Choose the Side of Light

by GingerCherry

Two Gryffindors are all it takes to change the path history took for a certain individual. Alice and Frank Longbottom were close friends with Bartemius Crouch Jr, his only friends in fact. Basically a Good!Barty fanfic with him helping throughout the series and what happened before Azkaban. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

1. Friends and Family

Chapter 1: Friends and Family

1974 Alice and Frank

"What are you working on this time?" Alice asked, picking up the vial marked with an 'x' on the table. "Is this another experiment?"

Barty made a noise that meant that she was right. "I'm trying to figure out how to make a potion that can reverse the effects of polyjuice."

The fifth-year student scoffed at him as she studied the potion. "Why bother? Polyjuice does not last long anyway."

At that, the boy snatched the vial away from her and set it back on the table. "Because I want to." he answered curtly before throwing some knotgrass in the cauldron with an exaggerated display of mock anger. Barty was not really the type to get angry over something so minute and insignificant as a comment, so Alice simply watched him with an eyebrow raised halfway. "Besides, father suspects, but isn't sure, that there is someone in the Ministry that has been using polyjuice for the past- what day is it?"

Alice took a moment to respond, but was immediately interrupted by the second-year boy.

"January 27th, so… three months and eleven days. Give or take."

The cauldron started to boil and a bubble bursted on the surface with a loud 'pop'. Barty quickly redirected his attention and stirred the concoction until the dark purple color changed into a softer velvet.

"Why not use a truth serum on the suspects?"

The boy kept his gaze on the potion and tended to it with utmost care. Only after adding a few shavings of bicorn horn and adjusting the temperature of the heat did Barty glance at his friend. "Are you kidding me? Trying to force an entire department into taking a truth serum would make the imposter aware, and therefore, it gives them time to escape before the reason they infiltrated the Ministry could be uncovered and what they gained from it as a result of it."

"Plus, if your dad's hunch is wrong, it could seriously ruin his precious image." the girl joked.

"That too." The potion sputtered a puff of blue smoke and Barty instantly stepped back from it with a hand shielding his eyes. His face showed defeat and he spoke to it as if it would listen. "No, not again. Come on, work."

"Okay, I have another question." Alice announced, walking over to Barty's side as he frantically stirred the liquid. "Wouldn't an anti-polyjuice raise awareness as well?"

"Not as much as a truth serum." he replied, running back to the table and scanning the ingredients. "Normally, reversal potions are not as strictly prohibited since it does not infringe on personal rights to secrets or health, which means that it could be added to a drink without having to ask the person you're giving it to, as long as you drink it as well and there are no harmful effects. It must have already been tested. It's fair play and has been brought up in court cases a couple times, all of which were just plain stupid, but useful. No one needs to know about it, whereas a truth serum requires that you ask questions that could spread rumors faster than you can say 'Arresto Momentum'."

Alice nodded at his long explanation and simply made herself comfortable at a chair in the classroom they were currently in. "You sound like an expert."

"When you're the son of a government official, you tend to pick up on a few things." he shrugged and tossed some mint into the cauldron.

The gryffindor groaned and put her forehead on the desk. "Are you almost done? I'm bored."

Barty gave her a look and sighed. "Why don't you go find Frank?"

"Because he's busy finishing his homework in his room. 'Complete and utter isolation' he says. I can't exactly march in and demand his company." Her answer was muffled and he didn't bother to ask her to repeat herself.

"Then find your other friend. You know, the fourth-year with the pretty green eyes and slightly reddish hair?" he suggested, taking a vial of the now teal potion and mixing in a sample of polyjuice. It failed to react in the way he wanted it to and instead emitted an ugly fume.

"Lily? Nah. Don't get me wrong, she's a great person, but she's not that fun to talk to."

"And I am, how?" Barty asked, marking the potion with an 'x'.

"Well, you're interesting. Not every second-year is as brilliant as you are. Plus, I think you could use this little friendship of ours. You haven't exactly tried to make any in your own class for the past two years anyway." she teased, sitting up as he passed her. "Done?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

Barty sighed dejectedly and began packing his things into his trunk. "I really thought I got it this time, but turns out it's just as unsuccessful as the last one."

"But, you're not going to try again?"

"No, that's enough for today." he said with a tone of finality, just as he shut his trunk with all of his ingredients and failed attempts tucked away. "Fifteen- no, sixteen potions and not one that wielded results."

Alice whistled and followed him out the door. "That's a lot of stuff gone to waste. And fancy terms you're using there."

"Shut up."

They went to the Slytherin's common room for the second-year to drop off his belongings. As he went inside with his trunk floating behind him with the help of a levitation charm, Alice waited outside. Barty was careful with the password, saying it quietly to ensure his friend would not hear. She could respect that.

The girl blew the stray strand of hair away from her face, only for it to fall back to where it previously was. Boredom did not suit her well. Severus nodded to Alice when she greeted him as he passed by her. They weren't buddies, but rather acquaintances brought together by a mutual friend, Lily Evans.

"Still in love with the flower?" she called out to him as he turned a corner. Even from the distance, she could have sworn that she heard him scowl.

Barty came back out about a minute after the short encounter. "You wouldn't happen to have any wormwood, would you? I ran out and I need it for a shrinking solution tomorrow."

"Shrinking solution?" Alice inquired, ruffling his hair. "What for? You're already pretty short."

"I'm not short, I'm still growing!" the boy shouted back, indignantly. "And it's for potions tomorrow, not for personal conventions."

"You and your fancy words."

"Oh, shut it."

She held up her hands in defense. "I'm just saying."

-.-.-.-.-.-

Frank wasn't locked in his room for too long, and before they knew it, he had joined the two outside under their favorite tree. It was relatively secluded from the general mass of students and had a great view of the lake. Although the grass was wet from the snowy weather, Alice wasted no time to find a nice, dry spot for them to sit. When she figured that there was none, she promptly casted a quick spell to remedy it. The gentle snowfall was pleasant and it was a nice way to spend their Sunday afternoon.

"-and they just wouldn't stop!" Frank finished, his hands waving wildly at the air above him. His fellow Gryffindor snickered while the Slytherin remained unimpressed. "So, what have you done today?"

"Barty here has been experimenting on an anti-polyjuice potion." Alice answered before the boy, himself, could open his mouth.

"For what?" Frank asked, leaning against the trunk of the tree. "Is it another thing for your dad? Last time, you were trying to create a tracking charm."

"Yeah, something like that." Barty said, staring up at the sky. "It didn't work, though."

"Neither did that tracking charm." Frank winced. "I was hearing sirens in my head for days!"

"But it did work." he quipped. "It just wasn't obscure."

"Obscure, yeah right. If you think that would get you anywhere near whoever you're tracking, you're dead wrong."

"It's still a work in progress."

"I thought you were done!"

"Well, you thought wrong."

"I'm not letting you test it on me."

"I didn't ask to."

"You didn't last time either."

"That's because-"

"Boys!" Alice shouted loud enough for both to flinch. It didn't help them that she had used a Sonorus charm to amplify her voice. Once she got their attention, she stood up and stretched her arms. They watched for a little while as she swung her arms in circles, forward and then back.

A grin slowly imprinted itself on Frank's lips as he got up and mirrored her. Barty, on the other hand, frowned and shrinked back with his knees close to his chest.

"Come on, Barty. One round and we can call it a day." she said, taking out her wand.

"No thanks." he replied stubbornly. He was met with an undignified pout from the young witch.

"It's good practice, Bart. Who knows what could happen when you come across an evil wizard." Frank taunted, stressing the word 'evil'.

"Or witch." Alice added.

"Or witch."

Barty remained adamant, causing both fifth-years to sigh.

"Oh well. I guess it's just you and me, princess." Frank sighed as he took out his own wand. "Again."

"Seems like it." she hummed disappointedly, ignoring the nickname Frank had bestowed upon her the day they met. She held out her arm in a standby position. "Whenever you're ready."

"I'm not going easy on you just because you're a girl, you know."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Longbottom."

"Carrow."

Barty watched absently as Frank shot a disarming spell while Alice flicked it away and fired a spell of her own. The red light was knocked off course and the exchange of tossing and catching accelerated.

The light of the spells lit up the area and reflected across the water. It was only a matter of time before one of them slipped up and was hit by a stunning or binding spell. Frank shot a jelly-leg jinx and only narrowly missed, whereas Alice countered with a tickling charm.

The trio loved duelling. Well, more like Alice and Frank did, Barty often got caught in the crossfire. It did help him get ahead of his year, though. Far ahead. He had learned spells, charms, jinxes, and curses much earlier than was initially planned for his curriculum. Transfiguration, the subject he struggled the most in, was still relatively easy with his seniors' help. By the time his class learned how to turn a beetle into a button, he was working on turning a falling leaf into a butterfly. Living things from inanimate objects was a slightly more difficult than vice versa.

After a couple months of practice, Barty had caught up on enough spells to hold his ground in a duel. It wasn't enough to challenge either Alice or Frank in a one-on-one, but he was getting there.

The flurry of spells increased and made any movement a potentially fatal one. It was Alice who made the first mistake. She realized it as she backed up and tripped on the fabric of her robe. It was not enough to knock her off her feet, but her balance was disrupted. She could have recovered, but it was at that time that her opponent decided to launch a leg-locker curse.

"Locomotor Mortis!"

Her weight shifted and she had no way of correcting herself, meaning that she tipped backwards and fell, the soft but damp floor greeted her. As soon as she landed on the ground, her wand flew out of her hand and rendered her defenseless, marking Frank as the winner.

He kept his wand up for a moment longer, having not yet registered that the duel was over. A slow recognition of his friend on the snow covered grass left him grinning madly. "And the crowd goes wild!"

"Oh, shut it you- anyone want to give me a hand?" Alice grumbled, reaching as far as she could for her wand an arm's length away. "Or do you want me to struggle like a caterpillar?"

Barty smiled a little and got up to retrieve her wand. As he did so, he chanted the reversal spell. "Locomotor Gentem."

Upon receiving her wand, Alice immediately jumped up and threw a jinx at the unsuspecting target. "Tarantallegra!"

Frank had just enough time to turn around after hearing her voice before the jinx took effect. It was a dancing feet spell, and oh boy was he dancing. It was fast and relentless. Frank was bouncing around too much to properly take out his wand from his pocket, which he had put away thinking that there was no use for it for the rest of the day. "Not fair, Alice! I won that duel fair and square, so make it stop!"

Alice smirked and kept the dance going. "Not a chance, Longbottom."

"I'm sorry, okay? Just. make. it. stop!" his eyes then shifted to the other student, his last chance of hope, unless he could miraculously take out his wand or stumble over to someone willing and able to lend him a hand. "Come on, Bart, help me out here!"

The boy just stood there trying to hold in his laughter, much to Frank's dismay.

"I'm begging you!"

Alice twirled her wand in her hand. "Oo, I like that."

"Alice!" he shouted, rather than using the usual 'princess' that he reserved for her, with a hint of hurt in his voice.

"Fine, fine." she huffed, removing the spell. "It was fun while it lasted."

"Bart should have let you crawl." Frank muttered under his breath.

Barty finally broke out laughing. He held onto his stomach and tried to control his breathing, having been only one stage away from losing it and rolling around on the floor. He hadn't had such fun in a very long time. The pair of fifth-years exchanged looks (one of them glared while the other seemed amused), but soon found themselves joining him. One enjoying herself far more than her classmate, who just let out short scoff.

"Alright, guys. It wasn't that funny."

"You're right." Alice chuckled, "It was hilarious!"

"Yeah, yeah. You'd better stop it before Bart gets hurt." Frank warned, tilting his head at the Slytherin, who was having the time of his life. "We wouldn't want to have to explain to Pomfrey that he hurt himself laughing."

As if on cue, Barty stopped. His arms ceased to hug his stomach and he looked up at his upperclassmen. "Sorry." he said, sheepishly. "That was uncalled for."

"It was totally called for. I mean, did you see that footwork? Marvelous!" Alice piped in.

"It better have been. I'm an excellent dancer, if I do say so myself." Frank boasted. Alice raised an eyebrow, to which he added, "As long as I'm not jinxed to dance, thank you very much."

The girl stuck out her tongue and proceeded to taunt him all the way back to the Great Hall.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The time of the impending OWL examinations was closing in, making both Frank (who normally remained aloof toward the subject of tests and examinations) and Alice (who found tests insignificant) worried. Only a few weeks were left until their futures were to be decided.

"What is the spell that changes a boggart's form into what the caster pictures, preferably something humorous?" Barty asked, flipping through the DADA textbook. "You learned it in third year."

"Easy, Riddikulus. Give me something harder, Bart." Frank said from behind a potion's book.

"Okay, let's see… The incantation for the spell that sends red flares signalling danger from the caster's wand is?"

Frank looked up from his book with a questioning look. "There's a spell like that?"

"It's a spell we learn in first year." Barty replied with a nod, flipping to another page. "Do you know what it is?"

"Periculum." Alice answered from her chair. She was looking through her own books and was jotting down extra notes in the margins. "Right?"

"Correct. What does Fianto Duri do?" asked Barty, continuing the quick spell trivia without stopping, as was requested by the two fifth-year students.

"It casts a shield around the caster." Alice said, earning her a head shake. "What? Wait, but it's a defensive spell, right?"

"It strengthens already casted shields." Frank guessed. His face lit up when Barty nodded. "Hah! One more point for Frank!" he said, clapping his hands together.

"I was close enough." Alice bit back harshly, despite her smile.

The door to the classroom swung open, revealing a girl with auburn hair staring at the trio with confusion. "Alice!"

Frank jolted up, pointing at her with his quill in one hand and pressing his index finger to his lips with the other. "Shhhhh! We're studying!"

"Don't shush her, Frank." Alice chided before dropping her books on the table in front of her and standing up to meet her friend. "How are you, Lily?"

"I'm fine. I thought this classroom was empty." she turned slightly to Frank, who had already gone back to studying. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you three were in here."

"That's okay, don't mind him. He's not bothered by it at all." Alice assured.

"If you keep talking so loudly, then I will be bothered." Frank corrected her, giving her the stink eye.

"Bugger off, Longbottom."

"You bugger off."

Alice spun around with a gasp, faking her disbelief. "You dare?"

"Only as much as you do, princess."

Lily snickered and glanced around the room. She stopped when she noticed the look the second-year was giving her. His eyes shifted from Alice to Frank, and then back to her with a raised eyebrow and the faintest smile. Her lack of response prompted him to tilt his head at them with two sharp motions. Lily glanced at her fellow Gryffindors and mouthed to him "what?"

"What is the effect of the potion 'Amortentia'?" Barty added not so subtly, not yet taking his eyes off of the girl.

Frank groaned and tossed his quill as far as he could away from him, only to have it glide upwards and return to him in a wide arc. "That's a potion, Bart. I thought we told you to test us on spells."

"So? You still have an exam on it."

"Isn't that a love potion?" Alice asked, catching on but missing ultimately. "I think it's covered in sixth year."

"What is this, the Middle Ages?" Frank huffed, completely oblivious. You would think that he had some sort of insight as to why his friend mentioned it, seeing as he constantly calls Alice 'princess'. In reality, the poor guy was as dense as an anvil. "Why would anyone need a love potion in the first place?"

"Oh, I think I know why." Lily answered, although she was not talking to the one who had asked. She was replying to the boy with straw blonde hair. "Maybe it's to get two people to profess their love."

Barty shrugged his shoulders and looked back down to the book he was holding. "But the use of amortentia without consent can be considered illegal- taking into consideration that it has a likeness to the Imperius Curse in a loose manner. My question is if said people would work well with one another and if someone should point it out."

Lily nodded knowingly and crossed her arms with what looked like deep contemplation and thought. "It might have to wait until after the exams. We wouldn't want them to freak out before their futures are determined, especially with it being so close."

"Precisely. And-"

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Frank butted in. "And have you two met before?"

"Once, but only in passing." Barty responded, gesturing to the green lining in his robe. "Snakes don't often get along with lions, after all."

Lily thought he was hinting at another factor, but quickly realized that he couldn't have. Severus was her friend just as much as he was Alice and Frank's. The house rivalries weren't particularly damning, but the school could definitely do without it. It was always nice when there was any room for such interactions without seeming completely out of place or conflict-warranting. Plus, he wouldn't have known about the tension that was developing in her relationship with Severus. And the dilemma concerning Severus, and some other members of his house, becoming Death Eaters.

"Especially with the Dark Arts becoming so popular among the snakes." she said. That sentence made the three pairs of eyes stare at her with mixed emotions. Frank and Alice both showed concern and utter speechlessness while Barty's expression was blank. Lily felt the atmosphere tense and tried to take back what she said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, no. That's alright. I'm sure no one takes offense." Alice quickly announced to try and remedy the situation. "Plus, it's not like every snake is-"

"What is the incantation of the killing curse?" Barty interrupted. Now, all the eyes were on him and he didn't care.

"That's not on the exam, Bart." Frank said slowly. "Maybe we should stop for today and-"

"None of you know." he continued, ignoring his friend's comment. "Yes, I'm a snake. But I promise you, I'm not like that. Not every Slytherin is like that."

He then took out his wand and held it up to examine. From the corner of his eye, he saw Lily stand back with her hand reaching into her pockets for where her own wand was undoubtedly waiting.

"Yew with dragon heartstrings. From what I have heard, this would be the type of wand that would most likely incline to the Dark Arts." he paused to take in the reactions of the others.

Frank was waiting to see where this was going.

Alice was watching him with calculated worry.

Lily, however, was afraid.

That's when Barty put his wand away and locked eyes with her. "But you have to trust me that the wand is not in control. I am. I will dictate where I'm going in life, not the fact that I'm a pureblood Slytherin wizard in possession of a yew wand."

He got up and walked over to Frank's desk, returning the book he was holding.

"I'm a Crouch, after all. It won't do to sully the family name." he added as an afterthought.

Alice regained her composure and leaned against the table in front of her. "Gotta love the fancy terms."

"Shut up." Barty said, tossing the book in her general direction, which missed by a long shot and somehow managed to land on the chair three rows down from her.

"Oi, watch it, Bart!" Frank warned, standing from his chair. "What did the book ever do to you?"

"It was insulting me." he bit back sarcastically, summoning it back just to use it to smack the fifth-year's head. "Stop laughing."

"Fine. By the way, what is the incantation for the killing curse?" Frank asked, poking Barty in the ribs lightheartedly. "I might need it in case I fail my OWLs."

"Oh, no. That won't do. If you die, I'll revive you just to kill you myself." Alice chimed in, putting away her belongings and faux casted the presumed curse with her fingers, to which he responded by playing dead in the most dramatic way.

Lily witnessed the previous scene dissipate as the trio acted like none of it had ever happened. Alice and Frank brushed the entire ordeal off like it was a normal occurrence, but judging by their original reactions, it wasn't. They trusted their friend enough that he would make the right choices should the time to choose come.

Maybe she should trust her own Slytherin friend, too.

-.-.-.-.-.-

It was at the end of the school year when Alice and Frank finally got together and officially began dating. Barty was making snide remarks each time they so much as held hands, bursting like a sarcastic bean bag filled with unnecessary comments whenever they kissed, even if they thought he wasn't looking.

"What is the effect of the potion 'Amortentia'?" Barty asked them with a not-so-evil-but-still-evil grin.

The three, plus a quiet Ravenclaw, were in the same coach as they left Hogwarts behind for their summer vacation. The Ravenclaw, who was in her seventh year, stared blankly out the window and did not care for whatever the trio talked about. She did, however, hum or snicker from time to time.

"Stop it, Bart. I get it." Frank groaned and covered his face. "I swear, you are the most annoying prick I've ever met. And I've met the Marauders! You're more annoying than the four of them combined!"

"I hardly find that possible." he countered. "Besides, who was it that got your head stuck in a pumpkin for three hours?"

"I think it was James. Or was it Sirius?"

"And who got you out?"

Frank sighed dejectedly. "You. But, you get what I mean!"

"I haven't the faintest clue." Barty said innocently, although both could tell his 'innocent' facade was not working well in his favor.

"Quit teasing us, Barty. If this keeps up, I'll go mad! We might have to break up just to get you to stop." Alice complained next to Frank, burying her head in her arms.

"No." Barty gasped. " You wouldn't. I've been trying so hard to get you two to notice ever since your OWLs! No, wait… since we've met!"

"Speaking of which," Frank cut in, elongating his pause to catch Barty's attention. "We passed all the ones we need. The scores came out not too long ago, and we passed."

"We can become aurors!" Alice exclaimed, looking up from her arms for the first time since the beginning of the ride. "Imagine us: Alice and Frank, braving the world of dangers."

"It suits you both." Barty commented.

The train came to a stop at Kings Cross Station, where the trio said their goodbyes and see you laters.

"I'll be sending letters and expecting replies!" Frank called out as he left the platform with his parents. His mother gave Alice a once over and completely ignored Barty, something he wasn't very keen on.

"I think they like me." Alice whispered, fiddling with the handle of her trunk. "They seem nice."

"Not Mrs. Longbottom." Barty corrected. "She had a judging look on her face."

"I don't know." she shrugged. She then commenced her search for her family, scanning all the heads around her. "Oh, I see my mum." Alice ruffled his hair and lifted her trunk. "Bye, Barty. I'll see you next year."

"Yeah. Bye, Alice."

Barty watched the fleeting backs of both of his friends as they went their separate ways. Even after a short time, he had already begun feeling lonely.

There was no way his father was planning to pick him up if he didn't even bother to remember that he existed. His mother was in no better position, seeing as how she was in St. Mungo's. It was highly unlikely that Winky, the Crouch family's house elf, would be allowed to leave the house. This all meant that a Ministry member was waiting for him, not anyone from his family.

As always.

Barty searched for the one man that he could think of, an auror named Alastor Moody.

The man was roughly two heads taller than he was and wore the rudimentary uniform assigned to all aurors with a trench coat over it. When Barty caught sight of him, he couldn't help but notice the bags under his eyes.

"Ready to go, lad? Good, come on." he mumbled, not giving him any time to respond.

"Thanks, Moody. Can we stop by Diagon Alley before we head home?"

"I've got a job to return to, if you haven't noticed." he growled. When Barty sighed, he gave in with a "We probably have enough time for one stop."

The boy grinned as he hobbled behind him with his trunk dragging on the ground. "Thanks, Moody."

1974 Alastor Moody

Barty finished his school work within the first month of summer, which left him with nothing to do except for the occasional letters from his friends from Hogwarts and the few times Alastor Moody stopped by to visit. The visits were never for him, mind you. They were always to give something to his father during the hours he was out of work, yet still locked up in his office. The auror did, however, stay behind for a few minutes to chat with Barty, despite constantly reminding him that he had work to do.

"You know, I managed to come up with a tracker spell this year." Barty flaunted. "No incantation."

"Impressive, lad." Moody grinned. "But I bet you've never tried catching a criminal in the dead of night, right in the middle of enemy territory."

"I can't say that I have."

"Well, that's what I do for a living." he grinned, then checked the time. "Time to go. See you later, lad."

They met in a similar fashion during the summer between his first and second years at Hogwarts. It wasn't until he arrived with reports, as usual, while Winky was cleaning the sides of the chimney that Barty met him face-to-face.

Winky had yelped and knocked over a vase, shattering it on the floor next to her. Moody had taken it upon himself to clean the mess up, using a simple 'reparo' on the broken porcelain and a 'scourgify' on the the stone chimney.

"Winky?" Barty called from his room, having heard the sound of the vase crashing on the floor. "Are you okay?"

"I is fine, Master Barty." she shouted back across the halls.

"Who was that?" Moody asked the house elf. "Did Mr. Crouch get… younger?"

"Oh. He is Master Crouch son, sir."

"Who are you talking to?" Barty inquired, coming down the hall. "Is it father?"

When he came into the room, he stared at the unknown wizard with a disappointed expression.

"I guess not."

"You must be Mr. Crouch's son. I didn't know he had a child."

"Not many people do, apparently." he agreed. "Father rarely ever speaks of me unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Alastor Moody." the man greeted, holding out his hand. "And you are?"

"Bartemius Crouch." he replied, shaking the offered hand. When the man raised an eyebrow, he included "Junior."

"Ah. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with your father."

"He's in his office, as usual. I'll see you around, Alastor Moody."

Ever since then, their run ins became more frequent. Sometimes, when Barty visited the Ministry, he stopped by the Auror Department just to say hello (and to annoy the man). When Alastor was in the neighborhood, he would come around under the pretense of giving Mr. Crouch an update on his search for criminals, when in reality, he was getting back at the boy.

-.-.-.-.-.-

During the first half of August, when Moody went to the Crouch residence as he so often did, he brought with him a new trunk that was bigger on the inside. It was a gift he picked out for Barty's birthday, a little detail he failed to share so Moody found out on his own. (And by 'on his own', it meant the owl that ran into him two days prior from a person named Alice Carrow wishing Barty the "happiest of birthdays and I promise, I'll give you your present when we get back to Hogwarts.")

"This is for you." he said, handing over the trunk before stepping through the entrance.

"Thanks… what for?"

Moody gave him a questioning look and shook his head. "Isn't it your birthday today?"

"Oh. Oh, yeah. It is." he murmured. "Thank you."

While the conversation may have started with a touching moment with Barty staring wide-eyed down the opening of the trunk, it quickly transformed into their normal talk of progress and how they'd been doing for the past few days.

"I caught a guy trying to smuggle in dragon pelts from the east. I have to say, not as interesting as my other cases, but it's something and it's recent." Moody said over a cup of tea. "What have you been doing all summer?"

"I finished a project I'd been working on since early this year. It's an anti-polyjuice potion, although it does have some undesired side effects."

Moody looked up from his cup and leaned back on the armchair. "How about that tracking spell?"

"I don't know if it's getting any better since I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school." Barty shrugged. "I can still practice it in my head, but the repercussions are unknown, if there are any. It should be near perfect, though."

The man took out his wand and set his cup on the coffee table. "How do you do it?"

Barty blinked a few times before processing his words. Then, he grinned and hopped off the couch. "You need to have a visual connection with your target before casting and the movement is rather simple. You have to visualize a map with a dot on it. Imagine that dot has a name."

Moody creased his eyebrows and stared at him with uncertainty, but did as he was told.

"Okay, now an incantation should be used to guarantee the spell to work, but I haven't exactly come up with one yet. It makes it a bit harder, but it still works."

"Choose a word in Latin." Alastor said, interrupting the motion he was supposed to perform. "Most spells are in Latin."

"I don't know any words in Latin, aside from those borrowed in English, so that doesn't really help." Barty snorted.

"Vestigium."

"Vesti- what?" He thought about it and formed an 'o' with his mouth. "That'll work."

"Alright, then." Moody grinned, proceeding with the wand movements and picturing what Barty had told him to picture. He ended it with the wand tip pointing at the cup on his table and chanting the newly coined incantation. Almost instantly, in the corner of his mind, information on the cup's whereabouts popped up. He only needed to think about it in order to get the details. "This is genius, Crouch!" he awed, staring off into the sea of invisible information so similar to a dot on an incredibly well drawn map.

"It lasts for a while. At most, up to four days, I think. But the added words might bolster its results."

They stopped talking when they heard the door to Mr. Crouch's office opened with a creak and a moan. The man entered the room looking no better than a burnt out candle. "Oh, Alastor. I didn't expect you until evening."

"I didn't plan on coming so early, I apologize." he said quickly and bowed his head a little. "Your son was just teaching me a new spell."

"Is that so…" Barty bit his lip as his father glanced at him. "And what did he teach you that you did not already know?"

"Something I came up with myself, father." he answered, gaining the man's full attention. "And I was hoping I could show it to you. It could help you with the-"

"I doubt it would."

Moody's eyes widened at the reply and watched as Barty tried to recover his words. Alastor spoke up when he noticed the boy opening his mouth to say something but closing it without giving himself another chance. "It works brilliantly, Mr. Crouch. If you would allow him to show you, then-"

"I believe it is time you returned to work, Alastor."

He shut his mouth the same way the boy had done. When he opened it once more, it was to say "Yes sir." Nothing more, nothing less. Moody didn't so much as glance at Barty as he went for the door, not wanting to see the rest of his reaction. He did, however, whisper "Happy Birthday, lad" before closing the front door behind him.

From then on, Moody's visits came to a stop and Barty guessed his father had something to do with it, since he had begun to work at the Ministry for longer hours. Doing so meant there was no reason for Moody to come by the house when he could just speak with the man at their workplace.

It wouldn't be until six years later, at a certain trial, that the two met again.

1974 Mother

Once that summer in mid-July, Barty and his father went to St. Mungo's to visit his mother. She'd been terminally ill for as long as he could remember. That was the first time that year that he had be with both of his parents.

Mr. Crouch sat silently to the side and stared at his wife as she smiled at them both.

She was the one to break the silence in the end. "My, my. Why must we greet each other with such sorrow?"

Barty stood by her bed as she tried to get up. With a gentle hand, he helped her.

"Thank you, dear." He smiled and remained standing. She sighed at their stubborness and held her son's hand tightly with her left. "How are you doing in school?"

"Um. I'm doing well."

She frowned and shook her head. "No, that's not what I want to hear. How are you fitting in? Do you have any friends? You've never talked to me about them before."

Mr. Crouch cleared his throat, pulling her eyes from the boy to him. "Enough of that. How are you doing? Are you getting better? Do you feel better?"

The woman hummed as she thought. "I'm much better now that you two came to visit me. It does not suit me well that my husband and my son so rarely come by." she replied, booping said son's nose. "As for my health," she continued in order to stop the man from speaking. "The doctors say that I can be home for Christmas. But that is so far away…"

"Don't push yourself, sweetheart. You can take as much time as you need to recover." Bartemius Senior said, moving closer to the bed. "We can wait."

"But I can't." she spat. "I don't want to stay here for the rest of my life. I want to be with my family. I want to be with you two! But this- this sickness is ruining that." She calmed herself a little before continuing. "I wish you would visit more often. I understand that you have work and Junior has school, but I…"

"I know." he whispered as he held his wife's right hand in between his. "I know." he repeated, before kissing her forehead.

"I can't wait for Christmas." she said in a voice that was barely audible. "I can't wait until I can be with both of you again."

"Neither can I, mother." Barty replied, hugging her arm affectionately. "There is so much I want to show you."

For a moment, time stayed still for them. The family held hands, said a few encouraging words, and enjoyed their reunion. The woman fell asleep at one point with a smile was plastered on her face. Neither the boy nor the man bothered to wake her and took it as a sign to leave.

Barty briefly wondered if she would ever get better, but that option seemed to have been lost years ago. Mr. Crouch pulled himself away from his wife's hand and laid her back down on the bed in a comfortable position. He watched as her chest rose and fell with each breath and thought to himself how terrible it would be for her to have her last breath without him being there with her during her last moments.

Steeling himself, he turned and walked out the door, his son following close behind.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Junior!" the woman with straw blonde hair called out. She swooped down and picked up the six month old baby before he could burn himself with the fire for the cauldron. "Don't touch the fire."

He blinked and held onto her robe. "Mahmuh?"

"Fire hurts, my little hippogriff. I don't want you to get hurt." He giggled and found himself highly intrigued by her hair.

She smiled at him and left her potions room, a place she loved to spend her time in experimenting on new concoctions. She sat down next to her husband and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Don't overwork yourself, dear."

The man ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed loudly at his paper. "The deadline is tomorrow and this is driving me insane."

"We can't let that happen, now can we?" she scoffed, pecking him on the cheek once more before heading to the kitchen. "I rather like you sane."

"And I'd like to keep my sanity in one piece just as much as you do." he retorted, looking up just as she moved out of sight.

The woman flicked her wand at the stove and set a pan on the heat. Oil, seasonings, tomatoes and other ingredients flew into the pan and simmered on its hot surface. Winky, the house elf, entered with a broom in her hands and quickly discarded it in favor of helping her master's wife prepare a meal.

The woman placed her son on his highchair and began setting up the table. She had just managed to distribute the food on four plates when a wave of nausea hit her. The pan hit the floor and she collapsed on the ground. Her breathing was uneven and the temperature in her body was rising.

The boy, surprised by the noise and sudden movement, cried. Winky was already at the woman's side, tending to her as she awaited the arrival of her master.

The man came in groggily, having been angry to have his work be disturbed. His eyes widened when he saw his wife on the floor. His heart stopped. He was not ready to lose her. Not yet.

She was taken to St. Mungo's immediately, where the experts diagnosed her with blood malediction; a lifelong, debilitating, and sometimes fatal curse passed down from her ancestor. How she had only had symptoms showing at that time, and not far earlier in her life, was something of a concern.

"It might have been stimulated by performing something taxing on her body, like giving birth." the doctor said with a clipboard in his hands. "It has reached a stage of fatality, sir. I'm afraid that it's only the matter of time until she-"

"Are you sure you cannot cure it?"

The doctor lowered his head and spoke softly. "Not with today's medicinal magic, but we can try, sir." Of course, that meant that she was not allowed to leave the hospital without the proper equipment and personnel capable of assisting her. It was likely that she would never step foot outside the hospital again.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Barty opened his eyes and stared at the roof. He couldn't remember what he had been dreaming of and he didn't particularly care to know. It was vague and blurry, as if it were seen through the eyes of a baby who was still fascinated by his fingers and toes to the point of testing if he could fit them in his mouth.

"Dormio Somnus." he recited, pointing at the ceiling as if he were holding his wand. "Engorgio. Reducio. Accio. Depulso. Lumos. Nox. Obliviate." His index finger stopped midway from completing the wand movement. He inhaled and exhaled, letting his hand fall from its outstretched position.

School was starting again relatively soon and his days of doing nothing by himself were coming to an end. The sweet, methodical routine of a Hogwarts student had not left his mind and he was itching to return.