The Life He Deserved

Chapter 22

Now that Severus and Lucius were caught up on their plans, it was time for the anticlimactic breakout of Azkaban. They only needed to break out 3, the Lestrange twins and Barty. Who else better to replace them than the 3 Dursleys? Technically, they didn't do anything to him this time around, but they would've without a second thought. Being swift, Harry shadowed into their oh so perfect home. The sight of the old-fashioned house made him shudder; it was just as horrendous as he remembered it. Walking down the hallway with a distasteful number of Dudder photos, he decided to take his cousin as the first victim. Opening one of his two glorious bedrooms, he stayed lurking in the shadows before whispering two parsel spells; one for temporary deep sleep and the other a permanent Polyjuice-like spell. It would change their voice and appearance and it'd stay in effect until he himself cancelled it, which would be never. He levitated the pig of a cousin Dudley over as he repeated on his giraffe and whale aunt and uncle. Once they were all induced in deep sleep, he shadowed them directly into his first cell.

Bartimaeus Crouch Jr. was counting the number of stone tiles outside and bars on each cell; he had been using such a pastime for the last few years. Crouching in the corner with his back leaning against the cold wall, he sighed as his brain relived his worst nightmare over and over. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with everything feeling dreary as ever. That is until a young boy appeared in front of him out of nowhere. He straightened, blinked and blinked again for confirmation. The boy was still there. Was he hallucinating? Had he finally lost his mind? Before he could say anything, the young wizard gave him a stern quiet signal to which he complied. That was when he noticed 3 asleep? Dead? bodies. He must be dreaming; this was too bizarre to be real. The strange figure approached him slowly then plucked out a piece of hair. He yelped with his hand against the sore spot but was hushed when the boy frantically shook his head. He then took the hair and wandlessly casted a spell with some hissing; merlin that was parseltongue, how the hell? Then the fat body suddenly became him. What in the actual...? Before he could start questioning further, the boy grabbed his arm and he ended up on the floor of another cell; it didn't feel at all like apparating... Looking up, Barty held in a gasp; it was Rodolphus. The twin was laying down on the terribly firm mattress fast asleep. He looked as bad as he did, skinny, frail, and exhausted. Without waking him, the strange raven-haired boy grabbed plucked a hair and repeated, then grabbed the sleeping twin. With that, again they disappeared.

Rodolphus was in restless sleep when he felt a strange phantom pinch in his hair. His face scrunched but he ignored it, that is until he felt himself crash into the cold floor with a quiet thud. He hissed in pain but didn't make a ruckus to Harry's relief. Rodolphus agitatedly glared around when his eyes widened at the sight of Barty Crouch and his brother staring at each other intently along with an unfamiliar young wizard. What the fuck? The boy pulled a hair out of his stunned brother's head (so that was the pain from before he assumed) and did some strange hissed spell... Was that parseltongue? The unconscious person he assumed were kidnapped somehow turned into his brother, who was frozen at the sight, gaping at his new doppelganger. Then the boy grabbed all three of them and they vanished, leaving the unconscious form behind. Before they could say or question anything, they were met with bright green eyes and suddenly everything went black.

To say the three were confused were an understatement. They were wasting away in their cell like always when suddenly a strange boy came in, replaced someone else with them with a strange spell, and saved them. They all assumed it was a dream. But they woke up from a strange sleep to find themselves in soft and cozy beds with silk blankets. There was no way it was a dream after all. Gazing past their open blue curtain, they noticed it was a hospital wing. Unable to help it they closed their eyes in relaxation, feeling a strange warmth on their skin, hearing only the slight sound of breeze blowing the curtains and each other's breathing. Their meditative state was interrupted by quiet footsteps and the sight of a small wizard from before. Getting a better look at him, they saw the same bright emerald eyes with straight black hair, and a... scar? They sucked a sudden breath; this was Harry Potter. The now recognized boy tucked a strand of hair behind is ear with a smile.