Of Lacewing Flies and Lemon Tarts
is a Harry Potter fanfic by limegreensockft.
This fanfic is about the true story of the Crouch family, from when Barty Crouch Sr. met his wife while they were attending Hogwarts, up through their deaths, expanding on what little is known about their familial relationship with their son, Barty Crouch Jr.
Tropes
- A Day in the Limelight: This is a story about the Crouch family, who only appeared in Goblet of Fire
- Anachronic Order: The first few chapters jump back and forth between the Crouches' marriage and their initial courtship at Hogwarts.
- Bluff the Imposter: Crouch Sr. realizes his son is impersonating Moody when "Moody" tells him that he'd make a good Ravenclaw like himself. Crouch Sr. points out that the real Moody was in Gryffindor.
- Crocodile Tears: Crouch Jr.'s pleading for his life turns out to be this one, as Sr. catches him make a conspiratorial wink that would be almost unnoticed by anyone else.
- Dating Catwoman: In Hogwarts, Barty Sr. was a Slytherin student while Elsie was a Hufflepuff.
- "Everyone Comes Back" Fantasy Party Ending: The last chapter is one, as Crouch Sr. is reunited with Elsie in the afterlife.
- Foreshadowing: When Elsie and Barty Jr. visit Barty Sr. at St. Mungo's after an incident where Barty Sr. gets hexed by Karkaroff, seven year old Barty Jr. takes a fascination in Moody's war stories and also is intrigued by the foe glass Moody keeps so he can identify his enemies. Barty Jr. will use that very foe glass while using Polyjuice to impersonate Moody during Harry's fourth year.
- Groin Attack: On one occasion, Crouch Sr. finds himself getting hexed in his nether-regions by Karkaroff after Karkaroff gets ahold of Dawlish's wand during an interrogation.
- I Have No Son!: In a variant, Barty Jr. disowned his father first before his father's public disownment of him at his trial.
- Locked Out of the Loop: When Elsie and Ludo's parents become terminally sick from dragon pox, Ludo doesn't tell Elsie because he knows she hasn't yet gotten over her miscarriage. She doesn't learn the truth until after they've died, when Ludo writes an owl message to Barty Sr. to inform them of the funeral.
- Nice to the Waiter: The Bagmans treat their house elf Welby like he were another member of the family.
- Odd Friendship: The Crouches had many acquaintances in the Ministry, and were friends with people who would go on to be antagonistic towards Harry and his friends. Elsie befriended Dolores Umbridge during her last year at Hogwarts (which was Umbridge's first year), and was BFFs with Rita Skeeter to the point that Rita was Crouch Jr.'s godmother, and she also became friends with Cornelius Fudge's wife Abigail.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the early 1970s, the Ministry switches to using interoffice memos to get messages around at the Ministry, so Barty Sr. knows something's wrong when Ludo Bagman sends an owl late at night. It's to inform him that his and Elsie's parents have died from dragon pox.
- Parental Neglect: Subverted. Crouch Sr. makes every effort to connect with his son when he realizes his absences are leading Crouch Jr. astray, but it's too late as Crouch Jr. has become radicalized by the dark arts.
- Pet the Dog: Elsie and Rita have a nasty falling out after Rita writes an unfavorable article (using Winky as a source) about Barty Sr. that accuses him of being an absentee father and husband. They don't speak again until Crouch Jr.'s trial, where Rita is the first to offer actual sympathy for Elsie rather than pity or outright hatred.
- Related in the Adaptation: Elsie is Ludo Bagman's sister.
- Shipper on Deck: It's Rita Skeeter who first notices that Barty Sr. is interested in Elsie, and prods Elsie into going to the Yule Ball with him.
- This Cannot Be!: When the news breaks that Barty Jr. has been arrested alongside the Lestranges for the torture of the Longbottoms, Barty Sr. is initially inclined to believe that the Daily Prophet made a mistake, until he rushes to the Ministry and learns the truth from Moody.
- Trauma Conga Line: The years 1976-1977 are not a good year for Elsie. While she and Barty Sr. are trying to have a second child, she ends up having a miscarriage. She still hasn't gotten over the grief when her parents die from dragon pox. Then, on the day that the Crouches and Ludo gather to bury them, the Bagmans' house elf Welby dies in his sleep, and ends up being buried alongside him.
- Two-Person Pool Party: In Crouch Sr.'s seventh year at Hogwarts, he and Elsie almost got caught by Professor McGonagall having sex in the Prefects' bath.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Crouch Sr. wants to be there for his son, but his job as head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was very demanding and often kept him away from home for long periods of time, and this is partially why Crouch Jr. fell in with Voldemort. At the same time, though, it turns out that Crouch Jr. befriended people who became future Death Eaters while he was at Hogwarts, and they radicalized him.
