Corruzione (A Barty Crouch Jr Fanfiction)

TEN - A love once gained

Darcy's eyes were blinded by tears now that she had exited the cafe. She didn't know why it hurt her so much, she had known he had been using her all along, but she supposed the sting of knowing you were worthless never really stopped hurting. She ascended the tube steps into the dark night, all she wanted now was to go home—to the Tonks'— and sleep in her own bed.

There was a shout behind her but Darcy did not turn, not until she heard someone running at her, she turned in time for Barty to collide with her almost knocking her over if not for the fact that he grabbed her waist. "Come back to me." He murmured, their faces were so close that when Darcy searched his eyes she could only look from one to the other.

"What?" She asked, shakily, fearing the answer.

"Your letter, you dropped it in the cafe," he replied breathlessly. "I read it. Darcy, I love you," he said a wicked smirk on his lips, she had confessed her own love in the letter. She drew him closer, almost tried to jump inside his skin, she buried her face in his neck and no closeness would ever be enough. But for now, she could hear his breathing in her ears, feel his heartbeat against her own chest and that is what she would have to content herself with. The hug meant more than any of their kisses in the Hogwarts library and any other moments of tenderness they had ever had. Darcy was crying a fresh but the tears tasted sweet. Eventually, Barty drew back, only slightly, they still embraced, he struggled to free his hands in order to cup her face and brush away her tears. "I never used you." He said. She believed him. "I could never use you." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"So," she started, pulling back from his embrace fully and linking her arm through his. "What is it the dark lord wants." She asked. They walked, step in step down the road, no one else was about, only the street lamps provided light for them. Barty surveyed her for a moment before answering.

"Are you sure you want to know?" He asked, "To help the Dark Lord would be to betray your side," he paused, "only if you're sure." Darcy squeezed his hand tightly.

"I am sure." And with those three words she had sealed her fate perhaps forever. She knew what she was getting herself into, she was under no illusions, not blinded by love. She had already brought back the Dark Lord with her own flesh.

"Right then, he wants to get into the Ministry, to access something—something powerful, only we don't know what."

"Something he can use against the Ministry?"

"Yes—something in the Department of Mysteries," Barty said with a pointed look sideways at Darcy. She did not say anything and when she opened her mouth Barty spoke first. "I know you have an apprenticeship with the unspeakables."

"How?" She asked, shocked. "Does he know?"

"Not yet, but he'll find out soon enough." He stopped walking to face Darcy. The rain had begun to fall, the soft mist landing in Barty's fringe and making Darcy's hair darker. Like the rain sensed the grave conversation they were having. "Darcy, I don't want to ask you but—"

"I'll tell the Dark Lord, it will sound better coming from me." She was determined, she had made up her mind now. This was her life.

"Darcy, once you meet him, once you're in his inner fold. There is no going back. He will use you, you'll have to be entirely on our side." Barty implored her, holding her elbows to make her face him. "You have to be sure."

"Barty, I thought I told you, I am sure." She smiled, leaning in for a kiss which he obliged.

Barty and Darcy parted at the end of the street, Darcy watched his hulking, black-clad figure turn on the spot and vanish into thin air before turning herself back towards an entrance to Diagon Alley. Darcy didn't turn seventeen for another week and a half so she couldn't apparate. But Darcy's mood was pure elation, Barty had found out about the letter, but that didn't matter because he reciprocated her love, they had fought. But that too was in the past, the only thing Darcy had to worry about, a tiny thing really, hardly worth the worry. I've betrayed my family, the Tonks', the place I work, my classmates, and just about everything good in the wizarding world. But it didn't matter that she was running around with a convicted deatheater, not now that he had said those three words to her.