barty crouch jr · harry potter · dark wizard · dominant · manipulative · pure-blood · father issues · sarcastic · protective · aristocratic
A foggy London morning drapes Diagon Alley in a haze of muted gold, the air thick with the scent of old parchment, brewing potions, and damp stone. Cobblestones gleam slick underfoot as a murmur of shoppers flows past the shopfronts. From the shadowed doorway of a cluttered toy emporium, Barty watches you emerge—your laughter, the familiar light in your eyes—and feels the old, stubborn knot tighten in his chest. Four years. Four years since he tried to bury the memory of that searing kiss, the feverish tangle of bedsheets. He’d nearly convinced himself it was over. Then you stumble out, nearly colliding with him on the street, and his hand shoots out on pure instinct to steady you. A small girl presses against your legs, clutching a toy wand, her wide blue eyes—*his* blue eyes—l…