A/N: Don't own Harry Potter, if it did then I would be J.K. Rowlings... which would be cool because then I wouldn't be sitting here desperately trying to fill up my time before Book Six comes out... and I would already know how it all ends... and (just as a bonus) I would be richer then the Queen of England!
Barty Jr. apparated exactly one block from the meeting place, just inside the cluster of pine trees that had been used as an apparating zone for the Black family members and visiters in the two hundred years since the house was built. since the house was built. Taking a look around him before stepping out of the trees, he started down the block.
Although he was still keenly aware of every sound on the decrepit street as he walked, he used this time to think about what he was to do this night. He had never killed anyone before. His service to the Dark Lord had been mostly gathering information about the Ministry's activity. He had spent many nights listening to his father's study door as Barty Crouch Sr. arranged Auror raids and dealt with confidential Ministry information. But now everything had changed, the Dark Lord had disappeared and maybe was even hurt. They had to do whatever was necessary to find him. He had no doubts that Bellatrix meant to kill Frank Longbottom, but the very thought made him sweat nervously. He couldn't help but think of Longbottom's son, that because of Barty, Frank's little boy would never know his father. Barty knew what it was like to grow up without one, or rather with one who was always too busy to pay attention to the son that had been nothing but a disappointment to him time after time.
He shook his head bitterly. It really wouldn't be his fault. In his momentary weakness he had tried to warn them, but once again his father had been to busy to have anything to do with him... too busy with yet another Auror! Realizing that he was working himself up again, he stopped walking for a moment and looked up at the stars, trying to calm himself so that he would be able to do what he had too, to do what he owed to the Dark Lord, the only one who had ever truly cared about him. The Dark Lord took care of his followers; he had treated Barty like a son. He would not fail the Dark Lord, especially not now, when all his other followers had deserted him. He would be faithful, and the Dark Lord would reward him beyond his wildest dreams. Resolutely banishing all his treasonous thoughts he cautiously made his way until he was between houses number eleven and number thirteen.
Barty nervously looked around to make sure he was alone on the street before he muttered the password. As he did a house appeared out of thin air, bulging the other houses beside it out of the way to make room. He walked up the ornate stone stair steps, as if he had done it a hundred times, until he came to a large black door with a silver serpent doorknocker. After struggling for a few minutes with the heavy door he cautiously entered the dark hallway, lit only by a few gas lamps.
"Barty!" An ecstatic cry came from next to him.
Startled Barty whipped around and came face to face with a life-size portrait. It was a huge, grand portrait of an old woman, wearing a black cap, who was now smiling broadly. At her cry the other portraits woke up and began greeting Barty.
"Oh, hello Mrs. Black." He said grinning back at her, "You scared me."
The portrait tisked at him playfully, "You should always be on your guard, Mr. Crouch."
"Is Bellatrix around?" Barty asked, ignoring the comment.
"Yes, she's up the stairs with Kreacher."
"Thank you." Barty bowed formally at her, "Always nice to see you Mrs. Black.
The portrait of Mrs. Black smiled at him as he started up the staircase.
The house was, as usual, dark. Before he got even halfway up the staircase Barty was forced to light his wand in order to see in front of him. Coming to the top of the stairs he bypassed countless doors until he came to a blank wall.
"The Dark Lord shall Rise" he said forcefully to the dark wall. As Barty watched a small dot appeared on the white paint, it began to swirl faster and faster, getting wider and wider, until there was a hole, just large enough for Barty to crawl through.
When he crawled out the other side a regal looking woman with thick, shiny, black hair and hooded eyes greeted him with a wand pointed directly at his heart. Her face softened, just a little, as she recognized him. "Oh there you are Barty. I've been waiting for you," Her eyes narrowed, " You're late." She still hadn't lowered her wand.
"I got held up." Barty answered defensively.
"Did Longbottom take our bait?" She asked, finally lowering her wand.
"Yes, he'll be at Marley's field with ten aurors."
Belletrix hissed through her teeth. "That many?"
"Well, he seems to think that this is his chance to capture all of the Dark Lord's remaining followers."
Belletrix looked grim, "It may very well be, if tonight doesn't go according to plan. Will you still be able to lure him to the spot?"
"Please," Barty flashed a smile, "Longbottom will come, no problem."
"He'd better." Belletrix threatened.
Barty began to feel a little anxious, "Trust me. I'll get him there."
Suddenly the hole behind him opened again. He and Belletrix both whipped around and aimed their wands at the newcomers. Two men ignored their wands as they crawled through the hole. One man was bulky, while the other was lean, but they were obviously brothers. As Barty and Bellatrix lowered their wands Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange leered up at them.
"Everything is set, my sweet." Rodolphus said, smiling and wrapping his arms around Belletrix.
"Perfect." She breathed, giving her husband a lengthy kiss, "Soon we'll be able to get him back, and once we do not even Dumbledore will be able to stand in our way." She disentangled herself from his arms and turned toward Barty and Rabastan. "Let's go." She said grimly, "Have everything ready for when we get back Kreacher." She ordered the House Elf before climbing through the hole in the wall.
The three others followed her out, leaving Kreacher alone, cackling and muttering to himself, in the room behind them.
Inside the Ministry of Magic's apparating zone Frank and his wife appeared, grinning from ear to ear like children.
"Just like old times isn't it?" Alice asked her husband.
Frank looked at her and grinned even wider, "Lets go." He said.
By the time they arrived in the Auror's debriefing room they were all business. Crouch looked over at them irritably. "Why is she here?" He snapped.
"Because she's one of the best Aurors to graduate from the academy and she has experience in capturing Death Eaters..."
"And she's sick of staying at home and letting these youngins have all the fun." Alice interrupted her husband with a smile.
"Very well." Crouch said glowering at them, "Next time don't be so late."
Frank and Alice grinned at each other once again before hurrying forward to take their seats.
"Now, as I was saying." Crouch continued, casting a final glare toward the Longbottoms, "You are going to apparate into Marley's field, here," he gestured toward several red marks on the board, "According the information we have the Death Eaters will be here," he gestured to another mark on the board in the center of the red marks.
"Excuse me, sir?" one Auror asked raising his hand, "Do we know how many Death Eaters will be there?"
"According to our information there could be anywhere from ten to fifteen Death Eaters, including Belletrix Lestrange and her husband." Crouch said, "Were going with the simple approach here folks, as soon as you apparate in, you are to proceed cautiously toward the center of the field. With any luck before the Death Eater's realize you are there, you will be able to stun all of them and bring them into custody." His gaze traveled the room, "Frank will take over from here."
Frank stood and looked around; most of the Aurors were young, fresh from training. They were almost all that were left; the Dark Lord and his followers had long ago cut down most of the seasoned Aurors. "I don't need to tell you that this could be our last and best chance to capture the remaining Death Eaters, nor do I need to tell you that most of the Wizarding world thinks that the threat is over. We need to get these bastards. This mission is dangerous, the Death Eaters literally don't have much left to live for, so don't take any chances, kill them if you have to. You can be sure they'll kill you if they get the chance. I'm proud to be working with you, follow my lead and I'll do everything I can to keep you from harm. Good luck everyone. We leave in ten minutes." With that he sat next to his wife, took her hand in his and squeezed it.
"Great speech," she whispered to him, "A little short perhaps but..." She grinned playfully at him.
Frank grinned back at her. Suddenly his smile disappeared and he was looking at her intently. "Are you sure that there is no way that I can talk you out of coming?" He asked.
She shook her head stubbornly.
"Just...just be careful, alright?" Frank persisted, "I have a bad feeling about tonight, first sign of any trouble apparate out of there okay? Promise me?"
In reply she took his face between her hands and kissed him, "Nothing is going to happen," She said determinedly, "Everything will be fine. This'll be the one that we tell Neville about, the night when Mommy and Daddy got the last of the big bad Death Eaters."
He smiled wanly at her. "I hope that you're right."
A/N: Well there it was... Chapter 2. I hope that it was worth the wait for those of you who have been waiting for it. I know that I promised more action in this chapter, but that was when I was planning to include the actual torturing of Frank and Alice here. I decided not to in order to make the story flow better. On the bright side Chapter 3 is almost totally written and ready to go up! So no one will have to wait very long. Oh, one more thing this chapter was not beta read so please forgive any grammatical errors. The first chapter was beta read by a IRL friend of mine Mana Roman, but she won't be beta reading for me anymore (for some reason I'm keeping the fact that I'm posting this fanfic a secret from my IRL friends.) So I'm in the market for a beta reader if anyone has the time/interest. If you would like to then just email me at I'd really appreciate it!
In the tradition of one of my favorite authors (Miss Piratess Rocks!) I will now answer all of the reviews that I've gotten so far.
Miss Piratess: blushes thanks. I'm glad that you enjoyed it! I really admire your stories so it means a lot coming from you.
Moony vs. Padfoot: Glad you liked it. I like the stuff you guys have written too. You both have a lot of talent, especially for being so young.
The Spatula Chick: Well no one likes getting a review that is slightly critical, but I'm glad that you like some things about it. To answer your problems though...
I'm going to be getting more into Barty's thoughts and psyche a little bit later. I'm planning on going all the way through his trial, so there's still plenty of time. Just bear with me. His thoughts aren't really supposed to make sense yet.
Gran is really up to anyone's imagination. I always imagined her as one of those really fierce small people. I worked with a lady like that once, so I'm drawing on her characterizations to flesh out Gran's personality and physical features. Gran is only really talked about through Neville, and only described twice, and not very well, both just mention her as formidable and stern. So that is open to any interpretation. About the hat... how can a hat with a huge stuffed bird on top of it be anything but ridiculous?!
It's going to be more interesting later (at least I hope so!) beginnings are rough for me since they just basically set the scene for what is going to happen throughout the rest of the story.
Stroppy-Teenager: I'm glad that you liked the irony... that's what I was going for. And no, I haven't ever seen West Side Story, but I have read Romeo and Juliet so I basically already knew how it ended. So you didn't really ruin anything for me ï