Chapter 3
Regulus
No one is worried when Barty doesn’t text us back—we’re used to that. He is about as skilled with technology as a kangaroo.
When Barty isn’t there when our parents all meet up, no one is too worried—we’re used to that. Barty gets in trouble often.
When Barty’s father cackles at the mention of his son, a few of us are worried—we’re used to Bartemius Sr sneering and making some sort of comment.
When Barty doesn’t show up to our meet-up, we’re all on edge—Barty always shows up, no matter how ill or tired or upset he is.
When Evan and Pandora sneak into Barty’s room to find the bed neatly made and no sign of Barty having been there in a few days, we start to panic—Barty is missing, and his father knows—his father laughed about it. The search begins immediately, with Dorcas at the lead (obviously).
We’re all gathered at the twins’ house discussing how to move forward. It feels like there’s something in my chest.
“We should start by checking his house, but that might be dangerous unless we can get both of his parents out at the same time.” Dorcas decides, “We can try the neighborhood around his house instead.”
“Wouldn’t his house be more important, though?” I ask. “We should cause a distraction of some sort during the day while his father is at work. That way it’s just his mother in the house. We could call her and pretend to be some agency, or make it so she has to leave the house on an errand.”
“That would take way too long to plan out!” Evan argues, “We should just go while Crouch is gone and keep out of sight of his mother.”
“Oh yeah, we just have to ‘keep out of sight of his mother.’ That’s easy enough, right?” I sneer. I feel bad for being mean to Evan. He's one of my best friends, and I don't know what I would do if something happened to him. I don't know what I would do if something happened to Barty, either, and the thing in my chest is grabbing hold of my lungs, squeezing until I can barely breathe. “We need an actual plan, Evan.”
“The two of you bickering doesn’t help anyone.” Dorcas intervenes, "Saying we need a plan doesn't help us make a plan."
“We wer—” I try to protest, but Dorcas cuts me off.
“No one’s angry, Reg, but we need to focus on finding Barty, not on whose plan is better.” She scolds.
“Thank you, Dorcas. Speed is—” Evan starts to say before he is in turn interrupted by Dorcas.
“But,” she specifies, “We do need a plan. We cannot go in unprepared. Regulus is right about how we go about it. It'll be easier to get Barty’s mother out of the house.”
“Maybe not.” Pandora finally speaks, after staying quiet for most of the discussion.
“What do you mean?” I ask, “How would we search the house otherwise?”
“We don’t need to search the house.” She smiles, “We just ask where Barty went.”
“...What?”
“We ask his mom. She loves Barty, and he loves her. There’s no way she doesn’t know what happened to him.” Pandora says it as if it’s obvious. I suppose it probably is. Trust Pandora to come up with the best plan after watching us bicker for over ten minutes.
The thing in my chest lets up just a little. It’ll soften up even more when we find Barty. I don’t think it’ll ever go away, though. It never does. It’s been there for so long that I’ve learned to find comfort in it. It’s like a warning that bad things are ahead, or that bad things are happening. I know I should talk to my friends about it, but I haven't yet. To be honest, I don’t think it’s normal. Sirius was the only one I ever told about it. But he’s gone now, so I’m alone in my feelings. The thing in my chest tightens up again.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s what made Sirius leave. If his chest got so tight that it made him feel like he couldn’t live anymore.
<><><>
We decide that all four of us will ask Mrs Crouch about Barty tomorrow while we’re supposed to be in school. On Mondays we have an extended lunch period, so we can go then.
<><><>
I lay in my bed later, trying not to think.
We’ll find him, I tell myself, Pandora was right. Barty’s mom will know what happened to him, and we’ll find him. He’ll be alright.
My mind replays the last time I saw him over and over, searching for some sort of clue.
“Reggie!” Barty laughs, “My favourite little emo boy!” I scowl.
“I’m not emo, Barty, shut up.”
He raises an eyebrow.
“Seriously! And have you looked at yourself recently?” His hair is growing out longer than usual, and his clothes are ripped in places. His shirt is untucked and the top couple buttons are undone. “I don’t see how your father isn’t at your throat for dressing like that.”
His smile shrinks but never fully disappears. That’s the thing about Barty. His smile never disappears.
“He wants something to be mad at and I think I look pretty cool. It’s a win-win, really.” He shrugs.
Do you not realise this is exactly what happened to Sirius!? I want to scream at him.
“It’s not a joke, Barty,” is what I say instead. “What happens if your father gets really mad? I just don’t want you to get hurt, Barty, you have to understand that.”
“We can’t all be as perfect as you, Regulus.” He says, smiling as if it’s a joke. Maybe it is, to him. Maybe it’s payback for mentioning his father. Maybe I’ll never know. The last option is the scariest.
“We can’t all be as perfect as you, Regulus.”
“We can’t all be as perfect as you.”
The words echo painfully in my head. I’m far from perfect. It’s not the first time someone has said that to me, though. It’s not the first time someone has said that to me days before leaving me alone.
I don’t end up sleeping. Instead I pour my brain onto paper as I try not to think about the fact that the only people I’ve ever let read my poems are the same people who said they couldn't be like me. The same people who left me.
Dorcas
I met Barty Crouch Jr for the first time when I was eleven years old and he was ten. My parents had brought me along to a meeting with Crouch Sr because the nanny was sick. When my parents asked to postpone, Crouch offered that they could bring me along. I could play with his son, who was around the same age.
I hated Barty at first. He was rude, arrogant and absolutely opposed to sharing. But somehow, over the years, we became friends.
Maybe I owe my friendship with Barty to the nanny, maybe to Crouch Sr, or maybe we would’ve ended up friends either way. I don’t really know.
What I do know is that Barty Crouch Jr is one of my best friends, and I’m going to get him the fuck back.
<><><>
The bell rings for lunch at 11:15. Everyone piles out of class, hoping to get the good seats in the library, or maybe trying to slip out of the school without a teacher seeing.
The long lunch period on Mondays and Fridays is supposedly to catch up on homework or retake tests. It’s a great concept, but when you’re already an overachiever (or an underachiever who just doesn’t give a crap *ahem* Barty), it doesn’t do much other than give you extra time with your friends. It also gives Regulus, Pandora, Evan and me time to talk to Barty’s mom.
Unfortunately, we’re still required to be at school during the 45 minute ‘study break.’ Apparently some kids kept leaving school to steal or sell drugs or whatever about a decade ago and ruined it for the rest of us.
We all head over to our science classroom, taught by Mr Slughorn. Slughorn is notorious for picking favourites in his class and never getting them in trouble, even going out of his way sometimes to get them out of trouble with other teachers. While it must suck to not have been chosen as one of his favourites, Regulus and I (and by extension the rest of the group, though less so) were.
“I seriously don’t know how you stand the guy, Dorcas.” Evan groans, “He’s so full of himself, it’s annoying. He acts like the sun shines out of his ass just because he finds students that he thinks will be successful and helps them become successful.”
“It’s a little annoying that he’s constantly name-dropping, sure, but he’s also extremely well-connected.” I smile, “Plus, he helps us if we need it.”
“And we need it right now to find Barty.” Pandora pipes up.
Regulus stays silent. I’m starting to worry about him. He hasn’t been the same ever since Sirius ran away. I think he’s scared that he wasn’t good enough to keep his brother, and he thinks everyone else is going to leave him, too. Regulus is terrified that he’s going to lose another brother. I have to make sure it doesn’t happen.
“What do you think of Slughorn, Reggie?” Pandora asks softly, obviously sensing the same turmoil that I know is going on in Regulus’s head.
Regulus shrugs.
“He’s useful.” He says, his eyes never lifting from the floor.
When we get to Slughorn’s classroom, though, the lights are off and the door is locked. Slughorn isn’t here.
“Shit.” Evan says.
“Language.” Pandora scolds him lightly, “There’s no need to swear. We can just sneak out of the school.”
“There are teachers everywhere, though. How are we supposed to get out without them noticing?” Regulus asks, “Plus, we only have an hour and a half left until our actual classes start.”
“We would need something to get everyone’s attention away from the doors, especially Filch.” Evan shudders. Argus Filch is one of the custodians at our school. No one knows why, though, because it really seems like he hates kids. He’s always watching for people trying to sneak out of school during the study break, and if he catches you he’ll have you scrubbing the gross gym class pinnies for a week.
We stand silently for a moment, thinking of distractions we could cause, when Pandora has a stroke of genius.
“What if we asked the Prewetts to help us?” She says. The Prewett brothers are famous to students and infamous to teachers for their pranks on the school. They would take any excuse to break the rules, especially if it meant helping other students break the rules as well.
“So what you’re asking of us,” Fabian Prewett says, “is to cause a big enough distraction for the four of you to slip out unnoticed.”
“Yes.” I agree.
“And you want us to do this for free?” Gideon Prewett questions.
“Yes.”
They glance at each other for a moment.
“We’re in.”
“What are you going to do?” Pandora asks.
They only grin at that.
“You’ll see.” Fabian grins.
“Being all cryptic is great and all, but how are we supposed to know when we can get out without being noticed?” Evan raised his eyebrows.
“You’ll know.” Gideon smiles as well, mirroring his twin.
We don’t have to wait long. As it turns out, the mysterious plan was simply pulling the fire alarm. We go out the front doors with the rest of the students, but we quietly slip away from the group, making our way around the back of the school, where the path into our neighborhood is.
The walk to Barty’s house is quiet. None of us know what we’re going to find out. I’m trying to think of a solution to every possible thing that may have happened to Barty.
There’s still one problem that I don’t have the answer to when we reach his house: death.
Regulus rings the doorbell, and we wait for a moment before Barty’s mother appears in the doorway, her eyes red and her hair in a messy ponytail. This doesn’t bode well for Barty. When she sees us, her eyes get glassy. I step up before she can start crying for what I can only assume is not the first time today.
“Hi, Mrs Crouch. I’m Dorcas, if you don’t remember me. We’re Barty’s friends.” She nods, sniffling.
“Of course I recognize you, Dorcas.” She smiles weakly, “Why don’t you all come in.”
We follow her into the living room, where we all stand awkwardly.
“Mrs Crouch, we were wondering if—”
“Would any of you like some tea? I can boil a kettle.” Mrs Crouch interrupts.
“No thank you, Mrs Crouch. We’re actually here about—”
“You’re sure? It’s really no problem.” Barty’s mom sounds as if she’s trying to stop herself from breaking down crying.
“Yes, we’re sure. We really would like to know, though—” I try for the third time, starting to get frustrated.
“Oh but I know Regulus loves tea. Would you like a cup, dear?” She interrupts again.
“Mrs Crouch, I—” This time it’s Evan who interrupts me.
“Where is Barty?!” He shouts as Mrs Crouch tries to talk over me again.
Everyone is quiet for a moment as Evan’s yell echoes through the room. The silence is finally broken when Mrs Crouch lets out a sob and sits down on the couch.
“He’s gone!” She manages between sobs.