Bartemius Crouch, Jr., Barty to nearly everyone who knew him, stood hidden behind musty old robes and found himself feeling quite foolish indeed. Why his friends had decided to play Hide-and-Seek, a terribly childish game, in the last throes of summer was beyond his comprehension. And yet, here he was, taking part and having found one of the best hiding spots in the Martin household, or so he thought. Barty heard the distinct clicking of shoe heels in the corridor and shifted slightly, pressing himself further against the back wall and adjusting the hanging clothes in front of him.

The door was suddenly wrenched open, flooding the impossibly small room with light before it was quickly drawn shut. He heard the short gasps of a small someone who now stood, completely unawares, directly in front of him. He had caught a glimpse of the loose, bouncy brown curls of one Geneva West. Barty, a smirk on his face, gently pushed the robes aside, and they gently gave way with a soft scratch against the wood pole they hung upon. Thankfully, the short girl now within reach had not noticed, and Barty carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh," he breathed in her ear, pulling her closer. She began writhing in his grasp.

"Gee, calm down," he whispered, "it's just me."

She immediately relaxed in his arms, her breathing still irregular, when she reached a hand up and pulled his away from her mouth.

"Why didn't you say this was taken? I would've hidden somewhere else!" she hissed.

Barty merely smiled in response, deciding against answering when they heard the shrill voice of Eliza Martin calling down the corridor. Geneva and Barty held their breath as her loud footsteps echoed just beyond the door. She suddenly halted, and both feared they would be discovered after a few moments of silence. However, a loud crash from somewhere far down at the other end of the hall halted Eliza just as she was reaching for the golden doorknob, and she immediately turned and set off in the direction from which she had come, eager to find the sorry soul who had knocked over some relic or another.

The two seventeen year olds in the closet fell into a fit of muffled laughter, pleased at the sheer luck of the situation.

"We've got to thank whoever that was," Geneva whispered as she moved to stand next to Barty against the wall of the closet.

Barty rearranged the hanging clothes to cover them, "Three guesses who."

"Probably Anemone."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too," Barty nodded.

A comfortable silence fell between the pair. Geneva gently brushed against Barty as she fidgeted with her clothing, a habit that signaled her descent into deep thought.

"What're you thinking about?" Barty whispered.

Geneva turned to look up at Barty in the darkness, "What business is it of yours?"

Barty smiled, gently nudging her. "Thinking about that snog with Mark?"

Geneva made a face, accompanied by a garbled sound from the back of her throat. "Please, let's never speak of that again," she murmured.

"Oh, was it that bad?"

"He was slobbery, like a dog," she grumbled.

"I noticed."

"It was awful. And, I never get that back," she muttered to herself. "Merlin dammit, that was it."

Barty's brows furrowed as he turned slightly to look down at her, producing his wand from his pocket and muttering a quiet 'Lumos'.

Geneva's face was covered by her small hands. She shook her head, murmuring indecipherable nonsense.

Barty reached a hand forward, wrapping his hand around her wrist, attempting to pull it away. She reluctantly let him do so as he moved his face closer to hers.

"Sorry, I speak English, Gee, mind saying that again?"

She huffed, "It's nothing. Nothing at all."

Barty cocked his head to the side, searching her eyes. "Hmm?" he hummed.

Her face immediately morphed from one of distorted pain and discomfort to a perky smile, her eyes twinkling. "No matter," she said, dismissing whatever had bothered her with two light taps of his cheek.

He scrunched up his face in return and was about to say something when-

"Aha!" Eliza triumphantly cried, throwing the robes to the side and revealing the close, startled bodies of Geneva and Barty.

"And it appears," Eliza began in a snooty tone as she pulled the pair from the closet, "I caught the pair in the act! Couldn't get enough of a snog with Mark then, eh Gee?"

Geneva flushed and quickly separated herself from Barty, her eyes cast to the floor.

Barty merely rolled his eyes.

Barty and Geneva sat later, looking up at the dark night sky, on the hilltop that separated their families' properties. The night was still and cool, the only sounds were of crickets and their breaths.

Barty looked over at Geneva as she tried to stifle a yawn, "You sure you'll last until sunrise, Gee?"

She pulled a face, "'Course I can, Barty. I'm not a child."

He gently nudged her with his elbow, bringing a smile to her lips as she slipped her hands into the depths of her sleeves.

The next yawn she couldn't hide, and Barty couldn't help to snort as she finally finished. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Don't fall asleep on me," Barty laughed, shirking her from his shoulder.

"Oh, please," she moaned, wrapping an arm around his chest.

He groaned. "At least let me get more comfortable," he gave in as he leaned back, his arms behind his head.

She hung over him for a minute, her face very near to his face. "See, being nice isn't so difficult, is it?" she breathed.

Barty couldn't help but to let his eyes linger on her lips as her smile faded. She nestled next to him, resting her head on his chest, her fingers barely peeking out from the long sleeves of his jumper.

"You better wake me up before sunrise," she said sleepily, emphasizing her words by lazily poking his chest.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, go to sleep," he said softly.

It seemed not two hours had passed when Barty gently shook Geneva's shoulder, pulling her from her sleep.

She mumbled something as she nestled further into his chest.

"Gee," he barked loudly. She sat up suddenly, her arms flailing.

"What? What's happened?" she asked, desperately looking around.

"It's almost sunrise," Barty smiled gently.

"Oh," she said softly, slumping and bringing her hands into her lap as she crossed her legs. "Right. I knew that."

He snorted, sitting up beside her. She elbowed him.

"What was that for?" he groaned, rubbing his wounded ribcage.

"You didn't need to startle me to wake me up."

He smiled. "Aw, was Little Gee scared?" he asked cheekily.

She huffed and turned her attention to the horizon. He chuckled.

"Barty?"

He hummed in response, his arms resting on his knees as the first inklings of pink and gold began to appear in the dark blue sky.

"Is this year going to be different?"

He turned and looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, with You-Know-Who," she trailed off, biting her lower lip.

Barty shifted uncomfortably, "It'll be the same as last year, I think."

"But, Regulus Black?" she asked, turning to him. "He died for, for him."

Barty stared blankly at his companion, hoping he appeared indifferent and that his exceptionally brilliant friend would not see past his calm façade.

"It was his choice, and you weren't exactly his best mate-"

"So what? I'm not allowed to care for fellow students? Since when were you so heartless, Barty?" she asked, an edge to her voice. She suddenly stood, rearranging her clothes before she turned to leave.

Barty stood quickly and pulled her to him, effectively stopping her in her tracks. He looked down at her, his dark eyes searching hers.

"You don't mean that," he said softly.

She began to struggle against his chest. "Yes, I do," she snapped. He held her closer, giving her a squeeze, and raised an eyebrow.

His eyes once again wandered to her lips for a time, and, when he came out of his brief reverie, he found Gee to be looking evenly up at him. Something in his mind told him she was daring him to do it, egging him on because she was just as curious as he was.

He didn't fancy her, at least he didn't think he did. But he had wondered what it might be like to have a good snog with the one girl who had been the bright star throughout his childhood and teenage years. What man wouldn't? And so, throwing caution to the wind, Barty Crouch Jr. leaned down and pressed his lips against Geneva's, and hoped to Merlin he hadn't just destroyed the one friendship he had been so dependent upon.

To his surprise, Geneva leaned into the kiss and even began to reciprocate before abruptly pulling away.

She searched his eyes, "What was that for?"

"Er," Barty shrugged, his arms dropping to his side.

Geneva rolled her eyes, "I'm going to head home. See you at the platform, I suppose."

"Gee, about earlier," Barty began as he sidled past her into the small compartment after their brief trip to the trolley.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said haughtily as the interested gazes of their friends turned in the direction of the pair.

Barty rolled his eyes, lowering his voice, "I just wanted to apologise."

"Well, let's just pretend it never happened, and you'll have nothing to apologise for."

He could tell from her tone that the discussion wouldn't be going much further. Geneva promptly buried her nose in a thick tome, disappearing behind its leather binding.

Barty sighed and gently rubbed his left forearm, which was throbbing with a dull pain. He leaned his head back and turned to look out the rain-splattered window as the Hogwarts Express charged onward to his seventh year.

So this is just a little fic-let to get the creative juices flowing for my other fics. I've sort of been spinning this story since the end of summer, but only recently got the inspiration for it in my American Art History course. To give you a brief background, The Course of Empire is a series of five large-scale paintings by Thomas Cole. Each chapter will share the title of a piece in the series, which is why this one is called The Savage State. I encourage you to look up the images as they come! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I do hope to convert some of my loyal readers to Barty Crouch Jr. who honestly needs a little more love in the fanfiction world. Do review! Until next time, most humbly yours.