Chapter Text
August 15, 2024
If, six months ago, you told James Potter that in August he would not be planning his wedding with Lily Evans and instead lying naked in Barty Crouch Jr’s (of all people) bed, he would have laughed in your face.
But here he was, naked, on Barty’s bed, at 2 in the afternoon on a random Thursday. He wasn’t completely sure how he got there, but he also wasn’t sure if he was mad about it.
If you want a story full of love, romance, and sex, this may not be the story for you. As you’ve probably interpreted, there will certainly be sex, but ‘love’ is not the word most people would use to describe ‘the Crouch incident’, as this would soon come to be called by James’s friends. This story starts with heartache and ends with heartache. Please, prepare yourselves.
To understand how we got to this point, we have to go back in time a little. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
February 14, 2024, was a Wednesday. It also happened to be Valentine’s Day, James and Lily’s seventh anniversary, and the day James was planning to propose.
Everything was going exactly the way James planned. James picked Lily up from the flat she shared with Mary, and she looked as beautiful as ever. She was wearing a green dress, not dissimilar to the one she wore on their first date seven years before, when James was 17 and naïve. Her curly red hair cascaded down her back, and her emerald green eyes sparkled in the evening sun.
Everything was going just hunky dory at the restaurant. They ate, they laughed, they reminisced about their anniversaries in years past. James was so happy and so so ready to propose to who he thought was the love of his life, until…
“I think we should break up.”
James felt his stomach drop into hell, and he instinctively reached for the ring still in his pocket. “What?” he asked quietly, unable to make sense of the wave of emotions that crashed over him as soon as she uttered those words. Guilt, anger, confusion, sadness, and relief?
“I’m sorry, love. I know this is the worst possible time to do this, but I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this.”
Lily proceeded to tell him that in the last few weeks, Lily realized that she liked girls and, in particular, Mary Macdonald. Her fucking roommate. Apparently, things between them have been tense, sexually, but Lily didn’t want to cheat. She gave him the whole ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ spiel, and James was able to sympathize, given that he had said that same speech to many ex-girlfriends.
James still paid for dinner like the gentleman that he was, and just as he was about to leave, he pulled the ring box out of his pocket.
“What is…” Lily trailed off and gently took the box, opening it. James saw the tears well in her eyes, and she looked back up at James with something like pity on her face. “Oh, Jamie. I’m so sorry. If I knew you were going to…” She stopped and looked down sadly at the ring.
James pushed his chair under the table. “Keep it.”
Lily shook her head, blinking tears from her eyes and outstretching her arm holding the box to James. “I can’t.”
James turned away before he started crying in the middle of a restaurant like the pussy he was. “It’s fake anyway,” he muttered.
And that was just the very beginning. There’s still a lot of progress James needs to make between getting broken up with and ending up tangled in the sheets of a boy he had talked to maybe twice in his life. If you’re wondering about Lily, she is doing very well. Her relationship with Mary is so far a success, and don’t worry, she’ll be back.
But let’s move from Chelsea to Soho for a minute and focus on our other half of the story. Barty was single as ever on this particular Valentine’s day, tucked into the corner of a bart with Evan and Regulus.
Barty downed his fifth shot of the strongest vodka he could get the bartender to pour him. “Tonight,” he slurred. “I’m gonna get a boyfriend.”
“Why the hell do you think we’re out right now?” Evan asked, taking a swig out of his beer.
“We all want boyfriends.” Regulus took a sip out of his virgin mojito, despite it being February. “But you should probably sober up before flirting with anyone.”
“I’m not that drunk, Reggie,” he whined, attempting to lean towards Regulus and almost toppling out of his chair.
Barty looked up to meet Regulus’s eyes, and he just raised an eyebrow and stirred the mint into his drink slowly.
“Fine, Jesus,” Barty muttered. “I’m hungry.”
Evan groaned and banged his head against the table.
“Getting him food probably isn’t a bad idea,” Regulus replied, glancing over at Barty, who was giggling uncontrollably over something funny Evan had said fifteen minutes before.
Evan chugged the end of his beer and glanced over at Barty. “I s'pose it’s not. What do you want to eat, B?”
Barty thought about it for a minute, and he realized he really missed his Italian mom’s cooking. “Italian,” Barty declared, picking up the empty shot glass in front of him.
Evan smiled and patted Barty on the head, who just pouted in response. “I guess we’re getting Italian.”
Evan and Regulus were able to get Barty out of the bar without falling over, and they walked to an Italian restaurant on Ganton Street with Barty’s arms flung around Evan’s neck. After a few steps, Barty stopped to throw up into an alley.
“My stomach hurts,” he moaned as he leaned back onto Evan.
Evan sighed, brushing some hair out of Barty’s eyes. “We’re getting you food so it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Barty grinned and overdramatically kissed Evan’s cheek. “I love you, Rosie.”
“You two are disgusting,” Regulus commented dryly, typing something on his phone.
Evan rolled his eyes, and Barty leaned over his shoulder to try and look at Regulus’s phone. “Who are you texting? Do you have a new man?”
“Remus.”
“What the hell does he want?” Evan asked, unsuccessfully trying to shove Barty off of him.
“James’s girlfriend just broke up with him right before he was gonna propose and now he’s at Sirius and Remus’s flat and Sirius is comforting him and Remus is complaining because James is messing up their Valentine’s Day plans of ordering takeout and having sex all day,” Regulus explained, not once lifting his eyes from his phone.
Let's stop right there for a minute. We’ll be back to those boys in a little bit; they’re not going anywhere. You may be wondering how these two stories come together, and you will learn in due time. It involves Remus Lupin’s intense sexual frustration, a lot of weed, and an old-fashioned from November, but I can’t spoil too much. For now, let’s go to Sirius and Remus’s flat.
“Moony, fuck,” Sirius whined, grinding his hips down into Remus, whose lips were attached to Sirius’s neck and hand was palming at Sirius’s cock through his jeans.
“I’ve got you, love,” Remus muttered, using his free hand to grab Sirius’s waist and try to pull him closer to him.
The armchair they were cozied up in was definitely a bit too small for two fully grown men, but it was Valentine’s Day, they were both horny, and neither seemed to mind at all. Who am I to judge?
Both of Remus’s hands traveled to the button of Sirius’s jeans when Hollaback Girl blared across the room.
Sirius clambered off of Remus’s lap to pick up his phone from across the room. “Why the hell is that your ringtone?” Remus whined.
Sirius shrugged and stumbled into the kitchen as Gwen Stefani’s voice echoed through the flat. “It’s James.”
Remus groaned and threw his head back. “Don’t answer it. He’s probably fine.”
“If he was fine, he would be getting laid and definitely not calling me,” Sirius called back to Remus, answering the call.
“Sirius?” James’s voice was shaky.
“What’s up?” Sirius replied, walking back over to Remus and plopping back down in his lap.
“Lily, uh…” Sniffle. “She broke up with me.”
“Lily what?”
Sirius heard James take a shaky breath from the other side of the line. “I…” Sniffle. “I was about to propose and then she just… said that we should break up?”
Sirius stood from Remus’s lap; this was definitely a pacing conversation. Remus just grumbled in weak protest and fruitlessly tried to pull Sirius back. “Did she say why?” Sirius asked.
“She’s a lesbian now.” What an absurd sentence, but James uttered it with such melancholy that Sirius couldn’t help but snicker.
“Okay, uh… where are you?” Sirius sighed, running one of his hands through his mussed-up hair.
“Chelsea. I’m surrounded by rich people. It's scary.”
“You’re not too far from us then. Just take the tube over here, you know where our flat is.”
“Thanks so much,” James responded, sounding actually grateful for the first time in his life. “Tell Remus I say hi.”
Sirius brought the phone down to his neck and turned back to Remus, whose head was thrown back, neck littered with bruises, and trousers still unbuttoned. “James says hi.”
Remus didn’t even look back at Sirius and gave him the finger.
“Remus says fuck you for cockblocking him.”
Sirius heard James laugh from the phone. A little teary, even a little forced, but a laugh nonetheless. He was getting somewhere. “Bye, Prongs. Be safe. See you later.”
~~~
Evan was so fucked, and he knew it. Regulus is long gone, off with this guy who offered to buy him a drink.
Evan switched to something a little stronger than beer when Regulus left and he was sitting at the bar and sipping on his third Manhattan.
Evan tried to force his eyes around the dance floor of the club Barty somehow convinced him into coming to. His eyes desperately traveled looking for any hot guy willing to have Evan for the night. It shouldn’t be that hard, he’s in Soho for god’s sake.
Evan’s eyes fly around the club but they keep coming back to focus that fucking sight in the middle of the damn club.
Now, Evan had rather unfortunately been sporting a semi pretty much since Regulus left, but it had been gradually worsening ever since James fucking Potter entered the picture.
James came into the club at exactly 20:56. He was obviously drunk, and Evan suspected he was high too. Courtesy of Regulus, Evan was fully aware James had been broken up with mere hours before; a piece of information that made the fact he was currently shoving his extremely heterosexual tongue down Barty’s throat in the middle of the goddamn club a bit more concerning.
Barty, in a state like this, was never a good idea. Especially to someone like James. Barty took. And he continued to take until he lost interest and spit the person out.
And Evan knew this cycle could be stopped. He knew Barty could be changed; he watched him turn into this and he can help him go back to who he was.
Evan saw parts of Barty no one else ever got close to seeing. Barty went straight to Evan when his dad beat him so bad he nearly passed out from blood loss. He would come to Evan with things as mundane as his favorite band posting something cool on Instagram
Up to when they finished uni, Evan swore he knew everything about Barty. His beautiful and his ugly. He knew how his mind worked, his interests, and his biggest fears.
And then everything just… changed. Barty’s mother died soon after he finished uni. He was crushed. He spent weeks wallowing in his own misery, barely showering, barely sleeping, barely eating.
Evan managed to drag him out of that state, but Barty had been different ever since.
He was colder, he had a worse temper, and he tried to hook up with anyone who looked at him the right way.
Over the last year and a half, Evan deduced Barty needed one thing: love.
Maybe therapy too, but he’s always needed therapy.
Love was the biggest thing Barty came to Evan with.
“My mom’s the only one who actually loves me for me. Isn’t that pathetic.”
Evan wanted to scream at Barty. I’m right here. Love me. Love me please.
Evan never gathered the courage to say it out loud. Barty thought his mom was the only person who loved him, and then she was gone.
He spiraled. He called every hookup back the next day to see if they would be open to actually dating, in pursuit of the love he was missing.
Evan was never able to understand. He had people who loved him. His dad loved him. His dad was the one who made Evan a cheese toastie when he didn’t like what was for dinner, his dad was the one who taught him how to draw all sorts of things. His dad was the one who took the hits when his mom drank too much.
Pandora loved him. Being twins and all, there was never one without the other. They completed each other in some ways, and left gaping holes in others. But Evan always knew Pandora would be by his side ready to defend him against anything.
Barty’s ‘only’ support system was gone, and Evan still wanted to scream at Barty to open his damn eyes.
Evan sighed and stared down at the empty glass heavy in his hands. He spun around on his stool, and the bartender slid over to Evan. “Can I get you anything else?”
“I need a shot.”
The bartender cocked an amused eyebrow. “You need to be a bit more specific.”
“Just give me anything. I can’t be this sober anymore.”
“You got it.” The bartender rushed off, and Evan watched him run around for a minute before he came back and set a glass down in front of Evan.
Evan eyed the clear liquid skeptically. “What is this?”
The bartender, whose name Evan found out was Benjy through very careful deduction (i.e. looking at his name tag) smiled and pushed the glass forward. “The strongest vodka I’m legally allowed to give you. You look like you need it.”
“Thanks.” Evan took a breath before draining the shot, wincing at the way it burned as it slid down his throat.
“Good?” Benjy asked, grabbing the shot glass and putting down a glass of Sprite which Evan chugged immediately.
“Yeah.” Evan slid the glass back across the bar. “How much?”
Benjy smiled warmly and studied Evan’s face for a long, unreasonably tense moment. “It’s on the house.”
Evan nodded in appreciation and turned back to the main area of the club where Barty and James were. James had moved his lips down to Barty’s neck and Evan hoped to god there wouldn’t be marks the next day. One of Barty’s thighs was slotted between James’ legs and he was obscenely moving his hips against it. Evan tried to move his attention literally anywhere else, but his eyes stayed trained on James and Barty. Why not me? What did I do wrong?
Evan’s head was pounding because of the alcohol, strobe lights, unnecessarily loud music, and the intense jealousy flowing through his body in waves.
“Someone on your mind?” Evan whipped back around to see Benjy leaning against the bar top, following Evan’s line of sight.
Benjy had just rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and Evan found his gaze stuck to a tattoo of an olive branch wrapping around his forearm. Evan sighed and glanced down at the new full shot glass in front of him. “Yeah.”
“Which one? Glasses?”
“No.” Evan paused to take the shot, now barely even reacting to the burning. “The other one.”
Benjy nodded and seemed to study Barty and James from over Evan’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”
Evan sighed and sipped from the glass of Sprite Benjy generously placed in front of him. “He’s my best friend. And I… happen to be hopelessly in love with him.”
Benjy winced and met Evans’s eyes again. “Join the club.” Benjy pulled a stool from the back of the bar and sat across from Evan. “If you need a distraction, my shift ends at midnight.”
Evan spared one last glance back at James and Barty before meeting Benjy’s eyes. They were a few shades lighter than black with creases in the corners, despite Benjy being no older than 26. His overgrown dark hair fell down into his eyes, and the shadow of a beard was growing on his jaw. His olive skin glowed blue in the club lights, and Evan suspected he was Mediterranean. Italian, maybe. Like Barty. Or Greek considering the tattoo. He was attractive, objectively. He was tall, muscular, but not too much so. His bone structure was sharp in all the right places, and his eyes were warm and inviting. He was hot. Even Dorcas, who was a raging lesbian would call Benjy fit.
But just hot isn’t what Evan wanted. Evan wanted pale skin littered with tattoos, his own name tucked in the mess of them all. He wanted dark hair with strips of green that curled a bit when it got too long. He wanted faded scars littering arms, some self-inflicted and some by others.
Evan didn’t exactly want Benjy, but he knew he needed it. At least Evan can’t break his heart or anything. Benjy knows it will never be serious; he offered himself as a distraction after all.
Evan raised an eyebrow at Benjy. “I might have to take you up on that offer.”
Benjy smiled again, but this time it was a little darker, with something more behind it. “Alright then. That’s settled.”
“Where’s your flat? My place is in Lambeth which isn’t that far but I don’t really feel like the tube right now if your place is nearby.”
“Oh, so you’re like rich.”
Evan shrugged. “Trust fund baby. My dad owns a business.”
“Ah. We can go to my flat. It’s right near Chinatown and less than 10 minutes to walk from here,” Benjy offered.
“Brilliant.”
“Fenwick!” A voice yelled from across the bar. “Stop flirting with the customers and do your job.”
A tall man with striking red hair slid over where Benjy was sitting, and Evan recognized him as one of the Prewett twins.
Benjy sighed and let his head fall back, exposing a little more ink on his collarbone. “Do I have to?”
“Is he definitely coming home with you tonight?” The twin asked, gesturing to Evan.
Benjy nodded and drummed his slender fingers on the bar top.
“Great. Then your work with him is done and you can do your fucking job.”
“Where’s Gideon?”
“He’s off faffing about with Emmeline.” This one was Fabian then.
Benjy stood and pushed the stool back under the bar. “I only have like 10 minutes left of my shift.”
“Only 10 minutes until you can take Rosier here home,” Fabian argued.
A flash of confusion passed over Benjy’s face. “You know each other?” he asked, looking at Evan.
Evan shrugged. “Not really. He and Gideon were a year above me during secondary school.”
Fabian lightly punched Benjy in his left shoulder. “You made a good choice. He’s the least insane of his trio.”
Evan, who was starting to get a bit tipsy from the shots, laughed and glanced back over at James and Barty who looked like they wanted to rip each other’s clothes off. Evan got the urge to throw up.
Benjy raised an eyebrow and looked back at Evan. “Where’s the rest of this trio now?”
“Regulus left an hour and a half ago with some guy and Barty’s making out with Potter.”
Fabian’s head whipped around to Evan. “James Potter? I thought he was dating Lily Evans.”
Benjy slammed his fist on the bar. “I knew Glasses looked familiar.”
Evan sighed and tapped his fingers on the glass in his hands. “James and Lily broke up recently.”
“That’s surprising,” Fabian commented. “Everyone thought they would last forever.”
Benjy’s eyes flitted up to where James and Barty were, eyebrows furrowed. “How recently did they break up? Last month? A few weeks?”
“Three hours.”
“Bloody hell,” Benjy muttered.
Fabian sighed and grabbed a cup from below the bartop. “As fun as this gossip session has been, we have work to do.”
Benjy groaned and ran his hands through his hair. He turned to Evan and gave him an apologetic look. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Evan watched Benjy run around the bar, greeting people, making drinks, and laughing with Fabian. Soon enough, 10 minutes were over and Benjy slipped back over to Evan. “My shift’s over. I’ve just gotta grab some stuff from the back and then we can head out.”
Evan smiled and stood from his stool, glancing back at James and Barty one last time. He would text Regulus about them later. He drifted to the other end of the bar where Fabian was making a drink. “Hey, Fabian?”
“Yeah?”
“Just… don’t let Barty or James get anything else to drink. They’re both pissed already.”
“Got it.” Fabian turned to hand the glass in his hand to a young woman next to Evan. “Do you need to close out a tab?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Fabian smiled and turned away from Evan. “I’ll ring that up for-“
At that moment, Benjy came out from a door behind the bar with a small bag, his phone and a water bottle. “I already covered it, Fab.”
Fabian laughed. “You must be really desperate for that dick.”
Green lights shone on Benjy’s face, but Evan swore he could see a hint of red on his cheeks.
~~~
[Evan]:
SOS
SOS
reggie help.
[Regulus]:
make it quick
i’m about to get laid
[Evan]:
can you call sirius
i’m in a bit of a pickle
[Regulus]:
why
[Evan]:
a very stoned james fleamont potter decided to show up at the bar we were at
and now he’s making out with barty
and something could happen to them
[Regulus]:
and why couldn’t you do something about that?
[Evan]:
i’m already on the way home with a guy
and i’m too drunk to drive
and i don’t have a car
many reasons actually
[Regulus]:
why sirius
[Evan];
he cares about james
and will do anything FOR james
[Regulus]:
you do realize we have a very strained relationship
and a request like this can make everything fall apart
[Evan]:
shut the fuck up
stop making excuses
[Regulus]:
why can’t you call him
[Evan]:
he doesn’t care enough about me
and i don’t have his number
[Regulus]:
…
…
fine
[Evan]:
i love you reggie
have i ever told you that
more than barty
[Regulus]:
that’s not possible
[Evan]:
you’re probably right
still love you though
<333
[Regulus]:
how drunk are you
[Evan]:
not enough
~~~
[Regulus]:
sirius
sirius orion black
SIRIUS
answer the phone
…
so it turns out testosterone doesn’t really work as birth control
and now i’m pregnant
remus is the father
[Sirius]:
WHAT
???
[Regulus]:
now that i have your attention
i need your help
[Sirius]:
with what
you’re pissing moony off
[Regulus]:
james is in a bit of trouble
he’s like ultra mega drunk
and pretty much alone in a club
[Sirius]:
is he with anyone we know
[Regulus]:
barty
[Sirius]:
crouch?
really??
he’s not even a good lay
[Regulus]:
gross
[Sirius]:
fine
ACTUALLY
where were you during all of this?
[Regulus]:
richmond
[Sirius]:
what the hell are you doing in richmond?
actually nevermind
i dont wanna know
where is this bar?
[Regulus]:
…
soho
[Sirius]:
jesus christ
are you trying to kill me?
i’ll still get them though
[Regulus]:
i love you so much
you’re actually the best brother ever
[Sirius]:
suck up
[Regulus]:
i know you are but what am i
[Sirius]:
haha
you think you’re funny
you’re a despicable human being
[Regulus]:
<3
“Can you finally tell me the whole situation about Barty?” Benjy asked, rolling over in bed.
Evan sighed and sat up, staring at his lap as the sheets pooled over his hips. “It’s complicated. It’s very, very complicated.”
Benjy shrugged. “I don’t mind complicated. I have complicated stories of my own.”
“You’ll have to tell me these sometime.”
“I guess I do now, huh?” Benjy responded softly, sitting up next to Evan.
“If I’m telling you my shit, I think you should have to do the same.”
“That’s reasonable. Now get on with it.”
“Me, Barty, and Regulus have been best friends practically since nappies. Our families are all powerful, so we all grew up together. We were inseparable in kindergarten, and nothing changed throughout primary. It was me, Barty, and Regulus. Except in year five when Reg was sent to an all-girls school for a year to ‘try and rid him of his masculine thoughts’ and other similar bullshit, but that’s a different story.
“Once we started secondary and we stopped thinking girls were icky, our circle grew bigger.”
“Wait,” Benjy interrupted. “If you thought all girls were icky, what about Regulus?”
“We never really thought of him as a girl, me and Barty. He never really acted like a girl, and we always just thought of him as another guy.”
Benjy nodded and turned away from Evan, gaze fixed on the wall.
“Anyways,” Evan continued, “Our friend group grew. My sister, Pandora, and Dorcas, one of Reg’s friends from his all-girls school that came to our secondary. The girls were nice, but it would still always just be me, Reg and Barty; best friends since before we could remember.
“But as always, there was a duo in a trio. Instead of me, Barty, and Reg, it started becoming me and Barty… and Reg through secondary. Reg didn’t mind. He was closer to the girls than we were.
“Somewhere in the middle of year 11, I started to look at Barty a little too long. I wanted to learn all I could about him. I felt the desire to beat the shit out of anyone who looked at him the wrong way. Regulus helped me realize it was love, which was not the greatest way to find out I liked dudes but I can’t change the past.”
Benjy huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I can’t imagine someone telling you you’re in love with your best friend is the greatest way to realize you’re gay.”
Evan smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yeah. Sucks, doesn’t it?”
Benjy shifted and grabbed a pillow from the ground to place behind him. “So has it just been like that since then? Have you just been suffering like this for 8 years?”
“Yeah. I pushed through sixth form. We went to uni and he was my roommate which was not the best-case scenario, but I survived. I had a few boyfriends, no one super important.
“But right after we graduated uni… his mum died. Since then, he’s been meaner, colder. He’s been sleeping around and getting into fights more. I still love him; I don’t think I could ever stop…” Evan paused and stared at the Led Zeppelin poster on Benjy’s wall. His voice softened. “But I’m just… scared.”
Benjy was silent for a minute, and Evan stopped himself from looking at him. “I-I’m sorry. I don’t really know what to say to that,” Evan heard him take a breath. “Sorry.”
“Can’t do much to change it,” Evan responded, glancing at the clock next to him.
1:38
“Can we try to sleep now?” Evan asked desperately. “I’ve been up since 6:30. I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah!” Benjy responded, seeming a bit overexcited to do whatever Evan asked. “Yeah, of course.”
“Thanks.”
Evan was asleep by the time he lied back down.
~~~
“But I don’t wanna leave!” Barty whined as Sirius shoved him into the backseat of his car outside of the club.
“I don’t give a shit. You’re leaving,” Sirius strained back, slamming the car door as James slid into the other back seat.
“I don’t see the point,” Barty retorted. “I was having fun.”
“You are both extremely drunk. You could’ve been raped, or drugged, or stabbed or punched for kissing a guy in public,” Sirius rambled on, throwing himself into the driver’s seat.
“Here?” Remus commented from the passenger’s seat.
“Shut up, Moony. You’re not helping.” Sirius aggressively started the ignition and slammed his foot on the gas. “What I’m trying to say is that something really bad could’ve happened to you.”
“Wow, Pads. You’re finally being the voice of reason,” Barty heard Remus mutter.
“Aww, Sirius. Is this you finally admitting you care about me after 15 years?” Barty taunted.
“No, I care about Regulus. And Regulus would beat me to a pulp if I let something happen to his best friend after I agreed to look after him.”
James let out an offended scoff.
“And I care about James. Obviously.”
“Thank you, Pads.”
“Anytime, Prongsie.”
“Are you scared of your baby brother, Black?” Barty goaded.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Barty just cackled in response, watching late night London blur by out of his window. “My flat’s in the opposite direction of this by the way.”
“That’s because I’m going to James’s flat,” Sirius sighed. “So you can either stay there or do whatever the hell it is you want to do, or take the tube back to wherever you live at 1 in the morning.”
“You’re not gonna drive me back to my place, Black?” Barty mocked, meeting Sirius’s murderous eyes in the rear view mirror.
“No, Crouch. I’m not. I want to get back to my flat as soon as possible, because I wanna get some semblance of sleep. I’m sure Remus would agree.”
Remus muttered something that sounded agreeable enough from where he was resting his forehead against the window. Though out of frustration or exhaustion, Barty had no idea.
Barty continued to torment an irritated Sirius for the remainder of the short car ride. Sirius proceeded to ignore him.
Barty and James scrambled out of Sirius’s car which sped away practically before the door was fully closed. “Can I…?” Barty trailed off, gesturing to the complex door.
“That’s not even a question,” James responded, pulling Barty into the building and making a beeline straight to the elevator. He jammed the button until the doors finally slid open with a satisfying ding.
Before the doors were able to close again, James’s hands were on Barty’s waist and his lips were on his neck.
“There are probably cameras in here,” Barty muttered, reaching a hand out to brace himself against a wall as James rolled his hips down.
“Don’t care,” James responded quietly before biting down on Barty’s neck, drawing a groan from him.
Before he knew it, Barty was being yanked out of the lift and dragged along the hall until he was pressed against a door, James’s lips still attached to his neck.
Barty’s hands slid under James' shirt as he dug through his pockets.
“Fucking keys,” he muttered, fumbling with his keys until he was finally able to unlock his flat and tug Barty inside, pulling him straight to the bedroom.
“You have too many clothes on, Potter,” Barty mumbled as James all but pushed him back onto his bed.
James pulled Barty back into a sitting position by the collar of his shirt and moved to straddle him. “So do you, pet.”
Barty leaned back and stared up at James. “Gonna help me with that or are you just gonna sit there?”
Warm hands slowly started to push Barty’s shirt up his body and he was fucking gone. He felt like he could take over the world with weed clouding his brain and James Potter’s hand down his pants.
When Barty tried to recall this night long in the future, he could only remember flashes. James sauntering into the club. Laughing as Regulus nearly choked while taking a drag of a cigarette. Evan’s eyes softening as they met Barty’s across the bar.
Though why that one in particular stuck around, Barty had no idea.