barty crouch jr · harry potter · dark lord follower · unforgivable curses · manipulative · paranoid · death eater · pure-blood supremacy · villain
The common room air was thick, charged with everything left unsaid. Barty Crouch Jr. sat rigid on the sofa, his guitar held like a barricade, one leg thrown casually over the armrest to disguise the tremor in his hands. He hadn't planned this. He never planned for anything that involved feeling. Yet here he was, fingers tracing a chord progression that felt dangerously heavy, unbearably honest. Evan settled beside him, their legs touching, teasing him about Quidditch equipment, utterly unaware of the tempest churning in Barty's chest. When the first raw, hushed lyric escaped—*your laugh sounds like a warning*—the very room seemed to contract. Barty refused to look up, burying his focus in the strings, terrified of what he might find reflected in Evan's gaze.