Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling. No money is being made.

Collection of related one-shots, in chronological order, pertaining to Barty and Harry.

Written for the Harry Potter Halloween Collection Competition

Prompt: (word) Haunt(ed)

(weather) Thunder & Lightening Storm


Far Too Late

His small trip to Azkaban haunted him. That place was poison. It infested you, tainted you, and it never truly left you. He hadn't stayed long, but it had been enough to bring him to his knees.

It had also been a wake-up call. He had broken, and Harry had picked up the pieces.

How had he gotten so involved? How had he allowed it? Harry was the enemy. His Lord would kill Harry by the end of the school year, and where would that leave Barty? Nursing the broken pieces of his heart. Though, this time Barty wasn't sure he would be able to recover.

Barty couldn't let that happen. He had gotten too close, he was even courting with betraying his Lord! He hadn't reported anything pertaining to Harry that wasn't common knowledge to his Lord. It was simply unacceptable. He was loyal, he would stay loyal, no matter how much it may pain him to do so.

He had to keep his distance from Harry, it was the only way.


It had been a week since he had seen Harry. He had changed the password to his quarters and hadn't given the new one to Harry. When Harry had knocked on his door he hadn't answered. The worst thing about it? Harry had stopped coming after the second day.

Was he that easy to replace? Had it meant so little to Harry that after two days he was over it?

Barty tried telling himself that it was fine, perfectly fine. It was what he wanted after all, he had wanted to keep his distance from Harry, hadn't he? Well, objective achieved: Harry was staying away. So, everything was just fine.

Barty snorted, turning on his bed. Yeah, fine… it was so fine that he couldn't sleep. So fine that he spent most of his days thinking about Harry. It was so fine, in fact, that he wanted nothing more than to hunt the teen down, shove him against the nearest flat surface and ravish those tempting lips. See? Everything was perfectly fine.

He sighed and turned once more, facing the window and seeing the thunderstorm warring outside. Barty brought down the silencing charms around the room, letting the sound of thunder fill his ears. He had always enjoyed storms. They were humbling, and wizards sometimes needed that experience.

Lightening flashed and the door to his room banged open.

In a heartbeat he had his wand pointing at the intruder, only to freeze when he saw blazing, green eyes locked on him.

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts, then he frowned. "Harry? How did you come in?" Not the best question he could ask, but he was at a loss for words.

Harry sneered, green eyes narrowing. "One of the Founders of this school was Salazar Slytherin, a parselmouth. Every entrance has a parseltongue override."

Well… that would explain a lot of things, actually; such as Harry moving through the school with such ease.

"Why are you here?"

Harry's eyes narrowed further. "Why am I here?" Thunder rumbled outside, as if to make up for Harry's silent rage. Barty had to stop a shiver from running down his spine. Dear Merlin, it was such an arousing sight. Rage looked delicious on Harry.

Slowly, looking far too much like a predator, Harry walked towards his bed. Harry put one knee on the bed, then another, and started crawling towards him. Barty was frozen in place. Harry crawled over his body, forcing Barty to lay flat on his back, looking up into bright, green eyes. Lightening flashed once more, bringing Harry's features into sharp contrast. Barty's breath caught.

"Why am I here?" Harry whispered, leaning closer. "Did you really think I would let you just… walk away?" Barty shivered when a small smirk spread on Harry's lips. Harry leaned further in, nuzzling against his neck. Barty's hands fastened on the sheets at his side when Harry's warm breath caressed his ear. "It's far too late for that, Barty."

Barty closed his eyes, surrendering, and outside the storm raged on.