Summary: When let off from Azkaban on a second chance, Barty Crouch Jr becomes Xenophilius Lovegood's worst nightmare, back to haunt him and his daughter. In order to fulfil forgotten vows, an ex-murderer and a war heroine are brought together in unconventional circumstances, leading to an unexpected romance.
oOo
"How can this be happening again?" Ginny howled after her father had finished talking, glaring around the room at her family.
Once again, her wedding plans were to be postponed, because Luna had gone missing again. Well, she hadn't really gone missing—Ginny knew exactly where she was. It was just a matter of getting her back again.
Mr Weasley had told the family that it was common knowledge around the Ministry that Barty had taken another week off. Stamford was all too happy for him to take extra time off, particularly as he had received a letter from Barty's Mind-healer, granting Barty permission for further leave.
As soon as Mr Weasley had finished explaining what he had learned from work that day, Ginny folded her arms and looked expectantly around at her family. "So?" she started, shooting questioning glances all around. "What's the plan, this time?" she had a stack of Witch Weekly Wedding issues to sift through if she wanted to get her wedding organised promptly, so she wanted to get Luna back as soon as possible. Not to mention Luna's bridesmaid's dress, which was hanging in her bedroom, completely untouched.
Hermione was the first one to reply, looking slightly sheepish. "Ginny..." she murmured, her brown eyes wide and apologetic. "I think you need to consider the facts here."
"What facts?" scoffed Ron. "She's back with that maniac; we need to go back and get her. Simple." Hermione glared at him meaningfully, but Ron stared back, his arms folded. Things had not been completely right between them since Hermione had been the one to sabotage his and Harry's attempts to convince Kingsley to reprimand Barty back into Azkaban.
"Luna could have gone there completely willingly, this time," Hermione continued. "You know it's possible. She might want to be there with him."
"Why in the world would she want that, Hermione?" interjected Harry, looking aghast.
"Ginny was the one who noticed that Luna was acting weird and awkward whenever someone mentioned Barty Crouch, always jumping to defend him, hiding in her room and just generally being odd—"
"—more odd than usual?" snapped Ron.
"—she isn't in love with him—" started Ginny.
"—no one said anything about love," finished Hermione. "It's classic Stockholm Syndrome."
"What's that, one of those garish Muggle music groups?" asked Ron, earning another glare from Hermione.
"No," she snapped impatiently. "It's a psychological phenomenon, in which hostages often begin to feel positively towards their captors, to the point of expressing love for them."
"Well then it's simple," Harry butt in. "We get Luna back, take her to St. Mungo's, and they can find her a Mind Healer who will extinguish this Stockholm Syndrome from her head."
"It doesn't work like that, Harry!" shouted Hermione.
"Don't yell at him!" Ginny defended. "He was making a suggestion."
"Will you all just be quiet!" shouted Mrs Weasley suddenly, clutching her temples. "Can we all just have a minute to think! But before you all dive into that fireplace with the intention of heroically bursting to Luna's defence, consider your own lives! I suggest you write Luna a letter." With that final note, Mrs Weasley jumped up from the settee and stalked off into the kitchen, presumably to find a healing spell that would cure her headache.
"I'm not writing Luna another letter," muttered Ginny under her breath. "Not if it's anything like last time. If it is, she won't even be able to get one. It's pointless." She turned her attention to Hermione, glowering a little. "I'm going to go there, Hermione. I have a wedding to plan, and this Barty Crouch thing is tearing us all apart. It's up to you whether you want to come or not, but I'm going."
Hermione sighed, and leaned back in her seat. "I suppose you're right," she grumbled, staring idly into space. "We need to know where we stand. Whether we need to be looking out for her or not."
"Right, so we're all agreed?" Ron asked, looking between his sister and his girlfriend. When they both nodded, he continued. "Okay. So what should we do?"
"I say we do exactly what your Mum doesn't want us to do," Harry insisted, though his voice was lowered so that Mrs Weasley wouldn't overhear. "We just burst straight in. We have his address. We know where he lives. What's the worst that could happen?" he ignored the pointed look that Hermione gave him. "If we all go, it's four against one. Sure, he used to be a Death Eater—but it was us who ended Voldemort."
"You're right, mate," nodded Ron.
"I agree," chimed in Ginny.
Hermione rolled her eyes, but nodded quietly. "When are we going to do it? We should sort things out, make sure we have a plan. Perhaps next week when he's back at work—"
"—I say we do it right now," interrupted Harry. "There's no time like the present. If we wait, there's more chance for Mrs Weasley to stop us. Also, whose to say he won't disconnect his fireplace from the Floo Network?"
Ron and Ginny climbed up from their seats, nodding, and Hermione followed—albeit slightly hesitantly.
"Let's go, before she comes back in," Ron muttered, and the four of them headed towards the fireplace. They climbed inside, trying to remain as quiet as possible to ensure that Mrs Weasley wouldn't hear them. In a low voice, Harry murmured Barty's address, and green flames erupted around their ankles.
The last thing any of them saw before they were sucked into the depths of the fireplace, was Mrs Weasley streaming into the living room, yelling something that none of them could hear.
oOo
Just a few moments later, they were stepping onto the carpet of the living room in the Crouch Manor. One by one, they removed their wands from their pockets and trod quietly into the centre of the living room. Harry and Ginny took the front, whilst Ron and Hermione remained at the back.
"Where should we check first?" whispered Ginny to Harry, glancing around the living room. One doorway was open, exposing what Ginny believed to be the front hallway and stairs. There was another door closest to them, but she had no idea what could be in there. When she had arrived with her father to retrieve Luna, they had literally grabbed her and ran, then returned to put an unconscious Barty Crouch back in his bedroom. She hadn't really been paying attention to the interior.
As she spoke, a sudden familiar giggle sounded from behind the closed door, causing all four of them to freeze on the spot.
"Over there," Harry whispered, pointing at the door. They all crept over, positioning themselves stealthily behind it. "After three, we jump in and stupefy him at once. Agreed?"
"Agreed," chorused Ron and Ginny, whilst Hermione nodded.
"One..." Harry raised his wand, and the others copied. "Two...THREE!"
They burst through the door, into what appeared to be a kitchen, and pointed their wands towards the sound of voices. However, they quickly lowered their hands, utter shocked washing across their faces simultaneously. Everyone remained silent, until Ginny took the plunge, being the first to step forward. "Luna...what are you doing?"
Luna was sitting on the counter-top, wearing nothing but a very long black t-shirt and her underwear. Her blonde hair was tumbling down her back, long and uncombed. There was the shadow of a smile on her face, but her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, and her eyes sparkled over at her friends.
Barty was standing in front of her, only wearing his trousers, with his hands on her upper thighs. His grip had tightened considerably when the foursome had burst into the kitchen, and he pulled her closer, so that she was thrust against his chest. He glared over at the intruders angrily, and removed one hand from Luna to brandish his wand from the back pocket of his jeans, and point it at them.
Ginny however, wasn't looking at Barty. Her eyes were focused on Luna, who was gazing back silently, as still as though she had just been stunned. After a few silent moments, she began to push back from Barty, and grasp the hem of her shirt with her fingers, trying to pull it down to cover a little more of her exposed thighs.
"Luna, what are you doing?" repeated Ginny, her voice dangerously low. "What has he done to you?"
"He hasn't done anything," replied Luna quietly.
Ginny made a move to step closer, but Barty flicked his wand hand threateningly in her direction. "Stay where you are," he hissed, his maniacal eyes flickering between the four of them. "What are you doing here?"
"We're here to take Luna back home," Harry stated through gritted teeth, glaring at Barty through his round spectacles.
"Yeah, so hand her over," continued Ron, trying to sound confident, though his voice wavered a little and his wand hand trembled.
"Potter and his little army come bursting into my house and try to tell me what to do..." murmured Barty, focusing dangerously on Harry.
"Barty," murmured Luna pleadingly. She had snapped her gaze back to the man in front of her, and her hands reached down to comfortingly grasp the one that he still held onto her with.
"This is Luna's home now," Barty told them. "She stays. So leave."
"Stop answering for her!" shrieked Ginny, suddenly very much resembling her mother. "Luna?!"
Luna appeared unable to make eye contact with any of her friends, and instead hung her head forward, so that her long tresses of hair covered her face. "I'm sorry, Ginny."
A deafening silence resonated around them, and Harry reached forward to take the hand of Ginny comfortingly, but she snatched it away. She was staring at Barty, and becoming increasingly aware of the distinct look of smugness on his face. "How long?" she asked suddenly. "How long has this been going on for?"
"None of your business," snapped Barty, as Luna opened her mouth to reply. "Now get out of my house!"
At that moment, Ginny noticed that Barty's hands were beginning to shake, causing his wand to shudder. A jet of sporadic sparks shot out of the tip of his wand, and Harry and Ron ducked, allowing a single jet of red light to singe a strand of Hermione's hair.
His face was swelling with anger, and he seemed ambivalent as he dropped his wand, allowing it to clatter to the floor and vanish under the kitchen table, and his hand clenched into a fist. His brown eyes were glowing with a menace that Ginny couldn't even begin to comprehend, and even in her own flare of anger, she felt fear bubbling in her chest.
Ginny's eyes widened in disbelief as Luna leaned forward, flattening her palms against his stubbly face and pressing her mouth to his ear. She whispered something inaudiable, and to everyone's surprise, his arms slackened by his sides, and his eyes turned away from the group of intruders.
Luna's second move was to pull her wand from behind her—which everyone noticed with raised eyebrows that she had been allowed to keep—and waved it wordlessly in the direction of a small cauldron on top of the kitchen table. The ladle inside it stirred itself, and then rose, pouring a substantial amount of ocean coloured liquid into a nearby glass. The cup soared over into Luna's outstretched hand, and she handed it to Barty, who raised it to his lips and downed it in one.
Almost immediately, his face melted into a softer, unrecognisable expression. He stared blankly at Luna, as he placed the cup down gently beside her.
"Do you see why I need to be here, Ginny?" Luna asked in a small voice, her hands resting on his shoulders. "You don't understand. I know you don't understand. But I have to...I want to stay here. I can help him."
Ginny, who had until this moment been staring at the pair of them in silence, suddenly folded her arms and shook her head. "Do you remember who this person is? What he's done?"
"I'm not that person anymore," Barty interjected, his voice smooth and calm.
"He isn't well, Ginny. But he's getting better. That's why he has to have the potion."
"Why are you defending him?" asked Harry. "Stop being so ridiculous, Luna. We know you've always been a little...eccentric...but even this is a little too far. He's twice your age!"
"That's irrelevant," murmured Luna. "I'm sorry. I'm staying here."
"Enough of this! You don't have to fix him!" snarled Ginny, and she flourished her wand suddenly, aiming what her friends and brother knew to be her signature Bat-Bogey Hex in Barty's direction. However, Luna sprang forwards quickly, jumping down from the counter-top and jabbing her wand in front of her.
"Protego!" she yelled, and a strong shield charm burst from the tip of her wand and formed a sheer bubble around her and Barty. The Bat-Bogey Hex bounced off the shield, and Hermione wordlessly shot a spell at it before it could backfire onto anyone else, and it exploded in the air. "Ginny!" Luna gasped, keeping her wand raised and the shield charm effective.
"We can do this all day!" snapped Hermione, before Ginny could say anything else. "But it isn't going to change anything," she turned back to Luna, who was watching Hermione carefully. "Luna, is this what you really want?" Luna nodded. "Well, you know that we'll all be here for you. Whenever you need anything, or if something happens...or if you decide to leave."
"She won't leave," murmured Barty, flashing a teeth-bearing grin at Hermione.
"I won't leave," repeated Luna, looking up at Barty as she spoke.
Ginny spun on her heel and flounced away, struggling to hide the tears that were brimming in her brown eyes. The four of them headed back into the fireplace, and quickly took the Floo Network back to the Burrow.
oOo
Mrs Weasley was shouting about risking lives and creating unnecessary trouble and worry when they arrived back at the Burrow. However, Ginny ignored her mother completely, storming straight through the living room past her, and charging up the stairs to her bedroom. Harry made to follow her, but Hermione stopped him, shaking her head. Instead, she was the one to follow Ginny up the stairs quietly. When she arrived in her bedroom, she found that Ginny had thrown herself dramatically onto the bed, and was sobbing loudly into the pillow.
Hermione sat beside her friend, and soothingly rubbed her back. "Ginny," she murmured, and Ginny's sobs quietened. "She's made up her mind. You need to let her go. She's a grown woman who can make her own decisions. It's not like we're losing her forever—I'm sure we'll see her again soon."
"She's making the wrong decision!" Ginny cried, her voice thick. "She's my best friend—I can't just let her do this. You've seen yourself how weird she's been acting. Even just then—she was obviously terrified—"
"—I don't think she was, Gin," interjected Hermione. "I really don't."
Ginny took a few moments to catch her breath, and then rolled onto her back, looking up at Hermione with puffy, tear-logged eyes. "Do you really think she wants to be there?"
"She wants to help him," Hermione replied. "She has that inhuman ability to just see past all of the bad stuff. Clearly she sees something in Barty that we don't, and she wants to bring out the best in him."
"How can she be like that?" whispered Ginny. "How can she forget and forgive everything bad that he ever did?"
"It's just who Luna is. You know that," Hermione paused, and leaned back on her hands. "Anyway, I think we should leave her alone for a while. We could make things more problematic by trying to burst in all the time. As much as I want her to be somewhere safe too, we can't force her to do something she doesn't want to. Also, I know you saw it too."
"Saw what?"
"The way they looked at each other. Like they couldn't see or think about anything or anyone else," Hermione looked at her fingers. "They couldn't take their eyes off each other."