Disclaimer: I own nothing, only OC. Information about Ananke is mostly from Wikipedia.
Thanks to those who reviewed previous chapter :) Hope you'll like this one. I have to say, Greyback seriously creeps me out. In my opinion he's far more frightening than old Voldy is. Really.
Rose was shaking violently under the covers. She hadn't come down for supper, she hadn't cared if Crouch would punish her or not. He had already hurt her and planned to do it again, obedience wouldn't help her in any way. Her days of peace had ended.
She had to think of some way to escape this hell. It was clear now that her husband would kill her immediately after the birth of his heir. Winky would bring up Rose's child, surely to be a Death Eater. Rose felt a rush of anger at the thought of her child, being ignored and neglected by its father, brainwashed and trained to kill mudbloods. Alone, motherless. Who would be with Winky, who was a good creature but couldn't protect the child from the danger that the Death Eaters posed. She hadn't protected Barty. He grew up to be insane and cruel, a fate that Rose didn't want for her baby.
For now, she wasn't pregnant, but that soon could change. Rose let out a small whimper, thinking of her still non-existent offspring. She pitied him, or her, for being born from violence and insanity. Sometimes she wished she was barren, so she wouldn't bring any children to this world, to suffer from their father's curses and Lord Voldemort's wrath. Nevertheless, that thought brought her even more pain. Rose had always wanted to have a family, with a loving husband and healthy kids. She would love her child, regardless of Crouch being its father.
The night went on and Rose fell into light slumber, plagued by dreams of a child without a face, calling for her desperately as if its life depended on it. She woke up the next morning and saw Winky, standing near the door.
"Good morning, Mistress!" she greeted shakily. "Master left yesterday on important business. He told Winky that Mistress is to spend all day in her bedroom. It's forbidden to go out. Winky will serve breakfast here."
Rose wasn't surprised. Crouch wanted to show her where her place was.
"When will he be back?" she asked, not really caring in slightest.
"Master has left just before the supper. He will be back tomorrow."
"I hope he dies and never returns," said Rose flatly. Winky gasped in shock.
"No, no, no! You must not tell such horrible things! Mistress isn't a good girl today!" the house-elf was clearly angered, afraid of her precious master being hurt. The girl just smiled coldly.
"Your Master isn't a good boy either, so we're a good match."
"Mistress must not tell such things, she must not," said Winky, sobbing all of sudden.
Rose stared at her, feeling a pang of guilt she knew she shouldn't feel. It was her who had to live with a nutter who would torment her and Winky had pity only for him, not for her. Nonetheless, Rose had a soft heart. Too soft. She finally reached for the small creature.
"I'm sorry Winky, I didn't want to upset you. I had a fight with my husband but that doesn't mean I have the right to take it on you."
Winky wept louder. She started to rock back and forth, clearly heartbroken. Rose was shocked; she didn't know that her words would have such an impact on the house-elf.
"W-winky saw!" the creature wailed. Rose froze, before saying: "You saw what?"
"The fight! Winky wasn't supposed to see! M-master Barty hurt his Mistress! B-b-but Winky knows he's a good boy!" She cried even harder.
"It's all their fault!" she suddenly squawked in anger, her tiny fists clenched. "Those evil wizards, they drove young master into those horrible things! Oh, my poor old Mistress, they killed her, they killed her!"
'No,' thought Rose. 'It was Barty who killed her. He's cold and calculated.'
But she couldn't bring herself to tell Winky something like that. The house-elf was wrong and seemed to be mad with loyalty. She would die first, than let someone insult her family.
'I am a part of that blasted family too,' Rose thought bitterly, 'But it doesn't matter. I'm just a tool to use and throw away.'
It took some time for Winky to calm down. She apologized to Rose for her behavior and left to prepare breakfast. Rose had had enough. She sincerely wanted to die. She liked Winky, but her blind loyalty towards Barty was just purely unfair. The girl knew that the house-elf didn't have any choice and couldn't defend her, but it still hurt. It hurt to finally know how thoroughly alone she truly was.
Now Rose wouldn't be able even to talk to her husband. No more sitting together in the library. She shivered at the next thought: 'he'll probably rape me, in the most brutal way, next time he comes to me'. It was a bitter realization, that as far as for now she hadn't been treated that badly. But now everything would change. No more painting, no more wandering through the hallways.
Those dreadful thoughts were interrupted by Winky, who arrived with breakfast and a couple of books.
"Winky apologizes for her earlier outburst, Winky is a bad house-elf to talk to her Mistress like that! Winky brought some books from the library, it's not much but Mistress won't be bored until Master returns."
Rose smiled at the little servant.
"It's okay now. I know it must be hard for you too."
Winky returned her smile with sparkling eyes and bowed so low that she nearly swept the floor with her ears.
Rose ate her meal, bathed, and returned to bed. She was tired, very tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep, forget.
She woke up when it was getting already dark. Her heart quickened at the thought of her husband returning in the morning. This constant fear was wearing her out. To distract herself, she reached for the books that Winky brought. They were obviously picked randomly. One love story, one guidebook to care of magical creatures, and one old book of Greek myths. The girl opened the last one. She really loved those stories. She read about Heracles, the birth of Athena, along with the one about king Midas and Apollo. Time passed quickly, and it was very late when Rose came upon a myth which she wasn't familiar with.
"In Greek mythology, Ananke was the personification of destiny, necessity and fate, depicted as holding a spindle. She marks the beginning of the cosmos, along with Chronos, her mate. She was seen as the most powerful dictator of all fate and circumstance which meant that mortals, as well as the Gods, respected her and paid her homage. Considered as the mother of the Fates according to one version, she is the only one to have control over their decisions. No one could escape her. She drives the rotation of the heavens and the never-ending passage of time.
There is a myth that describes one of few encounters between the goddess and humans. A man named Anacletus, came once to the temple of Ananke, and stole the golden spindle which the statue of the goddess held in her hand.
The priests were distressed, because the spindle was sacred and such sacrilege would certainly bring the wrath of Ananke upon Greece. They were right in their fear because the angry goddess sent dreadful plagues upon the country.
People were dying from mysterious illnesses everywhere and all of the harvest was destroyed by storms. The suffering continued until Anacletus' wife discovered that it was her husband that committed such a crime against the gods. She was broken-hearted, but understood her duty to the inhabitants of Greece.
She tried to persuade Anacletus to return stolen treasure, but he wouldn't listen. Hearing his refusal, she reached for a knife and killed him, weeping in grief, for she loved him greatly. However, she knew that the fate of Greece was more important than her selfish feelings. When Ananke received her spindle back, she rewarded the widow with an amulet that could grant one wish.
It didn't bring any happiness to Analectus' wife though, for she desired only one thing: to be with her husband again. And the Amulet of Ananke could grant any wish, other than bringing people back from the dead and giving immortality, because death was a necessity and the fate of every man and thus was unavoidable. The poor widow mourned the death of her husband until she herself died and the Amulet had disappeared from earth."
Rose sat silently for a while after reading the story. Such an amulet would be priceless if it was real. Voldemort would kill for this kind of treasure. But he couldn't have wished for immortality and that was his greatest desire. The Amulet would be useless to him. Unless he'd wish for the death of Harry Potter...Rose shivered at the thought. You-Know-Who was sufficiently powerful as he was now, without such facilities. The girl wondered for a moment if Crouch had read that book and told his master about this myth, but soon rejected that idea. Both Voldemort and Crouch held muggle things in disdain and wouldn't believe in a word of some silly, muggle stories. There must be another way to gain immortality, given that Voldemort managed to survive the killing curse that rebounded from Harry Potter. Would he ever die? Was there anyone who could destroy him? Was it really possible, or were they just deluding themselves, believing in something that could not happen?
The hours passed until Rose finally succumbed to sleep.
She was woken up by a loud bang on the door. She barely managed to fully open her eyes, when the door burst open and Barty strode in. He was wearing a navy blue frock coat and black waistcoat. He pulled out his pocket watch and quickly checked the time before saying:
"Hurry up and get dressed. We will receive guests after breakfast."
Rose blinked a couple of times, still not fully awake.
"Who?"
"You'll see. Now get up, we'll eat earlier today. Don't make me repeat myself."
The girl stared at him with disbelief as he sat in one of the armchairs with an expectant look on his face.
"Well?" he growled. "What are you waiting for?"
"I am not going anywhere," she heard her own voice saying.
Crouch for once looked surprised and to be honest, Rose was surprised too. She didn't know why she told him that, but decided that it was high time to start defending herself. If he wanted to torture her, let him do it for a reason at least.
"I'm not asking you for a consent, you foolish girl," Barty drawled after he had regained his composure. "We have guests and you are expected to receive them in the living room, whether you like it or not."
Rose felt a rush of anger at his words. First he was torturing her and then he was expecting her to entertain his friends, like they were a normal married couple.
"Don't tell me your precious master finally gathered his courage and left his lair. Is he going to check on me, about how is our breeding going? He won't be too happy that his little pet didn't manage to impregnate me. Maybe he'll replace you with some other Death Eater, as he himself is unable for sure."
As soon as those reckless words left her stupid mouth she knew that she crossed the line. In a moment Crouch was on the bed, hissing like a snake and darting out his tongue, his hand around her neck, the other one seizing her hands and holding them above her head in a strong grip.
"I forbid you to talk about him like this, you filthy little..." he rasped. His entire form shook.
Rose struggled in his grip and managed to say:
"You can kill me now! Go on, do me a favor!"
That sentence earned her a slap across the face. Seeing the opportunity when Crouch wasn't holding her neck, she started to fight back even more. She screamed and called him names until her voice became hoarse. He was furious. They struggled for some time until Rose grew tired and ceased her resistance. Barty was still holding her wrists, his grip so strong that it would surely leave bruises. Both of them were breathing heavily, exhausted, watching each other with disdain. Rose was sure that she would be Crucio'ed on the spot for her behavior.
Her mind was slightly blurred from the effort of fighting and the annoying smell of Barty's aftershave was making her dizzy. Oh, how much she hated that stupid man. He was still looking at her, clearly outraged, darting his tongue in a snake-like way. The seconds passed and his eyes moved down, from her eyes to her parted lips. The look on his face made Rose shiver in fear and something entirely else she couldn't describe.
"You'll dress now and come down for breakfast. That's an order," Barty said in a low tone, still looking at her lips. Rose was breathing heavily, trying to gather her senses. Finally she managed to tell him to get off, which brought back his attention to her eyes. He released her hands. Still shaking slightly, probably from anger, he left the bedroom without another word.
Rose lay still, completely terrified. Not by the fact that her husband could kill her in an instant for her foolish back talking. Not by the fact that some 'friends' of his were going to pay them a visit. She still felt dizzy from his scent and saw the look he gave her just before he left. Those stupid, absurd feelings she encountered whenever he came near her or came to her bedroom started to grow. Rapidly. She must destroy them, before they became more dangerous.
'It's just the solitude,' she repeated in her head while dressing. 'I just miss someone's company, that's all. He tortured me and hit me, twice!' The small voice in her head told her that she earned that second slap by angering an already outraged dragon, but Rose quickly dismissed it. She was confused and devastated by her own foolish reactions. She felt like she was going mad, just like her dear husband.
After breakfast, Barty led her to the living room. Their guests were already there.
The first thing Rose noticed, with relief, was that You-Know-Who wasn't there. Unfortunately, the people who were sitting in the room were nearly as unpleasant to be with as he was.
On the couch sat Lucius Malfoy with his sister-in-law, Bellatrix Lestrange. They had nearly identical smirks plastered on their faces. In the corner stood a tall, broad-shouldered man, his features so animalistic and repulsive that Rose stopped in her tracks immediately. The man seemed to notice her fear and sneered.
"Well, well, look who we have here!" exclaimed Bellatrix. "Our little flower!"
She jumped from her seat and came near the girl, reaching for a strand of her hair. The witch encircled Rose slowly, looking at her with mock concern.
"My, my, she's far more skinny now than when I'd last seen her. Are you feeding her at all?" she turned to Barty with a small smile.
"She's eating well, no need to worry," Crouch growled, gripping Rose's arm and pulling her closer to him. Bellatrix giggled maniacally.
"I believe that you haven't met Greyback, have you Mrs. Crouch?" Lucius spoke.
He motioned with his hand at the tall man. Rose shivered from fear. Greyback was that werewolf that Bellatrix told her about on her wedding day. The memory of those stories made her blood run cold, the things he'd done to children and women...
The beast stepped closer to Rose and leered at her.
"She's got nice skin, that one! Hope you'll share when she gives you a brat, I'd gladly sink my teeth in this slender neck..." He reached for the girl, but Barty pulled her even closer to him, so Greyback couldn't touch her.
"Keep your hands away from her, I warn you," Barty growled, pulling out his wand.
Greyback took one step back and laughed shortly before returning to his corner. He still watched Rose though, with a look that made her sick. She instinctively snuggled into Barty's frock coat, afraid of the other Death Eaters. To her surprise, Barty didn't push her away, instead putting his arm around her, keeping her near. She looked up to see his face and discovered that he was furious, he bared his teeth, ready to strike. She could hear a silent hiss coming from his mouth. That sight usually terrified her, but right now she felt safer. It felt quite good, being held by him in such possessive manner. It was a strange feeling. Everyone suddenly seemed to be less scary to Rose, she even found amusing the contrast between mad, bushy-haired Bellatrix and high and mighty Lucius, who were obviously having a lot of fun right now.
"Now, now, calm down. Greyback, where are your manners? You're scaring the girl!" Malfoy said with a mocking voice. Rose felt Barty's grip tighten.
"We didn't come to scare you, no," Lucius continued. "We have important matters to discuss with your husband, but first we wanted to check on you, if you're all right." He paused and looked with a sneer at Rose. In the meantime, Greyback left the room, mumbling something about using the toilet.
"The Dark Lord was curious as to how your lovely marriage life is going and when we can expect another member of your family," said Malfoy.
"She'll get pregnant, don't worry," Crouch spoke. Lucius raised his eyebrows and smirked.
"Of course, no need to hurry. I'm glad that your wife doesn't give you any trouble, besides not giving you an heir."
Barty started to shiver with rage.
"The Dark Lord didn't complain to me, so stay out of this," he growled.
"Yes, Lucius, Barty will manage, he's a clever boy!" Bellatrix sneered.
She hurried to Crouch's side and pecked him on the cheek. Rose glared at her, not fully knowing why she felt such anger right now.
"Do you have that thing that we need?" Bellatrix asked while patting Crouch on the back. Barty still looked angry, but responded:
"Yeah, it's in the dining room. I'll fetch it."
"No need! Your lovely Rose will fetch it, won't she? Come on, let her be useful!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "It's a small package, wrapped in green paper," she whispered mockingly to Rose, like she would be speaking to a child.
"I'd be glad if you stopped giving orders in my own house," Crouch said in a low tone.
"Now Barty, she won't lose her way. We must tell you something that is very important and that conversation would be boring for the young lady," said Malfoy, "You know, Ministry issues." He shot Rose a smirk.
Rose looked up to see her husband's face, hoping that he'd just send her to her room and leave her be.
"Enough of that nonsense. Rose, the package lies on the table. I put protecting charms on it, so don't even bother trying to open it. Hurry up."
Barty released her from his grip and sat back in one of the armchairs, closing his eyes, clearly exhausted by the whole visit. Rose knew that her role here had ended, they saw that she was obedient (they probably didn't know about Christmas incident and the fight she had with Barty not long ago in the bedroom). They saw that she wasn't trying to escape, so they didn't need her anymore. The girl sighed in relief while walking in the direction of dining room. She could go back to her room and have some peace once she gave them this blasted package.
Rose entered the dining room and noticed the object on the table. She quickly took it and turned to go back to the living room, when someone's strong arms stopped her. A giant hand covered her mouth, the other one gripping her arm roughly.
Rose looked up to see the face of her captor. It was Greyback, a hideous leer on his face.
