EVERYTHING in his sitting room was laced with the horrible feeling of cold and had been ever since the pretty witch from earlier, Elisabeth Raywood, had left his home. She had taken the warmth she had exuded with her, almost as if she was a ray of sunshine, and already, he missed it.

He thought it strange for him to make a connection with someone so abruptly as he had with her. Long dark shadows slinked along the walls of his sitting room from the many candles that Quirinus had lit throughout the room for warmth and light. He stood in front of the window for Merlin only knew how long, his thick black knit sweater clinging to his body uncomfortably.

The fabric felt heavy, almost suffocating, his body feeling more than fatigued and weak. The candlelight that emanated from the candle on the windowsill danced over the wizard's face, the light made the shadows cast by his body look even more monstrous than the man was.

He did not know how long he'd stood in front of the window like this as the seconds turned to minutes, the quietness around Quirinus now was more than thickening.

He took a heavy hand and ran it down along the scarred side of his face, hoping to rid himself of his anxiety. Elisabeth had promised that she would be back around dinner.

The dinner hour had come and gone, she was nearly two hours late.

Something must have happened to his neighbor, he was sure of it. The moments passed him by slowly as he stood there staring out the window. Everything around him was still. He was still.

'Pop!' A sudden crack that could only come from the sound of someone Apparating on his front porch startled Quirinus greatly, and the waves of sharp alarm hit the flustered wizard fast and hard as a heavy hand shot to his heart and curled around a fistful of his thick black sweater.

The abrupt but sudden sound had nearly caused the already stressed man's heart to nearly stop right there on the spot. Well, that was one way to be brought back to earth, Quirinus thought bitterly to himself, and refocused his attention on the window, having to crane his neck to see who it was. His expression brightened considerably when he saw it was her, the witch from earlier, Elisabeth Raywood. Though the hopeful little smile that tugged his lips upwards fell, his face grew crestfallen as he realized she had brought company with her. A wizard, and a handsome one at that. He felt a strange tightness begin to spiral throughout his chest and up into his throat and he debated not answering the door when he heard the sound of her timid knocks.

But of course, she had promised that she would be back, and she was expecting to see him.

There was little else that he could do. He had no choice but to answer the door.

He stood in front of the door, grateful he'd not yet opened it.

He had not felt this nervous since…since…he would instead not think about it. His mind felt like it was racing as his brow furrowed in confusion as he wondered who the wizard could be. A fast hand found its way to his head and brushed over the prickling stubble as his hair was already beginning to grow back.

With a very, very deep breath, he opened the door and revealed himself to Elisabeth Raywood and the wizard on his front porch. As he hesitantly opened the door wider, Elisabeth Raywood's eyes seemed to pick up on his hesitancy. She nervously held up a paper bag of what looked like takeout food from The Leaky Cauldron.

"Dinner." She tried to chuckle, though thanks to her nerves, it sounded more like a fitful sigh.

"M-Miss Raywood, you're back. I-I was beginning to think that you would not show." His voice held a slight stutter to it, likely from nervousness. He flicked his gaze towards the wizard, and pointedly felt the blood in his face drain and he took a staggering step backward.

When his eyes first landed on Bartemius Crouch Jr., he could not quite process the information, though he wondered what on Merlin's green earth a witch was doing with a man the likes of him.

"Miss Raywood, is everything…alright?" he questioned. Elisabeth parted her lips as if to speak, though before he could, Barty clamped a hand on the redhead's shoulder firmly and shook his head.

"I hope you don't mind that I tagged along," Barty grinned, though there was a bit of wolfish rake in that smile that made Quirinus think the wizard was a werewolf, though, of course, he was not, though it did not explain how it was that Elisabeth knew this man, this Death Eater. "I thank you for keeping my love company. She tends to get lonely at times. My fiancée needs people in her life to help her get used to the strangeness of her new life with me."

Quirinus frowned, his lips parted slightly in shock. His questioning eyes looked curiously towards his neighbor, wondering what a witch like Elisabeth Raywood could see in a bastard like Crouch, and he began to wonder if perhaps he had misjudged this woman. Nevertheless, he did not want to make the situation any more awkward for both of them, as it was clear that Crouch was growing increasingly agitated, and immediately he lowered his head in apologetic reverence.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Raywood, it was careless of me. I should not have presumed to—to make any assumptions against your character. You—you should leave now." He swallowed down hard and made to turn away, though before he could, Barty's arm shot out and stopped him from closing the door on them. He strode forward and wedged a thick-toed leather boot in between the door.

"Barty, don't," Elisabeth tried to cut the wizard off and tugged on the sleeve of his black leather jacket, trying to pull him away. "Let's—let's just go back, leave him alone, please, he—he needs to rest, Barty," she murmured, though she was unable to lift her gaze and look Quirinus in the eye.

He was flushing as well, unable to believe the events that were transpiring.

He had not meant to place his neighbor into such an uncertain situation.

He wanted to apologize to her but judging by the look in Barty Crouch's narrowed eyes, he knew that it would drag them into a potential quarrel that much sooner, and he wanted to avoid that.

A momentary silence took over as Barty Crouch Jr. proceeded to eye Quirinus in a way that he was not sure what to make of, and he could almost fathom the pressure on his look. If the air around them would have been color, it would have been scarlet red for the hatred and animosity that Crouch seemed to hold in his veins for him, for reasons that Quirinus had not understood.

He had never particularly liked Barty when he was in school with the wizard and had gone out of his way to avoid him, and he liked him even less when he'd learned the wizard had allied himself with the likes of Lord Voldemort. Though now, he felt even more resentment towards him as he caught a glimpse of the plain silver band that Elisabeth seemed to wear proudly on her ring finger.

Quirinus's hands began to tremble with rage as he took a closer look at the ring and could see the faint white glow emanating from it and knew then that this was no ordinary wedding band.

This ring was enchanted, which meant that Elisabeth Raywood had been coerced into marrying Crouch, perhaps blackmailed. He was suddenly overcome with anger at the wizard's audacity.

He wanted to kill this Death Eater where he stood. Again, and again and again. He wanted to bash the man's skull to the floor of his porch, to hear his bones crack, to watch the clean hardwood floor turn red with his blood. He wanted Crouch to suffer for doing this to Elisabeth and—

"That old tosspot Dumbledore did a number on you, didn't he? He got you good, Quirrell, I will give him that, though he's sorely mistaken if he thinks hiding the truth from you will do your life any good at all."

Barty Crouch Jr.'s hoarse voice ripped through Quirinus's thoughts, pulling him back to the present.

"What?" Quirinus exclaimed sourly as he took a step back.

Barty strode forward, inviting himself into his home without waiting to be invited. He was unable to form a polite response as the more handsome wizard's pretentiousness was getting the better of him. Barty merely smiled in an almost intimate manner, as if the wizard were enjoying some private joke with himself. His lack of response irked him, and he began to feel more than a little nervous and flicked his gaze to where Elisabeth stood, searching the witch's face for answers.

She was, for the moment, the only one that he would trust to be honest with him, though he still did not know this woman well. He would trust her for now, though he would be cautious.

"Elisabeth. What's wrong? Why are you with him? Has he..." he paused, sounding so unsure of himself. "Has he hurt you?" he asked, his throat tightening painfully as he noticed her expression.

Quirinus began to feel irritated.

If there was something Crouch wanted, whether it be to ask him a simple question or to kill him, then why didn't he just come outright and say what he had come here with Elisabeth for?

Had he done something, said something to offend Barty somehow, was that it, then?

"I—I don't understand, Barty. Why are you here at my house? What do you want?" he blurted out, his words sounding clumsy and blunt as he continued to back away, fumbling for his wand in his jeans pocket, unwilling to play along with Crouch's antics for a second longer than he had to.

Barty's mouth stretched unnaturally wide into a grin that was almost Cheshire-Cat-like, and it was enough to stuff the chills down Quirinus's throat. He swallowed and raised his wand, the fingers of his wand hand twitching. He did not want to duel him here in his home, though he would if left with no other alternative. He was jolted from his thoughts as the wizard spoke.

Barty raised his wand.

"Tell me where the Dark Lord has gone to, Quirinus, and I will restore your memories to you the easy way."

Quirinus parted his lips, the furrow of confusion between his brows worsening, though before he could say another word, Elisabeth stepped forward and interjected, her tone laced to the brim with desperate fear.

"Barty, don't! Stop this!" she begged, though Barty raised a threatening hand to quiet her as if he intended to strike her. Her concern for Quirinus was so great, that Elisabeth clamped her lips shut and obeyed.

"Good, Luv. We won't be long here, and then we'll leave this wretched hellhole you dare to call a wizarding village," he promised her, a faint twinge of affection that was unlike the bastard audible in his voice. He turned back towards Quirinus and straightened his posture, standing straight and tall and proud.

"Quirrell, you served as host to the Dark Lord for well over a year. Surely he had a contingency plan in place when you ultimately failed him. I know you know what it is. Tell me, and maybe I won't torture you for theft, as you've stolen something very dear to me, something that I fear, thanks to your involvement, will never now truly be mine as it should have been. You've interfered for the last bloody dire time," he continued, glancing at Quirinus to gauge his reaction.

Barty could not help but smirk at the confusion he saw growing within the wizard's black eyes. Barty raised his wand, fully prepared to restore the wizard's memories.

All the while Elisabeth's heart threatened to explode from her chest as she would be forced to watch Quirinus's torture once the flood of memories would return in a flash of knowing so strong, she knew that it would cripple the man, and then add to that, the pain of his torturing.

"Barty!" she screamed, nearly hysterical. "Please! Stop this!" Elisabeth shouted, nearly going mad with her desperate urge to help her friend.

But Barty only raised his wand even higher, and it was then that Elisabeth felt something dark and ugly within herself shift and give way, and she roared in anger. She did not think she could stand here as a witness any longer. She would not let Quirinus suffer this. Not if she could at all help it.

She would rather Barty kill her himself before letting Quirinus suffer the pain of having his memories restored to him without thought of the considerable damage it could do.

Without even thinking, in a flash of reflexive movement, she drew her wand she kept tucked safely in her belt so fast that her hand was a blur, and she sent the first Stunning Spell Barty's way.

She would worry about his stupid ring on her finger later.

If there was but no other way to remove it than to do the unthinkable and cut off her finger, then so be it, but for now, she had to get Quirinus somewhere safe, somewhere she trusted.

"Quirinus," she barked in a voice that did not sound like hers at all, but instead the voice that was ripped from her lips was gruff and commanding. "Go, get out of here, Disapparate somewhere safe. I'll find you later," she commanded, continuing to fire a barrage of jinxes Barty's way, though she had the advantage of surprise on her side, as the Death Eater had not been expecting his bride to turn on him.

It took Quirinus a moment to find his voice and when he did, his voice trembled, and he found himself stammering and tripping over his words as he spoke.

"M-Miss Raywood, n-no, I can't just leave you!" he started to protest, though she cut him off.

"GO! I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! GET OUT OF HERE, QUIRINUS! GO! LEAVE!" she roared at the top of her lungs, not in the mood to argue as she strained against deflecting Crouch's Cruciatus Curse. She ground her teeth with the effort and dug the heels of her boots more firmly into the floor, and it was clear by her stance that her strength was already fading.

She could only buy him a few more seconds. Every fiber of Quirinus's body demanded that he stay and assist his neighbor however he could. It was clear that she was losing the advantage and it was not a matter of if Barty overpowered her because he would, but when, and when that happened, the wizard was sure to kill her for daring to try to attack him.

He made up his mind then. He would not abandon her to die if he could help her at all. He raised his wand while the Death Eater was distracted and slashed his wand through the air, loosening a barrage of curses across Crouch's face, and knocking the Death Eater to the floor, unconscious.

Elisabeth gasped and jumped back as Barty crumpled unconscious in an ungrateful heap at Quirinus's feet. He turned towards Elisabeth. They did not have much time, he would likely wake up soon, and he did not want this witch anywhere near the vicinity when he did.

"Come on," he pleaded to Elisabeth softly as he took hold of the redhead's hand without bothering to wait for her permission, pulling her so she was almost flush against his chest and wound an arm around her waist. A strange seeping pressure began to build in his chest the moment his hands were around her waist. "We have to leave. We can't be here when Crouch wakes up again." He would have wanted to marvel at how right it felt, but he did not let himself dwell on the sensation.

He could only watch as Elisabeth stood there for a moment, rooted in fear, apprehension, and uncertainty that for some reason, caused the feeble quivering muscle within his chest to tighten. He did not like the way that she was looking at him now, with such trepidation.

All he wanted was to get her to safety and alert someone to Barty's attempted assault against his neighbor and himself.

"Please," he asked again. "Y-your life depends on it, Elisabeth."

Elisabeth desperately searched her former friend's face for any hint that he was again lying to her, any sign that she could not trust the man. She remembered how she had cared for him once, and the bond of trust and friendship that had grown between them.

She wanted that security and happiness in her life to return to her. She made up her mind now to try to depend on Quirinus now, as he was doing the same with her while she helped him to rebuild the shattered pieces of his life, even if she would regret it later. Elisabeth slowly held onto his bicep, her slender fingers trembling, as he held her even closer. She knew that she needed to find a way out, away from Barty, and for the moment, Quirinus may be the only help she would get.

Her heart secretly soared to have the wizard so close to her once more, holding her like he was now, but she could not forget how they had rowed, or the fact that he no longer remembered her. She would go, for the chance to save herself and to save Quirinus, but she would be cautious with her trust for now.

"Where will we go?" she whispered shyly, casting a nervous gaze towards Barty on the ground a few feet from them, already stirring.

Quirinus noticed Barty stirring and his fingers came to clutch tightly at a fistful of her dress, and he stiffened.

"I'm taking you to the only place that I trust and where I know you will be safe," he announced. "Hogwarts," he finished.

Before she could say another word or protest the wizard's decision, he turned on the heels of his feet and Disapparated, taking Elisabeth with him. The sounds of them Disapparating from his home drowned out the sound of the Death Eater's screams as Barty bolted to his feet, having regained consciousness, and saw Quirinus Quirrell whisk his most prized possession away from him.

But Elisabeth was smart enough not to look back.