AN: I know, I'm a little surprised by this myself. I rarely post a new chapter two days in a row. I mainly did this because I know this will likely be the last regular update for awhile. Between work, and the new semester at my University, I'm about to be busy again with little time to actually write. Not to mention I'm working on Taking his life back, and potentially a new chapter for Golden Boy no more.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Warning: This one will have mentions of slight childhood abuse. It doesn't go as in-depth as the other one did though.
"I'm getting the feeling that you also wanted to talk about something," They were both seated at the table in Barty's quarters, nursing a cup of hot tea. Smirking into his cup, Harry peered up at him with a cheeky grin.
"What gave it away?" Snorting, Barty placed his cup on the table and flicked his tongue against his bottom lip, watching the younger wizard. "You're not wrong though. There are a few things I want to discuss." Harry admitted, deciding this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about the things that had been on his mind. It would even help with their future plans as well hopefully.
"Should I be worried?" The death eater asked after drinking some more of his tea and raising an eyebrow as Harry fidgeted. "Uh oh. I'll take that as a yes,"
"No-I mean," The green-eyed wizard stopped, unsure of how he should continue or even go about asking something so…horrific. "I don't know. I wanted to talk about why you were in Azkaban." Harry saw the way the man flinched at that, soon grimacing. "Uh-"
"You probably want to know how I can be so kind after doing something so despicable?" It was Harry's turn to grimace as Barty said that, hating the way it sounded. He looked away from the chocolate eyes, biting his lips. "Harry, look at me." The voice was soft as hands took ahold of his own, squeezing gently. "Are you afraid of me?" Eyes widening, Harry looked into the other's eyes and shook his head.
"No, of course not!" He found himself exclaiming in a panicked, to the other's amusement. The brown eyes held a gentleness as the reassuring hands gave another squeeze.
"I would have been afraid if I were in your shoes." Barty carefully admits, sighing. "What was done to the Longbottoms was horrible and cruel," He paused and gives Harry a soft look. "no one would blame you for thinking those involved were monsters." Harry goes to open his mouth, but Barty says something that stumps him. "I certainly think they are."
"But-" Harry wants to argue that Barty isn't a monster, however, there was something in the brown eyes that made him pause. He swallows as those eyes peer deep into his very core, his breath hitching low in his throat.
"I was innocent," Barty admits, his eyes bright with an emotion that Harry can't identify yet, but the power behind it nearly causes the younger to shiver. "I was a lower rank than the Lestranges and they used that against me. They sent me out on a mission to watch the Longbottoms and report their locations. I had no idea what they were planning to do." He swallows hard, the emotion in his eyes grew even stronger. Harry feels like he can't breathe and holds on tightly to his hands, letting Barty get it off his chest.
"I tried so hard to make them listen to me during the trial, but because of the mere fact that I was a death eater, no one bothered with my plea." He took a breath and shook his head. "That was the moment my father disowned me. He was the one in charge of the trial and he…he didn't even take a moment of his time to listen to me. His reputation and image were more important to him then giving his son a fair trial. It wasn't just me, either. He put so many in Azkaban for simply being a follower of Voldemort, even if they had done nothing wrong." Barty pauses when Harry gets up and sits beside him, throwing an arm around his frame.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Harry mumbles softly, comforting the older wizard. "He didn't deserve to have you as his son," The words cause his throat to close and he coughs quickly, trying to clear the lump that had formed in his throat.
"What's worse is that my mother was there," Barty breathes out after a second of composing himself. "She was trying so hard to get him to reconsider and give me a fair trial, but when he disowned me, she fainted." He could remember the fear in his heart as he watched his mother faint. "My mother became sick with grief throughout the year and was dying," Tears filled his eyes as he spoke of her, allowing the younger wizard to hold him tighter. "Her dying wish was for my father to get me out of that horrid place. She…she took a Polyjuice potion to disguise herself as me and switched places."
The green-eyed wizard held onto Barty as the man trembled from the emotion the memory brought. It was obvious that before now, Barty had never been able to get this off his chest. Harry was suddenly remembering his similar feelings from a week ago, where he had talked about his trauma for the first time.
"As soon as we returned home, my father put me under the imperius curse and hid me under an invisibility cloak at all times. The only person I was able to talk to was Winky, our house elf." He suddenly shuddered, eyes screwed shut. "It was horrible. I remember wanting to break free from the curse and being unable to do so many times, imprisoned in my own mind and home." Harry frowns at that and squeezes his other hand gently.
"Is that why you wanted to teach us about the curse in class?" Harry questions gently, gaining an immediate nod.
"Yes. It's a dangerous spell that everyone can benefit from if they learn to fight against it. It took me a long time to finally learn how to fight it, but I managed. The Dark Lord helped me along the way, and I was able to get revenge on my father for it. What's the thing that muggles say?" Barty pondered briefly. "Oh yes. I gave him a taste of his own medicine." He joked. Harry had a slight smirk on his lips at that, hugging Barty again.
"That sounds horrible. I can't imagine what it must have felt like for so long," Harry doesn't let go of the other as he sighs, wanting to hex Crouch Senior for all he had done. It would be pointless though. Barty had enacted his revenge on his so-called father after all. Killing wasn't something Harry cared for, but in this instance, he found it to be justified. "You'll never have to deal with him again thankfully." The death eater smiled wistfully at that, a hint of sadness on his features.
"I mostly killed him for my mum. He never outright hurt her, but he was never there for her. Any of us, really. That's why she was so attached to me. I was her whole world and next thing she knew; I was being disowned and then tormented by dementors." He looked towards the other wizard. "I joined the Dark Lord because I agreed with many of his ideals and promise of community. I was young and wanted someone in my life that I could make proud of my accomplishments. Someone who would see me for the real person I was."
"When you were younger, did he try and make you into someone you didn't want to be?" Harry asked with a frown, thinking of how Dumbledore tried to do the same thing to him on numerous occasions. It was also why he had joined Voldemort.
"When he was too busy for his family or hitting me after a long day at work, he was trying to shove Ministry politics down my throat." He scowled. "All he cared about was how our family name was seen. He had plans of becoming Minister by gaining recognition and popularity. Instead of thinking about what I wanted to do, he tried to force me to follow in his footsteps."
"And what did you want to do?" Harry asked to the utter surprise of the death eater. "What?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sorry. Very few people ever asked me that." Barty shakily replied, running a hand through his hair in the process. His eyes retained a brightness that caught Harry by surprise since it was directed at him. "I was always into Runes when I attended school here. Part of me wanted to teach the subject, and part of me wanted to conduct research for it. Such as creating new runes and testing their levels of magic."
"That sounds brilliant." Harry gazed at him in awe. "I mean, it's not surprising considering you're brilliant as well-" He didn't see the light pink that colored Barty's cheeks as he said that. "You're already a wonderful teacher. You would be great with runes." The man waved him off, snorting.
"Thank you. I think I've had enough teaching for now, though. The curse on this position will be enacted soon enough." Harry laughed at that, then paused, remembering the other thing he wanted to talk to Barty about.
"Shit. That reminds me of the other thing I wanted to discuss with you." Interest peaked, Barty motioned for him to continue. "What were you planning on doing with the real Moody after this is all over with?" It was a solid question, and the older wizard seemed to acknowledge that with a nod of his head.
"I have orders to kill him once this is all through," Harry wasn't surprised by the fact and nodded.
"I figured as such. I was more or less wondering how you were planning on doing so." Harry was chewing on his bottom lip in thought, a bad habit of his. It seemed that he was doing this more often lately. "There are two options that I keep coming up with."
"I didn't think you were a fan of killing," Barty stated and Harry shook his head.
"Oh, I'm not. However, I know sometimes we have to do things we don't like in order to stay ahead. It's not like he's innocent anyway. If he's one of Dumbledore's closest friends, there are not many others he'll answer to. The order thinks it can stand on its own."
"He is one of their strongest players." Barty mused, tapping a finger against his chin. "What did you have in mind?" He was interested in what the younger had to offer insight wise. Harry knew certain things about the order, and it would help bring them down.
"We can't simply kill him and let someone find him. As easy as that would be, it would cause more suspicion on Dumbledore's part. Moody is one of the strongest Aurors there is, and Dumbledore would search around until he found something damaging."
"That's a good point," Barty gave him, nodding along with the younger wizard. "What do you suggest, then? We can't keep him a hostage forever. That would gain even more suspicion if Moody simply disappeared."
"Oh no, I agree with you on that." Harry quickly informed. "If Moody simply vanished, Dumbledore would be up my ass even more with questions. I think he knows that I'm around you a lot and would question me nonstop. He'd even suspect me of something at that point."
"I take it you have another idea then?" Barty smirked at the hesitant look. "Why are you so doubtful about it?"
"It would be a little risky," Harry admitted, biting his bottom lip again. "But it's better than the others so far, I think. You see, I have something called the marauder's map. It shows me everyone in the castle and what they're doing. It's how I was able to figure out you weren't Moody." Harry explained. "I was thinking I could use it to my advantage and single out Dumbledore."
"What would we single him out for?"
"What if we staged a fight? You already have Moody weaker because you have his magic eye. If you cast a compulsion spell on him to fight off of Hogwarts, it would allow Dumbledore to see the chaos for himself." Eyes wide at the idea, Barty hummed.
"This is a little risky, but it's what we need. I have my Death Eater robes and masks, to make the fight all the more believable. How do you plan on getting Dumbledore there?"
"Fred and George. Maybe you can knock me out with a spell and Moody was trying to protect me or something along those lines, that way it'll be even more believable." Barty frowned at the idea of knocking Harry out with a spell, but the boy grinned at him. "Why not a sleep spell that will wear off as soon as someone touches me. I can come up with the excuse that a Death Eater was trying to kidnap me, but Moody stepped in."
"Merlin, Harry. You thought about this for a long time, didn't you?" At the grin, Harry shrugged.
"Maybe."
"Use this as soon as you get the chance. It'll portkey you straight to me after you get off the train. It can only be activated by you." He informed the younger wizard as he placed the serpentine necklace inside of Harry's pocket. The Hogwarts express would be taking the students home tomorrow, which meant it was time to set up their little plan.
"I wish I could leave with you," Harry teased. "I'm not gonna enjoy Dumbledore's questioning as soon as this happens. He'll be even more firm that I should live with the Durselys." Harry snorted, as did Barty.
"It wouldn't do any good even if the Dark Lord was after you. You're a legal adult wizard because of the tournament, so the wards wouldn't even protect you now. They certainly never protected you in the first place." Barty growled at the thought of Harry's muggle relatives.
"It's okay now though. I'll be in good hands," Harry teased and Barty snorted as he cast tempus, soon grinning sneakily.
"Well, Harry. It looks like it's time to start the show. Are you ready?" Harry grinned back and nodded.
"As I'll ever be,"
R&R, please. I want to know if people are actually enjoying this or not :)
Constructive Criticism is always welcomed.