Barty Crouch, Jr. is not Oedipus Rex. (culling) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-07-28 12:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! . placeholder, ! [1979-07] july, antonin dolohov, barty crouch jr |
Who: Barty Crouch Jr., Antonin Dolohov, and a small, furry visitor.
What: Antonin and Barty have a session; Antonin has a surprise for Barty. A fuzzy surprise.
When: Evening, Monday 28th July, 1979.
Where: The Old Parsonage, Whiteparish.
Rating: Totally G-Rated cuteness.
Status: IN PROGRESS.
As initially hesitant as he was about seeing Mr Dolohov more often, Barty could not deny that, as their second meeting wound down, he was becoming more acquiescent, even coming to enjoy this time that they spent together. ...Perhaps "enjoy" was too strong a verb for what Barty felt, but he rather found himself not entirely minding this second session, finding things to say easier, and otherwise appreciating the increasing lack of awkwardness that he felt with Mr Dolohov. Mr Dolohov was not judging him -- at least, Barty did not think that Mr Dolohov was judging him more than was absolutely, unavoidably necessary -- and, better yet, whatever Barty said to him was confidential, so it would not find its way back to Madame Lestrange unless, Barty presumed, there something was so utterly important that there was absolutely no way to avoid her learning of it. Barty could not have endured if Madame Lestrange were upset with him; he only ever wanted his mentor to be pleased with him and with his efforts for the Cause and given Regulus's recent disappointment, he hardly doubted that any wrath anyone attracted from Madame Lestrange would be worse than it would have been under normal circumstances.
Regulus had come up fairly often in today's session and how could he not be at least mentioned? After all, he was Barty's best friend and had been since their first year, so it was rather difficult to avoid having him involved in the story of whatever went on in Barty's life -- but, more importantly, there had been several very good reasons to be concerned, right now. Naturally, there was concern for Regulus following his father's death, but more importantly, there was concern for the downward spiral that Regulus's luck seemed to be taking of late. Of course it was concerning: increasingly, it seemed as though Regulus did not understand that they were in a war, that failure was not an option, and that actions had consequences -- even after Selwyn had gotten himself killed, Arcturus Black had gone to prison, Mister Lestrange and Lucius had had several close calls with law enforcement (and even Marius had found himself arrested at least once), Regulus had had an arrest of his own, Evan and Georgina had died, Aquila and his father had been forced into exile in France, and Regulus's own father and uncle had been murdered, this seemed lost on him. Barty would have been an awful friend had he not been worried about the possibility that, sometime soon, they were going to go on a mission together and only one of them would come back, or that he was going to hear from someone that Regulus had gotten himself killed, or put in Azkaban, or worse -- and these all seemed fairly likely, with the way that Regulus was going. Even if Barty had succeeded in being firm with him, which he was not certain that he had, he was not at all sure that Regulus had fully understood.
It was not as though Barty really needed to be worried about Regulus on top of everything else he had to be worried about, but it was unavoidable. Just as it was unavoidable for him to be anxious about the outcome of certain other things -- applying to the Healer training program, for instance. Barty hardly thought that it would be difficult to get into the program, and really his doubts were just because he'd let that wretched Damocles Belby continue talking to him about how, with "the kind of mind that gets nine bastarding O's" (how on earth anyone felt content to misuse the English language the way Belby and his kind did was beyond Barty) he could be amazing and how Healing was a waste. But Belby was an idiot, and he should have just been ignored, and Barty logically knew that the only proper thing to do with him was ignore him, but that was proving to be more difficult than he'd wagered, even though he knew that he could. Besides, it was not as though earning nine Outstandings was really that noteworthy; Barty had expected all along that he would earn such marks, and anything less would really have been worth the notice, as it would have been an appalling failure and, thus, unacceptable. Positively, though, killing Riley Quinn's family had been a most rewarding experience, even if Barty had needed to destroy someone as similar to him as Aidan Quinn had wound up being. In another reality, they likely could have been friends, but at least something good would come of this venture, provided that Riley Quinn learned to shut her mouth for once in her life.
As the session wound down, Antonin got to his feet, stretching, and went over to his desk. They normally talked in his office, in the armchairs by the window instead of with Antonin behind the desk like some lecturing schoolteacher, but there was something under the desk that he wanted to give Barty.
"I have something for you."
Leaning down to pick up the cardboard box, he reached in and took out a tiny, sleepy Siamese kitten, eight weeks old, fluffy and blue-eyed. Holding it gently against his chest, letting his heartbeat soothe it, he turned to Barty.
"My sister's cat had kittens. She asked if I would take one, but I fear he would not get on with Anzhelina's rat at all. And I think it might do you some good to have something to take care of."
Attentiveness was normally one of Barty's better qualities and it was no exception with Mr Dolohov: not paying heed to one's superiors in the Death Eater hierarchy was unacceptable. Besides, Mr Dolohov was trying to help him and spurning that was equally unacceptable. His eyes followed Mr Dolohov perfectly as he moved to the desk, and then they remained quite fixated on the box until the contents were brought out. He had no idea what Mr Dolohov could have for him, and he sorely hoped that it was nothing questionable. Although he did not have the money for it, he had seen a book on pharmaceutical potions for mental health, and he did not want...
...A kitten? Barty did nothing to hide his surprise at seeing an animal at all, let alone the sort of pet he had always wanted but never been allowed to have. For a moment, all he could really do was stare, but he finally managed a mildly stammered, "Th-thank you, sir." ...Oh, Merlin, it did look like a gorgeous kitten. And it was really his? Barty had no idea what to say beyond thank you.
"I think having some animal company will help," Antonin said, holding the kitten out to Barty. It really was tiny, barely a handful. "They can be remarkably soothing creatures, cats. We had several when I was younger; after my sister's death, sometimes it helped to have one around. You do not have to explain yourself to a cat, or be anything for it; all it asks is that you feed it and give it affection. I think you will like being owned by one," he added, smiling a little.
Seeing Mr Dolohov hold out the cat, Barty wordlessly accepted the little thing, being perfectly sure to be as gentle as he possibly could with it. Merlin, it was so small and it looked do delicate -- Barty emulated how Mr Dolohov had held the kitten, holding it to his chest and trying not to worry about what would happen if he dropped it. He could only imagine that it would have been quite dangerous to do so and, in general, he very much did not want to hurt the kitten. "He's lovely, sir," Barty said gratefully, giving Mr Dolohov a broad smile. "Thank you, again."
"You will want to look into getting him neutered when he is a little older," Antonin told him. "Tomcats can be rather troublesome if there is a female cat in heat nearby, and I very much doubt you will want to add to the feral cat population if he gets out. Other than that, he should be easy enough to care for. They are very self-sufficient animals."
Barty nodded, making mental notes to look into all of the advice that Mr Dolohov gave him. After all, he hardly wanted to do something wrong and make things difficult for his new kitten, not after he had always wanted one. The kitten was going to depend on him now, even with how self-sufficient he was meant to be, and Barty hoped to never fail someone who depended on him. "I will, sir," Barty affirmed. He gladly would have proceeded right back to playing with the little thing, but another concern quickly entered his mind: "Sir? What do kittens eat?"
"Either cat food, which is easily found at any decent pet store, or fresh meat," Antonin told him. "My mother fed our cats on meat, but a good quality kitten food will suffice just as well. And he will probably want milk every so often as well."
Barty nodded again, but looked away from Mr Dolohov soon enough to focus on the tiny, furry little friend he now had. Whatever was going through the kitten's head, Barty felt as though it was taking rather well to him, which he appreciated more than there were proper words to say. Unconditional love had never been a right in his father's house and Barty was not accustomed to receiving it from people; really, he rather expected that most people disliked him, stood to gain something from pretending to be his friend, or tolerated him for Regulus's sake -- but this kitten did not seem to mind.
..."This kitten" -- the phrase did not sit well with Barty. He would have to give his new companion a name if he were to properly honour what the kitten meant to him. Looking the kitten over, Barty noted that one of his back paws was somewhat discoloured, with darker fur than the rest of his body. ...Perhaps 'Achilles' would be an appropriate name, given this discolouration. Thinking on the name, Barty gently ran two fingers between the kitten's ears and was rewarded when the kitten licked the back of his hand. ...Barty smiled; it seemed as though it was to be Achilles, then.