Chapter 2
Barty awoke in an unfamiliar room. Contrary to the dark and gloomy Slytherin dungeon, this room was brightly lit, with sun pouring through the tall, arched windows.
He quickly identified this room as the hospital wing, remembering the times he had been to this room - either due to one of his own stupid injuries, or due to one of his friends being in the hospital wing. Contrary to popular belief, Regulus Black is not as tough and independent when it comes to sickness, meaning that Barty and Evan have to practically baby him - along with Madam Pomfrey’s motherly care.
Slowly, Barty sat up in his bed and glanced around the room. It was empty except for one bed at the far end of the hospital wing. He craned his neck, trying to see who it was over the curtains that were drawn around the other bed.
“Oh good, you’re awake”, Madam Pomfrey shuffles over to him and places a couple of potions onto the bedside table. She picks the smallest one up and starts pouring it into his mouth. The potion has a minty taste, leaving a slight burning feeling as it goes down his throat. The potion is quite cold, which he appreciates against his dry throat.
When Pomfrey sets the bottle down, he utters a small thank you, then proceeds to ask the woman what happened that night to land him in the hospital wing.
“Dumbledore and your head of house - Slughorn if I’m not mistaken will come in later to explain that, along with some of the other students involved in this…”, she pauses, thinking carefully about her next words before deciding on, “event”.
Although Barty’s curiosity is telling him to continue pushing until she tells him what happened right there, he nods his head and slowly starts shuffling back into a lying position, his head and back aching as he does so.
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Slughorn and Dumbledore show up around 5 hours later, after Barty awakes from another nap. The two professors were accompanied by the group of boys who called themselves the Marauders, the fourth member of their little group having a notable absence.
“Mr. Crouch, although it was not my intent to tell you all of this, I have been convinced by Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Lupin to trust you with this information”, Dumbledore starts, keeping up his stupid, “mysterious headmaster” facade that everyone could tell was obviously a pathetic attempt to hide his lack of personality. Barty nearly chuckles as he remembers all of his late night gossip sessions with Evan where they talk about who Dumbledore is behind his concealed image.
“What about Black? Why didn’t he contribute to your convincing?" Barty asks before Dumbledore can continue.
“I will let them explain that to you”, and with that, the old man turns and leaves, leaving Barty with Slughorn, Pettigrew, Black, and Potter. Stupid Potter.
Slughorn obviously notices the tension between the four boys, then mutters something along the lines of having to talk to Pomfrey about the classes that Barty will miss, and promptly walks away without another look.
“So… are you going to explain why the fuck I am in the hospital wing? Or are you going to opt for staring at me as if I am a bloody zoo animal?”Barty seeks, receiving only glares back.
The three boys opt for the latter, continuing to stare at Barty as if he was a caged animal stuck inside a zoo exhibit. Barty glares straight back, eyes moving from one boy to the other.
Surprisingly, Pettigrew is the first to speak up, “I think we owe you an explanation”.
“Obviously”
Sirius Black sighs, then goes back to sulking in the corner near Barty’s bed.
Potter speaks up next, “Well as you know, you were attacked last night”, he begins, gesturing towards the bed where Barty is laying, “how much of that can you recount?”.
Fucking Potter.
“Potter, you sound like bloody Dumbledore. Hurry up and get to the point”.
“Right, well, you were attacked by a werewolf”. Guessed that much, Barty thinks to himself. The boys fall silent again, all three seeming slightly scared to go on. This gives Barty enough time to connect the dots before the “marauders” can continue.
The four boys are inseparable. They were the first ones to see him, and were also likely the ones to bring him to the hospital wing - which would explain his memory of seeing some familiar faces before blacking out. If they were the ones convincing Dumbledore to tell him this, then they obviously have close ties to the werewolf. Only one of the boys is missing, meaning that…
“Lupin”, Barty blurts out. Sirius snaps his gaze up to, yet again, glare at Barty. Pettigrew looks away, and Potter slowly nods his head.
And then, out of absolutely nowhere, Sirius Fucking Black stands up and pushes Barty up against his bedframe, before menacingly whispering,
“Tell anyone and you will fucking regret ever waking up”, then turns away and storms off. Potter and Pettigrew follow along.
Barty isn’t at all surprised at Black's little show. His best friend is a Black after all - he is completely used to all of the family's dramatics at that point.
Barty also isn’t surprised that Sirius is the one acting all protective. He knows about the little crush that Sirius has on Lupin. It's obvious to him - but only because he feels the exact same way about Sirius’s little brother.
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After dinner, Regulus and Evan plan to come by to visit Barty in the hospital wing. Barty is fucking estatic about this, because Madame Pomfrey has announced that she will be keeping him in here for another two days - meaning he has to spend two entire days drinking disgusting potions and staring at the blank white ceiling. Not to mention the fact that Lupin is also there, so by extension so is Potter.
And worst of all, Barty cannot sit still to save his life. All day, he has been randomly moving random parts of his body - causing Madame Pomfrey to rush over and fuss over him yet again.
The clock strikes 8, and as if on cue, Evan rushes in - face lighting up when he sees Barty looking back at him.
“Barty! What the hell happened?”Evan asks. Barty nearly tells him about Lupin being a werewolf, but quickly realizes that it would put Lupin into a dangerous position if anyone else found out - so Barty makes up something along the lines of, “I tripped near the whomping willow and got attacked by it”.
Evan just nods in response, before Barty notices the very obvious lack of Regulus Black’s presence.
“Where's Reg?”
“I’m not sure. He said he’d come by right after seeing James. Although…”
Barty doesn’t hear the rest of what Evan says. Not only did James Potter take Barty’s crush away from him, but he is now taking away his best friend too. But James Potter has always gotten everything he wants, so if he wants Reg, he’ll take him.
A hand on his shoulder pulls Barty out of his thoughts. When his eyes meet Evan’s, they are laced with concern - and a twinge of something else that Barty cannot place.
“I’m fine,” Barty says.
“I didn’t ask if you were. And I know better than to believe that,” Evan responds. Evan shifts how he sits on the side of Barty’s bed. One hand still on his shoulder, and the other reaches to take Barty’s right hand in his own.
In that moment, Barty Crouch forgets all about the existence of his crush, Regulus Black, and his enemy, James Potter. He forgets all about last night's attack. It’s him and Evan, alone and floating on top of the world. It’s him and Evan. Nobody else.
The moment doesn’t last long. It's ruined by Madame Pomfrey lightly pushing Evan out of the hospital wing, while Evan looks horrified and pale like he had just seen a ghost.
And to top it all off, a dreamless sleep potion is handed to Barty and he drifts off to sleep without another chance to think about Evan Rosier.