Word Count: 821

Written For:
- Teachers Triwizard Tournament, prompts used: (pairing) Barty/Regulus, (restriction) No word said, (quote) Why would I be jealous? Though, I do know you're partial to men in leather jackets.", (AU) Psychological!AU, (quote) "You are a hurricane… remember to breathe every once in a while, do not drown within your own storm."
- Gringotts Prompt Bank - Friends Prompts: (Action) Putting together new furniture, (Object) Leather Jacket, (Dialogue) "Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You're gonna love it."


Precious Hurricane

You were my knight and shining companion, to my surprise my loves demise was his own greed and lullaby.

"There is no need to be jealous of my Mind Healer, Regulus," Barty chuckled as Regulus led him across the second floor of a block of apartments.

"I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous?" exclaimed Regulus, though he did sound extremely jealous. "Though, I do know you're partial to men in leather jackets," he sniggered, plucking the lapel of his own leather coat as he spoke.

Barty rolled his eyes, but he was smirking. "Idiot," he joked.

"...And we're home!" Regulus announced as he jostled a large brassy key into an equally distressed looking lock, and pushed the door open, gesturing into a dark hallway. "Welcome back to the real world. It sucks! You're going to love it."

Barty tentatively walked forward, inhaling the smell of fresh paint as he did so. Regulus flourished his wand silently behind him, and several balls of light swooped to ignite various candles that adorned shelving around the hallway. He was gripping a large suitcase tightly, and he flinched as Regulus gently eased him along.

"Keep going into the living room," he coaxed Barty, and Barty began to head further into the apartment. "I spent all day yesterday painting the living room, and the day before I did the bedroom. Your favourite colour, of course."

When the pair reached the living room, which was just off the end of the hallway, Barty dropped his suitcase and had a look around. It was a shoddy little room, with only a single small window overlooking the alleyway and the wheelie bins outside, shrouded with dark, dusty curtains. A moth-eaten old couch sat in the centre of the room, but there was little else in there. Conjoined to the living room was a tiny kitchen, which was essentially spread across one wall of the living room.

"In the first door off the hallway is our bedroom," Regulus started, gesturing back into the hallway that they had just left. "And the bathroom is just off the bedroom. It's not much..." he paused, taking a quick glance around the living room. "But I suppose it's home."

Barty blinked at Regulus, feeling an overwhelming surge of emotion for his boyfriend. "You...you moved out of home for me?" Barty knew that Regulus lived in a large, lavish house previously, and his family's wealth meant that he very rarely wanted for anything. He couldn't imagine why Regulus would ever want to give up all of that to live in a tiny, run-down apartment in the south of London.

Regulus smiled and took a step towards Barty, pressing his hands to his cheeks. "I would do anything for you," he promised, before placing a gentle kiss on Barty's mouth.

They had just come out of the other side of a difficult few months. It started off with Regulus coming out to his parents and announcing that he was dating Barty Crouch Junior. Walburga and Orion Black were mortified, having already made plans to have Regulus married off to a cousin-in-law of Bellatrix. They had promised Regulus that he would be nothing short of disowned if he didn't buck his ideas up and put aside his sexuality for the sake of his bloodline.

Regulus had no plans to abandon Barty, but he had to forget all about his own worries when Barty suffered a psychotic break and was admitted to a psychiatric ward at St. Mungo's, where he resided for four months before being finally released. Walburga, who adored Regulus, had given her son this much time to decide what he wanted.

Of course, Regulus wanted nothing but to be there for Barty. Barty was like his own personal hurricane, and all Regulus wanted to do was make sure he didn't drown within his own storm. So Walburga had promptly disowned him, breaking her heart in the process, and Regulus had taken what little gold he had to buy an apartment that he and Barty could live in.

"You're too good for me," Barty croaked in a cracked voice, and Regulus felt his stomach constrict as tears rose in his eyes.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Regulus dragged Barty down onto the couch and threaded their fingers together. "Don't you like it? I know it's a bit...a bit shabby, but we can do it up pretty quickly. It'll be fun. Like our own little project—" Regulus was cut off as Barty crashed his mouth into Regulus's, enveloping his unspoken words in a kiss. When he pulled away, keeping their foreheads pressed together, the tears were spilling down Barty's face.

"I love it, you idiot," he mumbled. "What's left to do?"

Regulus pointed at a large cardboard box and silently summoned it towards them. "Coffee table. Let's put it up now?"

Barty grinned, wiping his tears away with his sleeve. "Sure."