So this chapter took a little longer than I would have liked to load but unfortunately I have been a little busy of late. Although, this is a bit of a longer chapter for you ;)
So please, as always, read, enjoy and please do leave me a review if you have a chance!
The Purple Black
Nymphadora was on the floor. Again. She had the feeling she was going to be spending the most of her day there as with a huff of annoyance she swept her hair out of her face and pulled herself to her feet.
"You need to get better at blocking." Bellatrix smirked, "I suppose you have gotten slightly better though."
"Wow, that's a compliment coming from you." Dora joked, smirking as her Aunt rolled her eyes.
"Make the most of it." Bellatrix glanced down at her watch before striding to the door of the training room, taking the wards down as she opened the door.
"Are we done for the day?" Dora frowned.
"We're done here." Bellatrix laughed, "I need to take you somewhere today. Come."
Nymphadora didn't question her Aunt, she knew better than to do that by now. Instead, she followed her Aunt in silence, through Lestrange Manor and out of the main doors. It was only when Bellatrix held her hand out to her niece that she paused for a moment, the older witch merely shaking her head as she reached out and took the girls hand anyway. Dora barely had a chance to prepare herself as she was pulled into the familiar sensation of side-along apparation.
"Where are we?" Nymphadora couldn't help but ask as they arrived in the small entryway of what was clearly a wizarding home.
"Somewhere." Bellatrix let out a small giggle.
"Where—" Dora bit her lip as she saw a familiar face slide out of a door further down the corridor.
"Wormtail." Bellatrix groaned.
"B-Bellatrix." Peter Pettigrew stammered, his eyes flickering to the younger witch for a moment before he continued, "Nymphadora . . ."
Nymphadora merely nodded slightly in acknowledgement, though she could not help but be intrigued by the man. She had only seen him once before, at the Riddle home on the day she had met the Dark Lord. Though she had not seen him since then she had admittedly thought of him, mainly wondering how such a seemingly scared, unkempt little man could be working for someone such as The Dark Lord.
"Where is he?" Bellatrix raised an eyebrow at the man, clearly enjoying the fact that he was seemingly scared of her.
"U-Upstairs." Wormtail stuttered. "In the main bedroom."
"Good." Bellatrix sighed, "Now be a good little boy and run along now, won't you? You're not needed right now."
"B-But the Dark Lord said—"
"The Dark Lord said that you were to ensure that he was kept contained, kept away from any risk of escaping." Bellatrix snarled, the man cowering as she glared at him, "Yet I hear that you have not been doing so well at this task?"
"The Imperious is—"
"Are you trying to blame The Dark Lord for your incompetence?!" Bellatrix screeched.
"N-No, I—"
"He has asked me to come here—with Nymphadora—so I would suggest that you shut your dirty little mouth and let me get on with my business." Bellatrix hissed. Wormtail mumbled his apologies, cowering away as he disappeared back through the door he had originally appeared from. The woman looked more than amused as she turned back to her niece. "Pathetic."
"Pretty much." Dora couldn't help but agree, her Aunt laughing and nodding for her to follow her as they walked up the stairs leading to the upper part of the home. "Aunt Bella?" Dora waited for the woman to hum in acknowledgement before she carried on, "What are we doing here?"
Bellatrix stopped suddenly, a mischievous grin on her features as she prevented her niece from accidentally walking straight into her. "You have a task to perform."
"A task?" Dora asked, a mixture of excitement and nerves in her voice that did not go unnoticed by her Aunt.
"Yes." Bellatrix nodded, "Well, a task of sorts. Come."
Nymphadora followed her Aunt through the nearest door, though she was not expecting what she was met with as her eyes went wide in shock. "I-Is that—?"
"Barty Crouch Senior." Bellatrix laughed.
The man before her was nearly unrecognisable from the well-kept, smart, official Ministry employee she had seen at the first Triwizard task over a month beforehand. He sat to the side of his bed, staring at the wall blankly as his lips moved as if he were speaking but what little sound came out was barely audible. Dora was in shock, wondering what on earth had happened to make a man who was once in such a position of power turn into such an unrecognisable weak mess. It was only as she caught sight of her Aunt's overly amused grin staring at her that Dora dared say anything.
"What happened to him?" Dora whispered, frowning as the man flinched at the sound of her voice but did not move to face them.
"Imperious." Bellatrix giggled.
"That is what the Imperious curse can do?" Dora asked in wonder, "I thought it just made you do what the caster wanted?"
"It does." Bellatrix shrugged with a smirk plastered firmly on her lips. "Unless you're trying to fight it too hard and the person casting it is particularly powerful. Then it can turn you into this mess—but not to worry, he still does what we ask of him when it is needed." Bellatrix slowly walked over to the man, leaning down so his frightened glazed eyes met with her own dark pair.
"Azkaban!" Crouch suddenly yelled, fury flashing across his features for a split second before he calmed again, "Azkaban . . . Death Eater . . . Knew it . . ."
"Yes," Bella pouted as she teased the man, reaching out and straightening his skewed robes in a mocking gesture, "but you didn't have the evidence did you, Crouch? Poor old man." Dora walked over to her Aunt, frowning as the man shifted his gaze to her. "Old Barty here has been getting some funny ideas, haven't you Barty? Thinks he's about to flee the house and run for his 'great escape', but we can't be having that, can we Dora?"
"No." Dora shook her head, smirking slightly as the man suddenly decided that he preferred to stare at the floor.
"So, The Dark Lord has told me to inform you that you will be helping Wormtail keep old Crouch all safe and snug in his little home." Bellatrix purred, straightening herself up again before she looked to her niece. "Come once a day, make sure the imperious is still keeping him held—make sure Wormtail is doing his job—then leave."
"I need to make sure Wormtail is doing his job?" Dora asked. "But he's—. . . But he's a marked Death Eater and I'm—"
"Far more capable than Pettigrew could ever hope to be," Bellatrix said firmly, grinning as a flicker of a smile crossed the younger girls lips. "I have every faith in you, The Dark Lord would not assign you this small task if he didn't think you to be capable."
"I won't fail." Dora said, suddenly filled with a rush of determination at the mention of both her Aunt's and The Dark Lord's trust in her.
"Good." Bellatrix nodded, "Now if you don't mind I have things to be getting along with. Go see to Pettigrew before you leave."
Dora didn't have a chance to argue. Without a moment's notice the witch was gone and yet again Nymphadora was stood wondering why her Aunt felt such a need to make her exit so quickly all of the time. She shook her head as she left the room, ready to follow her orders.
Nymphadora Tonks found herself in the Hogshead, though the Triwizard Tournament had made it more and more difficult to procure a room in the small wizarding town she had found that advanced bookings and (perhaps more importantly) a little extra gold had gone a long way and the witch was yet again waiting for Barty Crouch Jr in their usual shabby little room. She had already morphed from her disguise (a small grey witch with a crooked old walking stick) and was laid on the bed reading a book when the door creaked open.
"Making yourself comfortable?" Barty Crouch Jr snickered as he shut the door behind him, throwing his props for his guise as Mad-Eye Moody onto the bed as he placed the usual wards on the room.
Dora pulled her legs out of the way just in time to stop herself getting hit, sitting herself up, "I was here early—why are you out of disguise? Did you get caught!?"
"No." Barty scoffed. "The Polyjuice wore off just a few feet from the door, I didn't see the point in retaking it."
"You should have ran in here for cover." Dora scolded him, "What if you were seen?"
"Aww, are you worried about me Nymphie?" Barty teased, letting a small pout grace his features until he laughed at the girl's glare, "I wasn't seen."
"I'm more worried about you blowing everyone's cover." Dora mumbled.
"Everyone, but especially me?" Barty teased.
"Shut up." Dora rolled her eyes, but as the man gave her his signature mischievous grin she couldn't help but let out a huff of laughter.
"How's my father?" Barty tilted his head, sitting down on the edge of the bed cross-legged as per usual. "Still blabbering nonsense and staring into the void?"
"Pretty much." Dora rolled her eyes, "I'm going there after this."
"Oh—Do say hello to Daddy dearest for me."
"The last time you told me to do that he threw a punch at me." Dora rolled her eyes as the man burst into laughter.
"What? Has the old man forgotten he's a wizard?" Barty scoffed.
"No, Peter has his wand."
"Oh, it's Peter now, is it?" Barty teased, "Has someone got a crush?"
"No!" Dora snapped, making a gesture that implied she was sickened by the thought, "It's easier to be nice to him or he just becomes a quivering mess around you—it's rather pathetic actually."
"Yes, I can see why you wouldn't want your admirer to be scared of you—Ow!" Barty pouted as he pulled his leg away from the girl to stop her kicking him again.
"Can we focus?" Dora raised an eyebrow, "We have plans to discuss."
"Oh Nymphie," Barty sighed, "Ever the businesswoman—I like this side of you, very formal, demanding even. Have you been spending too much time with your Aunt? I admit I find this side of you rather attractive."
"So you're attracted to my Aunt?" Dora smirked, glad to be able to turn the man's words against him.
"Merlin no, I'm not about to get into a fight with Rodolphus—nor Bellatrix for that matter."
"Yes, you're right, Aunt Bella would probably laugh in your face and reject you anyway." Dora laughed as the man rolled his eyes in annoyance, "So the plan."
"You're to morph into a Hogwarts student." Barty drawled, "Sneak into the grounds in the bustle of all of the preparations for the event. You wait within the Quidditch stadium to the edge of the maze. I am to be patrolling the maze, and when I am doing my usual 'safety check' of the perimeter with one of the other people that will be patrolling the edge I knock them out just as they reach you. You can take on their appearance, we dispose of them to be hidden in the bushes and then you join me in ensuring that Potter is the one to reach the cup first."
"And you would have already turned it into a Portkey?" Dora asked.
"I will be the one placing it in the final spot, I will ensure it is a Portkey that delivers little Potter directly to The Dark Lord." Barty nodded.
"Where he'll be used to resurrect him to full health and then be murdered—never to be seen again." Dora grinned.
"Never to bother another living soul." Barty smirked. "Then we return to The Dark Lord and bask in the glory of the success of our task."
Dora bit her lip, her face suddenly becoming much more serious, "Or suffer for its failure."
"We will not fail." Barty spoke firmly, narrowing his eyes at the girl for a moment before he frowned at her look, "Do you seriously fear that we will fail?"
"I—" Dora hesitated for a moment before she let out a deep sigh, "I want to serve him, to make my Aunt proud and help him take over the Wizarding World . . ."
"But?" Barty raised an eyebrow, though when the girl did not answer he mimicked her deep sigh, crawling up the bed before he sat beside her. He nudged her almost playfully, waiting for her to look at him before he repeated himself "But . . . ?"
"I fear that I'll fail him." Dora muttered as she lowered her gaze so as not to look into the man's eyes directly, "It's not like at school when you mess up a potion in class or have to redo an assignment . . . the consequences of failing the Dark Lord are much greater than that."
"True," Barty nodded, "it could mean torture—of various sorts—humiliation, death."
"Thanks for making me feel better." Dora huffed.
"Nymphadora," Barty said, waiting for the girl to look up at him again before he continued, "I do not believe that you will fail. If I believed that you would fail I would not have asked The Dark Lord for your involvement—even though I could probably master this on my own." Barty smirked as the girl let out a small huff of a laugh, "You have the potential to be a great warrior for The Dark Lord's cause, just as powerful and potentially terrifying as old Bellatrix. Don't let the risk of failure hold you back, you truly get into trouble when you start to doubt yourself. I don't doubt you, so neither should you."
". . . Thanks . . . I guess." Dora smiled slightly, it was unlike Barty to become so serious and complementing.
"You're welcome." Barty said as he jumped to his feet, taking out his hip flask as he got ready to leave, "Now go back to Daddy dearest, he probably misses his punching bag."
That was more like Barty, Dora rolled her eyes as she got to her feet too. "Until next time."
"I look forward to it." Barty winked as he took a gulp of his potion. Dora didn't wait to watch the unpleasant transformation as she turned on the spot and left.
Nymphadora had lost count of the number of times she had visited the Crouch home now and was used to the routine of her visits. First, she would track down Peter Pettigrew, ask him how Crouch had been when she was away and then she would go off to see Barty Crouch Sr. She would usually only spend no more than ten minutes with the man before leaving again. Though today was different. Peter Pettigrew was not in any of his usual hiding places and after checking nearly every room downstairs it was with a huff of annoyance that she went to the upper floor. It was then that she knew something was wrong; Pettigrew's whimpers could be heard the moment she reached the top of the staircase. Dora drew her wand, ready to face whatever it was that had Peter in such a state (though knowing the man she wouldn't have been surprised if it was simply a small spider that had upset him so). It was as she practically kicked down the door to the room he was hiding in, Barty's Room, with her wand raised ready to battle and her face a mask of determination that her heart fell to her feet.
"Where is he?" Dora breathed.
"Nymphadora!" Peter Pettigrew screeched, running up to the woman and reaching for her arm before he whimpered and backed away as she refused to lower her wand.
"Where is he!?" Dora repeated.
"Gone!" Peter cried.
"Gone?" Dora asked, wide-eyed as she began to search the room as if expecting to find him hiding between the robes in his wardrobe. "Where did he go?!"
"I-I—" Peter Pettigrew shook with fear before falling to a puddle on the floor, "He'll kill us!"
Nymphadora growled with anger, storming over to the man and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt as she stuck her wand in his neck, "He will kill you. I am not letting your incompetence and idiocy drag me down." Dora glared furiously, her hair turning red as the man continued to cower in his own fear, "You can tell me how in Merlin's name you let this happen later, for now, tell me where he went."
"I-I don't know!" Peter cried. "H-He just ran past me! I opened the door to bring him food and he bolted! The Imperious—"
"Did he say anything when he left?" Dora interrupted, she had no time for the man's nonsense as she could feel her heart pounding so furiously in her chest that she was sure that it was about to burst free. He shook his head and she stopped herself from cursing him for his idiocy, "Did he say anything earlier? Anything at all since I've been here last?"
"H-He kept saying the same name, over and over." Peter tried to steady his nerves, looking up to the witch as he took a deep breath. "Dumbledore . . ."
Nymphadora stared at the man for a moment, thoughts racing through her mind until in a sudden moment of clarity she knew where the man had ran to. She barely paid attention as she let go of the quivering wizard, letting him fall to his feet.
"I know where he's gone." Dora breathed.
"G-Good, perhaps get Bellatri—"
"There's no time you idiot! You tell The Dark Lord about your monumental fuck up whilst I go fix it!" Dora yelled in fury, storming from the room as she made her way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Nymphadora had tried to think of how the man could get to Hogwarts without a wand, from a house that was long disconnected from the Floo Powder Network and without any wizarding neighbours for miles. In the end she had come to the only conclusion that she could see was at all possible. She knew that there was a way to enter the school from the Forbidden Forest, though it wasn't exactly an easy one it was the only way that she could see both herself going unnoticed in her hunt and Crouch entering without having someone ready to greet him and grant him entry. Besides, Dora believed that Crouch knew of the plans for his son to infiltrate the school and was unsure of how far the man believed the rest of Voldemort's old comrades to be involved, she was sure he would want to go as unnoticed as possible.
The witch had spent far over an hour in the forest so far, sending any searching spell she could think of into its dark depths. Though it was useless, any spell she could think to use merely searched for life and the forest was sure full of that. Nymphadora swore under her breath as she caught her robes on one of the ragged branches of the trees, cursing Peter Pettigrew and his incompetence. Though it was as she began to see the light coming through the trees ahead that her luck changed. She carried on cautiously, conscious that the cover of the trees was thining on her approach to the castle itself, though a grin split across her face as she saw him. Barty Crouch Sr was stood in the open, clearly visible as he talked nonsense to a tree. She took a deep breath, tightening her grip on her wand as was cautious of scaring the wizard on her approach. Her joy at finding her captor was not long lived though as she saw two boys approach the man, one of which was far too familiar. Harry Potter and Victor Krum walked up to the man as he continued to spout nonsense.
Nymphadora could see her life flashing before her eyes. The Dark Lord would be furious, she would be tortured at the very least for not capturing this man on time, perhaps she'd even be killed. Her Aunt would be so disappointed in her and most likely furious too. Even if she managed to survive the ordeal of so much failure she was uncertain if she'd even be welcome with her Aunt and Uncle anymore.
"Dumbledore!" Nymphadora's flashed to white as she looked on with wide eyes as Barty Crouch Sr yelled at the young potter boy, grabbing his robes as if he was his last hope in the world. "I need . . . See . . . Dumbledore . . ."
Dora barely paid attention to what the two boys were saying, every plan to get out of the situation running through her mind as she ensured she was fully covered by the shadows.
"Don't . . . leave . . . me!" Barty pleaded as the Potter boy went to turn away. "I . . . escaped . . . must warn . . . must tell . . . see Dumbledore . . . my fault . . . all my fault . . . Bertha . . . dead . . . all my fault . . . my son . . . my fault . . . tell Dumbledore . . . Harry Potter . . . The Dark Lord . . . stronger . . . Harry Potter . . ."
The witch felt as if her whole body had turned to ice, this was it. They were done for. Months and months of planning all put to shit because they couldn't keep one man contained. She watched Potter as he told Krum to wait with the man, who had thankfully gone back to talking to trees in the madness of the pull of the imperious curse. It was as the young wizard ran back to the castle that Nymphadora knew this was her only chance to put things to right as best she could and after a few minutes of thought she had her answer. She focused intensely on Crouch, pointing her wand at him from her cover before she pulled everything she had ever been taught about the Imperious curse and muttered the unforgivable curse under her breath.
He was fighting it. Crouch froze as his mind battled both the new curse that Nymphadora had placed on him and the underlying instructions of the Dark Lord. As beads of sweat fell down her pale face she was sure that her task was about to fail before-as if someone had flicked a switch within the Wizard-he turned to Krum. Dora strained to hold her grip on the mans mind, though he walked over to Krum, the boy frowning at him in his confusion. It was with great relief that she watched Crouch strike Krum hard and fast across his head, the boy falling to the floor like a ton of bricks. Dora couldn't help but let out a small laugh of relief mixed with amazement that she had managed to succeed. Next she just had to get the man back to her. She focused again, watching the man put one foot in front of the other as he walked towards her. She bit her lip as he walked past her, walking deeper into the forest. With a quick glance back at the unconscious boy on the floor, she followed the man, continuing to glance back behind her to make sure that no-one was following her.
"NO!" the man yelled in the agony of his mind as they got further into the forest, falling to the floor.
"Stop fighting it!" Dora hissed.
"Dumbledore . . . Potter . . ."
"Will both soon be dead with any luck, unless you want to join them I suggest you shut up." Dora growled, walking over to the man. "Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Dora snapped as the man suddenly got up, making a run for it. "Crucio!"
It was an instant reaction; the only way Dora could think to get the man to stop running and it was quite effective. The man writhed on the floor, gripping onto the debris of the forest as he yelled out in his agony until suddenly, though his mouth kept moving, his screaming stopped.
"You're making far too much noise." Barty Crouch Jr hissed as he approached the pair.
"Why aren't you in disguise?" Dora snapped as she lifted the curse, not having time for Barty's nonsense.
"I had to get out here rather quickly," Barty murmured as he slowly walked over to the young witch, kicking his father in the side before with a smirk he lifted his silencing spell, "I have more potion on me, though the effects of my last dose wore off in my search . . ." Barty looked to the witch, cocking his head as he considered her, "Who let him go?"
"Well obviously it wasn't me!" Dora snapped as the Death Eater merely shrugged.
"Yeah, I suppose it is pretty obvious Wormtail has a tendency to fail . . ."
"I went to check up on him and he was gone already." Dora said, watching as he pulled out his wand from within his robes. "I'm merely clearly up Wormtail's colossal mess."
"Well," Barty smirked as he looked to the witch, a small glimmer of a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, "you did a good job."
"Thanks . . ." Dora breathed, unable to process the day's events yet let alone a compliment from Barty Crouch Jr.
"Dumbledore . . ." Crouch Sr murmured from the floor, still twitching from the after effects of Nymphadora's powerful curse.
"You won't be seeing Dumbledore today, father." Barty snickered, "Or ever for that matter." He smirked as he walked over to the once well respected member of the wizarding community now in a shivering mess on the floor. He dug his wand into his father's throat.
"I need to take him back." Dora said, surprised at how even her voice sounded as she looked curiously at the pair.
"No." Barty Crouch Jr grinned as his father winced at the feel of his wand digging into his neck, "He is useless now. Dumbledore knows that he was here, he won't forget that, nor what the damned Potter boy overhead . . . No," Barty sighed, "The Dark Lord will order him killed."
". . . He's useless to us now." Dora breathed, realising the sense of Barty's words and what the man was about to do.
"Yes . . ." Barty mused, grabbing his father's chin as he forced the man to look at him, "You are a miserable man, a failure, you should never have let me rot in my capture for all those years. You deserve this, to die a cowards death as you tried to run from your fate like some scared little mouse." Barty laughed, the sound sending a chill down Nymphadora's spine. The two men locked their identical eyes, Dora would have sworn there was some sense of previously absent clarity as the older man's face hardened to gaze upon the last thing he would ever see; his son smirking down at him as he uttered those two deadly words. "Avada Kedavra."
A flash of green light filled the small clearing in the forest. Barty Crouch Sr ceased to live, his eyes glazing over as his body went limp. His only child shook his head in pity, letting go of the man before he straightened himself. Dora didn't realise she was staring so intensely at the corpse on the floor until she heard her name called, looking up to see Barty raising an eyebrow at her in amusement.
"You've not seen that before, have you?" He asked.
"Yes, I have," Dora said defensively, crossing her arms as she stared back at the man. "I've used the killing curse myself I'll have you know."
"Oh?" Barty asked, walking closer to the witch. "On who?"
Dora shuffled awkwardly as she thought, the man now stopping less than a foot in front of her as he awaited her answer. "On what," Dora sighed, "I've practised it on animals . . . mostly rats and other vermin."
"Well, that spell does come in use for 'vermin', my father for example." Barty laughed.
Dora couldn't help but frown slightly, "Do you not care?" she blushed slightly as the man raised an eyebrow at her, almost feeling stupid for what she was about to ask though she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Do you not care that you just—well, you just killed your father."
"Oh, Dora," Barty sighed, "No, I do not." He watched as the girl simply nodded in acknowledgement of his answer, though he soon became seemingly distracted by the stray strands of the girls white hair. He reached out and delicately moved the hair behind the girls ear, not moving his hand from her as he barely whispered, "Tell me, you hate your parents, don't you? They disowned you?"
"Yes . . ." Dora said, her eyes flickering to the man's hand then back to his gaze.
"So would you care if they died? If you had to kill them?" Barty asked, "Needs must. I mean, would they care if you died?"
"I—" Dora knew the answer to the man's second question, thinking back to the last time she had seen her mother, though she knew the correct answer to both of the man's questions. "No . . . I suppose not."
"There you are." Barty smirked, pulling his hand away and nodding to her hair, "There's no need to be scared anymore, Nymphie. You did extremely well in finding my father. I'm not sure if I could have done it without you." Dora quickly morphed her hair to a dark black, furiously morphing away her blush whilst she was at it. "The Dark Lord will be pleased—and it will be fun to see what he does to Wormtail." Barty snickered as he turned back to his father's corpse.
"What will you do with him?" Dora nodded to the corpse.
"Don't worry about that, Nymphie." Barty smirked as he twirled his wand between his fingers, "You should go; report to the Dark Lord. I have to deal with this and ensure I look like Mad-Eye before I go back to Dumble's and tell him how I simply could not find old Crouch—I feel as if Alastor is going to be extremely annoyed at this."
"Right . . ." Dora nodded, taking a deep breath "See you soon . . ."
"I look forward to it." Barty winked.
The girl shook her head, making her way deeper into the forest as she went back the way she had came. As she contemplated the day's events on her long walk there was one thing that could not stop playing in her mind. Though to her surprise it was not watching a man be murdered in front of her (she had always assumed that she would see that eventually in service to The Dark Lord and it was something she had long prepared for), it was the question Barty had asked her. Would she care if her parents died? Would she be able to kill them? She did hate them, she didn't want anything to do with them, she had not thought of the family she had left behind in a long time. But if she was ordered to kill them . . . Could she? It was something that Nymphadora did not want to think of. She instead tried to focus on how The Dark Lord (and also her Aunt Bellatrix), would react to the news that she had succeeded in tracking down their prisoner and successfully stopping the discovery of their plans.
Soooo I hope you enjoyed that! Please do leave a review if you have a moment as I absolutely love hearing what you guys have to say :D
The Purple Black