Holy hell, this chapter wound up being way longer than I thought. But still a good one, I hope!
12
A burning rage hit Frank so hard at the horrific, gruesome sight before him that Alice's husband didn't have time to properly sort through the dark tempest of emotions whirling around in his mind.
The only clear thought that was running through his mind was how much of a mistake he had made.
That much he realized as Frank and Remus came rushing into the mouth of the cave, followed closely by Lily and James, who hadn't hesitated to leave Harry with James's parents upon receiving a Patronus from Minerva.
It was Remus's scarred and lined face that tipped Frank off to the gravity of the situation. The way Lupin's mouth twitched, and hazel eyes flashed yellow, the wolf within him coming out as his eyes narrowed at the grisly sight of Alice bleeding on the ground.
The second he'd caught the screams coming from inside the mouth of the cave, his insides had gone cold.
It sent the flustered Auror immediately into action, alongside his friends, who had managed to catch up with him not even five minutes into his trek into the thick of the Forbidden Forest to save his wife from Crouch Jr.'s clutches, and now this?!
His mind was reeling, his thoughts racing in and out of him at an uncontrollable pace that he couldn't for the life of him slow down.
30 seconds to the mouth of the cave, maybe less. Head to the back, incapacitate the bastard making her scream like that, assess wife's wounds, get her to a Healer at St. Mungo's if needed, make sure wife and baby are safe, and then deal with and apprehend target.
Simple. It had been so simple in Frank's mind. And then he had found his lovely wife.
Blood and vomit mixed onto the mouth's floor of the cave, and Alice laying unresponsive and unconscious in Barty Crouch Jr.'s arms, and it did not take an intellectual genius like Albus Dumbledore present alongside the man for Frank Longbottom to put two and two together.
He had done this. Crouch's fault, somehow, all his fault. Frank ground his teeth as he allowed his emotions to rage uncontrollably within him, feeling nothing but anger and a twinge of fear at the sight of one of Voldemort's suspected closest and most loyal followers, who now stood tall and proud, holding his wife's unconscious form bridal style in his arms, her head lolled back against the crook of his elbow for firm support.
"Let her go, Crouch!" The words escaped Frank's lips as a low and hoarse growl, his chest almost vibrating from the sound.
Beside him, he heard Lupin let out a wolfish growl of his own in agreement as Remus forced himself to embrace Moony, his wolfish aggression that he'd always fought against and tried to tamper down and hide it.
Though right now, the man welcomed it.
For which Frank was glad.
Considering the six dead vampire carcasses that lay scattered on the cave mouth's floor in front of them, Frank knew he was going to need all the help available. He was glad James and Lily were here, too.
But Crouch showed no signs of wanting to relinquish his grip on Alice as the suspected but not confirmed Death Eater firmly shook his head no.
"I can't do that, Longbottom," Crouch barked hoarsely in a gruff tone. "I'm not going to Azkaban. There's nothing to convict me. I won't. You Aurors have given me your last order."
"Frank!" Lily screamed from somewhere behind him as Crouch waved his wand and a flash of bright blue light whizzed through the air, narrowly missing Lupin's left earlobe in its path.
There was so much panic from all sides in the cave as the group fired spell after spell at Crouch that Frank could barely hear his friend.
"Frank!"
Then he heard Remus's voice, though Frank barely heard Lupin as he ran as fast as he could towards Crouch and Alice, with Crouch shouting something inaudible, though Frank completely ignored his friends' warnings as he heard nothing but a horrible, fatigued ringing in his eardrums.
Though just as his hand outstretched, the pads of his fingers ghosting along the top of his wife's left hand as Frank desperately reached for Alice with the intent to pry his wife away from this bastard, the man turned on his heels and Disapparated from the mouth of the cave with the familiar loud crack!
A wave of cold fury coupled with fear coursed through Frank's bloodstream as he whirled around on his heels to look at Remus, James, and Lily, all of whom were paler than usual. Lily swayed on the spot and looked like she was about to faint, were it not for James's vice grip on her arm. Lupin was looking furious, though much calmer and more composed than Frank knew he felt and looked right about now.
Merlin and goddamn Dumbledore for not putting back up the protective enchantments that prevented Apparition in and out of Hogwarts grounds yet. No, no, no, no, this couldn't be! NO! The horrible gut-wrenching scream that erupted from Frank's mouth was hair-raising. It took Frank a moment to realize that the sound he was hearing, a sound of rage and heartbroken anguish, was coming from him.
He was hardly aware of Lily resting a shaking hand on top of his shoulder, though Frank violently ripped away from her embrace. He did not want her touch, nor he pity or words of comfort, and when she opened her mouth to speak, James Potter's wife only succeeded in making Frank even more pissed.
"Frank, we're—we're going to get Alice back, Longbottom, do you understand me?" Lily desperately urged, her shy voice soft and quiet, though she sounded on the verge of mass hysteria. "You—you need to think this through—everything is going to be fine, Frank, I—I promise—"
"HOW IS THIS FINE, LILY?" Frank interrupted with a guttural roar that sounded almost demonic, feeling something ugly and dark rise and bubble to the surface of his chest as he lost his last shred of self-control.
He angrily whirled on his heels to find both James and Remus defensively pointing their wands at his chest. Neither man looked like they wanted to duel their friend over this in Frank's current agitated state, but they could not—would not—let Frank harm Lily over her just trying to help.
Anger swept over Alice's husband in a disgusting blackening torrent, and he almost launched himself across the way at the red-haired young witch who was trying (and failing) to keep the Auror calm at the kidnapping of his pregnant wife.
"She—she's pregnant, Lily! How is this fine? Merlin only knows what Crouch will do to her!"
James snarled and stepped forward, the edges of his lips curled upward in a pained grimace, his wand half-raised at Frank's chest.
"Don't talk to my wife like that, Longbottom, Lily's only trying to—we're only trying to help you! Trust us, Frank, we want to get Alice back too! We'll get Crouch for what he's done, I promise, but you've got to let us help you! Don't turn us away!" James said heatedly.
But Frank hardly heard Potter's words as he turned away, restlessly pacing an agitated line back and forth in the mouth of the vampires' caves. A small, choked sob escaped his lips.
This was perhaps the first time in his life where he did not know what to do. There was no way to truly track Crouch's movements now that the Death Eater had disappeared with Alice in tow. All the knowledge he'd received, both throughout his years as a student at Hogwarts and during his intensive training alongside Alice in the Auror program, fled his reeling mind in a moment of horror-stricken panic. This same panic rose up in the form of bile in his throat, tightening his throat in a painful struggle, rendering the Auror feeling rather lightheaded.
Remus's voice reached his pounding eardrums next, barely distinguishable over the fatigued ringing that was the sound of his own blood pounding and pulsating within his ears.
"Frank, you must stay calm." The man's voice sounded far away, and yet, there was a hint of steel in the werewolf's calm tone that told Frank he must listen to Remus. But Frank was having great difficulty tearing his gaze away from the spot where not even a half-second ago, Barty Crouch Jr. had stood holding Alice in his arms. A haze of guilt and fear engulfed him as he realized he had not been fast enough to save her.
Why had he not been more persistent in insisting that he accompany her in this mission?
Why hadn't he stayed with Alice, damn Dumbledore's stupid orders, and made sure that she was going to be safe within Crouch's company? Alice was perhaps a little too naïve for her own good, and though she trusted Barty, that didn't mean that Frank had to.
There was no telling what the man would do to his wife once he Apparated to wherever their destination was.
Why wasn't he helping his wife? Why couldn't he move at all, much less think?! Merlin's left…Merlin's beard…
Frank wished he could think of something stronger, some curse that would hex Crouch Jr. for life. His breaths were coming in short, his chest felt tight. For a moment, Frank thought he might actually faint. His blood was roaring in his ears, drowning out all other sounds except for that.
Frank could barely hear James. "Mate, please don't do something stupid, Frank. You go at this angry like you are, you'll get Alice killed."
"Why are you telling me this, Potter, if not for me to do something about it, James? My wife is kidnapped! H—how can you all just stand around here like this being calm! We have to find her!" Frank roared, seizing on tufts of his dark hair, and pulling the locks so hard that the very roots almost screamed in protest and agony.
Auror Frank Longbottom was making a terrible sound that belonged to neither man nor dog, a noise of betrayal and pain and agony, and he sank to his knees, his shaking hands curling into fists as he pounded on the cave's floor, wishing he could blow the entire Forest up, wishing he could tear out his heart, anything to make it stop, just make it stop, Alice was kidnapped, and it was all his fault.
He'd not been fast enough. Then Lily was kneeling beside him, trying to put an arm over Frank's shoulders, but he ripped away from the redheaded witch violently, flinging himself against the cave wall, screaming.
Almost prudently, neither James, Lily, nor Remus made any attempt to come anywhere near Frank again until the wizard's tempest had run its course, which thankfully, did not last very long. His friends stood by, silent like shadows, saying nothing.
At last, when Frank knelt on his knees motionless, gasping raggedly and glowering at his now-bloodied knuckles, Lily awkwardly and gingerly crept forward, a shaking hand outstretched in order to help the man up.
He hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second before he slipped his searing hand into Lily Potter's outstretched and cool, smooth hand.
"We're going to get her back, Frank," Lily promised, still eyeing Frank guardedly with slightly narrowed eyes, as though immediately wary that the man would have another outburst.
When Lily was confident that Frank wasn't going to erupt in a flare of uncontrollable anger again, she breathed a shaking sigh of relief and exchanged a quick knowing glance with her husband and with Remus before returning her attention back to Frank and addressed the man.
"Frank, please listen to me," she gently coaxed, trying to get the wizard's attention. This was better said than done because he still hadn't reacted to her attempts at all. "Alice is fine. She—she's going to be just fine, you hear? She's fine."
With such painstaking slowness, the Auror raised his eyes to James Potter's wife and glared.
In the dim light, Lily could see just how much color Frank had lost. This little incident shook the man to his very core.
"H—how is this fine, Lily?" His words came out sharper than he meant them to, and Lily flinched away in both hurt and surprise.
Lilly huffed, hardening her expression in response to her friend's husband's aggression, and replied angrily in a clipped and frosty tone, "Because Barty is going to take care of Alice. At least for a while. Long enough for us to make a plan to figure out where he might have taken her, where they are. Like it or not, Frank, I think we all have to acknowledge that Barty is…well…um…still in love with Alice, even after all these years apart," she stammered, a fiery heat creeping to her cheeks.
An angry, splotchy blush speckled its way along Frank Longbottom's cheeks at the mention of this. A muscle in his jaw tightened though he merely offered a curt nod, signaling to Lily that he had at least heard her words and was listening.
Lily drew in a slightly shuddering breath and continued, despite hearing Alice's husband let out a low growl at the fact she'd just pointed out.
Lily looked at Frank while she spoke. "I—I really don't think Barty will hurt your wife, Frank. Not yet anyway. An hour tops. I think that's all we're going to need to find her. At least...I hope. Alice is a smart woman, Frank, I know you don't need me to tell you that about your wife. If anyone can handle Barty, it's her. She did use to date him, once. I think she can hold her own against him for an hour until we can come and get her away from him." Lily shrugged and turned away, ignoring the look of pure rancor plastered on Frank's face. She looked towards Remus and James. "Any idea where Crouch might have taken her?"
Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach when the two wizards shook their heads no in unison, though a small surge of hope ignited in her chest when Remus broke the heavy silence.
"No. But I know someone who might know. It's a long shot, but what other choice do we have? Frank, you'll have to be the one to talk to him, as James and Lily and I have no pull with this person I have in mind, Frank." Lupin paused to draw in a breath, exhaling slowly and lifting his gaze to look his friends in the eye, hating himself for what he was about to suggest. But there was no other way.
"Who is it?" James pressed impatiently, wanting to know and for Remus to get to the point as he moved to stand beside his wife.
Lupin hesitated, biting down on his lip before speaking. If they were going to get Alice back, they needed the man's help, though whether or not he would grant them even an audience remained to be seen. But considering Alice was on borrowed time, they had to try.
When Remus spoke, his already quiet and reserved voice had lowered an octave, and even Frank had to strain to hear him.
"Barty's father."
THE moment the soles of Barty's black leather boots touched down on the ground of his family's home, he was thinking he'd made a mistake.
He should not have brought Alice here. But he'd not been thinking when he'd Disapparated, his main focus solely had been and still was getting Alice to safety and her wounds assessed and treated, the baby saved, as much as hated Longbottom. He'd thought of in his mind's eye the only safest place he could trust to keep his love, his friend: his own home.
The look on Severus Snape's face said it all. The way the man's eyelid gave a spasmodic twitch and his thin, wormy lips twitched at the sight of the bleeding young brunette witch in his arms.
He should not have brought her here. Saving Alice was a form of sentiment, the basest form of weakness, and now that MacNair and Merlin, even Lucius Malfoy had seen, the Dark Lord was sure to question his attachment to his Alice and quite possibly, even his divided loyalties.
Mercy was something that, as a Death Eater, Barty knew he should have moved past a long time ago, the moment he'd let Snape brand him with the Dark Mark, signaling his new loyalties. This had never stopped him before. How many people had begged him not to send the last and worst of the Unforgiveable Killing Curses his way? Or to stop tearing skin from bone the Muggle way, with one of Rodolphus's knives?
It had never bothered Crouch to watch someone writhe in agony or bleed out to death, to watch as the light faded from their eyes and their body became nothing more than a husk, an empty shell of what they once were before Crouch would then take a step further and reanimate their lifeless corpse as an Inferi.
But Alice… the second he'd heard her screams coming from the mouth of the cave, his whole body had gone cold, and he'd woken with a jolt. It had sent him immediately into action, running towards that cave as his mind lit up.
Crouch hadn't hesitated to kill the group of vampires in a few swift strokes. And then…he'd found her. Watching her bleed out back in that cave in the Forest ought to have been easy for him. Maybe it would have been satisfying to him that was his years-long obsession since their Hogwarts days as students, turn into nothing but a lifeless corpse.
To have Alice Longbottom end the same way that everyone else always bloody did. She would no longer remain a mystery to him, no longer occupying long-abandoned crevices of his twisted and truly warped psyche.
Dead. Lifeless. Not worth reanimating. For a second, Crouch had thought he was going to let it happen to Longbottom. He even toyed with the idea of helping the witch reach that point and raising his wand and putting her out of her (and his) misery at seeing the young woman like this.
But then she'd reached out and cried on top of his boot. Merlin damn her. She'd admitted to him that she was scared, for fuck's sake. Alice.
His sweet, lovely Alice with the smile so bright, Crouch was sure no other witch held such a smile.
His Alice, who'd once refused the offer of money from him during their seventh year when she'd announced she was moving away from her parents and had taken a job in Diagon Alley over the summer just to make ends meet.
His Alice, who had somehow wormed her way underneath his skin like a parasite and infected the synapse of his brain until she was all that he could think of. She somehow reminded him that he had the capacity to be a human being again, though Barty hadn't felt it for years.
Alice had admitted to him being scared. And he could not let this sweet woman die scared. So, Crouch did the only thing he could.
He brought her home and he called Snape. And by the look on the sallow-faced man's face, he was immediately beginning to regret his choice. He should have just gone out into the Forest, summoned Dittany via the Accio Charm, and healed her wounds himself, but he'd not been thinking clearly. Because now, the Potions Master of Hogwarts who he had summoned via an emergency Patronus to his home away from an academic article he was writing, was looking at the young Auror resting in his arms and then back up to Barty.
His expression remained, as always, almost perfectly impassive, though the man's coal-black eyes betrayed his true feelings.
He was looking at Crouch with a mixture of shock and confusion, and that face spoke volumes about the person he believed responsible for Alice currently bleeding out in his arms if he and Severus couldn't get her help.
"Who the hell is this bitch?" This stupid question came from somewhere behind him.
The new kid. Barty didn't know his name, just that the man not even a day over twenty-one had joined the Dark Lord's ranks little less than a week ago. Crouch gnashed his teeth together and felt it then.
A fiery drop of rage igniting and spreading through his veins hotter than any Hungarian Horntail could ever flame.
The subtle change in his brain where he could flick off his emotions as a switch replaced entirely with pure, unbridled rage.
For a moment, Barty felt it as his dark eyes darkened a shade further and narrowed, what little color was left in his face leaving him. He drew in a breath through his flaring nostrils and inhaled the almost sweet tang of Alice's blood.
The psychical change Barty was undergoing was almost so subtle and hardly noticeable. Though he could tell Severus sensed the shift judging by the way the taller wizard's posture stiffened, as Crouch's shoulders hunched together, and his head cocked to the side angrily.
"Boss? Who's the babe?" came his question again, and the causal tone only infuriated him.
Crouch's eyes narrowed to mere slits as he reached for his wand tucked safely away in an interior pocket of his black leather trench coat.
His slender fingers of his wand hand curled around the handle as Crouch forced himself to remain calm, though he felt anything but, and he was sure Snape, the Legilimens that the man was, could sense this fact about him.
But Barty could no longer manage to pretend to care.
"Kid? What's your name?" Barty's voice had gone up a pitch higher than normal, a warning that the younger wizard didn't recognize, though he knew Snape did as Severus closed his eyes and heaved an exasperated groan.
The young rookie Death Eater glanced uncomfortably between Crouch and Alice.
"Um, Jacob, sir," he stammered awkwardly.
Crouch kept his grip firm around his wand's handle and stepped towards the man.
"Jacob, huh?" he repeated slowly, letting the syllables of the man's name roll off his tongue like water falling over rocks. "That's a respectable name. Did you tell anyone else that I brought this woman here with me, Jacob?"
Clearly confused, the Death Eater shook his head. "No, sir," the man said softly, scared.
"Good. Because you won't be telling anyone," Crouch stated coldly in a calm and collected tone. Without even waiting for Severus to react, he removed his wand from his coat and pointed it squarely at the boy's broad chest. "Avada Kedavra!"
The incantation felt sweet to utter in his rage and it willed his own anger towards his failure to protect Alice cool a little as the familiar flash of green light hit the rookie Death Eater squarely in the chest and the boy crumpled to a heap, dead at the hem of Snape's black billowing robes.
"Merlin's Beard, Crouch!" Severus sounded more than a little upset with Barty. "If the Aurors weren't on their way before, they sure as hell will be now. What if they heard? Do you even have Silencing Charms put up around your property's estate?" he snarled, baring his teeth, and pointing a shaking finger toward the window, toward the neighbors.
"No," Crouch answered with a shrug of his shoulders. He'd never needed them. His neighbors knew bloody well not to bother him.
Even when Crouch's darkened eyes snapped from the now-lifeless body on the ground back towards the Dark Lord's right-hand man. Well, the second right-hand man after him, Crouch thought a bit smugly, Severus did not flinch or back down. Barty Crouch Jr. sneered.
"You want to be next, Snape?" he growled, his wand hand curling over his weapon tighter.
Severus merely scoffed and made an odd noise of disbelief at the back of his throat, finding it difficult not to roll his eyes at his colleague's snarling and posturing to get his way.
"And let you stitch Mrs. Longbottom up? I don't think so, Bartemius. Not a chance." Scoffing, Severus shook his head angrily by way of retort. "Don't forget, I haven't forgotten the time you tried to heal your own arm when you Splinched yourself last year running from Alastor, you've still got the scars to prove it," he barked, not caring when Crouch rolled his neck to crack it and cocked his head in disapproval.
Barty gnashed his teeth and throttled the urge to roar at Snape like an enraged dragon. He seized on tufts of his dark hair and tugged, hard.
"You reallllly like pushing all the right buttons with me, tonight, don't you, Snape?"
Adapting a learned swagger over the years, Crouch stalked his way and moved until he'd closed off the gap of space between Snape and himself, never mind the Potions Professor of Hogwarts was a good two to three heads taller.
"I let you live once, Snape, Dark Lord's orders," Crouch growled, searching the man's coal-black eyes, and savoring the tiniest shred of discomfort he detected within. "I don't have to do this again." Crouch let out a low threatening warning growl from deep within his chest and practically shoved Alice's limp and unresponsive body into the taller wizard's arms. "Save her, you must save her, Severus, save Alice now," he barked hoarsely, no longer giving a damn that the Legilimens could detect his panicked mind.
Severus furrowed his dark brows and pursed his lips in a thoughtful frown as he glowered at Crouch, not liking being told what to do. Snape lifted his chin, black eyes narrowing.
"Must," he repeated slowly in his droll baritone, as though he could not quite believe his ears. "Such a strong word, Crouch, a forceful word. How very…how very Gryffindor of you."
Crouch silently seethed and gnashed his teeth together in hopes of quelling his temper. He took several steps towards his comrade, seemingly not of his own will. It felt as though Snape were somehow silently pulling Crouch towards him, and Barty decided that he hated it.
"Life…has not treated me gently, Severus. My words, as a result, will never be gentle, Snape."
Severus fell silent, staring into Barty's face, and for a moment, Crouch forgot that Snape was taller than him, that Severus was the weaker of them both. For just a moment, his fellow Death Eater and Potions Professor of Hogwarts loomed over Barty, swallowing him, overpowering him.
"Do you know what it is you ask for, truly? You would have me save this witch when you and I both know full well she will never be yours? At least not willingly," Snape snapped angrily. His eyebrows shot so far up onto his lined forehead that they almost disappeared into his equally black hairline. Crouch bristled, though Snape, it seemed, wasn't finished with his piece. "Do you not want Longbottom willing? You do realize that if I save her life here, while yes, I can save her, though it is risky, the Aurors will come. She and her husband are well-known in the Ministry, Bartemius, just as your own father is." Snape pressed on despite Barty flinching and letting out a vicious snarl at the mention of Crouch. Sr. "But you know this. If anything happens to her or to Frank, they won't react so kindly…you're sure to be sentenced to Azkaban, Barty, if you continue to associate with Alice. Is that what you would have me give you, Barty? The right to a grisly death, with your screams ringing in your eardrums as the Dementors clamp their jaws around your mouth to devour your soul until there's nothing of you that's left?" Snape snarled.
Barty angrily clenched his jaw and did not flinch back. "I know I cannot just let her die. Is that not enough?" Crouch growled threateningly.
For a moment there was perfect tension and stillness between the two Death Eaters. Neither man seemed to move, much less breathe.
And then Severus sighed tiredly, and the heavy suffocating silence was instantly broken. He turned on the heels of his boots and began to walk at a brisk pace towards the stairwell of Crouch's living room of his manor, though he paused, as if hesitant as to where to go.
"Is there space where I can work on her unencumbered?" Severus asked smoothly as he wordlessly nodded towards Alice's body in Crouch's arms.
Crouch startled, looking down. For a moment, he'd almost forgotten he'd been holding her, she was utterly still. Lifeless.
It was strange, so strange to have his Alice pressed this close to him again in the state she was in. He could hear Alice mumble something incoherently under her breath, the words mangled by violent coughing spell she erupted into, the horrible sound of her choking on the blood in her throat sending a shiver of fear and revulsion combined down Barty's spine then.
"Don't talk, Al." Crouch didn't mean his words, but he knew they were necessary. "Save your strength, love. You're going to need it, sweetheart."
"Crouch?" called out Snape over his shoulder as he began to ascend the stairwell.
"Third door to your left. Spare bedroom. Have Winky get you whatever you need, Snape."
Snape nodded and quickened his ascent.
Crouch didn't speak until, having to practically kick open the door to the bedroom with his boot. Gingerly, he laid Alice on the bed, waving his wand so a pile of brown woolen scratchy-looking blankets appeared at the head of the bed, in case her blood-stained his good cotton sheets.
Crouch barely spared his family's little house-elf Winky a second glance, though he heard the tiny creature's pitiable gasp she let out.
"Master Crouch, sir, what happened to the young miss?" Winky squeaked in a terrified tone, twisting fistfuls of her tea cozy in an utter tizzy.
"Vampire scratches, and I—I think she—she's losing her baby, Snape," he growled in a hoarse voice as he perched himself at Alice's side.
Bile rose in Crouch's throat as Snape peeled back Alice's shirt and he thought he was going to be horribly, physically sick at the grotesque slash markings that now littered her collarbones. Cursed, Dark wounds if Snape didn't act fast. Severus made a visible show of rolling up his sleeves as he began to examine Alice's wounds. He pressed around the outside of the slash wounds and peered closely at the edges.
"Crouch, may I borrow your house-elf?" Snape asked in a hardened tone, to which Barty could only nod numbly, unable to find his words.
Crouch could see the worry on Snape's face, and Severus pursed his lips, having sensed that he was being watched. His brows knitted into a heavy scowl as he stood taller and straightened his gait, his hands already stained with her blood.
"These are cursed markings, Crouch, I cannot guarantee that I can mend them completely. You're lucky they did not bite her, Barty," Snape began, knowing full well that Alice was more to Barty than just a former friend. "But I don't think you need me to tell you that, right?"
"Just do what you can!" Barty bellowed, losing the last vestiges of his patience and slamming his fist down onto the mattress in a fit of swelling rage. The younger Death Eater instantly regretted his decision at the dark shadow that flitted its way across Snape's face.
Angrily, the Potions Master stepped forward and jabbed the tip of his wand in Crouch's chest. "Calm down. Be careful how you speak to me, Crouch, or I'll Disapparate out of here and leave you to tend to Longbottom's wounds yourself."
Though as he said this, Alice let out a pained groan, though her eyelids stayed closed. Snape froze, the worst of his hostility directed towards his colleagues dissipated, and he seemed to back to himself and the present grim-looking reality of the young witch's predicament.
Severus began to poke and prod the slash markings while trying to determine the best method for treating vampire scratches.
Nothing he knew of would fully heal cursed scars like this. There was a chance the poison could spread. Alice shuddered and groaned as if in immense pain as he continued examining them. Barty stiffened and gave Snape a withering look full of mistrust.
Winky rushed over towards Severus's side and carried a dark bottle and a rag, its contents unknown. The house-elf hurriedly poured some of the clear but foul-smelling liquid onto the cloth and at Snape's instructions held it for a few seconds over Alice's nose and mouth.
She relaxed and slipped into a deep sleep. Crouch breathed out a sigh of relief, knowing at least she wouldn't be awake for whatever Severus was about to do in order to try to save her life.
Barty looked towards Snape desperately, grinding his teeth and hating having to yield to him.
"Save her. Please," he growled, spitting the word 'please' as though it were poison on his tongue.
Severus nodded, not able to offer up a snappy retort, though he knew well enough the two of them were not finished with this conversation. There was still plenty more he wished to discuss with Barty, and none of it pleasant.
But for now, all Snape could manage was to nod his head, and do what he could.
There was no time to lose. Snape turned from Crouch and Alice, grabbed at the necessary instruments which had suddenly appeared at his elbow, both a culmination of him waving his wand and Crouch's house elf's magic. He began cutting an incision near one of Alice's wounds.
The sickening stench of blood and festering flesh filled Crouch's nostrils. Despite thinking he might hurl at any given moment from the Merlin-awful smell filling the room, he steeled himself and preparing to remain by her side throughout the duration of Snape's surgery, while Winky murmured an incantation of her own while she worked to quell the bleeding in between Alice's legs to save her unborn baby.
Suddenly, there was barely enough room for the three of them to occupy the bedroom.
He saw Snape give Winky a curt little nod, and his family's house-elf began to latch onto his pant leg and try to pull her master towards the door, grunting with the monumental effort.
"Please, Master Crouch!" Winky squeaked in a worried voice. "You's need to wait outside!" his house-elf protested, almost pleading with her master.
"No!" Crouch growled and bristled and scowled a vicious warning at his house-elf. He'd always liked Winky and had a soft spot for the creature, though he'd never dare admit that out loud. But Snape grabbed his arm and began to violently yank Crouch away from the room, to which Barty responded in kind by digging the heels of his boots into the hardwood floor and fought the taller Death Eater the whole process. "Let go!" he roared, and with one swift kick, he nudged the house-elf out of the way, ignoring Winky's pained cry of surprise and shock at his rough manhandling.
"I—I need to stay with her!" Barty bellowed, his face draining of color and turning on Snape.
Understanding the man's hostility, Severus did what he could in order to quell Crouch's ire by remaining unfazed. Severus shook his head and shot Barty Crouch Jr. a pointed glower that would have wilted a fully bloomed flower were there one in the room alongside the group of them all then.
"No. You cannot stay. The girl would not want you to see her like this, Bartemius. You need to let the elf and I do our jobs. Get. Out."
"I want Alice to know I'm here," Barty pleaded, his face pained and utterly hopeless.
"She knows," Snape snapped hoarsely, right as Crouch let out a deep warning growl from within the confines of his chest.
With no way of watching over his Alice and no one upon which to unleash his anger, Barty turned away from Snape and Winky (who was now cowering behind Snape's black robes) and let loose his wrath and fury on the cold stone wall.
Clenching his fists and letting out a furious, long yell that made the hairs on the back of Snape's and Winky's necks stand up on end, he slammed his knuckles over and over against the unmoving stone foundation. His skin shredded and warm blood dripped from his now-bleeding knuckles. However, Barty felt no pain, his mind so focused on Alice and her life.
His new injury was nothing compared to what the love of his life was now going through.
Snape patiently stood back and let the younger man have the release of his emotions. When there was no more air left in Crouch's lungs to scream, and no effort left in the man's muscles, he collapsed against the wall, exhausted, and terrified that he'd lose his Alice.
"Save her," he pleaded, shakily rising to his feet and angrily swatting Winky's hand away when the little house-elf darted forward to help.
Snape nodded, silently signaling to the man he had heard the Death Eater's request.
Crouch was almost to the door when Severus spoke again. "See me in a few hours. You and I aren't finished having this conversation." There was a long pause. "And Bartemius."
Crouch gnashed his teeth together at the use of his full name, though he slowly turned back around to regard the sallow-faced git.
"What?" he barked in a hoarse voice. He was not in a patient mood, so Snape better speak quickly, or else he'd find himself at his mercy—
Severus smiled coldly, the cruel smile not quite reaching the man's coal-black eyes. "I expect, Bartemius, that you will give me something in exchange for this kindness."
Barty swallowed hard, a sheen of sweat glittering on top of his scalp as Crouch nodded.
"Whatever you ask, Severus," he hissed.
Snape's smile widened. "Whatever I ask? Now there's a hefty promise, Crouch. I like it. See that you keep it." And without another word, he flicked his wand once and slammed the door in Crouch's face. As the lock clicked shut into place, Barty found himself unable to move a muscle.
His eardrums roared with sound, yet he knew there was none save for the movement coming from the room he'd just been forcefully evicted from. Without warning, Crouch felt all the strength in his body leave him all at once, and he sank to the floor in the hallway in utter exhaustion.
As he sat there on the floor, he wondered how the bloody hell it came to this.
How Alice did not deserve this. She deserved a life of peace and comfort, of love, kindness. And yet, throughout the years of their acquaintance, first as lovers, then as friends, all she'd ever known when exposed to the likes of him was pain, worry, and even more pain. By knowing who Barty was, by staying his friend, by defending him when he'd never once deserved it, it had caused this.
She might die of the poisoned vampire scratches and lose the baby growing inside her.
This was his fault. She'd paid the price and all because he could not let his sweet Alice go. Hot, wretched tears stung and blurred the edges of his eyes. His chest diluted with a pressure which vented off a sob Crouch tried to fight back, thinking he'd die before he'd ever heard himself whimper, but it was too late already.
The tears slipped from his lids, the salty briny liquid flowing freely of their own accord, despite Crouch's best efforts to tamper them back. He'd almost caused the only person he had ever come to love besides Mother, yes, love, to meet a horrible fate. She still might, he thought.
He hated himself. Crouch thought all this as he rested against the wall in the corridor, using the wall as a back brace, and sprawled across the floor, bitter, hateful, angry tears streaming down his face. He'd no strength left.
He was so fucking exhausted. His eyelids fluttered a couple of times and then exhaustion claimed him, falling into a deep, fitful sleep on the very floor that he'd collapsed on top of now.
Monster. That's all you'll ever be. A monster to her and to Father.
Alice. The sweet, beautiful witch who'd stolen his heart before he'd even known it was gone. She, with a wonderful laugh. She deserved better than him. Once, he'd dreamt of his friend on a cold snowy morning. She was walking alongside him, with her short dark hair a striking contrast against such bone-white skin and the white of the snow. Crouch remembered calling her name once, twice, and then the witch turned to him with a honey-sweet smile that made his heart pound against his chest and his throat feel dry. She had eyes of such rich crystalline blue, a pure, bright color that greeted him without her even having to say a word, and she waved, her gloved hands in the air, and gently placed it on the bulge of her stomach.
But oh, Merlin…
He watched the tip of someone's wand pointed directly at his chest in his vision, that familiar jet of red light coming that meant he was about to be Stunned.
…. what have I done?
Don't you love it sometimes when a story takes a new angle you didn't intend? That's kind of what happened when I wrote this chapter. The plot has progressed with this in a way that I did not intend when I wrote my original outline for this fanfic, but am rolling with it since so far I like where it's going!
I had actually started this chapter with Remus originally, and then remembered a huge gaping plot hole that couldn't be left unresolved (Alice's wounds), and as a consequence, wrote this chapter a couple of times and as a result, changed most of the remaining plot.
I'm kind of drawing inspiration from David Tennant's character Kilgrave from Jessica Jones when it comes to how I think he would behave around Alice. I really want to let Alice have a couple of chapters of using her wits/intelligence to navigate her way around and survive not just around Crouch but other Death Eaters as well while she bides for time for help to come.
I don't want to portray Alice as weak throughout this story, that's totally not my intention with Neville's mum in this fanfic, she's definitely not, so she'll get some moments to shine upcoming :)
To all who have liked/favorited, commented so far, I really appreciate your input! What works/doesn't work, I love to hear it all!