with the burden of guilt forever.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Death Will Have His Day: 1987

[notsotrusted-thomas]

ms-alectocarrow:

Thomas didn’t answer her other questions, which made her even more suspicious, let alone angry. Fortunately for her, Alecto had learned from a young age to mask her true feelings, so she simply offered him a soft smile. 

To her, it was evident that he had something to do with Augustus imprisionment. But she was going to have her revenge, hopefully that would bring her some peace. SHe wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do with him and how she was going to extract the information, but she would come up with something eventually, knowing that she could be quite creative. 

“Alright, this way” she said, gesturing him the way. “Again? Aren’t there new books you are interested in?” She asked curiously as she pulled her cloak closer to her chest. It wasn’t a cold evening, but she did feel cold, she was constantly feeling cold.

The boy pushed his hands into his pockets and continued walked down the street alongside her. “As I was saying the safe house isn’t too bad. Haven’t left it that much and then seen the folks the odd time” he shrugged. “If you wanna come stay for a few days you’re more than welcome. It’s not exactly safe out here for me anymore and it gets lonely” he said honestly.

He had to chuckle at her comment and nodded. “Yes, many. Fantastic books. Except you can’t beat the classics” he smiled at her as he’d always been a huge book fanatic. The Hobbit and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland had been some of his favourites during his childhood.

“I didn’t know you lived in these parts?” he looked around. He’d never been to Barty’s house before so he didn’t recognise it as being his home. “Your brother in?” he asked as he was well aware of Amycus Carrow too after growing up with the boys twin as a good friend. “It’s really good to see you” he smiled.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Death Will Have His Day: 1987

[notsotrusted-thomas]

ms-alectocarrow:

Alecto nodded though she didn’t buy any of that shit. Maybe he could’ve been hiding, but he never read the newspaper? That was bullshit. And even if he was hiding, he never thought on reaching out for her? Owling her? Well, unless he had something to hide, she didn’t see why he wouldn’t. She had always been there for him, she had  even been nicer to him than Barty ever was, so it just didn’t make any sense.

“Safe from whom?” She asked quietly.“Is it nice?” She asked, taking in all the information. Barty had to know about this, she knew he would know how to extract information from him. Alecto was just too tired and weak to produce strong magic.

“I still live in my home, whenever I’m in the country” she said. “The place Gus and I shared until…” she trailed and looked down at her hand and both wedding and egagement rings. Fuck, she missed him so much. She was going to have her revenge. 

“Would you like to come for tea? We need to catch up…” she suggested, offering him a small smile.

Thomas smiled at her when the offer was extended. He missed this. Having a real friend. All the times they’d spent together and she’d made him laugh and smile. Most importantly she’d treated him like a human being.

“Yeah. Yeah I’d love to” he said genuinely as he hadn’t felt this whole in a while. A hollow feeling came with the acts he’d carried out or the whole joining the Death Eaters ordeal. It was good to feel somewhat back to how things used to be before he dropped out of school and his life fell to pieces.

Exciting the store, Thomas looked up and down the alley before allowing Alecto to lead the way. “Funny enough, I read Alice in Wonderland again the other day” he said casually as if they were old friends walking the corridors of Hogwarts. It had been his favourite book, the mad hatter was a character he’d adored from a boy. Reading had been an escape for the young boy.

He was innocent and naïve. Yes, the acts he’d committed were far from what an innocent man would do but he’d never done it with true intent. There’d always been guilt and sometimes tears that came with those years. His downfall would be that he trusted Alecto far too much. She was his only family in this wizarding world and while he fell out with his parents, the only one in the whole world. It was an unconditional love for her so he didn’t think twice to accepting the offer.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Death Will Have His Day: 1987

[notsotrusted-thomas]

ms-alectocarrow:

Alecto tilted her head to the side and quirked an eyebrow. “You haven’t?” She asked curiously. “I trust you haven’t been reading the paper lately then” she said. Anyone who was slightly updated with what was going on would know that her husband, Augustus Rookwood, was sent to Azkaban for being a spy. It had been a scandal and it made all the front pages. He was an Unspeakable, which made everything worse. And of course, because she was his wife and there were rumours around her, rumours of the things that she had done, and also by association, she had been in the center of the storm as well.

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been breathing down her neck for years, raiding her home at least four times and taking her for questioning twice as much. Because Alecto had been smart, there was no solid evidence against her, merely rumours. So the fact that Thomas didn’t know this was suspicious to say the least. Only a few knew about Gus and most of them were either dead or in Azkaban, but Thomas… Thomas was free and most likely lying to her face.

“Well, I’ve been better” she shrugged as she picked a nice ring from the counter, it was made of silver and it had a long snake covered in emeralds. She tried it in her bony middle finger and stared at it curiously, tilting her head to the side.

She turned to face Mr. Borgin and showed him the ring. “How much?” She asked but the man shook his head. “Is on the house, Mrs. Roowkwood, use it well” he said and Alecto smiled softly. “You are awfully kind, darling” she grinned before turning to Thomas.

“What about you? Where have you been?” She asked curiously as she put on the ring again.

“No. I’ve been in hiding” he told her, which in fact was true. He’d been out of the way from all the magical world. The muggle world was much safer. Sometimes it was better to be ignorant and oblivious.

Thomas had noticed how thin she was. She didn’t look healthy. “Yeah me too.” He muttered quietly as he watched her with the ring. He certainly had been better. A whole world who wanted to throw you in a cell or another world when you felt out of place because you were different.

The question caught him by surprise. He wasn’t about to tell her he’d been hunting the odd Deatheater down. Ones he knew were truly evil but weren’t untouchable in an attempt to clear his conscience.

“I have a bunker, south of London. Somewhere safe” he nodded, not even thinking that it could be dangerous to tell her his whereabouts. He trusted her, he always had done. That was something he never questioned.

“Are you… safe?” he questioned. “You living around here?”

[winter-seance]

Sebastian Stan Political Animals

[dailyevanstan]

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Show Me The Ropes: 1979 (Severus&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

thehalf-bloodprince:

Severus shoved his hands into his pockets as he waited for Thomas to join him outside. He could tell that the boy wasn’t satisfied with the answers he was giving him, but he knew that the two of them had joined the Death Eaters for a reason, and it certainly wasn’t because they wanted to be killed. They were both smart enough to figure out a way to stay alive and keep their loved ones alive… Or, that was all they could hope for. He tried to comfort Thomas a little bit when he complained about sending the family off to their deaths. “There probably aren’t enough of us to waste some on a stupid trip to Sweden. Sometimes, people flee and they hole themselves up with even more of their kind, and that’s what the Dark Lord is looking for. These people, though… They were smart to go way the hell away. I doubt anyone is going to bother when we still have all sorts of names to look for around here.”

He glanced toward the street, hearing the familiar cackle of one of their more sadistic recruits in the distance. “Yeah… We need to try to get back before they do, I’ve still got to show you your bunk. A couple of really annoying blokes just got killed, so you’re gonna have a bit of room to yourself for a while. Lucky you.” Severus beckoned for Thomas to give him his hand, deciding that it would be better if they just apparated back this time. The Dark Lord could only track them to the house that had been assigned for their mission – they were in the clear now. “Keep your wits about you when we get back. It’s impossible to tell if the Dark Lord is around at any given moment… But once we’re finished I’ll go talk to Lucius and let him know how we did, and he’ll relay the information. Hopefully the Dark Lord won’t want to follow up with us.”

That answer was a little better at least. Thomas agreed with a simple nod as he was more satisfied that there wouldn’t be death on his conscience. It was something he was too emotionally immature to deal with.

He saw the offer of a hand and nodded as he took it. He had to keep himself aware of what he and Severus had discussed. The invasion of his mind was a fearful thing and he couldn’t slip up for both of their sakes.

Once back in the safe house he looked around. “I’m gonna go study for a while” he told the older boy and went to sit down on his bunk. The basement was quiet thankfully. Most were gone or upstairs. It would be quiet before the heard of Death Eaters returned from their shenanigans.

He nodded in respect and farewell to Severus as he made himself comfortable on his small bunk. The mission had been a success and a valuable experience too. He was grateful for the other’s friendship more than anything.

Settling down with a book and peace of mind that his parents had fair warning to get out of the country. He owed that to Severus.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Death Will Have His Day: 1987

[notsotrusted-thomas]

ms-alectocarrow:

Ever since the Dark Lord was gone, Alecto’s life had gone to shit. Most of her friends were either dead or locked up, her husband was in jail and she had never felt more lost and hopeless in her life. She missed Augustus so much that she was in physical pain, it hurt to breathe, to just be knowing that he was in that shithole while she was out and failing to get him out. 

Her mind had become the darkest of places and was constantly playing tricks on her. There was almost nothing left of the woman everyone knew. Alecto had fallen into a depression pit. She took pills for it, but they didn’t work all the time, so she would go to alcohol, Alecto would get drunk, go out and take to bed the first decent person she cross path with, it didn’t matter if it was a boy or a girl, she just needed to feel something else other than pain.

Today was one of those days when she just couldn’t stand being at home, every corner of it reminded her of Gus, of a better time when she was happy. It was one of those days where the voices inside her head were encouraging her to do something irreversible and she was in such a weak state of mind that she might actually do it.

Diagon Alley was too crowded, even if she wasn’t really paying attention to where she was going but soon enough the people change and she wasn’t in Diagon Alley anymore and Borgin and Burke was in front of her. Her mind was all over the place and she wasn’t really paying attention to anyone but all of a sudden, she caught sight of a familiar face that she hadn’t seen in what? Six years?

Thomas Fenwick had mysteriously disappeared after the Dark Lord was defeated. Alecto couldn’t help but to narrow her eyes suspiciously. Now why would he vanish like that? Alecto pulled down her hood and waited patiently for him to come out. He didn’t have the connections nor the money to avoid jail time, even she who had them wasn’t able to prevent Gus from going to jail. The only way he could’ve done that was by giving information to the Ministry. Before she kew what she wa doing, Alecto walked right into the store and nodded at Mr. Borgin, he was an old friend.

“Well, well, look who is back from the dead…” she hummed softly as she stood next to Thomas. It was an interesting comment considering that she pretty much looked like a dead person with all the weight loss.

Thomas had his moments when he wasn’t particularly observant. Hearing a familiar voice as he looked back at her quickly. Thomas loved Alecto, the past few years had been sketchy and people had died or gone missing. Those who weren’t in Azkaban were presumed dead. He admittedly wanted to go over and hug her tightly. She’d been family to him his whole life.

“Hey- yeah… I- wow it’s so good to see you” he murmured with the twinge of a smile trying desperately to break through. She looked worse for wear. He wanted to help her and bring her back to that vibrant young woman but the war had damaged all of them, more than could be repaired.

Glancing back down at the dice as his attention had quickly transferred to his long-time friend. “I thought you were dead. I haven’t heard anything about you” he murmured quietly as he was nervous about how she was around him.

Barty on the other hand wasn’t mentioned at all. He had no time for the older boy any more. He was vile and cruel and it took Thomas to see Barty in the height of his Death Eater career to finally cut ties.  “Are you okay?”

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Into The Void: 1976 (Barty&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

barty-crouch-jr:

Thomas sat up carefully as he rubbed his eyes and grumbled. His face ached but the rest of his body didn’t. Maybe it was just numb and the pain hadn’t kicked in just yet. He didn’t remember what had happened so he had to trust him.

The courageous story was clearly something spectacular and with the memory wipe the boy ate up every part of it. “Thanks” he nodded appreciateively and shook his head as he glanced up the corridor. 

“Oh! Alecto is waiting for me” he remembered then looked back at Barty. “I have to go but I’ll see you later” he smiled and carefully got up as his stomach ached in pain from the twisted spell unknowingly project onto him. 

“Bye Barty” he smiled softly with a little wave as he headed off back to the common room. Unaware of any of the true events that had transpired that evening between the two boys. Their friendship was truly twisted.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Show Me The Ropes: 1979 (Severus&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

thehalf-bloodprince:

As the boy did a bit of decoding, he circled around him and watched with his arms crossed. Once he told him the full name of the family’s hiding spot, he pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote it down so that neither of them would forget the foreign words. Severus glanced at Thomas out of the corner of his eye. He knew this kid was going to be trouble - it was his first mission and he already wanted to keep things from the Dark Lord. It was a terrifying thought, but Severus wasn’t so certain that Thomas was going to make it out alive. The Death Eaters didn’t take well to people messing with them from the inside. “No, Thomas,” he said in a stern voice as he swept away the rest of the ash with his foot. “We are going to tell the Dark Lord everything we know, because that is our job and the only way to survive here is to do your job. If you’d like to be killed, feel free to sabotage your own missions when I’m not involved.”

He pulled back a bit on the sarcasm for a second as he turned around to look at Thomas, wiping his hands on his robes. “He will be able to hear what you’re thinking. This isn’t something we can get past him right now,” Severus admitted, and then he turned swiftly on his heels to go back downstairs. “Come on, then.”

Severus hurried down and out of the house, through the back door this time instead of the window. While he waited for Thomas, he took out his wand to cast a spell that would wipe all traces of them having been there, so that they couldn’t be pinned for breaking and entering, even though the authorities didn’t exactly have the resources to track someone down over a broken window at the moment. There were voices to be heard in the distance, and Severus started to get a bit antsy as he realized their comrades might be coming through the area soon. At least they had their mission to blame for them being out of the base.

The short answer and tone of voice was enough to put Thomas in his place. He wanted to question him. Question his beliefs. Yet, he knew better than that. A lot of people were to save their own skin and keep themselves safer than they would be if they hadn’t joined. He himself was one of them. A lot of Death Eaters didn’t agree with what was happening. They had to keep telling themselves they were doing what was right or needed just to get through the day. He had a little more conscience than most. He was naïve and too sensitive for this group of people. He had to become numb to survive there.

He nodded softly before uttering a small “Sorry” before turning to look back in the office for the scraps of paper he’d written on. He could hear Severus’ voice as he spoke about the Dark Lord infiltrating his mind. It was something that terrified him. His weakness would come in his thoughts.

“We just let them die then. Well, for their sake we should hope that there aren’t enough Death Eaters spare to go and track them down” he said flippantly before leaning against the doorframe. He was a boy who’d made all the wrong choices and it never seemed to stop. He felt ashamed, he was sending people to their deaths knowingly. He didn’t know how to feel about it.

He watched the other man leave and slowly followed him. Stepping out onto the street as he stayed in the shadows. Putting on a brave face and leaving his thoughts in the house. There was nothing that could be done now anyway. Looking down at the dark mark on his arm before covering it with his sleeve before Severus could see. “Guess they’re on their way” he muttered although his mind went to how many screams had been sounded that night.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Into The Void: 1976 (Barty&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

barty-crouch-jr:

“No one will find it, this room his hidden. Which means no one can find us. Do you understand, Thomas? No one will hear you scream. No Alecto saving you this time.” He warned dangerously. Bary had tested the room thoroughly before even daring to attempt something like this.

Barty was tired, so very tired of this boy, he wanted nothing more than to lash out on him, beat him bloody but he couldn’t risk it. He wasn’t sure if he could hold himself back today. He had enough of Thomas. He aimed his wand at the boy and shook his head. “Petrificus Totalus” He hissed and watched as the boy fell backwards, stunned.

Keep reading

Thomas woke up on the hard, cold floor of the corridor. His hand went to his face as he frowned a little at the blood on his nose. What had happened? He didn’t remember anything. He’d gone to dinner, his mind was fuzzy after then. 

Spying Barty beside him he sat back against the wall and used his sleeve to stop the blood from running. He feared the other boy so his first thought went to whether it had been he who caused the injuries. 

“What happened?” he whispered and coughed slightly. Thomas was no stranger to being bullied. It was one of the reasons he’d befriended Barty. 

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Death Will Have His Day: 1987

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come” - (Julius Caesar, 1599, Act II, Scene 2, Line 33).

Thomas was and had always been a troubled boy. 

His whole life had been trying to live up to something he couldn’t possibly be. Sure he’d gotten pretty damn close but he never believed that his parents would be proud of him, even if he became the minister of magic or some noble position in the wizarding community. They believed in him too much.

The war had been a mistake. He should never have gotten lost in that web of mayhem caused by fear and doubt. The whole affair lay as one big regret on his conscience. That was what had led him here. Working as a masked vigilante, tracking down rogue Death Eaters and leaving them for the Ministry to find. It was his way of repaying his debts. Trying to make up for the lives he helped snatch away for the ‘greater good’ of the wizarding world.

Life was very hectic for the young Fenwick boy. The years in his eyes were far greater than what his face showed. He was worn down and battered from the harsh times he’d been dragged through. Not what the average twenty-five year old should have seen. Then again, they were all children of war.

He had taken time off for once. Visited the folks. Spent Christmas with them and told them all about his job as an Auror. Well, it hadn’t been a complete lie. He was taking cases and seeing them through. It just wasn’t technically official or legal for that matter. He was a wanted criminal. He couldn’t just apply for the job and be welcomed with open arms. He had to lie to keep his family safe.

Knockturn Alley was where he found himself. Cursed objects were something he was fascinated with. Borgin and Burkes was a place he went to often. Nobody asked questions. They just let him get on, pay and then leave.

Tom had found himself quite fascinated in a cursed dice. The theory around it was each of the numbers meant a different way to die. You gambled with death and whatever number you rolled was the way you would meet your end.

Death was something he didn’t fear but he didn’t welcome either. He wanted to leave this Earth with a clean conscience, so he devoted his life to the cause. However, he knew that was far from achievable.

@ms-alectocarrow

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Show Me The Ropes: 1979 (Severus&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

thehalf-bloodprince:

He listened to Thomas silently as the boy explained his own situation with his family. There was a lot that Severus would give to have parents that didn’t fight, and a father that could keep down a job, but he tried his best not to be so envious of others anymore. His childhood had been wasted, he knew that, but he was on to bigger and better things now. The future was far more important than the past. “Be grateful. Poverty ruins families.”

Severus did a quick check of the bottom level of the house, poking his head into each of the rooms to see if there was anything of interest that had been left behind. When he failed to come up with much, he headed upstairs to find that the fireplace was on the second floor. He made a beeline straight for it, and to his dismay, it had been smashed in on one side and there was Floo powder covering the wreckage. Severus groaned. This would only make things more difficult.

While he tried to find any sort of magic that was left in the fireplace that he could trace, he looked over as Thomas called to him. “No, I didn’t bring my map… Didn’t think we would be doing this tonight. There’s spell for that, though. Sweden, you said?” Severus kicked a mess of ashes onto the floor from the broken fireplace, covering the area around him. He pulled out his wand and aimed a spell at the dust, which whizzed up into the air and then fell back down to the ground into a perfect representation of Sweden. Glancing up, Severus beckoned the younger boy over to take a look.

“My wits are about me, don’t worry. We should be done here soon and then we can head back - hopefully everyone else will still be out, or the streets will be a mess,” he assured Thomas. Severus kicked a few bricks around before casting another revealing spell, trying to see the last place that the Floo was used to go to. After several minutes of fiddling with things, he managed to get a word out of it, but it didn’t seem all that precise. “Norbotten?” he told the boy, hoping it would help. “That sounds Swedish, could be the right area.”

Thomas paused as he guessed that had been a reference to his own family. He’d always admired Severus. He was a bit odd but he’d always showed him kindness and wisdom. He didn’t know a lot about him as the other was rather secretive when it came to personal lives.

He gave a nod in response before scanning through the papers and writing out the alphabet. Slowly beginning to decipher the alphabet for the coded message and working out a translation. The whoosh of air focused his gaze away from the paper as he stood up and carefully stepped into the room.

Blue eyes scanned the ashes that were laid out in front of him. Transporting back to maps and figuring out the latitude and longitude of the coordinates and transposing them to the make-shift map. “Ritsem. They’ve gone to Ritsem. Small community near a lake. Great place to stay hidden and keep out of the way I imagine. Possibility of family being there” he spoke his thoughts aloud before becoming present in the room again with a soft sigh.

“Do we tell him exactly or do we tell him the county which you figured out” he spoke of Norrbotten. It gave the family more of a chance to escape. “Not many will be able to get an accurate decoding as that. Although I have to prove I’m useful” he murmured as it was his life or the family in Sweden. This was the hard part of the job. To prove you worth and live with the guilt or offer a family the chance and risk drawing harm to yourself.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Into The Void: 1976 (Barty&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

barty-crouch-jr:

Barty grunted as he missed his spell and watched as the bookcase became a barrier. He swallowed hard and then aimed his wand at it. “Incendio…” He hissed and watched it as it burst into flames. The orange and red colours lit up his eyes and danced with delight. A smirk grew on his face, he wanted nothing more than to push the burning object into Thomas.

Instead, he moved it to one side and let it burn. Within a second of Thomas, he raised his wand and a familiar crackling sound was produced. Soon, a long, thin, red fire was produced from the tip of his wand. Barty brought it down fast and the whip cracked.

“Do you really want to go back to this?” He hissed.

Thomas stepped back quickly when the bookcase lit up in a burst of flame. The crackling of the wood as the piece of furniture quickly began to fall to ashes. Barty was mad. He genuinely was engulfed by some form of darkness. Thomas had never met anyone like this. Someone with pure evil within them.

The whip made him flinch as his eyes fixed onto the red glow. Meeting the other boy’s eyes as he stared at him for a moment. “No.” he frowned before glancing at the fire and gripping his wand. “Put that out before one of the Professors find it” he told him as he didn’t quite understand the true nature of the hidden room. No-one was about to stroll in by mistake.

“You need to stop now because this has gone too far Barty and you know it” he argued back. Not the frightened eleven year old any more but still concerned for his life. “Alecto is waiting. If I turn up with marks she’s going to know” he warned him instead of threatening the discovery.

With each term Thomas was learning more and more about the other boy. Which buttons made him angry and which ones kept him happy. Although he was stupid to stick around with him, Barty was useful too. He just had to learn how to play his cards right around him. “Let’s just stop this now.”

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Show Me The Ropes: 1979 (Severus&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

thehalf-bloodprince:

“Yes… I have one back at the base. You can take a look, I’m just… Worried about anyone else seeing you with it. The Dark Lord instructed me to perfect this craft, but I’m sure he expects to be able to get into the minds of any of his other followers. Doing anything without being told to is risky, here,” he explained, giving the boy a glance. A part of him wanted to do whatever he could to give Thomas the tools to keep himself safe, but he had to be extremely careful to not put his own life in danger in doing so.

Severus chuckled at the thought of himself in a balaclava, sneaking into peoples’ houses and terrorizing neighborhoods. It wasn’t exactly his dream job, but he couldn’t deny that what he was doing with the Death Eaters was pretty similar. “Not cat-burgling, but I did do a lot of stealing when I was younger… We were quite poor. Sometimes I went and moped around town just to see if any shopkeeps would take pity on me and throw me a bone. They literally would, once in a while,” he recounted, wiping his hands off on his robes and watching Thomas join him in the house.

“We’re looking for anything that’ll give us hints as to where these buggers have gone,” he told the boy, looking around the kitchen that they had jumped into through the window. Severus pulled out his wand and opened all of the cupboards, casting Lumos so that he could peer into each of them quickly. He climbed up onto the countertop and shoved a whole mess of jars and cans onto the floor, spotting a scrap of parchment wedged in the back. He tossed it at Thomas and hopped down again, heading out of the room as he said, “See if that means anything - I’m going to see if the Floo’s been used.”

Thomas nodded in understanding at his words. “I’ll use them in confidence or out of the base. The muggle library is always a good place to go and not be disturbed” he reassured. He wanted the other man to know he understood the risk he was taking with him and was grateful for the valuable information. He’d need anything and everything to fight through this war and come out a survivor. He would do everything to ensure Severus remained anonymous in his help for the younger recruit. It was the least he could do.

He listened to his tale and smiled softly. “My parents own a little tourist-y shop. Y’know. Crap and stuff you take home after a holiday. We were never well off but they do their best for me” he murmured softly. They didn’t have a lot of money at all and with putting most of what they earned towards the boy and his studies and schooling, he couldn’t help but feel a huge weight of pressure for that. He didn’t want to fail them. He couldn’t live with that. “I’m fortunate I never had it that bad” he admitted, hoping he hadn’t offended him.

As they scavenged the house, he looked around at the small things. The way a person decorated their home. Where certain things like keys and tea-towels were kept. It said a lot about a person and how they behaved.

His attention was grabbed by Severus throwing something at him. Upon further inspection he noted the parchment had co-ordinates on in a form of coding. “Don’t have a map on you by any chance?” he asked as he headed upstairs and found the study. It was messy, clearly they’d left in a hurry. Searching through scattered papers as he sat down at the desk and stared at the numbers and letters. Blue eyes scanning over them intently as if the answer would just pop straight out of the page and tell him.

After some careful consideration and his mind flicking back to memories of other maps, codes, scribblings he’d found or made over the years. A particular newspaper came into mind and a puzzle piece fell into place.

“They’ve fled to Sweden, I believe. A map would make it clearer. Probably have family there. Can’t get an exact location yet but- wait there’s a message in here too. They might have been expecting someone to turn up at the house after they left.” he rambled his thoughts aloud before looking back at the doorway. 

“Keep your wits about you, Severus” he called out as he could hear the other man searching the rest of the rooms in the abbandoned house.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Into The Void: 1976 (Barty&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

barty-crouch-jr:

Keep reading

The boy winced as he dropped his head to the side and cupped his stinging cheek. Before he had a chance to react further he was being dragged by his shirt and the harsh tones of Barty’s voice deafened him. He decided it was best to keep his mouth shut even though he wanted to mock the other further. He’d found a weakness in Barty, a tender spot that he clearly reacted to.

“You’re the minority” he reminded him. Muggles swarmed this Earth and although they did terrible things, they also accomplished many great things that kept the evolution of the spices in place. The first thing the boy had noticed when he’d arrived at the school was that wizards were so outdated. They hadn’t any phones or computers. They were particularly primitive compared to the advancement within the muggle world.

It was people like him, the ones who got the best of both world who could further both worlds for the better. Bringing the best qualities of both and making the future promising for the next generations.

A tiny whimper escaped under his breath as the wooden dug into his cheek. The older Slytherin’s words meant nothing to him. He didn’t believe Barty had the stomach to carry out his words. He was weak and put on an act. Stomped around like a child when he couldn’t get his own way or someone did something he didn’t like. He saw him in a different light than when they first met. Barty was all talk and no action most of the time.

“No” he told him clearly and took his chance when he raised his wand. Barty was holding onto him and his eyes were on his. It had given him opportunity to slip his wand from his sleeve and arm himself again the other.

“Everte Statum” he uttered quickly as he dodged the spell sent at him. The boy jumped back when the bookcase Barty had been faffing with when he first entered slid across the room and separated them. The room was listening to him and creating distance and barriers between him and Barty where possible.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Into The Void: 1976 (Barty&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

barty-crouch-jr:

Barty tilted their head, he wanted to smack him upside the head for being so thick but decided against it. “Twat. I don’t know who the heir is but I can still assist with their work while I’m at school. Plus, if Derek Ashmore decides to say one more snide thing about my hair, that Mudblood will get what’s coming to him.” He snapped.

The older boy laughed and shook his head. “Please, name three muggleborns that have had any lasting influence on the wizarding community. Oh, and let’s not count that mistake of a Prime Minister, Nobby Leach. I don’t care what the papers said, if it was old man Malfoy, he did everyone a favour.” He chortled.

He narrowed his eyes as he spoke. Who did he think he was? He was a no good mudblood and Barty had allowed him to be friends with him. “Is this the repayment I get?” He said, moving towards the exit, wand in hand. “Is that how you speak to me Thomas, is it?” He asked.

Barty quickly closed the gap between them and grabbed the boy’s shirt pulling him close. “If I was the heir of Slytherin, you can bet there wouldn’t be any Mudblood’s at this school… Including you.” He said dropping him. “Honestly, you’re lucky I take pity on you.” He hissed walking back over to the book.

“I talk to a mudblood, people call us friends.” He laughed and his face turned stern. “That makes me physically sick. I hang around with you because of Alecto and if the Dark Lord does achieve his goal, I will spare you from the slaughter. Not because I want to, no dear Tom. I will spare you because I want to see the life leave your eyes as you watch us Pureblood’s eradicate your precious muggle families.”

Thomas frowned at the older boy. He did not like the way he was speaking. What made him better than him? His blood? That didn’t matter. It wasn’t like it was made of gold or anything. He was just stuck up.

“Half-bloods too. They’re the ones you want to get rid of too right?” he looked up at him. “Your precious leader You Know Who will probably be related to half-bloods. Most wizards are these days but you’re still stuck in the past. Can you imagine? Maybe, just maybe he might even be one! That’d be a right sore spot for your little parade wouldn’t it just?” he argued bitterly.

Thomas didn’t have much knowledge on who the Dark Lord was. He just knew he didn’t agree with killing muggleborns. Why would he if he was one himself? He was just making claims with lack of evidence to try and hurt Barty too.

He looked away when Barty began speaking to him like an adult or guardian, someone with authority over him that he was supposed to respect. He jumped and let out a sharp gasp when his shirt was grabbed and he was forced onto his tip-toes, face to face with the older boy.

Once he let go he straightened his shirt and looked away. The words stung. He genuinely loved Barty as an older brother when they first began their friendship. He’d been blinded by that admiration. He hadn’t seen the horror underneath. However, one thing he had learnt from the older boy was to never show weakness or that anyone got to you which was exactly what he did now.

“You won’t succeed. Your Dark Lord is too weak. Don’t you learn anything from history books or are you too thick? Maybe that’s why you follow him” he muttered in response. Good always triumphed evil and it was evident in the wizarding world too. The most recent case being the rise and fall of Grindelwald.

[notsotrusted-thomas]

Show Me The Ropes: 1979 (Severus&Thomas)

[notsotrusted-thomas]

thehalf-bloodprince:

“The mind thing?” Severus repeated, chuckling softly. He knew the kid was just trying to understand, but he couldn’t help that it was a bit funny. Nonetheless, he still offered his wisdom, “Something like that. You’re thinking of Legilimency - penetration of the mind. The Dark Lord is an expert at that. He doesn’t even have to be in the same room as you to see into your thoughts and memories, so you’re never safe in your mind. Luckily, he isn’t always peering into everyone’s thoughts…” They turned another corner, nearly at the right house now. “The only way to protect yourself is through Occlumency. You have to empty your mind, at least of the thoughts you don’t want the Legilimens to see, but it isn’t easy,” he continued. Thomas was a fairly smart boy, in his opinion, and if he really worked at it, Severus thought the boy could have a chance at becoming good at the skill. “I’ve been practicing both, for spying… You’ll need Occlumency if you want to pull any stunts under the Dark Lord’s nose, but even then I can’t possibly recommend it,” he finished, shaking his head.

He shrugged at the boy’s concern. He’d joined the Death Eaters, for Merlin’s sake, the whole thing wasn’t going to seem nice no matter which way you put it - death was in the name. “You’d have more of a reason to be worried if they told you that you didn’t have potential. Potential means that they’ll keep you around for as long as necessary. It’s up to you to know when your time is almost up… And figure out a way to extend it,” he advised.

Severus glanced over at Thomas and stared at him for a moment. Then, he let out a sigh and gave him a nod. “I hope so, too.”

Finally, they’d arrived at a modest little house at the edge of the neighborhood. “Yes… This’ll be it,” he murmured, pulling out his wand. Severus cast Muffliato over the two of them - one of this proudest inventions - and then led Thomas around to the side of the house. He peered through a few windows and then cast a revealing spell, but after a few minutes he determined that the occupants must have already fled.

Instead of trying to get through several layers of locking spells that were bound to be on every door, Severus found a low window and pulled himself up onto the sill. He promptly picked up his foot and smashed through the glass with his steel-toed boot. Jumping through the hole and into the house, he called back to Thomas, “You don’t have to do that, but I’ve found that the higher-ups care more about complete chaos than they do a good, clean job.” 

“Yeah” Tom looked across at him before he dropped his head in embarrassment when he realised he had made a fool of himself. “Stop” he smiled bashfully when he laughed at him. He soaked up the information like a sponge as he carefully listened to what Severus had to say. He made the decision then and there to research the topic more. It could be incredibly useful and maybe the legilmency one too. That was once he completely figured out what they were. 

“Do you have any books on them?” he asked as that was always his first resource when it came to learning. He then allowed the man to speak and found himself nodding as he took his words and made sure to remember them. He had to remain useful. He had to make sure of that.

Watching him break into the house with ease he tilted his head slightly. “You ever thought of a career in cat burgling?” he asked and stepped out of the way of the broken glass. Quickly and quietly, he grabbed onto the ledge and hoisted himself up. Carefully stepping through into the room as he dusted his hands off and looked around. “Anything in particular that we’re looking for?”