"Siwi"
Barty didn't know what running for your life meant until this moment that he feels like he's running for his life while also carrying a sniffling toddler under his robes
He felt like he had already run around half of the castle grounds just to find Sirius Black, and for someone who's everywhere around with his merry bunch of friends , he's nowhere to be found
The toddler sniffs again and Barty almost curses
He looked at the red faced toddler
"Where in Salazar's name are we gonna find your brother huh? Reg?"
"Siwi!" The boy calls and then he starts sniffing again
"Oh no! Oh no no no don't cry again! Let's continue finding your brother eh!"
Salazar!
Barty sat on the Slytherin table and the usual morning chatter is silent, which was weird
He looks at Dorcas who just blankly shook her head at him, then his eyes went to Pandora who gave him a grimace , and then he looks at Evan who gives him a shrug and signals him to look at Regulus…
Regulus who has a blank expression but his aura oozes darkly, like he'll stab the next person who talks to him and the aura is bleeding through the whole Slytherin table
Barty shivers, well it does seem that Regulus woke up on the wrong side of the bed
"What happened?" He mouths to Evan
"Howler"
Oh, another howler from dear o'l Wally, at least now Barty understands why, any letter from Regulus parents always dampen any mood
Regulus' mood didn't get better, even when they're in potions, and potions is Regulus' favorite subject, he always gets into a good mood whenever they're in potion class so to see that he still isn't feeling any better, Barty starts to worry of course and luckily they're paired together, unluckily Regulus just frowns at him and starts working on their potion
Okay at this point Regulus is being a prick and Barty doesn't appreciate that, he was about to open his mouth when Regulus puts an ingredient and their potion bubbled too harshly, smoke starts coming out of it and soon the whole room is almost covered with bright blue smoke and the cauldron tips over
"Shit!" Barty can hear Regulus cursing
"Reg! You okay? What happened"
He didn't get any response
"Regulus!" He calls again
He heard Slughorn cast a spell and the smoke clears as he tells everyone not to panic
Well Barty is still certainly panicking because Regulus is not in front of him and then he looks down…
His eyes widened at the pile of robes on the floor, and in the middle of it is a small child
"Regulus?" He called, the little boy snaps his head at him, blue grey eyes wide and full of confusion
Barty slowly approached the boy
"Regulus …" he repeats and reaches his hand out but the boy frowns at him and he shies away
"Go away!" Regulus tries to scramble back
"Mr. Crouch, what's going on here?" Slughorn is behind him and he looks at his professor who suddenly paled at the sight
"Salazar!" Slughorn says a little loud and Barty curses because Regulus starts hiccuping and then he starts crying.
"S- Siwi!" The boy calls as he wails
"Oh no no no! We have to get him to Madam Pomfrey, students back to your desks and …" Slughorn went rambling and Regulus kept on crying and this time it's mixed with a scream
"SIWI!"
Some students tried to see what's going on and Regulus is getting more agitated and Slughorn is getting a little useless and Barty is frustrated,
Then he picks up Regulus, the boy still wailing, "SIWI!" he screams
Barty then gets an idea as he piece in what Regulus is saying, he rushes out of the room not bothering that Slughorn is calling him
"Okay,then we'll take you to your brother"
Now Barty wants to smack himself because he should have just taken Regulus to Pomfrey and then wait for them to call Sirius but here he is running around Hogwarts trying to find the older Black brother with the de-aged younger snots in his robes
He rounds another corridor and he almost jump with joy as he spots him
"SIRIUS!" he calls
"Crouch? What do you want?"
Barty hurried to him , trying to catch his breath a little , then he realize, that he actually didn't think about what to say and how to break the news that Regulus is suddenly de-aged and is crying for you ,now please take him or I'm gonna cry myself, well to hell with it , Barty pulls his robe to reveal the toddler
"Well as you can see,we need your help"
—-----------------
"What in Merlin's name happened?" Sirius barely held in his voice as he looked at the toddler, no not just any toddler that's his baby brother, his supposed to be fifth year baby brother who now looks like his four year old self
"There's an accident in potions ,can you please calm down, I'm as panicked and perplexed here!" Barty holds out the toddler who's lips start to tremble and eyes start to water
"S-Siwi!" Regulus starts reaching for him and though still dumbfounded, as if on instinct Sirius immediately took the little boy from Barty, the toddler clings to him, arms around his neck and face buried on his shoulder, he starts to cry
"It's okay, Reggie, it's okay Siri's here now okay, little star?" Sirius runs soothing circles on Regulus' back, he sways a little and the toddler calms down
Barty stares at them wide eyed, like he just witnessed a miracle, but Sirius could care less, his heart felt like it would jump out of his throat, his eyes sting and his breath shakes
Never in his life did Sirius thought he would see his little brother like this, never did he thought that Regulus would reach for him, that he would call for him again
Yet it seems, that some things will never change, it's easy how he immediately melts at the sight of his baby brother crying, how easy it is to hug him close
"It's okay now Etoilé, Siri's here now"
He assures again, voice soft as the toddler sniffled against his shoulder, calming in his hold