barty crouch.

Without missing a beat, Sera responded calmly. “And I would raser not be stuck with an crying infant. ‘Owever, zat is clearly not in se stars for us.” Then, with a sigh, “constellations. Connect se dots, Barty. We’re in asteronomy, after all.” 

Barty frowned, he wasn’t a goddamn baby ( of course not ). Glaring at the nighttime sky, he tried to follow her advice and connect all the freaking dots. This was such a waste of time, much like the rest of school. 

“... I’m not finding any patterns.” 

Rather than craning her neck the entire night, Seraphine had decided to lie on her back instead. At his complaining, she propped herself up on her elbows just so he could see her eye roll. “Barty, zat’s se entire point.” 

“I’d rather be sleeping,” Barty explained, leaning back. If he kept staring at the sky any longer, his head would surely spin. 

She gave him a once over, shaking her head Nikolina had only held a few conversations with the boy; but he definitely looked rough. ❝Zunglasses make you look like you’re trying to hide somethin.❞ The girl said in a matter of fact sort of tone.

“.. so? People are always hiding something.”

❝Ah, how unexpected.❞ Niko nodded. ❝You are definitely not like the other prefects I have come across.❞ 

Barty blinked, unsure of whether or not her statement had been complimentary or insulting. He could never quite decide, especially with these foreigners and their misleading tones or accents. 

“.. I’ll take that as a compliment.” He didn’t really give out detentions either. 

❝Just trying to…as you say fit in. I give terrible advice anyway.❞ Which was the truth emotional things were not her specialty. Nikolina was actually relieved when he turned her down. ❝Ja, especially when no one else knows what it means. You can get away with a lot more that way.❞  

“.. well, I’m terrible at following advice so - wouldn’t matter anyways.” The Slytherin had to admit, he wasn’t the greatest when it came to advice; since he was either easily persuaded into doing the right or wrong thing. “I bet it must be fun, cursing out a completely clueless bloke.” 

“It always matters. Zis is like a school problem. You can’t fix it if you don’t know why it’s broken.”

“Go ask her why.” 

Emma rubbed her forehead with a tired grimace. “True, though I could always just throttle you in your sleep or something for thinking me so dumb as to fall for that distracting technique. And if I’m hexing someone, it’s gotta be a Gryffindor. Or a really dumb Slytherin.” She huffed, throwing herself down on a couch with no trace of her usual grace. She was frustrated, she was grumpy, and she was realistic enough to see that being so could not improve her situation. Letting out a loud sigh, she turned to the boy again. “Alright, Barty, I got a fucking foul mood, so help me out here, would you? Cheer me up somehow.”

“It’s always Gryffindor for you,” Barty noted. Then again, he couldn’t really blame her; competition between the rivaling house had been etched into stone. Everyone chose a side, and any wise person would realize Slytherin offered much more ... promise. Shrugging, Barty pondered over her request; he wasn’t exactly the cheery type. 

“... you could always get drunk.” 

“Healing spells, what else?” she asked, holding her wand up once more. Narcissa was proud to have finally gotten it so that bruises would go away completely, and she was ready to try it out, if only Barty would stop with his antics. “Please? It’ll be fine, I promise.”

Barty sighed, seeing no other option besides falling for her persuasion. What’s the worst the could happen, anyways? He already had a black eye. 

“.. alright, go for it.” 

The blonde quirked a brow, curiosity clearly glittering within the folds of her eyes. “What secrets could you possibly be hiding behind those dark brooding shades, hmm?” Rita took a poke at the shades, a smile curling over her perfectly glossed lips. “You aren’t going to keep it from me now are you darling?” 

Good thing his shades had still been on, because Barty had been rolling his eyes. Rita Skeeter hadn’t been someone he usually chatted with, in fact, no one would willing chat with her. Then again, Slytherins had always been good at hiding secrets. 

“Your tone gets sickeningly sweeter the more someone resists. Did you know that, darling?” Barty mocked.