Reasons Why Treasure Should Be Allowed to Date Black & Lupin
poly!wolfstar x Crouch!reader who conducts a very important meeting [789 words]
AN: well here you go, Crouch!reader freaks (positive & affectionate). I tried.
CW: fem!reader, siblings, one mention of stroke inducing news, wishing fathers death, background rosewaterkiller, fluff
“Hello, everyone. Welcome.” You greeted primly, despite the fact that you were currently standing in your brother’s living room with his two boyfriends, Sirius, and Remus. “Thank you for attending the short meeting entitled Reasons Why Treasure Should Be Allowed to Date Black and Lupin.”
Remus and Sirius didn’t dare move, but with this, Regulus leaned further into Evan - whose lap he was already sitting in - as he muttered. “Is this really necessary?”
“Yeah, Treasure, we’re all adults here; you’re allowed to date whoever you want.” Evan offered with a snort of laughter.
“You shut your whore mouth, Rosier!” Barty spat near viciously.
Regulus shook his head with a sigh as Evan muttered with a roll of his eyes. “So…we’re in this kind of mood today, hm?”
“Well, now, hang on.” Sirius ventured, leaning back in his chair. “Let the witch speak.”
You beamed at him before quickly flipping the page of your muggle style easel-sized pad of paper.
“Reason number one,” you read aloud, slapping the paper with the tip of your wand as if it were a pointer, “Barty gets to have two boyfriends, so why can’t I?”
“That’s a fair point.” Remus offered, sharing a nod of agreement with Evan.
“She’s got you there, Bee.” Regulus responded, causing a disbelieving sound to leave his boyfriend’s lips.
“She does not have me there you sod!” He screeched before turning his attention back to you. “The difference is that my boyfriends are Regulus and Evan!”
You nodded slowly and dramatically at your brother as though he were a fussy nursery school kid who finally told you that the sky was, indeed, blue. “Right, so you’re dating a Black and a quiet, broody type-”
“Now, I wouldn’t say I’m exactly broody…” Remus tried to argue, only for Sirius to place a conciliatory hand on his knee.
“You’re definitely broody, babe.”
“Excellent point, Treasure. What’s the next argument?” Regulus prompted, earning him another smile from you and another scowl from your brother as you flipped to the next page.
“Reason number two: Barty’s not the boss of me.”
With this, Evan and Regulus began snapping their fingers as though they were at a poetry slam.
“I don’t like this game.” Barty pouted as he sat back in his chair, the picture of dejection as he crossed his arms rather petulantly.
“But wait!” You cheered, bending your knees and holding your hands out expectantly. “There’s more.”
Remus thought you looked like a car salesman in one of those muggle commercials as they told the viewers all about the various features of the newest model they were desperate to get off of their lot. He was thoroughly enamoured.
Finally, you flipped to (what Remus really hoped to be) the last page before reading it aloud. “Reason number three: dad will be furious.”
The room fell quiet at that, seeing Remus and Sirius sharing a cautious look with each other before they turned their attention to your brother; his eyes narrowed and one hand covering his mouth as he considered you.
“Explain.” He prompted, and you seemed entirely too eager to do so.
“If a poor - sorry Remus - halfblood Welshman wasn’t bad enough,” you began, shooting a malevolent smile in your brother’s direction, “I’ll also be dating, not only a Black, but the disgraced Black; a blood-traitor.”
Evan and Regulus shared a knowing look of their own before turning their attention back to their boyfriend and their boyfriend’s sister, and Remus felt…hopeful.
“I don’t think dad will be mad enough about Lupin.” Barty stated then, causing your eyes to flit over to Remus’.
Remus shared a quick look with Sirius before looking back at you, your eyebrow arched in question before he offered you one curt nod; his permission.
“He’s also a werewolf.”
With this, Regulus’ face contorted into what could only be described as a downright diabolical smile as Evan began cackling, and Barty’s hand fell away from his face in order to expose his mouth hanging ajar.
“Yeah?” You asked Barty, clearly reading his shock for what it was. “It’s good, right? This is stroke material, Bee. This might finally do him in.”
Barty’s eyes flit between you and your - hopefully soon to be official - boyfriends before he seemed to come to some decision.
“I get to be there when you tell him.”
“Deal.” You agreed quickly, holding out your hand which he quickly accepted into a formal handshake.
“He works at the ministry, though, he’ll likely already know about my status as a lycanthrope.” Remus explained ruefully, grimacing slightly at the prospect of having ruined some of Barty’s ‘fun’.
Except Barty simply let out a bark of laughter.
“So we won’t even need to preface the news! Oh gods, this is brilliant.”
summary: When Dumbledore calls for an emergency order meeting, everyone gathers expecting bad news, what they encounter is far more surprising.
tags: fem!reader. reader as barty’s twin sister so read at your own risk, possible poly!wolfstar if you squint. reader is a little crazy but are we surprised. lily experiences some sexual awakenings. rosekiller mention, and platonic regulus. some violence is mentioned but not specified. slight black brothers angst.
a/n: hi… is this anything? i was bored so i whipped this out real quick. could have a bonus part, maybe if my hyperfixation for war pigs by black sabbath returns, no promises. it was fun though! enjoy! xx
…
“What do you think this is about?”
Sirius exhaled deeply, smoke mixing up with vapor as he looked up, no-doubtedly channeling all his strength to appear nonchalant, but James knew better, he was sure he could very well feel Sirius’ heart beating hard if he were to place a hand on his chest.
“Who knows,” He shrugged, then cleared his throat to try and swallow the pessimistic tone in his voice. “Doubt it’s a bad thing, I reckon, seeing everyone’s so calm, the old man included.”
“That old man was your headmaster not so long ago, Sirius.” Chided Lily as she stepped out, Remus in toe.
Sirius wordlessly passed Remus his cig, he took it with nimble fingers, a well practiced routine, “Dumbledore said we must head in.” Said Remus, a slight edge to his tone.
James and Lily shared a look, “You don’t think this is about…?”
“Doubt it, lovie, hardly anyone knows.” James butted in immediately, but his eyes scanned their surroundings anyway. “Come on.”
Remus nodded and put the cigarette down, ignoring Sirius’ protests, the young man rolled his eyes and pulled him by his jacket’s lapel. The pair trailed in behind James and Lily, eyes immediately falling on the group as they settled around. Despite the reason for the emergency being kept under wraps, there was an air of both hopefulness and anxiety in the room.
Dumbledore stood up, “I am terribly sorry if the tone of the call to meet has caused concern, I can assure everyone in this room that the themes discussed today will be far from cause of worry.”
“Then why did you say it was an emergency?” Sirius asked, never shy to beat around the bush. Remus passed a hand over his face in frustration. “I’m not quite sure the urgency was necessary, then.”
“Mr. Black not every emergency has to be a symptom of bad news. However, it is of utmost importance that we discuss the information I’ve been given today.”
“Information?” Marlene echoed, her hand unconsciously reaching for Dorcas in search of comfort.
“And who gave it to you?” Came one of the Prewett twin’s voices from the other end.
“Yes, how do you know we can trust this person?” Sirius demanded then, his patience running thin as a response to the current war. “How do you know this information is even remotely accurate?”
Dumbledore smiled like he had expected the question, Sirius’ insides squirmed with uneasiness. “Glad you asked, my boy.”
McGonagall stood up, face impassive as usual, but her lip curled in a way that conveyed nervousness. A silent conversation passed between the two professors, the tension in the room thickened as the silence progressed. Lily’s hold on James’ hand got tighter to the point of imprinting her own engagement gem on her skin.
“Oh for the love of—”
“Sirius.”
“Mr. Black,” Started Dumbledore, his calm eyes meeting Sirius’ fiery ones. “I was contacted by a rather important member of our, ah, well, foes… With information that could be vital for our cause.”
“Foes?” Repeated Remus in a breath, almost like he had misunderstood. His eyes met with James, gazes filled with worry. “You mean…?”
“Precisely, Mr. Lupin,” McGonagall continued, her voice taking a tight tone as she addressed him, then everyone in the room. “It appears things in Riddle’s end have become rather tense. Many of his followers have fled the country, turning their backs on the war entirely.”
“He’s getting weak.” A young Kingsley Shacklebolt supplied, in hopes of easing the stress-filled room. His posture straightened as eyes fell on him. “He’s running out of both strength and soldiers.”
“Soldiers?” Repeated James, finally able to find his voice. The group looked at each other in alert as the faint sound of voices muffled somewhere outside.
“You heard right, Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore nodded, and inhaled as if preparing himself to break out the news. “It appears Riddle himself has trusted this information to someone very high in his barracks, what he does not know, however, is that this person has been secretly working for me all this time.”
The man turned to Sirius, who felt the air getting sucked out of his lungs at the attention, and as an afterthought, the insinuation.
“Surely you don’t mean–”
Dumbledore let out a chuckle, “No, Mr. Black, I’m not insinuating that it’s you, although… you know this person very well, I’d say.”
Sirius’ eyes scanned his friends, and a few offended protests erupted in the room. Wands and fingers then pointed at each other, eyes looking for the supposed traitor or suspect among them. McGonagall exhaled as she fixed her glasses, the sight a crude reminder that, despite what she tried to tell herself, they were all still children. Children that not long ago had exams and assignments to worry about.
“Oi, we haven’t even gotten in and they’re already at it with each other,” Came a voice from the door, and the group erupted in chaos.
“What the fuck– Is this how you treat newcomers? No wonder you’re running low on personnel.” You exclaimed, hands raised in surrender.
Sirius’ eyebrows relaxed slightly as his brain processed the faces in front of him, then, “Regulus?!”
“Sirius.” Drawled Regulus as greeting.
“Welcome Mr. Black,” Dumbledore said then, eager to get started on the meeting before it could get out of his hands. “Mr. and Ms. Crouch.” He nodded to your brother then you.
“Albus,” Barty smiled, a wicked thing that had almost everyone in the room raising their wands again. “Could you stop with that? We come in peace.”
Sirius let out a shaky breath, then turned to his old headmaster, “What’s the meaning of this? Are you mad?”
“Sirius!” Lily gasped, but her eyes were equally filled with dread.
“Yeah, Black, don’t talk to the man like that.” You drawled, ringed fingers distractedly fiddling with your wand.
“Look at him, goes off to grow his hair out and forgets all about manners.” Barty added, shaking his head with faux disappointment.
“What’s happening?” Muttered Remus under his breath, fingers massaging at his temples.
“Forgive me for coming earlier than we discussed, I could barely handle these two and their loathsome bickering.” Regulus spoke, his tone bored as he ignored your dramatic reactions.
“It’s quite alright. We were about to begin. Please, take a seat–”
“Take a seat?!” James cried out, voice taunt with nerves as his eyes scanned the trio before him. “Professor, you don’t mean they–”
“How do you lot get things done when you never let the man speak?” You mused out loud, James turned to you with a frown.
“As Professor Dumbledore was saying,” Began McGonagall, professor reflexes begging her to intervene before the conversation could turn into a full quarrel. Another reminder of how young all of you truly were. “Mr. Black has come with information that could potentially put an end to this tragic war.”
“Mr. Black?” Dumbledore turned to Regulus, who nodded and turned to the room with a blank expression. “Care to share your findings with the rest of your peers?”
“Yes,” He nodded. “It appears Voldemort has opted to experiment with the dark arts in order to gain more power. He has managed to channel very ancient magic to split his soul in six to be immortal, he created six horcruxes that have been hidden throughout Britain.”
“Horcruxes?”
Barty groaned with annoyance, hand reaching for his pocket, “Lupin you wound me! I thought you were the smart one in this bunch. Now you’ve lost me money.” He angrily placed a few galleons in your waiting hand.
“Serves you damn right for arguing without basis.” You said with a smile, pocketing the coins inside your own leather coat. Regulus glared at you, “Terribly sorry, dear Reggie, you may proceed.”
“Right…” Regulus cleared his throat, “To answer your question, Remus, Horcruxes are objects with very dark, very powerful magic that a soul can attach to, they’re practically fragments of the person’s soul that helps them become immortal.”
“I know that, but… don’t you need to… kill people to make Horcruxes?”
The room fell silent as the words slipped past Remus’ lips. Sirius, apparently, had enough with the silence and pleasantries, and stood from his own chair.
“And how could you possibly know all this, Regulus?”
“Well, I do read, for starters.” He supplied, the tone in his voice not at all trying to hide his boredom. “But he told me this himself and, well… ” A pause, both you and Barty turned to him with slightly pinched eyebrows, “I’ve found most of them.”
By the looks on your and Barty’s faces, these news were as new to you than they were to the rest of the order. Regulus cleared his throat, then nudged you into action.
“The locket,” He mumbled, eyes slightly nervous as he nudged you a second time.
You frowned. “I thought it was a gift?”
“For the love of– Give me the locket.”
You wordlessly took it off, pretty, long hair cascading behind the chain as you handed it to him. Regulus scanned it silently, then reached to place it in Dumbledore’s hand.
“I assume this is one of them?” The man asked, eyes curiously scanning the artifact. Regulus nodded. “Very well. And where are the rest of these fragments?”
“One of them is the snake, the one that seems to accompany him wherever he goes. The other two are personal family heirlooms of Voldemort himself; a diary and a ring. The other two I don’t know where they are, being known as myths around the wizarding world… Helga Hufflepuff’s cup and Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem–”
“Oh, fuck,” Muttered Barty under his breath, his eyes met yours and you both erupted in quiet laugher. A silent joke passing between you, ignorant to the tense atmosphere. “Sorry, Reg, Consider it done, that one.”
“What?” Spat Regulus, fully turning to face you both. “What do you mean by done, Barty?”
“We might or might’ve not have the diadem in our possession.” You said breezily.
When it seemed none of you had any plans to elaborate, Remus spoke, “Why do you have…?”
You cleared your throat and very pointedly tried to not look at Dumbledore as you spoke, “We… sort of stole it? From that weird room in Hogwarts?”
“Yeah, the one that just comes and goes whenever it likes.” Barty nodded, face bored as he twirled his wand between his fingers.
“The Room of Requirement, you mean, Mr. Crouch?”
“That’s the one. Oi, that’s a rather unoriginal name, don’t you think?”
“Why did you steal it?” Lily asked, a hidden glint of curiousness in her eyes. She flushed lightly when you met her gaze, your own eyes wide and intimidating, and if she dared to look further, a little manic as well. “You knew it was a Horcrux?
“Nah, it was her birthday and the room was just… there. So we took it.”
“Aren’t you born on the same day?” Remus frowned, words laced with fascination at the Crouch twins.
“Count on Barty to leave my gift for the last moment,” You rolled your eyes, then turned to both Barty and Regulus. “Honestly with you two, giving me someone’s shabby soul remains as presents.”
“How do we find the Cup, then?” Sirius asked, eager to get it over with. Regulus looked at him with a bit of hopefulness, “I thought no wizard has ever seen it?”
“He gave it to Bellatrix for safekeeping, we don’t know yet where she might have hidden it.”
“Right, since when do we trust death eaters?” Asked the other Prewett twin, quiet muffled voices echoed in affirmation.
“I wouldn’t–” James started, but the sound of Sirius’ scoff silenced him almost immediately.
“What did you just call him, Prewett?”
“Oh, please, Sirius.” Gideon snorted bitterly, “I just repeated what you’ve been saying at every meeting, even at Hogwarts if I remember correctly.”
Regulus looked down, though that wasn’t new to him, the fact that his brother held certain resentment towards him throughout their years at Hogwarts was something that kept him up at night, even up to that point when family rivalry was decidedly not one of their top priorities. A hand came into his view, you discreetly reached and squeezed his hand in support.
“I’m not saying you have to trust me right away, but… I want to help.” Regulus said, ending the possible fight between his brother and Gideon. “I’m risking a lot, blowing my cover by even being here.”
“Cover?” Echoed Sirius, his eyes meeting Regulus’, who in return shrugged noncommittally.
“Mr. Black has been helping me since his own days at Hogwarts, providing me with intel from his own family that has been extremely helpful for the order.” Dumbledore said, sensing Sirius’ inner turmoil. The room fell silent as they scanned Regulus and his companions. “Mr. and Ms. Crouch have also been eager to help the cause, working alongside Alastor Moody to target Death-eaters that could give us information on their future plans.”
James spluttered, “Moody knew about this?”
“I call bullshit, he’s been training me all day and night, when did he find time to do all that?” Sirius inquired, eyes not leaving yours as he scanned your stance.
You smirked, “You know, Sirius, contrary to what you’ve been told, the world does not revolve around you.”
“Why you little–”
“Alright, that’s enough.” Butted in Remus, immediately feeling his boyfriend getting agitated, he feared Sirius would say something he would later regret. “And what’s the course of action, then?”
“If it helps, I overheard your loony cousin say she had important matters to attend to at Gringotts, something about maximum security.” You added, your playful eyes not leaving Sirius’, as if riling him up was your own personal entertainment. “That must be the Cup, we reckon.”
“Well… There’s that.” Nodded Regulus, apparently springing into action now that the attention wasn’t fully on doubting him. “I suppose our next course of action is to find a way to destroy them, before he tries to make another.”
“Basilisk venom.” Barty said, reaching inside his pocket for a lighter.
“Or fiendfyre.” You added nonchalantly as you placed a cig between your lips, Barty wordlessly passed you the lighter. “We could use the killing curse on the snake, too.”
“Oi, don’t do that.” James frowned as you exhaled, your lips curling in a smirk between the cigarette. “There’s–”
“James.” Lily chided quietly, a gentle hand around the crook of his elbow. “It’s okay,”
You raised an eyebrow, “Were we not supposed to smoke here?” You asked, your eyes boredly scanned the faces in the room. “I thought this was a childless meeting point?”
“Well, you could always ask,” Remus said, a slight frown to his eyebrows as he studied you. You rolled your eyes and passed the lighter back to your brother.
“Like you lot are such prudes, don’t think we never noticed your nicotine reek back at school.”
Barty laughed between his own cig, then pointed at a speechless Remus. “Oi, be nice to my sister, Lupin. She fabulously killed your maker.”
Chaos ensued once again.
“Greyback is dead?!”
“You killed Greyback?”
“Fabulous is not the word I’d use, it was an accident.” You frowned at your brother, who shrugged noncommittally. “Also, why do you sound so surprised, Sirius, when we have the same mentor?”
“How do you kill a savage dark creature by accident?” Mused Marlene, her own posture more relaxed after she deemed you three as non threatening.
At this, you seemed to turn a little sheepish. “Not my fault the fool walked in the moment I casted a fiendfyre, serves him right though, he was a prejudiced, misogynistic dipshit.” You inhaled sharply, your eyes meeting Remus’ troubled gaze by accident. “My apologies, if I beat you to it.”
Remus spluttered, “I wasn’t planning–”
“It seems we keep getting off topic, which is why I think it’s best to meet up at location 12 two nights from today to finish discussing this.” Dumbledore said, now fully standing up, McGonagall sighed exasperatedly. He turned to you and your brother. “Do try to bring that diadem of yours for inspection, then we can decide our best plan to begin the destruction of the Horcruxes.”
Neither professor stayed behind to wait for any response from any of you, taking your silence as cue to Apparate away and towards their own business, it seemed. The meeting was over before anyone could make more comments and, without any responsible adult there to interfere, more questions flew here and there towards Regulus and the twins.
“Oh, Merlin’s saggy balls, aren’t you a welcoming bunch?” Barty rolled his eyes, blowing some smoke from the corner of his lips. “No, we are not aurors. No, we are not Death-eaters contrary to popular belief. No, neither Evan nor Pandora are part of these groups. No, lesser Black, I am sadly taken and happily engaged, however my lovely treasured sister here is very much single if you still want to have gorgeous Crouch pups.”
“I don’t have any interest in you or your vicious sister, Junior.” Sirius seethed, frowning as if the insinuation alone made him angry, but no one missed the way he visibly blushed.
“You don’t?” Barty repeated, a pierced eyebrow raised in bemusement. His eyes moved between him and Remus, “Then quit ogling her, you deviants. You too, Evans, don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
Lily gasped in surprise, but her flushed cheeks gave her away immediately. You winked in her direction, “I am not ogling anyone! I was just… just… Junior! I will hex you.”
“Do not worry your pretty little head, Evans. I’d gladly snog the daylights out of you, I have no preferences.” You shrugged, your own pierced eyebrow irked in a playful matter.
“You did not just hit on my wife in front of me, Crouch.” Shrieked James, in both surprise and offense.
You moved your head from side to side, a blasé attitude in your movements as you gave your cig a last puff. “Seeing I haven’t read anything about a wedding on the Daily Prophet, it’s safe to assume I can still steal your fiancé away, Potter.”
“Are you two done antagonizing everyone in this room?” Drawled Regulus, standing up from his own chair with the air of the pureblood heir he was conditioned to be. Barty and you raised your hands in surrender. “I suppose we will be seeing all of you soon.”
Sirius cleared his throat, “If you’re serious about helping us, then, of course.”
“Unlike you Sirius, I do keep my word.”
Something passed between them, both Black brothers crackling with intense electricity, James stood up in reflex next to Sirius in support.
Barty whistled. “I was beginning to wonder where dear old Reggie had gone to.” He clapped his thighs and stood up, you followed his movements. Both standing behind Regulus much like James had done with Sirius, a threatening showcase of your support to the younger Black. “I’d really like to say it was a pleasure but seeing you lot have been nothing but incredibly rude to us, we are taking our wonderful company elsewhere.”
You let Regulus pull you by the sleeve towards the door, a slight bounce to your step as you trailed behind Regulus and Barty, who had tried pocketing a random vase from the entryway, had it not been by Regulus who slapped his hand away. A snort left your lips and you looked behind your shoulder, basking in the different reactions among your old schoolmates.
“Oh,” You turned quickly, a wicked smile on your face as you addressed Lily, “Congratulations, hopefully it’s a girl.” The red-head opened her mouth in shock, but it was James who tried marching to you.
“Mind your sodding business,” He spat, seemingly done with your antagonistic tendencies.
You smirked. “Well, try to be less obvious about it, then.” James’ lips parted in surprise, so did Remus’ who had been holding him back, you took this in stride. “Ow, Lupin, aren’t you a sweetheart? Thinking I couldn’t handle Potter in a duel? Don’t worry, lover boy, you’ll have your chance, I know how you just adore having your lovers’ quarrel.” Your eyes moved to Sirius, who flushed immediately.
“Treasure, come on. I told Evan I’d be home by 10!” Barty whined, and dragged you all the way out, the door shutting behind you.
A silence lingered, then came James’ shocked exhale. “What the fuck was that?”
“Are the rest of the meetings going to be like this?” Asked Marlene from her own spot, mirroring Dorcas’ own shocked expression.
Both Sirius and Remus looked at each other over the heads of the rest of the members, a silent conversation passed between them as they both had realized something about themselves when it came to you.
summary: The Order takes radical measurements to ensure your safety. The solution? Dividing you and Barty in different safe houses. The problem? You now have to live under the same roof as Sirius and Remus.
tags: fem!reader, crouch!reader. reader is described to have piercings/tattoos. abusive parent talk. some mentions of drunkenness.
a/n: part four!!!! im on a roll, eh? ive been meaning to post this for a while but life is so hectic lately, just like this chapter. i made some lore changes for plot reasons. and, as always, likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated. enjoy!! xx
…
Sirius sighed, pensively preparing his morning tea with a faraway look. His finger tapping absentmindedly against the table in a way that had Remus reading the same sentence of his newspaper over and over again, his own anxiety showing in the form of occasionally turning his gaze to the kitchen entrance in hopes of seeing you walk in. When Sirius made to stand, Remus immediately pushed him down in his chair without looking up.
“What if I have to grab something in our room?” Sirius turned with a frown, Remus did look up then.
“What is it? I can bring it for you.”
They stared each other down, but like always, Sirius looked away first with a roll of his eyes.
“She has to eat something.”
“We can’t just wake her up, she’d kill us.” Remus said, opting to close his newspaper. “Let’s just let her sleep, hm? Last night was stressful enough, I’m sure she needs the rest.”
“While I appreciate being the topic of conversation, can you please do it when I can participate?”
Remus immediately looked away at the sight of your rumpled morning hair, rolled-up pajama bottoms and tiny vest top. Sirius, contrary to his ever the gentleman boyfriend, had no such qualms as his eyes roved over your uncovered arms when you walked up to sit on one of the chairs.
Remus cleared his throat, “Slept well?”
“It was a bit cold, actually. You got room for another one in your bed?”
You watched with a smirk as Sirius almost dropped the cup in his hand, Remus had better luck in masking his own shock by covering his mouth with his tea, but his smile was obvious from the rim of the cup.
“Salazar, I’m just joking.” You laughed as Sirius absurdly tried to hide his crimson cheeks. “It was alright. Finally slept soundly without my brother and Evan going at it nonstop in the other room.”
Remus let out a startled laugh and reached for the kettle still sitting on the stove. You flinched very, very faintly at his sudden movement, he seemed unaware of it as he maneuvered around the stove, but Sirius leveled you with a sympathetic look. You looked away immediately.
“Right,” Sirius nodded, sitting properly on his chair with smooth movements. The drop of your shoulders showed your silent gratitude at that. “We’re going to the shops later. Is there anything you need?”
You raised an eyebrow, “Shops? As in muggle London?” Sirius nodded. “I’m coming with you.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Why the fuck not?” You turned to Remus with a scowl, he dropped his head back with exasperation.
“The whole point of you being here is that you’re to be hidden. Not to go prancing around when it strikes your fancy.”
“It’s muggle London, what’s the worst that could happen?”
“You could get caught, for starters.” Remus pinched the bridge of his nose when you stood up with anger.
“So what? I’m ought to stay here and wait for you all day like a pathetic little lap dog?”
Sirius looked from left to right much like he had been at a tennis match, watching you argue with a small smirk on his face. When you stood right in front of Remus, he unconsciously leaned closer with anticipation. You stared hard at Remus, and he met you head on with an equal scowl on his features that would’ve made Sirius squirm with uneasiness. This time he had no urgency in trying to ignore the feeling inside his chest at the sight before him.
At last, your face broke in a knowing smirk that had Remus frowning, “Are you worried for me, Remus?”
“Is everything a joke to you?” He scoffed, making a show of rolling his eyes.
“Oh, please. Don’t get your knickers in a twist, I’ll have you know this would not be the first time I’ve had to go out undercover.” You crossed your arms, Remus’ eyes unconsciously followed the movement. When he raised his gaze, you raised an eyebrow at him. “And, I don’t exactly recall asking for your permission.”
Remus parted his lips to speak, but you pivoted towards the door and walked directly into your room, pointedly closing the door behind you before any of them could get a word out. He turned to Sirius with a scowl, who simply shrugged nonchalantly and sipped on his tea. Loud shuffling sounds came from the other side of the guest room and he sighed dejectedly.
Sirius stood up and pecked his lips quickly, “You put up a good fight.” Then walked out and towards their shared room to get changed, no doubt.
It took approximately twenty minutes or so when they walked out their room to find you pulling at the studs in your eyebrow in front of the mirror over their entryway. You looked completely different to the same girl they had grown used to, with your pristine bell-bottoms and turtleneck jumper, you looked like the picture of a goody-two shoes. Most of your identifiable tattoos were properly covered and your hands busied themselves removing the piercing in your eyebrow. When you caught their reflection in the mirror, your concentration frown immediately turned into a sly smirk.
“Don’t I look like a proper in-bred pureblood?” You twirled, and it took Remus everything in his power for his gaze to stay in your face. “Do muggles have pureblood families?”
“The royal family, probably.” Sirius mused, then turned to Remus with a raised eyebrow, “Do they also count as in-bred?”
Remus decided to not answer, knowing his explanation would certainly take time off their already tight schedule, and he desperately needed more coffee if you were to stay with them longer than planned. Instead, he walked towards the entryway next to you and placed his messenger bag across his torso.
“I can’t take this shit off. And I don’t have any glamour potions to hide it.” You murmured, your voice taking a sheepish quality as you continued scanning your reflection.
Before he could stop himself, Remus opened his mouth, “Don’t take it off.” You and Sirius turned to him with twin raised eyebrows, yours slightly red by your pulling. “It’s not very noticeable in the posters so I hardly think it’s an identifiable trait.”
“It’s going to scar, too.” Sirius butted in immediately, crouching by your other side to tie his boots. You watched his own pierced ears taking a red hue before speaking, “You’re fit enough to make people stare, no need to mar your pretty face for that.”
A shocked expression passed over your face at his compliment, a very faint flush in your cheeks as you nodded wordlessly. Your gaze flickered between him and Remus with a touch of shyness, and the latter opened the door to let you out before any of them could say something else to scare you off. They’ve had too many slip ups just that morning for their hearts to take another one, and by the way you smiled down at your own boots as you walked, your heart seemed a bit affected by them as well.
—
“What’s that?”
A smile tugged at the corner of Remus’ lips as he watched you pointing at a big sign across the street, your free hand holding the cone of chocolate-covered strawberries you had successfully stolen from Remus. Sirius looked up from his own cone with raised eyebrows, a smile spread over his face as he watched you walk inside the Camden market without sparing a look back if they were following you. He felt Sirius interlacing their fingers together and dragging him across the street, and Remus surprised himself at the delighted chuckle that left his lips at this unexpected shortcut back home.
“This is Camden’s marketplace.” Sirius explained, knowing damn well his words went over your head as you curiously eyed each stall. If he felt his insides turning mushy and soft at your unadulterated excitement, he made a great effort at hiding it. “You can find lots of craftsmanship in here, there are some vintage shops somewhere around here as well.”
“You’ve never been here?” Asked Remus.
“We don’t go out much. Contrary to his trollop reputation, Barty is a bit of a hermit.” You said distractedly, eyes locked in a leather goods stall. “Always going on about having everything he needs with us. And there’s only so much my delightful personality can do to entertain him– Hold this.”
You didn’t give Sirius any time to protest as you placed your now empty cone on his free hand, then made a beeline to the stall. They followed close behind, like they’ve done all morning since you left the flat. But by the looks on their faces, both Remus and Sirius seemed in agreement that they would follow you to the depths of hell if it guaranteed them to see more of this side of you.
“Morning, love. Anything that tickled your fancy?” Asked the man in charge of the shop, your eyes roved over the jackets and vests hung over the walls.
Your eyes fell on a very hidden item that almost passed over their eyes, but you pointed at it with parted lips and widened eyes almost like a child on their birthday. When the man handed it to you, Sirius could almost detect a flicker of melancholy in your eyes as your fingers cautiously touched the material. He walked to your side with picked interest and scanned the leather jacket from your shoulder.
Your eyes quickly gazed up at the salesman, and you seemed grateful when he abandoned you three in order to attend the incoming shoppers. Remus leaned over Sirius to look closely at the small gold embellishments in the lapels. They didn’t comment, but their confusion was evident in their faces, that jacket was definitely something completely different to what they’ve seen you wear.
“That’s pretty.” He commented softly and you seemed to snap back into reality.
“Mum had one of these.” You said in a quiet tone, almost like you were scared of disclosing this small detail. “She promised to give it to me when I returned for the holidays if my marks were good. But when we came back for her funeral one month later, father had already burned off all her belongings.”
Remus watched from his periphery as Sirius’ eyebrows crunched with empathy, something he had the tendency to do lately ever since the revelations of your home life. He himself was starting to get used to the knot in his stomach whenever he thought too hard about first year you and Barty, and the atrocious reality you hid under your blasé, troublemaker masks.
You cleared your throat, “Alright, then. Let’s move on, that supper won’t prepare itself.” With a tight-lipped smile you returned the jacket to the man and made to leave the stand.
“Actually, we’ll take it.” Sirius said then, catching you and Remus off guard at his words. You shook your head rigorously. “Why the fuck not?”
You watched with tense shoulders as he grabbed his wallet from his own jacket, but when you accidentally met Remus’ own sympathetic eyes, you seemed to sober up.
“I don’t need you doing me any favors. And certainly I don’t need your pity.”
“Have you ever thought that not everything has a hidden motive?” Sirius asked as he handed the man more pounds than necessary. Remus winced at the fact that the price of the jacket was never discussed. “Is this enough?”
“Plenty, my boy.” The man nodded, all smiles and giddiness as he turned to you. “Shall I wrap it up or do you want to wear it out?”
“You can’t just bribe me with gifts.” You frowned at Sirius.
The man looked in between you like he didn’t quite know what to do. Remus felt pretty much on the same wavelength.
Sirius sighed, “Just think of it as a token of gratitude, how’s that? For your troubles.” He needn’t have to explain further, but his eyes pointedly looked down at your arm, Dark Mark covered by your jumper. You sighed. “‘Sides, I’ve suffered from buyer’s remorse in the past. Trust me, dollface, it’s not pretty.”
“Buyer’s remorse?” Remus felt a candle of hope lighting when you relaxed slightly. “You just made that up.”
“It’s when you regret not buying something you really wanted.” Sirius explained, and Remus readily agreed with you, he probably did make that up on the spot. You eyed him carefully as he handed it to you. “You don’t have to wear it. Just take it, alright? I’d rather have you own it than a random person that wouldn’t know what to do with something so lovely.”
This seemed to snap you out of your doubts, and hesitantly took it from his hand. You didn’t put it on, but held it close to your chest as you wordlessly nodded at the man and walked out the stall. Sirius sighed and followed you out, Remus had no other choice but to follow as well. When they caught up to you, they immediately took notice at the sudden dimming of your previous excitement, and Sirius momentarily regretted his actions.
“Thank you,” You said after a while with a small smile, Sirius immediately returned it, followed by a relieved exhale. “And um, sorry for being so harsh back there.”
“It’s alright.” Sirius nodded, voice so soft Remus found himself smiling down at him. “Sometimes we’re conditioned to think twice when someone is nice to us, having experienced all sorts of manipulation growing up, but gifts don’t have to be so scary now. At least from us, they don’t come with an ulterior motive. I promise.”
Your lips parted in surprise at the sincerity of his tone, your features all troubled as you stared at each other; but before it could open up another argument in the middle of the street, Remus stepped up by clearing his throat.
“Want me to put it in the bag so you don’t carry it around?” He asked, desperately trying to mimic the softness in Sirius’ tone. It seemed to work, because you visibly relaxed. “We still have some places to go, it can get heavy.”
You met his gaze while shaking your head, and without a word stopped dead on the sidewalk to put the jacket on. They shared a look as you passed your hands over the fringes and carefully examined the details in awe.
“It is pretty.”
Remus knew you were mostly talking to yourself, but he still smiled, “Like its owner.” He said breathlessly.
Sirius immediately nudged Remus at the bold comment, but your elated chuckle surprised them both.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two knobheads are buttering me up for some scheme.”
“How’d you know?”
You sent Remus a knowing smile as you continued your walk in front of them, “Come on, then. Out with it.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, “Supper is on you, I’m afraid.” Another startled laugh left your lips.
“If you’re alright with your kitchen going up in flames, then I am up for it.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time. Just ask Sirius.”
At this, the said boy seemed to snap out of his daze, “Oi, I said it was an accident.”
“Yeah, alright, Pads.” Remus rolled his eyes playfully, but still squeezed their joined hands placatingly. “Since when is chicken supposed to be obsidian black?”
“Rookie mistake, I reckon.” You tsked. “Cooked chicken must be pitch black.”
Sirius laughed, the cadence of his breathy chuckles echoing the entrance to the supermarket. And you, after two failed attempts in the past markets you visited just that day, successfully drove the shopping trolley to the produce section. Remus joined you by the eggplants, and watched with a love-struck smile as he guided you on how to pick the correct one. You seemed to say something overly crude as you grabbed one, Remus barked a laugh and desperately tried to hide the evident blush on his entire face.
Sirius felt it then, the lingering gaze that seemed to follow him whenever he was out with Remus. The judgment and whispers that accompanied them every time they dared to be open with their affections. He immediately located the source, and raised an eyebrow at the bloke staring at you three from the fruits area. He had no idea what possessed him when he stepped to you both and stood closer to what you’re used to from him, and with a challenging look on his already intimidating grey eyes.
“You missed the joke.”
Sirius shook his head and met your eyes, “What?”
“Oh, I’m not repeating myself.” You scoffed as you pushed the trolley, obediently stopping where Remus signaled you to. “You’re a weird bloke. Has anybody told you that?”
“You’re weird as well.” He retorted weakly, and you shamelessly laughed at him.
He had that coming, he supposed.
“Uh…” Remus mumbled, interrupting your laughter at the stressed edge in his voice. “I think we should just go.”
“Why’s that? We still need some things from your swotty list.” You frowned at him. But Sirius followed his gaze and felt his stomach filling with dread at the sign in the guy’s hand.
“Oh, fuck.” He muttered and your head snapped up with confusion. “Yeah, come on.”
“Hey!” You frowned as he quite literally dragged you out the shop, Remus in toe with his wand up his sleeve at the ready. “What the fuck? Don’t push me, you neanderthal.”
Sirius knew he probably would've given you a witty response to your indignation in other circumstances, but when your eyes fell on the other bloke’s wand pointing at you, he almost got whiplash at the quickness of your movements as you started running away on the sidewalk. The fringes of your new jacket made you look like a beautiful raven flying away from danger, and Sirius wondered how he managed to apparate away without splinching himself because of his distracted mind.
The fringes of your jacket tickled his cheek as he groaned loudly at your body landing over his. He listened as you continued muttering to yourself and stood up from the floor, quickly reaching over to help him up. Remus seemed to be in a better predicament far deep in the alleyway close to their flat, his ragged and tired exhales echoed over the walls as he walked to you both with a wide-eyed look.
“You alright?” He asked, chest rising quickly as he tried to catch his breath. You nodded with scrunched up eyebrows, your own exhales shaky. “Pads?”
Sirius sent him a thumbs up from his position bent over his knees, panting quietly as he, too, tried to catch his breath. His head snapped up in surprise when a laugh escaped you, after a few inhales, his laugh echoed with yours.
“So much for going undercover.” Remus rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I told you someone would recognize you.”
You waved him off, “That git probably assumed I was your third and tried to turn me over to get his chance.”
There you were again, alluding to a possible future with them. If they weren’t still fighting full time to get air to their lungs, Remus knew his boyfriend would’ve started shamelessly trying to make you actually consider to be their girlfriend. Before any of you could ponder on that possibility, you walked out the alley towards their flat building. Your lips curled up in a smirk when you heard their steps close behind, but your satisfaction lasted shortly.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
You quite literally jumped as you turned the corner and Barty promptly stood up from his sitting position at your arrival.
“Well, hello to you too, Barty.” You poked at his chest with a dimpled smile, and he scowled so harshly your smile immediately dimmed. “What? Am I supposed to report everything I do now?”
“Preferably, yes.”
“We’re well past that overprotective tactic, don’t you think? It was just a few hours, relax.”
“You could’ve been caught!” He stressed, a vein in his neck popped at the high volume.
As the argument increased in volume, Remus and Sirius snapped into action and cautiously casted a silencing charm over the porch. But they both seemed in agreement that whatever was about to go down, it was better for it to happen inside the flat. Remus touched your elbow, but you were too engrossed in the fight to even feel it.
Barty’s eyes studied you over, “What are you even wearing?”
“Oh, so now you’re policing my wardrobe as well?”
“It looks like Mum’s.” He deflated, his voice lowering a bit. You seemed to relax slightly at this. “Where did you get it?”
“Some market we– Don’t change the subject, Barty.” You scowled at him, and now you both looked like the identical twins they remembered. “Seems pretty absurd to be waiting on me, don’t you think?”
“Take it off.” Barty ordered with harshness, and your lips parted in surprise. When he reached to tug at your sleeve, you immediately pushed him away. “Get rid of it.”
“What the fuck?” You breathed out, looking as shocked as Sirius and Remus felt at the display in front of them. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Take it off, y/n.”
You raised an eyebrow at the lack of your nickname, “You’re mad if you think I’ll do what you say. It’s just a jacket.”
Barty reached for your jacket again. Remus desperately wished he had an explanation to the protective ire that seemed to control him as he stepped in between you, immediately towering over your brother with a frown of his own. You let out a disbelieving scoff at this, and watched as your brother leaned over Remus with a glare.
“Oh, I see how it is.” He nodded, “You’re taking her route as well. Should’ve known it.”
You frowned, a painful look in your eyes as you scanned him over.
“Have you been drinking, Barty?” You asked then, voice calm and collected despite your previous rage fit against your brother. “Is that why you’re here?”
“Why don’t we call Regulus to take you home?” Asked Sirius, fingers sizzling with anxiety.
“Don’t patronize me.” Barty said, blatantly ignoring Sirius as he addressed you. “You’re just like him. Acting all mighty and superior, but I know you, and they all know too, that deep down you’re nothing but the vicious bitch everyone says you are. Just look at what you’re wearing. Mum’s jacket? What was your course of action here? To get father to notice you and what?”
You were eerily silent as you glared at him. Then, “Call Regulus.” Sirius nodded, and climbed up the stairs towards the flat. Remus didn’t move a muscle, but scooted closer when he noticed the slight trembling of your lower lip. “You think all this talk is going to do anything, Junior?”
“She left.” He mumbled very quietly then, “She left and you’re honoring her by wearing her bloody jacket?”
“She died.” You corrected immediately, and Barty scoffed.
“Well, that solves it then.” When Sirius returned with a calmer attitude, you felt yourself breathing again. But Barty’s drunk mind seemingly had more things to say. “Maybe she died but she still left us at the mercy of that man.”
“I’m not going to have this conversation with you in this state, Barty.” You shook your head, “Regulus will be here to take you home.”
“Oh, so you can stay here and shag these two?” You looked up at the sky with frustration and turned around. When you felt a hand around your shoulder blades, squeezing you softly, you felt suddenly very relieved. “Oi, look at me.”
A glow came from the alley, and soon appeared Evan with Regulus in toe. Their expressions unreadable as they approached you three. Barty seemed unaware of this as he made to you again, but Remus pulled you closer to his side almost immediately upon sensing you flinching at your brother’s sudden movements.
“Junior, come on.” Regulus said coldly, pulling at his sleeve so harshly that Barty tripped over his own feet. “We can’t risk you being seen here.”
“Let’s go, Barty.” Said Evan more softly in his boyfriend’s ear, and this seemed to snap something in Barty’s brain as he allowed him to be pulled down the porch. “You had us worried sick, love. Why did you leave?”
Barty didn’t answer, but the dropping of his tense shoulders showed that he was starting to sober up. Regulus sighed deeply and walked to you.
“I’m sorry.” He said, his grey eyes scanned your jacket with a sympathetic smile. “You look very lovely, don’t let this fool get into your head, alright?”
You nodded your head with a faraway look, fearing that speaking would open up the floodgates. Regulus seemed to sense that, so he simply placed a kiss on your temple and walked away to help Evan haul a drunk Barty away. When it was obvious they successfully managed to go back home, a broken exhale left your lips without your permission.
Remus turned to you immediately “Oh, love–”
“Don’t.” You whispered immediately, your voice wobbly as you walked inside the building.
Remus and Sirius looked at each other sadly, and followed you. When they found you waiting for them at the door with glossy eyes, Sirius let you in, fingers itching to comfort you. They watched you walk towards the guest room, your steps slow as you sorrowfully stripped off your jacket and closed the door behind you.
summary: When Dumbledore personally assigns one of the Crouch twins to help Remus and Sirius destroy one of the horcruxes, they expect the task to be nearly impossible to accomplish. What actually happens is much more complicated.
tags: fem!reader. reader as barty’s twin sister so read at your own risk. reader is mentioned to have a few piercings/tattoos. abusive parent talk and mentions. some crouch twins angst. smoking themes as plot points. poly!wolfstar if you squint.
a/n: complicated warfare part 2!!! finally!!! so as you can see this has turned into a series… and to absolutely no one’s surprise, this turned angstier than what i initially anticipated (and promised). i made some timeline changes for plot reasons btw. as usual, likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated, enjoy!! xx.
-
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“You think everything related to this place is a bad idea.” Muttered Remus with a roll of his eyes, but still lowered his fist from the door to give his boyfriend some time to collect himself.
A loud sound came from the other side of the door, followed by some muffled voices that seemed to have a very intense argument. They shared a questioning look before the door opened abruptly to reveal Barty standing at the end of the entryway seemingly about to have a row with an equally annoyed you.
“Fuck off, Barty, you hypocrite.” You spat, Sirius’ eyes followed your movements as you very clearly flipped your brother off. When his eyes landed on the tattoo peeking from your upper back, he felt his neck flushing red. “Who do you even think you are, I swear– Oh.”
Remus schooled his face as you frowned at them and plucked the cig from your lips. “Uh, hi.” He mumbled.
“Hello.” You deadpanned, your own eyes curiously scanning the pair in front of you. Whatever had made you angry before seemed to have slipped your mind as your lips curled up in a smirk. “To what do we owe this absolute pleasure, boys?”
“We, um–” Sirius cleared his throat, blushing harder at the high strain of his voice. You raised a pierced eyebrow at him with bemusement. “Is Regulus home?”
You clicked your tongue in realization, then turned back to the house. Sirius’ old house, mind you. When you walked back inside, it took approximately thirty seconds and a questioning look back from you for them to register that you had invited them in. Remus exhaled deeply when he caught the sight of an equally nervous Sirius and his useless attempts to calm down the fast rhythm of his heart.
“Special delivery for one Regulus Black.” You sing-songed loudly.
Said boy simply looked up from his book when you stepped inside the drawing room with Sirius and Remus behind you. Regulus raised an eyebrow at you and sighed boredly when it was obvious you would not explain further, instead, you made yourself comfortable in the wingback next to him.
“Remus, Sirius.” Regulus drawled, properly saluting each with a curt nod of his head. “I assume you’re here to destroy the diadem?”
“Yes, uh, Dumbledore sent us.” Said Remus, voice and movements eager to get it over with. Sirius seemed to be pretty much in the same wavelength, though for completely different reasons. “Uh, are we… are we doing it here?”
You cackled deviously. “We can do it wherever you want, handsome.”
Remus, very used to bold flirtatious antics, simply gave you a side-eye, but no one missed the way his ears turned a very bright shade of pink. Sirius passed a hand over his face with frustration.
“No, you must be in an open space. It could get messy.” Regulus said, blatantly ignoring your taunting, or very used to it to be phased. He put his book aside and finally turned to you. “Where’s Junior?”
“Getting the daylights fucked out of him by Rosier I reckon.” You answered with a shrug. “The sod desperately needed it seeing he almost blew a fuse over me smoking inside. This is my house too, for fuck’s sake.”
This seemed to cause Sirius to snap into action as he snorted loudly, Remus screwed his eyes shut. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call this your house, Crouch.”
You smirked at Sirius very much like you had been expecting him to say exactly that, “Oh, is it yours, Sirius?”
“I lived here, and my brother still does, so,” He paused, his own lips curled up in a smirk now that he mistakenly believed he had the higher ground. “Basically, it is, yeah.”
Something sour seened to pass over your face when your eyes quickly moved to Regulus, Sirius frowned when he registered your train of thought.
“And you still left.”
“I didn’t plan to. I begged him to come with me.”
“Not hard enough, it seems.”
“What was I supposed to– Why the fuck am I explaining myself to you? Like you wouldn’t leave Junior in a ditch at the first opportunity.” Spat Sirius, now causing you to frown at him.
“Yeah, right. Unlike you, Sirius, I do have a backbone.”
“Listen, you little–”
“Junior, wait!” Came Evan’s desperate cries somewhere from the stairs, interrupting the upcoming fight between you and Sirius. When a blur of dark hair and clothes passed by the door in a rush, you and Regulus followed him out immediately. “Junior!”
“What’s going on?” You asked, your eyes following your brother’s movements as he tied his boots with quick movements. “Barty, care to explain?”
But your brother seemed too deep inside his mind to offer a proper answer as he angrily shoved his arm inside the sleeve of his leather coat and stormed out the door. You shared a look with Evan and Regulus before trying to trail behind him, only for the Apparition shine to indicate to everyone that he was gone. When you walked back inside, you seemed three shades paler.
“Was it from…?” You asked Evan with an edge to your tone, all evidence of your previous playful bickering with Sirius left your body as you anxiously fiddled with your hair. “What did he say?”
“It was for you actually,” Said Evan, his voice equally taunt with nerves as he shared a knowing look with Regulus. They all had learned the hard way to fear the Crouch family’s affairs. “He took it before you could find it.”
You let out a disbelieving scoff. Remus felt like whatever had gone down just then was something neither he or Sirius had any right in witnessing. Sirius seemed to be thinking the same as they shared a look, a pang of guilt hit him square in the chest at the accusation he had thrown at you.
“Selfish prick.” You muttered finally, then turned to Regulus. “Now who’s going to teach these idiots how to destroy the diadem? I can’t possibly go, we have that undercover meeting, remember?”
“Well, I don’t think it’s that hard.” Remus butted in, you sent him a cold enough glare that had him closing his mouth immediately.
“Right, why are you here, then? Since mighty Remus Lupin happens to know everything, be my guest.”
Remus frowned, “I said it didn’t seem hard, not that I could do it.” He said, but at the sight of your anxious stance, he decided to not give it more fight. You seemed stressed enough.
“I have an idea.” Finally said Evan, catching everyone’s attention. He gave you and Regulus a very sorry look before speaking, “Why don’t we let Pandora take Polyjuice to act as you for the meeting and you go with them?”
“Absolutely not.” You and Regulus spoke simultaneously. Evan sighed like he had been expecting that reaction from you both.
“We don’t even know if it’s safe for pregnant women?”
“Is she even home?”
“I’m home.” Somewhere behind Sirius came Pandora‘s quiet voice, the long-haired boy jumped with a shriek. “And it’s completely safe… Terribly sorry, Sirius.” She smiled up at him before turning to you and her own brother, Sirius nodded wordlessly.
“How are you so sure?” You asked, but still plucked a hair from your half braid and handed it to her. Pandora smiled blithely as she carefully saved it in a handkerchief. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you, you little minx?”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, lovely. Xeno will help me in case something goes awry.” She said before skipping away, no doubt to her room to concoct her own potion.
Remus and Sirius shared yet another questioning look. Evidently, Regulus had found himself a curious bunch.
You turned to Evan. “Did Barty even give you his hair before his dramatic run off?” You asked as you grabbed your own coat, Regulus handed you the box where no doubtedly you kept the diadem.
“Got it. My potion is already done, anyway.” He nodded, watching you empty your brother’s satchel to prepare yours now that he had ditched his mission. “I’m more worried that you don’t accidentally kill yourself destroying that thing.”
You laughed as you clung the bag over your shoulder and opened the door. Remus and Sirius sprung into action as they trailed behind you. Regulus chuckled at the sight of both boys following you very much like they worshiped the ground you walked on, and by the way they looked at you since they arrived, it wasn’t so far off from the truth.
—
“Fuckin’ hell!” Yelled Sirius, skin quite literally on fire as he jumped back from your cackling form. “Crouch, what the fuck?”
“Scared, Sirius?” You chuckled as you walked around the diadem, movements calm and almost bored as you knelt down to poke at it with your wand. “Sorry to tell you we are not quite done. It seems ol’ Riddle’s soul is pretty attached to this thing, much like you with Potter.”
Sirius frowned.
“For fuck’s sake.” Muttered Remus under his breath, crouching next to you to poke at the diadem as well. You side-eyed him when he deemed your statement true. “Yeah, this thing still reeks off dark magic.”
You tsked loudly and placed your satchel in front of you, Sirius followed your movements with his eyes in a trance and scanned each object you placed in a neat line in front of you; various dark magic books, three different sized Basilisk fangs and a vial. When he reached to inspect one, you immediately slapped his hand away.
“Are you not trained, Padfoot?” You quipped at him, Sirius furrowed his brows at your side profile as you turned back to your task. He shared a look with Remus over your head. “Seems like we’re gonna have to use the Basilisk fang.”
“Carry many of those around?” Mused Remus as he watched you going through the various fangs in your hands. He had no qualms in hiding the intrigue in his tone. “How does one casually own this many?”
“Do you own a Basilisk we don’t know about, Crouch?” Asked Sirius from your other side.
You sighed frustratedly at their prying eyes and allowed them to hold the smallest one of your and Barty’s shared collection. They admired it very much like toddlers at show and tell, the sight before you a hilarious display of their blatant inexperience in dark magic matters. You supposed it was normal, after being direct victims of it, they didn’t want anything to do with the dark arts unless it was necessary. Your heart felt heavy in your chest, you wished you and your brother could’ve had the same luxury of entirely walking away when you deemed it necessary, instead, you were forced to embrace it in order to protect yourself from your father’s twisted punishments.
Before they could notice the sudden silence on your front, you cleared your throat and stood up.
You smirked at Sirius, “Yeah, as a matter of fact I do. We have lots of fun together.”
Sirius choked up with his own words, and you laughed loudly at his crimson red cheeks.
“God, didn’t know you were such prudes.”
“Are you always so straightforward in the way you talk?” Asked Remus, watching as you collected your things inside the satchel and grabbed the biggest fang in your hand, “Or is it a direct consequence of sharing a womb with Junior?”
“Why are you always acting like Barty is the one who corrupted me or some shit like that?” You asked with a frown, by the look on their faces, they seemed surprised at the genuinity of your question. “I’m very capable of forging my own personality, you know.”
“It’s just… I don’t remember you being so….” Sirius said quietly, immediately helping Remus with his aching knee giving him trouble once again. “So… brash.”
“Yeah, well, having Bartemius Crouch as your father doesn’t give you much room to be a wimp.” You shrugged, then, without giving them much time to prepare themselves, drastically stabbed the fang on the diadem’s gemstone.
An intense, ghostly scream erupted from the diadem as pitch-black fog surrounded you three. Sirius reflexively reached forward to yank you away from the diadem that seemed to attack back as you thrusted the fang deeper in the gemstone. When you felt his hand forcefully pulling you back, you answered by pushing him far.
“Get back!” You yelled over your shoulder at the pair, but they seemed frozen in their spots as the shadows enclosed them. “Move the fuck out of the way!”
At your stressed tone, Remus snapped into action and tugged Sirius away by the lapel of his leather jacket, the long-haired man seemed in a state of shock as he watched you take your wand from the back pocket of your pants and, with the wand-work that almost rivaled Dumbledore’s own swift movements, casted the Fiendfyre curse to the now weak horcrux. Something machiavellian passed over your face as you stared at the flames in awe, you looked completely stoic as Tom Riddle’s own face morphed in the flames. A dry chuckle left your lips as you stared at the man’s eyes, and kicked the diadem towards the pond meters away from you. The only evidence left from it was a faint trail of black blood in the direction of the water.
You exhaled sharply and turned to them with a smirk, “And that boys, is how you destroy a horcrux.” You bowed, basking in their parted lips and shocked faces.
“What the fuck.” A startled chuckle left Remus’ lips, he turned to Sirius, who seemed a shade paler despite previously being so close to demonic fire. “Pads, you alright?”
“He’s just shocked. He probably saw some of his deeper fears, it’s usually the horcrux defending itself from destruction.” You explained uncharacteristically calm, busying yourself by grabbing a handkerchief from the inner pocket of your coat to clean the fang. Sirius sighed dejectedly and you looked up with something akin to sympathy in your eyes. “Alright, Black?”
“I– I need to sit down.” He exhaled, accepting Remus’ arm as he sat over a rock in front of the pond. Remus’ eyebrows pinched at the sight of his shaking hands. “I’ll be alright.”
“If it helps,” You began, closing your bag now that the task was done and over, and anxiously placed a cigarette in your lips. “None of it was real. The horcrux uses past memories to manipulate you, whatever you saw… what it said… It’s not going to happen.”
Sirius nodded wordlessly. You lit up your cigarette as you three silently basked in the last hours of sun, the only source of sound came from Sirius’ anxious fidgeting of the zipper in his jacket. Remus reached over and intertwined their fingers together, you watched with a slight downturn of your lips as Sirius rested his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. You looked away, your free hand anxiously fidgeting with the tips of your hair as you watched the sun set in front of you.
“Right–” You began, clearing your throat to catch their attention, but something behind you moved. Both Remus and Sirius seemed to hear it too as they turned with caution to face you.
A quiet shuffling followed and you immediately pulled your wand out of your pocket, you turned in hopes of it only being your mind playing tricks on your already anxious self, but then you were face to face with one Bartemius Crouch Sr. with a few aurors trailing behind him.
“Dabbing in dark magic again?” He asked in a fake good-natured tone, the hold in his cane so rigid his knuckles turned white. Your eyes followed the movement as he stepped closer to you. “You never learn, do you?”
“I–I wasn’t–” You stuttered, your own fingers shaky as you pathetically fixed your clothes and posture.
“Use your words, y/n.” He snapped, and you flinched slightly at the edge of his tone. Remus looked at your frigid back as the man stopped in front of you. “I’ve told you and your good-for-nothing brother to quit acting like such mindless creatures, or there would be consequences. Was I not clear?” You nodded wordlessly, not quite meeting his eyes. When the man reached for your arm, you barely registered his intentions until the Dark Mark in your forearm was revealed.
You paled as he looked up to meet your eyes, “I can explain, I–I’m not–”
“She’s not one of them. I can assure you.” Stepped in Sirius, his tone completely devoid of the anxiety he had shown moments prior.
“Why did the dark magic alert go off at the Ministry?” Your father asked you, ignoring Sirius' statement, and presence altogether. “Did you lure these poor boys into your trap? For what, exactly? You’re just like your mother, you’re nothing but a whore. Is that the reason you joined him?”
“Mr. Crouch, I don’t think–” Remus tried, but the aurors behind your father stepped in to block their view of you. “She didn’t lure us into anything.”
At this, your father finally turned to them. Remus swallowed loudly but didn’t back down from his straight posture as the man stared him down. His eyes moved to Sirius, who in return had his own eyes glued to your back. The man followed his gaze and turned to one of the aurors next to him.
“It seems the Imperius Curse has been used against them.” He pointed, and the auror nodded, like he had received a command. Your father turned to Sirius and Remus again, “We will see that the curse is lifted immediately. You’re to be taken to St. Mungos to be treated, meanwhile we’ll take this…” He turned to you, and his lip curled in disgust. “This witch, to the Ministry where she’ll wait for her trail.”
Something snapped inside of you at his words, “No.” You said firmly. Your father turned to you with surprise. “I didn’t use any curse against them, I didn’t lure anyone. I’m not one of them, I– We did it to help Dumbledore. We were simply doing a task he assigned us. You can ask him.”
“Did I give you permission to speak?”
“I…” You faltered as your eyes followed the movement of his wand, the action very familiar as dread recoiled in your ribcage. You felt a sting in your lower thigh where his last punishment landed. “I… I’m sorry, I–”
What your father didn’t account for, though, was your well practiced wand-work as you pointed it at him and casted a wordless hex to send him flying. The aurors sprung into action, and so did Remus and Sirius as they threw hexes left and right in defense at the men pointing their wands. You watched in horror at your father hurriedly standing up with the help of his cane, your body felt heavy and rigid as you hurriedly tried to move when he pointed his wand at you, but your arm was unresponsive. A hand circled around the crook of your elbow, and soon you found yourself apparating away from your hidden spot in the forest and then in the drawing room of Grimmauld Place.
Grey eyes came into your view as you blinked, “Hey, y/n. You hear me?” Sirius spoke softly, but his voice was distant, almost like he was underwater.
Remus placed a hand in between your shoulder blades and you flinched, hard. He immediately yanked his hand away and frowned down at you, your short exhales left your lips in ragged breaths.
“Oh, you’re back.” A cheerful voice said somewhere from the room, but you couldn’t quite place the person. “What–”
A much familiar sight stood before you and you blinked your eyes several times as you seemed to come into yourself, Regulus patiently waited for you to find your voice as you scanned your surroundings frantically. When your breaths leveled and sounded calmer, you looked up only to find Sirius’ sympathetic eyes staring hard at you, the ghost of Remus’ touch in your back left a burning sensation in your skin, and the shock of coming face to face with your father again. It was all too much.
To your utter horror, tears pricked at the corners of your eyes and you looked up to slow their trail down your cheeks.
“I–I’m sorry.” You managed to say through the lump in your throat. Regulus’ eyebrows pinched at the vulnerability in your tone. “I… I have to–”
You silenced yourself immediately at the upcoming sob and walked out the room in silence. The three boys looked at each other as they heard you climb up the stairs and slam a door behind you.
“Did the horcrux attack back?” Regulus asked finally, tone unusually soothing to mask the glum ambience of the room. Remus shook his head. “What happened then?”
Sirius cleared his throat, “We, um, we met Bartemius Crouch Sr, I guess.”
All the color drained from Regulus’ face as he registered his brother’s words. He felt dread taking up most of his body as he hoped with every fiber of his being that Barty wouldn’t return home any time soon because if there was one thing he knew to be true, was to fear a Crouch twin when their sibling had just been subject to their father’s wrath.
summary: What started as a calm spring morning with your boyfriends turns into a sea of chaos and tears as a new member of your little family comes into your lives.
tags: fem!reader, crouch!reader. birth allusion but nothing fully described. tiny timeline change for plot reasoons. lots of fluff, a smidge of hurt if you squint. a new pairing gets thrown into the mix cos why not.
a/n: kind of teared up writing this lovely drabble (meta pun intended) i won't lie… i hope you enjoy it as much as i did. as always, likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated, enjoy!! xx
—
“I don’t like this.” Sirius mumbled, breath tickling your shoulder. His arms tightened around your middle with anticipation. “I don’t like this at all. Why’d he write that so many times?”
You had barely any time to look away from the telly to answer his question when Shelly Duvall’s character shrieked in the film, Sirius flinched hard at the sound and you bit back a smile. Remus scoffed good-naturedly, but you watched from your periphery as he sank deeper in the couch with a frown as the horror picked up pace in the scene.
“Oh, has he gone mad?”
“Sirius, watch the film.” Remus mumbled boredly.
“I’m not liking this film very much.”
“But it’s my favorite.” You frowned, turning your gaze away from a deranged Jack Nicholson to meet your boyfriend’s pretty eyes.
“Of course it is.” He shook his head, and you gasped in faux upset.
“Oi, you insolent twat, I had to sit through A Star is Born because of you.”
Sirius gasped too, but with genuine upset this time, “What’s wrong with A Star is Born? It’s a classic! Tell her, Moons.”
Remus shook his head with a smirk, amber eyes not leaving the telly and scarred hand toying with your fingers absentmindedly.
“Wanker.” Sirius whispered, and you let out a bark of laughter at this. He brought his lips to your ear, corners tugging up in a smirk at the goosebumps of your skin. “It’s actually his favorite film.”
“No, it is not.” Remus said, “And I heard that, Sirius.”
The telephone rang loudly then, causing a proper shriek to leave Sirius’ lips in surprise. Remus gently pinched the skin of your knee over his lap in a chastening manner, but his smile only widened as the cadence of your breathy giggles increased in volume. Your boyfriend scowled at your laughing form, but the corner of his lip involuntarily tugged up almost immediately.
“Very glad you find amusement in my suffering, lovely.” Sirius grumbled with little heat, fingers poking at your ribcage.
The phone rang again, and you patted his hands commiseratingly to let you go in order to answer. He let out a long, dramatic sigh as he moved to lay sideways over Remus with a pout. You rolled your eyes with an equally dramatic flair and picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Treasure!”
You frowned, pulling the phone away at your brother’s screech. “Oi, what’s wrong with you?”
This seemed to pick your boyfriends’ interest as you watched their heads turn to you simultaneously.
“Can you hear me?” Barty yelled again and you closed your eyes.
“Yes, Barty. I can hear you very well, no need to scream your bloody lungs off.”
“It’s Pandora!”
Remus frowned when you pressed the telephone impossibly closer to your ear, “What? Is she alright?”
“Baby Lovegood!”
“Salazar, Junior, she can hear you just fine.” A muffled sound and the line crackling with electricity followed, you could hear very faintly as they no doubtedly wrestled for the phone. Then Regulus’ voice cut through the static, “Hi, lovely. Are you there?”
“Regulus, what the fuck is going on?” You frowned, and Sirius quite literally jumped from his cuddling position with Remus.
“Come here!” Barty’s voice yelled from the other line, although less closer.
“Luna is here.” Regulus said, barely containing his own happiness. “She’s here.”
You let out a non-human screech at this, awfully similar to Barty’s. Remus flinched harshly at this, remote flying out from his lap as he scrambled to get up. Sirius was by your side in record time trying to wrestle the phone from your hand to get an answer at once, you readily handed it to him to sprint back to your room, Remus in tow with a confused frown.
“What was that?”
“Hello, Sirius.”
“Reggie.” Sirius sighed. Ecstatic laughter came from the room, he turned with a frown and the telephone still pressed to his ear. “What’s happened? Did the old man die?”
“Oh, we can only be so lucky.” Regulus joked.
He turned at the sound of your quick steps quite literally sprinting around the flat, his eyes followed your swift movements and Remus who, in stark contrast, walked around picking up the little things you accidentally dropped while jumping to put on your pants, the fringes of your jacket flapping around with every jump. Sirius let out a humorous chuckle at the sight and said a quick goodbye to his little brother before heading deeper inside to get changed himself.
“Love, I don’t think–”
“Remus, I’ve got to make a good impression. I’m already late.”
“Late? How were you planning to be on time? Helping birth her yourself?”
“Yeah.” You nodded, almost like the question was silly. Remus raised his eyebrows, “Preferably.”
“Wait–”
Remus’ words faltered as he watched you walk into the chimney with a hurry, quickly throwing the powder before he could finish his sentence.
As soon as you stepped out the chimney and into Lovegood cottage, you immediately noticed the quiet ambience in the sitting room, where things laid scattered around and your brother’s coat pooled around the wingback almost thrown in a hurry when he got in. You walked deeper into the cottage, trained ears following the whispers echoing through the hallways. The green flames erupted once again behind you and Sirius’ heavy boots, followed by Remus’ more quiet trainers, followed you in a much calmer manner.
“Hi.” You whispered, eyes falling on the bundle of your friends surrounding Pandora’s bed. Your eyes immediately fell on your brother’s green streaks standing up in all directions and teary eyes. “‘M sorry I’m late.”
“Do not worry your pretty little head, lovely.” Pandora smiled fondly, looking up from the baby in her arms. You gasped quietly at the sight. “She hasn’t been waiting long. Want to hold her?”
“Yeah,” You breathed out, almost shyly.
Pandora signaled you to step closer, and Evan and Barty stepped to the side to let you pass. Their cheeks glistened with tears that none of them tried to clean. Regulus, who usually remained more composed, looked at you with a red nose and even redder rimmed eyes. You nervously reached over and gasped very softly when Pandora placed the baby in your waiting arms, who continued sleeping peacefully unaware of the room full of the emotions she caused.
“Hi, little love.” You whispered, eyes silently studying her little face and even littler nose. “Aren’t you the loveliest sight?”
Remus and Sirius walked in very shyly then, almost tentative in their movements as they scanned the room. Their eyes immediately fell on you with little Luna in your arms, something tender and fond passed over their faces as they studied you two with twin smiles. But you remained unaware of them, eyes mapping out the baby’s face with a lovestruck look on your face.
Barty watched with pinched eyebrows as your eyes immediately glazed over. His own heart barely contained its need to jump out his chest, not used to the bursts of happiness it has been experiencing as of lately. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes once again, watching as Remus was the first one to step closer and put a hand on your shoulder. Sirius’ face broke out in a smile as he stepped to you both, grey eyes falling on the baby with a fond look.
“She looks like you, Pandora.”
“Yes, she’s so beautiful,” You mumbled, and a soft, almost quiet chuckle left your lips. Like you couldn’t quite believe your eyes. When you looked up, the tears pooling in your eyes fell down your cheeks. “How are you, Dora?”
“Oh, I’m perfectly alright.” Pandora waved you off with a mischievous smile, toying with Xeno’s fingers interlaced with hers. “Barely had any pain.”
“Of course you didn’t.” Barty scoffed, sniffling as he blinked his tears away. Regulus chuckled as Pandora shrugged one shoulder, “You pixie, look at you! Looking all gorgeous like you didn’t just give birth.”
“Oi, don’t be a twat.” You frowned at him, “You’re one to talk, you envious prick, look at the state of you.”
Barty gasped in faux offense, “Forgive me for not looking presentable, your majesty, I quite literally didn’t expect for my breakfast to be so lovingly interrupted.”
“Breakfast?” Pandora frowned, too, heterochromic eyes flickering from Barty and Evan. “Weren’t you–”
“Pandora, forgive me, but I do not want my niece to hear about my morning… shenanigans.” Evan mumbled, cheeks taking a pink hue.
Regulus tried and failed to suppress a snicker.
“Don’t you dare say anything, Reg.” Barty interrupted with a wicked smile, “By the look of that stunning neck of yours, you quite literally were having a better time than us.”
Various sets of eyes fell on the younger Black, who immediately closed his mouth shut and flushed furiously. Your eyes then fell on his neck, where different love bites were displayed on random sections of his otherwise pristine, pale skin.
Sirius groaned, though quietened himself after Remus nudged him. “You’ve got to be joking.”
“Regulus, you whore.” You gasped, but looked up to Remus with a wicked smirk. “You better pay up, handsome.”
“What?”
Pandora chuckled, “Oh, isn’t this rich?” She looked up at Xeno with a knowing smile, the blonde boy laughed conspiratorially, “Both visions came true the same exact day.”
“You did not wager on my little brother’s love life.” Sirius turned to you and Remus, but you two ignored him in favor of taking in every inch of little Luna’s face. “Hey–”
“Did you forget, Sirius?” Barty drawled, though his pink ears peeked from his tousled dark brown and green hair. “We agreed that siblings are fair game.”
“I never agreed to that nonsense, Junior.”
“Why, yes, you did.” Your brother nodded, “The moment you and that handsome boyfriend of yours deflowered my sister. It’s only fair that I return the favor.”
Sirius scowled, “We didn’t deflower her, you twat.”
“Yeah, Barty.” You let out a humorous chuckle, “They didn’t deflower me.”
At this, your boyfriends looked down at you with a frown.
You shared a look with Pandora, and both erupted in quiet giggles. Sirius’ face relaxed at the sound, his own smile barely contained.
“Oh, angel.” Remus whispered conspiratorially at the baby. “You’ve got yourself an interesting aunt, haven't you?”
Pandora smiled, sharing a knowing look with your brother, “Add godmother to the list, too.”
You looked up in shock at her statement, arms softly cradling the baby closer to you unconsciously. Remus’ hand squeezed your shoulder, amber eyes looking down at you with a fond look and lovestruck smile.
“What?”
“If you accept, of course.”
You nodded fervently, causing more tears to trail down your cheeks. A startled chuckle left your lips in a breath, you raised your finger and traced her little face with movements very, very tender. More tears cascaded down your cheeks as the baby’s eyes slowly blinked open, her heterochromic eyes immediately meeting yours when she awakened from her sleep. You watched in awe as her eyes, though not fully developed with her vision, followed your finger before grasping it in a reflex. A gasp left your lips.
“Good morning.” Your face broke out in a wet smile, your sniffles a faint sound as you stared at each other.
Remus felt his own eyes prickling with tears, and his fingers caressed your shoulder with loving movements. Sirius let out a wet chuckle at the sight, tantrum immediately forgotten as he pressed a kiss on the crown of your head. Your friends watched with equal, teary eyes as you continued whispering sweet nothings to your goddaughter, almost like it was just you two alone in the world.
“Hey, little love,” You whispered very low, voice drowned out as your friends shook off their little daze to continue with their hushed conversation now that the baby was awake. “Look at you, not even a day old and you’ve already filled this little family with immense happiness.”
Luna only blinked up at you.
“I will never let anything happen to you.” You whispered again, finger once again tracing the slope of her nose. Luna’s eyes followed the movement, “As long as I live, you will always have someone to look out for you, my lovely.”
You bit your wobbly lip.
Inside your chest, very deep into your heart, the little scar that had stayed open for years slowly healed itself as you continued studying baby Luna in your arms. Knowing that, despite neither you nor your brother having grown up with someone to look out for you, you would do anything for her to never experience the same fate. When you looked up, your eyes instantly fell on your brother’s across the room, voices tuned out as you two realized that your twin scars had finally healed with the birth of the newest member of your little family.
summary: A side quest between you and your brother uncovers new information for the Order, and the mixed feelings you had been harboring in secret come to the surface after a long night.
tags: fem!reader, crouch!reader. some violence is mentioned, vague mentions of blood as well. abusing parent talk. smoking as plot points. angsty poly!wolfstar.
a/n: complicated warfare pt3!!!!! as you can see the poly!wolfstar is moving forward! of course we need some angst first, it wouldn’t be me if we don't make the road to fluff a bit angsty. i made some timeline changes for plot reasons btw. oh and i am now weirdly very into this series so i’m planning a few more parts to write… enjoy!! xx
-
“I’ve already told you, I don’t know.” The man sneered, voice muffled under Barty’s boot.
Your brother looked back up at you with an exasperated manner, his eyes anxiously turning to his pocket watch. If the man kept resisting you definitely wouldn’t make it in time for the Order meeting, or worse, getting there in time but with no new information.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” You muttered and crouched down to meet his gaze, your wand already pointed at his cheek and a curse at the tip of your tongue. “If you don’t want me to blast your pathetic arse out of this orbit, you will tell me where good-for-nothing Dolohov is hiding.”
“I–I don’t know!” He whimpered, your wand already deep in his cheek.
Barty tsked, “You have a son, don’t you, Graham?”
A pained sound left the man’s mouth, and you met your brother’s gaze with a smile. You leaned closer, the wand digging deeper enough to make him wail again.
“Slytherin, year 2, if I remember correctly.” He added with a smirk, both of you watched with raised eyebrows as he broke down in a desperate sobbing fit. “Am I right?”
“Alright, alright!” He yelled, and you retreated swiftly, your wand back in your back pocket as Barty harshly pulled him up to stand. “I– I don’t know about Dolohov but–”
“You must be joking!” Barty barked a laugh, but his hold on the man’s shirt collar tightened. “I threw you a bone to get you to talk so you can get out of this mess and you repay me like this? Serves me damn right for being nice for once.”
“Has your son learned how to duel against the dark arts, Graham?” You asked in a more composed tone, but your smirk left the man trembling all over. “I could give him a head-start or… end him right at the beginning, you know, to soften the blow.”
“Oh, we could try that new curse Snape told Reggie about. Could be good practice–”
“Peter Pettigrew! He’s one of them!”
You and your brother paused your deliberation to look down at the man. From somewhere behind you both, leaves ruffled and a grunt interrupted the shocked silence in the alley. Moody limped his way out of his hideaway and towards you three with fire in his eyes and a wand expertly pointed up.
“What did you say?” He asked, voice awfully low you almost thought you misheard him. “Speak!”
“He–He’s a follower of them! Saw it myself, little pudgy man, scared of his own shadow. Kept following Riddle around like a pathetic little mouse.”
“Yeah, that does sound like Pettigrew.” Barty nodded with an elated laugh.
You leveled Barty with a look. You knew your brother well enough to know he felt positively eager to break the news at the Order and witness the potential chaos it could create. For a moment you surprised yourself when you felt a faint twinge in your chest at the possible reactions among the members, two of them specifically. The hold on your wand wavered at the thought, and Barty sent you a questioning look as he tightened his hold around the man’s neck.
You cleared your throat and turned to Moody, “You think he’s bluffing?”
Moody studied the man meticulously, his eye furiously looking up and down at him before meeting your gaze, “Only one way to know.”
Barty chuckled giddily as Moody dug inside his robe’s pocket for a vial, hand readily reaching out to pour it on the man’s mouth. You looked away when he gasped for air and made choking sounds as your brother forcefully placed the veritaserum on his mouth.
“Now,” Mood planted himself in front of him. “Dolohov? What do you know about him?”
“I–I don’t know. I’ve only seen him a couple of times at the Leaky, always drunk and chasing the same lass working the bar, but that was months ago. Haven’t seen him since then!”
“And Pettigrew?” You spat, patience running thin.
“Death-eater. Joined right when the prophecy was announced, something about knowing a baby that will be born by summer that could potentially defeat The Dark Lord.” He recited almost robotically, and your heart harshly skipped a beat at his words.
“Oh, shit. I thought he was just taking the piss.” Said Barty with a frown, “Always knew that Pettigrew was a fraud.”
“Right, not the time to discuss moral matters.” Moody stepped up, readily taking the man in custody. “I’m taking him to the Ministry. You two go ahead and try to explain your findings to Dumbledore before the meeting.”
You nodded mutely, Barty did it more vocally, never one to leave without having the last word. His words barely registered in your mind as you walked away and out of the dark alleyway before Moody could even dismiss you. If he noticed your sudden change of mood, he didn’t say a word, he never did, but you still felt his quick squeeze of hand before apparating away to the hidden location where the meeting would take place.
You blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the sudden change of lightning. In front of you stood the Weasley home, the newer and most important location appointed by Dumbledore himself given its helpfulness by being so hidden away in rural Britain. A few lighted up windows showed a cozy atmosphere inside as a few members of the Order had already arrived and made themselves as comfortable as they could amidst the tense mood. With an unexpected ache, you watched Sirius and Remus calmly sharing a cig in one of the windows, completely unaware of the storm that was about to fall over them and their loved ones.
Another squeeze at your hand pulled you out of your thoughts and you looked to your side at Barty who studied you with a slight frown.
“You alright?” He asked quietly, voice dropping to a soft murmur as he scanned you.
“Yeah,” You nodded vigorously, then cleared your throat. Barty’s lips curled up in a sympathetic smile at your troubled face. “Let’s get this over with.”
For once, you didn’t fight on who should walk in first, you let your brother take the lead as you followed him inside. You watched as a few members of the Order tensed slightly at your presence.
“Well, isn’t this a cozy home?” Drawled Barty as he walked in. All the previous worry in his face was replaced with nonchalance as he quite literally strutted into the living room. “Are we late?”
You quickly forced yourself to school your face before speaking, “Before we begin, where’s dear ol’ Albus?”
“He’s not here yet,” James answered with a dry tone and crossed arms. “What do you need him for? Can’t you just wait for the meeting to start?”
“No can do, dear Jamesie.” Barty shook his head, happily making himself comfortable in one of the chairs. “Personal matters only.”
You rolled your eyes at your brother and his nimble ringed-fingers already reaching for a pastry from the table. He shrugged when you denied the biscuit he offered you and laid back in the closest wall. A hand came into your view and you immediately slapped it away, your widened eyes met a pair of grey ones, equally shocked.
“What the fuck?” You breathed out, fixing your posture as Sirius leaned away from you with a frown. “Did no one teach you manners or are you truly not trained?”
“You got blood on your face.” Another deep voice came from your other side, you sighed deeply.
“Right,” You nodded, passing the sleeve of your coat over your cheeks. Sirius and Remus followed the movement with their eyes. “Is that all?”
When none of them provided you with an answer you waved them off with a roll of your eyes. Remus opened his mouth to speak, his eyebrows pinched lightly as he scanned you over. You tried to not visibly shrink under his perceptive gaze.
Though Remus seemed to want to speak, Sirius beat him to it, “You alright?”
You raised an eyebrow at him, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
A hand squeezed your shoulder and you looked up to find Barty leveling both boys with a challenging look on his face, “Dumbledore is here.” He mumbled quietly to your ear and you nodded.
You let him guide you towards a sequestered room deep inside the house, and you scolded yourself the moment you paused to look behind your shoulder at Sirius and Remus, who in return watched you with a confused pang in their chests.
—
You tightened your hold around your knees, eyes lost in the fields before you and fingers anxiously fiddling with the half-smoked cigarette. Loud voices came from behind you as you tried to tune out the sounds of the Order while they all fought left and right following the revelation of Peter’s side in the war.
Right after you explained the news to Dumbledore and Moody arrived just in time to fully reveal the findings to the Order, you immediately excused yourself to let them sort everything out, and you to sort your own feelings in silence. Barty had gone to fetch Regulus and update him on what happened before coming here to reveal his own findings from his undercover meeting, leaving you as the sole witness in case the Order needed you to clear more questions. Little did they know that you had already Occluded all the memories from your mind, along with your traumatic childhood in Crouch manor, and more recently, your encounter with your father.
“Sirius, wait.” You looked over your shoulder at the interruption to your thoughts. Sirius furiously stepped out of the house with hands shaking visibly. “Hey, hey, wait– Calm down.”
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down, Remus!” He shouted, and you turned back to your cigarette with a slight frown. “I’m going to kill that traitorous rat.”
“And what is that going to solve, hm?” Remus snapped loudly, hands at his hips and eyes wide with a rage you had never seen from him before. “Get thrown to Azkaban and then what, Sirius? What exactly is your plan here?”
“I–I don’t know, he simply can’t get away with it. Remus, he sold Lily and James to that man!”
“If it helps,” You spoke out, eyes lost in the smoke leaving your lips. Their heads snapped to you at the interruption, “It wasn’t just their baby, I heard the Longbottoms are expecting as well, not to mention Pandora and Xeno, too.”
A ragged exhale escaped Sirius’ lips as he studied you, a sound that sounded awfully similar to a pained sob. Remus sighed and reached over to hug him close to his chest while he sobbed quietly. You looked away and placed the cigarette back in your lips somberly, when you exhaled, your eyes caught the dark mark peeking from your sleeve. With tentative, slow movements, you traced the pattern with your index finger, eyes in a trance as you vaguely recalled the day you accepted to participate in Regulus’ plan to help end the war. Another memory, though much upsetting, was that same night you came back to the manor and your brother took the blame in order to protect you from your father’s punishment.
With a sour feeling in your chest and Sirius’ quiet sniffling as background noise, you found yourself wishing your father had cared enough to react the same way at you potentially joining a genocidal group, to show at least a smidge of love towards you or your brother to feel even a little devastated. Instead, the reaction you got was him immediately printing out posters with your photographs and placing them throughout wizard Britain with a price to your heads.
When you looked away from your arm with a lump in your throat, you were only mildly surprised when you met a pair of amber eyes looking at you with an uncertain softness. You didn’t need to look to the other side to know Sirius probably had made himself comfortable next to you too, his movements slow and almost tentative.
A soft material came to your view and soon you felt the sleeve of Remus’ jumper gingerly cleaning the underside of your jaw.
“It’s not mine, if that’s what you’re wondering.” You stated quietly, eyes following the abstract forms in the smoke you blew out.
“Never thought it was yours. Just feeling rather bad for the bloke that met your impressive wand work.” Remus said, equally quiet as he studied the side of your face. “Can I have one?”
You nodded, and handed him your carton without even meeting his gaze. From your periphery, you watched as he lit his cigarette up and handed the carton from behind you to Sirius. If you weren’t feeling so emotionally drained, you probably would’ve hexed the daylights out of both for that. This seemed to pass over your face as Sirius placed the carton over your knees with a small, knowing smile on his face.
“I never liked that twat, if it makes you feel better.” You spoke after a while, voice slightly raspy because of the nicotine. Sirius chuckled. “Always following you lot around without an ounce of dignity.”
“Dignity or not, we still considered him our friend.”
“Did you now?” You raised an eyebrow at him. “It wasn’t that obvious then, not to us and probably to him neither. No wonder he took the path he did.”
Remus scoffed disbelievingly, “Surely you’re not turning this to us, are you?”
“I’m not blaming anyone, you git.” You shrugged, calmly putting out your cigarette with the heel of your boot. You reached inside your inner pocket as you looked back at Remus with a raised eyebrow, “Just pointing out the facts. Pettigrew probably felt like a complete tosser, always in the background. I think he jumped at the chance at being important for once.”
They watched in a daze as you placed a brand new cigarette in between your lips. You lit it up pensively and continued looking away at the infinite fields in front of you. Sirius’ eyes followed your movements in awe, at the way you seemed to not give into your self deprecation despite the tense silence around you three, and, well, with the way you reacted at the forest, then seeing you acting properly nonchalant after that, he thought you were an incredibly tough person.
“We saw your father’s announcement at the Ministry this morning.”
You nodded like you had been expecting them to say that, “Speaking of tossers, huh? Don’t let him fool you, he’s probably more ashamed about this whole rogue twins rumor than anything.”
“He looked pretty devastated.” Remus pointed, eyebrows furrowed when he watched you clench your fist around your knees.
“That he is, just not for the reason you think.” You sighed and scratched your eyebrow, “‘M just glad it was me and not Barty, Merlin knows the sod would’ve properly killed him.”
Sirius swallowed loudly, “Was he really that bad?”
You turned to look at him, directly into his eyes this time as you scanned his face and the sad downturn of his lips. With a sigh, you placed the cig back in your lips and used your freed hands to pull your jumper’s collar to the side, revealing the tattoo Sirius had been too ashamed to even look at the other day but, upon inspection, he noticed the faint scars under the ink.
“Went to visit a bloke I was dating back then, he poured a sleeping draught on Barty so he wouldn’t step up, and waited for me all day until I got home. He was waiting for me with a curse at the ready, didn’t even let me fully enter when he was already blasting at me left and right.” You explained, very pointedly focusing on the flame at the tip of your cigarette instead of meeting their gazes. “Locked me up in my room the rest of the holiday, and didn’t even let me tend the wound, so it left this scar. Barty quite literally fought tooth and nail so I could get at least some food from the elves, until he got his own personalized punishment.”
Sirius sighed deeply when he watched you silently blinking back the tears at the corners of your eyes. Then he put out his own cigarette and rolled up the sleeve of his jacket, your eyes immediately landed on the burnt scar on his forearm, suspiciously in the same spot of the mark on yours.
“I was napping in the drawing room when Mother came in with a few men and tried to put the Dark Mark on me, but I did try to fight back. Managed to escape with enough time to pack for me and Regulus, but the knobhead didn’t budge, and my arm was quite burned off to give me more time to just drag him with me, so I ran away. Didn’t even take my trunk, just took the Floo powder and jumped to the chimney. Took a few hours for Mrs. Potter to properly heal it, but as you see, it still left a scar.”
Something passed over your face, neither of them couldn’t properly pin what it meant exactly.
“Sorry for saying you left Regulus without a fight.” You muttered after a while.
“And I’m sorry for saying you would do the same to Junior.” He said with an equally unrecognizable look on his face.
Remus looked down at the scars peeking out from his own jumper, but snapped his head back up before any of you could follow his gaze to the scars taking up most of his body. A hand came into his view and he turned to find Sirius’ hand reaching over to gently thumb at his tears. He sucked in a breath when he met your gaze, something akin to sadness in your eyes as you scanned the scar now revealed in his arm. It seemed Sirius and you were on the same wavelength when he lifted his arm next to Remus’, almost twin scars when placed next to each other.
Another arm came into view, you lifted yours up in between them and with the three arms, the scars seemed to find a missing piece to their incomplete puzzle.
summary: On the day of your trial, threats are thrown left and right, plans are set and dark secrets are revealed. Now you’re left behind to pick up the remaining pieces of yourself and your heart.
tags: fem!reader, crouch!reader. vague scars and blood mentions, abusive parents as well as hinted sexual assault but no fully detailed descriptions. lots of angst. threw in some miscommunication arcs because why not.
a/n: oh wow. buckle up everyone cos this is a big one. so much is happening so many things are being revealed today and soooo many dynamics are changing after this chapter. as always, likes and comments are greatly appreciated, enjoy!! xx
-
Remus woke up to a faint, tickling sensation over his face, tracing the highest point of his cheekbones to the slope of his nose. A blissful sigh unabashedly left his lips at the gentle touches all over his face, when a kiss was pressed to his eyebrow, he opened his eyes to find Sirius looking down at him with a faraway look on his face.
“Have you been awake for too long?” He croaked, slowly blinking himself awake.
Sirius nodded, finger still absentmindedly tracing his features, “For a bit, yeah.” He laid his body back on the mattress, head turned to the other side of the bed where you had been sleeping with them not so long ago. “I can’t stop thinking about what Barty said, the things that bastard did to them… ”
Remus hummed, “When she told me about the calming draught, I assumed but… I didn’t think— I didn’t want to think it was true.”
A silence lingered between them, and Remus reached over to intertwine their fingers together. Sirius sighed, turning his face away from the sad empty space on the side of the bed that could be yours if you wanted it, if you even returned. When he turned to Remus, he quickly noticed the similar frown on his face as he, too, stared hard at the same spot on the bed.
“You reckon she’ll be alright?”
“Oh, I’m sure.” He nodded, reassuringly squeezing their interlaced fingers. “If the brawl thing Kingsley said was true, the guards are the ones that should be worried.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself if the trial goes wrong today.” Sirius mumbled. “Especially at the hands of that… that–”
“That monster.” Remus said with an edge to his voice, eyes staring hard at the ceiling. “A person that is capable of such horrors cannot be called anything other than that.”
“I want him to rot in Azkaban.” Sirius spat then, his hold to Remus’ hand hardened as he grew momentum. “All of them. That man, Riddle, my cousins, everyone. As for my wicked mother I hope she’s suffering in hell or wherever she’s in right now.”
Remus exhaled deeply, and pulled him closer with furrowed eyebrows. With closed eyes, he pressed a kiss to Sirius’ newer scar across his eyebrow and tried hard to not think about you and your playful banter and gorgeous eyebrow piercing that, despite of it being a shared trait with your brother, gave you a sense of uniqueness that they felt enthralled to. Sirius closed his own eyes and circled his free arm around Remus, both coming to terms that whatever would happen later at the trial, they still had each other.
“I’m sorry.” Remus whispered, and Sirius pulled away to look up at him. “I didn’t mean to… to attack you last night. I know you did try to help, it wasn’t fair for me to put you on the spot like that.”
Sirius nodded shortly, grey eyes tracing the scars on Remus’ face, “I’m sorry, too. I was harsh, and–”
“And nothing. You did nothing wrong, love. You were coping in your own way, and I assumed wrong.”
“I still should’ve considered that you were hurting, the full moon had just happened.”
A beat.
“Not really, no… The wolfsbane helped a lot.”
“It did?” Sirius searched for his gaze, Remus simply nodded with a small smile.
“I don’t even want to know how she managed to get such a strong dose.” He mused out loud, and Sirius let out a small chuckle. “I can’t believe she put herself at risk just to get it. She could’ve been caught.”
“She’s gone soft for you, Moons.”
Remus let out a startled laugh, “That’s rich coming from you. Is there still some dittany left in that little pouch of hers?”
“Sod off.” Sirius quipped, cheeks taking a crimson color as he rolled out of bed. He turned around and pulled Remus up with one swift motion. “I knew you’d use that one against me, you wanker.”
When they both stepped out of the room with a more positive attitude to face the day, it was quickly shattered at the ghost of your presence all over their flat in the form of your jacket laid out messily on the couch. Your boots sat sadly by the door between their own shoes, and the cup of tea you had been drinking sat cold and empty where you left it. Remus squeezed Sirius’ hand once again as they both came to terms with the idea that your absence had left an empty space not only in their hearts but their home as well.
—
You bit your lip hard, fingers anxiously pressed under your thighs against the icy chair as you followed each movement your father made around you. He sneered as he walked to sit back behind his desk, eyes studying your hard in return.
“You do realize you have severely compromised your chance at a trial?”
You scoffed, “Was I even going to get one in the first place?”
“I was feeling rather generous, so I was open to the possibility.” He shrugged, laying back on his leather chair. “Now I’m not so sure you deserve one.”
”Oh, please.” You rolled your eyes. “If you wanted to send me to Azkaban you could’ve done that already.”
“It appears you have friends in higher ranks, so your case will be discussed in front of the Wizengamot.”
You desperately suppressed the hope slowly lighting up inside your chest, lest your father used it as a tactic to get you to talk. But by the way his lips tugged to the side with an angry scowl, you suspected Dumbledore had already gotten in the case to interfere with your father’s plans.
You smirked, “And it appears I’ve got better connections than you, father. Why, I’m almost positive I could run for Minister and win.”
“You insolent bitch.” He stood, chair pushed back so harshly it almost hit the wall. You watched with a small smile as his face twisted in anger. “You’ll see if you keep joking when–”
“Ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” You tsked, but your eyes still warily followed the movement of his wand. “Still at the Ministry, remember? If you use your silly machiavellian spells the alert would surely go off. You wouldn’t want that to be known, do you?”
Your father simply raised an eyebrow. “Are you threatening me, y/n?”
“Imagine how’d that go for you. Head of Magical Law Enforcement goes rogue and invents own spells to torture his children.” You continued, taking your tied hands out from under your thighs to make a point. “What picture of yours you reckon they’ll use? Surely they won’t have it difficult with Barty and I, seeing we’ve got plenty.”
“If this is how you want to handle this.” He nodded, placing his wand down on the desk. “I have some threats of my own for you.”
You closed your mouth so harshly your teeth clattered, you felt a vine of dread recoiling around your ribcage. He smirked, evidently enjoying the look of pure fear on your face at his words.
“One would think I don’t take interest in your filthy life but I know things, y/n. I know of your involvement with a certain disowned heir and lycanthrope… Oh, I knew you’d turn up just like your mother, whoring around with the likes of dark creatures and blood traitors.” You looked away, headset on schooling your face to avoid giving him a glimpse of your feelings for Sirius and Remus. “So tell me, how do you think it would look when I accuse them of aiding you, hiding you from aurors in their home? I’m sure that Lupin boy will get the worst of the punishments because of his, well.. condition.”
“They’ve got nothing to do with this.” You shook your head, “It was just an Order mission, that’s all.”
“Do you think I’m stupid? Surely I don’t need to remind you of the state we found you in with those two.” He leaned back on his desk, eyes glistening with evilness as you visibly hesitated. “And that Sirius boy? I’m sure we can make up some crimes to get him a direct pass to the Dementor’s Kiss. Wouldn’t be hard, knowing the family he was raised into.”
You looked down, biting your lip hard to keep your tears at bay. After a silence, you finally spoke, “What do you want?”
“Smart girl.” Your father nodded, not having the decency of hiding his satisfaction. “I want you to declare yourself guilty. And your brother as well.”
“What? What do you mean? You found him?”
“Oh, don’t get too excited. Word spread he turned up at one Order meeting, Dumbledore pulled some strings and the Minister himself allowed him to get a trial, along with his bloody friends, too.”
You did not try to keep your smile at bay, a relieved sigh leaving your lips at the news that Barty was alive and sane, with Evan and Regulus ready to attend their own trials. But your father was quick to ruin your hopefulness.
“Fail to do this and it’ll be your brother who meets that fate, you hear me?” He reached over, harshly holding onto your face to meet his glare. You scowled but nodded your head. “Use your words, y/n. Do you hear me?”
You swallowed down the lump in your throat, “I hear you.”
Your father stepped back and waved his hand off at you, seemingly losing interest in you now that he got his way. An auror walked to you, and harshly pulled you up and out of the office, you clumsily followed him as he dragged you throughout the Detention area. When he passed by your cell, an anxious feeling overtook your body.
“Where are you taking me?” The man remained silent, eyes staring straight ahead as he guided you through a narrow corridor. “Oi!”
He stopped in front of a door, and pushed you in as soon as it was open. You frowned at him and watched as he slammed it close without an answer to your questions. Before you could yell at him, a body slammed onto you in a tight hug.
“Treasure!” Barty cried out, long arms hugging you tightly against him. You blinked in surprise.
“Barty?” You asked, voice wobbly and low in case you were at that point of dehydration that your brain started tricking you with cruel visions. “You’re here... You– you’re alive.”
Your brother nodded, a wonky movement as he rested his chin over your shoulder. His tears fell fast but silent over your jumper as you clung onto each other. When you pulled away, both quickly spotted the blood surrounding each of your piercings, twin effects of your anxieties at being apart for so long.
“What happened? Why were you hiding for so long? And why the fuck didn’t you send me a sign or something to know you’re alive?” You said, voice strained with unresolved anger as you pointed harshly at his chest with each question. “You’re a bloody selfish twat, you know that? I was starting to think you were dead.”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He shook his head, “It wasn’t safe. I didn’t want you to get caught up in my mess.”
“And how did that work for you? Hm?” You snapped, but still pulled him closer for another hug. Barty readily accepted it, knowing it was more for your sake than his.
“That’s why I’m here.” He whispered, in case the Auror was listening intently from the other side of the door. “We’re getting you out, Treasure. And it’ll all be over.”
“What?” You frowned, lips trembling slightly as you recalled your father’s threats. “But– how? How do you plan to do that?”
He sent you a look that you really couldn’t decipher, one almost similar to that morning at Remus and Sirius’ flat. You let the dread take up most of your body as the silence prolonged between you.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do, but–” You furrowed your eyebrows. “But why are you asking me this?”
“I’m just asking you to trust me. Please.” He begged, holding onto you once again. “We’ll fix this. I promise.”
“Barty–”
He walked backwards to the door, hands busy cleaning his tears with a small smile. “I’ll see you later, alright?”
“But I have to tell you something.”
But your brother couldn’t be deterred as he kissed your temple quickly before opening the door. You let your hope crumble down as he resisted listening to you.
“You can tell me after we win!”
You slumped back on the wall, tears finally spilling down your cheeks as you stared hard at the door. Your mind desperately holding onto the last memory of Barty before your trial and putting your own plan to work, and your heart dejectedly accepting the fate that in order for your brother, Remus and Sirius to be alright, you had to make a few sacrifices of your own.
—
Remus sighed, clammy hand holding hard onto Sirius’ as they sat anxiously at the courtroom waiting for the session to begin. He watched each member of the Order share a similar sentiment, but the anxiety radiating off Barty’s body almost put him to shame.
“Court in session.”
They all watched in a tense silence as your father sat on his high chair with an air of superiority that made him swallow down his anger. By the tense movement of Sirius’ shoulders, he seemed to share the same sentiment at the sight. When the Minister stepped in, both felt their hearts up their throats when they knew what was coming.
“Trial for suspected Death-eaters Regulus Black, Evan Rosier, Bartemius Crouch Jr and y/n Crouch is now in session.” The minister said, promptly sitting down at his high chair with a certain air of boredom. “Shall we bring in the missing accused?”
The aurors nodded, and pulled at the levels that could bring up your cell to present you to the Wizengamot. When you reached the top, Sirius’ heart cracked in a million pieces at the sight of you still clad in his jumper and having not been given a proper change of clothes, despite your lack of long pants and shoes. Your father’s doing to give you a lesson, no doubt.
You schooled your face immediately, “Bit much, don’t you think?” You raised your hands magically tied together to scratch at your eyebrow. Skin red by your anxious pulling. “Couldn’t you lot find a bigger cell? This one’s running a little tight.”
“Silence. You will have your moment to speak.” Your father spat, hands busy arranging your paperwork.
You rolled your eyes in response, and both Remus and Sirius felt slightly relieved at your nonchalant attitude. Though they had learned not so long ago that it was all your form of coping when faced with a difficult situation.
“What are the crimes that these young people have been accused of?” The chief warlock asked.
Dumbledore stood from his own seat. “It appears to be a misunderstanding with them, Minister. They have been falsely accused of serving to Tom Riddle–”
“If I may, Minister. These… people possess the Dark Mark, one of the highest forms of power within Riddle’s ranks.” Your father interrupted, and you threw your head back in frustration.
The minister nodded, and turned again to Dumbledore, “Please continue, Professor.” You snorted as you watched your father sit back with a scowl.
“Right,” Dumbledore sent you a look before clearing his throat. “As I was saying, these boys were sent to serve as spies for the Order of the Phoenix.”
“Yes, I’m aware of the importance of said order in this war.”
“Then you should know their intentions were honest, and were sent on a very special mission to protect the wizarding community by providing intel about Riddle’s plans.”
“That we know, and the Wizengamot has agreed to grant them a special absolution in those specific crimes. Ms Crouch included, having taken into consideration Alastor Moody’s report in her training.” The minister said, pointedly scribbling down on your paperworks and looking at your father as he stamped each parchment. “What we are discussing in this trial is their use of Unforgivables throughout the war without any evidence of having acted out in self defense.”
“Well, you see,” Dumbledore continued, “In the Order meeting where the mission was appointed to them, I personally granted them permission to do what was possible to stop Riddle from accomplishing his sinister plans.”
“Which,” Kingsley spoke, standing up from his spot by Dumbledore’s side. “As you all know, said plans included the murder of three notable wizarding families, all because of a prophecy he couldn’t exactly prove that it could happen.”
“Yes, I know about the prophecy.” The minister nodded. Then turned to Barty, Evan and Regulus who sat eerily silent by the center of the room, awfully close to your cell. “What do you say about this, young men?”
It seemed they had come to an agreement to let Regulus do all the talking, and for that you were greatly thankful when he stood and politely nodded his head at the higher members of the council.
“This is true.” He said, voice monotone and lacking any emotion that could give away his anxiety. “Professor Dumbledore explained to us that it was imperative we needed to do whatever was in our power to stop Riddle.”
“When Regulus and I went to kill the snake, which was the remaining horcrux, he sent some other death-eaters after us.” Evan explained, “Then he started throwing curses left and right, some of his own soldiers got the worst of them.”
You swallowed nervously at the reenactment of that fateful night.
“He went mad, knowing he had turned mortal once again with the last piece of his soul gone. So he tried throwing a curse at me,” Regulus continued, frowning with a far away look as he recalled the moment, “Barty intercepted it before it could hit me.”
Your brother looked down, and you pressed a hand to your sternum to tame down the loud beating of your heart. How could you not have noticed earlier when he went to see you? The faint trembling of his hands, hollowed bags under his eyes and the twitching of his leg… It was all there, all the signs of the curse still lingering inside his body.
“But, as Moody himself has said millions of times, Barty has a very quick wand work, so before he could get hit by the curse, he managed to throw the killing curse at Riddle.” Evan finished explaining, “So, if I dare be so bold, the idea that it wasn’t in self-defense is completely wrong.”
Murmurs echoed around the room, slowly increasing in volume as the weight of their testimony lingered in the air. You sucked in a breath as your father glared at Barty with a scowl on his face, your brother didn’t give him the satisfaction of cowering down as he glared harder in return.
The minister stood, silencing the courtroom in the process, “Taking all of this into consideration, in addition to the separate testimonies by the rest of the members from the Order of the Phoenix, the Wizengamont has agreed to absolve Bartemius Crouch Jr., Regulus Black and Evan Rosier from all their chargers, along with presenting them with a pardon for their work inside the enemy’s base to put an end to this war. But, they will have an Auror assigned to each of them that will make sure they’re not in plans of engaging in the dark arts or possession of dark objects. Are we clear?”
“No!” Your father stood immediately, face livid as he pointed at your brother. “He! He is a spawn of the devil himself! Has been using dark magic for his personal gain since his younger years! You can’t just grant him a pardon over a silly little act of good nature!”
“Mr. Crouch please refrain from raising your voice and making a spectacle.” The minister sighed, not at all surprised by your father’s outburst. “The decision has been made, there is nothing you can say to change it.”
To your utter horror, your father turned to you. “Tell them what you told me!”
You straightened your posture as all eyes fell on you.
“Hm? What did I tell you exactly?” You drawled, looking, for all intent and purposes, bored by his outburst as well. “My part of the trial hasn’t even started yet.”
“Don’t play with me, child!” Your father seethed and stepped down his chair to walk to your cell. You watched from your periphery as Barty stood from his own chair as a reflex. “You will tell them right this second or–”
“Or what?” Barty spat, “You already got her in that bloody cell. What’s the worst you could do?”
“Why you little–”
“Mr. Crouch, it appears you misheard me.” The minister spoke up, “Stop making a spectacle of yourself and go back to your seat. As your daughter has pointed out, we still have another trial to attend to.”
Your father stared hard at you, and slowly lowered himself back to his seat. You looked away from him, fingers sizzling with anxiety as you fiddled with the hem of your jumper.
“Right.” The minister nodded, taking the parchment handed to him as he scanned you over the rim of his glasses, “Moving on to Ms. Crouch, I’m afraid this trial won’t be easy to resolve.” You shrunk into yourself as he moved to read your record. “It appears you are quite fond of using Unforgivables.”
“Just like these young men, Ms. Crouch has opted to use them as a last resort of self defense.” Said Dumbledore. “I can guarantee you she did not have in mind harming anyone.”
He looked up to meet your gaze, “Is this true?” You nodded, “Even when you threw the Cruciatus curse at Peter Pettigrew last night?”
The commotion increased in volume inside the courtroom. Remus felt his lungs desperately seeking for air, Sirius squeezed their hands together to give him some sort of grounding pressure.
“Can I just say,” You began, voice tentative despite your nonchalant attitude. “He tried to come for me too, and he did turn over my friend, who’s pregnant, mind you, to the hands of Riddle. All because of a bloody prophecy.”
“So it was revenge?”
“Not really, no. For it to be revenge I needed to feel betrayed by that rat.” You shrugged one shoulder. “I’d say it was more like a payback.”
Remus watched as Regulus screwed his eyes shut with frustration. The situation getting out of their hands in a way it’ll be difficult to put their plan into action.
“What I’m hearing is that you declare yourself guilty.” The minister frowned.
“Of that specific charge.” You quipped. “I did throw the Cruciatus curse at Pettigrew.”
Sirius let out a breath. “For fuck’s sake.”
“What about running away from Aurors? Remaining hidden away instead of coming forward if you were innocent?”
“I could’ve turned myself in but there’s certain people here that wanted my head on a silver platter. I won’t say names.” You said, but still turned to your father with a raised eyebrow.
“Mr. Crouch you mean?”
“It appears Sirius Black and Remus Lupin aided you for this.” One of the councils read from your parchment, and your blood went cold at your father’s growing smirk. “What do you have to say about that?”
You swallowed nervously, and very pointedly kept your gaze away from Remus or Sirius, lest your heart could ruin your plan to keep them out of your mess.
“What? About those two?” You chanced a quick glance at them, heart breaking at their anxious postures and hands glued together for support. You cleared your throat, “They’ve got nothing to do with me.”
“You were arrested in their home, Ms. Crouch.”
“That I know. Very rudely, may I add.”
“Just answer the bloody question.” Your father snapped.
“Fine. What do you want me to say here? They were just spawns, poor sods didn’t even know what was going on when the Aurors stormed in.”
“You’re saying there’s no romantic involvement, then?” Your father frowned. Remus had to harden his hold on Sirius’ hand before the boy could jump over him. “That’s not what I saw.”
“Not my fault you jumped to conclusions without basis.” You rolled your eyes at him, then turned to the Minister. “I know how it might’ve looked but that was nothing. I was feeling rather bored so I worked a bit of my charm with them, that’s all. They mean nothing to me.”
“What?” Sirius breathed out, heart breaking a million pieces and more. He turned to look at Remus, who remained stoic looking at your cell with a confused frown.
“Don’t lie!” Your father yelled and you flinched slightly, but recovered quickly.
“I’m not lying. You said it yourself, didn’t you? I like whoring around and things of the sort.” You wet your lips nervously, racking your brain to come up with more ways to convince them. “This is what happened here. Not my fault they caught feelings, I can be quite charming… Not that you would know, seeing how you just enjoy pointing out my flaws.”
Your father inhaled sharply, but it was the Minister who spoke first, “Right. So you’re saying they are innocent?” You nodded, watching with hopefulness as he scribbled down. “Very well, the Wizengamot will not take them into questioning, we accept your claims of their innocence.”
You let out a relieved sigh, and tried to ignore their intense glances all over you. It didn’t matter if they hated you, you would do anything in order to protect them from getting tangled up in your life and bad decisions.
“As for use of–”
“Minister, if I may,” Dumbledore stood up again, eyes staring hard at your brother. You followed his gaze with a frown and watched as Barty nervously fiddled with the sleeve of his suit. “I’ve been given some information that could put this trial into investigation.”
“Investigation? What are you on about now, Professor?” The minister took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, seemingly tired of the trial taking more unexpected turns. “Can’t this wait until the end?”
“I’m afraid it’s imperative we discuss this right now.”
“Alright,” He waved him off, laying back on his high chair. “You may continue.”
“We have reason to believe this trial was appointed by Mr. Crouch with intentions to harm his daughter's well-being and reputation. I have willing witnesses to back this claim.” Your head snapped up at this, eyes searching for Barty who continued avoiding your gaze. “I’m sure you’re aware of the terrible rumors about Bartemius Crouch Snr and his cruel punishments to his children.”
“What is this?” Your father yelled, once again standing up from his chair with his face twisted in pure unadulterated rage. “I will not accept you throwing accusations at me!”
“Said rumors have been proved to me as true as of recently.” Dumbledore continued. When he turned to your brother, you felt your heart brutally skipping a beat. “Mister Crouch?”
Barty cleared his throat, hands shaky as he raised the hem of his dress shirt. Certain members of the council gasped at the sight of a cruel scar taking up most of his ribcage, you looked away to avoid revisiting that night in your head.
“I was thirteen.” He wet his lips nervously, eyes downcast to not meet the sympathetic looks of everyone in the room. “My father came into my room and told me I had to look presentable for certain visitors. I was so excited because I foolishly thought he would give me my place as the heir, and present me in front of his notable friends from the ministry.”
You pressed your lips together, realizing with a growing anger what he was using as his testimony. What it meant for you and the secret you so deeply tried to keep buried.
Your father stood up again, hands holding onto his desk so harshly his knuckles turned white. “You little–”
“Mr. Crouch, I will not ask you again to remain silent.” The minister raised his voice, having lost his patience, “If you interrupt the witnesses again I will have you escorted out.”
“You can’t escort me out! I am a member of this council!”
“Then don’t tempt me, Bartemius.” He threatened, and you watched as your father angrily murmured to himself before sitting back down. The minister turned once again to your brother. “Please continue.”
“Of course.” Your brother nodded, seemingly gaining courage after your father’s breakdown. “Well. I don’t really have to get into full detail about what exactly went down at those meetings, do I? I was hoping my father would fill the gaps for me now, seeing he quite literally drugged me with a calming draught the entire night. This kept happening time and time again until one day I tried to fight back… therefore this scar.”
A tense silence blanketed the room. Murmurs echoed louder as judgement now fell to your father. You looked down, eerily silent to not catch anyone’s attention and allow them to jump to conclusions, but it was useless, you knew they all thought it. They all could almost imagine it, if your father was capable of giving away his own son for his dirty deeds to jump up to higher positions, it was only a matter of time before the same would happen to his daughter. You clenched your fists so hardly your own knuckles turned white.
You watched in panic as the minister nodded pensively, and turned to you, “What do you have to say about this, Ms. Crouch? Where were you when this was happening?”
Barty immediately looked away at this question, knowing he was brave enough to confront your father but cowardly enough to not look at you and your evident anger and indignation.
“What do you think?” You snapped, lips wobbly as you glared at your brother’s downturned head. When he didn’t look up to meet your eyes, you turned to look at the Minister with a scowl, having come to terms that there was no other choice but to let out your secret. “Of course something quite similar was happening on the other side of the manor. Inside my room, especifically.”
A collective gasp took over the room, protests flew left and right as fingers pointed with disgust at your father. You shrunk into yourself, desperately trying to enjoy the downfall of your father at the hands of the same people he tried to appease to, but your humiliation won over. Despite the logical part of your brain knowing no one was technically judging you, you still felt strong eyes all over you as voices raised with every passing second.
“Silence!” The minister yelled. His own face a shade paler as he looked at your father with a mix of surprise and disgust. “Bartemius, what do you have to say about these accusations?”
“They’re mad! Those two are conspiring against me, can’t you see?” He pointed at your brother then you, you scoffed in return. “These accusations are based on lies!”
The man simply turned to your brother in response, “Is there a way you could recall some of the names of people in said meetings?”
“Not sure if I can remember all the names, but I do know their faces.” Barty nodded, fingers once again anxiously fiddling with his studs. He sighed, “I know that my reputation precedes me, Minister, but I would never joke about something like this.”
“Honestly, I think so too, Mr. Crouch.” He nodded studying him over before looking down to scribble in on parchment. Then turned to you, “I can see how Bartemius would try to bury this secret by sending his children to Azkaban to protect his own reputation.”
You chewed on your lower lip, knowing that speaking up would surely ruin your chances of getting out. At that point, all you wanted was to leave that courtroom and hide from sympathetic eyes staring down at you, whether it was to go home or back to your cell.
“Ms. Crouch I declare you innocent of these accusations, and, just like your brother and fellow colleagues, I have a few conditions to grant you your freedom.” You nodded, pointedly ignoring your father’s indignant screams somewhere in the room. “You must report back to the Auror that will be assigned to you, who will check on your wand for any dark spells during every meeting, every two weeks. And, you and your brother must come back in a month to recite your testimonies against Bartemius Crouch Snr.”
At this, your father sprung from his chair, wand readily pointing at you and yelling incoherently. The aurors acted quickly by jumping to keep him in place, throwing special spells to stop him from casting any curse and wand getting snatched away.
“This is a mistake!” He screamed, voice strained as he angrily fought against the spells around his wrists. “Those two are conspiring against me!”
“Take him to the Detention Area.” The minister ordered, and you looked down, hearing his screams fading out as he was dragged out of the room. “And please release Miss Crouch from her cell, along with her wand from the inspection room. Without any more interference, I declare this session finished.”
You let out a ragged exhale at this, eyes slowly welling up in tears as the same auror that brought you opened your cell and freed your hands from the tie-up spell. As soon as you were free, you stepped out with tentative steps, goosebumps taking over your skin as your feet touched the icy ground of the courtroom.
No sooner than you were out of your cell, a bunch of arms circled you in a hug, pressing hard against you as your friends celebrated the end of your shared suffering at the hands of Riddle and your father. When you opened your eyes, your heart cracked painfully at the sight of both Remus and Sirius stepping down their places to walk to your huddled bunch.
You inhaled deeply, and pulled away from the hug to promptly make your way out of the courtroom, skin itching to get away from everything and everyone that witnessed the revelations in your trial. Sirius frowned as you passed by them, Remus tried to reach for you, but you were fast as you quite literally ran out the room and away from them.
As soon as you apparated away from the Ministry and into the safety of your own room at Grimmauld Place, you finally let the strong walls you had fought tooth and nail to put up crumble down. Hands absurdly fisting at Sirius’ jumper, seeking for the comfort you knew deep down you would never receive ever again.
summary: In the wake of your arrest, the Order must scramble to come up with a plan to free you from the claws of your father. Meanwhile, chaos ensues at the Ministry.
tags: fem!reader, crouch!reader. mentions of blood and some violence descriptions, abusive parent talk as well as hinted sexual assault but no detailed descriptions. smoking as plot points. lots of angst.
a/n: not really sure if i like this, so i’ll let y’all be the judges of the chapter. as you can see from the tags, so much happens today. oh poor barty… enjoy!! xx
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Regulus watched with pinched eyebrows as Barty slept peacefully, inked arms curled up around Evan. He chewed on his lower lip, fingers anxiously fidgeting with the tea cup on his hand as the faint light of the moon peeked from the curtains, indicating that any time now Dumbledore would send over his patronus to signal the official call to meet for the Order.
His grey eyes then turned to the parchment in front of him on the coffee table. He stared hard at Sirius’ unusually messy handwriting with the news of your detainment, and how they needed to form a plan before your father could get his hands dirty to sentence you to a life in Azkaban. Or worse, Barty finding out you were taken from him.
Regulus reached for the parchment and stood up, his heart skipping a beat at the sound of Barty and Evan shuffling on the couch, and he hastily threw it at the fire going at the chimney. When neither of them showed signs of waking up anytime soon, a relieved exhale left his lips.
“Still nothing?”
“Fuck.” He jumped, hand at his chest as he turned to meet Pandora’s heterochromic eyes. “Would you stop doing that, please?”
“‘M sorry, Reg.” She mumbled, not at all sorry by the little mischievous glint in her eyes. “Want me to heat up your tea? I suspect it’s a bit cold now.”
Regulus then looked at the poor cup sitting sadly on the coffee table. He shook his head and passed a hand over his curls, the blonde girl sighed and reached over to wrap her arms around his middle.
“He’ll go mad.” Pandora whispered then, temple resting against Regulus’ sternum as they both stared at the flames.
“I know.”
“You think he’ll go after him? When he finds out?”
Regulus screwed his eyes shut, “Probably. But hopefully we’ll already have a plan by then.”
“Are you alright?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” He frowned, but his arms tightened a little around Pandora. “We did it, the war is over.”
“It’s okay if you feel a little weird. Or anxious.” Pandora said, pulling away to meet his eyes. “You can feel both relieved that the war is over and worried for y/n.”
Regulus sighed dejectedly, “That’s the thing. I can’t really allow myself to feel happy that it’s over when I know she’s somewhere suffering.”
“I’m sure she’s alright. You know how stubborn she can be sometimes.”
“Yeah, that’s what worries me.” He pressed a quick kiss to her temple.
A ghost of a smile passed over Pandora’s face, “She visited me the other night.” Regulus raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Spent the entire time trying to convince herself she didn’t fancy those two boys.”
He felt his heart skipping a beat. “Why did she visit you? Did something happen?”
“Not really, no.” She waved him off, “I just think it was rather amusing how she swore she didn’t have any feelings for them but still left with her bag full of wolfsbane and dittany.”
“Wolfsbane? Why would she–” Regulus frowned, but realization struck him when his eyes flickered to the window. “Oh… You told her about the visions, didn’t you?”
Pandora’s answer came in the form of a playful chuckle.
The cadence of her giggles was interrupted by a blue light emerging from the window, when it took form a phoenix, Regulus stood to attention and swat several times at Evan’s sleeping form. The blonde boy blinked his own heterochromic eyes open with a frown, but his hold around Barty tightened when he met the worried gaze staring down at him.
“Think you can keep him here a bit before the meeting?” Regulus whispered in his ear. Evan blinked again to fully wake himself up.
He nodded wordlessly, then turned to his sister. “What’re you doing here, bug?”
“Came to babysit you two. It’s good practice.” She whispered equally low and Evan dropped his head back on the cushion with a sigh.
Regulus wet his lips nervously and looked down at Barty with a troubled expression, when Pandora squeezed his hand reassuringly, he snapped into action and walked out of Grimmauld Place to the closest apparition site with a hollow feeling inside his chest. The idea of hearing whatever news Dumbledore could give them about your whereabouts had him feeling like he could throw up, even when he had mastered apparition before he could graduate.
When he opened his eyes, a pair of identical ones to his stared back at him with a certain intensity only a Black could possess. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but Sirius was quick to wrap his arms around Regulus in a tight embrace. The boy gasped, his heart beating loudly inside his chest as he slightly pulled away to meet Sirius’ gaze, who held onto his shoulders like he feared someone would take his little brother away.
“I’m sorry,” Mumbled Regulus, resting the crown of his head against his brother’s sternum.
Sirius frowned, “What’re you sorry for?” He passed a hand over Regulus’ unusually messy curls. “I’m just glad you’re alright, Reggie. It’s all over, hm?”
Something glum passed over his face as he looked up, “But it really isn’t over, right? We still need to bring y/n back.”
Sirius let out a startled breath at his admission, his grey eyes quickly met Remus’ gaze from over Regulus’ shoulder. The tawny haired boy looked away, lighting up his cigarette with slightly trembling fingers.
“Right.” Sirius nodded, sobering up and dropping his arms to his sides. Regulus momentarily regretted bringing you up at his brother’s reaction. “You’re right, sorry.”
Remus watched them with a contemplative look on his face, nimble fingers anxiously bringing the cigarette from his lips to calm the turmoil in his head. When he watched McGonagall’s animagus form stepping into the Weasley home, he put it out with a heavy heart and barely three puffs in. He met Sirius’ eyes as they followed Regulus in, his hand unconsciously reaching for him in a desperate seek for support as they sat in the living room around Dumbledore.
“Welcome.” The man nodded, scanning the small group surrounding him. “As you all know, Riddle is dead. This monumental event will mark the end of the war, along with the imprisonment of several of his most notable followers, all thanks to the bravery of Mr. Crouch and the help of Mr. Rosier and Black– Where are they, may I ask?” He turned to Regulus with a raised eyebrow.
Said boy swallowed nervously, “They should be here soon. I don’t think it’s sensible for Barty to hear about his sister yet.”
“Very smart.” Dumbledore nodded again, “I’m terribly sorry about Ms. Crouch, I’m sure that once we clear the misunderstanding, she will be freed with no further explanation needed.”
“As of now, Professor Dumbledore has already managed to grant you three a fair trial with the Wizengamot.” McGonagall stepped in, her eyebrows furrowed behind her glasses with worry. “Mr. Shacklebolt is currently at the Ministry trying to negotiate and let Ms. Crouch be considered in it as well.”
“But y/n didn’t do anything.” Sirius stood up, voice stern and eyes full of unresolved questions in the form of a cold glare. “How could they follow through without evidence?”
“It’s not very hard, Sirius.” Remus snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Even Muggles do it, so I doubt it could be less hard with magic.”
The long-haired boy slumped back on his chair, his previously fiery eyes lacking all emotion, and any hope he had to bring you back vanished from his chest. Remus sighed dejectedly and passed a hand over his shoulders as his boyfriend hid his face with his hands. A tense silence blanketed the room.
“Shacklebolt is a rather good negotiator, I’m sure he will find a way to absolve her from her charges.”
As the words slipped past Dumbledore’s lips, a bright light interrupted them and soon appeared Kingsley in the middle of the living room with a troubled expression in his usually calm features. Sirius felt his insides filling with dread.
“Ah, Mr. Shacklebolt, we were just discussing your work at the Ministry. I assume you’ve come to enlighten us with your findings?”
But Kingsley simply shook his head solemnly. Remus felt Sirius’ muscles tensing under his touch.
“I wouldn’t say enlightenment, really.” The young man sighed, nervously fixing his robes as he very pointedly tried to not meet anyone’s eyes. “The Ministry agreed for the trials but, um, for Junior’s sister… things have taken a complicated turn.”
“Complicated?” Regulus echoed, quite literally feeling his heart up his throat. “Did something happen to her? Is she alright?”
“Well… Apparently a fight broke out at the Detention Area, the full information has not been disclosed but we have reason to believe she was involved.”
Regulus passed a hand over his face with frustration, not at all surprised at the news.
“Several alleged Death-Eaters were involved, too.” He continued, “This could go both ways in her trial if they allow her to have one, but we can use this to her advantage if we’re smart enough.”
“How, exactly?” Remus snapped again. “I don’t think it will be well received that she got caught up in the middle of it. Especially with her reputation.”
“Do we know who else was involved?”
“Peter Pettigrew, mostly. Other separate duels broke out between the rest. Mulciber and Malfoy, the Lestranges as well. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact names.”
Another tense silence filled up the room, one that was interrupted by the door suddenly bursting open to reveal Evan and Barty on their way in, both looking positively relaxed compared to the rest of the Order. Remus threw his head back and screwed his eyes shut in preparation for whatever was about to happen.
“Well, hello.” Barty drawled with a wicked grin, “Why the long faces? I’ve quite literally saved your arses from eternal damnation.”
“Are you ever going to let that go?” Evan asked with a roll of his eyes. But then, ever the perceptive one between the pair, watched with furrowed eyebrows at the silent group. “What’s gotten into you lot? Who died?”
“Surely you’re not all serious because you miss dear ol’ Voldy?” Barty turned a chair around to sit facing them. His eyes fell on Regulus’ tense form, and frowned when he looked away. “Oi, what’s with the secrecy?”
“It appears there has been a small change of plans, Mr. Crouch.” Dumbledore spoke finally. Barty’s frown deepened.
At the lack of answers from neither Dumbledore nor Regulus, Barty turned to Sirius, “Where’s my sister, Black?”
“She’s at the Ministry.” He spat, grey eyes once again lighting up in anger. “Your father came storming into our flat and arrested her. Some shit about withholding information about your whereabouts.”
Barty stood in such speed the chair fell, “What?”
“We are currently in the middle of discussing our plan to get the Minister to grant her a trial along with you three.” Kingsley explained, foolishly thinking it would appease Barty, who scoffed in return.
“That will never happen, Shacklebolt. I can wager everything I own that my father is currently preparing her cell in Azkaban as we speak.”
“With the duel rumor going around at the Ministry?” Regulus asked, Barty’s head snapped at him. “All the possibilities of a trial have gone down the drain.”
“Oh, so now you speak.” He snapped at him, Evan stood as a reflex. “But you knew this already, didn’t you? Traitorous snake.”
“Barty.” Evan chided. “We all knew this already.”
The boy’s glare softened as he looked at Evan, who sighed deeply. “You knew too?”
“I’m sorry, love.”
Barty’s shoulders dropped sadly as he lowered himself down to his chair again, he passed a hand over his already messy hair, his anxious fingers stopped at the studs on his eyebrow and began pulling at them much like you did during your own dissociative states. The rest of the Order looked at each other and him with a certain level of sympathy. Regulus, for his part, was just glad he hadn’t stormed into the Ministry with an Unforgivable at the tip of his tongue. There was so much loss his heart could take.
Kingsley cleared his throat and turned to Sirius, “What exactly were the charges Mr. Crouch mentioned when he arrested her?”
“Doesn’t matter, they’re all lies.” Sirius replied instantly, fingers anxiously itching for a cigarette to calm his own head.
Remus scoffed, “Would it hurt you to answer a question, Sirius? You’re not the only one affected by this, you know.”
“Seriously, Remus?” The boy fully turned to him with a scowl.
“Well, I didn’t exactly see you try to stop the Aurors, so I can’t say I’m entirely surprised.” Remus continued, as if Sirius hadn’t spoken.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
The lovers’ quarrel seemed to snap Barty out of his spiraling thoughts, who furiously blinked back the tears forming in his eyes to look up at the pair.
“Right, so what I’m hearing is that all this happened because of you two.” Barty nodded, “So what? You just played a little with her and turned her over once you got bored?”
“Oh, fuck you, Junior.” Remus spat, not at all turning to meet his gaze, one very similar to yours whenever you riled him up. “You left her, you’re no one to talk.”
“Left her? Oh, you’ve completely lost the plot, Lupin. Actually, all of you.” He snapped. “Bunch of good-for-nothings, you lot. Couldn’t handle a tyrant manchild and asked us for help, but when we asked for protection in return none of you could do the same. So, yeah, I left her but because none of you could’ve done what I did to end this fucking war, and because of that she’s at the Ministry paying for your incompetence.”
“Now, Mr. Crouch, we all have agreed to help your sister. I don’t see the reasoning behind this tantrum.” McGonagall interrupted, but her eyes reflected a sympathy that made Barty’s skin burn with rage.
“And how could you possibly help, Minerva? Don’t try to be condescending with me when you all damn well know there’s nothing to do here.”
“Barty, stop.” Evan reached over, but Barty swat his hand away. “Hey, calm down, it’s not their fault.”
“No.” Barty turned to him, bony finger poking harshly at his boyfriend’s chest with glossy eyes. “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down when your own sister is safe and far away from this mess. Don’t you fucking dare, Evan.”
“Junior, stop.” Sirius said, hand at his shoulder when he noticed the wand already in Barty’s hand. The boy pushed him away angrily.
“Oh, don’t even get me started with you.” Barty growled, glaring hard at Sirius. “I took care of your brother when we were away, I even took an Unforgivable for him and this is what you give me in return? You ungrateful little shit.”
Regulus sighed, hand very slowly reaching for the vial on his pocket. He uncovered the calming draught and poured it on the cup closest to him, eyes never leaving Barty’s hysteric form as he continued screaming his lungs off to whoever tried to calm him down. When, apparently, it was his turn to meet the end of his friend’s wrath, Regulus simply handed him the cup without a word.
“Don’t coddle me.” Barty scoffed, waving him off with a roll of his eyes. He roughly passed a sleeve over his cheeks. “And you don’t fool me, I know damn well what you poured in that thing.”
Regulus leveled him with a look, “You want to hear how we’ll get her out, or not?”
“Another of your useless master plans?” He asked, voice hoarse as he dropped his arm to his side. “Have you not done enough?”
“Please.”
The pair shared a look, causing the room to fall in a tense silence as the rest of the group tried to decipher the understanding passing between them. At last, the fight seemed to leave Barty’s body as he reached for the cup in Regulus’ hand.
“Right.” Regulus said, watching with pinched eyebrows as Barty downed the draught without a second thought. He did not miss the way his hand trembled. “Feel better now?”
Barty put the cup down with slightly furrowed eyebrows, and nodded wordlessly. His hand once again reached up to fiddle with the studs on his eyebrows.
“I have an idea, but I don’t think you’ll like it.” Regulus continued, voice tentative in case the calming draught hadn’t fully kicked in yet.
To his surprise, Barty simply nodded. Regulus searched for Evan’s gaze, who reached over and placed his hands over his boyfriend’s shoulders. Hurtful words seemingly forgotten in order to provide a grounding support to the boy. It couldn’t be said the same about Remus and Sirius, both standing at separate ends of the room still trying to shake off the anger and guilt in their chests, the hurtful words exchanged between them still lingering in the room.
“You need to testify against your father.” Finally said Regulus, who tensed his shoulders in anticipation.
But no cantankerous reaction happened, not even a scoff. He momentarily wondered if the calming draught Pandora concocted was stronger than what was normally recommended.
“That won’t work.” Barty mumbled then, eyes lost in nothing as he continued fiddling with his piercing. “He’s got that part covered at the Ministry. Believe me, we tried it before.”
“Was it before or after what he did to y/n? …And the parties?” Evan asked in a low voice, Barty simply frowned. “It could be an argument hard to ignore, love. Especially if you’re willing to provide evidence.”
Barty’s hand unconsciously moved to his ribcage, and both Sirius and Remus had a realization. The echo of your words simultaneously played in their heads, explaining the different ways your father would torture you and your brother to get what he wanted. How he’d “lend” you two to his most trusted Ministry workers in order to get his way with a particular case. A lump formed in Sirius’ throat as he scanned the boy and the obvious turmoil happening inside his head.
“She’ll hate us if we air that out.” He finally said. “And I don’t think I could do that to her, it’s not fair.”
“What exactly happened at these parties, Mr. Crouch?” Asked Dumbledore. Barty shook his head mutely. “In order for the defense to work, we must know beforehand.”
“I can’t do that to her.” He repeated, eyes meeting Regulus with a rare look of dread. “I could tell them from my own experience, but not hers.”
Regulus sighed, but nodded. “That could work, right?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but it’s a good start.” Kingsley said, pensively scratching at his jaw. “Why don’t we continue this tomorrow, hm?”
“Good idea.” Dumbledore nodded, and turned to Barty’s slumped form with sadness. “Meanwhile I’ll personally talk to the Minister to appoint a joint trial.”
Barty nodded, “Thank you.” He mumbled very lowly, but it seemed to appease Dumbledore as the man nodded with a tight smile.
As the rest of the Order emptied the home and a silence lingered in the room, Barty pressed his face against his hands and finally allowed the repressed sobs in his chest to escape his lips. Evan sighed, and pressed a kiss to the crown of his shaking head.
“Let’s go, love.” He pulled at Barty’s jacket, who remained still on his chair and face hidden in his hands. “Come on.”
“I can’t believe she’s gone.”
“She’s not gone, Junior.” Sirius said, but no one missed the anxious way he played with the hem of his jumper.
Barty tried swallowing the lump in his throat, “If she’s not gone, why do I have this feeling in my chest?”
“I think you’re having an anxiety attack, Junior.” Remus supplied, his own eyes devoid of all the fire and anger he previously showcased. He absentmindedly fidgeted with his own box of cigarettes.
Barty wordlessly extended his arm with waiting fingers. Remus took a cigarette out and placed it in his waiting hand, a silent comfort passing between them. Sirius watched with pinched eyebrows as they each lit up their cigarettes, his lips parted in surprise when Remus handed him his. A silent apology.
“She told us about the calming draught and the punishments.” Sirius said between exhales. Barty’s eyes snapped up in surprise.
“She did?” He shared a look with both Evan and Regulus, who sported a similar surprise in their faces. “She’s never told anyone other than us.”
A realization passed between them. Barty tsked, and Evan bit his lip to stop the smirk trying to take up most of his features.
“Pandora wasn’t joking, then.” Barty commented with a dry chuckle, smoke coming out of his lips. “Oh, it seems she’s fallen hard.”
“What does Pandora have to do with anything?”
“She’s had some… interesting visions lately.” Regulus explained, taking mercy on them. “About you three.”
“Oh…” Remus furrowed his eyebrows, then his cheeks flushed furiously. “Oh.”
“No wonder why she was acting so strange yesterday.” Sirius commented, passing the cig back to Remus who seemed to need it more upon the revelation of said visions.
Evan chuckled. “Knowing how she gets when she's in love, I pity the poor sod that gets to share a cell with her.”
“Especially if she’s angry.” Barty added.
They all shared a look, seemingly thinking the same thing about you and your vicious reputation.
—
“Oi, watch it!”
“You’re not in any position to bark orders, Crouch.”
You rolled your eyes, channeling all your strength to not pounce at the Auror. The man strengthened the spell around your wrists in response as the elevator stopped right on the Detention Area floor.
“Hiya, Tim.” You smirked as you stepped out, or, well, the Auror pushed you much like a rag doll. “How’ve you been?”
Said man sighed as he raised his head, “Again?”
“Well,” You shrugged one shoulder, “Was starting to miss you, so I decided to pay a visit. How’s your gorgeous daughter?”
Tim, the guard, scowled at you before looking up at the Auror, a question in the way of furrowed eyebrows.
“Shagged his daughter back in fifth year, poor girl couldn’t leave me alone for the whole term. Women, eh?” You turned to the Auror, who blatantly ignored you in favor of turning to the man.
“Mr. Crouch appointed her to have temporary confinement until a trial is assigned.”
Tim looked between you and the Auror, who took a large folder from inside his pocket to hand over the guard. You bit your lip, one foot stepping over the other to avoid touching the icy floor.
“Oh, Crouch. Now you’ve done it.” Tim sighed as he scanned the folder, you rolled your eyes to avoid giving into your dread, or worse, to make it obvious.
He nodded at the Auror, face schooled in a stern glare and lips in a thin line. You did not miss the way he avoided your gaze when you tried to look for answers in his eyes. The man simply returned the nod and turned to walk away, not at all concerned if you were processed or not. The guard sighed deeply as he opened your case folder once again.
“No Barty today?”
“Sadly, no.” You shook your head, “Would you like to pass a message? A love letter perhaps?”
He rolled his eyes, “You’re quite literally on the road to get the Dementor’s Kiss, you do realize that?” He leveled you with a look. “I wouldn’t go around making jokes if I were you.”
You swallowed nervously, leaning away from the desk. The fight left the guard’s body as he leaned back on his chair, his eyes scanned you over pensively and grabbed his quill to begin the process of your detainment. The familiarity of the moment brought a certain calmness to your chest, the sound of the quill scribbling down on the parchment and the sound of muffled voices and screams from the cells in the back. In a messed up way, the idea of this being another small dent in your precious record relaxed you to the point of dissociation.
You held your elbows with trembling hands, trying to bring warmth to yourself with the help of Sirius’ soft jumper clung over your form, the faint smell of his shampoo was still imprinted on the fabric and grounding you before you could snap once again. The ghost of his hand holding onto yours, and his lips kissing your temple so softly you almost thought it was all a figment of your imagination. Just like Remus and his hold around you while you slept peacefully, how he managed to stand his ground and try to reach for you to avoid getting taken away even in his painful state, or the way they both looked at you as you were dragged out their home. You wondered how or when the lifelines and destiny read to you in Divination had changed so drastically to deserve them in this lifetime.
You looked up, furiously blinking back the tears forming in the corners of your eyes. As the guard continued writing down on the report for the Ministry, you exhaled deeply and allowed yourself to scan the other wizards imprisoned waiting for their trial. When your eyes landed on a rather familiar face inside one of the cells, an idea popped into your head.
“Um, Tim?”
“What?”
“Is Peter Pettigrew still being processed here?”
At your question, he looked up, “How could you possibly know that?”
“Well, I did help turning him in, for starters.” You shrugged. The man rolled his eyes and continued writing on the parchment, “Can I ask for a favor?”
“Some nerve you have,” He laughed dryly.
“Just humor me.”
“Fine. What is it that you want?”
“Can you put me in the same area as him?” You asked in a whisper, leaning closer to ensure he could hear you. “We left some unfinished business, you see.”
The guard hesitated, his gaze flickering from the cell to you, and swallowed as he recognized the faint mischievous glint in your eyes.
“I don’t know, Crouch. Sounds to me like you’re planning something vicious.”
“Not vicious, really. I sort of want to send a message.” He crossed his arms and let out a sigh, eyes studying your face. “Oi, just think of it as my death wish, yeah? You said it yourself, it’s likely I’ll be sentenced to a Dementor’s kiss. Just let me have this.”
This seemed to sell the idea to him, his features morphing into sadness as he looked down at your record. When he nodded, the smile that took up most of your face couldn’t be contained. Tim nodded his head to the cell area and you rounded the desk to allow him to take you to yours.
“I thought you had straightened out, Crouch.” He mumbled as he pointed his wand to your wrist, ending the spell that had them tied together. “You stopped coming for almost a year, you realize that? I genuinely thought you and Barty had finally figured it out.”
His words brought a small crack to your heart, and you secretly agreed with him. After the weeks you’ve had, you, too, had thought life was finally smiling down at you and your brother. So foolish of you to think your father would ever allow that to happen.
You tsked, “Ow, Tim. You’re not going soft on me, are you?”
“Forget it, can’t have a serious conversation with you.” He opened the cell, and you walked in with a smirk, hand masterfully reaching for the wand in his back pocket with the skills only a Crouch twin could possess. Before turning to him, you slipped it under your sleeve. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“I give you my word.” You nodded, watching as he unsuspectingly closed and secured the cell. Tim returned the nod and walked away, “Tell Millie I said hi!”
The guard flipped you off and walked out the room, leaving you alone in the sea of muffled screams from fellow prisoners, all except one. You turned around, your face adorned with your characteristic wicked smirk as you stared down at Peter Pettigrew from your spot.
“Why, isn’t it the traitorous rat in the flesh?”
Peter seemed to snap out of his trance as his eyes disgustingly roved over your form. “Crouch? They got you too?”
“I wouldn’t be so happy, if I were you.”
“Oh, but why wouldn’t I be? Seeing they granted me one last meal?” He grinned and you rolled your eyes. “Especially when said meal specifically requested to share a cell with me?”
“Don’t get your knickers all tight for that, wanker. I only have one thing to do with you.” You reached for the wand hidden in your sleeve. “By the way, recognize this lovely jumper?”
Peter blinked, his eyes moving up to your jumper with a raised eyebrow. “Uh… No?”
“Oh, don’t be daft, Wormy.” You spat, but secretly enjoyed as his face turned stony at the nickname. “Lovely bed manners those friends of yours have, by the way. Sadly Potter is already taken by that gorgeous redhead or I would’ve bedded them as well. So fit and smart, that marauders bunch— What exactly did you bring to the table?”
“Fuck off.” He growled. A pathetic attempt really, you chuckled. “You’re no one to talk, Crouch. You shagged every living thing in that bloody castle just because your daddy hit you. Bit stereotypical, don’t you think?”
“And what does that say about you, Pettigrew? That I got with everyone except your sorry arse?” You watched with a growing smirk as he jumped to his feet in a rage. “So what? Felt sorry for yourself and went begging for a wank with Riddle? Just because everyone paid more attention to your friends than you? Utterly pathetic.”
When Peter tried launching himself over you, the tip of the wand in your hand dug deep on the side of his neck, awfully close to the jugular. The boy stilled and took a step back, but you had already fisted the side of his greasy hair to keep him in place against the wall.
You leveled him with a glare, “I’d like to say this is all child play to keep me entertained while I’m here, but I do have certain matters to discuss with you, Pettigrew.” He reached for your wrist, but the hold around the wand and your fiery eyes stopped him from fully acting on his idea to run away. “You not only gained an enemy in your friends when you ratted about the prophecy to your master.”
“But— The Potters, they were the only ones–”
“The Potters, the Longbottoms and, for your bad luck, the Lovegoods as well, my dear Wormy.” You scanned his face, hand eagerly digging deeper in his flesh to the point of harming his skin. “The rest may be more benevolent than me to have their revenge in the form of your imprisonment. But sadly I am really, really thirsty for blood. Yours specifically.”
“I didn’t know, I–”
You reached for his jaw, nails digging cruelly over his round cheeks as you pushed his head hard against the wall. A pathetic whimper left his lips, and your eyes followed the trail of blood down his neck at the wand now puncturing his skin.
“I’ve got nothing to lose, Pettigrew, which means I won’t rest until you suffer, and the last moments of your life will be filled with nothing but excruciating pain all because you couldn’t keep your fucking mouth shut.” You pushed his head one last time before pulling back slightly, the wand changing directions from his neck to his stomach. Peter followed the movement with dread in his eyes. “Three innocent families could’ve died because of you, and I want you to think of them when you die, you hear me? I want you to think about James and Lily and how kind they were to ask you to be one of the best men in their wedding. I want you to think about the Longbottoms and how Alice helped you an entire term when you failed Charms, and I want you to think about Pandora and how you tried to hurt an innocent girl that was nothing but kind to you throughout your school years.”
“I’m sorry– I’m so sorry, please don’t do anything to me, I don’t want to die here.” He pleaded, hands around your wrist trying to push you away from his form.
But you had enough fire in your veins and a heart broken enough to move a muscle at his pleas, “And I want you to think about your best friends, remember them? Sirius and Remus? Who opened their arms to you and accepted you into their little group? Tell me, Peter, when did you realize you hated their guts? Before or after turning into an Animagus to help Remus for the full moons?”
At the mention of Sirius and Remus, something seemed to change on his stance. His eyes morphed from dread to cynicism in a matter of seconds.
“Oh, I see now. You’ve already caught feelings, haven’t you?” He nodded eagerly, but his hold around your wrists loosened. “How foolish of you to fall for the two people who would never love a frail little whore like you, don’t you think? Was it because Junior had Regulus and Evan? Or to show your father you were the better half between you two? Have you not realized it yet? No one will love a good-for-nothing adrenaline junkie like you, Crouch. Especially not Remus and Sirius, they already got enough on their plates with each other. And knowing you? You could end up just like your daddy, killing off your partners just because you’re a vicious bitch.”
You inhaled sharply, eyes searching for his gaze with yours completely devoid of emotion. You leaned closer with all the color drained off your face, the wand pressed against his stomach pulled back slightly as you pointed directly at him with a slight hint of a smile on your face and quietly casted the Cruciatus curse at him. His agonizing scream was almost ear-piercing, just like the Dark Arts that alert went off throughout the Ministry, including the Detention Area. You heard with a smirk as the other prisoners chanted and yelled at you, and the steps of the guards running towards your cell.
When they held you back and snatched the wand away from your hands, you did not try to fight against them, and only watched with a smile as Peter continued writhing on the floor with the curse still torturing his body. You let them drag you to your own cell and watched from between the bars as the healers pathetically attempted to help finding a counter-curse to stop his pain.
“Be thankful it wasn’t my own wand, Wormy.” You said from your cell, “And pray to Merlin and Morgana you don’t have to encounter me ever again.”
“You– you’re fucking crazy.” He muttered, blood spitting from his mouth as he spoke. You shrugged one shoulder.
“Oh, this was nothing.” You replied nonchalantly, sliding off to the ground as you watched your father storm into the room with his eyes fixated on you. “Just a small warm up for the bigger fish I have in mind.”
