AN: Thank you for all of your reviews :) I'll try to uptade more often, I know that I'm terrible with it.
I don't own Harry Potter series.
Greyback was looking down at Rose, smiling mischievously.
"Now, let's play a little bit. I'm sure that Crouch won't mind.", he said. Rose shuddered from fear and disgust. She wanted to cry for help, but her captor still had his hand placed over her mouth. She started to wriggle in his grip, trying desperately to free herself. The werewolf just laughed cruelly.
"You're a feisty one, aren't you?". His grip tightened. He bent down and inhaled deeply. "There's nothing better than a young, fresh skin. Just a little taste."
Rose burst into tears, shaking violently as the beast nuzzled her hair. The feeling of panic was overwhelming her, as she knew that she'll soon experience something far worse than Crouch's curses or threats. She'd gladly exchange Greyback for ten furious husbands if it was possible.
The foul reek of the werewolf was making her sick. She hoped she'll lose consciousness, so she won't have to feel whatever he was going to do to her. The beast was mocking her, tracing circles on her neck with his dirty claw. She tried to bite his hand on her mouth, so she could scream for help, but he seemed to be completely unfazed by the pain she caused. His skin was so thick and calloused that the girl couldn't make any damage, no matter how hard she tried.
It was awful, the worst thing that happened to her in her captivity. Why her? Where was that stupid madman when she needed him? Didn't he care? Her vision went blurry from tears and she slowly started to hyperventilate in panic. The worst was to come, though.
Her heart nearly stopped when she realised that Greyback was reaching for the buttons of her shirt and she shut her eyes close, crying desperately.
Then, she heard a loud bang. The force of spell sent the beast flying across the room. Rose didn't even manage to fully catch what was going on, when another flash of light hit Greyback and he started to scream in agony. His eyes widened and he convulsed on the floor, the power of the curse clearly driving him mad from pain.
Barty was standing there, a wand in his hand, with such expression on his face that Rose immediately took one step back at seeing it. She had never, ever seen him so outraged. He went completely berserk, torturing the werewolf mercilessly. With another flick of his wand the skin on Greyback's arms and face was cut, leaving small wounds which bled like they were far deeper than they looked. Soon the werewolf was writhing in the pool of his own blood, screaming madly, but Barty didn't stop. He was still casting Crucio at the man, hissing like a snake, his eyes wide with insanity.
Rose didn't know what to do. She was sure that Malfoy and Bellatrix must have heard the screams, but they weren't coming, she didn't know why. She was shocked, trembling like a leaf, trying to gather courage and cry, cry for help, or cry for Barty to stop. The girl averted her eyes from the werewolf, the sight of the torture being too much for her. She had experienced the Crucio of her husband on her skin, but the one Greyback received must have been far stronger than hers. She was sure that he'll soon go insane from pain.
'Like the Longbottoms', she thought.
"Stop it!", she pleaded, still looking away. "Stop it, Barty! It's enough, you'll kill him!"
He didn't even budge. The witch was terrified, but decided that she had to do something now, or else Crouch would murder the werewolf just before her eyes.
She approached him, trying to grab his hand, but he pushed her away. "He needs to learn that I don't like when someone's touching my belongings. Don't interfere.", Barty said hoarsely, with a cruel smirk and a flick of tongue. Rose couldn't take this anymore, she didn't want to see anybody suffer, not even Greyback. Those screams were just unbearable, the man was wailing like a banshee. She shut her eyes again. It was then, when Bellatrix entered.
She was laughing maliciously, twirling her wand in her pale hands.
"The girl is right Barty, we may have some use of this trash in the future", she sneered. Crouch didn't stop, instead he smiled maniacally. Rose heard a snap, Greyback shrieked and his leg suddenly twisted in an unnatural manner. It was completely broken. The witch wanted to say something, to stop the pair from killing the beast, but no words could come from her mouth. She found breathing difficult and cursed herself for being such a coward.
"Don't spoil the fun, Bella", Barty rasped. Bellatrix giggled like a small girl, clearly enjoying the pain of the werewolf. The beast was still screaming.
"The Dark Lord won't approve, though", she said with regret. "Now, release the scum."
After a few seconds of hesitation Crouch obliged with a scowl on his face.
"I think I told you not to give orders in my house", he rasped, glaring at the werewolf. He was still shaking from anger. Bellatrix stepped near Greyback, who was whimpering on the floor. She regarded him for a while, ignoring Rose who was trembling and weeping quietly at the sight of the man's broken body.
Bellatrix put her high-heeled shoe on the beast's twisted leg and pressed, at first softly, but it was enough to make him weep.
"You're one, big nit, you know? To rattle Barty's cage like that.", she whispered silently, increasing the pressure on the leg. Greyback shrieked once again.
"Mercy...please, mercy...", he whimpered. Barty scowled, his eyes wide. He darted his tongue before saying:
"You should know, Greyback, that there's no such a word in our vocabulary. Mercy is for the weak.", he turned to his fellow Death Eater:
"Take him away, before I rip his guts out."
Bellatrix grinned at him, before flicking her wand. The body of Greyback rose up.
"Now you've learned your lesson. Come on, let's take you outside.", she said and left, smirking evilly, levitating the body of the beast behind her.
Rose was still standing like a statue, shaking violently. Barty turned around to look at her, with an exasperated expression, breathing heavily.
"You are the most stupid, naive and foolhardy woman I have ever met.", he stated. Rose only sobbed harder before she told him accusingly:
"How can you say something like that?! It was you who told me to go for that package, so don't call me stupid!"
And without another thought, she flung herself at him, gripping the front of his waistcoat and burying her face in his chest. For a few seconds Crouch's body went rigid, but after some time he embraced her, pulling her even closer into him. The girl wept hysterically, still shocked from fear. That thing he did just before her eyes terrified her, but far more frightening was the thought of being raped by Greyback. She could still sense his touch and see that disgusting leer. The girl gripped tighter the fabric of Barty's clothes.
"I'm not that bad now, huh?", her husband muttered, before pushing her gently away, to look at her face. It was swollen from crying.
"Oh come on", he said scowling at her, "You'll dry out completely if you'll keep crying all the time." He wiped away the tears from her face.
"Go back to your room, close the door. Winky will tell you when you can go out.", said Barty and started to clean the blood from the floor with his wand. Rose obediently hurried upstairs, went straight to her bed and curled up into a ball untill the sleep overtook her.
One good thing came from Rose's encounter with Greyback: Barty seemed to forget about Christmas events and their fight, he didn't carry out his promises to torment and torture her. In fact, he treated his wife just like he had been treating her before Christmas Day, mostly ignoring her, talking with her from time to time in the library, where she was spending a lot of time.
Rose wasn't complaining, she felt good and relatively safe again. She was more careful with her words now, being more aware of the things that enraged Crouch with every day she spent in his house. The girl decided that she'd do everything in her power to be on good terms with him, the memory of the pain he caused her and the picture of Greyback writhing on the floor still fresh in her mind. Now she was well aware of the things Barty was capable of. He was cruel, sadistic and completely insane. It was a miracle, really, that he hadn't been treating her worse. Maybe he didn't want to damage her too much, after all she was supposed to bear him a child. One 'Crucio' here and there wouldn't hurt, though, so Rose was careful not to provoke it. To her anger, this knowledge wasn't stopping the other absurd thoughts that were constantly coming to her head, the feelings that seemed to grow uncontrolled. Rose finally came to terms with the fact that Barty was in fact very handsome, intelligent, loyal man, skilled in many areas. If Voldemort never existed and Barty didn't go bonkers, he would be the best material for a husband. Unfortunately, You-Know-Who felt better than ever, thus certainly wasn't going to die and the mad grin plastered on Barty's face combined with his tongue-tic indicated that he clearly wasn't healthy on the head too.
'Well,', Rose thought one evening, 'There's nothing bad in dreams'. She sighed heavily before getting up from her armchair and proceeding to the bathroom. January was frosty this year and Rose blessed Winky for keeping her bedroom warm. The girl took a long bath, planning her next painting.
She couldn't wait to see the gardens in spring and paint all of the flowers that grew there. She was going to spend all days outside and dedicate herself to her work. Barty would be lurking in the shadows naturally, brooding all day in his study, or sitting in the cellar, doing whatever Death Eaters did in their spare time. He was so pale that Rose was worried he might get sick. Not that she cared, of course.
When she felt sleepy from the fragrance of bath foam, the girl decided it was time to go to bed. She quickly dried her hair, put her nightie on and buried herself under the covers. It wasn't given to her to have some peace, though.
The doors of her bedroom opened and Crouch came in, with blank face, as if it was completely normal. He casually took off his frock coat, hung it on the chair, took off his boots and with the same get-to-business-like expression, pulled the covers off of his wife.
She stared at him wide-eyed. It always managed to shock her, how he acted every time like he was simply doing groceries right now, completely indifferent of her reaction. It annoyed her to no end, that he didn't even consider that she could be in no mood for it, or something along that lines.
Barty never asked about her feelings on that matter and this time was no different. He just grabbed her legs, pulled her closer to him and kissed without further ado. As always, Rose lied completely still, trembling slightly when she felt his hands on her waist. She was determined to be completely unfazed by his caresses, as she always was (or at least pretended to be) whenever he came near her.
'I hate him, I hate him, I hate him', she repeated in her head, trying to ignore the sensation she felt when his body pressed harder into hers. 'Remember Greyback. Remember Longbottoms.'
His smell wasn't helping in the slightest, nor the fact that his kisses grew more urgent with every second. Slowly the blank look on his face faded away to be replaced by expression of pure lust.
"I've had enough of this", he growled when he pulled away to catch his breath, "Kiss me back". He darted out his tongue, an action that should scare the hell out of her, but strangely this time didn't. Rose desperately tried to disobey, but she knew that this time she won't make it. It was obvious that she needed to do this, that she had been wanting it for a long time. She didn't know what had possessed her to feel that way, but at that moment this was unimportant. She needed his attention, she longed for the feeling of being wanted, loneliness was killing her slowly.
"Kiss me back", Barty repeated and the girl finally obliged. The feeling was maddening. The Order, Voldemort, the war, everything ceased to exist. The only thing that mattered was him, his hair, his skin. She knew that it was wrong, but it felt so wonderful when he was good to her. In her last attempt to escape, Rose tried feebly to tell Barty to stop, putting her hands on his chest, but he only chuckled into her neck while kissing it, not stopping for a second.
And then, she ceased to think at all.
The clock on the wall pointed midnight, its even ticking soothing her lullingly. Rose was exhausted, but happy, maybe for the first time since her abduction. She moved slightly to nestle further into the covers and she felt a pair of strong arms tightening around her in response. Barty was nuzzling her hair, placing small kisses on the bite marks he had left on her shoulders. Usually, he would go to his bedroom as soon as he was done with her, but tonight he still wasn't getting up and Rose hoped that he would stay till the morning. It was the closest thing to normal marriage, she had ever encountered during her stay here. Rose desperately tried to not fall asleep, to prolong this moment when he wasn't her enemy, when he was mad from desire, not anger, but her eyelids grew heavier and heavier as the heat of Barty's body lulled her to sleep. She wondered if he felt the same, if he needed her as much as she needed him. He desired her, it was clear and maybe that was the thing that kept him from killing or torturing her. Rose was still afraid of him, but at that particular moment she felt completely safe, protected. Barty considered her as his, so he wouldn't let anyone else harm her. Months have passed and he was her only companion, her only option. The witch knew that those thoughts weren't normal, but she didn't care, feeling Barty's breath on her skin. Maybe she was destined to spend the rest of her life in this house, so why make it worse than necessary?
The last thing she was aware of was his hand stroking her hair and then everything went blissfully blank.
The morning wasn't as good, though. Rose woke up, feeling oddly cold, reaching out to pull Barty closer to her, but when her hand rested on his pillow, there was nothing to hold. The spell was broken.
"Barty?", she called, hoping against hope that he simply went to the bathroom. Minutes passed and he wasn't appearing. Rose buried herself under the covers, feeling treacherous tears welling in her eyes. She didn't want to cry, not again. Crying seemed to be the only thing that she was doing in this house.
'I'm stupid, stupid, what I've been thinking? That he'll cuddle up with me till the morning? He did his business and went on his way' , she thought bitterly.
He was pleased naturally, that she was responsive to him, but it still was only sex for him. A way to provide Voldemort's army with new recruits. She was stupid enough to succumb to his charms, now when asked she couldn't tell he was forcing her. She had given herself to him voluntarily. What a pathetic thing to do.
She blinked a few times, forcing those damned tears back. No more crying. She knew what he was. She could resist, she had a choice. Just lie there and let him do what he wanted, giving nothing in return.
Rose was guilt-stricken. Now that the heat of the moment had passed, she was fully aware of her actions. The Order gave up on her, she was convinced of that and she felt betrayed because of this, but that didn't give her any right to betray them too. Or did it? She was confused, hurt, more alone than ever. She knew one thing: she could no longer fool herself, she wanted her husband. She hated herself for this, she hated him for making her feel this way. She acted like a harlot, her desire being more important than the fact that her lover was a cold hearted murderer. Instead of trying to stop him from killing, she just voluntarily and happily let him use her. The girl was completely broken, she wanted to die, but on the other hand she was afraid of killing herself, her survival instincts too strong. What has she done to earn a fate like that?
There's no use to cry over split milk. Time to forget and live on. The Order was far away, not interested in Rose's fate. Barty was near, protecting her from the Death Eaters. As long as she'll have him on her side, she'll survive. Survival was the only thing she must have in mind. Someday she'll escape, away from everything and everyone.
The girl dressed up and came down to the dining room. Her husband was already there, reading Daily Prophet like always. Rose had sat beside him clearly heart-broken and poured herself some tea. She was so occupied with her thoughts, that she hadn't noticed Barty glancing at her from time to time stealthily. She also didn't notice that he darted his tongue now and then. Everything seemed to be pretty normal to her, as always he was silent and she couldn't bring herself to look at him in fear that she would start to cry again. And he would jeer her.
The dinner went in the same way. Rose had been depressed all day. In the afternoon, she went to her painting room and started to work. Hours passed and the girl seemed to forget all of her problems, mixing colors and putting them on the easel painting. It depicted a giant eagle, its wings stretched on the blue sky. Rose wanted to have wings, so she could fly away from everything: the war, Barty, Dumbledore... She sometimes even wished she was a muggle, not aware of magic. She would be a normal woman with a normal husband and children.
When evening came, the doors opened and Crouch walked in. From the distance Rose saw that he was in a good mood, which was odd for him. He stepped closer to her and embraced her from behind, burying his face in her hair. The action was so unexpected and weird, that Rose nearly dropped her paintbrush. She couldn't deny that it was nice, though.
'Stop thinking like that, you fool. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.', she repeated in her head, over and over again.
"We'll be doing that more often, now", came a murmur from behind her. She blushed furiously, but said nothing. Barty kissed her head and stalked away without another word, leaving her completely speechless.
Barty Crouch Jr never spoke idly and as he said, they did.
Rose found herself literally addicted to his visits. She felt ridiculously happy when he came and heart-broken when he left her. Of course, she did her best to hide the fact that she grew to like his attentions, but Barty wasn't stupid. Also, it was hard to pretend. She hated him for it and told him that now and then, but he would only laugh at hearing those words. He never stayed till morning, never slept with her. She wanted to ask him to do so, but she was too afraid that he'll ridicule her feelings, and still she refused to fully acknowledge her own needs and thoughts. And so they lived on in this sick relationship, January passing in a blink of an eye. Rose was overall obedient, and Barty was as good to her as an insane Death Eater can get.
Sometimes she would back talk at him and he would threaten to whup her, but he never did so. He was treating her like his personal possession and that unnerved her, but it was better than nothing. She wanted him to feel something human towards her, to not be a tool in his hands but a living being worth his time and the small amount of affection that he was capable of giving. To not be so alone anymore.
'I hate him', she thought repeatedly every time they kissed. 'I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.'
But she kissed him nonetheless. Afterall, she was very obedient wife.
