Long Away

I - Close to you

Titania was lying in bed lazily, observing Barty smoking by the window only in his boxers. It was the first time he left her alone there just after they had sex, the sheets covering her naked body, all her clothes scattered on the floor. It was an atypical situation coming for him, who was a zealous lover, caring and gentle, always cuddling her after sex, giving his full attention to her. Titania had a bad feeling, something was off about it.

The straw-blonde man puffed at his cigarette, the moonlight painting his freckled skin in a pale blue light. He was just a year younger than her, yet looked so much younger, maybe like a teenager who was still studying for his N.E.W.T.s. His back was turned to her, but she could see his reflex by the window glass. Barty observed the streets with a contemplative expression, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. It was unusual from him to be so introspective at her presence.

Titania Snape and Bartemius Crouch Junior started seeing each other only after she received from Lily the confirmation about Regulus' death, followed by his father Orion Black a week later or so. She got the news about it after few months already passed, the conditions of his death were a mystery and she had no idea how Sirius found out about it. Titania was desperate to know how it happened and she knew Regulus was close to Barty, who was his classmate at Hogwarts and joined Voldemort's ranks with him at the war.

Barty didn't know the details either, the only thing he told Titania was the fact Regulus was considered a traitor and his death was used to send a message for anyone else who dared to betray the Dark Lord. Of course Barty had to act like he didn't care about the death of his friend in front of anyone else, but Titania could see his suffering. They consoled each other and grew closer after that, starting an affair not much later.

At the beginning it was just a tentative from Titania to numb all the grief she felt. After a while, though, the witch started using Barty to gather any useful information that could help the Order of the Phoenix. Titania tried to enter the secret society, however Dumbledore denied it, the old wizard never trusted her. It wasn't enough to stop Titania from helping her best friend Lily, brewing potions to help the Order at the war and fed them with any intel she could get from her Death Eater lover.

Titania was pretty sure she had Barty at the tip of her fingers, aware he had a crush on her since Hogwarts. As much as Snape felt bad for manipulating him, she had no regrets of doing so considering Lily was the person who mattered most for her. Thanks to her affair with Barty she was able to help anticipating some of Voldemort's movements and just recently she discovered there was a spy infiltrated in the Order. Barty didn't seem to know who was, but maybe it was just a matter of time for him to discover.

Titania sat down on the bed, covering her chest with the sheets. Barty remained still as a statue, deeply lost in thought. "Is something wrong, Barty?"

The young Death Eater didn't turn to look at her direction. He took a long drag, releasing the smoke slowly. "We must stop seeing each other." His voice was void of emotion. "The Dark Lord is furious about information being leaked for the Order. If he discovers it was my fault, he will kill me and go after you." Barty turned his body in her direction, studying her reaction with cold eyes while taking another drag.

Titania stared back at him as if oblivious about what he was implying, burying her feelings behind her Occlumency shields. Barty let out a brief snort, putting out his cigarette in the ash tray near him. "Don't worry, I won't snitch on you." Barty flashed a sad smirk when a genuine expression of surprise came from Titania."I don't want you to be hurt."

"Barty, I—"

"You don't need to explain yourself, Titania. I knew all along, I'm not stupid!" Barty crossed his arms. "I enjoyed the moments we spent together, no hard feelings," His gaze shifted to the ground. "Even if you loved me back, we would have to take separate ways... I'm not strong enough to protect you, I'm sorry." The gentleness of his words made Titania feel slapped on the face. He turned his back to her again, facing the window. Only now the witch noticed Barty's wand was on the bedside table beside hers. He wasn't afraid of her hexing him, or he just didn't care.