Black Heart

the noise had gone on for long enough – Amelia was pretty certain that she would resort to murder if she had to listen to one more second of it. this was a library, after-all, weren’t there rules? “ would you shut up ?! ”

Barty had been staring daggers at the younger students for the past few minutes. Part of him was contemplating on whether or not he should hex them to get them to shut up and the more rational part of him was glad that someone else seemed to be as annoyed by it as he was. His eyes lit up with a sort of malicious joy as he saw the fear on their faces at the outburst. "I would listen to the lady before someone else decides to make you shut up.”

remus used to have a bit of a hard time understanding why everyone seemed to dislike him, but after observing for a long while (in silence, just what he was good at), it dawned on him that most gryffindors were treated like this, especially by slytherins. which made absolutely no sense, because no house was better than the other (even if some gryffindors did indeed try to act that way). “it’s alright, i don’t mind much. they’re always telling me to get out of my shell, so i decided to listen for once.” he grinned at the other, trying to show barty that he was actually having a good time talking to him. “it could be worse, at least we probably not passed out on the couch all day tomorrow.”

Remus was a lot smarter than any of his friends, Barty didn’t have to be a genius to figure that out. He heard enough about how he excelled in his classes. Too bad he was a Gryffindor and not a member of one of the Sacred 28 families. It could help to have a friend that was that smart. "I guess it couldn’t hurt too much if you haven’t really suffered for it yet. But that’s what friends are for, people say.” Barty couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the other young man before cracking a small smile. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. That must be terrible for them tomorrow. I can’t even imagine.”

Lucius was gracefully leaning against the wall behind him, back still stick-straight and arms crossed over his chest. His eyebrow was quirked. He, too, was rather unimpressed. “The former, my friend. It most certainly is the former.” Not that he could blame anyone. He’d really only come for the cake. His one weakness–something that wasn’t exactly allowed at Malfoy Manor. 

Barty stood up a little straighter. He would be lying that it made him pleased to hear Lucius call him a friend. He let out a little snort of laughter, shaking his head. "That doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ve been to enough parties of my dad’s to know that’s almost always the case.” He actually didn’t mind parties as much as he would like everyone to think. People watching was always something he could use to his advantage.

remus had to remind himself that staring was rude and not accepted in society unless he wanted to be branded a stalker (which wasn’t the case, especially not with someone like barty, who definitely wouldn’t appreciate it). he didn’t exactly like the other, but he knew about barty’s interest in defense against the dark arts, so he could at least be civil. “honestly, i came here because my friends wouldn’t let me stay in the dorm by myself. but your reasoning seems to be the case for the rest of the people here.”

Barty didn’t like many people, but there were certain people who he could tolerate in minimal doses. If the other hadn’t been a Gryffindor, then they might have even been able to be to tolerate each other a bit more. Still, he tried to be polite and ignore the house rivalry for just a few minutes. The light haired boy raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly, "Wow, that really blows. I’m here to keep up appearances which isn’t that much better, I suppose but at least I wasn’t forced here. I can’t believe some people really think this is fun.” 

Rita herself was standing in the corner observing the people around her. What they were doing, who they were with anything that might make her gossip senses tingle. Hearing a voice she turned and was faced with Barty. “Both.” Rita replied simply. “I mean anything for a party right?” she asked. “And yes this shit is very much real.” 

Barty wasn’t surprised at all to see Rita at the party. In fact, he would be more surprised if she hadn’t shown her face there of all places. He couldn’t help but smirk a little as he shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I don’t really do parties aside from the ones my parents throw to help my dad keep up his best face at the Ministry,” Barty rolled his eyes at the thought of it. “So what brings you here? The mere thought of any gossip?”

"Lucius is one of the best guys in Slytherin, honestly. He probably makes his parents proud with the way that he respects the fact he’s part of the Sacred 28 unlike some people. I mean, I would call him a friend but I don’t have many of those. Perhaps...a tolerated acquaintance. More tolerated than others, of course. I think I would like to pick his brain very much, he seems like he would have a lot of interesting ideas.” 

"The fact that she doesn’t know when to shut up would be a lot more admirable if she weren’t a Gryffindor or a mudblood.”

Doe was enjoying the day walking the school grounds and taking in the cool sunlit air of September. Everything was still new and fresh and the world felt nice as she ran around the lake trying to work off some energy humming to herself. She was still distracting herself from her fortune, which really wasn’t all bad as Ted had pointed out. It was silly like Severus said. She was just worked up over nothing. She stopped looking out over some of the grounds when she heard a voice behind her. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry.” She said jumping away from the boy with the book she hadn’t even noticed being too into her own thoughts. “What are you reading?” She asked.

Barty raised his eyebrows as he scrutinized the young woman in front of him. Man she sure was jumpy. Still, that didn’t give her an excuse to almost pry into his life by asking what he was reading. A smirk crept its way onto his face as he responded with, "It’s called none of your business. It’s my favorite.”

“Oh, come off it, this is just MY tree, actually.” Though Mary definitely had her named carved on the tree, they both knew full well that it wasn’t her tree. Truthfully, Mary liked this tree in particular because you could smoke pot at it and get away with it – just add a few simple containment charms and deodorizing charms & enjoy. “I’d maybe consider sharing what I have with you if you stop acting like such a little prat for like, ten minutes? But, if I even share it with you, you can’t go off blabbing to a prefect about it. If you do, I’ll bury you by this tree as well.”

"Oh really. I didn’t realize you planted it yourself,” he couldn’t stop the sarcasm from coming through on every word. Barty raised his eyebrows as he stared up at the Gryffindor in front of him, not moving an inch from his spot. The Slytherin placed a hand over his heart before responding, “Wow, how lucky of me. I think at this point I should be inviting you to join me by this tree.” Barty didn’t like many people, but the fact that this girl was threatening to bury him by the tree did intrigue him a little but there was no letting her know that. “What makes you think I would tell a prefect shit? As long as you promise not to bury me too deep, maybe you can have a seat.”

"Longbottom isn’t as full of himself as some other Gryffindors that I’m not a big fan of. That doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate him, though. I hear he’s pretty smart. A lot of Gryffindors are aiming to be aurors too from what I hear. Good luck with that.”

It was a lovely day and Rita was fully planning on doing one of the things she loved most which was reading. She had picked up a book on prophecies while out at Hogsmeade in hopes of giving her some insight into what Miss Echo was actually up to but had never found the time, However with nothing better to do she headed out towards her favorite reading tree only to find someone had the same idea and was sitting there.

Huffing she went over to ask Barty to either move or shove over so that she had some room to read under the tree too. An eyebrow raised at his question as she let out a scoff. “Please I’m a Ravenclaw. Why would I have a problem with anyone trying to read a book?: She gave a quick show of her own book to prove that she actually had the same intentions as him. 

Barty sat up a little straighter against the tree, his hands gripped the cover of the book a little tighter as if he were trying to will the thing out of existence. He knew enough about Rita to know that he couldn’t let her see what kind of book he was reading unless he could try to think of a good reason to have it in his possession. Good thing that he was good at thinking on his feet, that was one thing he could thank his father for.

Rolling his dark eyes at the woman, he nodded slowly. "Right, you Ravenclaws read even in your sleep. According to some people, anyway. Is there any reason why you’ve chosen to....grace me with your presence, Rita?” He motioned a hand at the book in her hand, “Or do you just happen to like to read in my spot?”

Her breath hitched at the other’s sudden voice, not even having realized it was him. Quite obviously, she knew someone was there, but she figured passing by wouldn’t be so much of a problem as it now seemed to be. She hoped that at least it hadn’t sounded like she’d gasped or done anything to make it seem like she was AFRAID.

“ No problem with you reading, I’d actually encourage it to be honest. I didn’t mean to bug you either, so no need to get testy,”  she replied, gaze following the book he’d been so quick to shut. She didn’t know if it was because of instinct or if the book had something forbidden in it, but Pandora knew not to let her CURIOSITY get the best of her.

Barty raised an eyebrow at the woman in front of him. Honestly, maybe he was screwed up, but he found people that tried to act like he didn’t bother them to be the most amusing. He was pretty terrible at owning his own feelings, but there was no denying that seeing someone shaking in their boots while trying to act like they weren’t was absolutely hysterical. A tiny smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he spoke, "You think this is me being testy? This is me being polite. But tell me why I shouldn’t be testy, I’m interested.” He drummed his fingers on the cover of his book.

"Actually, the fact that I don’t know who this Miss Echo is bothers me quite a whole fucking lot. I’d just love to talk to her and see what she knows or thinks she knows about me.”

"By that do you mean who do I tolerate the most? I guess I would say Rabastan. There are a few others who I can tolerate than even some other people in my year. Lucius and Regulus aren’t all that bad. Don’t know if I would really call anyone my friend, though. Having friends makes you vulnerable.”

Glenda’s heart skipped a beat for a second. He didn’t seem the nicest person and he was clearly annoyed that he got disturbed, and she wasn’t going to deny that it crossed her mind that he might not just pick Martha up, but… yeah, she wasn’t even going to think about that. But then he really didn’t do anything, and he reassured her that he was fond of animals, and that calmed her down a bit. “I’m– I’m really sorry. About the– about the interrupting thingy.”

She couldn’t really figure him out, though, because on one hand, he continued to sound kind of threatening and called Martha a thing - how could anyone call her a thing, really, when she is one of the cutest thing ever, Glenda was really confused about anyone who couldn’t see that -, but at the same thing, he was stroking and petting Martha’s head, which suggested kindness. The uneasiness and nerves she felt did not disappear, to say the least. “I– no, I– I mean, usually pay attention to her, I just– I got distracted for a second and she really loves exploring things and she is interested in anything and everything, and I am guessing she saw you and thought getting to know somebody know would be a good idea and just hopped over here.” She was practically rushing through those last words, rambling as she tried to explain herself.

Barty took a moment to compose himself. Was he going to get anywhere by scaring the shit out of half of Hogwarts, especially someone who seemed so jumpy that she might end up mentioning his strange behavior to someone like Dumbldore? He’d better not. "I suppose that’s alright. Don’t do it again. Next time I might not be so forgiving,” the corner of Barty’s lip twitched up into a tiny smirk before he could stop himself. 

The closest thing that Barty had to a pet was an owl. When he was younger, he had begged his father for a little black kitten that he’d seen in a store-front window. According to the older Crouch, a kitten was not a logical choice for a pet but an owl was. Sure, he loved his owl and it might be petty, but it went on his mental list of things his father seemed to do to spite him. Barty raised a dark eyebrow at the woman, “A toad who likes to explore? Never thought I would hear that in my life. Maybe your toad knows something about me that I don’t.” He shrugged, casting a glance to the animal in his hand before he set it back on the ground. “You talk fast,” Barty stared for a moment, fully aware he was stating the obvious and possibly making the other more flustered.