All Tangled Up

Chapter Two

Between a Hiss and a Roar

First on the station platform, before even the train had arrived, Amy Greenwood moved her trunk to where the middle of the train would be. She hated saying goodbye to her family before the beginning of term, so she had gone on her own, taking her trunk and her owl on the tube and exposing herself to dozens of dodgy looks. She opened her cage and let her tawny owl out to stretch his wings; a leaving present from her parents for her second year at Hogwarts. This was merely because she could not think of a name, and in the meantime she had been calling him 'boy', and the creature had started answering to this name. Now she spoke his name softly and started speaking about what Hogwarts was like, though she knew that Boy could not understand.

"You'll sleep with the other owls, Boy," Amy said. "But you can visit me when you want. I live in bowls of the castle, but you can get to my room through a window in the cliff."

Boy stretched his wings and yawned, before nipping Amy's sleeve and flying off. She looked up to see two teenage boys coming through the barriers. Both had black hair, one, the younger, was skinnier than his elder brother, though not much shorter, and the elder sported a self-satisfied grin on his face.

"Leave me alone," said the younger.

"Yeah," said the elder. "I'll leave you alone when you stop being such a narrow-minded fool."

The younger noticed Amy and made a beeline for her, calling her name and leaving his brother behind. Though they had not spoken much in the year that Amy had attended Hogwarts, the boy had recognised her from his house.

"Gree- er, Amy!" he shouted, pushing his trolley towards her.

"Hi, Regulus," Amy said, trying to suppress a smile. "Good summer?"

"As good a summer as anyone can have with someone like my brother," Regulus spat, glancing at his brother with a dirty look on his thirteen-year-old face. He turned back to Amy. "What about you?" he asked courteously, a friendlier tone warming his voice.

"Good," Amy replied. "It's nice getting away from schoolwork..."

"Yeah, you're right about that," he said. Then he grinned. "Done the homework?"

"Most of it," Amy said, screwing up her face. "I forgot about it once I got off the train. Had two days to do it."

"Yeah, me too..." said Regulus, "but I left it 'til last night. I don't think most of it is up to standard. Still, but done badly instead of not done at all."

"Hmm..." Amy said, and an awkward silence fell.

Regulus took sharp intake of breath as if to start speaking, but he just let it out again. He was desperately trying to think of something to say, particularly conscious of his brother being about to see their lack of animated conversation. Amy placidly watched Boy soar around in the roof of the station.

"Wasn't it you who gave yourself wings last year?" he finally asked.

"What?" she said, jumping out of her daze. "Oh, yes, that. Yeah, that was me!"

"That was some piece of transfiguration," he said, genuinely impressed. "It was inspired."

"Well, thanks," Amy said, blushing and laughing a little. "But I couldn't turn myself back again. I couldn't hold my wand, so I had to go to the hospital. It wasn't my idea anyway."

"Still," said Regulus. "How many people can say that they've flown up to the hospital wing?"

"I only did that 'cause I couldn't fit through the door, Regulus."

They both laughed, and Regulus quickly looked towards his brother. He had now been joined by another boy his aged, shorter, a little chubby, with brown hair. He turned back to Amy and smiled.

"Call me Reggie," he said. "Regulus is way to formal."

"Alright, Reggie," Amy said. "...that was so embarrassing, though. I only did it because I'd lost a... well, not exactly a bet, but something like that."

We will leave these two alone for now; nothing important is said here, nothing important happens. Their respective friends arrive, as does the train, and they board and sit in separate carriages. We will move our perspective away from them, to a young boy with blond hair, his mother, and his father, who himself bore a head of darker hair and neatly trimmed moustache.

"Don't worry," said the woman. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Yes," said the man. "Don't step outside the rules; they're there for a reason. You don't want to upset your mother by getting hurt, do you?"

"Of course not, father," said the boy.

"We want you in one piece, Barty, dear," said his mother.

Barty nodded and tightened his grip on the bars on his trolley. The barrier to platform nine and three quarters loomed up in front of his tiny frame. He held his breath and bit his lip.

"Darling," said Mr Crouch to his wife. "Take the trolley through to the platform, I want a word with the boy before he leaves."

Mrs Crouch hesitated before agreeing, and she took the trolley from Barty's hands and walked through the barrier when Mr Crouch indicated that it was safe to do so. When she had gone he turned to his son and put a hand on his shoulder, applying a little pressure so that the boy would walk beside him. To their right the 10:51 to Glasgow was pulling out of the station.

"Bartemis," he said. "I've tried to be a good father. I've been able to govern you fairly, I believe, and instil in you respect for magical law and a decorum and sense of propriety."

Barty looked at his father, and than past him through windows at the people who were rushing past them at an ever increasing speed.

"But now you're going away," continued Mr Crouch. "I won't be able to guide you all the time. I want to remind you of the importance of upholding the rules that Hogwarts lays down on its students. Breaking them can lead to terrible things..."

A faraway look entered Mr Crouch's eyes and something in his voice wavered. Young Barty's attention returned to his father, and he looked at him curiously.

"I myself made a mistake," Mr Crouch continued. "I... no, I shouldn't call it a mistake. The intention was in the deed, and it had been made clear that the deed was no good. I won't go into detail now, maybe when you're older, but bad things resulted from it. That is why you must not follow the same route as my younger self. Obey the rules. And you know why we should do this, Bartemius?"

"Because the rules have been made for a reason," piped up the boy.

Mr Crouch looked proudly at his young son, and clapped his hands on either shoulder, looking straight at him.

"Yes, I think you understand," said the man, turning and walking back towards the entrance to their platform. "You'll do fine."

Father and son walked the rest of the way in silence, the boy wondering about what happened all those years before.

:::***:::

By the time Bartemis Crouch Junior had found his mother in the throng and retrieved his luggage, it was time to kiss her goodbye and leave. Barty resented the fact that he had been stolen precious minutes to say goodbye to his mother, but his conversation with his father still intrigued him, and the child regarded his father's somewhat repetitive wisdom as of importance. As he turned his back on her and hurried towards a door to a carriage, Mrs Crouch stretched out a hand and touched his hair with her fingers. Barty did not look back, but when he had heaved his trunk onto the train he touched the top of his head with his hand and his eyes welled up with tears. It was a difficult experience for an eleven-year-old to leave his home and his family and know that he would not see them for nearly three months. But he quickly wiped his tears away as they spilled over the rims of his eyes and moved down the carriage. He passed full compartment after full compartment, his question of "is their any room?" was answered almost before he asked them with shakes of the heads, apologetic sorries, or blunt nos.

Soon students started bustling up and down the corridor, and he struggled to get past.

"Excuse me," he finally said to a passing fourth year, drawing on all his courage. "Er... do you know where any free seats are?"

The student paused, and looked at the first year with tired but soft eyes and light brown hair.

"Seats?" he said. "Yeah, there's plenty further down the train... this end's always stuffed cause it's near the entrance..."

"Thank you," said Barty, and they exchanged smiles, the fourth year wished him luck, and they went on their way in opposite directions.

The first compartment with free seats was actually half empty. The door was open and a girl with dark, wavy hair stood leaning against its frame talking to the inhabitants of the compartment.

"I haven't thought about that," the girl said. "Maybe..."

"Are you kidding," a boy's voice replied from within. "You're a fantastic flier... you wouldn't even need to worry about getting a decent broomstick."

"Yeah, just flap your arms," second boy added, laughing. "But how would you catch the ball?"

"She could catch it in her beak," a third voice, this time a girl's, giggled.

"Ha ha," said the girl in the doorway. "Very funny, I'm sure you... hullo, what are you looking for?"

"A seat," Barty said, and then blushed in embarrassment. "I mean, I'm looking for a seat."

The girl laughed.

"You poor darling," she said, grinning, before realising herself. "There's room in here, if you guys don't mind? Do a good deed, you might get something back...?"

There was a general mumbling of agreement, and a stronger one from the first voice, and the girl at the door stepped backwards to let Barty through.

"I'm Amy Greenwood, by the way," said the girl. "This is Isaac Avery," she gestured to a tall boy with dark hair, who flashed a half hearted smile, "Cassius Vane," a boy immaculately dressed with well kept light coloured hair nodded and raised a hand, "Marianne Bones" a blonde girl with a round face, who waved, "Elsibet Scortop," another girl, this time with black hair and slightly stuck up nose in one sense, and, by the look of it, a very stuck up nose in another, inclined her head slightly, and finally Greenwood gestured to a boy by the window with black hair, "Regulus Black...", grinned at him. "Er... sorry, who are you?"

"Bartemius Crouch, Junior," Barty said, trying to remember the names he had just been told. There was a rustle in the compartment, and Black and Avery exchanged looks. Everyone seemed a lot more interested in this boy, now. No doubt, Barty thought, they had read his father's name in the Daily Prophet concerning his rather controversial views and the measures he was trying to introduce.

"Why don't you sit down, Bartemius?" Scortop suggested.

"Yes, next to me, there's a space," Avery said, nudging Vane along the way.

"Th-thank you," Barty managed to stutter.

"Our pleasure," Scortop said. "We remember it was like being a first year, don't we Reg?"

"What?" said Black. "Oh, yeah, we remember. Terrifying."

"But you'll be sorted by the end of the day," said Greenwood. "And then you'll start feeling at home."

"Yeah, almost like receiving a whole new family," added Black.

"Of hundreds, almost," Greenwood grinned.

"Especially those in your year," Scortop slipped in.

Barty looked from door to window as they spoke, and than to Scortop, who than drew Bones into the conversation. While Barty was listening to these two, Avery leant forward and whispered something in Black's ear who shrugged and nodded, and when Avery leaned behind Barty, who seemed a little slow and oblivious, though who was probably just dazed from the situation, to whisper something to Vane, Vane smirked and nodded his head, too.

"Barty, kid," said Avery enthusiastically. "I can call you Barty...? Fantastic. I think us lot should take you onboard, and give you a little crash course on Hogwarts."

"Excellent idea, Isaac," said Black. "What do you guys think?"

"Brilliant," said Scortop.

"I'm up for it," said Vane.

"Me too," said

There was a silence and an expectant look at Greenwood who shrugged.

"I've got to go back to my own compartment soon," she said. "I can't hang around all day."

There was a snort from Scortop, but Black spoke over the top of it.

"Well, before you go, why don't you tell young Barty here about the merits of Slytherin?"

"Why not?"

"That's one of the houses, right?" asked Barty, who was feeling a lot better than he had done a few minutes earlier.

"Sure is," said Avery.

"The best," Vane added.

"Do you know the other houses' names, Barty?" asked Avery, a bit patronisingly.

"Yeah, Gryffindor, my dad's house," said Barty. "Errr... Ravenclaw, and, uh, Huff-, Huff..."

"...Hufflepuff," finished Vane. "But you don't need to know that one."

"No, it's not really that important," Scorto

"Exactly, which brings us back to Slytherin," said Vane.

"So," said Regulus. "Young Amy Greenwood, could you tell us what you think of the house of the great Salazar Slytherin?

"Well, Slytherin does leave the other houses behind for miles."

"That's a load of dragon's dung," said a voice. Greenwood turned around to see the elder Black boy, Sirius, and two other Gryffindors behind him, one of them the boy who had spoken to Barty in the corridor.

"You found a seat alright, then?" the brown haired boy asked Barty.

"Yes, thanks," said Barty. The other two looked at the first year with interest.

"What are you doing, Black?" interrupted a second boy, scowling. "Trying to corrupt an innocent first year?"

"Don't call him Black, James," said Sirius to the second boy. "I don't need to be reminded that we're related."

"Sorry. But what can I call him, then?" asked James.

"I dunno," shrugged Sirius Black. "He seems to like 'Weggikins.'"

"Shut up, Sirius," Regulus snapped.

"Oooo, touchy," Sirius scolded.

"What will your mother think, Weggikins?" James asked Sirius before turning to Regulus, directing this last bit at him.

Regulus stamped his foot and glared out of the window.

"Look..." Sirius began, turning to Barty Crouch and then wavering, trying to find a name.

"Barty," prompted Greenwood. Sirius scowled at the girl.

"Look, Barty," said Sirius. "You can't trust these people. I should know, I live with one of them," at this point Regulus kicked the wall of the train, and his seat ejected him across the compartment into Avery's arms, a voice proclaiming the words "No vandalism!"

Sirius and James burst into laughter and their companion, none other than Remus Lupin, tried hard to stifle his, but with little effect. Regulus got up, dusted himself down, and went back to staring moodily out of the window.

"What's wrong, Weggie?" asked Sirius. "Embarrassed yourself in front of your ickle first and second year friends?"

"Hey, watch it," Greenwood said, drawing herself up.

"Oh, look, Weggie," Potter grinned. "You're second year friend is more courageous than you."

"Ah, but what do you expect of Slytherin?" Sirius mused.

"Yes, good point..."

"Oh, I haven't got time for this," Greenwood muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Bye Barty, Reggie, guys."

She turned away but stopped when she hear James Potter speaking loudly.

"Ah, she is a coward after all, poor thing."

Greenwood spun round and drew her wand, pointing it casually at Potter.

"Watch it, Potter," she said, before turning round again.

"She sure told you, James," laughed Lupin.

"Oh, don't you start," snapped Potter. "Anyway, what can a second year do to a fourth year?"

"She's not any old second year," Regulus said, finally tearing himself away from the window. "She was that one who transformed her arms into wings last exam time. Not many fourth years could do that."

"Really?" said James. "You hear that, Moony?"

"I hear," he said.

"Me too. Let's leave this lot alone, boys," said Sirius, before turning and continuing on his way.

"Good luck, Barty," Lupin said before following his two friends. "Wherever you end up."

"Thanks," said the boy, trying to keep up with what was happening. When they were gone, Regulus sat up straighter.

"Regulus, you really are spineless," said Isaac Avery.

"Don't call him that," Elsibet said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"And I didn't see you doing much just then," added Marianne.

"Well, it's not my battle to fight, is it?" Isaac retorted.

"If he were my brother, I would've cursed him," Cassius sneered.

"Leave him alone," snapped Elsibet.

"Don't waste your breath, Isaac," said Regulus. "You didn't before, and I don't see why you should now."

"I said it was your battle, didn't I...?"

"I'll remember that in future when you're being barbequed by a dragon for his lunch."

"Fine, be like that, at least I don't go around making eyes at dirty half bloods."

"I wasn't..."

"Yeah, why did you have to start talking to her?" Elsibet said, turning on Regulus.

"And how do you know she's a...?"

"God almighty, Reg, do you recognise her surname?" Isaac interjected.

"That doesn't mean..."

"Yeah it does," said Cassius. "Her dad's obviously a muggle."

"STOP INTERUPTING ME!!"

:::***:::

Amy Greenwood slowed down once she had entered the next carriage. She decidedly pointedly that everyone she had left behind, with the exception of Barty, and maybe that Lupin boy, and at a stretch Reggie, were a bunch of idiots. Her grip on her wand relaxed and she returned it to her pocket. She continued down the train at a leisurely pace, checking compartments for people she knew and chatting occasionally, and looking for one person in particular. She had not got far however, when she heard her name being called.

"Hey, Greenwood!"

It was Potter and his friends.

"What do you want, now?"

"Just a chat," grinned Sirius.

"A nice friendly chat," Lupin said..

Amy Greenwood looked at them suspiciously.

"Go on."

"Amy, Amy, Amy," said Sirius. "You say that as if we're after something."

"You're not?"

"We just want to pass on a little message," said James.

"Yeah, old Slughorn was asking about that...what was he called her, James?" Sirius asked casually.

"I think it was 'brilliant and inspired', Sirius."

"Yes, that was it, the 'brilliant and inspired' first year who gave herself wings at the end of last year. He couldn't find out who it was, apparently Dumbledore was reluctant to tell him... Anyway, he wanted you to come to one of his parties, and told us that if we knew who it was, to tell him, and to tell her that she was invited."

"Well I don't like the man. I'd rather you didn't tell him it was me, if that's ok," Amy said through gritted teeth, eyeing Lupin who had his eyes fixed on her with and earnest expectation.

"Oh of course not..." Lupin said. "We just need a little favour..."