A/N: If you love me, o reader mine, you should write this pairing. Ridiculously, painfully underloved.

This is dedicated to my Amber, because she asked for this a long time ago, and because she ships these two as hard as I do.

(As you can see from all these dedications, Amber is fast taking over my life. No regrets.)

Pairing: Barty Crouch Jr/Cedric Diggory

Prompt: 5. Curse

He says he doesn't believe in love, says love is make-believe, pretend. He says the dreams of happy ever after caught between sheets and skin are laughable, and the only love they're going to find here is learning how to believe in fairytales; love is a fairytale, full of princes with shiny crowns and distressed damsels with weak knees and too -long eyelashes and, Barty is sick of trying to save himself. Nevermind the world.

Love is a fairytale.

Cedric says love is not a fairytale. Cedric says fairytales are for children who are too afraid to sleep at night and he's seen Barty curled up dreaming, he's seen the pale white canvas of his eyelids when his eyes are shut tight and Barty knows that he's right.

Cedric says love is an adventure. Cedric says that love is for men with hearts as open as their eyes, men who aren't looking but still find what they didn't know they needed, men who deserve it.

Barty says, "I am a bad man, Cedric. I don't deserve you."

Cedric says, "I know."

But he stills comes back night after night and stumbles into that land of pretend, where the story starts "Once upon a time..." and the princes are happy singing lullabies to each others' shoulder blades. He still blinks too fast and hopes that Barty is worth it, that Barty is not a curse.

That love is not a curse.

Barty says he's sorry. Every night, over and over into the crook of Cedric's shoulder, he says, "Forgive me."

Cedric says, "Never."

But he still kiss the rough stubble of Barty's jaw, still digs his nails into Barty's forearm, still says I love you when it's too dark to see the tears, or the smiles, or the thousand in-betweens.

Barty says he doesn't believe in love, says love is make-believe, pretend.

Cedric says love is a risk, and he pulls his heart from his chest, balances it on his fingertips and says, "Catch."

Barty says, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I never deserved you."

Cedric says, "I know," from somewhere in the land of make-believe.

And Barty's breath stutters on his lips, his soul scrapes between his teeth and he thinks maybe just this once he can pretend.

Just this once.

For him.