Draco did not want to do this, he didn't particularly want to go out in the first place, let alone with the biggest nutjob in this place. Crouch was a frustrating pain, he had an unshakeable calm, he was cruel and rude and, worst of all, no one cared! No one cared if he complained! No one did anything after he scratched up his wrist with his bloody nails like some stray cat.
Both father and mother gave him some strict warnings to just try and avoid him.
Well, lot of good that did. Now he had a secret mission from the Dark Lord to complete with the psychopath. He was supposed to meet him outside at 11pm of all times, way past his not-official but actually official bedtime. Sulking and stalling as long as he could in his room, he finished preparing to go out, slipped on his shoes and made his way out. Two minutes late. He didn't fancy being on time, he was feeling particularly rebellious but not confident enough to push it to five minutes.
Barty had a lot of things on his mind and a lot of things weighing on him. Regulus was... He was healthy. He was recovering. More and more himself every day. But that also made this more real. That to give Regulus a future, he had to betray everything he stood for. Or maybe readjust what it was he stood for. Love. That hadn't been a factor in his life for a long time, but here he was now.
Waiting for the idiot boy. He looked up when he finally made his way to him, less that impressed. "Can you read time, Malfoy?"
"Close enough, isn't it? What's a few minutes gonna hurt?" Draco strolled over, trying to seem more confidence and together... while carefully standing as far out of reach as he physically couldn't without it being super obvious. He didn't want to get grabbed again or anything else like that. He just wanted to do his job, be done with it and go home.
"What are doing then? It's getting on a bit so let's be quick."
He wanted to lazy in bed, not be terrified to his core.
"You are going to do whatever I tell you to do. And, since you seem confused about that, I haven't told you to be a whiny brat." Came as a free bonus, Barty imagined. He pulled out his hand, then held his arm out to Draco. "Hold on. We are apparating."
And side-along seemed like the way to go here, he didn't trust Draco's talent much any other way. There was one single reason why he had picked Draco for this. The boy was quite good at - he presumed completely unknowingly - shielding his mind. All he needed was for his lord to not accidentally come across what he was doing. Should be simple enough with Draco.
Glaring, Draco came over slowly and then reluctantly held onto Barty. Mostly his robe, not wholly his arm. About a finger was touching. He didn't like being this close to Barty. At least he smelled good. It was interesting. "Would have expected you to smell worse, Crouch."
That was supposed to be a slam but he realised, on hindsight, it just made it look a bit like he was weird and smelling blokes so he didn't quite know how to recover from that and make it less stupid but here he was. Telling Barty Crouch Jr he smelled nice.
"Do you spend a lot of time imagining how I smell? Spend less time fantasising. You really should just be studying instead." Barty rolled his eyes and then he apparated, appearing in an alleyway in what seemed to be a city, based on the immediate surroundings. Barty let go of Draco, then looked him over, as if he had to make his mind up. Good enough.
"Of course." He knew the name of it, at least. He'd heard it in passing being tossed around by his aunt Bellatrix. It was the thinky mind one. Whatever it was. "It's about controlling your thoughts, isn't it?" He thought it sounded rather boring, he heard someone say it was a complicated discipline and it put him right off.
He didn't really do complicated. "Why? We gonna mess with someone's head or something?" Draco actually looked kind of amused at the concept, clearly not grasping what he was getting himself into.
"To go into someone's head to 'mess with it' you need legilimency. An art that only the most accomplished of wizards and witches have ever mastered. It takes willpower and intelligence, so if I was you, I wouldn't aim for that. The Dark Lord himself is a master of it, of course." And so was Barty, but he saw no need to add that right away. Ideally, Draco would find out soon enough. "Occlumency is the act of protecting one's mind. Something for which you, oddly enough, seem to naturally have a knack."
He took a step closer, facing Draco. "I want you to try and keep me out of your mind, right now. Or I will drag up something you don't want me to know."
"Oi, stay out." Draco took a step back as if it'd help and then he tried to work out how to keep someone out of his mind. He wasn't sure how to do it. He was far too busy thinking that Barty was annoying and he hated playing his games. "This is annoying, I don't want to play games." Well, he tended to say what he thought. He didn't have much depth.
"I'll just not think, I suppose?" And then he tried to. Surprisingly, not that hard. It was usually easier but he kept thinking of funny things he could have said to Barty if he was less afraid of him. Heh. Farty. Heh.
Barty raised his eyebrows, but he pushed past it. Pushed deeper. He wanted Draco to feel the invasion, because he wanted him to try and fight against it. "This isn't a game, Malfoy. This is training you for your role in the war."
Of course, the boy was unlikely to understand that, but whatever. He could try to make him understand, against all hope. And even if he didn't understand, he could still teach him. And so he raised his eyebrow, amused at what he found. "You spend a lot of thoughts on Harry Potter, don't you?"
"... Of course, he's my rival." Draco tried hastily to push any of those thoughts away and focus on the very unpleasant invasion in his head - he didn't like it, the feeling of someone pawing around in his mind like a common dog. He pushed against the invasion and glared at Barty. "Stay out of my head!"
Denial ran deep and a boy like Draco? He was good at hiding parts of himself. Denying Potter was easy. He just slipped it away from his mind.
"Not bad. Not bad at all, for a first attempt. You wouldn't stand a chance if I was really trying, but we can practise more later." And maybe pull more on that Harry Potter string, because that was - if nothing else - entertaining. "Now, we are going to go into a store. I want you to keep your thoughts and your hands to yourself, unless I tell you otherwise."
And yes, he planned on breaking in. That was why he had waited so late.
"Fine." He hated being under a man like Barty. One day, he would be on top. He knew it. He'd be the toppist top to ever top. He walked behind Barty with a huff as they walked towards the store, unsure what exactly they were doing. "Are you ever going to tell me what role I'm supposed to play tonight or do you intend to remain cryptic?"
He wasn't a Ravenclaw, he didn't enjoy thinking about stuff and solving puzzles.
"You have the role of lackey. Maybe collateral, if it comes to that." Barty stopped by the door and used a quick 'alohomora' to open it, then looked inside. He supposed he should teach the boy something useless, so he pointed. "Do you see the red light blinking? It's a muggle alarm system. Uses electricity. Not much less effective than magic, really. It's dangerous to underestimate muggles."
That said he muttered another spell and the red light died down. "Go inside, Malfoy. Quietly."
"Muggles aren't exactly something I worry over. Danger and muggles doesn't go. We're the danger, after all." The bad boys. The wild childs. Well. Not that last one, sounded a bit stupid but he was most definitely the thing those idiotic muggles should fear. He had no concern for them or their weird, red blinky lights.
Heading inside, he looked about and then spoke loud and with little subtly. "Why are we in a muggle store?"
"That's where you are wrong. The reason we are fighting is because they are the danger. There is more of them than there is of us. They evolve faster, they change their ways. And if a muggle kills you, Malfoy, you won't be any less dead than if I do it." Barty looked around the store. Antiques everywhere, most without any magical value whatsoever.
"I'm looking for something. An artefact. Perhaps it's in the backroom." Barty made his way there, opening the door. "Potter thinks about you too, for the record. I remember. He has a much higher opinion of you than I do."
"... Does not." What? He thought of him? How? When? Why? Was it negative? Was it positive? Was it about his new hair? Did he notice he'd upgraded his robes? Did he think his spell casting was getting sloppier? Because his father always said so but he felt it was fine, honestly. He had so many questions but he knew he couldn't ask them so he just laughed and exhaled in annoyance, acting like he didn't care. "He thinks about as highly for me as he does for the Dark Lord."
They were not on the same level but the hate was there. "You know nothing about me and Potter, Crouch."
Barty snorted. "Teenage boys are hardly some grand mystery to me, Draco." He switched to saying the boy's first name and used a spell to illuminate the room, trying to gauge where it could be. "He gets under your skin. You get under his skin. You spend too much time talking about each other. All your friends already roll their eyes. You think that's the first time that has ever happened?"
He shook his head, smiling weakly. "The only difference is that most are at least slightly more self-aware than you. At least I was."
"Well... I'm not gay. Or into Potter. Ew. What's wrong with you? Just because you want to go around kissing blokes like Potter doesn't mean I do? The way you keep talking, maybe you're the obsessive one." So there. He wasn't weird, everyone else was the problem. He didn't think about Potter too much or talk about him a lot. Did he? Tonight, he'd subtly ask Blaise later. He could owl him.
"You're the one who's into Potter." Ha! Argument won. Draco looked around, pulling a face at all the muggle clutter. "What are we looking for exactly?"
"I never said anything about kissing or being gay, Draco. That must have come from you." Barty smiled a little smile and then he opened the chest of drawers he'd been eyeing. He looked inside and then gestured for Draco to come closer. "Take this box out. You can carry it for me."
He could see whether it was trapped or cursed, then decide what to do with it next.
"... You led me on. With all your -- your ways. Messing with my head." So there. He glared at Barty and bit hard into his lip to avoid saying or doing anything too stupid. Stalking over to the box, he looked inside and frowned, wondering if this is what they came for.
Well, the sooner he got it, the better. Draco leaned forward, grabbed the box from the drawer and looked it over. "Right. Well. Got your stupid thing. Can we go?"
He idly fiddled near the lid, not quite opening it yet.
"Open it. Don't touch what's inside. I just want to make sure." The locket had to be in there, he was positive, but he hesitated to be too certain of anything before he could see it with his own eyes. Before he could test it, really, but that would have to wait until they were back at the mansion. With Regulus' help, he imagined. It seemed symbolic that way. "You are going back to Hogwarts soon, aren't you?"
"Yeah, the break is nearly over, gotta get back there." And away from his home full of death eaters. Really not the biggest loss. Draco opened it and frowned at the empty box before rattling it around a little. The box had nothing in it but he could hear something move. He just couldn't see it. "I don't see anything."
And, against Barty's orders, he reached in to touch around and see if anything was inside.
"Don't!" What an idiot! Barty hit the box out of Draco's hand and did his best to listen to the sound of the locket falling, so he would find it again easily. "Bloody hell, you idiot."
He muttered it, looking down at the ground, and then using a spell to let it rain a little near the ground, so he could isolate just where it was, seeing where the floor stayed dry. The outline was clearly visible, but now he had to figure out how to transport it, when touching it seemed so foolish.
"I'll have at least another mission for you, Draco, while you are at Hogwarts. Difficult to get access by myself."
"I'm not an idiot." Draco sneered as he backed away from Barty and made himself some distance from the wet floor. These shoes were nice. Italian leather. He was not ruining them with some filthy rain water out of a wand. Looking less than impressed, he watched the water rain down and considered if he really wanted to do more missions.
"Did the Dark Lord command me to do it?" Cause if he didn't, he might try to find a way out of it. "I only listen to him or my father." It wasn't true but whatever it took to avoid more tedious quests to prove himself.
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Both father and mother gave him some strict warnings to just try and avoid him.
Well, lot of good that did. Now he had a secret mission from the Dark Lord to complete with the psychopath. He was supposed to meet him outside at 11pm of all times, way past his not-official but actually official bedtime. Sulking and stalling as long as he could in his room, he finished preparing to go out, slipped on his shoes and made his way out. Two minutes late. He didn't fancy being on time, he was feeling particularly rebellious but not confident enough to push it to five minutes.
He wasn't completely crazy, after all.
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Waiting for the idiot boy. He looked up when he finally made his way to him, less that impressed. "Can you read time, Malfoy?"
Evidently not.
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"What are doing then? It's getting on a bit so let's be quick."
He wanted to lazy in bed, not be terrified to his core.
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And side-along seemed like the way to go here, he didn't trust Draco's talent much any other way. There was one single reason why he had picked Draco for this. The boy was quite good at - he presumed completely unknowingly - shielding his mind. All he needed was for his lord to not accidentally come across what he was doing. Should be simple enough with Draco.
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That was supposed to be a slam but he realised, on hindsight, it just made it look a bit like he was weird and smelling blokes so he didn't quite know how to recover from that and make it less stupid but here he was. Telling Barty Crouch Jr he smelled nice.
Damn it.
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"Have you ever heard of occlumency, Malfoy?"
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He didn't really do complicated. "Why? We gonna mess with someone's head or something?" Draco actually looked kind of amused at the concept, clearly not grasping what he was getting himself into.
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He took a step closer, facing Draco. "I want you to try and keep me out of your mind, right now. Or I will drag up something you don't want me to know."
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"I'll just not think, I suppose?" And then he tried to. Surprisingly, not that hard. It was usually easier but he kept thinking of funny things he could have said to Barty if he was less afraid of him. Heh. Farty. Heh.
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Of course, the boy was unlikely to understand that, but whatever. He could try to make him understand, against all hope. And even if he didn't understand, he could still teach him. And so he raised his eyebrow, amused at what he found. "You spend a lot of thoughts on Harry Potter, don't you?"
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Denial ran deep and a boy like Draco? He was good at hiding parts of himself. Denying Potter was easy. He just slipped it away from his mind.
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And yes, he planned on breaking in. That was why he had waited so late.
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He wasn't a Ravenclaw, he didn't enjoy thinking about stuff and solving puzzles.
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That said he muttered another spell and the red light died down. "Go inside, Malfoy. Quietly."
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Heading inside, he looked about and then spoke loud and with little subtly. "Why are we in a muggle store?"
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"I'm looking for something. An artefact. Perhaps it's in the backroom." Barty made his way there, opening the door. "Potter thinks about you too, for the record. I remember. He has a much higher opinion of you than I do."
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They were not on the same level but the hate was there. "You know nothing about me and Potter, Crouch."
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He shook his head, smiling weakly. "The only difference is that most are at least slightly more self-aware than you. At least I was."
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"You're the one who's into Potter." Ha! Argument won. Draco looked around, pulling a face at all the muggle clutter. "What are we looking for exactly?"
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He could see whether it was trapped or cursed, then decide what to do with it next.
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Well, the sooner he got it, the better. Draco leaned forward, grabbed the box from the drawer and looked it over. "Right. Well. Got your stupid thing. Can we go?"
He idly fiddled near the lid, not quite opening it yet.
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And, against Barty's orders, he reached in to touch around and see if anything was inside.
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He muttered it, looking down at the ground, and then using a spell to let it rain a little near the ground, so he could isolate just where it was, seeing where the floor stayed dry. The outline was clearly visible, but now he had to figure out how to transport it, when touching it seemed so foolish.
"I'll have at least another mission for you, Draco, while you are at Hogwarts. Difficult to get access by myself."
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"Did the Dark Lord command me to do it?" Cause if he didn't, he might try to find a way out of it. "I only listen to him or my father." It wasn't true but whatever it took to avoid more tedious quests to prove himself.
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