Part I: Reticent
Chapter II: In Which Corinna Goes to the World Cup
The first three years of Corinna's school life went by in an uneventful manner. At least, her life was. Outside, things were interesting with her first year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher secretly housing You-Know-Who, muggleborns being petrified by You-Know-Who during her second year, and dementors crowding around the school last year because You-Know-Who's right hand man escaped from Azkaban and was going after Harry Potter.
That was an interesting correlation that Corinna noticed. It all came down to the Boy Who Lived.
Not that she paid him much, mind you. She had enough on her plate to deal with. Why would she care what Harry Potter got up to during the school year? If she could do her homework in the library and get to class, she just let it go.
Until she no longer could.
The summer after her third year was starting off to be an odd one. Barty seemed to have been doing better, which thrilled both Corinna and their house elf, Winky. In fact, since he was doing so well, they came up with the perfect plan to make him happy.
Corinna knew she had to do this herself. She knew her father would react better if the house elf was not the one suggesting it. But it still made her insides feel like liquid. She stood in front of the doors to her father's study. She had only been inside a handful of times, and none of them had been when her father was inside. Shifting on the balls of her feet, Corinna finally drew up the courage and knocked.
There seemed to be a moment's hesitation as to why someone would dare disturb Mr. Crouch, but then there was a firm, "Enter," and Corinna knew there was no going back.
No personal items adorned the walls or desk. It was a no-nonsense set up with a large oak desk and highbacked chair. The desktop was meticulously organized right down to the inkwell and quills. A bookshelf stood behind the desk, full of magical law books and other materials of the sort.
Her father sat at the desk. There was nothing indicating what he was working on, so he must have stashed it away during the moment's pause before allowing Corinna to enter. "What is it? I am very busy. I have a World Cup to plan as well as...other things."
Corinna did not particularly care what those "other things" were, but she appreciated that, in a way, her father broke the ice. "It's actually about the World Cup," she said softly.
"Speak up," Mr. Crouch chastised. "If you are going to ask for something, you should show that you mean it. Where's that courage and bravery you supposedly have?"
Corinna asked herself that all the time, but she did not appreciate her father verbalizing her doubts. Without answering his question, she sucked in a breath and continued. "As I was saying. The World Cup is next month, and I know you have tickets." Mr. Crouch quirked up an eyebrow, but let his daughter continue. "And since Barty seems to be doing better, I was wondering if it would be possible for him to go. He loves quidditch," she added as she saw Mr. Crouch open his mouth to object, "and we will be in a box that is separated from the crowd. I could sit with him and he could be underneath an invisibility cloak. I know you don't really enjoy the games all that much, and you're only invited because you are helping plan it."
Mr. Crouch stared at Corinna for an uncomfortably long time, to the point that she wondered if he somehow broke her father. "What do you intend to do if he becomes belligerent?"
"He has been doing so much better now," Corinna pointed out. "He hasn't had an episode in ages."
"But it could still happen," Mr. Crouch reminded. "He's still sick."
Corinna still did not even know what he was sick with. Winky was strictly told to never say anything and, if she did, she had to punish herself. It only took once of Winky grabbing the hot rack in the oven for Corinna to never ask her again. And Corinna could barely muster up the courage to ask her father to do this, never mind something as simple as knowing her brother's diagnosis. All she had were a list of rules when it came to her brother: never have your wand on you as he could grab it and hurt himself, talk in short and easy sentences, and always stay out of his room whenever Mr. Crouch or Winky tell her to. She, of course, noticed how Winky never denied her. It was always Mr. Crouch.
"What if Winky came with us?" Corinna suggested. "She could do something if he does become belligerent. I could claim she's there to save you a seat."
"You aren't going to let this go, are you?"
"Consider it a very early birthday present for me," Corinna added, although they had not done much for her birthday to begin with. Now that she was in school, nothing ever happens for it.
Mr. Crouch narrowed his eyes, as if trying to bore a whole right into Corinna's brain. "We will have to work out some of the details, but fine," he said. "We'll see about getting your brother up to the World Cup."
Corinna felt like she was walking on air at the prospect. "Thank you, Daddy," she said, using the long unused epithet for him.
For the first time, she was not just counting down the days until she left for Hogwarts. She was also counting down to the World Cup. Although she personally did not care for quidditch beyond hoping Gryffindor won the house cup, she was looking forward to making her brother happy and getting him out of the dreary house.
They had to arrive a fortnight before the match as to have as few people around them as possible as an invisibility cloak worked only so well. Corinna did not mind it. Since Mr. Crouch was so busy running around like a chicken with his head cut off since Ludo Bagman was as useful as horse dung on a hot summer's day, and Winky insisted that she could keep an eye on Barty alone, Corinna finally got a taste of freedom.
Well, if was not her first taste. She got that during the Hogsmeade trips last year, but that was not complete freedom. Everyone was still on edge because of the dementors, and even if there weren't too many professors hanging around, it still felt like a supervised visit.
The campground was massive, swallowing up thousands and thousands of witches and wizards from all over the world. It seemed almost impossible to navigate and there were so many people she did not recognize. But, even then, she still seemed to run into her classmates.
"Hey, Corinna!"
She turned sharply, her blonde braid whipping over her shoulder. She relaxed a little when she noticed it was Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw in her year. She would not consider him a friend, per se, but they had studied a few times in the library together. He would help her with Transfiguration, and, in turn, she would help him with Potions.
"Hey," she greeted back, trying to give him an easy smile. As they drew closer to the match, she could not help but have nerves. Although Mr. Crouch states that he has it all figured out, she knew it came down to her brother behaving tonight. Since it has been awhile since he had an episode, she did not know whether to take that as a good sign or not. "How are you? How was your summer?" She wanted to smack herself for sounding so pathetic.
"It was good," said Terry, looking equally as nervous. "Just, you know, waiting to go back. I love my family, but I need a break from them."
Corinna could not help but snort. "I know what you mean."
An awkward silence fell upon them, and Corinna really did not know how to get them out of it herself. Thankfully, or not so thankfully, some of Terry's friends called him over and they bid each other goodbye.
Just a few hours before the match, Mr. Crouch lead Corinna, Winky, and Barty up to the Minster's box. There were two rows of chairs and they were shoved off to the end of the second row. Barty sat between Corinna and Winky, Corinna volunteering the very end as to help Winky deal with her fear of heights.
"Stay here until after everyone else leaves," Mr. Crouch said firmly. To Corinna, he added, "You do not leave this box, you hear me?"
Corinna seemed annoyed for being singled out in such a way. Maybe he did not like her walking around by herself the last couple of weeks. "Fine," she sniffed and turned back to the near-empty stadium.
The hours seemed to drag as the time for the match steadily approached. Ludo Bagman tried to strike up a conversation with Corinna about quidditch, but her knowledge was lacking to keep the exchange polite. He seemed more than eager when others began trickling into the box, including the dreaded Malfoys, the minister himself, and-
"Harry?"
Corinna did not mean to say his name aloud. He came in with the Weasley brood (which took up more of the seats) and Hermione. "Oh, hi, Corinna," he said in surprise and they took their seats at the front, just in front of where the three of them sat.
"What is your house elf doing here?" Hermione asked, giving Corinna a quizzical look.
"She's saving a seat for my father," Corinna explained, knowing it sounded silly. However, it had worked out just as Mr. Crouch said it would.
"You could have saved it yourself," Hermione pointed out. "And she looks absolutely terrified of being up here."
Corinna sighed heavily as she glanced over at Winky. "It's actually because my father doesn't want me alone since he won't be able to join us until after the match starts."
She noticed Malfoy snickering, and she hated giving him such ammo. She just kept reminding herself that this was for her brother. That was what mattered right now.
Hermione, being the cleverest witch of her age (although not in those exact words according to some of their fellow peers), did not look convinced, but the fanfare happening around them was enough of a distraction for her to turn around. Especially once the veela appeared on the field, no one gave a second glance to Corinna or Winky or the fact that Mr. Crouch never showed up to the game at all.
Even Corinna had to admit that the game was exciting. It wasn't every day that the team that caught the snitch lost the game overall. She supposed that was the appeal to games such as quidditch: you never really know who is going to win until the very end. Well, most of the time, anyway. She just hoped that Barty had fun as well, even if she could not ask him until they got back to the tent.
They waited until everyone had left the minister's box, and Corinna did not like how Bagman commented how he would have liked to see "Old Barty," but left it at that as he had many bets that needed to be settled before the night was out. They made their way down the rickety steps back down to where they had their tent. Corinna and Winky did their best to keep Barty between them without someone bumping into him, but they managed to dodge the rebel rousers and the sore losers and get back to their tent.
Of course, not before she had been spotted.
"Oi, Corinna!" It was Terry again, much to her annoyance. "You want to come over? We have a lot of celebrating to do!" It seemed that at least some of the group he was with were supporting Ireland.
"I need to meet up with my dad first," Corinna called back, deciding on not giving a direct no. It also had not dawned on him—at least immediately—that she did not know where they would be gathering.
Once in the safety of the tent, Corinna removed the invisibility cloak from her brother. Barty seemed to be in good spirits, but a bit twitchy. Maybe they jumped in too deep with going to the World Cup as his first bit of excitement in a long, long time, but it seemed to be worth it in the end. He at least settled down to sleep quicker than usual, which made Corinna wonder if she could go meet up with Terry and his friends. She knew the direction they were heading in, and it was close enough to the edge that there was very little left to traverse.
But it seemed that Mr. Crouch had better ideas. He had shoved his way into the tent just as Corinna was about to put on a warmer jumper. He first checked on Barty, and he seemed at ease with how well he was taken care of. "Okay," he began, "you had your fun, now you should be heading to bed." Corinna did not even get her chance to argue before he had ducked back outside to try and minimize as much damage as possible.
Corinna was on the verge of grudgingly removing her jumper, but she froze. Even her time at Hogwarts was plagued by always being the good daughter. She kept up her grades, and she toed the line and did not break school rules (at least none worth having to write home about). For once in her life, she thought she had deserved to finally live a little.
"Winky," she said, going over to where the house elf seemed to be trying to distract herself by cleaning the kitchen that had not been used since the last time she cleaned it. "Could you sleep in my bed tonight with the sheet drawn over your head? I'm going to go out to a party, and I don't want my father to know."
There was an inner turmoil obviously brewing within Winky. But, an order from a master was an order she had to follow. "As you wish, Mistress Corinna."
"Thanks," she said easily. She grabbed her wand that she had hidden in her bag. She rushed away from the tent and headed in the direction that Terry and his cohort were heading. As she continued further out, doubt began ebbing away at the excitement. What if she did not find them? Or, worse. What if she did find them and they did not want to hang out with her? She tried to be friendly to most everyone, but it was not like she could claim anyone as friends. Sure, she got along with the girls she shared a dorm with, but she never expected to be invited out on holidays.
Corinna was about to give up hope and go back to her tent when she heard Zacharias Smith call out "Isn't that Corinna Crouch?"
Terry seemed to be the only one who turned excitedly towards Corinna as she stood in the road. She regretted it now as he came over and grabbed her by the wrist. "Come on, it's just a few of us from school. We've got some butterbeer and, once my parents get to sleep, we can whip out the firewhiskey."
Someone had shoved a bottle into her hands. She, of course, new everyone standing around the fire as they recounted what happened during the match. Cho Chang was talking animatedly about how she was interested in trying out some of the moves Bulgaria's seeker had performed earlier.
"You might be able to get the snitch from Potter if you do that!" Lisa Turnpin snarked. It was hard to tell by the orange glow of the fire, but Corinna could have sworn that Cho's face grew faintly pink.
"Hey, watch it, we've got a Gryffindor in our midst," Mandy Brocklehurst pointed out. "She might tell Potter what we're planning."
Corinna shrugged. "If anything, Harry's planning to do the same thing. Krum was pretty good tonight."
"Pretty good?" Zacharias exaggerated. "Pretty good?! He's the best damn seeker the world has ever seen."
From then on, Corinna tuned out of the conversation. She just sipped at her butterbeer to help warm her up. Now that she was finally here, she was wondering how she could extract herself from the party. She was already pressing her luck by just leaving. At any point, Mr. Crouch could go into their tent and realize that it was really Winky under the covers.
But it seemed that Terry was doing what he could to keep Corinna in the conversation. "So, Corinna, you must have had some wicked seats, with your father and all." It wasn't a fact that Corinna liked advertising, but word did get around that he was the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation that worked with the other countries' ministries to put the World Cup and other international events together. She did not know much about the day to day stuff he handled, but she knew that he was also working on another event, but it wasn't as advertised as the World Cup.
"We were in the Minister's box," Corinna explained casually, but it seemed to make Terry's jaw drop at the prospect.
"You probably saw everything," he said. "You wouldn't even need binoculars."
It did not stop some of them, Corinna thought, like Harry and his friends.
There were flashes of light coming from behind the camp, causing everyone in the group to look up. "I thought we weren't allowed fireworks," Zacharias commented.
"We aren't," Corinna mumbled as she stared out at the flashes of red streaking above some of the tents. "Because those aren't fireworks."
"Those are spells," said Cho. "Stunners, looks like."
The jovial nature of the celebration came to a screeching halt. Corinna's blood ran cold and she dropped her near empty bottle of butterbeer. In the distance, she could see ragdoll bodies floating above the tents, dancing madly as someone cackled out a humorless laugh.
There were a few screams in the distance and Terry's parents came running out of the tent, ordering the kids to go to the portkey landing area.
But Corinna ran in the opposite direction, against the grain of all those who were seeking safety. It seemed that, whoever was attacking, were coming closer to where Corinna was trying to get back to her tent. She had to make sure Barty and Winky were safe.
"Corinna!" Someone grabbed her shoulder and she whipped around to see Terry. "You're going towards the attackers. Come on, this way!"
"I need to go back to my tent," Corinna shouted, and she was barely able to hear herself over the fray. She jerked her arm away from Terry. "I need to make sure my brother is safe!"
If Terry was confused at all by that statement, he did not verbalize it. Corinna never mentioned that she had a brother to anyone at the school. It was not as if she was ashamed of him, it was more out of convenience. No need to explain anything if pretended he did not exist. It made her feel horrible, but she thought that, if Barty was lucid, he would understand. "I'll help you," he said easily.
Now she was worried about one person she was going to have to tell. All she could really hope for once this nightmare was over that he could keep a secret.
They held hands as it made it easier to keep track of each other as Corinna fought against the current of people. It took far too long for Corinna's comfort to get back to her tent. She barged inside, but no one was inside. Both Barty's and Corinna's beds had been vacated in a haste.
"Maybe he ran for safety," Terry suggested, hoping that would help Corinna calm down as she had gone ghostly pale.
"He wouldn't have," Corinna whispered as she stared at the empty bed. The one rule about coming here was that, except for when they were at the match, they had to be in the tent at all times. So, Corinna had broken that rule a few times, but Winky wouldn't have. Winky would have been compelled to stay.
Unless something happened with Barty…
"But, come on," Corinna said as she grabbed Terry's hand again. "Maybe if we follow everyone, we'll be able to find—"
Corinna was cut off when a smokey green outline filled the sky. It was of a skull and snake. It was a mark she had seen on her brother's arm on the few occasions his sleeves rolled up. She asked Mr. Crouch about it, but he told her to ignore it and to never ask about it ever again. Despite her curiosity, she did as she was told.
Blindly, Corinna ran towards where the mark was conjured. Maybe she was just being silly, but there had to be some sort of connection between the mark in the sky and the mark on her brother's arm.
It was too much of a coincidence.
"Corinna, stop!" Terry held onto Corinna's arm like a vice and stopped moving. "Why would you be running towards that?" She looked back, his face green. "Th-that's his mark. That's You-Know-Who's." Her heart about stopped when she heard that. "They put up that mark whenever they killed someone, so people know who done it."
Corinna was glad she could not get her mouth to move or else she might ask something really stupid. Instead, she let Terry tug her back to the crowd where they ran for their lives. She barely followed where they were going as her mind was a million miles away. How could her brother, who on good days could call her by name, be a Death Eater? Did that mean her father was a Death Eater? She knew that he had dreams of becoming minister that never came to fruition.
Unable to stop herself, Corinna tore herself from Terry and stumbled over to a nearby tree. She wretched violently, only the butterbeer from earlier coming up and burning her throat.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," said Terry, rubbing Corinna's back. "We'll find him. But, right now, we have to go."
Corinna wiped her mouth with her jumper sleeve and continued to run with Terry until he found his parents. He convinced Corinna to stay with them as her father was probably working with magical law enforcement on this crisis. She did not like the idea of hunkering down and waiting. She had to find Barty, even if he was a Death Eater. First and foremost, he was her brother and she needed to take care of him.
Oh, why did she have to choose now to have a teenage rebellion moment?
It was utter chaos. It seemed that everyone was going every which way but straight down as some elected to fly away on brooms. Now that it seemed most were far, far away from the Dark Mark, some had just hunkered down and put up barriers around themselves and their families. There was no way that anyone was going to be getting a portkey any time soon.
It was the longest night of Corinna's life. She just sat next to Terry without saying a word. It did not help that his father was berating him for running off like that and it was all Corinna's fault. Not that his father mentioned that. Corinna wondered if Terry had told him about her brother while she was not paying attention. It was entirely possible since she could not even focus on anything at the present time.
As the darkest part of night approached, ministry officials were telling people that they could go back to their tents. That the culprit who put up the Dark Mark was apprehended. Terry stiffly walked with his parents and, Corinna followed behind until she came to their tent. She reassured them that she wasn't that far from hers and continued until she reached her tent.
She did not like the scene before her. Mr. Crouch stood above Barty's bed, pointing his wand at him. Whatever happened seemed to have immobilized Barty as he was unconscious. Corinna looked around, but there was something missing.
"Where's Winky?"
Her normally pristine father was looking disheveled, probably for the first time in his life. His tie was askew, his shoes scuffed up. His normally pale complexion was now marred by angry red blotches on his face.
"She is no longer in my employ," Mr. Crouch said simply, and Corinna gave him a look of horror. That did not make any sense. Winky was basically family. She raised Corinna in a way that Mr. Crouch never would have. "And you left your brother. You should have taken him with you."
"I came back for him," Corinna defended, realizing her mistake much too late.
The red splotches seemed to grow darker, almost purple at this point. "What do you mean by 'came back for him?'"
"I was…I was just out with friends," Corinna managed to stammer out despite the fact that she just wanted to wilt away from Mr. Crouch's glare.
"You wanted this." Mr. Crouch spoke so low that Corinna had to strain to hear him. "You begged me to let your brother go to the match tonight. And this is how you repay me for figuring out how to make this work and to make sure it went off without a hitch. That—" He pointed outside the tent flap where the dark mark—albeit much dimmer now—graced the night sky, "—is all your fault. Me having to give clothes to Winky is all your fault. You don't even care that your brother got to see the match or not. You just wanted to excuse to see the match and then to run off with your little friends."
"That's not true," said Corinna as tears pooled in her eyes and clogged her throat, making it nearly impossible for her to speak. "None of that is true."
"Shut up and pack!" Mr. Crouch barked. "We're leaving tonight, and you will not see the light of day again until you leave for Hogwarts! Is that clear?"
Corinna opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she simply nodded, unable to see past the tears pooling in her eyes.
The last few weeks of summer were some of Corinna's worse. At least before, she saw her brother and got to talk to him, even if the conversations were one-sided. Even Winky could be fun to talk with, and now that Corinna was older, she even enjoyed helping Winky with some of the chores.
That was all taken away in one night.
Barty had to stay in his room at all times. Mr. Crouch being the only one who could go in and out. He did not say another word to Corinna after that night, opting to glare at her whenever they were in the same room together. Because of this, she only left her room to use the washroom and for meals, which consisted of whatever she could scrounge up for herself.
It was just a few days before classes were to begin when she heard voices in the living room. She froze. Never before this did her father bring anyone home from work. Curious, Corinna stayed low on the floor and cracked her door open. The hallway was dark. The only light pouring up the stairs from the lower floor. Before leaving her room, she went back to her bedside table and grabbed her wand. She quietly crept out of her room and went to the top landing. She had to peer around the wall to see through the banister into the living room below.
A soundless scream tried to escape her throat when she saw a short, rodent like man pointing his wand at Mr. Crouch who was writhing in pain on the floor. Barty looked down at his father without remorse. Corinna could not see her brother's face, but his posture was rigidly straight, and he stood much taller than she had ever saw him. He stepped forward and knelt in front of the couch.
"I knew someday you would come back for me, my lord," said Barty, his voice clear and steady. Corinna never heard him speak in such a way, and she was terrified of him.
"You were always my most loyal, Crouch," a high, cold voice spoke from the couch. He was wrapped in blankets, obscuring his form from Corinna. "When I got word about what your dear father was doing to you, I had to intervene."
"I am at your service. Name it and I will do it."
"We will talk, but not yet," the voice said. "We have an unexpected guest."
Corinna froze in place as Barty turned his head and looked up at the landing. His eyes were clear as if they were never dull or clouded before, and his jaw was set in a tight line.
"I am not hurting her, my lord," he said firmly. "I don't care what we do with my father, but I am not hurting Corinna."
"I do not expect you to," the voice said slowly. "It would look suspicious if she does not return to Hogwarts. No one can know what we have planned. We won't have to control her as we will with your father here, but she cannot remember what happens tonight or any other night until she leaves on the first."
Barty seemed to know what that meant as he trudged up the stairs. She scrambled to stand and ran back into her bedroom. She did not even get a chance to lock her door before Barty barged into her room.
"Expelliarmus," she shouted, causing the wand to fly out of her brother's hand. She recognized it as Mr. Crouch's.
He casually glanced back at the wand that bounced against the wall. He sighed heavily. "I am not going to hurt you, Corinna. I could never hurt you." It seemed as if he wanted to say more, but his voice seemed to catch in his throat.
Corinna's mind was going a mile a minute as she stared at her wandless brother, a sight she was used to but now it terrified her. He casually picked up the wand again and, before Corinna could utter another jinx, he pointed his wand and muttered, "Imperio."
A calmness came over Corinna as she stared at her brother without seeing him.
"Now you are going to crawl back into bed," he said in a shaky voice. He wore a grimace that aged him significantly. "You are going to go back to sleep and, no matter what you hear, you will stay in bed until the sun rises."
Corinna easily followed the orders. After all, why wouldn't she? She turned out the cover and sheets and crawled in, her back to Barty.
As Corinna was on the verge of falling into a dreamless sleep, she could hear the word, "Obliviate." He made it so she would forget about this night and to forget that her own brother was a Death Eater.