Chapter 5, Everyone Hates The Lestranges
Barty Crouch hated the Lestranges. Hated them, hated them, hated them! It was their fault he was in here. Their fault if the Dementors got him or he died in here, because the Dark Lord wasn't coming back. They were apeshit crazy and he wasn't coming back. Barty shouldn't have allowed himself to be dragged into their assurances that he was, but they'd seemed so certain. They'd said that no one else wanted to help. None of the other former Death Eaters had believed their insistence that he wasn't truly dead. Over and over, several times a day, Barty made conversation with himself by informing himself of just how stupid he'd been to believe them. It was their certainty. It had convinced him.
They were his favorites, so clearly they were aware of something that the other Death Eaters were not. When Bellatrix said that only those who believed in his return would be rewarded, Barty hadn't wanted to be left out. Yep, that cursed Lestrange certainty had done him in. Only when the Aurors were dragging the four of them away to Azkaban, did he recall something his bastard of a father had once said. Back when Barty was a kid, the old man had once claimed that a mad man was nothing if not entirely certain of whatever he was saying. The Dark Lord had ordered the Lestranges to train him up just before he'd vanished, and they continued to follow that order at Barty's expense, simply because he was stupid enough to believe them.
For that reason, he probably deserved what he got. That didn't make it any easier, though, and it didn't make him happier about it in the slightest. It just made him hate his father even more. His father could've gotten him out, but he hadn't. He never would, the bastard! That hatred of his father that Barty had always been so open about was what made Voldemort like him. At least that was the impression Barty had always gotten. Anytime he mentioned it the Dark Lord's eyes would practically shine with something akin to excitement.
It made Barty feel utterly validated in his feelings. Once the Dark Lord had even confessed to hating his own father too, so completely understood where Barty was coming from. It was after that that he'd ordered the Lestranges to train him. As they were clearly his favorites, Barty had seen that as a reward and stamp of approval as much as the Dark Mark itself had been. It was that same stamp of approval that landed him in Azkaban, though, so he wasn't so fond of it of late.
Sirius couldn't help growling any time he heard Bellatrix's obnoxious voice talking to the two Lestrange thugs, which was far too often. They were so stupid and she was so mean. They deserved what they'd gotten if anyone ever had. Him, though. He'd done nothing wrong and he was here with them! Forever! Snape was walking free and he was here. There was no justice!
Every time he ate the dry bread and drank the tepid water that they were given daily, he nearly choked with rage, thinking that Snivellus was eating and drinking anything he liked. At least the Lestranges were paying for serving Voldemort and what they'd done to the Longbottoms, but he couldn't truly relish the justice of that while choking on the injustice that had put him here at the same time.
To make matters all the more infuriating, he even had to listen to that little runt Rabastan Lestrange gloating over his sick crimes in his sleep. Far too often while dreaming he'd talk about Marlene McKinnon. That told Sirius as much as any confession that the Lestranges had killed her for Voldemort. May they burn in hell. She'd been a good Order member. A Ravenclaw, so boringly bookish, but she'd put her smarts toward some excellent ideas for various ways to gain Intel. Rabastan Lestrange assuring her in his sleep that it would be alright, enraged Sirius. To tell someone that it would be alright, then kill them was evil even for a Lestrange. Oh how he hated the Lestranges. They deserved to be here.
He hoped daily that they would soon suffer the Dementor's kiss. Then he'd finally have some peace and quiet. They were always talking about the stupidest things, and being snarky to one another while they were at it. It set his teeth on edge! He didn't understand why they always wanted to be together if they were only going to tell one another to shut the fuck up or whatever. Classless gits the lot of them, thinking they were so much better while being so utterly atrocious. Thinking of the Lestranges did serve a useful purpose, though. It kept him from thinking of Remus. Remus had likely stopped being their friend after their stupid joke on Snivellus in the Shrieking Shack back in their fifth year.
Once Dumbledore had said he'd not blame Remus for being done with the lot of them over that, and that he even should. Sirius had discounted the old man's statement in a blink back then, but now... Now he knew that he must have been right. How long had Moony planned this revenge? Was he happy now with James dead and him rotting here in Azkaban? After that night, Remus had shouted at both of them, saying that it could've landed him in Azkaban or worse if he'd gotten at Snape. He'd calmed down, though, when Sirius and James apologized, groveled and all that.
Apparently he'd only pretended, though. He'd waited patiently until the opportunity presented itself, and he'd gotten them good. Sometimes Sirius would even hysterically laugh at just how good Moony had gotten them in the end. Then he'd remember that the Dementors may take his hysteria for joy and that always sobered him up but quick. He liked snogging pretty girls, not Dementors. He could always think of his hatred for the Lestranges when he wished to become enraged. The Dementors didn't seem particularly hungry for rage, so at least the Lestranges were good for something.
(Dear Reader,
Spoiler Alert, the Lestranges didn't kill Marlene. Her story is in Diary of a Mad Man, and in a not quite canon but very funny, Unlikely Allies.
As for Barty's father's thoughts on a man's certainty, he is likely correct, but the Lestranges had another reason to be certain that Voldemort lived even if they didn't remember it. Bad Romance, the full length Lestrange novel we have written tells that tale. Hint, Regulus knew about the Horcrux, and he was close with his family. The Lestranges don't remember what they were made to forget. Most of our stories are connected, though it isn't necessary to know them all to enjoy the one.)
