Barty Crouch Jr. X Reader - Saving Me

        You had saved a Death Eater from getting the Dementor's Kiss.

        Yes, he'd done bad things while working under the Dark Lord, and you knew it. In an instant, your thoughts turned to the Longbottoms. 

        You knew this, but you also knew that he was mad. You knew that that couldn't excuse everything; couldn't erase all those things that he did, but you thought it was worth something. And apparently, through a weird twist of fate (or perhaps, dumb luck), it was enough to convince Fudge. 

        You looked at him, Bartemius Crouch Jr., now sitting across the table from you, furtively glancing at his surroundings. This was your house; your semi-dimly lit living room. Did he know this?

        Suddenly, his rough voice spoke up. 

        "Why bring me here? I've..." he flicked his tongue across his upper teeth rapidly for a moment before pausing. He looked so serious now, almost annoyed. "You know I've killed someone." He glared at you. "What... What makes you think I won't do it again, eh?" What was that? A questioning smirk? You shrug it off.

        "Because I know you, Barty..." He made a grunting noise, almost a laugh, when he heard you say this.

        "You used to..." This was actually the truth. After that day at Hogwarts, you two became close friends. 

        He clenched his teeth, stopped, and looked at you. 

        "Still... Why bother saving me? Why?" 

        "Well," you said, giving him a small smile, "I remember..."

        He sat and listened to you reminisce about your days together at Hogwarts what seemed like forever ago. How you both were in the same year; how he flipped out when people called you a Mudblood; how you two studied together; how you visited each other sometimes during the summers. 

        "I saved you because... In a way, you saved me. Every time I heard that awful word... 'Mudblood'... I was crushed... And you..." you looked up at Barty, who returned the look and bit his lower lip. "You saved me. You made them stop."

        "... I could've done that for anyone..." he replied quietly.
        "But you didn't... For anyone else, you just stood there and stared." 

        Barty huffed and turned his head away from you, tensing his jaw.

        "And you're my best friend." You managed to say somehow, so low that for a moment, you wondered whether or not he heard you.
        He inhaled sharply and turned around.
        "Unbelievable..." he muttered. "Even after all this time; even after all of this... You would still call me your friend?" 

        "Yes, of course." You nodded solemnly. 

        "... I don't deserve that." 

        "Barty..."

        "But the Longbottoms, I... I tortured some kid's parents!"

        "And he grew up well, all the same."

        "What do you mean?"

        "I'm friends with Augusta and Neville. ...Actually have been for a while. I watched Neville grow up, pretty much. He's a good kid." 

        "Hmph. The woman... She hates me, I know she does. She'll hate you forever once she finds out that you saved me."

        "I would have hated myself forever if I hadn't." Barty looked at the floor after you said this.

        "And... err... Neville? What about him? How would he feel about this?" 

        "He said he doesn't hold a grudge against you... He said he knows you could be a better man."

        "... He said that?" he looked completely shocked at the revelation.

        "Yes. ...And I agree with him."

        "... Damn. That kid's heart's too caring. I don't deserve this..."

        "... I think you do." The two of you sat in silence for a while.

        "... I would have told you that night..." he says after what seems like an eternity.   

        "What?" You asked him, unsure of what he meant.

        "... would have told you... if I wasn't so stupid!..." With that, he had smacked the table next to him, whacking a glass off of it. It crashed to the floor, suddenly, he looked almost pained instead of frustrated. "... I'm sorry..."

        "It's alright," you gently reassured him. "Barty... What would you have told me? ... What night?" He glanced at you, still pained, but some of the frustration back. 

        "The last day we were at Hogwarts... I would have said that I love you, ______!" He raised his voice while he said this, and he still sounded sincere. 

        "... What?"

        His eyes widened, as if suddenly realizing something.

        "... Damn it..." He growled. "I shouldn't have told you now, it just made it worse." 

        "Barty, I... I love you too..." You said, still in shock over what he just said.

        "What? You... you couldn't possibly love someone like me..."

        "But it's true... Look here," you said, taking off a small, oval-shaped locket and handing it to him. The silver was slightly tarnished. He took it in his hand and looked at you with a quizzical look.

        "Well, open it." You walked over to him and stood next to the chair he was sitting in.

        His hands fiddled with the locket for a second, and then it flipped open. 

        Inside the locket was a picture of Barty Crouch Jr. himself.

        He gasped and almost dropped it. He looked up at you, awestruck.

        "...I told you I love you." You say to him.

        He got that psychotic look on his face again and pulled you onto the chair on top of him. He wrapped you in a tight hug, which you returned. 

           

        You stayed like that for quite some time. 

        This was the beginning of something new.