Author's Note:

This fic was written as part of the Wordsmiths and Betas Rare Pairing Competition. It won Best Plot and was the runner up for Best Character Development.

Aphelion

Aphelion (noun): the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid, or comet at which it is furthest from the sun. The opposite of perihelion.

I.

According to the headlines, Barty Crouch Jr. was an evil man. Deranged. Violent. There were a lot of words the newspapers used to describe him but none were the one's Aurora Sinistra was looking for each time she saw his face staring back at her in black and white: Passionate, brilliant, perhaps even tragic. Because before he was a convicted felon, a Death Eater and the monster of the media circuit he was just Barty, the beautiful boy who had made her world a little less lonely.

They were eleven-years-old when the pair first met. She remembered the day at King's Crossing, her father stood like a calm stoic statue of ancient Greece as he watched his first-born daughter begin her journey to Hogwarts. Her mother fought back the tears as she fussed with Aurora's collar repeatedly. They had only recently made their journey back to Europe after spending decades in Uganda. The decision to send their daughter to Hogwarts instead of Uagadou had mostly been made by Mr. Sinistra, an alumnus of the school himself.

"Remember who you are, Aurora," the woman had said to her.

"I am a Sinistra," the daughter replied in the rehearsed poise her parents had instilled in her. The very same words she would tell her reflection over the years to come when other girls would pick on her, when she would feel ostracized and different.

She was a Sinistra. She was not meant to be normal. She was not a dim star in the night sky but the fiery sun that lit up the solar system.

Barty didn't have anyone to send him off that day save the small figure of his family's house elf. When he boarded the train, he didn't crowd around the windows as the other children did, waving their final goodbyes eagerly to loved ones. Instead he settled into a compartment alone, unsure of how he was supposed to feel. The anticipation and uncertainty of being so far away from home seemed all at once exciting and terrifying.

"May I sit here?" A quiet voice broke him from his thoughts. The small girl stood in the compartment doorway, waiting for the invitation to sit. Barty nodded shyly. He had never spent much time around girls, least of all a pretty one and felt the heat of embarrassment creep up his neck.

The girl said nothing as she took her seat, looking out the window as trees and hills whooshed by them and the steady clank of the train echoed through the small space. If she noticed him staring, the witch made no indication.

"I'm Barty," he blurted out eventually. The words came tumbling out of his mouth in such a sudden burst that the young girl jumped. Sheepishly, he added. "It's my first time going to Hogwarts."

She smiled and the tug of her lips made Barty's stomach do a flip. "My name is Aurora, it's my first time too."

II.
From the moment they met on Hogwarts Express, Barty would spend the next several years doing anything to make Aurora smile. Sorted into Slytherin together, they were never far apart in the classroom or walking down the halls. By third-year they could be seen holding hands and although no declarations had ever been officially made, for all intents and purposes, they were considered a couple in the eyes of the student body.

They spoke little to anyone else and between the two they built an entire world where only they existed. A glance, a subtle nod; tiny gestures that could speak volumes in a special language only they knew.

Except after class one day Barty went to meet her outside the Transfiguration classroom. It was part of their routine; each day he escorted her back to the common room before dinner. Only this time she was nowhere to be found. A handful of girls looked at him and snickered as they walked out of the room.

Apprehension washed over him and continued to grow when he couldn't find Aurora anywhere. When she did not appear in the Great Hall for dinner, he excused himself before the first course was even served. It was several hours later he made the harrowing climb up the Astronomy Tower. It was off limits to students, condemned until renovations could be made; he had remembered how distraught Aurora had been when they closed it. That was months ago but having looked everywhere else, Barty knew he couldn't rule it out until he looked for himself.

And like a vision from a dream, there she was. Her silhouette was outlined by the light of the waning moon. It was a cloudless night, the sort of evening he knew Aurora loved more than anything else. She was perfectly still but when he approached Barty saw tear tracks staining her ebony cheeks.

"Rorie," he said with relief. "Where have you been? What happened?"

"I am sorry to make you worry," she said quietly as she turned to meet his gaze. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her gently, communicating his concern and tasting her sadness.

"Tell me, love. We don't keep secrets, tell me what happened?" He said coaxingly when she hesitated to say anything more. Aurora closed her eyes and felt comforted by his arms as they enveloped her.

"Susan Montgomery from Gryffindor and her friends kept casting hexes at me whenever the professor wasn't looking," she said and tried to stifle another wave of tears. "They kept saying such horrible things, Barty. I am so ashamed."

Rage swirled in Barty's blood as she retold him the details, he patted her hair and hugged her tighter. "You have nothing to be ashamed about, my sweet."

"Yes," she said fiercely. "Yes I do. I ran away from them, I ran out of that class as fast as I could. A Sinistra never runs away. We never let our enemies see us hurt."

She was shaking now, forcing herself to physically hold back from crying. Barty pulled her away from him just enough so she could see a glint of something dark in his e yes. Even decades into the future and Aurora would never forget the chill that struck her core when Barty said: "Then let's make it the last time it ever happens again."

It was months later when tragedy struck the Gryffindor House and their star athlete Susan Montgomery died when she fell from her broom during practice. The whole school mourned the witch's death but as the headmaster delivered a moving eulogy to the assembled students, Aurora saw the minutia of a smile tugging at Barty's lips.

III.
They were eighteen and basking in the glow of their imminent graduation. "I can think of a few ways we can celebrate," he said with a devilish grin as he pinned her against the wall. The hallway was empty but not for long as soon students would be trickling back to their quarters for bed.

"Here?"

"I don't see why not!" He retorted back.

Aurora bit her lip and stifled a giddy laugh as he kissed her neck. Barty was the only one who could make her laugh, who could shatter the icy wall she built around herself. He reveled in his power and the privilege to know Aurora in a way no one else could.

She broke away from him and grabbed his hand. "I have an idea."

They made it out the courtyard and down to the lake before Aurora had her hand around the back of his neck, pulling the tall man down to her level for a deep kiss. His hands moved deftly over her blouse, unbuttoning as she did the same until they were both undressed and tangled in each other's embrace in the cool evening grass.

Barty pinned her to the ground and she moaned softly as he thrust himself, his lips tracing a path along her neck eagerly. She moved her hips against his with fierce intensity until it was his turn to moan with pleasure. Quickly his hand crept between her legs, touching her until she was ready to scream.

When they finished they were both naked, panting and out of breath from exhilaration. Nestled close to his body, Aurora laid her head on his chest and watched the starlit sky above. "Tell me again," he whispered and Aurora would list the names of each constellation dotting the inky map of blackness above them.

It felt surreal but also comforting, perfect even. In that moment and those to follow as she drifted off to sleep, nothing else seemed to matter but the comforting rise and fall of Barty's chest and the steady rhythm of his heart beneath her ear. It was the only world she needed.

IV.

After they graduated, Barty and Aurora rented an apartment together and those first eight months were blissful. But then the death tolls came and murmurs of a Dark Lord and his followers plagued the conversations of the wizarding community.

"Be safe," Aurora would whisper into Barty's ear as he left for work each morning.
He always smiled and promised he had nothing to fear. She never thought to ask him why but by the time she learned the answer to the unasked question it was too late. She had already lost him.

Aurora no longer looked to the night sky for comfort like she had when they were younger, her beautiful stars were marred with billowing green clouds and the face of a hideous skull burned into sky as Death Eaters made their Mark known to the world.

One night Barty came home looking troubled. His hair was matted to his face from sweat, his complexion pale and sickly. She begged Barty for an explanation but the words never came. He recoiled from her touch and screamed that he was fine. The truth swallowed the room and left Aurora with a dull ache in her chest: For the first time in the years together, he was keeping a secret from her. It was then that Aurora felt the first rumble that the world they had created for each other was beginning to crumble.

As the months drew on, she slowly saw the love of her life unravel. He was orbiting farther and farther away from her and even as she fought against gravity, the force that was pulling them apart was stronger than her. Stronger than their love. Even so, she couldn't leave him. To abandon him was to abandon the world they had built. It wasn't until she saw the Mark on his arm as slept that she realized the decision had been for her.

She stared at her reflection and summoned her strength, I am a Sinistra. I am a Sinistra, she told the witch in the mirror. I am the sun, burning bright in the sky. My light cannot be diminished. I will stand alone.

And then she packed her things and disappeared.

V.
Being back at Hogwarts was disorienting as his past and present collided. Barty walked the hallways and relieved the memories of darting to one class from the next, only this time instead of donning the Slytherin green and silver he was dressed in a professor's robes. Or rather, Alastor Moody was dressed in a professor's robes and he was merely masquerading as the eccentric wizard. A steady brew of Polyjuice made his guise the perfect cover for his mission.

He had been eager to carry out his Master's wishes, getting close to Harry Potter and orchestrating the teenager's place in the Triwizard Tournament. Nothing could deter him from his task except—her.

Aurora was still every bit as beautiful as he remembered. Which surprised him. Barty had not let himself think of her for years. When he had been thrown into Azkaban, memories of her were the first thing he pushed away. Every time her face crossed his mind the Dementors would surround him, devouring every glimpse into the joy he once had known.

Seated beside the Headmaster, a professor now herself, Aurora's gaze flickered to him but he knew it wasn't him she saw. She saw the marred and weathered face of Alastor Moody but a part of Barty wanted her to see him, wanted her to see the real him. He came close to telling her the truth that year. A part of Barty figured that perhaps this time around if he told her everything she wouldn't leave. That had been his mistake, so many years ago, Barty had broken the one rule to their world: No secrets.

He kept his distance from her until one night, as all the school's population gathered for the Yule Ball. Barty was mesmerized by the way she glided into the ballroom, her emerald gown stitched in silver.

Green had always been Aurora's color, he thought to himself. Transfixed, Barty watched her stand at a distance. Her expression was unreadable and Barty ached to know what was going on inside her beautiful mind. She caught his gaze from across the room and offered a faint cordial smile.

Barty wanted to taste her lips, to remember what they felt like against his own. A tug of the past overrode his sense to blend in, to remain unnoticed. He crossed the ballroom, hobbling on Moody's peg leg. There was a look of surprise across her face as he approached and asked her to dance. She hid her discomfort behind a mask of politeness as she took his out stretched hand.

I have missed you terribly, Barty wanted to say as they awkwardly moved in some out of step version of a waltz. Instead he said nothing. I missed the way you smiled only for me, the way your hair always smelled like the wild winds and jasmine in June. Even as they danced mere inches apart, she felt so far away from him. As the music stopped, he stepped away and gave her an uncoordinated bow.

She curtsied in return.

"Thank you for the dance, Rorie," he said quietly as she turned to walk away. Aurora froze in her step, caught off guard by what he had called her. When she spun to look at him he was already gone.

VI.
Barty's death wasn't the glorious valiant ending he had imagined it would be. Instead as he was marched to his execution, or at least as much of an execution one could describe from a Dementor's Kiss, he felt the tremble of disappointment wash over him. His Dark Lord was not going to save him; his purpose had been served. But strangely it wasn't the Dark Lord he had even expected to see.

Would she be there? He wondered hopefully.

Cornelius Fudge and Minerva McGonagall were the only figures save the terrible creature waiting in the field. As he got closer, he could feel the Dementor's familiar presence and felt the hope drain from him. The panic in his chest rose with each hard thump of his heart rattling in his rib cage.

"Any last words Crouch?" Fudge asked him with feigned authority. Barty shot him a maniacal smile and lurched at him in an act that made the Minister flinch instinctively. The Death Eater laughed and Fudge muttered "lunatic" under his breath.

Shoved to his knees, Barty leveled his gaze defiantly upon the Dementor. A flicker of movement caught his eye past the creature. He would never know for sure but in the distance he swore he saw Aurora.

Barty closed his eyes as the Dementor descended upon him, searing away every memory. The last thought that crossed his mind was a starry sky, cold grass and the feel of her hand intertwined in his. He expelled his last breath as Barty Crouch Junior but the echo of his soul screaming reverberated as it was shredded to pieces. When the Dementor parted from him, nothing but a shell of the former wizard remained.

In the distance Aurora felt an inexplicable pang as something in her died too.