Part Two, Chapter Twenty-Two

Gwen wasn't sure who to expect when she went to answer the door, but she certainly hadn't thought it would be Sander. Someone from the Ministry, maybe, or an auror who'd come to inform her of something they'd forgotten about earlier, or perhaps even Martijn. But most definitely not Sander.

When she opened the door and saw who it was she was too surprised to even say anything for a couple of seconds, but he spoke first, quickly and urgently with his voice full of concern. "Gwen, are you alright?"

After a moment's silence she managed to reply. "Um, yeah, fine." She wasn't really thinking about the answer, but instead was more worried about the fact that Barty was sat only a few metres away in the living room and would be able to hear everything they said.

"Martijn told me what happened," Sander said, still sounding worried, "I came as soon as he told me. He said you were alright but I just wanted to be sure."

"Oh." As much as she was flattered that he cared enough to come and see her, she wasn't sure if she wanted him here with Barty only in the other room. It seemed like it was best to keep them apart. "Well, that was very thoughtful of you, but, er…how did you find out where I live?"

"It's all down to Martijn, really," he said vaguely. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Um, well…" she wasn't sure how to respond, not wanting to sound rude by turning him away, but she was spared the ordeal of having to answer by the sound of someone speaking behind her.

"Gwen, what is it?"

She turned round to see Barty had gotten up and was now standing at the living room door, and was looking past her to where Sander was stood in the doorway. "It's Sander, right?" he said, addressing the Dutchman in a cold tone.

Gwen turned back to Sander and saw that his look of concern had turned to a much more hostile expression. "Yes, and you're Barty Crouch, aren't you?" he responded equally coolly.

Barty took a few steps forward to stand just behind Gwen and put an arm round her waist. She wished he wouldn't do that. In general he didn't act possessively and she knew he was only doing it to torment Sander, but he wasn't being fair. Even though Gwen could understand Barty resenting the interruption, she also knew Sander was here with the best of intentions and she hoped Barty wasn't about to have a go at him.

"So you heard about what happened today then?" Barty asked, his tone not exactly nasty but he still made it clear he didn't want Sander there.

"Actually, yes. My brother was the one fought the snake in question," Sander replied, still looking at Barty with a contemptuous glare.

Gwen could sense the hostility between them, and she thought she was going to be the one playing the diplomat again. "Sander," she said calmly, "I'm really grateful that you've come round, but really you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. Martijn did his job well," she finished with a smile.

Sander still didn't look like he wanted to let it drop. "What happened, exactly?" he asked her, "I mean, before Martijn turned up?"

Gwen sighed. "I've already gone through all that at the Ministry earlier, and then Barty's just been asking about it, and really there's nothing much to say. There was some creep with a giant snake, that's all. I don't really want to talk about it any more. Like I said, I'm fine. Do you mind if we just leave it at that?"

Sander was frowning, but Gwen felt Barty lean even closer to her and wrap his arm even further round her waist. She wanted to tell him to stop it, but she couldn't exactly say anything with Sander watching. "Yes, Gwen's had a rough day and she's feeling rather tired now," Barty said smoothly, "We appreciate you calling, but Gwen's said she doesn't want to discuss what happened any further and I think it's best if you just leave her to get some rest."

Now that's pushing it a bit, Gwen thought. She saw Sander's eyes flash with anger and she thought she ought to step in again. "Barty, it's fine," she said. "I can speak for myself." She thought she saw just a hint of a smug smirk cross Sander's face and she definitely felt Barty tense slightly, so she quickly continued. "But yeah, it has been a pretty long day. I do just want to go to bed now. I'll see you on Thursday, Sander, and I might talk about this with you then, but not right now."

Sander glared at Barty for a few moments longer and then looked at Gwen and sighed. "Alright," he said, resigned, "I'll go. But can you just let me see your auroscope first? I had to use the remote locator on it to get here and it'll need reactivating."

"Oh," said Gwen, not really understanding what he meant but just wanting him to leave as soon as possible. "Um, alright. I guess you could come in just for a bit, then, while I go get it." She stepped back to let him through and as Barty stepped to one side to let Sander pass they exchanged a confrontational glare. Gwen sighed, wishing they wouldn't behave like this, and led Sander through to the living room. She picked the auroscope up off the table and handed it to him. "What exactly do you want to do with it?"

He took it off her and shrugged. "Well, it's a prototype model and it's got this inbuilt anti-theft thing, sort of like a reset button. It just needs rebooting, if you know what I mean."

Gwen didn't really know what he meant, and she glanced over at Barty who was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his hands in his pockets. He was staring at Sander's back with what Gwen thought was a slightly worried and very angry expression, but then he met her gaze and gave her a small smile as if to say, "Don't worry, we'll be rid of him soon."

She looked back to Sander who was messing round with the auroscope with his wand, and then he held it out to give back to Gwen. She took it off him and turned it over in her hand to examine it. It looked no different to her. It briefly crossed her mind that maybe that had all been a ruse just so Sander could get into the house and get one up on Barty, but she quickly dismissed it as she realised that wasn't at all the kind of thing Sander would do. She gave him a small smile. "Um, thanks?"

He gave her a nod and then flashed one more angry glance in Barty's direction and began to put his wand away, but his hand froze half way to his pocket as he and Barty made eye contact. Gwen wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but the two of them simply stood glaring each other for a couple of seconds before Sander began to stride towards Barty with a furious look on his face. "You…" he snarled.

"Me what?" Barty responded, his tone mocking.

"What did you do?" Sander growled, stopping so that he was just a couple of feet in front of Barty with his wand raised.

Barty just smirked. "Nothing."

Utterly confused and sensing that she could have a serious fight on her hands, Gwen took a few quick paces towards Sander to grab his shoulder and pull him away. "Sander, what the hell are you doing?"

He turned to look at her, and his livid expression suddenly placated. "I'm sorry," he said, and he seemed to mean it even though Gwen had no idea what had caused him to act like that in the first place. He glanced once more at Barty and then at the floor. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that...no, it doesn't matter. I think I'll go now." He turned and strode out of the room towards the exit, and although Gwen partly wanted to stop him she was too stunned by what had just happened to make a move.

After she heard the front door close she turned back to Barty. "What the hell…?"

He looked at her, his expression just as apologetic as Sander's. "I have no idea," he said, "But Gwen, I think it's probably best I get going too."

"What?" she said, confused, "Don't let him spoil things! I don't know what just went off but it seems pretty pointless if you're both just going to walk out and leave me without an explanation."

"I'm sorry, Gwen," he said, walking over to her and trying to lean down to kiss her goodbye, but she pushed him away.

"No, that's not fair," she said. "Why don't you tell me what all that was about?"

He gave a frustrated sigh. "Because I don't know, Gwen."

She shook her head. "Well, don't pretend you haven't been trying to get that kind of reaction out of him. Why do you have to be mean to him like that? You always start acting like a complete git when he's around..."

"In what way?" he interjected defensively.

"Well, you get all possessive like you want to torment him or make him jealous or something."

Barty looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I've met him twice."

"And you acted the same way on both occasions," she snapped back. "What's he done to you before now to deserve that? He's a decent guy, Barty, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have acted that way unless you'd done something to drive him to it."

He scowled at her. "So you're saying this is my fault?"

"Well, just as much as it is his! Don't tell me you aren't deliberately trying to wind him up," she burst out angrily.

He glared at her in silence for a couple of seconds. "Fine. If you really think like that then maybe you don't want me here."

With a rather angry expression he turned and began to head towards the door, but she tried to stop him. "No, Barty, wait!"

He glanced back at her, an eyebrow raised.

"I don't mean…I just…I'm sorry. Whatever just happened can we forget about it now? You're right, you weren't the one who started squaring up to him so I guess I shouldn't be mad at you."

"No," he said bluntly, "But anyway, I still have to go. I've got things to do."

"Barty…" she said, hurt by the way he said that to her and angry with herself for upsetting him, but it didn't stop him as he continued to walk towards the front door, snatching his robes angrily off of the coat peg on his way out.

"Goodbye, Gwen," he said without looking at her, and then the door closed behind him and he was gone.

Gwen continued to stare silently at the door for a few more seconds, hoping he would come back. He didn't.

She turned to sit back down on the living room sofa and started to cry.